As the Stone Fox whispered in my ear, the last remaining crossbow suddenly turned towards me, its sharp arrowhead aimed directly at my chest.
The Stone Fox chuckled and said, "Your body can't move, but your feet still can. Just touch the crossbow's trigger, and we can perish together. Go on, touch it!"
Under the Stone Fox's taunting, I lifted my foot and reached for the trigger, brushing the edge of it with my toes. The arrow poised on the crossbow quivered slightly with each nudge, ready to fire at any moment.
"You can't reach the trigger, can you? Let me help!" The Stone Fox deliberately pushed me forward, making my toes hook onto the trigger.
At that moment, my mind went blank. All I could think about was taking the Stone Fox down with me. My toes hooked onto the trigger, ready to press it forward.
Just as I was about to do so, Han Zong suddenly appeared before me and slapped my forehead. "Wake up!"
I jolted awake and fell back onto the boat.
When I looked again, there was no trace of the Stone Fox on the boat. It had been just me the whole time, standing there with one foot reaching for the crossbow trigger.
I had been bewitched by the fox!
As I realized this, the cabin's doors and windows suddenly exploded outward. A gust of blood-tinged wind rushed into the cabin, and the crimson figure of the Stone Fox appeared simultaneously at the door and windows. No matter where I looked, I could see the blood-red silhouette standing on the water.
The Stone Fox, surrounding the boat, sneered, "So I finally managed to lure you out, old ghost. You've got one arrow left—can you find my true body?"
It turned out that the Stone Fox had manipulated me earlier to trigger the crossbow, all to draw Han Zong out.
Han Zong couldn't possibly rush in carrying the heavy crossbow; abandoning it would mean wasting our second chance entirely.
I was trembling with rage, unable to utter a word. Han Zong placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, lifted the crossbow, and whispered, "If I miss, you must jump into the water. Let Zi Mu take you away."
"Child, remember this: as long as you survive, there's hope. When you can escape, never hesitate. Running away and staying alive is the most important thing."
Han Zong's voice was very low, and he didn't know how Shi Hu heard it. Shi Hu, with a cold laugh, suddenly waved his hand and said, "Want to run?"Look at this!As I followed the direction of Shihu's fingertip, I saw a corpse floating on the water's surface. "Zimu!""I almost shouted out loud." Just now, wasn't Zimu still fighting the stone fox? When I was about to lean towards the window to see what was going on, a loud sound of a bowstring vibrating suddenly came from behind me. A crossbow bolt, accompanied by a sharp whistle, shot past my ear from the cabin and headed straight for the stone fox on the opposite side. A two-foot-long crossbow bolt instantly pierced through the stone fox, creating a fist-sized hole in its chest, yet the person still stood on the water, riding the waves. "Quick, go!""Han Zong grabbed my shoulder with one hand and struck the cabin's wooden boards with the other. The cabin immediately shattered into pieces under his hand, and large planks flew towards the direction of the stone fox like a torrential rain." Han Zong pulled me back towards the bow of the ship. I was dragged backward by him, unable to stand firm on my feet, and before I could even see what was happening on the water's surface, I was pulled into the water by him. Han Zong pushed me hard and shouted, "Run!Hurry!"I also knew that I couldn't dawdle at this moment. I glanced back at Han Zong, who was entangled by the stone fox, and swam desperately towards the shore." I hadn't swum far when I felt a tight grip on my ankle—someone was holding my ankle from under the water. I still wanted to struggle, but a tremendous force dragged me to the bottom of the water. The stone fox also appeared before my eyes, its hands holding my cheeks, its eyes corners lifting backward, its nose protruding forward. In just a few seconds, its entire face transformed into that of a fox. The stone fox didn't move its mouth, but the voice reached my ears: "I originally planned to take good care of you, wait until my fox blood merges with yours, and then slowly peel off your skin."But you had to resist and even tainted my fox skin with ghostly energy.I can only skin you right now."My skinning technique is definitely the same as Chen He's!"The stone fox's claws slid along my cheek to my neck, the nails on its thumbs pressing like knives against my throat, slicing to the sides. The moment blood started to rise from my wound, someone suddenly grabbed my feet from below and violently pulled me towards the bottom of the water. Just as the stone fox's claws grazed my face, a crossbow bolt shot out from behind me. This time, the stone fox couldn't dodge this fatal blow in time, and the crossbow bolt pierced through its forehead. The moment the stone fox's body fell backward in the water, Han Zong also pulled me out of the water and swam back to the boat with me. The one who just pulled me out from under the stone fox's claws was Han Zong. Who was the one who shot the stone fox with a crossbow?
When I looked into the water, I saw Zimu using a crossbow to fish out the corpse of the stone fox. It turns out, Han Zong and Zi Mu never placed their hopes of shooting the stone fox on me; instead, they used me as bait.They knew very well that to trick a cunning and suspicious fox, they first had to eliminate its wariness.Their previous failures were all in preparation for this final arrow. Of course, the two of them almost lost their lives because of this, especially Zimu, who even risked having his soul scattered by the foxes to deceive the enemy. At this moment, Zi Mu coldly shouted, "Kill all the foxes, not a single one must escape!"In the water, at an unknown time, hundreds of water ghosts appeared, rushing towards the fox group. Originally, the fox pack was evenly matched with the water ghosts, but in an instant, they were completely surrounded by them. The leading fox suddenly let out a long howl, and the fox pack, as if driven mad, rushed towards the corpse suspended in the air by the wooden stick. Even if they were torn apart by the water ghosts, not a single one retreated. Even in death, they want to die alongside their king. Zi Mu carried the stone fox's corpse, just to lure the foxes into the fire like moths. Before long, the water's surface was stained a deep crimson with fox blood. The last fox, dragging its body torn apart by ghostly claws, rushed to within two meters of Zimu before being dragged into the whirlpool by the water ghost. Just before it sank into the water, its eyes were still fixed on the corpse hanging in the air. I thought the fox pack had been completely slaughtered when suddenly, a long fox howl echoed from the distance. Its voice not only carried sadness and hatred but also seemed to be rallying its clan. As I followed the sound and looked over, I happened to lock eyes with the large white fox standing on the dirt slope by the shore. There was at least a hundred meters between us, yet I could clearly see the blood flowing from its eyes and the deep-seated hatred within them. It seemed to be staring intently at my face, trying to memorize my appearance. We only locked eyes for a second, and the white fox disappeared on the hillside without hesitation. Zi Mu frowned and said, "One still got away."You're going to be in trouble."You are going to be in trouble."