Free Web NovelChapter 206: Chapter 206: Little Fox
When the Little Fox saw Ning Xuan looking over, it acted very human-like, raising its two paws together in front of its chest and bowing as if begging. As it tilted its head back, a soft whimper escaped its throat—the sound was crisp, pleasant, and utterly charming.
Ning Xuan had just been reeling from the shock of how such a tiny Little Fox could possess such immense Combat Power. Now, seeing its pleading expression, she was momentarily stunned.
"It... Look. Isn’t it acting like it’s asking for help?" Ning Xuan asked.
"Yes, Contractor. The Little Fox seems to be severely injured. Its abdomen is bleeding," Yun Han said with a nod.
"It paid a huge price to kill that brown bear. Its life force is much weaker now than it was before," Di Youlin added.
As if to prove their words, the Little Fox’s body tilted to one side the moment Di Youlin finished speaking, and it began to sway unsteadily.
Gazing at the Little Fox’s tear-filled eyes, Ning Xuan couldn’t help but walk toward it. freēwēbnovel.com
But then she remembered the brutal Combat Power the Little Fox had displayed when it mauled the brown bear to death, and she stopped.
’This Little Fox seems pretty tough. Even if I don’t help it, it should be fine, right?’
Ning Xuan paused. Seeing her stop, the Little Fox grew anxious. It dragged its limp hind legs as it crawled toward her, letting out soft whimpers.
The sound sent Ning Xuan into a momentary daze. She was inexplicably overcome with the feeling that the Little Fox was pitiful and that she should help it, but...
Just as Ning Xuan was wrestling with her indecision, the Little Fox’s head drooped to the side, and its body collapsed.
Forgetting her hesitation, Ning Xuan rushed forward, scooped up the Little Fox, and examined it. She discovered a deep, long gash on its abdomen that ran almost its entire length.
Ning Xuan stitched and bandaged the Little Fox’s wound, then fed it two Healing Potions.
After treating the wound, Ning Xuan brought the Little Fox into the vehicle. Nine-tailed, Lan Xin, Zhang Nan, and the others had already dissected the brown bear on the spot, breaking it down into usable materials and storing them in the spatial bracelet on Yun Han’s wrist.
"Contractor, this Little Fox has a unique spiritual quality. I wonder what species it is? Nine-tailed, you have Red Fox blood. Do you know?" Yun Han asked, turning to Nine-tailed as he wiped the blood from the bone knife he’d used to process the materials.
Just as Nine-tailed was about to speak, the Little Fox, now treated and resting curled up on Ning Xuan’s lap, suddenly perked up its ears. Its glass-like pupils rippled with an emerald-green light as it stared at Nine-tailed.
"I... I’m not sure. I, uh, I’m not very knowledgeable," Nine-tailed said, lowering his head in shame.
The Little Fox twitched the golden fuzz at the tips of its ears, its fluffy tail wagging contentedly back and forth.
Ning Xuan found this adorable and immediately reached out to stroke the Little Fox’s ears. Watching this, an image suddenly flashed through Yun Han’s mind: when he was unconscious, his Companion Spirit, Little White, had snuggled up in Ning Xuan’s arms just like this.
He had even long suspected that the affection his Contractor showed him now was partly related to her fondness for Little White back then. After all, in private, the way Ning Xuan would unconsciously pet him was identical to how he remembered her petting Little White.
The thought made Yun Han restless. Little White was currently suppressed by the rules of this planet and couldn’t materialize. For this Little Fox to show up now was simply taking advantage of the situation.
And so, the Little Fox that Ning Xuan had rescued on the road ended up staying with the group. As they neared the Jiujiang Security Zone, the Little Fox’s wounds had healed, so Ning Xuan placed it in the woods, intending to let it go on its own.
But to her surprise, the Little Fox clung to Ning Xuan’s side, refusing to leave.
Ning Xuan tried to shoo it away several times, but it was no use. Not only would it not leave, but the Little Fox also started hunting on its own, presenting its catches to Ning Xuan as if they were treasures.
Ning Xuan received all sorts of prey, most of which were species she and her group had never seen before. Besides prey, there were also strange-looking but delicious wild fruits and sparkling gems from who-knows-where.
As Ning Xuan looked at these unseen species, her mind raced, calculating how many Merit Points she would earn by uploading them to the Military Department’s terminal. The more she calculated, the brighter her eyes shone.
There’s a saying: you can’t be harsh after accepting gifts. She couldn’t bear to give up so many Merit Points, and now she didn’t have the heart to chase the Little Fox away anymore.
Upon arriving at the Jiujiang Security Zone, Ning Xuan and her group were respectfully escorted by Qiao Yu to the zone’s core area.
The Jiujiang Security Zone was situated on a plain, with no treacherous terrain for defense or natural mountains for cover. The zone’s only protection was the city itself, a veritable behemoth of steel.
Ning Xuan gazed up at the towering, mottled concrete walls, stroking the soft fur of the Little Fox nestled in her arms.
As it happened, there was a large iron ore mine near the security zone. Thus, the military had initially deployed various types of machinery here to mine the iron and forge the city.
"Marshal Yun, the core area covers seven square kilometers, and the outer ecological cultivation zone has been expanded to ninety square kilometers," Qiao Yu reported to Yun Han.
Qiao Yu was reporting to Yun Han in front of Ning Xuan and so many others to bolster his Commander’s prestige. It was a way of showing Ning Xuan that their Commander had the backing of many brothers-in-arms, and she had better not treat him poorly.
Qiao Yu had come to pick them up in an armored vehicle. As it passed through the final gate into the core area, Ning Xuan’s pupils contracted slightly—the architecture here was extremely similar to the Federation’s. She could even see the Federation’s standard-issue housekeeping robots inside the buildings.
This Qiao Yu was much more humble and polite than the last time they had met. Of course, Ning Xuan could sense that while Qiao Yu was courteous on the surface, he didn’t dare make eye contact with her.
Ning Xuan didn’t believe for a second that Qiao Yu was afraid of her. He likely avoided eye contact because he didn’t want to betray the hatred in his eyes.
He was, after all, one of Yun Han’s most capable aides. As long as Qiao Yu didn’t cause trouble right in front of her, Ning Xuan had no intention of settling scores with him.
After settling down in the Jiujiang Security Zone, Ning Xuan spent her mornings casually browsing the trading center and her afternoons performing Alchemy and continuing her Cultivation.
Although she felt her current Cultivation had hit a bottleneck, she didn’t give up. Every day, she would refine the new energy in her bloodline, guiding it into her meridians and acupoints to nourish her internal organs.
Closing her eyes to look inward, she discovered that the two types of energy within her meridians seemed to have reached a delicate balance.
As the two energies converged in her Ren and Du meridians, all 365 major acupoints throughout her body lit up—half fiery red, half azure blue, faintly postured as if ready to challenge one another.
Deep down, Ning Xuan could feel a surging power suppressed beneath the calm. She knew this current balance was merely an illusion.
