Brush the Fox

"Fine, for the sake of the Fourth Elder, I'll take a step back. As long as he cooperates and lures that Lin Qing out of the village, this matter is settled." Xu Tianlang spoke with an air of making a great concession.

Gao Linzhi immediately sneered: "Who do you think you are?"

"You tricked me with a fake contract, and not only do you pretend it never happened, but you want me to keep deceiving Lin Qing into coming out? She's someone the Fourth Elder is determined to protect!"

"Captain Zheng, have you forgotten that?"

"Right, I almost forgot about that big issue. Anyway, I need to report this to the Fourth Elder." Zheng Dong said as he drew his blade, shielding Gao Linzhi, and pulled out a Communication Talisman.

"Hahaha, go ahead and report. I'd like to see how their Fourth Elder plans to deal with me!" Xu Tianlang said without a care.

Zheng Dong gritted his teeth and directly activated the Communication Talisman.

Before long, the image of an elderly man in a scholar's robe appeared—it was the Fourth Elder.

"Fourth Elder..." Zheng Dong briefly explained the situation.

"I understand. Young Master Xu, Canxue is a village guard, and Lin Qing is also a village guard. You cannot touch these two," the Fourth Elder stated directly.

Hearing this, Zheng Dong's expression shifted.

From the Fourth Elder's tone, was he saying that what Xu Corporation had just done would not be pursued?

Sure enough, Xu Tianlang laughed loudly: "Alright, today I'll give the Fourth Elder that face."

"However, Fourth Elder, that new disciple you took in is a traitor to our Xu Corporation."

"She stole something from our company. Please hand her over to me."

"No. She is also a village guard, highly talented, with great potential. She will become a pillar of the village in the future," the Fourth Elder refused outright.

"Heh, no matter how talented she is, she's just one person, one life."

"Even with her high talent, how many years will it take for her to grow?"

"And your village suffers from monster and aberration attacks from time to time. Without our Corporate Players fighting tooth and nail, could you be as stable as you are now?"

"Don't forget, your village was once on the brink of collapse!"

Gao Linzhi was momentarily stunned.

He caught the implication in Xu Tianlang's words—it seemed that East Wolf Village had survived long ago only because of the Corporate Players' desperate efforts.

No wonder the Corporate Players were so arrogant, daring to capture Ordinary Players right in the village.

"That's our business. Besides, without the village's existence, you Corporate Players would be like trees without roots, water without a source," the Fourth Elder shook his head. "In short, you cannot touch these two."

"Heh, then we'll see about that."

With that, the Fourth Elder's image vanished. Xu Tianlang shot a deep glance at Gao Linzhi before leading his men away.

Xu Tianlang suffered no punishment at all, but Gao Linzhi wasn't annoyed. In his eyes, Xu Tianlang was already a dead person.

By afternoon.

Everything went on as if nothing had happened.

Gao Linzhi followed Zheng Dong and the Fourth Squad to hunt down nearby monsters.

"Brother Canxue, we're sweeping Foxy Slope this afternoon."

"It's been six days since the last sweep, so those fox monsters should have multiplied again," Zheng Dong said.

Gao Linzhi nodded.

The two talked as they walked.

From Zheng Dong, he learned: many monsters often have a lair, and for some reason, they can never be fully wiped out. Even if the lair is destroyed, it repairs itself after a while.

So they had to clear them out on a regular schedule.

This was clearly a feature of the world's gamification: monsters had spawn points.

And the fox monsters' lair was called "Foxy Slope."

It was located thirty li south of the village, with numerous interconnected caves, perpetually shrouded in layers of gray-white mist for protection.

According to Zheng Dong, these fox monsters respawned roughly every seven days.

After being wiped out, they would reappear in seven days, starting with only a dozen or so.

Their numbers would gradually increase, and if left uncleaned for too long, each fox monster's strength would also rise.

Once they exceeded a certain count, they would even take the initiative to attack the village.

As for these fox monsters, if villagers killed them directly, their flesh and blood were tainted with aberrant pollution and couldn't be eaten.

But when players killed them, they dropped various materials.

Among them were materials like "Fox Hide" and "Fox Meat," which, after processing, could be eaten.

From this perspective, the timed respawn was actually a good thing.

It essentially solved the village's meat supply problem.

Thus, these monster lairs had instead become precious resource points.

Because of this, East Wolf Village frequently clashed with other villages over resources.

To Gao Linzhi, this was all too familiar—wasn't this just the classic guild competition for grinding spots?

"Foxy demons drop fur and meat. The meat isn't great, but it's still meat—smoked, it's passable. The fur and hide are important materials for making talismans," Zheng Dong said as they walked.

It took them less than an hour to reach Foxy Slope.

Yes, ever since the players arrived, the village had adopted their timekeeping method—more precise and convenient.

It was a slope over two hundred meters high, shrouded in thick mist.

Beneath the mist, dark cave entrances could faintly be seen, and the howls of foxes echoed dimly.

[Ding! You have discovered Foxy Slope (Levels 3 to 9)]

A game notification appeared in Gao Linzhi's mind.

Then he saw a team dressed entirely in blue uniforms grinding foxy demons.

Above their heads floated names with a shared prefix:

"Xu Clan Team Two - Sky Cold," "Xu Clan Team Two - Earth Chill"...

There were nine of them in total.

Fully armed, all clad in steel armor and wielding sharp steel blades, they were lined up to slaughter the foxy demons that burst out.

Gao Linzhi looked up and saw them first toss a bundle of smoking yellow hay into one cave entrance, then station people to guard the larger openings.

Before long, a yellow-furred fox with crimson eyes darted out.

They swung a blade straight down, hacking viciously at its head.

The fox was cunning—it twisted its body and slipped between the player's legs, then bit hard at his groin.

Fortunately, the player had groin protection. He clamped his legs together tightly, trapping the fox, while another player beside him chopped down.

The steel blade scraped against the armor, sparks flying, and killed the foxy demon.

But this was only the beginning. Soon, three or four foxes burst out together.

They were fast, leaping straight at faces, sharp claws aiming for eyes.

Those players quickly covered their faces with both hands.

Others nearby coordinated, hacking at both foxes and men alike. Blades struck steel plates, sending sparks flying...

Zheng Dong sighed at the sight. "Forget it, let them have this spot."

"We'll go kill on the other side. We'll use nets, catch them alive for Brother Canxue to finish off."