Wutong is professional, unlike Kurajing, who doesn't easily smile.
He pushed up the glasses perched on his nose, carefully examining the golden crow, silently remembering the name "Jinx."
The reason why everything around turned into a purgatory is entirely thanks to "Jinx"… The young butler would not underestimate it just because of its round and cute appearance.
After all, it is the young master's Nen Beast.
"Fwoosh~" The fire lost the support of "Nen" and gradually subsided...
Roy supported Wutong's shoulder as they exited the lakebed and ascended the mountain.
Taking advantage of this time, he invoked [Zetsu] to recover Nen, considering calling "Jinx" back.
Jinx refused to leave, directly using his hair as a nest, unwilling to move. During this, Kurajing, with a mischievous smile, caught a bug and fed it, but Jinx disdainfully spat a small flame to burn it to ashes, startling Kurajing.
"Reckless." This was Wutong's criticism of Kurajing's "presumptuous" behavior.
The girl pouted and sulked... Roy paid no mind to her antics, allowing them to play around, walking up the mountain. They stopped at a certain point on the mountainside, looking ahead.
Deep in the forest, several blurry figures emerged.
Wutong immediately recognized one of them, calmly slipping his hand into his pocket and gripping several coins.
It's her... the fierce fox girl...
"The young master spared you, yet you dare return."
Kurajing frowned, also recognizing the woman, secretly observing the three accompanying her. On their faces and arms were the same imprint patterns as hers, clearly indicating they were her family or clan members.
The fierce fox girl avoided eye contact, looking pleadingly at her bald father... The fierce fox father wrapped a turban around his head, forcing a smile, bowing towards Roy from afar, saying: "I apologize for my daughter's rudeness,"
"We ask for your understanding, as monitoring you was not our intention. As examiners and guides for this stage, this task was assigned by the Hunter Association."
"We are merely following orders."
"Young master, the woman isn't lying." Kurajing, with her acute observation or perhaps a woman's intuition, noted the fierce fox daughter's panic and guilt in implicating her family to speak for her, which didn't seem like an act.
"That doesn't erase her behavior of spying, getting caught, and running away." Wutong was clear on right and wrong, acknowledging offense as offense. If apologies solved everything, there would be far fewer conflicts and tragedies in the world.
Even if it was part of the exam.
Roy listened expressionlessly to the debate between the two, casting his gaze towards the fierce fox family, his mind stirred....
The Golden Crow nesting atop his head suddenly opened its eyes, two golden pupils emitting bright beams that enveloped the individuals...
The fierce fox family was momentarily dazed, a vision surfacing from the depths of their bloodline....
In the vision.
In the vast territories, numerous foxes, far larger than him, akin to his ancestors, were worshiping towards a point in the sky... It was a sun chariot, drawn by a Three-legged Golden Crow with towering wings, gradually approaching from the horizon....
A man was seated on the chariot, wearing a golden crown, his face indistinct...
Faintly, the word "god" could be heard from the "ancestors'" mouths!
The man, with one hand resting on the chariot, seemed to be reading a book, glancing indifferently... "Boom!"
The image shattered... The fierce fox family felt a whirl, their consciousness dimming, "Thud~ Thud....." they all collapsed to their knees....
"Dong——" It was as if someone took a hammer and struck a great bell near their ears.
A "crow cry" exploded within their souls...
The fierce fox father, along with his wife and daughter, prostrated on the ground, just as their "ancestors" worshipped the sun, devoutly pressing their heads to the earth.
'Why... did they suddenly kneel?'
Kurajing, still unaware of what transpired, blankly stared at the prostrate fierce fox family. Her instincts drove her to swivel her stiff neck and look at Roy... Above the boy's head, the Golden Crow preened its feathers with its beak, nonchalantly crowing, as if it was unconnected to the event.
Was this sincere enough? Wutong squinted, visibly stunned for a moment... Apologies reaching this level, to the point of discarding dignity, seemed beyond reproach.
He secretly glanced at the young master...
Roy smoothed the golden tuft of hair on Jinx's head, pondering, suddenly thinking of a term - "hierarchical suppression"!
Just like in the Ant arc, where the king, Three Guards, Master Generals, Elite Squad Leaders, and ordinary ants had natural hierarchical suppression, or how Muzan could control the life and death of all evil ghosts with a single thought... The Golden Crow to these magical beasts was an entity with an overwhelmingly superior hierarchy. (Note: the likes of Tamayo, Yushiro, and Nezuko, who escaped Muzan's control, are not included.)
Indelible, leaving only submission!
"Gurgle..."
Feeling hungry,
"Is there any food?"
With Nen exhausted, he urgently needed sustenance... Roy gestured for Jinx to ease up...
The golden light vanished from the Golden Crow's pupils, and the oppressive hierarchy receded...
The fierce fox mother could finally lift her head and hurriedly said, "Yes... I've made curry, if you don't mind....."
"Let's go." Roy stepped forward, heading towards the towering spruce tree at the mountain's peak.
Wutong followed without expression, behind him was Kurajing, who nodded in acknowledgment to the fierce fox mother, the girl smiling and quickening her pace.
The fierce fox family returned to their senses, as if fished out of water, their armpits, backs, and foreheads soaked with sweat, as if they had walked through the gate of hell.