Chapter 165 White Fox
In the medicine garden, the afterglow of the setting sun cast a golden sheen over the ravaged spirit fields. Han Yu squatted before a patch of overturned soil, gently pinching a bit of earth between his fingertips and bringing it to his nose for a sniff.
"Interesting." A sharp glint flashed in his eyes. "The residual aura in this soil wasn't left by a human."
Hearing this, Jiang Che leaned closer: "Senior Brother, are you saying the thief isn't human?"
"Look here." Han Yu pointed to several nearly invisible indentations on the ground. "These paw prints are evenly spaced and uniformly deep—clearly left by some quadruped. And moreover..."
He stood up and walked to another damaged section of the spirit fields: "The way these spirit herbs were gnawed is also peculiar. The edges are clean, as if severed directly by sharp teeth rather than harvested by human hands."
Jiang Che's eyes lit up: "So this so-called thief is actually some kind of 'spirit beast'?"
"That's one way to put it." Han Yu surveyed their surroundings. "And judging by the tracks, this spirit beast isn't large, but it moves with extreme agility. Its ability to bypass the Profound Mist Sect's multiple restrictions indicates exceptionally high spiritual intelligence."
As dusk deepened, the medicine garden shrouded in hazy twilight. Han Yu took out several gleaming spirit stones from his storage bag and began arranging them around the garden's perimeter.
"Senior Brother, are you setting up a formation?" Jiang Che asked curiously.
"Mm." Han Yu didn't look up, focused on adjusting the spirit stones' positions. "Now that we know our opponent is a spirit beast, we must use methods suited for spirit beasts. I'm laying a 'Spirit-Binding Array.' Once it steps inside, spiritual energy chains will entangle it."
Jiang Che grinned: "Then I'll set up a 'Lost-Trace Array' to make entry easy but escape difficult!"
Working together, the two soon spread an inescapable net through the medicine garden. Han Yu also placed several seemingly intact century-old spirit ginseng roots in the formation's center as bait.
"Everything's ready. Now we just wait for the thief to take the bait." Jiang Che clapped his hands in satisfaction and hid with Han Yu in a small hut by the garden, observing through a crack in the window.
The first night passed without incident.
The second night, under a bright moon and sparse stars, the medicine garden remained silent.
On the third night, dark clouds obscured the moon. A breeze rustled through the medicine garden, causing spirit herb leaves to whisper.
"It's here!" Han Yu suddenly whispered.
Jiang Che immediately held his breath. In the grass at the garden's edge, a white blur flickered—so fast it was nearly indistinguishable.
"So swift!" Jiang Che marveled silently.
The white shadow lingered at the garden's edge, seemingly testing something. Suddenly, it darted toward the spirit ginseng at the formation's center—but just as it was about to touch the roots, it screeched to a halt.
"It detected it!" Han Yu frowned.
The white shadow circled the spirit ginseng, then suddenly extended a forepaw, lightly prodding the soil beside the roots.
In an instant, the Spirit-Binding Array flared with spiritual light as dozens of energy chains shot from the ground!
Yet the white shadow seemed to anticipate this. With a nimble leap, it slipped through the gaps between the chains, landing unharmed outside the formation. More astonishingly, before departing, it scratched several marks on the ground—leaving behind a crudely drawn smiling face pattern.
"This..." Jiang Che stared dumbfounded. "Is it mocking us?"
Han Yu's expression turned grave: "It seems ordinary traps are ineffective against it. This spirit beast's intelligence far exceeds our expectations."
Over the next several nights, no matter how they refined their traps, the white shadow always evaded them effortlessly. Once, it even deliberately triggered the Lost-Trace Array, circling inside for several rounds before sauntering away—leaving behind a few white hairs as its "spoils of war."
"Senior Brother, this isn't working." On the seventh morning, Jiang Che rubbed his bloodshot eyes and complained, "That beast is practically sentient!"
"Is it possible it's a demon that hasn't yet transformed?"
After a long contemplation, Han Yu suddenly retrieved a spirit herb emitting a faint green glow from his storage bag. "Since ordinary spirit herbs won't lure it, we'll use something special." A spark lit up Han Yu's eyes.
"Nine Revolutions Mysterious Spirit Grass!?" Jiang Che exclaimed, "Senior Brother, isn't that too extravagant?"
"Indeed."
Jiang Che sighed, "Only you would be so bold as to use a Nine Revolutions Mysterious Spirit Grass as bait."
Han Yu's possession of the immortal artifact Heaven-Controlling Gourd was no secret among his junior brothers. This millennium-old spirit herb exuded dense spiritual energy.
Han Yu stated calmly, "This 'Nine Revolutions Mysterious Spirit Grass' holds fatal allure for any spirit beast. I refuse to believe it can resist."
This time, Han Yu changed tactics. He didn't place the spirit herb directly in the formation's center but suspended it from a spirit thread as fine as a hair, three feet above the ground. The thread's other end connected to an intricate mechanism—disturbing the herb would simultaneously trigger three formations: Spirit-Binding Array, Space-Restricting Array, and Silence Array.
"The Space-Restricting Array will limit its jumping ability, while the Silence Array prevents it from sounding alarms," Han Yu explained. "With three layers overlapping, nothing should go wrong."
As night fell, they hid in the hut again. This time, they waited longer—past midnight, the medicine garden remained silent.
"Could it be it's not coming tonight?" Jiang Che asked, disheartened.
But Han Yu suddenly gripped his shoulder: "Shh—"
A breeze stirred the grass at the garden's edge. A snow-white figure emerged silently. Instead of rushing toward the spirit herb, it crouched at the garden's perimeter, warily observing its surroundings.
Under the moonlight, they finally saw the thief's true form—a snow-white fox with fur as smooth as silk, its eyes gleaming with spiritual intelligence in the darkness. Though small in size, it exuded an indescribable elegance and agility.
The white fox circled the garden several times, its nose twitching constantly—clearly drawn by the millennium herb's fragrance. But it remained extremely cautious, never entering the formation's range.
"It's too cunning," Jiang Che whispered in frustration. "It won't fall for it."
Just as they were about to give up, the fox moved. It lunged toward the suspended herb with lightning speed, but at the moment of contact, its body twisted impossibly—passing beneath the herb while extending a paw to hook it—
The spirit herb remained motionless.
The fox seemed startled, then tried again, leaping higher this time, its paw nearly touching the herb.
In that split second, Han Yu swiftly formed hand seals: "Activate!"
All three formations triggered simultaneously! Spirit-Binding Array's chains coiled toward the fox like serpents, the Space-Restricting Array's glow suppressed its leap, and the Silence Array muffled all sound.
The fox let out a silent scream, struggling futilely midair before being tightly bound by spiritual chains, landing with a thud on the ground.
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