The Cannon Fodder Also Has a Will to Survive [Rebirth] - Chapter 23

Han Zhong, whose true age was also nearing a thousand years, simply pretended not to hear the comment. To him, An Jiu was merely a sixteen or seventeen-year-old cub; there was no need to be petty with him.

Seeing that Han Zhong had stopped speaking, An Jiu felt safe enough to cradle the little fox back in his arms, affectionately rubbing its head.

“Junior Uncle, are you still angry?” An Jiu followed closely behind Han Zhong’s heels. Seeing him remain silent, he still felt a bit anxious. “How about, you pet this little cutie? Petting it will make you feel better.”

Han Zhong continued to ignore him.

An Jiu knew he was in the wrong today. He hadn’t listened to the warnings and had wandered off on his own, only to be ensnared by that woman. If Junior Uncle hadn’t found him, he truly wouldn’t have known what to do.

Feeling restless, An Jiu could only keep petting the fox. Gradually, he began to find a familiar sensation, similar to when he used to pet Ah Hua. Their reactions were strikingly similar the moment he touched its head, it would persistently nuzzle its head into his palm. After a while, it would tilt its head, signaling An Jiu to scratch its chin, let out soft, satisfied whimpers.

These two are too alike, An Jiu thought. Even the sequence of their reactions to being petted is identical. Is it because they’re both canids?

This sense of familiarity eased his panic. Even if Han Zhong was ignoring him, An Jiu found a way to soothe his own nerves. “This little fox is very similar to someone I know,” he whispered.

The little fox in his arms looked up at him.

An Jiu interpreted the look as curiosity. “Do you want to meet him? His name is Ah Hua… Oh, right, do you have a name? How about I give you one?”

“Why don’t you be called Ah Huang? Ah Huang and Ah Hua they sound like a pair. Junior Uncle, look, Ah Huang is sticking its tongue out at me; isn’t it happy?”

Han Zhong, who had been paying attention to the movement behind him, felt his lip twitch. Where exactly is that fox cub’s fur yellow? (Note: “Ah Huang” is a common pet name often associated with yellow/golden fur).

He stopped, turned around, and placed a hand on An Jiu’s head. “Alright, stop babbling.”

An Jiu looked at him, bewildered. Finding the boy’s confusion somewhat endearing, Han Zhong offered a rare explanation: “My mood has already improved.”

The fox’s reaction was faster than An Jiu’s. Realizing Han Zhong was responding to the “petting a cutie” comment, it bared its teeth at him and let out a low, threatening growl. Fearing it would provoke Han Zhong and end up as a fur scarf, An Jiu quickly covered the fox’s mouth.

The little fox responded by extending its tongue and licking An Jiu’s palm.

Han Zhong squinted as he watched the interaction. He let out a snorting laugh. “Lustful fox.”

An Jiu didn’t take the remark to heart. He had lived in the mortal world for a long time and hadn’t met many of the Yao race besides Han Zhong. Since Han Zhong was barely distinguishable from a human cultivator, An Jiu didn’t view these creatures as “cultivators” in their animal forms. He naively assumed that whatever form he saw them in was the form they stayed in. It was a gap in his knowledge that a child with his limited experience couldn’t easily overcome.

An Jiu covered the fox’s ears to protect it from Han Zhong’s harsh words. “Junior Uncle, don’t be so mean to it. It actually tried to help me just now.”

He still remembered how the fox had tugged at him to prevent him from entering the pavilion.

Han Zhong replied, “He is of the Yao. He will have a human form in the future effectively, you are currently cradling a man in your arms.”

After re-emphasizing this point, Han Zhong remembered another question. “Where did this fox even come from?”

He hadn’t seen it before tonight. To be cradling it so intimately upon their first meeting could An Jiu’s secret lover be from the Fox Tribe? Han Zhong didn’t know the specifics of how Ah Hua and An Jiu had interacted in the Demonic Palace, otherwise, he might have guessed the truth sooner.

He had his suspicions, but things didn’t quite add up. Lin Jingyuan was clearly unaware of this situation, so it likely wasn’t his doing. Furthermore, knowing Lin Jingyuan’s character, he was the type to take responsibility for his actions; there was no reason for him to play games.

“It just darted out of the bushes. It was probably already here,” An Jiu explained.

Han Zhong cast a cold glance at the fox, his wariness growing. The entrance to this spatial pocket was extremely well-hidden. It wasn’t something a fox demon who couldn’t even transform or speak should be able to find.

The fox was undoubtedly faking its weakness to lower An Jiu’s guard, and An Jiu was clearly falling for it. Han Zhong was a sharp man; he immediately realized that exposing the fox now would only backfire. The “little idiot” An Jiu would surely think he was bullying the weak.

There was no need to earn the boy’s resentment. A three-hundred-year-old fox cub would eventually show its true colors. Besides, he had no real intent to kill it; the bloodlines of the natural-born Yao were thin, and he had no interest in slaughtering his own kind.

An Jiu felt a bit muddled after answering Han Zhong. He knew it was strange for a fox with no magic or transformation to appear here. He tried to convince himself to stay away from the “fluff,” but he couldn’t shake the strange sense of familiarity. He felt a primal instinct to be near it.

“Is it really Ah Hua?” An Jiu muttered to himself. The fox responded by licking his wrist.

Whatever, let’s just get out of here first, An Jiu thought. Once we’re out, the little fox will probably go back home on its own.

The two fell into silence. The garden wasn’t large, and Han Zhong finished his first sweep quickly. For the second, more detailed search, he told An Jiu to stay put.

An Jiu obediently returned to the pavilion. He set the fox down, only to hear it whimper. The fox ran toward one of the pavilion pillars and began frantically digging at its base with its front paws.

“What is it?” An Jiu walked over to investigate. However, a human’s weight was different from a fox’s. Before the true exit, the butterfly woman had set a small trap. The moment An Jiu stepped on a specific tile, it sank into the floor.

An Jiu let out an abrupt scream. Above him, the hexagonal roof of the pavilion began to collapse, threatening to crush everything within the sinking structure. Suddenly, a brilliant white sword-light flashed, shearing the roof in half.

Seeing the pavilion continued to sink rapidly, Han Zhong stopped caring about the consequences for the butterfly spirit. His only concern was An Jiu’s safety. With another legendary strike, his chilling sword intent shattered the spatial pocket.

The scenery around them shifted violently. Han Zhong felt the floor vanish beneath him as he, too, began to fall. He looked down at An Jiu, who was flailing his arms and screaming, and exerted force to accelerate his descent. He caught An Jiu mid-air, pulling him into his arms.

“Stop screaming.”

An Jiu couldn’t hear him; the wind from the fall was roaring in his ears. Han Zhong sighed and pulled the boy closer to his chest, gently patting his back. “Don’t be afraid. It’s alright,” he whispered softly.

Feeling the embrace and the sudden end to his weightless plummet, An Jiu finally found a sense of security. He calmed down and stopped screaming, though his hands remained clenched tightly around the fabric of Han Zhong’s chest, refusing to let go.