Chapter 65: Frightened Out of Their Wits

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

Zhang Hao marched forward in a hurried, unhesitating rush, his movements swift as lightning. In the blink of an eye, he arrived less than two meters away from the Thunder-Struck Wood.

Just at that moment:

"Agh! Foxes, foxes!"

"Squeak, squeak, squeak~"

Behind him, Liu Wenchang let out a series of miserable screams, accompanied by a chorus of loud, chaotic fox cries breaking out one after another.

Zhang Hao abruptly whipped his head around to see that the massive pack of foxes, which should have remained on the perimeter, had closed in and completely surrounded Liu Wenchang, as if about to subject him to some horrific fate.

Liu Wenchang was trapped by the foxes.

Zhang Hao frowned, a heavy and solemn look in his eyes as a flurry of thoughts raced through his mind.

No, Liu Wenchang could not die just yet; his usefulness had not yet been fully drawn out.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Hao turned back, covering the remaining distance to the Thunder-Struck Wood in two lightning-fast strides. Instantly, he yanked the heavy hunting knife from his waist. With sharp eyes and swift hands, he raised the blade and slashed down at the base of the Thunder-Struck Wood—right where the gnarled roots connected to the old tree stump.

According to ancient texts, the proper method for harvesting Thunder-Struck Wood required digging up whatever its roots were anchored to and taking it away together, as this was the only way to allow the Thunder-Struck Wood to continue growing.

However, Zhang Hao deemed this unnecessary.

Since he was taking the Thunder-Struck Wood, it would inevitably mean that this particular piece of wood would never be struck by lightning again, effectively marking the end of its mystical cycle. If he dug up its anchor and let it continue to grow, it was only a matter of time before these foxes tracked it down by its scent or aura.

Moreover, under the present circumstances, the foxes would never give him the time to dig out such a massive tree stump. Even if he somehow managed to unearth it, he had no container to hold it, nor did he possess the physical strength to haul a tree stump away while running for his life.

Therefore, after a brief weighing of options, he decisively chose to take the Thunder-Struck Wood alone and leave the stump behind.

A flash of cold steel cut through the air as his sharp hunting knife slashed directly toward the roots of the Thunder-Struck Wood.

Slash!

Whoosh!

Crack!

With a swift drop of his hand, he watched with his own eyes as the thick roots were severed by the blade.

Yet, the very instant the roots of the Thunder-Struck Wood were severed, Zhang Hao faintly heard the rumble of thunder. The sound was not particularly loud, yet it felt like a punishment from the heavens or the descent of a divine entity, striking deep into the core of one's soul.

True to its reputation as Thunder-Struck Wood...

Zhang Hao hastily shook his head to clear it and grabbed the Thunder-Struck Wood, which was now freed from the support and connection of the stump. The moment he grasped it in his hand, out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the pack of foxes growing increasingly agitated.

...

"Foxes... Foxes! So many foxes, so many foxes... Agh!"

Screams and terrified shrieks tore from Liu Wenchang's throat. His eyes bulged, filled with a mixture of disbelief and bone-chilling terror.

Why... why were there so many foxes?

Clearly, clearly he had been attending a wedding in the mountains. The bride and groom had been exceptionally handsome and beautiful, the elder family members had treated everyone with politeness and courtesy, and the other guests had been remarkably kind to him, even letting him take away the leftover banquet food...

Clearly, those had been such pleasant people, so why had a pack of foxes suddenly appeared?

It must be that these foxes had eaten that family, eaten everyone... Yes, that had to be it. It was the only logical explanation.

In any case, it certainly couldn't be that the family, along with the bride and groom, were actually foxes all along, right?

He stared at those grinning mouths, those exposed sharp fangs, those cunningly narrowed eyes, and the glint of razor-sharp claws...

No, no...

It couldn't be. That family... that family and all those people definitely weren't foxes...

Yet, yet why did these foxes match the mannerisms, the behaviors, and even parts of the clothing of the wedding guests down to the smallest detail?

It was as if... as if these foxes had disguised themselves as the people at the wedding, or as if... they *were* "those people" from the wedding itself?

A sudden, freezing wave of horror washed over Liu Wenchang.

The foxes were those people, and those people... were the foxes!

No wonder, no wonder he had felt earlier that "those people" behaved rather strangely. For instance, when drinking alcohol, "they" acted as if they had never seen wine before, pressing their noses deeply against the cups to sniff it first. And "their" eyes had been perpetually narrowed, the corners of their mouths constantly curled in that strange grin...

These foxes had been playing at being human the entire time!

This terrifying realization lingered in his mind for barely a second before it was entirely displaced by the desperate urge to escape.

A chaotic storm of thoughts raged in Liu Wenchang's mind, his gaze blank, brimming with utter confusion and panic.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak~"

The foxes let out a succession of eerie cries, sounds brimming with violent agitation, unadulterated fury, and sheer madness.

Liu Wenchang froze abruptly. His pupils contracted to pinpricks, and he began scrambling frantically across the ground with his hands even faster, for he had already spotted several foxes whose eyes had turned completely bloodshot. More of their claws were bared now, and their hostility had spiked exponentially...

They looked as though they couldn't wait to tear him limb from limb and devour him alive the very next second.

Liu Wenchang trembled uncontrollably, his mind pushed to the brink of collapse by the sudden turn of events. At that moment, he wanted nothing to do with wedding banquets, marriage ceremonies, or paying respects to ancestral spirits; he only wanted to run, never looking back, running straight ahead forever.

Even if... even if police officers stood ahead, even if a prison transport van waited in front of him, he would have sprinted toward them without a moment's hesitation.

He wanted to live—he wanted to survive. Even if survival was impossible, he would rather face a firing squad or any other execution than be torn apart or eaten alive by a pack of foxes.

That was the most terrifying fate imaginable, and the one thing he feared above all else.

"Don't... don't kill me, don't kill me! I, I'll leave right now, I'm leaving right now..." Liu Wenchang stammered incoherently.

Before he could finish speaking, however, he noticed all the foxes simultaneously turning their heads, shifting their attention entirely to a single spot.

Liu Wenchang paused, instinctively peering through the gaps between the legs of the surrounding foxes.

There, he saw Zhang Hao gripping something in his hand—it looked like a section of a tree trunk, charred pitch-black like a piece of charcoal, as if it had been struck by lightning.

He had no time to ponder what Zhang Hao was holding; his singular focus right now was on escaping, on fleeing this place!

And right now, while Zhang Hao had drawn away all the foxes' attention, it was the absolute golden opportunity to run.

He forcibly suppressed the terror and cowardice gnawing at his chest, desperately willing his trembling legs to steady themselves so he could run and escape this nightmare.

Squatting down slowly and with minimal movement, he carefully turned his body and began to squeeze his way out through the gaps between the stances of the surrounding foxes.

Swish, swish—

Large, heavy raindrops continued to fall, pelting his back, his clothes, and the back of his head, which throbbed with a dull ache.

Liu Wenchang swallowed hard, crawling forward with extreme caution and vigilance, terrified of alerting the foxes to his attempt to escape.

Crack!

Suddenly, accompanied by a blinding flash of light, a deafening roll of thunder exploded right beside his ear, startling him so badly he convulsed.

Immediately afterward:

Thud, thud, thud.

A hurried flurry of footsteps erupted from behind him.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak~"

Thud, thud, thud.

The cries of foxes, the sound of paws scrambling desperately across the ground, and the sight of those ferocious beasts with bloodshot eyes, bared fangs, and murderous intent came charging past him toward whatever was in his rear.

After a brief moment of stunned disbelief, a surge of elation flooded Liu Wenchang's heart.

Fantastic! It seemed all those foxes were drawn to Zhang Hao and didn't care about him in the slightest.

With this, he could finally escape in peace.

The very second that thought crossed his mind, he leapt to his feet and bolted toward the outside.

He had barely taken two running steps when he turned his head back for a fleeting glance—and that single look nearly frightened the soul right out of his body.

Zhang Hao was sprinting closely behind him, and right at Zhang Hao's heels was a massive, surging tide of foxes rushing forward on all fours, their bloodshot eyes locked onto Liu Wenchang with unbridled malice.

Wait...

Weren't those foxes just attracted to Zhang Hao? Were they actually *following his orders*?

And looking at the scene unfolding right now, it sure as hell looked like Zhang Hao was leading this entire pack of foxes... straight toward him to finish him off!