章 67: Attacking The Fox

As they approached the cave that housed the fox and her cub, every single one from the group held a spiritual weapon tightly in their hands and had a sharp look on their face. The spiritual beast they were hunting could sense their presence any moment and launch an attack on them by surprise.

While spiritual beasts could not learn battle techniques, they possessed formidable bodies and physical strengths. Along with that, their senses far surpassed those of humans, which gave them a significant advantage in battles and ambushes.

Therefore, spiritual beasts were usually much stronger than humans at the same level as them!

...

Meanwhile, inside the cave, a large fox with five tails lay on her back as her cub nestled on her belly. Over time, the little fox had already grown slightly and now stood over 30 centimeters tall and was quite active throughout the day.

At this point, the mother fox sensed the approach of some humans who were getting closer to her and her daughter. 'Ten humans are coming here. Have I been discovered?' She rose to her feet in vigilance as she turned her head up and looked in the direction of the entrance of the cave.

After a few seconds of sniffing the approaching group, she suddenly got her daughter up and brought her to a narrow section of the cave. "Stay hidden here until mommy comes back," She communicated in silly language that her daughter could comprehend.

"Au! Au! Au!" the little fox answered her mother, she could not speak the human language until she reached the 5th stage. Nevertheless, she also possessed a concise understanding of the beast language, after all, she was just a newborn. However, she understood that her mother wanted to protect her in this small hiding corner.

With that, the fox with five-tailed fox headed towards the direction through which the group of bandits had been cautiously approaching. 'Shitty humans, if you have come for my daughter, I won't forgive you!' she let out a low growl, baring her fangs.

...

Some time passed, and the group of 10 bandits had already entered the cave, traveled quite a distance and were getting closer and closer to the location the mother fox was waiting for their arrival.

"Get ready. She's not very far away," Gul warned seriously.

A few seconds later, a 1.5-meter tall fox appeared in front of the group as it mercilessly attacked one of the bandits. She was swift and methodical.

She had prepared to attack the bandit group in the best possible way she could. And in fact, it had worked, with her sudden appearance, the bandits were left no time to defend themselves as she charged at them.

Pow!

"Watchout!" Gul cried out when he sensed that she was approaching another one of them.

However, it was too late. The fox's fangs tore into the arm of one of the level 44's commanders while her claws were still drenched in the blood of another bandit.

She had unleashed her complete force and attacked two of these individuals knowing that she would not get the same surprising moment again. She had plucked one of the person's arms, using her sharp fangs, in a single bite!

With the other, she had inflicted a deep gash on his chest using her claws!

"Ahhh! My arm." one of the bandits wailed deeply in agony and pain.

"Aaarrrggghhhh!" the other screamed upon feeling the slash across his abdomen, revealing some of his intestines.

"Shit! I told you to stay alert!" Gul bellowed in frustration. While he internally reflected, 'This beast is already as strong as someone at level 45! If she weren't weakened by childbirth, the only result for challenging her would have been death!'

After this surprise attack, a majority of the bandits started to activate their techniques. Meanwhile, two ran towards the deepest recesses of the cave. Their intent was to kidnap the beast's cub as soon as possible!

Observing their actions, the fox mother quickly understood their intention and immediately launched an attack on them.

'Perish, you bastards!' she seethed as she ran towards the two level 44 brutes.

However, at that very moment, three-level 45 thugs blocked her from different sides, preventing her from moving ahead.

Air Blade!

Poisonous Art!

Fireball!

The three unleashed their techniques with a lot of their energy, sealing off the fox's advance. 'Shit!' she cursed, trying to rely on her physical power to defend herself.

Simultaneously, long-range attacks also materialized in the air in the three directions where these bandits occupied, casting the area with a bright crimson fireball that was about 5 meters in diameter!

Pow!

Boom!

One of the fox's tails was thrown in the fireball direction as if intending to slap it away, while her claws created another blade of air, countering the enemy's technique.

Swooish!

However, she still was not able to dodge the ball of black poison that stuck to one of her paws.

At the same time, the two bandits disappeared into the depths of the cave while searching for the fox's cub. 'No!' The mother silently cried when she saw that the two men from before were no longer present.

Spiritual Palm!

Devil's Court!

Pow!

And along with that, several attacks were released by the bandits, as they forced the fox to retreat several steps towards the cave's entrance.

Their intention was clear, to keep here away as long as possible while finding the cub to easily grasp her.

These attacks had been very powerful, leaving numerous wounds on her body. In fact, blood also trickled from one of her legs as several black spots spread over her physique.

Undeterred, she lunged towards the group, attacking one of the bandits with everything she had.

"Grrr!"

"Arrhhh!"

One of the bandits bore the full brunt of her assault. The fox's speed was fast. Although she was at a disadvantage, she could still manage to attack and run before the bandits could even activate other techniques. However, her only problem was that the group was too large for her to handle alone.

Chaotic Fists!

Chief Gul then unleashed his attack technique, delivering a punch towards the fox, just as she was engaged in attacking another bandit.

Pow!

The sudden attack sent her hurtling backwards, as she shortly hit on the nearby wall of the cave, her wounds bleeding even more profusely.

"Grrr!"

That ferocity of the attack left the fox bewildered. After all, Gul was already at level 47, and an attack from him would be bad enough for her due to the weakened state in which she was.

...

The skirmish continued for a few more minutes, with both sides suffering a lot. The fox had already lost one of her paws, and there were numerous significant injuries all over her body, some of which were even exposing her internal organs!

As for the group of bandits, three of their members had perished during the brief duration of their conflict. Among these three was the one who had lost his arm at the start of the fight, with all of them being at level 44.

Among the remaining five men, one had lost one of his legs, while the other two were on the verge of being completely exhausted. Gul's condition was the best among the group, with no significant injuries, just a few scratches.

"Au! Au! Au!"

The little fox's whimpers sounded when finally the two bandits from before appeared holding the little fox captive. Upon witnessing the scene in front of them consisting of the bodies of their companions on the ground and the deplorable state of those who were still standing, these two were entirely shocked.

Upon looking at the sight of her injured and bloodied mother, the little fox was brought to tears. One of her mother's paws was missing, there were numerous wounds on the various parts of her body, and her head was dyed red. Not only that, even one of her eyes was completely swollen shut, leaving her with impaired vision.

The mother fox was in such agony that she couldn't even see that her daughter was right in front of her. However, she could still smell her and determine that she was being held by one of the bandits.

'Damn it! I couldn't stop them!' she lamented silently. After that, she spoke in a strange language, "I'm sorry, my child. Mom was unable to protect you."

"Au! Au!" the little fox responded as tears streamed from sad little eyes.

At the same time, a cold smirk appeared on Gul's face when he saw the fox's condition and callously remarked, "Hehe, you better stop reacting, or else we will kill your daughter."

Gul was not aware that these spiritual beasts on the level of this fox were as intelligent as humans, but he knew that she would understand his intentions.

After that, he retrieved a large cell out of his spatial ring and placed it right in front of the gravely injured fox. "Hehe, come on, get in here. If you behave well, we can leave your daughter with you until the end of the trip. Quite generous of me, right? Haha."

After hearing this, the mother fox weakly entered the cell. She knew that these humans would not kill her daughter since she was probably precious to them. However, that did not mean that they would not mistreat her, since the most important thing to be sold at the black market was that her cub looked good...

But she could still be subjected to torture and healed before that happened. And as a mother, she couldn't take that risk. So, since she no longer had the strength to fight, for now, she could only accept this tragic fate of her and her daughter.

'Human wretches, when I have the opportunity, I will slowly devour you...' she seethed furiously as she lay in the cell.

At the same time, Gul took the little fox and got a good look at it, "Haha, you will be the turning point for me!" he declared with a chuckle.

"Au! Au!" the little fox protested angrily.

"Hahaha, how cute," he remarked before turning to the remaining six men and saying, "We'll rest for a few hours, and then head back to Yellow City. We can't stay here for long, since we don't know if we were the only ones who found out about this fox."

Upon hearing this, the six men nodded in agreement and then began to consume their medicines and spiritual recovery pills.

Although these few hours were not sufficient to recover for those who suffered the most, it was enough for them to return to Yellow City. After all, there were not so many dangers in that region, and they could rest properly in their mansion...