Chapter 57: Crashing the Feast

Once the fox elder finished talking with Liu Wenchang, he walked over to Zhang Hao with a face full of yearning and a broad smile.

"My friend, the host family just told me that they’ve arranged a very important seat for you. I'm tagging along to sit with you."

Seeing his beaming expression, the corners of Zhang Hao’s eyes twitched slightly.

Still feeling pleased with yourself, are you?

Arranging a guest seat for me is because of my good suona playing and the song "White Fox," but arranging an important seat for you means they want to do something to you.

For instance, you eat the feast, while the foxes eat you...

Just imagining the scene sent a chill down Zhang Hao's spine, and his brow furrowed deeply.

This arrangement by the foxes made things rather tricky. It had essentially disrupted all his plans, and he needed to figure out a way to execute his strategy effectively.

Before he could come up with a solution, a shrill fox cry rang out in his ear.

"Squeak-squeak-squeak~"

Trapped in a hallucination, Liu Wenchang still hadn't noticed anything amiss. In his eyes, everything here was completely normal and fine.

Except for the fact that this family was holding a wedding in the middle of the night, and some of the customs were a bit different from the weddings he had attended before, everything else was entirely normal.

This included the way those people were speaking; he could understand them just fine and grasped their meaning as well.

For some reason, though, he always felt as though Zhang Hao couldn't understand what these people were saying. Perhaps it was because Zhang Hao was mute? Or maybe because Zhang Hao didn't have a good relationship with them?

Never mind, it didn't matter. He would just translate and retell whatever those people said to Zhang Hao anyway.

It neither wasted time nor effort.

Little did he know that all of this was simply the result of his hallucinations and his own overactive imagination.

At that moment, he turned to look at the speaker, tilted his head to listen, and wore a sudden look of realization. Turning back around, he said, "Let's go, they're getting ready to serve the feast and are telling the two of us to hurry over."

Just as his voice trailed off, several foxes closed in from all sides, grinning and squinting their eyes, and escorted Zhang Hao and Liu Wenchang toward the cave.

Liu Wenchang maintained an excited expression throughout, his eyes gleaming as he repeatedly licked his parched lips.

It had been a long time since he last had a full meal. Now that he had finally stumbled upon a wedding, and this family hadn't recognized him as a wanted criminal, being able to attend a feast felt like a blessing from the heavens.

Zhang Hao wore a strained smile, completely devoid of any genuine warmth.

A feast... I just hope it's a normal wedding banquet for the fox bride and groom, and not some bizarre monstrosity.

Escorted by the foxes, the two men arrived at a stone table right in the center of the cave and were seated in the seats reserved for the guests of honor.

"Tch, you're awesome, buddy! This is a VIP seat! I'm tagging along with you and sitting at the second-guest spot," Liu Wenchang said happily.

Zhang Hao remained silent, his expression calm while anxiety churned inside him as he sat down.

To be honest, he had no interest in the feast; he probably wouldn't eat whatever the foxes served anyway...

Besides, securing the mountain treasure was far more important than eating. He would rather figure out where the treasure was kept so he could grab it and run at the first opportunity.

However, this seating arrangement... running away was going to be quite troublesome. This was the exact center of the cave, and no matter which tunnel exit he chose to sprint toward, he would have to pass by several stone tables. The moment those foxes noticed him taking the mountain treasure, they would immediately intercept him.

This was the primary obstacle hindering the execution of his plan.

After all, his original plan was to wait until the fox groom and bride finished bowing to heaven and earth, then take the poacher and sit at one of the outermost stone tables during the banquet phase. Once he spotted the mountain treasure, he would seize the opportunity to bring the poacher forward to "admire" it. At the first chance, he would snatch the treasure and use a specific trick to make the foxes believe the poacher had stolen it.

Of course, these foxes weren't stupid, and Zhang Hao didn't intend to let the poacher take the blame forever. As long as the poacher could stall the foxes for ten to fifteen minutes, Zhang Hao would have enough time to escape down the mountain.

The whole plan would flow smoothly and succeed without a hitch.

But now... the situation had become a bit difficult.

Most importantly, the fox wedding had progressed this far, yet he still didn't even know what the mountain treasure was, nor had he seen the foxes bring it out as an offering.

It wasn't among the betrothal gifts or the dowry—Zhang Hao had already verified that earlier.

Rustle, rustle~

Suddenly, the sound of gurgling water echoed nearby.

Zhang Hao paused, shifted his gaze, and looked toward the source.

He saw Liu Wenchang picking up a kettle-like vessel and pouring a transparent liquid into the stone cup in front of him.

Next, Liu Wenchang picked up the stone cup, held it to his nose to sniff it, and a look of mild enjoyment crossed his face.

Then, without a second thought, he downed the liquid in the stone cup in one gulp, smacked his lips, and closed his eyes in deep satisfaction.

However, his expression lasted only a few seconds before turning rather peculiar.

He opened his eyes, stared at the stone cup, sniffed it again, looked perplexed, and muttered, "Why is this wine completely without a kick? It smelled quite fragrant, though."

It would be a miracle if it had any kick... How could foxes possibly drink alcohol?

Zhang Hao muttered inwardly, choosing not to expose him, while casting a deep look at the transparent liquid in the vessel.

Chances were, it was just ordinary mountain spring water or some special water concocted by the foxes.

Looking around, he saw that the stone tables in the cave were gradually filling up with foxes, and the stone table he was sitting at was also packed with fox elders.

Those fox elders were grinning broadly at him, baring their sharp teeth, and letting out "squeaking" noises. Zhang Hao swallowed hard, forced a strained smile, and neither nodded nor shook his head.

Liu Wenchang, on the other hand, was chatting merrily with them, occasionally letting out hearty laughs and acting as warmly as if they were family.

In Zhang Hao's eyes, he was completely talking to himself, because how could a human possibly communicate with animals?

Shortly after, as the noisy cave gradually quieted down, several foxes carrying stone platters emerged from various entrances of the cave and headed toward different stone tables.

The food was being served.

Liu Wenchang had been waiting precisely for this moment. He craned his neck, poked his head forward to peer into the stone platters, and swallowed continuously.

Zhang Hao also leaned forward to look, but at a single glance, his face darkened.

The foxes served the food with astonishing speed. Within a short moment, the stone table was filled to the brim, piled so high that no more dishes could fit.

Liu Wenchang picked up his wooden chopsticks, grabbed a stone bowl-like vessel, and continuously swallowed his accumulating saliva. "My friend, weddings in your place are really different! The feast is entirely made of meat, not even a single vegetable in sight!"

Zhang Hao turned his stiff neck, his gaze sweeping across one stone platter after another.

Unplucked, gray dead mice; half a wild chicken with unplucked feathers and its internal organs piled together; black hard-shelled bugs the size of a thumb; newborn, hairless baby mice; and some bloody entrails of unrecognizable origin...

Well, he wasn't wrong; it was indeed meat, but this kind of meat...

Before Zhang Hao could even react, he saw that Liu Wenchang could no longer restrain himself. He grabbed his chopsticks, picked up a strand of bloody chicken intestines mixed with unknown mucus, shoved it into his mouth, and chewed vigorously.

As he chewed, an expression of enjoyment spread across his face, and a bit of that unknown mucus leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Hao felt a wave of nausea roil in his stomach, his throat nearly flying open as he fought to keep from vomiting up everything he had eaten over the past few days.

It was simply... too disgusting.

Yet, he absolutely could not vomit. Once he did, it would be far too easy for the surrounding foxes to notice something was wrong.

Suppressing his nausea, Zhang Hao repeatedly forced his breath downward, trying his best not to look at Liu Wenchang.

Liu Wenchang swallowed the chicken intestines, licked his lips, and his eyes lit up. "This spiced tripe tastes really good! I don't know how they processed it, but it isn't gamey at all, and the spiciness and acidity are just right. Not bad, not bad."

As he spoke, he picked up a dead mouse and popped it into his mouth, chewing with a loud crunching sound.

After finishing the dead mouse, he looked around and noticed that he seemed to be the only one using chopsticks. Everyone else had simply picked up their utensils without touching the food—especially Zhang Hao, who was sitting in the VIP seat and hadn't even picked up his chopsticks at all.

Perplexed, he looked at Zhang Hao and asked, "What's wrong, buddy? Why aren't you eating? Is this food not to your taste?"

Zhang Hao waved his hand, forced a smile, and fought down the churning in his stomach.

Liu Wenchang nodded thoughtfully, glanced around the table again, and hesitated for a moment before putting down his chopsticks and reaching into his pocket to grope around.

A moment later, he pulled out a few white, crumpled plastic bags.

With a swift flick of his large hand and a rustling sound, the plastic bag snapped open. The movement was exceptionally practiced, clearly showing he had plenty of experience.

He was planning to pack up the leftovers to take away.

Sure enough, he smiled as he looked at the others. "If none of you are going to eat, then I'll take it away. Such delicious food shouldn't go to waste."