A Hundred Years of Solitude

Chapter 3

"I owe that race a favor, and I've always wanted to repay them," Liu Di admitted. "Hey, can you take me to meet my friend Huo'er?"

"Let's ask Huo'er first." Zhou Ying didn't want to do anything disrespectful to Huo'er again.

"Okay, let's go ask it now."

"...You know perfectly well that it's with that little fox right now."

"How would I know so much? Let's go, let's go ask Fire if it can meet its friends."

Zhou Ying shook his head; he had absolutely no way to deal with Liu Di.

Because Zhou Ying insisted on living a human life and not using magic unless necessary, they had to walk to the park. Liu Di spread his arms as if he was about to fly, and hopped forward on the curb, but Zhou Ying's gaze fell on a person by the roadside.

The road was busy with traffic. Lin Qingping walked forward blankly, but Zhou Ying pulled her back in time. A large truck drove past where she had just been standing, and the driver said, "Can't you see where you're going?"

It took Lin Qingping a while to recognize the person in front of her, and she murmured, "Mr. Zhou..."

“It’s dangerous for you to walk like that,” Liu Di interjected with a grin. “Be careful.” He always had to say something or chime in whenever it involved women.

"Xiao Rui... he has leukemia..." Lin Qingping saw a familiar face and burst into tears, "Poor child, poor child..."

Zhou Ying sighed. He had known for a long time that the child had an incurable disease. He had seen him twice and noticed that his soul had begun to leave his body. Finally, his mother received a diagnosis from a human doctor.

"I must cure his illness, even if it means selling my blood or organs, I will save him!" Lin Qingping wasn't so much saying this to Zhou Ying, but rather reaffirming her own resolve. As she rallied her spirits and walked back with as steady steps as possible, the two demons behind her watched with pity—pity, but helplessness. Once a person's soul dissipates, even demons like Zhou Ying and Liu Di cannot save them. However, once Lin Qingping was far away, Zhou Ying and Liu Di had already put the matter out of their minds. In human cities, such unfortunate stories unfold every day, every minute, every second. If they were to sympathize too much with them, even the demons would find it unbearable. Demons have their own troubles to deal with.

Fire and the little fox were playing a simple game: the little fox hopped around and dodged, while Fire tried to catch its tail. The little fox had nine tails, but Fire only had one paw, which seemed fair enough, so they played this game happily.

After looking at it for a while, Liu Di said, "It really is the one I saw."

Zhou Ying watched Huo'er playing happily. Who this nine-tailed fox was was not important to him; what mattered was that Huo'er had gained a good friend.

"A nine-tailed fox should have a very strict upbringing, how could it let a little kid play outside all day?" Liu Di muttered, puzzled. "Besides, I haven't found any of its family members. Where is its home..."

"I've been tracking Huo'er and that little nine-tailed fox for the past few days," Liu Di announced, causing Zhou Ying to jump up immediately.

Why did you do this?!

“You’ll understand once you hear me out.” Liu Di spoke seriously, which was a rare occurrence for him. “First of all, there is no Nine-Tailed Fox family here; the only one who came here was that little child.”

Zhou Ying didn't immediately understand what Liu Di's words meant.

"Huo'er and the little nine-tailed fox parted ways and went home. I had been keeping watch nearby, trying to see where the nine-tailed fox lived. But I discovered that the little nine-tailed fox circled around and secretly followed Huo'er again. Then, a dragon-like creature—the one I mentioned before—followed the little nine-tailed fox. They followed each other like this until they reached the building below yours. Huo'er went home, and the nine-tailed fox hid in the holly bushes downstairs, while the dragon-like creature stayed a little further away. They repeated their behavior only after Huo'er came out. When they were almost at the park, the nine-tailed fox rushed inside first, pretending to wait for Huo'er, while the dragon-like creature had already left. They've been doing this every day for the past few days. Several times, when the little nine-tailed fox wasn't close enough to Huo'er, the dragon-like creature would immediately attack it, as if it wanted to kill it. That little fox is really clever; it escaped at the last second several times."

"Why is it like this..." Zhou Ying muttered to himself, puzzled. He had initially thought the little nine-tailed fox was just a child from a demon family who had run away to play with Huo'er, as simple as human children making friends. What was the relationship between the nine-tailed fox and Longzhi? And why was it approaching Huo'er like this?

"Things aren't that simple, are they?" Liu Diming knew what Zhou Ying was thinking, but he still asked again.

"What does it want Huo'er for!?" Zhou Ying's mind wasn't always so simple; at least when it came to Huo'er, his thinking became very sharp.

"It's not clear yet, but one thing is certain: Huo'er has become that little fox's talisman. Without it, the little fox can't survive a single day."

"That dragon nephew and the little nine-tailed fox are enemies, right?" Zhou Ying wondered. The little nine-tailed fox's deliberate approach to Huo'er was probably to use her against the dragon nephew. Zhou Ying wasn't worried about Huo'er's inability to handle the dragon nephew, but rather about the little nine-tailed fox's elaborate scheme to befriend Huo'er, only to be used in the end, which made him uncomfortable. This was Huo'er's first friend, and Zhou Ying didn't want it to end up being used. "I'm going to talk to that nine-tailed fox," Zhou Ying said, standing up. "If possible, keep it away from Huo'er."

"You look exactly like a father going crazy over his children," Liu Di concluded, pointing at him.

Zhou Ying didn't care what she looked like and hurriedly went out.

“Go talk to that little fox. How do you talk to him? He’s so clumsy with words, he probably doesn’t want to… Hey, Zhou Ying, no matter what, don’t lay a hand on a child…” Liu Di shouted as he chased after him.

Zhou Ying hid to the side until he saw Huo'er leave, then stepped forward to stop the little nine-tailed fox who was trying to follow Huo'er. The little nine-tailed fox looked around first, making sure there were no followers, before facing Zhou Ying directly, looking at him warily. Although Zhou Ying had a lot to say about the nine-tailed fox, he didn't know how to start when he was actually facing it.

"Are you the Shadow Demon that Huo'er always talks about?" The little nine-tailed fox asked first, its front half lying on the ground, its eyes fixed on Zhou Ying's eyes without blinking.

"...You..." Looking at the little nine-tailed fox up close, it seemed tired and haggard. Its magnificent fur had lost its luster, and only its eyes gleamed coldly, unlike those of a child. There was something in those eyes that made Zhou Ying feel a chill. Zhou Ying bowed to it and said politely, "Please don't come looking for Huo'er anymore. You two are not suitable friends."

The little nine-tailed fox took a half step back and shrieked, "What right do you have to tell us what to do when we make friends! You're not Huo'er's parents!"

“If you were just making friends, I wouldn’t care, but now… Fire is powerful, but also naive. I don’t want its first friend to end up being deceived. If necessary, I won’t hesitate to use force.” After saying this, Zhou Ying turned and left without looking at the little nine-tailed fox’s expression. He wanted to get home before Fire and make sure Fire didn’t find out about all this. He could leave the rest to Liu Di.

"Hmph!" The little nine-tailed fox pouted unhappily as it watched Zhou Ying's retreating figure. Things had finally made some progress; how could it give up because of this shadow demon's threat? It looked around, then ran off towards Huo'er.

Longzhi followed behind the little nine-tailed fox. After Huo'er flew far away and Zhou Ying left, it seized the opportunity to catch up. But before it could take a few steps, Liu Di popped out of the ground in front of it: "Hey, long time no see. Let's go have a drink together today."

"Earth Wolf".

"You still remember me? I'm honored," Liu Di said with a grin. "What's wrong? Want to bully that little fox again?"

“I’ve lived here for a while and have heard of your great name. All the monsters in this city are afraid of you, so I absolutely do not want to offend you. Please just tell me what you want to see me about,” Longzhi said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Then I won't beat around the bush," Liu Di said, arms crossed. "I'd like you to leave."

"leave?"

"Just leave this city and never come back." Liu Di didn't seem to think his request was excessive at all.

"..." Longzhi was silent for a moment before saying, "Alright, give me three days."

Even though the other party had already made concessions, Liu Di remained relentless, "Just three days. You're not allowed to go looking for that nine-tailed fox again within three days. After three days, don't let me see you again. Never come back, or else..." He whistled and looked the other party up and down with ill intent.

"Earth Wolf, you should understand that I am not afraid of you. It's just that even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. I will leave, and I promise I will never come back. But please don't make any more demands. I have already shown you the utmost respect." After saying this, Longzhi disappeared into the bushes in the park.

"A local tyrant?" Liu Di muttered to himself. "I like that title, and I like this guy too. It's such a shame to drive such an interesting guy away. We could have had some fun with him... Zhou Ying, look at the sacrifices I've made for you. I'm such a loyal friend." He stretched out his arms, deeply moved by his own loyalty.

The little nine-tailed fox hadn't run far when Liu Di blocked its path again. It hissed and stared at Liu Di.

"You're Huo'er's 'friend'?" Liu Di smiled, adopting the gentle expression a trafficker uses when abducting a child. "How about I treat you to some candy?"

"Fool." The little nine-tailed fox rolled her eyes at him disdainfully, trying to walk past him and continue on her way.

Liu grabbed its tails and pulled it back, holding it up to his head height: "Little children shouldn't refuse the kindness of their elders."

"Let me go! What are you doing?!" The little nine-tailed fox thrashed about, shouting angrily.

“Stop acting,” Liu Di said, covering its mouth with his left hand. “The same trick won’t work on me twice.” The little fox glared at him and swallowed back the incantation it was about to recite. Liu Di didn’t let go, looking into its eyes. They stared at each other for a while before Liu Di said, “Honestly, what kind of expression is that for a little kid like you?” “None of your business!”

"I understand, I understand. Is it because you were bullied by that dragon? Your two species are like cats and dogs, natural enemies. But don't worry, that dragon will leave soon, and then you'll be safe."

"What!" The little nine-tailed fox, who had been focused on figuring out how to escape, suddenly widened her eyes. "You said it's leaving!!"

"Happy, aren't you!" Liu Di said smugly. "I'm practically a local bully here. It's easy for me to drive one or two monsters away. You can stay here without worry, or you can go back to Qingqiu Kingdom—that's the homeland of the nine-tailed fox. Your family should all be there, right? If you want to continue playing with Huo'er, Zhou Ying and I won't object. But it's not good for a young child to be scheming against his friends!" Liu Di's voice suddenly became stern. "Although it's a last resort to protect yourself, if you start making friends with the intention of using them, your character will only get worse. If you continue like this, you'll grow up to be as cunning and wicked as me! One monster like me is enough. I don't want another one competing with me! You'd better remember what I'm saying. I'm doing this for your own good!" With that, he raised his hand and slapped the little fox's bottom several times.

The little nine-tailed fox was only thinking about "it has to leave this place" until Liu Di's hand hit it, bringing it back to its senses. "Ouch!" it cried out in pain, and angrily shouted, "You actually hit me!"

"That's called loving someone deeply and being strict with them. Look how much I care about you, my dear, good boy." He patted the little fox's head like he would a puppy, and when the little fox tried to bite him, he flicked it on the teeth before putting it on the ground. He waved his hand and said, "Zhenglong will leave here in three days and has promised not to look for you again. You're safe now. Don't lie to Huo'er again! Do you hear me? Otherwise, I'll spank you again next time."

The little nine-tailed fox stood still until Liu Di's figure completely disappeared before moving and running in the opposite direction from its original destination.

"I want a game console," Huo'er said while eating, "and I want to bring my friend back to play. It likes to eat chicken."

Zhou Ying added another bowl of meat to the pot and asked, "Do you really like that friend?"

“Of course, it’s my friend!” Huo’er said without hesitation. “We have a lot of fun together.”

“Is that so…” Zhou Ying ultimately remained silent.

"I'm full, I'm going out to play." Huo'er threw down her rice bowl and wanted to leave.

"Fire, when do you want to bring it back?"

"Anytime is fine, but you need to prepare plenty of chicken." Huo'er was just in a hurry to leave.

"Fire!" Zhou Ying called out to it, raising her voice, "Don't go. That nine-tailed fox is no longer waiting for you there."

"???" A bunch of question marks popped up above Huo'er's head.

“It was I who wouldn’t allow it to wait for you there.”

"What?" Huo'er's eyes widened.

"I don't think you two are suitable to be friends." Zhou Ying could have kept quiet, but he didn't want to deceive Huo'er; perhaps letting it know the truth was the best choice.

"Shadow, you!" The flames on Huo'er's body suddenly turned from bright red to golden yellow, and she flew over angrily. "What did you say! What did you do!"

"It doesn't want to be your friend. A nephew is hunting it down, and it's just using you to protect itself. I'm not saying it's wrong for a small creature like it to want to protect itself, but I absolutely cannot bear to see you being used."

"I don't believe it!" Huo'er shouted, "I don't believe it!!"

“…” Zhou Ying lowered her head.

"It has no reason to lie to me! If it wants me to kill one or two other monsters, I'm ready to do it anytime!"

"If it told you from the beginning that it wanted you to protect it, would you still be friends with it?"

Fire frowned, thinking hard. These days it had been busy playing with the little nine-tailed fox and hadn't thought about anything else. It thought about it seriously again and again.

The little nine-tailed fox had just peeked out from the grass when it saw that Longzhi had already turned around and was waiting for it.

“That earth wolf forced me to promise not to look for you. He probably never imagined that you’d been following me all along! Even if I don’t look for you, you’ll naturally come looking for me!” Longzhi said with a sneer. “It’s not that I want to deal with you, but that you’re the one who’s following me and trying to deal with me! That’s one of the advantages of clever guys—they always like to think they know everything.”

Realizing she had been discovered and was trapped, the little nine-tailed fox bravely assumed an attack stance, glaring resentfully at Longzhi. Longzhi swung his sharp claws and said, "This time you managed to find Bifang to try and deal with me, next time you'll find something else. I originally thought you weren't even enough to fill my teeth, but now it seems it's better to eliminate this threat sooner rather than later. Today, you can prepare to accept your fate."

The little nine-tailed fox roared defiantly, "Today I'll make you pay for my mother's life!"

"It's that same line again. You've been following me for almost 100 years, and you keep saying the same thing. I've eaten so many foxes, how would I know which meal was your mother?" Longzhi squinted and said, "But you can go inside my belly and identify them one by one yourself."

The little nine-tailed fox was fully focused on preparing its attack. For a hundred years, it had followed this dragon nephew, traversing dozens of spatial worlds, all for the sake of one day avenging its grudge. But the more eager it was for revenge, the more cautious it became in its actions. It knew that its magic and abilities were far inferior to its dragon nephew's, so it carefully avoided being discovered and patiently waited for its opportunity. Until now, it had never intended to fight its enemy to the death, but given the current situation, it had no choice but to fight with its back against the wall.

“Mom…” the little nine-tailed fox murmured, “either to avenge you or to come to your side.”

The Kingdom of Qingqiu, located north of Chaoyang Valley, is a land of eternal spring and abundant resources. Nine-tailed foxes dwell among its mountains and forests. Because the inhabitants of Qingqiu regard the nine-tailed fox as a symbol of good fortune, this race enjoys a high status and lives a peaceful and tranquil life. This little nine-tailed fox's homeland lies among those gently curving hills.

Unlike other nine-tailed fox families, which consist of several generations and sometimes hundreds of people living together, this family consisted of only the little fox, its mother, and its grandmother. The number of family members did not determine whether the family was happy. This family had everything one could imagine—harmony and happiness—until the murderer suddenly arrived and shattered it all. The little nine-tailed fox always believed that it was the happiest nine-tailed fox in the world.

It still clearly remembers that it was a sunny afternoon. That morning, it had gone shopping in town with its mother. The residents there were delighted to see it and gave it a lot of food and toys. So that afternoon, it sat on the grass not far from the door, basking in the sun and playing with the toys.

The dragon nephew emerged from the forest.

The little nine-tailed fox tilted its head to look at the other person, assuming it was just a rather special fox.

"Don't touch my child!" Just as the nephew was about to touch the little nine-tailed fox, its mother screamed and rushed forward, shoving the nephew away. Then, the intertwined magic of both sides blinded the little nine-tailed fox. In this battle, the little nine-tailed fox understood only two things: the nephew resembled a fox, but it was the fox's enemy, and its own happy life would never return.

The nephew that attacked them wasn't particularly strong, so it didn't dare to confront the large nine-tailed fox family and instead chose this family of only three. It was because of this that the little nine-tailed fox had the opportunity to be pushed into the dense forest by its grandmother and escape disaster.

The remains of her mother and grandmother, the house razed to the ground, the grass covered in blood, the cold moon hanging in the sky, the autumn insects singing cruel songs... all of this is the most profound memory of the little nine-tailed fox's life.

What should a little child do at this time? The little nine-tailed fox did not heed her grandmother's last words to seek protection from the nine-tailed fox family with whom she had kinship ties, but instead chose another path.

"I want revenge!"

As the thought arose in its mind amidst the rising sun, the little nine-tailed fox also realized that to avoid retaliation from the other nine-tailed foxes, Longzhi wouldn't stay in the Qingqiu Kingdom for long. So, where would it seek revenge? Even if it found its own kind to help it avenge itself after Longzhi left, where would it search for its enemy? The world was so vast; it would be difficult to find him without venturing into every realm. Its immediate decision was to "follow him."

This has been going on for 100 years.

Over the past hundred years, it has endured countless hardships and learned many lessons. Strangely, the little nine-tailed fox didn't remember them very well. It always vaguely felt that it was still the same as it was a hundred years ago, a little child who could roll around in its mother's arms whenever it was happy. It was precisely because of this mother in its memory that all the hardships and pains were nothing, and the passage of time was nothing.

However, its opponent showed no mercy despite its years of experience. It was a powerful creature whose intellect far surpassed its strength, and the little nine-tailed fox was no match for it in either. It had initially thought it would have to wait much longer to exact revenge. But when Huo'er appeared before the little nine-tailed fox, it was astonished by its discovery—a Bifang living in the human realm. Its fear of the Bifang quickly transformed into a longing, a yearning for its immense power. In the Bifang's eyes, there was probably little difference between a mere Longzhi and a meal already laid out on the table.

It risked being eaten to approach Fire, only to find that its judgment was correct. Fire, who appeared strong and domineering, was actually a simple child. Moreover, it wanted to make friends, and the little nine-tailed fox smoothly became inseparable best friends with Fire.