Chapter 202: Let’s Run, Fox (XVIII)

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Chapter 202: Let’s Run, Fox (XVIII)

Mutu stood at the cliff’s edge with his mind completely blank. The night wind tore at him, but he seemed unable to hear the tribesmen shouting as they rushed up behind him.

He had watched his fox fall from the cliff with his own eyes, vanishing into the darkness below. Why had he not been faster? Just a few steps—if he had been only a few steps faster, he could have caught him!

“Chief…” One beastfolk approached hesitantly, at a complete loss for how to comfort him.

Yanu’s fall devastated more than Mutu. To the lions, he was no longer an outsider but one of their own—a companion, a brother, and a hero who had fought for them again and again and led the tribe toward prosperity.

No one wanted to think it, but given the height of the cliff, Yanu’s chances of surviving were terribly low. Even if he somehow lived, they feared he would be permanently crippled.

One beastfolk took in Mutu’s expression and did not dare say anything. He simply accepted the little fox from his arms and motioned for the others to give the Chief some space.

As the man turned away, Mutu unconsciously stepped forward. His toes moved past the cliff edge; the slightest shift of his weight would send him over.

“Chief!” someone behind him cried in horror.

The beastfolk holding the child whipped around. Seeing Mutu teeter at the edge as though he might jump at any moment, his fur practically stood on end and he lunged forward to grab him.

At that instant, a clear note from a bone flute rose from far below. Like a shaft of light splitting the darkness, the sound made Mutu’s frozen heart begin beating again.

That was the bone flute he had given his fox!

His fox was still alive!

The realization hit Mutu so hard that his footing slipped and his whole body pitched toward the cliff.

“Chief!” The others had barely begun celebrating Yanu’s survival when the sight nearly stopped their hearts all over again. Every hair on their bodies stood upright.

Fortunately, Mutu caught himself. He twisted hard, hauled his balance back over solid ground, and narrowly avoided creating a second disaster.

The others remained frozen in their half-reaching poses, horror still written across their faces.

Mutu straightened, restored his dignity as though nothing had happened, and ordered, “Move. We’re going down to rescue him!”

“Yes!” Only then did everyone’s hearts finally drop back into place.

A thick, twisted tree grew from the cliff face more than twenty meters above the ground. Shang Ke sat comfortably on one of its branches, tail flicking as he tended his wounds and gazed at the stars in the night wind. He looked remarkably at ease for someone who had just fallen off a cliff.

All three missions had been completed successfully. The road ahead was clear, and with the weight finally off his shoulders, Shang Ke’s mood could hardly have been better.

Just then, Mutu’s roar came from the top of the cliff. “Fox! Hold on! I’m coming down!”

Shang Ke smiled and blew several notes on the bone flute in reply.

Giving him that bone flute had turned out to be one of Mutu’s better decisions. It always managed to prove useful at the most critical moments.

Shang Ke could not speak. Without the flute to signal that he was alive, that lion would probably have been devastated by his “death.”

What Shang Ke did not know was that Mutu had gone far beyond devastation—he had almost followed him straight over the cliff…

Mutu’s mount carried rope, but the cliff was too high for them to descend directly. Their only option was to circle around and approach from below. Even moving at top speed, Shang Ke estimated it would take them at least an hour.

Shang Ke had no intention of sitting on the branch the entire time. After resting briefly, he followed the twisted roots and branches downward.

The Avani who had fallen with him had been smashed beyond recognition and was unmistakably dead. Shang Ke ignored the corpse and continued along the base of the cliff.

Then something strange began happening. Rare medicinal herbs and unusual minerals seemed to appear everywhere he went, practically throwing themselves into his path for free.

Even more absurdly, he found a hot spring with healing properties. He had intended only to wash his wounds, yet under the spring’s nourishment they began closing at a thoroughly unscientific speed. Within mere tens of seconds, only a few faint scars remained.

Shang Ke could not help wondering whether he had somehow fallen out of a primitive world and into a cultivation setting. Was something this fantastical really supposed to exist here?

Shang Ke soaked in the spring until his entire body felt refreshed and every ache had disappeared. By the time he climbed out, he was once again a fair-skinned, soft, beautiful fox with no sign that he had just fallen from a cliff.

When he left the cave, clusters of torchlight appeared in the darkness far away. Mutu had clearly brought the others out to search for him.

Shang Ke immediately blew the bone flute to guide them toward him.

“Fox!” The instant Mutu spotted that familiar white figure in the distance, he threw aside his torch and sprinted toward him.

Only after pulling Shang Ke firmly into his arms did Mutu’s heart finally settle.

“Fox, I’m sorry I’m late.”

Shang Ke smiled and shook his head, then squeezed Mutu’s fingers reassuringly.

“You fell all the way from that cliff. You must be badly hurt. We’re going straight back to treat you.” Mutu loosened his hold just enough to inspect Shang Ke anxiously.

Hm? Something was wrong.

The fox in his arms wore torn clothes, yet his posture was graceful and his eyes bright. His pale skin looked fresh and luminous, almost glowing like a pearl in the darkness.

Why did someone who had just fallen off a cliff look even more radiant than before? Mutu felt as though the sight alone might enchant him senseless.

Shang Ke took Mutu by the hand and walked toward the others, who greeted his return with cheers and blessings.

“Papa.” The two little foxes squeezed through the crowd, wrapped themselves around his legs, and looked up at him with tear-bright eyes.

Shang Ke patted their heads and bent to pick them up, only for a large hand to stop him.

Mutu scooped up both little foxes instead and unceremoniously handed them to another beastfolk. “Yanu is injured. Behave yourselves.”

The two children immediately went quiet, though they continued staring anxiously at Shang Ke.

Shang Ke smiled, took two stones he had found in the cave from inside his clothes, and gave one to each child. The stones were not useful, but they glowed beautifully in the dark. The novelty quickly caught the children’s attention and eased some of their fear.

Mutu glanced at his fox, who could always make children happy. He wrapped an arm around his waist and leaned over to drop a kiss on his face.

This was his fox—the person he loved with all his heart and was proud to call his lifelong mate.

When they made it back to the tribe, it was already morning. The first rays of light shone from the horizon and covered the world in a layer of gold.

Kellona had died under an Avani’s sword during the battle.

Kellona paid the price for her greed and vanity. She had preferred risking everything for empty material comfort and false status rather than build a secure life through her own labor.

Half a month later, Shang Ke and Mutu formally became mates. Shang Ke became the second-highest-ranking person in the lion tribe, with authority surpassed only by the Lion King himself.

Shang Ke adopted the two fox children. Little by little they emerged from the shadow of their past and began living carefree lives. From then on, Shang Ke had two additional little tails following him everywhere.

To keep the little foxes from interrupting their very “happy” private life, Mutu had the house expanded and placed the children’s room far from their own. Even if the little foxes occasionally heard the “bells,” they would have no idea what their fathers were doing.

As the years passed, Mutu’s physique grew even more powerful—and so did his sex drive. He wanted his fox several times almost every day. Summer was especially dangerous: with so little clothing between them, all he had to do was lift Shang Ke’s leather skirt and he could push straight inside.

Eventually Shang Ke could not take it anymore and made himself a special pair of underwear. The material was tough yet flexible, fitted snugly around the waist, and was difficult both to pull down and to tear.

Unfortunately, Shang Ke had forgotten that he also had a tail. The underwear needed an opening for it, and a certain someone quickly discovered that the gap beneath the tail gave him a convenient way past the barrier and straight inside…

By then, Mutu’s only real regret was that his fox could not bear a few little lion cubs for him.

As Mutu idly entertained that regret, he held Shang Ke by the waist and thrust into him from behind. After driving them through wave after wave of pleasure, he came deep inside him.

Just as Mutu was preparing to go another few rounds, Shang Ke abruptly covered his stomach and stopped him.

“What’s wrong?” Mutu immediately stopped moving and looked at him in concern.

Shang Ke frowned instead of answering. Lately his abdomen had felt strange, as though something alive were growing inside and occasionally moving.

【Congratulations, Host. You’re going to be a father.】

Shang Ke: …If you don’t know how to speak properly, could you stay quiet and go back to being an aloof System?

Wait—going to be a father? It couldn’t possibly mean what he thought it meant, could it?!

Shang Ke’s face went pale. He stared at his own abdomen as though he could bore a hole straight through it with his gaze.

Mutu followed his gaze toward his abdomen. Hm. It did seem a little softer and rounder lately.

Eh, eh? Eh?!

Mutu’s expression turned strange. He stared at Shang Ke for a long moment, then shook his head and silently mocked himself for entertaining such an absurd idea.

Shang Ke found it just as impossible as Mutu did. He was male—how could he possibly give birth? Was this really turning into a fantasy world now?

Unfortunately for Shang Ke, the beastfolk world really was that unusual; he simply had not understood it well enough yet. In generations to come, many more male-bodied beastfolk capable of bearing children would appear—and Shang Ke would become the ancestor of them all.

Several months later, when Mutu finally confirmed that Shang Ke truly was pregnant, the Lion King was completely stunned. Happiness had arrived so suddenly that he felt ready to ascend straight into the heavens…

【Perfect Survival carries a blessing of good fortune, ensuring the Host a lifetime of safety, health, and prosperity. Even if the Host drinks poison, jumps from a height, starves, or hangs himself, he will still survive quite happily.】

Only now did Shang Ke truly understand what “Perfect Survival” meant.

The previous world had also ended in Perfect Survival, but the effect had never been so obvious. Shang Ke and Shao Feidu had been talented and wealthy, surrounded by loving family at home and protected by bodyguards outside. Their lives had already been comfortable, and neither encountered any serious accident all the way into old age.

In this world, however, the blessing attached to Perfect Survival made itself unmistakably clear.

From the day he completed his missions onward, Shang Ke seemed blessed by fate itself. Everything in life and work went smoothly, almost to the point where whatever he wished for came true. In the end, he not only became a driving force behind the development of this primitive society but also gave rise to an entirely new reproductive lineage: male-bodied beastfolk capable of bearing children.

Every such descendant in this world would trace their bloodline back to Shang Ke and Mutu…

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