The next moment he was aware of his surroundings, General Shen felt warmth around his body and a sharp pain on his torso and his leg. He felt fur rubbing and tickling his cheek. He slowly opened his eyes, seeing the orange light coming from the campfire that was several meters away from him. He blinked when he realized he was in a deep underground cave which he had no idea where it could be.
“Did you sleep well?” A feminine voice startled him, making him aware of the presence of the other occupant of the makes.h.i.+ft bed he was lying on. In an instant, the general jolted up from the bed, straining his wounds on his torso. He hissed through his gritted teeth and stared at the woman in white and red robes who was grinning ear to ear back at him.
“You are such a foolish mortal,” she chuckled, her several white fluffy tails moving behind her. She ticked a stray hair behind her ear and pushed the general on his back using one of her tails.
The general stared at her in bewilderment.
“A jiuweihu?” He mumbled to himself, but the nine-tailed fox woman was able to hear his whispered words.
“Oh? You are aware of our kind?” she asked, amused that the man hadn’t run for his life, unlike her previous preys.
General Shen forced himself to sit up and lean against the damp and cold wall of the cave. This must be hers then, for he couldn’t sense anyone or anything near them. Was she keeping him as a prisoner?
He turned his eyes on his rough and bandaged hands. He then brought a hand over to push away his messy long hair that was released from its confinement. He deeply sighed and winced when he felt a stabbing pain on his side. However, what he failed to notice earlier was he was naked under the thick fur that was covering his lower body.
“Where are my clothes?” His voice was so cold and monotonous as he demanded an answer from this supernatural being.
The nine-tailed fox woman leaned forward and ran a clawed hand on his muscular and bare chest.
“Drying. You will get sick if you stay in it,” she hummed. Her long black hair and bright brown eyes surprised him. She was more beautiful than what he expected her to be.
There was no doubt that she was indeed a jiuweihu, a nine-tailed fox creature, a man-eater, and someone who was known to play trickery and possess men so that they would lose their memories and intelligence. These foxes were also depicted as mischievous, usually tricking other people with the ability to disguise themselves as beautiful women. And this one was a very beautiful one—if General Shen could be honest.
“What do you want from me?” he asked. There was no point beating around the bush. This woman had a motive for keeping him in her den. He grabbed her arm and stared down on her wide clear eyes that reflected the warm color of the campfire.
The nine-tailed woman blinked as if she was confused with what he meant.
“Did you purposely injure me to bring me here?” he asked again.
“Of course not.” She pushed him away, not minding her supernatural strength that caused the general to wince at her actions. Too strong. He wondered how strong she could be. One simple push was enough to knock him down.
“Why would I want to hurt you? The earthquake was caused by a natural tremor below the ground and has nothing to do with me. It was me who saved you from the river though. You should be grateful that I’m repaying your kindness instead of leaving you behind.” She huffed and crossed her arms on her chest.
“Repaying me?” He frowned. “Have we met before?”
A light blush colored her cheeks as she looked away. Her fingers twirled some of her loose locks.
“We did. Ten years ago. You were still a kid at the time.”
“…” He was appalled by her claim. There was no way in h.e.l.l he could forget about meeting someone like her even if he was a kid.
“You don’t believe me? Well, it doesn’t matter. You were a kid back then. I believe mortals don’t hold a lot of memories when they were younger.” She then pulled something from inside her robe and showed it to him. His eyes widened upon recognizing it. This was his mother’s hair tie and pin!
General Shen took the strip from her hand and inspected it. It was indeed his mother’s. He recalled going on a deep forest near his hometown after his mother’s funeral. He had seen a wild fox trapped and injured and released it after tying the strip on its wound. He thought he’d lost it before and had no idea that the wild white fox he saved from a trap had kept it for such a long time.
It dawned to him that this woman was the same fox that he saved a decade ago.
“Then what do you want from me then?” he asked again. Fox spirits were mythological creatures who could be either good or bad spirits. They were tricksters by nature.
“Are you worried that I’m going to eat you?” she grinned. General Shen’s eyes narrowed and found his clothes and his sword near the campfire. He hadn’t thought that this fox would eat him. He felt safe in her den, which was weird and unusual.
“I want you to become my mate.” Her hand came up and ran her fingers lightly on his face, careful with her sharp claws. “I need your genes. Even though you’re a mortal, your genes are strong enough to give me strong cubs.”
“What?” General Shen blurted out in disbelief. Did she just say she wanted him to be her mate?