Divine Lord Statue

As the Liu Family Couple carried the tables and chairs outside together, the foxes received them outside and helped arrange everything neatly.

At last, the couple carried out a round table together. While doing so, they chatted about the amusing guests outside.

"Say, don't you think these outsiders are strange? Why are they so polite? Afraid of troubling us, they refuse to come inside and disturb us."

"Hehe, that's right. Before dawn, the leader said some foxes had stolen chickens and that they had come to help catch them. I didn't believe him at first, but there was money to be made, and since this was our own village, I wasn't afraid he'd skip out on payment. Thinking about it now, he was probably telling the truth."

The farmwife smiled and carried the round table out from the inner room with her husband, peeking through the curtain at the guests outside.

"Right, I heard they're from Great Zhen. What kind of country is Great Zhen, and where is it?"

"Uh, I'm not too sure either. But judging by this, it ought to be a land of rites and propriety."

"Enough, enough, stopped talking. Look how hungry they all are."

The two carried the round tabletop outside. Huli and those beside him hurriedly stood up to help, while others helped the couple bring out dish after dish.

During this, the foxes seated outside had long since shifted their attention away from the divine statue. Every one of them was drawn to the dishes, especially the many chicken dishes—white-cut chicken, braised chicken, chicken stew—whose fragrance filled the air and made their mouths water.

"Come, come, everyone sit down, sit down. This is just a small country place, with nothing good to offer you. Please don't mind it!"

With that polite invitation from