Xian Yu's eyes were empty, his face full of despair.
He just stood there, stunned.
The pile of gemstones before him, which had once shimmered with a dazzling, beautiful luster, had now become a heap of white powder... as pale as could be.
Just like Xian Yu's face right now.
"I'm sorry... We said we'd be rich, that we'd made it... but in the end, it all turned to this."
He started to ramble a little. The shock had just been too much.
Why did so many rich people choose to jump after going bankrupt?
Just like Xian Yu right now.
The fall was too great. He couldn't accept it...
"Let's just pretend we never met. I'm still me, and you—ugh, I mean, you never existed in the first place..." In the end, our dear Xian Yu accepted reality and bid farewell to the heap of white powder.
Seeing this, Bai Xiaoqi sighed and finally spoke up. "Master, save my mother first..."
Prompted by Xiao Qi, Xian Yu finally remembered he wasn't completely penniless. At least I still have a fox mom...
Thinking about it, he even felt a little better.
He walked over to the Bronze Treasure Chest in a few strides. Xian Yu didn't look back at the heap of powder, just like love.
"Notice: The system is busy... Please try again later."
When Xian Yu reached out and touched the Bronze Treasure Chest in front of him, the system's loathsome voice rang out.
Before, touching a chest with his hand would send it into his inventory. But this time, the damn thing was busy...
What could I do? What could I do? In the end, I still had to forgive the system like a father. ˉ_(ツ)_/ˉ
Xian Yu sat helplessly on the rocky ground. I'll deal with you after you're done, then.
"Ding-dong! Balanced energy required. Collecting 1,000 diamonds from the host. Current balance: 439 diamonds."
Hearing the voice, Xian Yu sprang to his feet and roared, "That's too much! Enough already!"
He'd thought he was angry enough that nothing else could faze him anymore.
But the system was a little bitch with the Taunt skill, and it had managed to stoke his fury all over again.
Take them if you must, but could you at least not announce it to me...? (╥﹏╥)
Even Bai Xiaoqi couldn't stand it anymore. But it couldn't argue with the system, because... it couldn't afford to offend either side...
In the end, Bai Xiaoqi sighed and called out, "Master."
"What? I'm not in the mood right now. If you have something to say, just say it." Xian Yu answered irritably.
Bai Xiaoqi hesitated, then said timidly, "It's just... there's something I can't quite work out."
When Xian Yu didn't reply, Xiao Qi didn't dare beat around the bush and asked directly, "Master said you'd hatch a female fox for me someday. Was that true?"
Xian Yu rolled his eyes and answered weakly, "It was."
"Then here's the problem. If you hatch my mom, and then hatch a female fox for me, wouldn't that make her my sister...? Master, are you trying to make me commit incest...?"
"Heh." Xian Yu rolled his eyes again. The joke was cold, but Xiao Qi had meant well.
Although Bai Xiaoqi's frosty joke couldn't even make a three-year-old laugh, feeling its good intentions eased the faint ache in Xian Yu's heart quite a bit.
"Ding-dong! Due to an unexpected situation, the system has malfunctioned. We apologize for any inconvenience. Compensation will be issued shortly."
"Heh. Can you get any more shameless?" Xian Yu couldn't even be bothered to roll his eyes this time.
Unexpected situation? That first ding-dong had said, "Detecting special energy."
It was like a thug saying, "Look, look, I've spotted a pretty girl!"
Did they think I hadn't heard?
System malfunction?
Then that first ding-dong: "Beginning to absorb special energy."
It was like a thug saying, "Heh heh heh, little lady, I'm about to devour you."
Then the final ding-dong: "Beginning absorption."
Caught completely off guard.
The thug had already mounted up and charged in.
Couldn't they just stop with the nonsense already...?
"Ding-dong. In accordance with the host's inner desires, two compensation options have been arranged. Please choose one."
As the system's voice rang out, two transparent boxes appeared in front of Xian Yu.
The first box read, "Allow the host to redefine the gender of the Three-Tailed Fox 'Bai Xiaoqi.'"
Pfft...
Bai Xiaoqi seemed able to see the interface too. Its huge beastly eyes were now wide as saucers, and its massive body trembled on the rocky ground.
"Ma... Master... You actually have that kind of desire...? No... Please, I'm begging you!"
Bai Xiaoqi's eyes filled with tears as it pleaded. This time, real tears the size of glass beads dripped from its lightbulb-sized eyes, one after another.
Xian Yu's eyes widened too. His old face felt like it was burning... (/ω＼)
"System, get out here! I promise I won't beat you to death! You've screwed me over again and again. What's the point?"
"..."
Thanks to the internet in his previous life, Xian Yu had been born with the basic skill of roasting people. Chinese was vast and profound, with five thousand years of history behind it. After countless brutal flame wars and verbal duels, the atmosphere had shaped him into someone who—no offense—left every other species in the dust when it came to roasting people.
And then...
Xian Yu still forgave it like a father.
What could I do? What else could I do?
Life still had to go on...
Then he looked at the second option.
The second box read, "Evolve the Three-Tailed Fox 'Bai Xiaoqi' into a Six-Tailed Fox."
Xian Yu didn't even dare look at Xiao Qi, who was lying on the ground and wailing.
Truthfully, he really wanted to pat its chest and say, "There, there, Xiao Qi. Don't be scared. Master will definitely choose the second option!"
But in reality, Xian Yu had inexplicably avoided Xiao Qi's resentful gaze. He didn't dare meet its eyes at all...
Lin Xian Yu! What are you thinking? Choose the second option, obviously! What a great chance—evolution! It's evolution! What's there to hesitate about?
The excited comrade Xian Yu had even brought out his name from his previous life.
Honestly, Xian Yu's conscious mind was dead set on choosing the second option.
But for some reason, he couldn't control his body...
"I think I might have fallen under an illusion again... Why can't I move...?" Xian Yu sounded as if he were talking to himself, or perhaps explaining himself to someone.
Bai Xiaoqi's eyes were as lifeless as ashes as it stared blankly at its master.
It understood humans all too well. It also knew just how alluring its fox clan was—or no, alluring wasn't the word. It knew just how powerful its magic was.
Suddenly, Xian Yu moved.
He slowly extended his right hand...
Bai Xiaoqi's eyes suddenly lit up. It saw its master's hand reaching toward the second option.
So Master really was a good master. I was wrong about him.
Truly, Bai Xiaoqi had never found a human so agreeable.
It secretly swore that even if it ever faced an enemy it couldn't resist, it would die before its master did.
Before it died, it would never, ever let its master suffer the slightest harm!
"Master!!! You..."
A deeply human expression of disbelief appeared on Bai Xiaoqi's great fox face.
That's right—disbelief!
Xian Yu's hand, which had been reaching for the second "evolution" option, had somehow shifted to the first option: "Redefine the Three-Tailed Fox's gender."
It had already told its master clearly that it was male... If he chose this option, would he just get to choose male again?
"Heh... Men." The Three-Tailed Fox let out a sound filled with despair, pain, anger, disdain, coldness, bashfulness, and contempt—all at once.
Before you continue