Building a sect from scratch.

Chapter 77 The Fox Prince's Hospitality
Looking at the various detailed stone fox sculptures that Zhao Qing posted, Jia Xiaoren exclaimed, "This modeling must have cost a fortune!"

Bai Chenxue excitedly typed: "Can I join two sects at the same time? This Crimson Plains Sect looks like a paradise for those who love wealth and power! I can, I really can!"

Wang Ergou retorted, "Wake up! The fox demons are the ones who captured us to eat!"

Bai Chenxue was still unwilling to give up and struggled, saying, "I can sacrifice myself to become an undercover agent!"

"Your apprentice is hopeless, you can't keep him, find another one."

……

Meanwhile, Hu Zijun had already led Baili Shuang and Zhao Qing into the Chiyuan Cave.

Beyond the stone gate lies a hidden paradise.

Although Fang Xianyu had always known that Chiyuan Cave was a blessed land, she had never been there before—she wasn't familiar with Xinyue Xingjun, so why would she go to his lair for no reason!
Upon seeing it now, I couldn't help but feel somewhat surprised.

Although Chiyuan Cave is called a "cave," it is not the scene of caves everywhere that Fang Xianyu thought it was!

Crossing the stone gate, the first thing that comes into view is a "spirit field" with excellent growth. Unlike the human race's preference for neatly cultivating fields, this medicinal field seems to stretch endlessly, with no visible ridges or irrigation ditches.

The things planted in the "spirit field" are diverse, including all kinds of spirit herbs and plants, as well as shrubs and berries, and even a few dozen fruit trees scattered in various places. The varieties alone are too numerous to count.

Throughout the entire "spirit field," some foxes were diligently digging in the soil and catching insects, while others were carrying baskets almost as big as themselves, picking fruit. Although none of them had yet transformed into human form, they all appeared busy and seemingly disorganized at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they possessed a unique wild charm.

Seeing Baili Shuang and Zhao Qing looking around curiously, Hu Zijun led the way on a cloud while explaining, "This place is called 'Wild Fox Plain.' It was originally the place where the foxes that our ancestor took in lived. Later, they learned to grow herbs like you humans, and some even learned alchemy and medicine techniques. Our ancestor thought they liked it, so he specially collected a lot of seeds and books for them. Who would have thought that they would actually research many interesting pills and foods to celebrate our ancestor's birthday? Over time, this place became what it is today."

Baili Shuang flattered, "The fox is grateful, which shows that the atmosphere in Chiyuan Cave is excellent."

"You flatter me," Hu Zijun said modestly, but her expression was proud. When they arrived at a "village," she said, "Please wait a moment, I will go and invite my elders."

Baili Shuang responded, and Hu Zijun then called on the little foxes in the village to entertain the guest. Some of them squatted in front of a strangely shaped large stove, trying to breathe foxfire to light a fire to brew tea. Other foxes carried fruit baskets on their heads and vegetable baskets in their hands, carrying food to the nearby stream to wash it. Several foxes worked together to carry tables and chairs to Baili Shuang's side, their tongues lolling out from exhaustion as they panted heavily.

Then, a plump fox said enthusiastically in a delicate voice, "Fellow Daoists, please sit here and rest. The tea and fruit will be ready soon!"

Zhao Qing glanced at the foxes who had struggled for a long time to light the fire, and at the other foxes who had tripped and fallen halfway while carrying fruit baskets, causing all the fruit to scatter into the grass. She secretly dug out a three-bedroom, two-living-room house with her toes inside her shoes.

Baili Shuang was very polite in social situations. She led Zhao Qing to sit down and said, "We will only be staying for a short while. Fellow Daoists, there is no need for you to go to such trouble."

The plump fox shook its head and said seriously, "How can that be? Aunt Zijun never brings anyone to the cave. Since you're here, you're a distinguished guest!"

With that, he turned and leaped to the stove, running on all fours, and scolded, "You're all so stupid! After all this time, you still can't figure out how to use foxfire!"

After being trained, it widened its eyes, its pupils dilated, took a deep breath, puffed out its cheeks, swept its tail back and forth on the ground several times, and then breathed out a fist-sized mouthful of foxfire.

The foxfire flew into the furnace, trembling precariously as if it might go out at any moment. The foxes hurriedly gathered their hands and blew on it, managing to make the fire a little bigger. Just then, the smallest fox came running over, carrying a ceramic pot in its mouth. After gently setting the pot down, it asked in a childish voice, "Big sister, what is the tea that humans drink? I just saw Aunt Zijun hiding some tea, and it looked like it had worms in it! Humans don't eat worms, right?"

"Of course I don't eat bugs! As for tea... uh..."

Apparently, the fat fox was stumped by the question, which seemed to be outside its area of ​​knowledge. It bent down, pressed its ears back, scratched the ground in frustration, and then said, "You guys boil the water first, I'll go find some!"

The foxes responded in unison, and seven or eight of them sat around the stove. Even though they were so hot that their tongues were sticking out, they kept their eyes fixed on the copper kettle on the stove.

The foxes washing the fruit were even more unbearable to watch. They carried baskets and hampers, finally managing to wash the fruit clean, but then they tripped and fell over each other, spilling the fruit on the ground. The foxes following them grimaced in anger. Helpless, the foxes had no choice but to pick up the fruit again and carry it back to the stream to wash it once more.

Zhao Qing, who had watched the entire process from the side, was almost dumbfounded. She never expected that the foxes in the neighboring Chiyuan Cave would be so silly and clumsy—where was the beautiful and charming fox spirit she was supposed to be?!

Fang Xianyu, who was also seeing such a scene for the first time, couldn't help but put on a big, doting smile.

Before long, the foxes who were washing the fruit carefully brought over a basket full of fruit. The basket was crammed with red, green, and purple fruits of all colors. Zhao Qing took a closer look and realized that she recognized almost none of them.

A fox spirit enthusiastically scooped out a blue-purple fruit the size of an egg from its basket and handed it to Zhao Qing, saying, "This kind is delicious, fellow Daoist, please try it!"

"Ah, thank you..."

Zhao Qing thanked them while tentatively taking a bite.

The peel is slightly tart, while the flesh is a translucent dark brown, sweet and delicious, with a texture like plums and a flavor like blueberries. The pit is somewhat like a grape seed, evenly distributed inside the fruit, but it has a soft, springy texture that breaks easily with a bite, revealing an extremely sweet juicy filling.

The fox holding the fruit looked at her expectantly with its light golden eyes: "How is it? How is it?"

Zhao Qing quickly praised, "Delicious!"

"This one! This one is delicious too!"

The fox then stuffed several more kinds of fruit into Zhao Qing's arms, looking at her expectantly with its bright fox eyes each time, which made Zhao Qing eat until she was full and burped.

"I can't eat anymore, I'm so full, but it really was delicious! Thank you!"

Fox's ears drooped for a moment when it heard "can't eat anymore," but then perked up happily when it heard Zhao Qing praise it as "delicious." It even squinted its eyes and grinned, "You're welcome!"

Seeing how innocent and adorable the little fox in front of her was, Zhao Qing couldn't resist and asked in a low voice, "By the way, um, can I touch your ears?"

"Why!?"

(End of this chapter)