CHAPTER 96: CHAPTER 96: CASSIAS’ FINDING: ZERRA IS A FOX!

Along the way, Zerra had sensed a faint presence around her, giving her unsettled feeling. Gleaming pair of eyes in the tall trees were observing her.

She had made sure they were birds, squirrels, or other mutated animals. They were wary of her presence, which held a stronger aura than theirs.

However, she just didn’t expect that among those existences, there would be Cassias lurking around! The perverted, insidious male lead!

How powerful was he? He was also actually hiding his strength! If she couldn’t detect his power with her enhanced fox senses, it meant that this man was monstrously strong.

"Zerra?"

Under the faint scarlet light of moonlight shining from above, Cassias approached the frozen fox, whose mind had quickly become blank because of shock.

Soon, she recovered her senses just as Cassias crouched down before her tiny frame. His hand reached out, but she was faster, squawking as she escaped his evil paws!

She forced herself to run faster along the riverbank, thinking that she could outrun him. Honestly, she hadn’t considered he would find out her real identity so quickly yet.

The so-called plot armor had lulled her into false security, forgetting that besides the main protagonists, anyone’s plot armor was never long-lasting.

The day when Cassias found out that his treasured fox was her would come. She just hadn’t considered how she would react to it.

Cassias was very fast. Zerra tried to brake to no avail when she saw the towering figure in front of her. As a result, she fell into his outstretched arms.

"Why do you like running so much? Careful, you will get hurt."

He was the male lead after all. She knew she wouldn’t be able to escape, so since she didn’t want to face him so soon, she decided to play dead.

Her tiny figure, experiencing the shock of her life because of the male lead, now lay unmoving in his arms.

Cassias, sensing the fox’s lack of movement, lowered his head. The fox had closed its eyes, its outstretched limbs hung limply to the side, pretending to be dead.

"You are really the fox, huh?" He sighed.

Zerra heard his sigh and sensed every movement. The man stood up, walking away from the dense vegetation. He cut the grass near the riverbank, spread some kind of carpet and blanket over it and sat down.

"Are you hungry?" The tantalizing scent of crystal core wafted over her little nose.

Her nose twitched, and she nearly exploded in anger. Her eyes abruptly opened. She jumped from Cassias’ hands, her fur stood up as if she was truly exploding.

She was furious, absolutely furious!

As Cassias tried to put a piece of level three crystal core in her mouth again, she kicked it out of his fingers, landing somewhere in the bushes.

Cassias was unfazed, taking another one and presenting it to her. Each crystal core had a smell that was more fragrant than the other! Too tempting for her.

What did this male lead mean? She was a celestial fox. Did he think that a few crystal cores could buy her dignity?

It was obvious from his nonchalant attitude that he might have known from the start that the fox was her! The blood in her body boiled even more ferociously.

He treated her like a fool all this time and took her in like a pet! Now, when she thought he was aware, a wave of humiliation washed over her.

So, the moment he handed her another crystal core, she didn’t only kick it away, but also bit into his fingers fiercely. Her fangs pierced his skin, leaving deep tooth marks, and blood seeped out.

The metallic taste of blood dripped onto her tongue, making her eyes could only see red. She knew she might lose her rationality soon, turning into a zombie if she didn’t stop.

She let go of his fingers. Blood poured out like a waterfall, wetting the blanket.

A little guilt crept into her heart, but... hmph, it was just a little pain, anyway. He should be able to handle it.

"You..." Cassias sighed again. Zerra looked up at him with challenging eyes. What? Angry now, huh?

"Look, your fur is stained red now." Cassias took a cloth from his space, wiped the blood from his finger, then picked her up. He used a towel to brush her fur, even taking out a wide basin bowl.

She sensed the spring water in the basin and didn’t resist when he put her there. She even took the chance to paddle on the water, her anger diminishing with each passing second that she began to panic.

Why, no! Why was her anger disappearing? She still wanted to feel angry!

So, she summoned her anger back and stopped moving, crossing her paws on her chest. Then, she jumped out of the water, shaking her wet fur; water splashed everywhere.

"Still angry? Actually, I can explain..." Cassias began.

She gave him her back.

After a while, she frowned when she heard nothing. It was so incredibly still that she was becoming uncomfortable. Didn’t he say that he was going to explain?! So, she slowly turned around.

Her eyes met his.

"So, now are you willing to listen to me, right?" He smiled as the light from the portable lamp illuminated his facial features. His face wasn’t as sharp as she remembered. He currently had a softened expression that was never directed at her.

It was very odd, but hmph, it didn’t change the fact that he was very cunning, tricking her like that!

She rolled her eyes and nodded. Let’s listen to the nonsense he was going to spout then.

"Actually, I didn’t know it was you. I just sensed a breath of life buried within the ruins in that underground place... I didn’t expect it to survive, but then it did, through zombie transformation..." he paused. A slight hesitation crossed his face.

"Then, the fox ran away after we got out. I thought I would never see it again, but one day, it reappeared. I became more suspicious as more time passed. Because when the fox is present, you are always absent."

"Your behavior as a fox toward Laziel also gave it away. The way you react when he makes fun of you. I also decided to test you several times before I concluded that the fox is you. I hope it will lessen your anger."

Cassias spoke a lot in one go, his tone filled with sincerity.

Zerra sighed, and she looked at him. She still had a lot of questions, but how should she ask if she was still in her fox form? She couldn’t talk, yet she was itching to know!

His explanation made sense, but it just wasn’t enough for her. She knew he was taking advantage of the fact that she couldn’t speak and deliberately omitted some more evidence.

As if sensing her troubled emotions, Cassias cleared his throat. He looked awkward as he scratched the back of his head, as if he also actually wasn’t ready to face the discussion of her identity as a fox. "Since you can’t talk in this form, you can ask your questions later."

She glared at him with eyes that could spit fire. However, her emotions were more controllable this time.

There was still one matter she was itching to know the most, and it was super important. She demanded fiercely, "How do you know

the fox is a female?"

Oh, she had turned into a human again, and now was staring and pointing a finger at Cassias accusingly.