He suddenly remembered that he had found hairs resembling those of an albino red fox in that cave.
It was also where he had found the chaga.
An outlandish thought sprang to mind.
Could that cave really have been this little fox's original home?
The fox had never been tracking him at all. It had been following the scent of the chaga in his backpack!
Su Wei had read that many animals grew dependent on a particular scent, treating it as a marker of home.
This white fox had most likely lived in that cave.
The mingled scent of wood and fungus was the smell of its home.
And he was like a moving home, carrying that familiar scent and leading it all the way here.
It hadn't wanted to seek refuge with him. It had wanted to go home!
Having realized that, Su Wei couldn't say what he felt as he watched the white fox rummage through his backpack.
Eight thousand dollars.
The money was a powerful temptation.
But now, there was something else mixed in with that temptation.
A sense of... guilt, over exploiting the little creature's desire to go home for money?
Su Wei gave a self-mocking laugh.
He could barely keep himself alive, yet here he was, overflowing with sympathy.
The original owner had lost his life in the blizzard because he hadn't been ruthless enough.
He couldn't make the same mistake.
Su Wei's gaze hardened.
But just then, the little white fox seemed to have grown tired of pawing at the bag.
It stopped and turned to look at Su Wei with its ice-blue eyes.
It tilted its head and let out a questioning cry.
The cry was soft and innocent, without a trace of aggression.
At that very moment, a notification suddenly sounded in Su Wei's mind.
[Successfully tamed a wild creature: blue-eyed albino red fox! Beast Taming Module activated!] [Based on the rarity of your first tamed beast pet, 117 experience gained. Beast Taming Module upgraded to Lv2] [Beast Taming Module Lv2 (17/300): effects...]
Chapter 7: Beast Taming Module! A New Partner, Cotton Candy!
Su Wei froze in place, his mind filled with those lines of blue text that had appeared out of nowhere.
[Successfully tamed a wild creature: blue-eyed albino red fox! Beast Taming Module activated!] [Based on the rarity of your first tamed beast pet, 117 experience gained. Beast Taming Module upgraded to Lv2] [Beast Taming Module Lv2: effects...]
Tamed?
He hadn't tamed a damn thing!
From beginning to end, all he'd done was let the little creature run him in circles and share half of his last meal with it.
That counted as taming?
It had clearly come knocking of its own accord, clinging to him shamelessly and forcing him to take responsibility!
Su Wei wanted to pry the system open and see just what standards this module used to make its judgments.
Could it have been thanks to that little lump of mashed-up compressed biscuit?
The price of buying off a rare fox worth eight thousand dollars was a bit too low.
Complaints aside, Su Wei forced himself to calm down.
No matter how absurd the process had been, the result was real.
Beside the Gathering Module, his golden finger now had a new module marked with a beast's paw print.
He focused and opened the [Beast Taming Module].
The Lv2 module had unlocked two effects.
The first was the passive effect [Animal Affinity].
The description was simple: his presence would feel less threatening to wild creatures, making it easier to gain their initial favor.
Su Wei glanced at the little white fox, which was still nosing at his backpack, and wondered whether this thing had come a little late.
He figured it would be nice if the ability could turn a three-hundred-kilogram Kodiak brown bear into a guard dog.
But he reckoned he could only dream.
He went on to the second effect: [Beast Language].
This effect made his eyes light up.
[Beast Language: you can vaguely sense simple emotions and intentions conveyed by your tamed beast pets.]
This function would be immensely useful in the wilderness.
Su Wei's gaze returned to the little white fox.
It was still wrestling with the backpack, whimpering low in its throat as its little paws scratched futilely at the thick canvas.
Under the effect of [Beast Language], a clear thought reached Su Wei's mind.
What came through was a collection of pure emotions.
[Longing... smell of home... my den...]
Sure enough, it was just as he'd guessed.
The little creature hadn't been after him at all. It had been chasing the scent of its old den.
And he was the bandit who had carried its belongings all over the mountain.
The module's functions didn't stop there.
Su Wei discovered that he could also view a detailed information panel for his tamed beast pet.
With a thought, a panel belonging solely to the little white fox opened before his eyes.
[Beast pet: blue-eyed albino red fox] [Nickname: unnamed] [Age: seven months] [Trait: charm. As an exceptionally rare congenital blue-eyed albino variant, its very existence possesses great charm, allowing it to easily gain the favor and pity of other creatures.]
Seven months?
Su Wei froze.
This little creature was actually still an underage cub!
Ordinary red foxes didn't reach sexual maturity and become capable of living independently until they were around a year old.
No wonder it was so... dumb.
And no wonder its behavior followed such simple logic: it simply missed home and wanted to find its familiar scent again.
That charm trait made Su Wei understand at once.
So the sense of closeness and innocence he'd felt before hadn't been entirely an act. Some of it came from the little creature's innate talent.
A passive aura that made enemies unable to bring themselves to strike.
Su Wei didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
After all that, he'd been won over by a minor using a beauty trap.
He sighed and beckoned to the little creature, which was still locked in battle with his backpack.
"All right, stop scratching. Any more and you'll break it."
The little white fox stopped and tilted its head at him, its ice-blue eyes full of confusion.
Su Wei unzipped the side pocket of his backpack and took out a small piece of chaga.
A familiar scent spread through the air, the distinctive smell of wood and fungus mingled together.
The little white fox's eyes lit up at once.
It darted over in a flash and pressed its little nose to the chaga, closing its eyes and sniffing hard as its tail wagged happily behind it.
Its enraptured expression made it look just like an addict who had found spiritual sustenance.
Su Wei put the piece of chaga on the ground, expecting it to stay by the stuff.