Lie down?

With its long snout stuck in the mud, how was the nine-tailed white fox supposed to lie down any further?

The nine-tailed white fox wanted to cry without tears, yet all the poison beasts around it — including the big foolish bear — were gloating. After all, how rare an opportunity was it to watch the most arrogant and noble specialty-grade poison beast in the whole world make a fool of itself in front of everyone!

“Down! Down!”

The little one babbled the syllables, patting the nine-tailed white fox’s head again and again.

The nine-tailed white fox eyed him sideways with that harmless expression of his, filled with regret. Its fox eyes rolled and rolled — if it had been anyone else, seeing a fox’s eyes roll like that, they would surely have been afraid!

Because that meant the crafty fox was scheming something devious!

Yet the little one wasn’t afraid of it at all, and continued babbling in his milky voice, “Down… down…”

No matter how the nine-tailed white fox rolled its eyes, it couldn’t think of any way to trick this little rascal, because its mouth was stuck in the dirt and it couldn’t speak at all.

It knew perfectly well that if it dared pull its mouth out on its own, and the little rascal started crying, then it could forget about surviving in the world of poison beasts ever again.

Left with no choice, the noble nine-tailed white fox could only obey. Slowly, carefully, bit by bit, it lowered itself down, and as its long snout sank deeper and deeper, its body pressed closer and closer to the ground.

Fortunately, the soil here wasn’t too hard, or else the nine-tailed white fox didn’t dare imagine the consequences.

Soon, the nine-tailed white fox’s entire body, all four limbs, lay flat against the earth, its mouth completely buried in the soil. Its once-flirtatious fox face pressed intimately against the ground, leaving only its nine fluffy tails standing upright.

But the little one still didn’t seem satisfied, babbling again in his milky voice, “Bury… bury…”

Bury?

What did that mean?

The nine-tailed white fox didn’t understand, so the little one personally set to work, pushing at its head, its neck, its body.

A terrifying thought flashed through the nine-tailed white fox’s mind like lightning. Instantly, the white fur on all nine of its tails stood on end — this was too terrifying!

Was this little rascal really going to bury it?!

Seeing the nine-tailed white fox not moving, the little one turned to look westward, though it wasn’t clear what he was looking at. Turning his head back, his expression immediately grew impatient, and he cried out urgently, “Bury… bury! Bury!”

Not only that, the little one actually started digging at the soil near the fox’s face himself.

The nine-tailed white fox’s heart had all but given up, yet it still didn’t move. Soon, the ever-loyal big foolish bear came waddling over to help — after all, one swipe of its bear paw was worth a year of the little one’s small hands digging. Heaven only knew how many normal-sized foxes it could bury!

Just before the big bear’s paw came down, the nine-tailed white fox, of its own accord, forced itself hard down into the soil!

Could this be called “accepting one’s fate”? If it could, then it would just accept it!

Sure enough, doing it voluntarily proved most effective — soon the nine-tailed white fox’s entire body was planted headfirst into the soil, leaving only its nine tails fanned out in the air. Seen from a distance, anyone unaware would have thought it was a leafy white radish buried in the mud!

At this, the little one was overjoyed. His originally serious expression instantly transformed into an utterly innocent, adorable smile. He glanced once more toward the empty western sky, seeming quite satisfied, and only then turned back around, tenderly stroking the nine-tailed white fox’s nine completely bristled tails — one by one, smoothing them from tip to base.

The nine-tailed white fox, holding its breath in the soil, felt the little one’s gentle stroking and nearly wept — it hadn’t suffered for nothing after all!

It was so rare for the little one to smooth its fur — after all, since the little one was born, he had only ever smoothed the big foolish bear’s fur before!

How rare, how honored!

The nine-tailed white fox was so gratified it was determined to hold its breath to the very end!

But soon, it discovered things weren’t quite as it had imagined.

After smoothing all nine tails, the little one sat down to the side, gazing toward the western sky, as if waiting for someone.

At this moment, there was no mischief in him, no cunning, no restlessness — he simply sat quietly, his finely carved little face nothing but serious, even solemn in a way beyond his years.

Such an expression closely resembled his father’s.

After a long while, a streak of fire suddenly appeared in the western sky, and in an instant, it shot right up to them. Only upon closer look did they see clearly — it was Henggong Fish!

And Ziqing sat upon its back. So it turned out the little one had been waiting for his mother!

From afar, Ziqing spotted the little one and the nine fox tails beside him, puzzled as to what was going on.

The moment she landed, she walked over and asked, confused, “Son, what are you two doing?”

Just then, the little one suddenly broke into a grin, and his small hand, hidden behind his back, suddenly jabbed the nine-tailed white fox right in the rear. No one knew exactly where he had struck, but the nine tails swaying in the air instantly froze, and at the same moment, all bristled up together!

It had to be admitted — nine tails growing straight up out of the ground was already a beautiful sight, like some strange flower blooming from the earth, and the moment they all bristled together, it was even more beautiful, as if the flower had suddenly burst into bloom!

Ziqing watched, momentarily stunned. In this world of poison beasts where black vegetation covered half the sky, this was the first time she had seen such a breathtakingly beautiful sight.

Beautiful as it was, Ziqing still didn’t understand what game her son and the nine-tailed white fox were playing.

Ziqing had just returned from a trip with the Miser Beast and the others to the ruins of the Gu-cultivators, and once again had found nothing. To be honest, her mood wasn’t good at all.

So much time had passed, and still no word from the Gu-cultivators — how could she not be afraid?

She feared being forgotten, feared that people outside had no idea she was here, and feared most of all that she would never get out, ruining her son’s entire life!

These days, she had been searching the entire world of poison beasts like a madwoman — even though the ruins had all been damaged nearly beyond recognition, she still refused to give up!

But in the end, she still couldn’t find a single clue!

She truly felt she was going mad!

Yet no matter how bad her mood, she always endured it alone, never once revealing any of it in front of her son.

“Son, what are you two doing?”

As Ziqing asked, she reached to pick up the little one — but the little one pointed at the bristled nine tails and babbled in his milky voice, “Flower… Mommy, flower… for you.”

The moment he said this, Ziqing’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. In that moment, all the grievances and despair she’d endured over this past year and more seemed to vanish entirely, leaving only a feeling of contentment!

Flower…

Jun Beiyue had never even given her flowers before, yet her son had found this way to give her flowers.

Ziqing held the little one close, unable to stop sniffling. With a son like this, what more could she possibly ask for?

She absolutely had to find a way out — she absolutely had to let her son return to the normal human world as soon as possible, to see the world outside!

The little one blinked his curious eyes, watching the tears glisten in his mommy’s eyes. He was still too young, and simply thought his mommy was crying, so he quickly reached out his chubby little hands, pulling up the corners of Ziqing’s mouth, wanting her to smile.

Ziqing burst out laughing at this, and held the little one tightly, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of his small head.

Son — even if just for your sake, Mommy will never despair, never give up!