Charm

September 1st, the fourth day since transforming into a Nine-tailed Fox.

At noon that day, he was foraging at the foot of the mountain. Without realizing it, he ran along the river and arrived at the edge of the Great Han Mountain nature reserve.

Wooden villages, domesticated Asian elephants, and Malai people dressed in vibrant clothing.

Upon seeing the human village, Lan Mu quickly stopped and observed from a distance.

After lingering for a moment, Lan Mu flicked his nine tails and left.

He was free in the mountains; it was best not to provoke humans.

Although he could speak after transforming into a fox, this was a foreign country, and they didn't speak the same language. There was no point in trying to communicate with the Malai people, especially those from an indigenous village.

The Nine-tailed Fox weaved through the jungle, its form appearing exceptionally long.

When running, he didn't want his tails to stick straight up, as it looked very unsightly. He had to let them trail parallel to the ground behind him.

This way, his magnificent nine tails adorned his hindquarters like flowing ribbons, appearing like a white rainbow flowing in the wind as he ran.

He chased a pheasant. He didn't need claws or fangs at all. He brushed past it, and his nine tails gently caressed it, draining its vital energy.

Lan Mu continued running, having completed his hunt. The pheasant collapsed, weak and dying.

This elegant hunting method was something he had gradually become familiar with and figured out over the past few days.

He didn't need to use claws or fangs like ordinary animals. Any part of his body that touched a creature could absorb its vital energy.

On the way back to Great Han Mountain, he also absorbed the vital energy of two more pheasants.

Suddenly, he stopped and climbed a large tree.

Not far away, a small boy appeared, wearing ethnic clothing. He was shouting in an unknown language and fleeing in panic.

Behind the boy were three wild jackals, baring their teeth and drooling, looking cruel and evil. Even Lan Mu felt his fur stand on end upon seeing them.

"More than three..."

Lan Mu noticed four more wild jackals flanking them. A total of seven wild jackals were attacking a small boy.

The boy was clearly from the village he had seen earlier. He had probably wandered too far while playing and encountered a pack of wild jackals in the jungle.

Jackals resemble dogs and foxes. They are ferocious and cruel, and they like to use pack tactics to wear down their prey, eventually swarming and tearing them to death.

Seeing that he was surrounded, the boy quickly climbed a tree. However, he was too small, and the tree was too thick. He kept sliding down.

He was covered in sweat. Every time he slipped, he cried out.

The pack of jackals watched him from below the tree, drooling and ready to pounce and tear him apart at any moment. The boy's hands were scraped raw by the bark, and blood flowed, yet he dared not let go.

Just as the jackals crouched low, ready to leap, Lan Mu finally let out a roar.

"Ying ying ying!"

Don't blame him for acting cute; it's just that no matter how the Nine-tailed Fox transformed, its voice couldn't change and always sounded like a baby's cry.

The jackals and the boy turned their heads towards the sound. On a high branch of a nearby tree, a beautiful white fox was perched.

The boy stared blankly at the fox, then suddenly noticed its nine tails. He was stunned and let out two yelps before falling off the tree.

He landed on his bottom, completely dazed, right in the middle of the jackal pack. He would be torn to shreds in the next second.

However, the expected swarm of jackals didn't happen. The boy stared dumbfoundedly as the seven wild jackals ignored his existence, drooled at the fox, and slowly approached it.

The jackal pack was charmed by Lan Mu, and they were all drawn to the tree where he was.

"This idiot, still not running..."

Lan Mu shook his head inwardly, seeing the boy still sitting on the ground foolishly.

"If you don't go, I will!"

He leaped from the tree. As he fell, his tails fluttered like catkins, drifting down like a ball of white cloud.

After running for several hundred meters, the jackal pack chased for several hundred meters, still charmed by Lan Mu.

With a flick of Lan Mu's tail, the seven wild jackals died happily, their vital energy drained.

Effortless, simple, elegant, and seamless.

A few minutes later, he returned to Great Han Mountain. He stood on the mountaintop, full of energy, his tails like a canopy, absorbing the essence of the sun.

Besides cultivating, he truly had nothing else to do.

As time passed and the sun began to set, he retracted his tails.

Only then did he notice the small boy silently watching him from the foot of the mountain.

"Huh? He followed me?" Lan Mu was speechless when he saw the boy peeking at him furtively.

He hadn't thought much about saving the boy's life. But he overlooked the extraordinary allure of his Nine-tailed Fox form to humans.

Even though he hadn't charmed the boy, the child had still followed him. It looked like he had been standing there all day.

After some thought, Lan Mu decided to slip away. He couldn't possibly silence the boy, could he? Anyway, he was hiding in the deep mountains and forests, and he would turn back into a human in three days.

He charged down the mountain and darted into the jungle. This time, he used his full speed. The boy couldn't possibly catch up to him and was quickly left behind.

As the sun set, the jungle quickly grew dark.

After staying in the tree for two hours, Lan Mu couldn't hold back any longer.

"The jungle is full of bugs... It's pitch black, and I might get ambushed by something at night..."

Lan Mu wasn't a fierce beast like the White-haired Lion, naturally possessing an intimidating aura towards animals. On the contrary, he attracted animals, stirring some kind of desire within them. He didn't know what kind of passive ability this was.

Moreover, he couldn't absorb the moonlight in the jungle. He had no choice but to turn back.

When he returned to the foot of Great Han Mountain, he was surprised to find the little boy was still there!

Leaning against a rock, squatting on the ground, he looked very panicked and lost.

"No way? You have this much perseverance?"

"Could it be he can't find his way back? That's right... He's probably only eight or nine years old. The jungle at night is still too dangerous for him."

After some consideration, this mountain was his best place to live, and it wasn't ideal to have the boy guarding it all the time.

If he ignored the boy and he was snatched away by some beast at night, that would also be terrible. He might as well escort him back.

Lan Mu trotted forward with his snow-white limbs, landing lightly in front of the boy.

The boy looked at him with surprise and babbled a string of words.

"I don't understand what you're saying..."

Lan Mu ignored him, let out two soft whimpers, and turned to leave.

As expected, the boy followed him closely. This time, Lan Mu deliberately walked slowly, specifically to protect him on his way home.

Lan Mu still remembered the way to the village. As he led the boy through the jungle, even if they encountered wild beasts, a single Charm would be enough to handle them.

The little boy curiously looked at his magnificent tail and slowly reached out to touch it.

The moment he touched it, Lan Mu's fur bristled.

"Don't touch me! How dare you touch me, you brat?"

Lan Mu suppressed the urge to absorb his vital energy, glared back at him, and bared his teeth menacingly.

The little boy was startled, hid his hands behind his back, lowered his head, and didn't dare to act rashly anymore.

"Hmph!"

Lan Mu strode forward. Along the way, many wild beasts approached, which confirmed his guess.

"Does the Nine-tailed Fox really have an attraction to animals? What exactly is drawing them over?"

Lan Mu noticed that many animals seemed to be drawn by a scent...

"Could I have a special fragrance? I can't smell anything?"

Not long after, Lan Mu heard human shouts in the distance, seemingly calling a name.

"Bolanggu? Is that your name?"

Lan Mu looked back at the boy, who indeed showed a look of joy and quickly ran towards the source of the sound.

"Mhm, it really is his family looking for him..."

Lan Mu retreated successfully. Seeing a large group of people holding torches in the distance, he immediately fled.

"Bolanggu... You say a Nine-tailed Fox saved you? It's not good for a child to lie..." the boy's father said, holding him.

The boy, named Bolanggu, insisted, "Really! Really! A beautiful, beautiful fox... with nine tails, pure white! And it smelled so good!"

"Haha, your son is so funny. We've lived here for generations; if there were a Nine-tailed Fox on Great Han Mountain, we would have seen it long ago!" his father's friend laughed.

More than twenty strong men from the village arrived and burst into laughter. They clearly didn't believe the little boy's words, thinking he was just scared and talking nonsense.

But Bolanggu remained steadfast and kept looking back, hoping to see the beautiful demon fox that saved him.

Seeing how certain Bolanggu was, and the genuine affection in his eyes, a dark-skinned man's eyes darted around and said, "I remember smelling a scent drifting from afar earlier, like both floral and bodily fragrance. Do you think it might really be a Nine-tailed Fox?"

"Hahaha! Saisibin, you actually believe in the existence of Nine-tailed Foxes? Are you perhaps thinking about women?"

The villagers all mocked the dark-skinned man, Saisibin, but he didn't care, only lost in thought.

The next day, Saisibin set out early with his bow and arrows, venturing alone into the jungle.

He passed the place where he had met Bolanggu yesterday, but the strange fragrance had already dissipated. He recalled the mountain Bolanggu had mentioned and headed there.

Along the way, he discovered many animal carcasses with dry, cracked flesh and shrunken eyeballs.

"No wounds, and not killed by blunt force... This..."

Discovering the strange way the animals had died, Saisibin was filled with curiosity and headed straight for Great Han Mountain.

When he arrived at Great Han Mountain, he didn't see the legendary Nine-tailed Fox.

He was somewhat disappointed but still searched relentlessly.

When he circled around to the back of the mountain, after walking a considerable distance, he suddenly froze and then trembled all over.

"Fox... Nine-tailed Fox!"

He saw a Nine-tailed Fox basking in the sun in the mountain's shade, the only spot where sunlight reached.

Its nine distinct tails unfurled like a peacock's display, magnificent in the sunlight.

"Malevolent Spirit! Demon!"

Saisibin showed no respect for the Nine-tailed Fox. His first instinct was to draw his bow and nock an arrow, but he then lowered it.

"No, no, no, I can't hit it from this distance..."

He suddenly broke into a wide grin, chuckling sinisterly.

"Heh heh... My fortune is about to come!"

Saisibin turned and fled, his figure disappearing into the jungle.

The Nine-tailed Fox on the mountain remained completely unaware.