Super Zoo

After the Yangtze alligators exited, it was the foxes' turn. Suming asked Zhao Yun to empty both his and Suming's large backpacks, and then in one go, he stuffed four or five foxes into each bag to be hoisted up.

The little foxes huddled together, their fluffy fur crowding the large bags. They lay on the edges of the bags, curiously surveying their surroundings as they rose upwards, seemingly unable to understand why they were suddenly 'floating'. Some of the little ones even grinned, revealing their tiny sharp teeth with the corners of their mouths turned upward, looking as if they were smiling, which was quite amusing.

After more than an hour of work, all the foxes were finally lifted up. Suming was exhausted like a dog and asked Zhao Yun to toss down a Snickers bar. After eating a few bites, he regained some energy. He then secured the climbing rope around his waist, gave a thumbs up to those above, and was pulled up slowly by Su Meng.

"My God, I finally made it out!" It wasn't noticeable inside the cave, but once outside, he immediately exhaled a breath of stale air, and the surrounding air became incredibly fresh.

Outside the cave, a dense crowd of foxes looked up at Suming.

"Big-eared Thief, take your minions and follow me," he said. The "home" of the long-eared fox would soon be excavated for national protection, and they had nowhere else to go for the time being. They might as well stay with the dogs in the Houshan Nature Reserve for now. After all, there was plenty of space on those several mountain tops for a few hundred foxes.

With a grand wave of his hand, the fox army poured down the hillside like mercury in full flow. As for the old alligator, it was still a dangerous creature and shouldn't be unrestrained; only the ropes tied around its limbs were removed, and its mouth was still wrapped in layers of tape. Su Meng carried it over his shoulder as if he was hauling a big sack.

The procession of people and animals made their majestic exit from the deep forest. When they were nearly out of the mountains, Suming stopped and said to Zhao Yun, "Mr. Zhao, I'm going to settle the foxes first and won't return with you."

"Alright, after I go back, I'll report the findings of the tomb and the underground architectural complex to the relevant authorities," smiled Zhao Yun, patting Suming's shoulder. "You've made a contribution again, and you'll probably have to do more interviews. You now appear on TV more often than our mayor."

"Mr. Zhao, I was just going to tell you, when you report this to the higher-ups, it's best not to talk too much about me. Even if you must mention me, try to downplay my presence."

Zhao Yun expressed his surprise, "Why is that? You are a hero. This large-scale architectural complex, along with Chen Youliang's tomb, is a major discovery in the field of archaeology. Reporting your involvement will certainly bring rewards, and with a little publicity, fame and fortune will come your way."

"Hehe, if there's a cash reward, you can keep it. Consider it a New Year's gift for Chengcheng from me. I just don't want the fame," Suming shook his head and said calmly, "I've been in the limelight too much in the past six months, just like you said, appearing on TV and in newspapers every now and then. I already have enough fame; now, I want to lay low for a while. Being too conspicuous at my age is actually not a good thing."

After hearing his words, Zhao Yun initially looked astonished, but then he nodded in agreement, patting Suming's shoulder approvingly and saying, "So young, yet you know the value of keeping a low profile. Rare indeed. That's good. Well, leave the rest to me; I'll handle it. Your contributions will be known to the leaders, but when it comes to publicity, we'll try not to mention you. This way, you'll get the credit without attracting too much attention."

Zhao Yun was almost twenty years older than Suming, but the two were able to be friends, largely because Suming, despite his youth and occasional nonsense, usually showed greater maturity than his peers when it was time for serious business or critical moments. Overall, there was a small generation gap.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

In him, Zhao Yun saw a younger version of himself.

"Hehe, Mr. Zhao, I can rest easy with you in charge," Suming chuckled. Entrusting this matter to Zhao Yun, he was perfectly reassured. The charming older man was all but perfect — in family, career, social engagement, and personal relationships, there was nothing he couldn't handle well.

After parting ways with Zhao Yun at an intersection, Suming led the Huiya foxes towards the small slope where he had first built kennels for the dogs.

As he walked, he couldn't help but project his spiritual power onto a Husky.

Suddenly he felt overwhelmingly happy; inexplicably ecstatic, every little thing brought joy, whether it was small stones, birds flying, flowers blooming, or the foxes... Everything seemed fun from the Husky's perspective.

The only slightly unbearable part was his nose; the keen sense of smell could detect the poop of some unknown animal from tens of meters away.

What's even more terrifying is the urge to run over and have a taste! Damn it...

He tried with Huiya again.

"Is this what Ximen Chuixue feels like?" The instant he possessed Huiya, he felt as if he'd become arrogantly aloof, with a scorn for everything except Suming, looking down upon all creatures with the air of those overbearing novel protagonists from ten years ago.

It seemed like Su Meng was immune to this ability, after all, he was human, not an animal. However, Suming considered that it might also be possible that his spiritual power wasn't strong enough yet, or perhaps the Animal Companion ability had other undiscovered 'patches'. Maybe one day he would be able to control humans too. After all, communicating with Su Meng using spiritual power, although not as effective as with animals, still had some effect.

He continued to play and experiment with the ability as he walked, and Suming gradually became familiar with the soul possession ability. Using it consumed a bit of spiritual power, and more so over long distances, but the consumption was still manageable for his current level of spiritual power.

At the same time, he knew better than to use this power too often. It could easily lead to a split personality if he wasn't careful. Imagine dealing with people but accidentally thinking he's a dog or a crocodile—that would be hilariously disastrous. Like talking to Hu or the Liao nurses from the medical facility, and suddenly rubbing up against them...

"No, this is terrible—I'm becoming more beastly. Is Animal Companion meant to turn a pure and kind-hearted good guy like me into a monster?!"

However, it was indeed fun and incredibly practical. Previously, when sending animals like Er Gouzi on errands or to keep watch, their limited intelligence only allowed them to describe events simply. But with soul possession, he could see and hear everything firsthand, which was much more accurate than any message relayed by an animal.

Before long, he reached his destination. On the neat hillside stood dozens of dog kennels, both large and small. Even though the dogs scarcely stayed here anymore, just occasionally making visits, Mr. Lin still regularly brought some food and looked after the place.

Now it seemed that keeping these uncle and nephew around was the right decision. They were both honest folks. After the animals were moved to the zoo and Houshan was left under their care, Suming didn't visit often. But they still diligently manned their posts every day without any shirking or laziness.

Lin was on duty today, and he greeted Suming from afar as he saw him approaching.

"Mr. Su, where did you capture all these rabbits? If you're free, how about we roast some?" Lin probably hadn't seen a fox with such big ears before and mistook it for a rabbit, grabbing Big-eared Thief by the ears and shaking it, he said curiously, "Eh, this is a fox?"

"Let go, let go, it hurts..." Suming suddenly screamed. He was currently possessing Big-eared Thief and could feel everything the animal felt.

Of course, he wouldn't suffer any actual harm; if an animal he possessed got injured or even died, his own body wouldn't sustain the same injuries, but the sensations would still be transmitted back to him. Lin was pulling on Big-eared Thief's ears and he felt the pain too.

Lin held Big-eared Thief's ears and looked at Suming with a bewildered expression.

Suming withdrew his spiritual power and took Big-eared Thief from Lin's hand. Hugging it close, Big-eared Thief was obviously shaken by the encounter, its ears trembling. Suming chuckled, petting its head, "There, there, no scare in a touch."

Then he told Lin, "These foxes are the ones I've rescued. They'll be staying on this hill for the time being. Go back and let Mr. Lin know."

In folk tales, foxes, hedgehogs, and weasels are all considered to be creatures with a mystical aura, and if you encounter them at home, you should never offend them. Hearing what Suming had to say, Lin expressed his surprise, "Mr. Su, keeping so many foxes, that's not going to bring good fortune."

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PS: How was that, how was that? Was it powerful, did it have spirit?

My eyes are starting to blur, damn it, I've gotten this far, so I have to pump out the tenth update no matter what!