When the farm couple moved the tables and chairs out together, the foxes were waiting outside to help them put the tables and chairs in place.
Finally, the farmer couple carried out a round table together. During the process, they chatted with each other in the inner hall about the interesting things about the guests outside.
"Hey, these outsiders are really strange. Why are they so polite? They don't want to bother us because they don't want to come into the house to disturb us."
"Hehe, that's right. Before daybreak, the leader said there was a fox stealing chickens, so we came to catch it. I didn't believe it at first, but since there was money to be made and we were in our own village, I wasn't afraid that he would default on his debt. Now I think he must be telling the truth."
The peasant woman smiled, and followed her husband to carry out the round table from the inner room, and glanced at the guests outside through the curtain.
"By the way, I heard that they are from Dazhen. What country is Dazhen and where is it located?"
"Well, I'm not sure. Judging from the situation, it should be a country of etiquette."
"Okay, okay, let's stop talking. They look so hungry."
The two men carried the round table out. Hu Li and the people around him quickly stood up to help, and then someone else helped the couple to bring out the dishes one by one.
During this process, the foxes sitting outside the house had already shifted their attention away from the statue. They were all attracted by the dishes, especially the many chickens, which were boiled, braised, or stewed. The aroma was very tempting.
"Come on, come on, everyone sit down, sit down. This is a small country place, so we don't have much good food to offer. Please don't be dissatisfied!"
The peasant woman said a few polite words and invited everyone to take a seat. The foxes, who had been impatient for a long time, jumped up and sat down.
"I don't mind, I don't mind!"
"Yes, yes, don't be disgusted, this is a delicious dish, a table of delicious food!"
“Gurgle~~~~”
"Uh, you two, can we eat now?"
When Hu Li asked this, the peasant woman and the farmer standing by were stunned for a moment and then quickly spoke.
"Please use it, please use it. Don't be polite, everyone. Please use it!"
The money had already been paid, so of course they were allowed to eat. Upon hearing this, Hu Li gave an order to the foxes.
“Let’s eat!”
Brush, brush, brush…
As reserved as the foxes were before, they ate more unrestrainedly after being let loose. They stuffed big chunks of chicken and vegetables into their mouths, shoveled rice in sugared water, and chewed madly with their cheeks puffed up.
Everyone was extremely excited with their mouths full of oil. They hadn't eaten so well in a long time. They had been sleeping in the open air for the past few months and their life was very hard.
Just as a group of foxes were eating heartily, a faint laugh suddenly sounded in the ears of Hu Li and some of the other foxes.
“Hehehehe…” Hahahahahahaha…
Hu Li suddenly stopped gnawing on the chicken leg, his cheeks still bulging. He raised his head and looked around, and found that most of the foxes were still eating frantically, but two or three of his companions also stopped at this time.
"Grandpa, did you hear any sound?"
The little fox beside him transformed into a girl who was dressed very simply. She leaned close to Hu Li's ear and asked in a low voice.
"Gu..."
"Yes, it sounded like laughter..."
Hu Li swallowed what he had in his mouth, wiped his mouth, nodded and spoke, while secretly glancing towards the kitchen. The couple were carrying a rice bucket towards this side to make it easier for the foxes to serve themselves rice. Obviously, the couple were not laughing, at least not in such a strange way.
“Hahahahahahaha…”
The laughter was heard again, and Hu Li suddenly shuddered. He turned his head carefully to look behind him. Through the gap in the half-open door, he could see the statue of God placed in the living room of this family.
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha… "
Hu Li was frightened and trembled. He raised his knee and slammed it on the table with a bang, causing the dishes in front of him to shake.
Now Hu Li understood that the statue in this family's home seemed to be a real god. Fortunately, the other party did not seem to have any intention of harming them, but this also made Hu Li very nervous.
"Eat quickly, eat quickly, and leave quickly after eating."
"All right!"
Although many foxes didn't know what was going on, they instinctively chose to listen to Hu Li's words.
In Hu Li's opinion, if this statue is of some local god, then they might have been targeted by the god. After all, they are monsters and are very afraid of this.
While the foxes were busy eating, an old man in white clothes, white hair and long white beard appeared in the yard. He walked to the side of the round table, stroking his beard and smiling at the guests in front of the table.
The old man had a kind face. In his eyes, there were foxes surrounding the table at this moment. Some were big, some were small, and had different fur colors. They were squatting on the chairs and stools, holding the chopsticks awkwardly with their claws, and constantly taking the dishes on the table.
Yet despite this exaggerated eating habit, all the foxes remained cautious and their evil aura was very mild, with almost no evil or hostility.
"Interesting, interesting. Such an interesting monster should be shown to Mr. Ji."
The fox girl next to Hu Li was chewing the chicken in her mouth with her cheeks puffed out, then she scooped a bowl of chicken soup and gulped it down. Suddenly she felt something, turned her head to look to her side, and vaguely saw an old man with white beard and white hair standing next to her. She couldn't help but gently nudged Hu Li with her elbow.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, did you see it?"
"what did you see?"
Hu Li’s first reaction was to look back at the statue in the farmer’s house, and his second reaction was to look around, but he didn’t see anything special.
"See… "
The fox girl opened her eyes wide, her breathing became a little rapid, and she couldn't continue her words because the white-bearded old man seemed to have noticed her and was standing in front of her.
"Little fox, can you see me?"
"Yes, yes..."
The old man smiled and simply stopped hiding his true intention. He just let out a faint light and transformed himself into a human form. It was Qin Zizhou, but the one here was just a fragment of his spirit.
Of course, Qin Zizhou's appearance scared the other foxes. All of them stopped eating, and a few of them were so frightened that they choked and hung their chests.
"I think you fox spirits are quite interesting. The way you eat must be because you haven't had a good meal in a long time. Are you really from Dazhen?"
Hu Li subconsciously glanced at the couple who were still busy cooking in the kitchen, and Qin Zizhou smiled when he saw them.
"The Liu family won't notice this place, nor will they come here at this moment. You don't need to be afraid. My surname is Qin. I'm a good doctor and I don't like to kill. You have pure spirits and are not evil spirits. I won't do anything to you."
"In reply to the old gentleman, we actually escaped from Zuyue. We have only been out for a while and found that it is more convenient to be with people who claim to be great..."
"Um."
Qin Zizhou looked at the fox girl beside Hu Li a few more times, then focused his attention on Hu Li, looking him up and down and suddenly said.
"Are you looking for the Peak Crossing?"
These words were like the sound of nature, cheering up Hu Li and the other foxes who knew that the Summit Ferry was on Yuelu Mountain but had been searching for it in vain. They looked at Qin Zizhou with expectant eyes.
"Old man, do you know how to get to the top of the mountain? We want to go farther away, to other continents, to find the place we long for..."
Qin Zizhou stroked his long beard and looked at Huli. These little foxes with shallow cultivation were actually so knowledgeable. They knew there were other continents and knew how to go to the peak to cross
"You seem to be of little knowledge but you know a lot. Hmm, where is the place you long for?"
Hu Li tried to relax himself and answered.
"I had a dream before. I dreamed that there was a sacred place for the fox clan across the sea. It seemed that there was a world beyond the sky, with beautiful mountains and rivers, and fox fairies practicing... After waking up, this scene lingered in my mind. Finally, because of some misfortunes, I simply came to look for it. I suffered a lot along the way, and finally I figured out that there was a fairy ferry here that would not kill monsters. If I could go to other continents, I would try my luck..."
"oh… "
Qin Zizhou nodded slightly. He had heard Ji Yuan talk about the so-called Fox Clan Holy Land. He was not interested in whether what he said was true or false. At least his desire to go to the Fox Clan Holy Land should be true.
"The holy place you are talking about should be the Jade Fox Cave Heaven, located in the Qiancang Mountain in Lanzhou, Western Region..."
At this moment, Hu Li felt as if he had been electrified. Mr. Ji had said before that if they couldn't find the way to the top, they should just wander around the foot of the mountain. It seemed like he had already calculated this moment
"So that's it, so that's it! It turns out to be called Xiyu Lanzhou, and it turns out to be a shallow Cang Mountain over there! It's all thanks to the old gentleman's guidance that we have solved our doubts!"
Hu Li's two words "so that's how it is" actually had different meanings, but the other foxes and even Qin Zizhou didn't hear it. They just quickly wiped the oil off their hands on the table, stood up, walked out of their seat, and saluted Qin Zizhou solemnly.
"Thank you very much for your guidance, old sir!"
The other foxes also followed and left their positions, saluting to Qin Zizhou. The latter nodded and smiled, but felt a little strange in his heart, but not uncomfortable.
The farm couple did not seem to notice the guests' strange behavior. They were quite enthusiastic. In addition to the agreed dishes, they added some extra dishes so that the guests could eat and drink well. After seeing off the guests, although the couple was exhausted, the money they received was enough to make them happy for a while. The farm woman even lit another stick of incense and offered it in front of the statue in the living room.
He kept praying: "God, God, bless me to make a fortune..."
Qin Zizhou, who was standing by, was speechless after hearing this. He was not the god of wealth. He just looked in the direction where the foxes left for a long time. He instinctively felt that this group of foxes did not seem simple.
"There are many more fox spirits in the world..."
... ...
ps: I was out doing some work today. I thought I would be able to recover in half a day, but it took me a whole day. My head was very swollen, so I can only update once today.