Chapter 45 - 45: Thanks to the Mountain God
The moon hung in the middle of the sky, stars filled the firmament, surrounded by the depth of the night. The high-hanging moon and the stars emanated a radiant glow, making the night brighter than ever.
In the mountains, a solitary, tranquil grass hut stood. A flicker of yellow candlelight pierced through the window and stood out in the darkness. The mountain wind blew across the eaves of the house, carrying with it whispered conversations followed by a chortle of sultry feminine laughter that led to a thousand imaginations.
Inside this mountain hut, there seemed to be a group of charming women discussing the secrets of their chamber.
“Uncle Lin!”
A group of hunters, armed with robust bows and cavalry knives, gathered. A young man, whose fuzz on his cheek has not yet disappeared, firmly gripped his cavalry knife at his waist. His face turned pale as he fixated on the grass hut that lit a candle in the darkness.
This grass hut was for hunters who couldn’t make it down the mountain before nightfall. A temporary rest place to avoid the beasts of the mountain.
If it was just any other hunter from the village, it wouldn’t have mattered. But why are women laughing in it? What man would bring his woman on a hunting trip?
“Silence!”
A middle-aged man with a beard, wearing a grave expression, gazed at the grass hut hidden among the trees. Strange events regularly occurred in these woods. Yet even for him, such instances were rare.
“Retreat, let’s go somewhere else!”
The rest of the hunters didn’t object. Hunting was for survival, not flirting with death. Their situation was clearly not right, retreating in time was the wisest option. They had wives and children at home to feed.
“Seeing your extraordinary but fatigued states, it would only be fitting for you to rest at my humble abode for the evening before heading on your journey.”
However, just as these hunters were quietly retreating, the laughter within the cabin abruptly ended. Subsequently, a door from the inside creaked open.
A gorgeous woman adorned in a transparent skirt appeared at the door of the cabin, illuminated by the moonlight. This ravishing woman had her shoulders partially exposed, her bare legs stuck out from underneath the hem of her skirt, looking dazzlingly white. The garment this woman was wearing seemed to be transparent, slightly revealing her alluring curves.
Gulp!
Several simultaneous gulps were heard from the crude hunters; this striking beauty was utterly devastating for them.
“She’s so stunning!”
Even the young hunter who was scared white earlier had a lustful look on his face right now. His face was flushed, and his breath became heavy.
“Such robust men, sisters, invite them in quickly! I can’t wait!”
Another exquisite face peeped out from inside the cottage and enthusiastically said.
“Dear sirs, why don’t you come inside? Today is a fortunate day, I happen to be resting here with my sisters. Crossing paths with such sturdy gentlemen in these mountains is a kind of destiny. We would love to tend to your needs and instead enjoy the joys of life.”
Said the bewitching woman in heavy makeup, except for her voice, the hunters were now all wide-eyed and impatient.
“Sister, it has been a long time since I last saw you. Your charm has increased. These hunters have been completely mesmerized by you, they seem to have lost their minds!”
The “beauty,” who had her head sticking out the window, said with a laugh. Below her neck was a fuzzy body, which looked especially eerie under the moonlight.
“After absorbing the yang energy of these men, I should be able to transform into someone like my sister. I hope I can wear beautiful clothes; otherwise, it’s a pity to only have a head.”
“Little Seven, you must not be greedy. All the good things should be shared equally amongst us sisters. The night is still young!”
The woman looked at the several hunters whose rationality has been messed up by her, their eyes red with animalistic desire; under her skirt, a long fluffy tail fell.
Awooo—
Just as the hunters were about to step into the small mountain hut, a long howl of a wolf echoed followed by a golden light, sweeping across the mountains and woods.
The magnificent woman standing outside changed her expression. But before she could react, the overwhelming golden light had already swallowed her. Amid the shrill screams, infinite dark smoke spiraled from her body, and then, strands of fur sprouted from her white body. The once seductive body transformed into a gigantic red fox.
However, when this red fox revealed its true form and fell to the ground, it already had no breath, nothing more than a corpse.
Meanwhile, within the house, there were more screams of horror, but they quickly faded to silence. All that could be seen was a fox as large as a household dog hanging limply by the window.
At the instant of the fox demon’s death, the hunters, whose minds had been bewitched, suddenly woke up. They regained their senses and remembered everything that had just happened. They looked at the massive fox corpse on the ground and couldn’t help but tremble all over, sweating profusely. There was a sense of relief that came after narrowly escaping death.
However, they didn’t get to enjoy the relief for long. The hunters, who were just celebrating their escape from the mouth of the mountain demon, were horrified to find that they had celebrated too early.
“Uncle Lin, wolves… so many wolves!”
The young hunter, whose face still had traces of adolescence, was trembling. He couldn’t see the overwhelming golden light, but he could see the green gleams reflecting in the night, those were the eyes of the wolves.
At this moment, those ghostly green lights were densely located all around them. There were lights in every direction they looked. There was nowhere to escape.
“I see them!”
The experienced middle-aged hunter helplessly sighed, his face oddly calm at this moment.
“We’ve taken from these mountains for so many years, today is the day we have to repay our debts!”
What more could he say? The abnormal number of wolves was a clear sign. Encountering monsters twice in the mountains, such luck could only be attributed to bad fate.
“Ah, what a pity, dying at the hands of these creatures is not as good as dying in the belly of the fox demon, at least I would have had a taste of it!”
There were also hunters who couldn’t help sighing regretfully that they didn’t get to die a lustful ghost.
However, before these men could utter another word, they saw a group of highly savage wolves rushing to the vicinity of the forest hut, dragging away the enormous fox and several other larger than normal bodies from inside the house without sparing them a glance.
The five hunters, lost in the mountain wind, found the wolf pack completely disappeared when they came to their senses. They were unscathed, not even losing a single hair.
“Uncle Lin, we’re safe, the wolves are gone!”
“Yes, the wolves are gone!”
“But what just happened?”
“The Mountain God, it must be the Mountain God’s protection!”
One of the hunters huffed, and regardless of anything else, he fell on his knees, bowing towards the silhouette of the mountain range reflected in the night
sky…