Chapter 204: Chapter 202: The Variety Show is Here 5

Seeing that Wen Ying and the others were unwilling to leave, the old man seemed to get a little agitated.

Song Jiayan explained the situation to him. After listening, the old man exclaimed, "Foolish, so foolish! This place isn’t safe. Are those people so desperate for money they’d endanger others like this?!"

But in the end, the old man said no more and turned to leave.

His back looked lonely and stooped.

"Sister Yingying, you don’t think something will actually happen, do you?"

"How about you two wait here? I’ll go check it out by myself."

"No way! I didn’t abandon you in front of the Hou family, and I certainly won’t now!" Xu Jiali’s tone was firm.

Song Jiayan also nodded, his gaze resolute.

He had to prove he wasn’t the kind of person who abandoned his teammates and friends.

He couldn’t let Wen Ying take the risk alone.

"Don’t worry, everyone. It’s probably just a rumor. The people here have likely grown up hearing those legends, so they’d rather be safe than sorry."

In the end, the three of them sat in the boat. It was a bit of a struggle, but they fumbled with the oars and started to row.

The boat made a CREAK, CREAK sound.

It sounded like it was about to fall apart, yet it somehow held together.

Looking at Song Jiayan and Xu Jiali’s pale faces, Wen Ying felt a warmth spread through her heart.

’Is this... what friends are?’

"Don’t be afraid. Even though this is my first time rowing, I promise I’ll get you safely to the other side."

Wen Ying probably didn’t realize that her words were worse than saying nothing at all.

Song Jiayan, his face deathly pale, looked at Wen Ying on the verge of tears. "Doctor Wen, this is your first time rowing?"

His voice even trembled slightly.

But by now, the boat had clearly reached the middle of the lake.

Turning back was just as dangerous as pressing forward.

Xu Jiali reached out and grabbed Song Jiayan’s clothes, as if that would make her feel a bit safer.

"There’s a first time for everything. Don’t you think my technique is pretty good?" The smile on Wen Ying’s face was genuine.

’This was her first time rowing *here*, but she *had* rowed a couple of times before, hadn’t she?’

The boat suddenly lurched violently a few times.

Xu Jiali couldn’t help but let out a scream.

Song Jiayan’s face turned ashen; he was clearly on the verge of despair.

He could feel the boat rocking precariously, as if it were truly about to break apart.

’When that happens, will we even survive?’

Just then, while Xu Jiali had her eyes squeezed shut, Song Jiayan—no matter how scared he was—kept his open. And then he saw it—

Doctor Wen’s fox doll, snow-white with a single tuft of gold on its head, had fallen out of her bag.

As the boat swayed, the doll’s body seemed to sway along with it.

And as it swayed... it... stood up?

Song Jiayan’s eyes bulged, wide and round. He stared at the bizarre scene, his heart starting to pound in panic.

He wanted to speak, but it was as if something was caught in his throat. He couldn’t get a single word out.

Fear, tension, anxiety—a storm of emotions washed over his face, causing his body to go completely rigid.

Xu Jiali sensed something was wrong with him. Forgetting everything else, she looked at him. "Song Jiayan, are you okay?"

Song Jiayan tremblingly raised a finger, pointing toward Little White’s location. This time, he finally managed to make a sound. "Th-th-that... doll... it moved... it moved..."

After blurting this out, Song Jiayan felt as if a great weight had been lifted.

Xu Jiali, who had been very worried, was instantly on high alert when she heard this.

She let go of Song Jiayan’s sleeve, turned around, and scooped Little White into her arms. "Song Jiayan, you must have seen wrong, right? It’s just a doll!"

Saying something against her conscience made Xu Jiali feel a little guilty.

But no matter how guilty she felt, she couldn’t expose Sister Wen Ying and Little White’s secret. She knew which was more important.

Seeing that it had frightened Song Jiayan, and now being held in Xu Jiali’s arms, Little White went completely still, just like a real doll.

The only difference was that when it had been pretending to be a doll before, its eyes were closed. Now, they were open.

Its little eyes were darting around.

Song Jiayan’s lips began to turn purple. He couldn’t bring himself to believe Xu Jiali.

"Alright, stop scaring him."

At the sound of Wen Ying’s voice, Little White leaped out of Xu Jiali’s arms and crouched on the boat.

"Little White is my pet fox."

Hearing Wen Ying’s explanation, Song Jiayan slowly came to his senses, the color gradually returning to his face.

"His name is Little White? Is he a fox that can act like a doll?"

"You could say that. After all, you can’t bring pets on the plane, so I had to trouble him to pretend to be a doll."

Song Jiayan was still a bit skeptical, but after looking it over and over, he had to admit it really was a fox.

’Maybe Doctor Wen really is skilled enough to train a fox to obey her commands. It’s not unheard of in real life, like with trained monkeys or dogs.’

’He’d just never seen anyone train a fox before.’

"Doctor Wen, you’re amazing, and Little White... he... he’s amazing too."

Song Jiayan felt like he had lived and died three times over during his time on this boat.

Hearing this, Little White shot Song Jiayan a smug look.

’*This* is what he calls amazing?’

’If you heard me speak, wouldn’t you just pass out from excitement?’

’Ah, you mundane humans. You’ll never have the honor of witnessing my true charm.’

Xu Jiali took a deep breath. Looking at Song Jiayan, she was relieved that he’d believed it.

’If Song Jiayan knew that the fox in front of him was the legendary Fox Immortal, would he still be sitting here so calmly?’

"Sister Yingying, where’s your oar?"

As everyone knows, you need oars to row a boat.

Without oars, a boat is like a stray duckweed, drifting aimlessly.

And at that moment, the somewhat dilapidated-looking oar was indeed missing from Wen Ying’s hands.

"I threw it away. Rowing is too tiring."

And just like that, the color that had just returned to Song Jiayan’s face drained away again, leaving him pale as a sheet.

"Don’t be afraid, Little Song. We still have Little White."

Song Jiayan gave Wen Ying a look that was hard to put into words, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything else.

’Little White is a fox. How in the world is a fox supposed to row a boat?’

’Is she going to use Little White as an oar?’

’I don’t know if Little White would even be willing... and that’s so inhumane—oh, wait, I mean, cruel to animals...’

’Either way, I can’t accept that.’

Wen Ying seemed not to notice Song Jiayan’s expression. She crouched down, ignoring the swaying of the boat, and stroked Little White’s fur. "Little White, the oar’s gone. We’re counting on you."

"Fine. Close your eyes."

Xu Jiali closed her eyes.

Song Jiayan closed his eyes, and then...

His body began to tremble again.

’Why did I close my eyes?’

’Did I just hear someone say to close our eyes?’

’But was that a person who just spoke?’

’Wasn’t that the fox?’

’A talking fox?’

’That’s impossible!’

’Did I mishear it?’

Song Jiayan wanted to open his eyes to check, but he didn’t dare. Right now, his heart was a mess of conflict and terror!

’He had no idea what kind of supernatural event he’d been dragged into. If he could do it all over again, he never would have followed Doctor Wen here.’

’So it really *was* the fox that just spoke, wasn’t it?’

’Why can a fox talk?’

Song Jiayan was not in a good state at all.

"Song Jiayan, are you okay?"