“Hey, Laosan and Laowu, come over here!” Soon, the eagle-eyed county mayor found them. He immediately bent down and pulled them near.

“What’s going on?” Laosan and Laowu were baffled, but they still followed the county mayor.

“Well, is there anything here?” Laowu looked at the dark cave but did not see anything. “It’s just a cave. Is everyone hiding here to catch bears?”

“Shh! Don’t talk!” The county mayor got nervous and instantly raised a finger gesturing them to be silent. He then looked at the huge cave.

At first, there was no sound at all, but when everyone became quiet and looked at the cave while holding their breath, they heard a sound coming from the cave.

That sound, which was similar to heavy breathing, came continuously from the cave. The reason why it was ‘similar’ was that the sound was so loud that it was hard to imagine how big this animal was.

“It’s coming out, it’s coming out!” The county mayor lowered his voice and said. His voice was filled with fear and excitement.

Right as he said that, Laosan and Laowu saw a huge white animal slowly coming out of the dark cave.

It was a huge fox with white fur and red eyes. Although it was impossible to tell how large it was exactly since they were so far away, Laosan believed that it was at least as tall as the 200-year-old willow tree towering at the entrance of their village. No, it might even bigger than that.

As the white fox padded out of the cave, the villagers became even more shocked. Because behind the white fox were nine tails as beautiful as blooming flowers.

“Did you see that?” The county mayor said with a trembling voice. He pointed at the nine-tailed fox and said to the villagers behind him, “It’s this evil monster! This evil monster is the reason why food won’t grow on our land! If we don’t kill this monster, the rain will never come!”

The crowd immediately gasped.

“But.. how can we deal with this monster? As we’ve seen, it’s gigantic!” Someone said doubtfully.

“So, we should starve to death without doing anything?” The county mayor asked emotionally. “We must come up with a solution even if there is none!”

Just like that, the villagers returned to the village to discuss how to deal with the giant fox monster.

In the end, the villagers chose the strongest man to lead the way with a torch and spear. All the other strong men in the village followed behind while the seniors and children walked at the back.

Everyone in the village set off towards the cave where the nine-tailed fox lived.

They left at midnight since they planned to stab the fox in the heart with their spears while it was sleeping. They hoped that by killing the fox, they could escape from this drought and bring good harvests to the village for many years to come.

The strongest man walked in the front with a spear in his hand, but the closer he approached the dark cave, the more timid the man grew.

“Go faster, the fox is right ahead!” The county mayor prompted him from behind.

“I know, I know, don’t push me!” The man answered with a trembling voice. “Be careful, we can’t wake the fox.”

“Don’t make so many excuses, you’re obviously scared!”

“No, I’m not! How could I be afraid?!”

Just as the two were quarreling, they heard a roar from the cave. Soon enough, the fox popped its head out of the cave.

The villagers let out a cry of terror. Even the strongest man in front was so scared that he fell to the ground.

Of course, they should be. Laosan and Laowu finally saw the face of this nine-tailed fox.

It was gigantic. It was mentioned before that it looked as tall as an old willow tree when they saw it from a distance. However, when they faced this monster, they found that it was actually at least three times taller than the old big willow!

It frightened all the villagers. Some of them ran away, some hid, while the rest were so scared that they sat on the ground, unable to move.

At this moment, the strong man in the lead finally remembered his mission. Feeling a sudden surge of courage, he picked up the spear on the ground, and yelling some strange sounds and rushed towards the fox.

The spear stabbed the fox in its front paw and it began to bleed. The fox monster let out a loud roar, instead of fighting back as the villagers imagined, it seemed scared and backed off.

The man who stabbed it with the spear was surprised for a moment but then became ecstatic.

“It’s scared! Look everyone, the beast is scared of us!”

“Really?” The villagers who fled and hid away, reappeared one by one and looked curiously in the beast’s direction.

The strong man picked up the torch on the ground. He let out an angry shout before wildly wielding the torch at the nine-tailed fox. The nine-tailed fox growled and retreated.

Emboldened, the man shouted, “Give us our fields back, you monster!”

After seeing the beast’s reaction, the villagers became brave and began to throw hats, clothes, and other things at the nine-tailed fox.

“Yes! Stop your curse!”

“Son of a bitch!”

“Give our food back!”

The nine-tailed fox looked a little flustered when facing their siege and insults. Its huge nine tails swayed feebly in the air. It was not sure whether it should step forward or back. So it jumped up the hill and ran into the forest.

“It wants to escape! Guys, don’t let it get away!”

“Let’s chase it!”

“The beast must be killed!”

Even though the nine-tailed fox had run away deep into the forest, it could not hide from those savage villagers. Some bold villagers took out weapons like kitchen knives and sticks to attack the nine-tailed fox.

The nine-tailed fox was finally cornered, while the villagers shouted angrily.

“I have nothing to do with your farmland!” The nine-tailed fox probably became anxious. Its mouth was wide open, revealing its sharp teeth.

“It’s talking!”

“This beast can talk!”

“Kill it! Kill it now! He’s indeed a monster!”

“I didn’t do anything! Why are you doing this to me?” The nine-tailed fox growled and moved back, trying to avoid any contacts with the villagers.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense!” The strong man in the front shouted. He held up the torch and spear. “Kill it!”

“I am doing this for your own good!” The nine-tailed fox said. “I didn’t know there are humans living nearby. If you leave now, I will leave as well. Otherwise..”

“Otherwise what?” The man in the front asked loudly.

“Otherwise, I will instantly destroy your country.” The nine-tailed fox narrowed its eyes and growled as if it was threatening them to step back.

A heavy silence fell in for a few seconds, and then the villagers burst into loud laughter. The man in the front was the one who laughed the hardest.