Accompanied by the white fox’s anguished cries, Bai Qiu walked forward.
He sensed a faint wave of mental energy radiating from the creature, and instantly understood what had happened.
His eyes narrowed as he checked its information.
Phantom Fox – Level 20
Strength: D-
Magic: D
Endurance: E
Agility: D-
Spirit: D-
Skill 1: Mirage – Uses spiritual power to induce hallucinations in a target.
Skill 2: Water Veil – Uses water affinity to create a sound-dampening water screen, allowing silent movement in heavy rain and the ability to traverse water surfaces.
Skill 3: Psychic Shock – Unleashes a mental blast at all nearby targets, causing dizziness, nausea, and similar negative effects. Targets with weak spirit may faint instantly.
After reading its description—and seeing the dark expressions on everyone’s faces—Bai Qiu could more or less imagine what they had just gone through.
Compared to the conspicuous Thorned Willow trees, a small dog-sized creature like the Phantom Fox was naturally much harder to notice.
He didn’t expect something this small to sneak past him and assault the others right under his nose.
Though in the end, it had brought trouble upon itself and ended up tied to a stake and beaten.
After a moment of silence, Bai Qiu joined the head-bonking squad.
“Ow!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
After the four of them took turns delivering a stick-based education, Bai Qiu also picked up a wooden stick and swung it down.
“Crack!”
The stick whipped through the air with a sharp whoosh before smashing into the Phantom Fox’s head.
The solid stick—about five centimeters thick—instantly shattered into several fragments.
The fox, which had been howling and struggling, stiffened, legs twitching as its eyes went wide.
Its head drooped, and it stopped moving.
Everyone: “……”
Bai Qiu: “……”
Looking down at the broken stick in his hand and the scattered splinters, Bai Qiu spoke awkwardly: “Sorry… I didn’t control my strength.”
He hadn’t expected a light tap to destroy the stick—and the tortured fox along with it.
His intention had only been to join in the little “bonk game.”
Who would’ve thought the solid stick was that fragile?
The fox’s Strength was at least D-rank, yet it got killed by an ungraded wooden stick.
Pathetic.
He really had just wanted to participate, not because he had violent tendencies or anything.
Glancing at the barely alive Phantom Fox, he decided to change the topic:
“Anyway… how strong is this Phantom Fox? It seems to use mental attacks.”
“This…” The group looked troubled.
They really didn’t want to recount their embarrassing moments.
But Zhang Shiyao had no such reservations—she retold every detail without leaving anything out.
A few minutes earlier, Huang Qi had been the first to fall victim.
He was dragged into an illusion that made him lose sight of Zhao Daqiang and the others, thinking he had been separated from the team.
Once that idea took hold, he began perceiving the others as Thorned Willows and started fighting them.
Unsurprisingly, the group beat him down and snapped him out of it.
But that was only the beginning.
Right after they subdued Huang Qi, a wave of dizziness hit everyone.
When they recovered, they saw a white fox darting around and attacking them.
Fortunately, they were wearing armor, and the Phantom Fox’s physical attacks were weak, so the damage was minimal—just some scratches on exposed skin.
A single-target illusion plus group crowd control…
This Phantom Fox was far more dangerous than Bai Qiu had expected.
No wonder the group decided to keep it as a test subject.
If this thing attacked with a pack, dragging everyone into illusions, they might have ended up killing each other.
Although continuous attacks could force someone out of an illusion, if both Zhang Shiyao and Bai Qiu—the team’s two big cannons—were controlled, the consequences would be unimaginable.
After listening to Zhang Shiyao’s explanation, Bai Qiu frowned.
This was indeed a real problem.
Even though he possessed a Spirit attribute and likely wouldn’t be dragged into a Phantom Fox illusion, what if they encountered an elite version? Or a lord-tier variant?
And with heavy rain and thick fog everywhere, spotting these stealthy Phantom Foxes wouldn’t be easy.
Seeing that no one cared about the fact he had been beaten to a pulp, Huang Qi spoke up.
“Um… Brother Bai, I have a theory. I don’t know if it makes sense.”
“Oh?” Bai Qiu’s interest was immediately piqued.
Coming up with an idea at a time like this was promising. “Go on, let’s hear it.”
“Ahem… Just now, I don’t think I woke up because everyone beat me.”
Huang Qi said as he walked a few meters back.
He reached into a puddle and picked up a ruined Dreamy Blossom.
“When Brother Qiang and the others had me pinned to the ground, I smelled a floral scent before waking up. And when I came to, I was lying right beside this flower.
Earlier I wasn’t completely sure, but after hearing what Shiyao said, it confirmed my suspicion. Because if I could’ve been woken up by being hit, I would’ve woken up much earlier.”
He rubbed his swollen cheek as he spoke.
From Zhang Shiyao’s recounting, they had punched and kicked him well before pinning him down in the puddle.
Once he was pinned, his resistance weakened, and the others actually hit him less.
Bai Qiu’s eyes lit up.
He understood exactly what Huang Qi meant.
He turned to Zhang Shiyao: “Shiyao, go gather five Dreamy Blossoms nearby.”
“Okay.” She responded immediately and went off collecting.
Bai Qiu walked to the half-dead Phantom Fox.
He lifted it out of the puddle.
After the strike he delivered earlier, the creature was barely clinging to life—but he had a solution.
He uncorked a small healing potion and forced it into the fox’s mouth.
Then, he planted another wooden stake into the ground and tied the fox to it again.
Before long, Zhang Shiyao returned with five Dreamy Blossoms.
Bai Qiu nodded.
“Try holding the petals or the stamen in your mouths. When the fox wakes up, we’ll see whether it works.”
The group exchanged glances, then did as instructed.
Bai Qiu, however, did not put a flower in his mouth—he wanted to test whether the Phantom Fox’s control ability could affect him.
Several minutes later, the Phantom Fox slowly regained consciousness.
As soon as it opened its eyes, it saw Bai Qiu standing right in front of it, looking down.
Those eyes—filled with mana and curiosity—seemed like an abyss staring back.
Just a few more glances felt like they might swallow it whole.
The four others stood nearby, glaring at it with equally unfriendly expressions.
The fox trembled violently.
After what had just happened, it understood resistance was pointless and only led to torture.
It shut its eyes in despair, giving up on any attempt to fight back.
The group waited for a while, noticing no reaction.
Bai Qiu was the first to speak.
“Well? Did it use any skill?”
“Uh… I don’t think so. That dizzying skill needs a howl to activate, and it sounds different from its normal call,” Ning Xingxue said.
“So it looks like… it’s pretending to be dead?” Zhao Daqiang guessed, seeing the fox slumped over, eyes tightly shut, looking like it was on death’s doorstep.
“Fuck!”
Huang Qi snapped.
When they needed it to call, it wouldn’t?
He stepped forward and delivered a zero-delay slap across the fox’s face, shouting:
“Damn it, scream already!! Weren’t you howling just fine earlier?!”
— The end of the Chapter–
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