Chapter 16

The small animals immediately swarmed around, arranging the fruits and assisting with the presentation. 

Xueli brought a bottle of soy sauce from her house and earnestly poured it over the little grey rabbit. 

The plating style had been prearranged by everyone, and the little grey rabbit soon began to resemble a piece of food. 

Lying in the plate, he moved his ears anxiously. 

Xueli quickly said, “Don’t move randomly! Endure it for a bit. If you move, it’ll be noticeable.” 

The grey rabbit gritted his teeth and stiffly tilted his head to the side, pretending to be lifeless. 

Xueli comforted him with a paw pat, then grabbed the edge of the plate with her mouth. 

The small animals took their positions, nervously lurking in various corners around the wooden house. 

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Zilan, upon seeing Xueli bringing such a delicately arranged plate of rabbit, was immediately stunned. 

On the plate was a grey rabbit, motionless, and it was unclear whether it was alive. However, it was drenched in soy sauce, and a circle of fruits was arranged around it, indicating that it was meant to be his food. 

Xueli, in a particularly cautious and cherished manner, dragged the plate of rabbit in front of him. At this moment, she was hopping around him, her dark eyes gleaming, and she was eagerly barking at him. 

Zilan had been cultivating for many years and did not consume animals. It’s more accurate to say that, at his level of cultivation, the dependence on food was already weak. Though he consumed things in the wolf realm, it wasn’t so much to satisfy his appetite as it was to use the exquisite fairy-like delicacies to assist in cultivation and solidify his cultivation base. 

Zilan gently said, “No, I don’t need to eat a rabbit…” 

Xueli didn’t understand Subal’s howl. She noticed that Subal showed no response to the rabbit for a while, suspecting that he might not understand the purpose of this plate of rabbit. 

Xueli tactfully coaxed, “Look at this rabbit, I just caught it from the forest. It’s very fresh, tender, and delicious! Eating it is quite simple. Let me teach you. It’s like this!” 

Saying this, Xueli prepared to take a bite out of the rabbit. 

However, Xueli had never actually eaten rabbit, and she wasn’t sure how to act. 

She circled around the rabbit twice, and in the end, seeing that Zilan’s front paws were raised, making it seem easier to take a bite, she crouched down and demonstrated how the wolf should eat. With an “Ah-woo,” she pretended to bite down on the front paw of the little grey rabbit. 

Little grey rabbit: “…” 

Of course, Xueli didn’t actually use force, but for the rabbit, being bitten like this was already quite terrifying. He struggled to control himself to avoid trembling on the spot. 

“…” 

Upon seeing Xueli biting the rabbit’s paw, Zilan was also surprised. He hastily tried to go up and remove Xueli from the rabbit’s paw. 

Immortals pursue enlightenment and benevolence, with pure immortal energy that allows them to sustain themselves by absorbing the essence of nature. They cultivate sympathy and compassion for all living beings. The fruits and herbs they consume in the immortal realm, including radishes, either lack the potential to gain sentience or do not disturb the intrinsic life force of the beings. However, the current situation with this rabbit was evidently different. 

Feeding on flesh contradicted the principles of cultivating virtue and purity. Zilan worried that Xueli, a little nine-tailed fox residing in the immortal realm, might be unaware of these principles and could unintentionally consume the rabbit. 

However, when the moment came to intervene, Zilan hesitated. He observed that Xueli was gently holding the rabbit’s paw in her mouth, not actually biting down. Zilan had encountered the animals that often played with Xueli, either when he had just fallen from the sky or when Xueli was treating his injuries. After he regained consciousness, these animals avoided approaching him. They kept their distance. 

Initially, Zilan’s perception was blurry. Among the animals that played with Xueli, there were many rabbits, and he couldn’t distinguish whether this particular rabbit was a regular playmate. However, he could tell that it was a male rabbit. 

In the immortal realm, creatures didn’t easily expose their private parts like in the mortal world, but they had other ways of recognizing each other, such as appearance and scent. 

Seeing Xueli holding the front paw of a male rabbit affectionately, Zilan suddenly felt an odd discomfort deep within. Yet, he didn’t dwell on it too much, considering it a reaction to concern about Xueli consuming the wrong thing. 

Zilan furrowed his brows and immediately lowered his head, forcefully separating Xueli from the little grey rabbit. 

“Ah-woo?” 

Xueli, suddenly removed from the grip of the little grey rabbit’s paw, looked bewildered. 

The little grey rabbit, feeling the enormous snow wolf getting so close that it almost touched his belly, had his heart skip a beat in fear. 

The snow wolf gazed at Xueli, wearing a serious expression. “Although I am injured, I only need to consume spiritual vegetables and fruits as usual. You don’t need to go out of your way to find meat for me. If you harm living beings for my sake, it will be detrimental to your cultivation.” 

He inquired, “Is this rabbit still alive? If it has a chance to survive, we can feed it some herbs, keep it in the house for recovery, and release it after it has healed.” 

However, these words fell on Xueli’s ears as an even more extensive series of “Ah-woo—Ah-woo-woo-woo—Ah-woo—” leaving her even more bewildered. 

Meanwhile, the small animals lurking around the wooden house began to discuss excitedly. 

“The wolf didn’t eat the little grey rabbit! He even separated Xueli from the rabbit!” 

“That’s great! Does this mean he won’t eat us?” 

“But what did he say afterwards?” 

The small animals were now filled with joy and anticipation. 

If the fact that the snow wolf didn’t eat the little grey rabbit was enough to reassure everyone, the unexpected joy of Xueli pretending to eat but then being removed from the rabbit was even more reassuring! 

This indicated that not only did he not eat himself, but he would also prevent others from doing so. 

Now everyone completely believed that this snow wolf would not harm them. When he recovered from his injuries under Xueli’s care, they could let him stay in the forest. 

The white deer, who had been secretly watching from the window cracks, gently tapped on the window with its hooves and reminded, “Xueli, it’s about time. We all think it’s okay.” 

Xueli, at this moment, also snapped out of her trance. 

She cautiously asked the snow wolf, “You really won’t eat it? Are you sure? Can I remove the plate?” 

The snow wolf responded with a series of “Ah-woo—Ah-woo-woo-woo—.” 

Xueli replied in kind, “Ah-woo-ah-woo, ah-woo-woo.” 

The two of them happily reached a consensus. 

So, Xueli pretended to look very disappointed, lowered her ears, and once again lifted a corner of the plate, intending to safely remove the little rabbit. However, Zilan furrowed his brow even more. 

He felt that Xueli should have understood that he didn’t eat rabbits, but she hadn’t grasped his intention to see if the rabbit was still alive and if it could be raised. So, he took a step forward, intending to communicate further with Xueli. 

However, Zilan’s step forward completely shattered the psychological defenses of the little grey rabbit. 

The little grey rabbit’s mind was already stretched tight. After circling near the wolf’s paw and being bitten by the fox, his nerves were on edge. Just when he finally endured until Xueli said she was going to remove the plate and relaxed a bit, he felt the wolf taking another step closer. 

The little grey rabbit immediately thought that the wolf might be changing his mind. His psychological construction collapsed completely, and he could no longer hold on. He opened his eyes and sprinted away as fast as his legs could carry him! 

The wolf had originally wanted to have another word with Xueli and check if the rabbit was still breathing. However, at the moment Zilan took a step forward, the plate’s lunch suddenly opened its eyes and leaped to its feet like a gust of wind! 

Before Zilan could react, the lunch, now fully alert, ran off like lightning and disappeared at the door. 

No one had expected this turn of events. Zilan and Xueli, holding the plate, were both startled, staring blankly at the rabbit that had knocked open the wooden door. The room fell silent. 

Zilan was dumbfounded for a moment. 

But immediately after that, he quickly looked at Xueli. 

It seemed like the little nine-tailed fox had no idea that such a thing would happen, and she was equally startled by the sudden awakening and dash of the grey rabbit. Maintaining the posture of holding the plate, she looked bewildered. 

Soy sauce was spilled all over the place along the path of the fleeing grey rabbit. 

After a long time, the little nine-tailed fox slowly released the now empty plate, letting it rest on the ground. She still drooped her ears, hunched her paws, and looked quite dejected. 

Zilan was stunned. 

Actually, from the observations during this period, it was evident that Xueli also didn’t eat meat. She had specially brought a rabbit today, likely for him. They were not very familiar with each other, considering Subo came from outside, and they couldn’t communicate well. 

After some contemplation, Zilan thought that Xueli might be unsure whether he, as an outsider wolf, ate meat or not. She was probably concerned that he might lack nutrition and have difficulty healing, so she struggled and eventually went to the forest, managing to catch a rabbit for him to eat. 

Looking at the rabbit that the little nine-tailed fox brought today, it seemed that she wasn’t very skilled at handling live animals, but the presentation was meticulous, indicating that she had put a lot of thought into it. 

She probably ran to the forest early in the morning, caught a rabbit, and struggled to handle it before happily bringing it up for him to eat. 

Little did she expect that he didn’t eat rabbits at all, and in the end, the rabbit accidentally escaped. All the efforts of the morning turned out to be in vain. 

No wonder Xueli looked so sad. 

Zilan slowly approached, looking at her with concern.