He deliberately dragged out his tone, building suspense.
Zhi Yao knew this person had ill intentions, so she didn't want to engage with him and turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, Xie Qinzhou remained calm at her reaction. Looking at Zhi Yao's back, he called out, "Zhi Yao, do you remember Uncle Su?"
Uncle Su?
These three words completely stopped Zhi Yao in her tracks.
She whirled around to face Xie Qinzhou. "What about Uncle Su?"
Uncle Su was an Arctic fox who looked quite similar to Zhi Yao. Perhaps because they were foxes of the same species, Uncle Su had always been particularly caring towards Zhi Yao. When she was little, Zhi Yao was often teased by other young foxes for being slow-witted. Besides her Mother, it was Uncle Su who protected her.
However, later on, many members of the Fox Clan were captured by humans. Zhi Yao, in her quest to find her Mother, had no choice but to leave the Fox Clan and enter the human world.
Since then, Zhi Yao had never seen Uncle Su again.
"He's dead."
Xie Qinzhou uttered these three words nonchalantly, his attitude and tone so casual as if he were discussing something completely irrelevant to him.
"Zhi Yao, do you really not remember me?"
Zhi Yao stared at Xie Qinzhou, dumbfounded.
She wanted to ask... How did you know Uncle Su? How do you know Uncle Su is dead?
But before Zhi Yao could voice her questions, Xie Qinzhou, as if he had read her mind, said, "He was killed by the Wolf Tribe! It's not just humans who harm us. In fact, most of our Fox Clan died at the hands of the Wolf Tribe. Zhi Yao, are you sure you and your Mother want to completely betray the Fox Clan for the sake of those cruel wolves?"
So... this is what he came to say?
Xie Qinzhou approached Zhi Yao step by step, his golden eyes behind gold-rimmed glasses seeming to glow. "Zhi Yao, I can tell you plainly, that Uncle Su who loved you the most, he died by Ling Jue's hand! Think carefully, Zhi Yao! You're a fox, not a wolf. The Wolf Tribe are heartless. Who knows, they might kill you and your Mother any day!"
Zhi Yao looked at Xie Qinzhou calmly. She crossed her arms, and although her heart was churning like a stormy sea at the news of Uncle Su's death, her face remained remarkably composed.
"Xie Qinzhou, you suddenly came to tell me all this today. Has something happened? I understand that one doesn't visit a temple without a cause."
It seemed that there must be new tensions between the Fox Clan and the Wolf Tribe, but Zhi Yao had never wanted to get involved in such matters.
Foxes were cunning, wolves were brutal – neither side was easy to deal with. Although they all wore human skins now, living among people, it was merely a change of battleground for their conflicts.
"I want you and your Mother to come back, Zhi Yao. The Fox Clan needs you."
The Nine-Tailed Red Fox was the most powerful in terms of spiritual energy within the Fox Clan, and Zhi Yao... Zhi Yao was a mix of wolf and fox blood. Although she appeared slow and silly, just moments ago when Xie Qinzhou approached Zhi Yao, he had caught a whiff of an unfamiliar yet potent spiritual energy emanating from her.
It was an incredibly powerful scent. Just being near it made Xie Qinzhou feel his very soul trembling.
Such powerful spiritual energy... if he could possess it, wouldn't he be able to kill Ling Jue in an instant? Then... he would become the leader of the Fox Clan.
"We won't go back," Zhi Yao refused Xie Qinzhou's proposal without a second thought.
"Xie Qinzhou, maybe we met when we were young, and maybe what you're saying is true, but I'm sorry. Because of how you used me before, I will never trust you again."
She gave Xie Qinzhou a cool glance and turned to leave.
Unexpectedly, this time Xie Qinzhou resorted to physical action.
He grabbed Zhi Yao's arm and pulled her towards him. "No, no, you can't leave!"
Caught off guard, Zhi Yao was yanked towards him. A strong scent of perfume wafted from his body, overwhelmingly pungent.
Zhi Yao couldn't help it; her stomach churned violently. "Ugh!"
The young girl covered her mouth abruptly, nearly vomiting all over Xie Qinzhou. Seeing this, Xie Qinzhou quickly pushed Zhi Yao away.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhi Yao ignored the discomfort in her stomach and ran straight back to the office building.
Once she reached the building, the strange feeling in her stomach immediately dissipated.
She patted her chest anxiously, her mind filled with the somewhat sinister smile Xie Qinzhou had worn moments ago.
There was one thing Zhi Yao had never quite understood: why was Xie Qinzhou so obsessed with her and her Mother? The Fox Clan had so many foxes, and as far as Zhi Yao knew, many of them had left the clan and were now living lives similar to humans. Why didn't Xie Qinzhou go after them instead of persistently pursuing her and her Mother?
This wasn't right; there must be something Zhi Yao didn't know. She needed to go back and ask her Mother about it.
Zhi Yao sat there for ten minutes, during which she sneaked a couple of peeks at the entrance to confirm that Xie Qinzhou had indeed left. Only then did she stand up, preparing to leave.
But just as she rose, another sharp, angry shout came from the doorway, "Where's Sun Ming?! Tell Sun Ming to get his ass out here! Damn it, who does he think he is, snatching my resources and undercutting me? Is it because that Zhi Yao is fooling around with Pei Chiyao? Do you own the entertainment industry or what? Have you all gone lawless?"
The young girl's ears perked up at the sound of her name. She immediately looked towards the source of the voice and saw a familiar-looking woman standing at the entrance.
With long, flowing waves of hair, dressed in designer clothes, and carrying a Chanel handbag, she exuded an air of extreme wealth and status.
Why did she look so familiar...
Zhi Yao pondered for a long while before it finally clicked...
Wasn't this the female celebrity who endorsed those potato chips? Zhi Yao loved eating a particular brand of original flavor chips, and this celebrity's photo was printed on every package.
Sister Su had once told Zhi Yao that the female celebrity who endorsed potato chips could eat them for free for life. Not only that, but she would receive all new snack products from the brand to sample even before they were released. This made the little glutton fox terribly envious, and she remembered that celebrity from that moment on.
However, it was unclear why she looked so angry now.
"Sun Ming, get out here right now!" she shouted at the company's entrance.
She was still yelling loudly at the door, her demeanor completely different from the gentle and elegant image she portrayed on television.
Sun Ming was the same person as Older Brother Sun.
Zhi Yao quietly hid behind a pillar, watching as the female celebrity and her bodyguards caused a scene at the studio.
