300: Chapter 241 300: Chapter 241 The Earl looked at the cave that appeared, and as he had guessed, an even stronger scent of fox qi wafted out from inside.
He could also hear laughter coming from inside the cave, and the sound of that laughter speaking, but there was only the voice of a woman.
The Earl asked everyone to wait outside, not knowing how much danger lay ahead, and taking these powerless people with him might lead to them being ambushed by the fox inside the cave.
The Viscount, anxious about his father’s safety, had no choice but to obey the Earl’s command.
The Viscount and the Hunters all stayed outside the cave entrance, while the Earl, holding a magic wand, used an Illusion Technique to hide everyone outside, to prevent the fox, when cornered, from hurting those outside.
The Earl didn’t have absolute confidence in defeating the fox; as cunning as it was, he also had to rely on strategies to accomplish this rescue.
The Earl also cloaked himself with an Illusion Technique, step by step he moved forward, entering the cave which, if one didn’t know it was a fox’s lair, would certainly be mistaken for a luxurious residence.
The furniture and decorations inside were all top-notch; one could imagine the life of a daughter of wealth that the fox must have been leading here.
This was an imitation of a wealthy daughter’s life; even the girls in his stockade were not as well off as this fox.
Inside the cave was a living room, and beyond that, the boudoir, and further within, inner chambers.
He entered the boudoir and saw the fox sitting on the bed, wearing only a thin gauze dress, with a middle-aged man lying on the bed beside her, his upper garments already removed.
This man was an uncle from their stockade.
The very uncle who had gone missing was indeed here, seemingly oblivious, unaware whether he had fainted or had been bewitched.
“Who’s there?” The fox seemed to smell an additional qi and looked around vigilantly.
It stopped laughing, and its eyes, unable to find anyone, scanned every corner of the cave.
But how could it possibly find anyone?
The Earl hadn’t expected the fox’s nose to be so sensitive; even though he had used an Illusion Technique, he was still detected by the fox, which also guessed that someone had tracked its scent to the vicinity of their stockade, leading to the uncle’s capture.
Such a cunning fox could not be allowed to harm others; it had to be eliminated.
The Earl recited a curse at his staff, “Laba, laba, la,” causing the magic staff to emit a dazzling light, visible only to him.
The fox, looking around, seemed to sense the approaching danger and tried to flee the cave.
Its actions were too late; just as it took flight, its body was bound by a force, and it released its own spells in resistance.
The fox screamed shrilly, its loud cry unable to alleviate the pain, feeling only that the binding force grew tighter and burned its life away.
It could feel its lifespan ebbing away bit by bit, its spiritual power depleting, the result of thousands of years of cultivation dissipating.
This pain was not just physical, but a torment to the soul; its body, slowly forced back to its true form by this power, reverted from a beautiful woman to an old fox, its face covered with wrinkles.
The fox struggled desperately with its claws but to no avail, unwilling to die like that, unwilling to turn to ash.
It mustered all its strength for a mighty blow, a feint, with the real intention of escaping.
This was not the first time it had used this tactic; a hundred years ago it had successfully fled, never expecting to face such a calamity again today.
The fox finally turned into a wisp of smoke, which dissipated into the air, drifting towards the cave’s exit.
The fox had already been severely injured, barely clinging to life as it fled; now it loathed humans deeply, blaming them for its escape twice and the severe injuries inflicted upon it.
It vowed that once recovered it would seek revenge, determined to return and destroy all these humans.
“Where do you think you’re going?” The Earl, no senseless killer, knew that sparing this creature would bring disaster upon their stockade, for apart from him and his magic staff, the others were as vulnerable as ordinary people.
The light from the Earl’s magic staff pursued the escaping wisp of smoke, enveloping it within the staff’s luminance.
“Humans, if you have the guts, come out!
Sneaking around so deceitfully, you despicable humans, you won’t die a good death.”
The fox cursed, compelled to do so, perhaps for the last time ever.
The curses it uttered in that moment were like a spell itself; having cultivated for thousands of years, to be so easily killed by a human was unbearable.
In truth, the fox had only ever killed one person, a powerful and influential young master, and had been hunted by his family ever since.
Now, before it could commit further evil deeds, it was already facing a human’s deadly assault, leaving it on the verge of death.
The Earl had no desire to converse further with this fairy, knowing that a cunning fox kept alive would only grow into a menace.
How could he sympathize with an evil-doing fox?
The magic staff was meant to punish the guilty; its punishment of the fox demonstrated that this creature had committed evil acts before, taken lives, killed the innocent.
Once again, the Earl chanted a curse through his magic staff, using the power of magic to neutralize the curses laid by the fox, and utilizing the staff to engulf the smoky form the fox had assumed.
“Humans, my kin will avenge me.
As the fox spoke these words, the last trace of its presence, dissolving into a mirage, used its final strength to transmit the image to its kin.
Regrettably, its slayer remained unseen, and the fox only knew that humans were responsible.