The Aloof Immortal Venerable is Pregnant with My Fox Cub - Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Under the full moon, the fox’s eyes were very bright. Her ear tips twitched, revealing two sharp canines.

The sweet and delicious watermelon fell from the mouth of a big, fat marmot with a “pat,” the red, tender pulp shattering on the sandy ground.

This movement startled the marmots of all sizes in the watermelon field. Each marmot’s head had three white vertical stripes, and their black, pointed noses looked somewhat like a dog’s.

They all stood up alertly. When they saw the large fox under the moon, with five big tails, their bodies immediately shook in fright.

Oh, no! Foxes eat marmots!

“The Fox Demon is here!”

An unknown, quick-wwitted marmot shouted. The marmots scattered in a rush, running in every direction.

Are you serious? Which one of us is the demon?!

They said they hadn’t gained sentience. There’s a marmot spirit among this group!

Cang Ran’s strange fire was still held in her palm, unreleased, looking quite stunned.

She watched the large group of marmots disappear into the distance, kicking up dust and yellow smoke the whole way. In less than a few breaths, the endless watermelon field was completely cleared out.

In any case, this lived up to her reputation as the Fox Great King. The problem was successfully solved without a fight.

Cang Ran put away the strange fire and snapped her fingers, “Successful recovery of the watermelon field!”

Yun Muyu watched from the side, utterly dumbfounded and full of admiration, “Shimu, what kind of technique was that? It scared them all away before you even unleashed it?”

Cang Ran’s fox ears trembled, and she said smugly, “This isn’t a technique. It relies on the Fox Great King’s deterrence!”

A trace of indulgence appeared in Tan Qingxuan’s eyes. This little fox is showing off again.

Cang Ran turned to Shen Yunyan, “Ask these capybaras if the problem is solved.”

In fact, Shen Yunyan didn’t need to communicate. The capybaras, whose eyes were usually lazy and placid, were wide open. They excitedly carried them in circles within the watermelon field.

The capybaras were so moved that tears flowed from the corners of their mouths, and they immediately began munching on the melon rinds right where they stood.

How unexpected was this result: they helped the capybaras reclaim the field, and the capybaras performed an on-the-spot watermelon-eating show in front of them.

Cang Ran: “…”

Tan Qingxuan: “…”

Everyone was speechless and remained silent for a long time.

Cang Ran angrily rubbed the capybara’s small round ears. The capybara only ate more happily, completely shaming the Fox Great King’s reputation.

A chorus of crunching sounds came from the green watermelon field; this group of capybaras was eating too deliciously.

Since simply waiting wasn’t an option, and having a mount was faster and safer than walking, and since these capybaras looked like they would be full soon, they decided to eat some too to quench their thirst.

Lin Mingyue’s stomach started to rumble from the sounds. She said from the side, “How about we eat some melon too?”

Shui Shaoyi bent down, picked up a watermelon, and said, “This Cold-Jade Watermelon is quite rare. I’ve only seen it a few times, and it sells for a high price. Our sect once tried to plant it from seeds, but it never took root. I didn’t expect these capybaras, who look so dull, to be able to cultivate such a large field.

If you remove the pulp and seeds, the Cold-Jade Watermelon can be made into Spiritual Cold-Jade Melon Frost. Its jade-colored seeds can be made into Spiritual Cold-Jade Paste. Just eating the pulp can relieve cold and summer heat, and it is often used to counteract the poison of fire-attribute demonic beasts.”

While introducing it to everyone, Shui Shaoyi began picking melons. She stuffed several into her storage artifact, seemingly ready to take away all the watermelons in their immediate vicinity.

Shen Yunyan quickly stopped her, “Shui Shaoyi, how can you be like this? No one else has eaten yet. Are you here to stock up on goods?”

Everyone stared at her. Shui Shaoyi gave an embarrassed smile, “I just wanted to take a few back for my Master and Senior Uncles for medicinal use. You can also pick some watermelons. If you send them to our Myriad Medicine Sect, we can purchase them at a high price.”

Cang Ran knew the Myriad Medicine Sect was very rich, considering a single consultation fee cost the Grand Mystic Sect 100,000 top-grade spirit stones.

Since they would be spending a lot of money at the auction this time, they couldn’t just have money going out. She asked curiously, “What is your high price for a watermelon?”

Shui Shaoyi said, “Normally, a spiritual melon is ten low-grade spirit stones. This kind of rare spiritual melon is probably a hundred top-grade spirit stones each.”

Shen Yunyan was skeptical. Yun Muyu pondered the melons deeply. Only Lin Mingyue took practical action. She picked up two large watermelons and presented them to Shui Shaoyi, “Settle up now.”

Shui Shaoyi was silent for a few seconds. She took out two purple spirit stone notes from her storage bag and handed them to Lin Mingyue, “You don’t have to settle up now. You can eat some first. My Master collected Cold-Jade Watermelons before and said they tasted quite good.”

Lin Mingyue didn’t need Shui Shaoyi to tell her that. She had already planned to bring some back for her Master to taste. She just felt that the medicinal materials her Master needed this time would cost a lot of spirit stones at the auction, and as the Head Disciple, she should share her Master’s worries.

Cang Ran also considered whether to sell the melons, but at this stage, it was like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water. Moreover, the capybaras grew the field, so they couldn’t be too greedy.

The capybaras, who were halfway through eating, discovered that the circle of melons around them was gone and, predictably, started squealing.

Cang Ran asked Shen Yunyan, “What are these capybaras saying?”

She was not a native fox, and she couldn’t communicate in pure beast language with small, unawakened demons. Even humans have dialect barriers, let alone different demon races with different living areas.

Shen Yunyan understood the beast language and helped translate, “The capybaras said that half of the watermelon field is for the Fox Demon as a reward. The others can pick ten melons, but they cannot take the Fox Demon’s share.”

The capybaras narrowed their eyes into a slit after hearing Shen Yunyan’s words and nodded repeatedly. They specifically wanted to thank the Fox Demon.

The fear of the human race among demons might not be as strong as the suppression from a natural predator. After all, a hungry demon would eat a human. From a food chain perspective, marmots can be eaten by foxes, which is why Cang Ran scared them away without even lifting a finger. Thus, these capybaras greatly admired the Fox Great King.

Everyone else was satisfied with this allocation method since they were merely following the Fox Great King and got to eat some free melon.

Cang Ran jumped off the capybara and started picking melons. The capybara beside her, being sensible, actively bit off the green stem and pushed a round melon toward her.

Everyone else also started picking melons. Cang Ran touched the melon. The skin was a bit cool but not very icy. She tapped it with her knuckles, and it made a crisp sound. It should be a good melon.

She picked up Eighty, and was about to use Eighty to cut the melon, when Eighty suddenly slipped from her hand and vibrated constantly in front of her.

Eighty, come back and cut the melon!

I won’t come back. You said you would give me a cleaning cloth just like Zhuoyue’s last time, and you still haven’t given it to me. I’ve lost face in front of Zhuoyue!

I was busy recently and forgot. I’ll find a good cloth for you and Zhuoyue after I cut the melon, so you can both be polished.

Then put me ahead of Zhuoyue. Wipe me first~

Eighty, I advise you not to push your luck, or I’ll cut the melon myself.

Cang Ran’s fox eyes narrowed. Give an inch, take a mile. Zhuoyue was her wife’s sword, so it definitely had to be wiped first.

Eighty’s blade vibrated several times. Seeing that Cang Ran was about to cut the melon herself with her hand as a blade, and afraid that the good treatment it was demanding would disappear, it immediately rushed over and helped Cang Ran cut the melon.

The sword edge sliced through the watermelon, dividing it into two halves with an extremely flat cut, showing no signs of tearing.

Worthy of being a divine sword. It is very suitable for cutting melons.

Eighty felt Cang Ran’s stare and sensed that the fox was up to no good, so it immediately flew back into its sheath.

Cang Ran quickly carved out two wooden spoons, handing half a watermelon and a spoon to Tan Qingxuan, and keeping the other half for herself.

She took the opportunity to touch Tan Qingxuan’s hand. It was still very hot and sweating. She couldn’t help but sigh, “Why is the little fox cub still radiating heat? Aren’t you too hot?”

Tan Qingxuan shook her head slightly, “It’s fine. It’s cold here anyway, so it’s okay for the cub to generate some heat.”

Cang Ran had no choice but to say, “Eat some watermelon to cool down the heat.”

This melon was of a cold nature. Logically, Tan Qingxuan shouldn’t eat it, but the little fox cub in her belly was too young and couldn’t control its spiritual energy. It was using every bit of spiritual energy it got from its mother to warm her up.

Tan Qingxuan took a bite of the Cold-Jade Watermelon. The melon wasn’t too icy, but sweet and delicious. It tasted quite good.

The Cold-Jade Watermelon took away some of the heat emitted by the little fox cub in her belly. The little fox cub seemed to sense this and started working hard to generate more heat, only to realize how nice it was when it absorbed the cool spiritual energy of the Cold-Jade Watermelon. It then enjoyed the cooling sensation and forgot about radiating heat.

Tan Qingxuan checked with her spiritual energy and found the sleeping little fox cub was absorbing the spiritual energy generated by the Cold-Jade Watermelon. A gentle smile spread across her brows.

Tan Qingxuan ate two bites and looked at the large fox next to her, who was happily eating the watermelon. She said softly, “Your little fox cub is going to be a little glutton.”

Cang Ran chuckled, “It’s fine. The Big Fox is rich and owns several mountains. Our baby can eat as much as it wants in the future.”

Tan Qingxuan laughed helplessly. She ate for a while longer. Half a watermelon was finished. The little fox cub in her belly was full along with its mother and was sleeping more soundly. The heat it was emitting slowed down considerably compared to before.

Cang Ran saw her put down the spoon, helped wipe it clean and put it away, and then touched Tan Qingxuan’s palm again, “Feeling better? It doesn’t seem as hot as before.”

Tan Qingxuan’s eyes were gentle, “Much better.”

Cang Ran curved her eyes, “The cub is truly a little foodie. I’ll pack a few more to take with us so we can eat on the road.”

Tan Qingxuan raised an eyebrow, “Are you sure the cub’s mother doesn’t want to eat them too?”

Cang Ran’s hand, which was picking melons, paused. She looked up with a smile, “No, it’s all for the cub.”

She packed half an acre of Cold-Jade Watermelons into her storage artifact. She routinely maintained the divine sword Zhuoyue and found a new, good piece of cloth to clean Eighty several times until the blade was so bright it could be used as a mirror.

Cang Ran looked around. The capybaras were full, and Elder Qu’s group had also mostly finished eating.

Cang Ran waved to Elder Qu, “Elder Qu, we’ve finished eating too. Let’s go. We can set off now.”

Elder Qu looked at her and Tan Qingxuan with an ‘auntie smile’ expression, “Alright. Now that we have the capybaras, we are no longer afraid of the quicksand. Let’s continue to separate as we did before, and contact each other if anything happens.”

Cang Ran nodded, “Okay.”

She helped Tan Qingxuan mount the large capybara, and she herself mounted another large capybara. After bidding farewell to Elder Qu and the others, they headed in a different direction to search for the secret realm.

Logically, there should be spiritual energy fluctuations around a secret realm, but for some reason, this flowing secret realm seemed to conceal its spiritual energy. There were no traces of spiritual energy fluctuations nearby.

Both her and Tan Qingxuan’s spiritual senses were stronger than those of ordinary cultivators. They searched over half the island in a carpet search and met up with Elder Qu’s group several times. They searched from dusk till dawn, and by nearly noon, they hadn’t found anything unusual.

Cang Ran became increasingly anxious. A thick black spiritual snake, which appeared out of nowhere, tried to attack the capybara beneath Cang Ran. It was immediately skewered and killed by Cang Ran’s sword on a tree trunk, burnt into a charred snake by the tempered lightning fire on the sword.

Cang Ran made a flourish with her sword and sheathed it. The cold sword light flashed past, making her amber eyes as transparent as gems.

Tan Qingxuan noticed the faint impatience in her eyes. She withdrew her extended spiritual sense, lowered her eyes, and pondered for a moment. She said softly, “What if the secret realm is not in the surrounding grass and trees? Do you remember how Shen Yunyan said the capybaras arrived?”

Cang Ran hesitated, “The secret realm spat them out?”

Tan Qingxuan gave a gentle hum, “We’ve probably covered most places on the island by riding the capybaras. There is only one place we easily overlooked.”

Cang Ran was enlightened and asked, “The quicksand traps on the ground? Could it be that falling into a trap leads to the flowing secret realm?”

Tan Qingxuan shook her head, “The entrance to a secret realm is different from a quicksand trap; it won’t cause harm to people. The quicksand traps we encountered are just trying to drag cultivators in to become nourishment.”

Cang Ran remembered the secret realm she encountered near the volcano and asked Tan Qingxuan, “Are all the entrances pale blue? How exactly are these secret realms formed?”

Tan Qingxuan explained in detail, “They are not all pale blue. Generally, a secret realm was originally an independent space ten thousand years ago. Later, life evolved in that space, turning it into a special secret realm. Another type is a small fragment detached from the original world. The cultivators inside were forced or voluntarily left, leaving only spiritual plants and spiritual beasts to breed within. This slowly evolved into what cultivators call a secret realm. Some conventional secret realms appear every year at a fixed time and place, while others are random, unpredictable secret realms.”

Cang Ran nodded, “The one we’re dealing with now is a different kind of secret realm, right? It even hides its overflowing spiritual energy. It seems we need to test it out. I’ll send a message to Elder Qu and the others about this now.”

Tan Qingxuan said, “Let’s gather first. Everyone has been searching for so long. Let’s rest and then continue.”

Cang Ran rubbed her rumbling stomach. She was quite hungry after searching for so long. She picked up the spiritual snake she had just killed and put it into her storage artifact, planning to make a spiritual snake soup later.

Thinking that the snake meat might not be enough for so many people, she conveniently caught three wild ducks on the way and went with Tan Qingxuan to find Elder Qu.

The two teams sent messages to each other and successfully reunited under a large banyan tree. The terrain here was flat, and there was a clear stream nearby, which was convenient for washing vegetables and cooking.

Cang Ran stripped the charred snake skin from the spiritual snake and cleaned the snake meat by the stream. She also plucked the feathers from the wild ducks she had caught. Lin Mingyue and Shui Shaoyi prepared the pots and utensils on the side. Tan Qingxuan and Elder Qu sat together, discussing the next plan for finding the secret realm.

Yun Muyu saw that there were too many people to help with the cooking, so she and Shen Yunyan rode the large capybaras to pick up some mushrooms, wood ear fungus, and firewood nearby. They would use these later to start a fire for cooking and to boil some tea.

Cang Ran finished preparing the spiritual snake meat and wild duck meat. Since Shen Yunyan and the others hadn’t returned yet, she started cooking the soup with her strange fire. Once the side dishes arrived, they could be added immediately.

The aroma of the spiritual snake soup quickly spread, and the pot gradually started to boil.

Just then, the communication jade token at her waist suddenly buzzed. It was from Shen Yunyan.

Yun Muyu and Shen Yunyan had gone to gather firewood together. In the time it took to turn around, Yun Muyu had disappeared. Only the large capybara she was riding was left standing there in confusion.

The message transmitted by the communication jade token was received by everyone, not just Cang Ran.

There might be danger within the secret realm, and Yun Muyu was only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Everyone’s hearts immediately became anxious. They quickly packed up their belongings, deployed their spiritual senses, and headed to Shen Yunyan’s location to search for Yun Muyu.

Mushrooms and wood ear fungus were scattered on the ground. Two large capybaras walked leisurely back and forth, their faces full of confusion.

Shen Yunyan was anxiously searching everywhere. As soon as she saw them arrive, she quickly said, “We were just together. I went up that tree to pick some wood ear fungus. She was still talking to me beside me. When I finished picking the fungus and turned my head, she was gone. Only the capybara was left here.”

Shui Shaoyi speculated, “Could she have fallen into the secret realm? Let’s search around this area.”

Shen Yunyan was so anxious that sweat beaded on her forehead. She blamed herself, “I’ve searched several times already! I should have held her hand tightly just now. How dangerous must it be for her to fall in alone?”

Yun Muyu was the protagonist of the original book and shouldn’t die so easily. However, a protagonist’s fate is usually accompanied by great opportunities, and Yun Muyu’s background suggested a beautiful, strong, and tragic type of female lead.

Therefore, Cang Ran couldn’t be sure whether Yun Muyu was currently suffering misfortune elsewhere, so they needed to find her quickly.

Cang Ran looked around. There were no traces of blood, so she hadn’t been eaten by a wild beast. There were no signs of a quicksand trap on the ground. She sniffed hard, searching the air for Yun Muyu’s scent.

Yun Muyu was lucky enough that no powerfully-scented demonic beasts had passed through the area recently, which would have covered her scent.

Through her sensitive sense of smell, Cang Ran detected that the area where Yun Muyu disappeared was near a very dense patch of yellow mushrooms.

She picked up a small stone from the ground, flicked it with her finger, and hit the center of the cap of the largest yellow mushroom.

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