VGAB Chapter 61

“Should I be upset about it?” Qi Heng’s voice remained devoid of emotion.

Hu Ling hesitated for a moment but then answered without reservation, “You should.”

If he were a wise emperor, waking up after thousands of years only to discover someone impersonating him and portraying him as a brainless monarch focused solely on hedonistic pleasures, he would be furious. Moreover, this emperor seemed to have only had one wife throughout his life, a rarity among monarchs in history who were known for their romantic escapades.

And that particular drama—

Hu Ling recollected the plot and realized that in the drama, he seemed to have had romantic entanglements with several female supporting characters, and the TV series writers had taken a bold and melodramatic approach. Even in the drama, his character had a somewhat ambiguous relationship with the neighboring Prince Wei, who was disguised as a woman.

When Hu Ling first received the script, he thought the writer was a genius. Not only did they depict the Saintly Emperor Jin Zhao, but they even dared to give Emperor Wei a gender change later in the story.

Hu Ling had questioned this at the time, but the writer explained that as long as the storyline was melodramatic enough, even the viewers who were critical of it would tune in to critique and discuss the drama, thus boosting its ratings.

In the end, the writer’s unique approach made Hu Ling immensely popular for his portrayal of Emperor Jin Zhao, and he still had fans referring to him as “Your Majesty” on his social media profiles.

Hu Ling was secretly delighted, but he had never thought that one day he would come face to face with the leading role himself. Despite finding the plot twists in the drama quite unfair, Hu Ling believed he could salvage the situation. After all, he was the only nine-tailed fox left in the world, rarer than even giant pandas, and he couldn’t afford to go extinct.

So, Hu Ling could only look pitifully at his friend, Qin Luo, hoping that Qin Luo could help him plead his case.

Qin Luo sighed, thinking that he had already tried to stop Hu Ling, but now he was walking into trouble willingly.

“Uncle, while Hu Ling might not be the brightest, in this world with sparse spiritual energy, he is the last of the nine-tailed foxes. Considering he represents the hope of the entire nine-tailed fox clan, could you spare his life?”

Hu Ling looked at Qin Luo with tears in his eyes, appreciating his loyalty.

“Well, how about this, we wait until he has children and continues the legacy for the nine-tailed foxes, then we can consider taking his life?” Qin Luo added, leaving Hu Ling stunned. He couldn’t believe that he had been reduced to serving the purpose of continuing the lineage in Qin Luo’s eyes.

“…,” Qi Heng was silent for a moment, then suddenly looked up at the clock on the wall. “Qin Luo, there’s something I need to tell you.”

Qin Luo, bewildered, asked, “What is it?”

“You’re about to be late,” Qi Heng said just as the clock struck nine o’clock.

Qin Luo sighed. He was in deep trouble and was certain that he would lose some of his earnings due to this delay.

As expected, as soon as it struck nine, Qin Luo’s phone rang, and when he answered, it was Liu Neng’s voice.

“Qin Luo, why haven’t you shown up again today?” The voice on the other end sounded hesitant. “If I’m not mistaken, you looked perfectly fine when I saw you yesterday.”

Qin Luo glanced at Hu Ling, then used him as an excuse. “My friend’s life was in danger, and I just rescued him.”

“Friend?” Liu Neng inquired. “Is it that supernatural being you mentioned yesterday, the one being chased by a Daoist?”

“Yes, yes, that’s right,” Qin Luo hurriedly nodded but then remembered that the person on the other end couldn’t see his gestures.

“How’s your friend’s injury?” Liu Neng asked.

“He’s got a swollen face, I’ll show you,” Qin Luo said, taking a picture with his phone and sending it to Liu Neng before returning to the call. “I’ve sent you a picture message.”

There was a brief silence from the other end.

“He got beaten up this badly,” Liu Neng remarked. “That Daoist was quite ruthless, not even sparing the face.”

“I’m about to administer some medicine to him,” Qin Luo casually replied. “After that, I’ll head to the office.”

“You’d better hurry; the boss might be back today,” Liu Neng warned.

As is well known, their boss is a very frugal dragon, and if he finds out someone didn’t come to work, not only the bonus but even the salary would be deducted by the minute.

Thinking about the bonus he lost when he was young, Qin Luo felt a pang in his heart. “I’ll be quick.”

This time, he couldn’t afford to lose the bonus.

Qin Luo ended the call and said, “Uncle, I’ll head back to the office now.”

Qi Heng casually nodded and gestured to Hu Ling, “Take him with you.”

This meant he was letting him go. Overjoyed, Hu Ling quickly got up and said, “Boss, you don’t need to trouble Qin Luo. I’ll leave immediately.”

Qin Luo took the keys, unlocked the door, and walked out, with Hu Ling following him quietly. It wasn’t until Qin Luo closed the door that Hu Ling breathed a sigh of relief.

As they descended the stairs, Hu Ling looked back and patted his chest with lingering fear. “For a moment there, I thought I was a goner.”

Qin Luo responded coolly, “I tried to stop you from going in.”

“I thought you were hiding something good in there and was just curious,” Hu Ling muttered. “Who the hell would expect you to have an ancestor hidden in your home?”

As they chatted, they suddenly heard a clicking sound. Hu Ling instinctively turned to see a man in a leather jacket and a black cap running away, carrying something.

Hu Ling’s face changed abruptly. “Damn, why is there a paparazzi here?”

With his swollen face, Hu Ling was worried about being photographed. If pictures of him in this condition went viral, the news of his disfigurement would make headlines, and the entertainment industry’s gossipmongers would surely seize the opportunity to discredit him.

“I’ll go after him,” Hu Ling declared and immediately started chasing the man in the leather jacket.

However, it was broad daylight, and he couldn’t use magic in crowded places with surveillance cameras. He could only try to run faster. Unfortunately, Hu Ling’s bad luck struck again. Just as he reached the road, a truck loaded with goods careened toward the sidewalk.

Hu Ling instinctively leaped to the side, but the sidewalk was crowded with oblivious commuters carrying bags.

As the truck was about to collide with the nearest elderly person, someone who happened to turn around noticed and shouted in terror.

Hu Ling gritted his teeth, disregarding the risk of exposing his identity. In the nick of time, he cast a golden spell to block the truck’s path, preventing it from charging forward.

The people on the sidewalk, hearing the scream, turned around and then ran to safety, their faces pale with fear.

The driver inside the truck had red eyes, and when he realized the vehicle wasn’t moving, he panicked and revved the engine a few times.

Hu Ling noticed his actions and his fox-like eyes burned with anger. It turned out the driver was a scumbag trying to commit murder.

Furious, Hu Ling forcibly changed the direction of the truck’s front end to face an unoccupied area and then released the spell.

The truck crashed into the innermost wall of the sidewalk with great speed, creating a loud bang and erupting into flames.

Bystanders watched in horror as they saw Hu Ling’s nine white tails waving in the wind behind him. Some whispered to each other, “A demon, a monster?”

Hu Ling turned to look at his own tail and sighed. This was the downside of being a supernatural being. When his inner energy ran low, he would start showing his true features.

The surroundings fell silent for a moment until someone called 911 for the fire department. Several people couldn’t help but steal glances at Hu Ling, feeling that he looked strangely familiar.

“Hey, doesn’t this monster look like that popular actor from the recent show?”

“Be careful; it just killed someone.” The truck was engulfed in flames, and the driver hadn’t managed to escape. He was most likely burned to death.

Hu Ling instinctively raised his sleeve to cover his face, but he forgot that he wasn’t wearing loose robes with ample sleeves.

“He’s covering his face. Can he hear us talking?”

Hu Ling was growing increasingly anxious, desperately hoping that his inner energy would recover a bit more so he could use magic to escape.

“Bold fox spirit, how dare you commit murder in broad daylight!” A peachwood sword thrust straight towards Hu Ling’s face. He managed to dodge, but the sword still left a burn mark on his face.

“You despicable Daoist, you dared to ruin my face!” Hu Ling gritted his teeth, his eyes turning red with anger. His hands transformed into fox claws and he lunged at the middle-aged Daoist, leaving several bloody scratches on his face.

However, due to overusing his energy, Hu Ling’s ears had also turned into fluffy fox ears.

“I knew you cunning spirits would try to deceive people.” The middle-aged Daoist wiped the blood from his face with his hand, sneering coldly, “Only the fools at the bureau would believe that even spirits have a conscience.”

The Daoist finished speaking, held a talisman between his fingers, and shouted loudly, throwing it in Hu Ling’s direction, “Go!”

Hu Ling’s spiritual power was already depleted, and he had no way to resist the immobilizing talisman.

But just as the talisman was about to touch Hu Ling’s face, a white figure appeared beside him. With a single glance, the talisman abruptly halted and gently floated to the ground like ordinary paper.

The surrounding pedestrians also seemed frozen in place. The middle-aged Daoist noticed this oddity and his expression changed, “Who are you?”

Hu Ling, who was resigned to his fate, noticed the presence of someone new and turned his head in astonishment, “Y-Your Majesty?  Are you here to rescue me?”

“Mmm,” Qi Heng coldly responded, and then he waved his sleeve, turning Hu Ling back into human form.

Hu Ling looked at his hands and touched his ears in amazement. He marveled at how effortlessly his Majesty had transformed him back into a human.

A white spell floated into the air, then burst into a multitude of starry lights, entering the bodies of the surrounding pedestrians and drivers.

“Your Majesty, what are you doing?” Hu Ling asked curiously.

“I’m erasing their memories,” Qi Heng calmly explained, “They will forget this period of time, not remembering that you’re a fox, but they also won’t remember that you saved them.”

Hu Ling’s face lit up, “I was prepared to expose my identity!”

Hu Ling was well aware of memory erasure techniques, but even with his remaining spiritual power, he couldn’t erase the memories of so many people at once.

He looked at the white-clad immortal by his side with envy. These high-level beings who had achieved enlightenment were indeed different from small creatures like him.

It seemed like Qin Luo had incredibly good luck, suddenly getting such a powerful backer!

The middle-aged Taoist saw that things were turning against him, so he tried to escape by crushing an earth-travel talisman. However, Hu Ling, with sharp eyes, noticed it.

“Your Majesty, that crazy Taoist is trying to escape!” Hu Ling exclaimed.

Qin Luo raised his hand and cast a paralyzing spell on the Taoist, then reduced his size. He instructed Hu Ling, “Pick him up and deliver him to that whatever management bureau where Qin Luo works.”

A bewildered Hu Ling quickly nodded and replied, “Got it.”

Qin Luo disappeared in a flash, and at that moment, the frozen world resumed its flow.

Hu Ling tucked the crazed Taoist into his pocket, took a few steps to the side, and allowed the arriving firefighters to extinguish the flames with their hoses.

An elderly lady, who had narrowly avoided being hit, sighed, “What a calamity, driving right into a wall.”

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