Super Zoo

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The fox issue served as a wake-up call for Suming. On the one hand, it could be seen as just a group of foxes mimicking human movements, amusing visitors with their antics. On the other hand, it bordered on feudal superstition, and as a zoo that promoted scientific knowledge, perpetuating feudal superstitions was absolutely forbidden.

If it were just one or two foxes, it might not be so bad. But if all the foxes brought back could mimic, who knew what kind of commotion it might cause when visitors saw them.

Lin and Lin were somewhat superstitious, and if Suming didn't clarify things to them, they might truly take the Broad-eared Fox for a divine 'Fox Immortal', and if they spread that notion to visitors, it would put him in a very passive position.

"Leader, the more than one hundred foxes you brought back, they all have an essence, oh no, they can mimic humans!"

Even though Suming had already told Lin about the fox mimicking human behavior, Lin still had his superstitions, gesturing towards the direction of the Chen Youliang Tomb Cluster and lowering his voice, he said, "Leader, I heard that an ancient emperor's tomb was discovered in that direction. You're well-read, analyze it for me, could these Fox Immortals have come from that tomb? Otherwise, why would they be so... erm, capable of mimicking?"

Being well-read and feudal superstitions seem mutually exclusive, don't they? Suming inwardly rolled his eyes, lowered his voice, and said with a serious expression, "Lin, you know about King Zhou, right?"

"I do, King Zhou had a wife called Daji, terribly flirty!" Lin chimed in from the side.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Clearly Lin missed the main point, Suming coughed twice, then asked, "Then do you know what Daji was?"

"Who doesn't know that? Daji was a seductive fox spirit who specially came to cause havoc to King Zhou's realm." Lin hadn't finished speaking when his face changed, "Leader, these foxes, they wouldn't all be fox spirits, would they?"

Despite their superstitious beliefs, Lin and Lin were no fools. There were countless people in the world worshipping Buddha and praying to deities, but that didn't mean they all believed in the existence of gods and Buddhas. If one day, a real Buddha appeared before them, the first reaction of most people would definitely be: swindler.

It's like how many people are afraid of ghosts, but deep down they are very aware that there is no such thing as ghosts in the world.

Although Lin and Lin worshipped the Broad-eared Fox, it was nothing more than a custom with a bit of spiritual reliance. However, to suggest that the hundred-plus Broad-eared Foxes were all fox spirits, Lin and Lin didn't buy into it.

"Of course not, in the bright daylight and the clear sky, there are no cow-heads or snake-gods! These foxes are certainly not fox spirits!"

"But Daji was a fox spirit, with tens of thousands of years of cultivation!" Lin said.

Tens of thousands of years of cultivation? Who told you that? You don't even read carefully. If Daji had tens of thousands of years of cultivation, she could have slapped Jiang Ziya to death with a single palm, and maybe even become sworn sisters with Nvwa. Would she then still be slapped around by King Zhou and have her head chopped off by Jiang Ziya?

However, now was not the time to discuss Daji's cultivation. Suming slowly turned his head to look at Lin, then at Lin, keeping their anticipation high before he finally said, "It's true that Daji was a fox spirit, do you know what kind of fox Daji was?"

That question was a bit profound. Enjoy new stories from empire

Asking if Daji was a fox, everyone knows. But if you ask where Daji lived, how old she was, her measurements, what color corset she liked to wear, not many people would know. Those are details that most people don't bother about.

"Daji was a Nine-tailed Fox, a creature from ancient Han mythology, originating from the Classic of Mountains and Seas compiled during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, which later spread to Japan, Korea, and other Asian regions. The Classic of Mountains and Seas and the 'Nanshan Classic' state: 'On Qingqiu Mountain, there is a beast, it looks like a fox but has nine tails...'"

Suming cited classics and explained a great deal, leaving Lin and Lin baffled before he steered the conversation to the key point, saying seriously, "The ancient legends about the fox spirits are mostly about the Nine-tailed Fox. The Nine-tailed Fox comes from the Classic of Mountains and Seas, which you know, is basically a fantasy novel, mostly fictional. It also contains a large bird called Kunpeng, whose wings are said to span 90,000 li..."

"That's complete nonsense. How big is Earth? If there were really such a huge bird, wouldn't it have eaten the whole Earth?" Lin argued.

"Exactly, it's fiction. Our foxes are called Broad-eared Foxes, originally from abroad, with absolutely nothing to do with the Nine-tailed Fox, let alone possessing any essence of divinity. They are just rather cute and smart animals," Suming explained.

"Oh..." Lin and Lin suddenly seemed to have an epiphany and turned to look at the Broad-eared Foxes.

Suming didn't bother to confirm if they really understood, but took the opportunity to insist, "Move that Buddha statue away, and if any visitors see the Broad-eared Foxes performing human actions or mimicking human speech, make sure to explain it clearly to them. Definitely don't let this turn into a feudal superstitious event, transforming this place into a Wong Tai Sin Temple."

Thinking it over, he still felt a bit uneasy. If they were mistaken for adherents to feudal superstitions, it would be too troublesome. They had to be thoroughly preventative, so he went directly to Mingqing Residence, and together with Mr. Peng, they did woodworking for several days at the back of Mingqing Residence. They also hired a construction team to renovate the surroundings of the foxes' dwelling.

...

That day, the zoo operated as usual. However, some attentive visitors noticed that there were new signposts at every corner in the zoo, each with a large arrow pointing in the direction of the hills behind.

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"Fox Home, proceed in this direction!"

A family of three walked out of the aquarium, having just watched the giant salamanders, Yangtze alligators, and the finless porpoise family. The man held his wife with one hand and led his chubby son with the other.

"Mom, Mom, I want to go boating and ride on the fish!" The plump son was wearing a Yangtze alligator hat souvenir he had bought at the aquarium entrance, and a rubber alligator tail was tied around his waist, making him look like a fat alligator turned human.

The man frowned in boredom, "Every time we come here you want to go boating. In just these six months, between boating and zoo admission fees, we've spent several thousand. Aren't you tired of it?"

"But those cats are really fun, and I heard they've had kittens..." The wife said in a coquettish manner, linking arms with her husband.

If there were someone with a good memory here, they'd surely recall that this family of three was the very first to patronize Suming's fortune cat boating business. That day they spent several hundred yuan playing with the cats before even boarding the boat.

The man had recently been feeling a little depressed.

They all liked animals and used to come to the zoo often. In the past six months, the zoo had launched several paid attractions and had continuously introduced new rare animal species, making their visits even more frequent. Every time they visited, they would spend money playing around before leaving.

During the New Year when the family tallied up the year's expenses, they were shocked to find that in just the latter half of the year, they spent nearly four thousand yuan on zoo trips, nearly every weekend, which was almost equivalent to one month of his salary.

"Why are you so stingy? Didn't you get a year-end bonus of twenty thousand during the New Year..." The wife grumbled in a spoiled tone. These days, doesn't everything cost money when a family goes out to have fun? Not to mention something as simple as watching a movie or having a meal, which can cost several hundred. Spending a whole day at the zoo, getting close to nature, engaging in parent-child activities, and fostering a child's compassion is definitely worth the money.

She made it sound so reasonable that her husband couldn't come up with a rebuttal. His gaze shifted and landed on a sign not far off.

"Hey, wife, how about we go see the foxes!"

"Fox Home?" Following her husband's gaze to the sign, the wife also noticed it and wondered, "Isn't there already a fox enclosure next to the Wolf Pen? Where did this Fox Home pop up from, behind the hill? Could the sign be pointing in the wrong direction?"

Without further ado, the husband started walking in the direction indicated by the signage, leading his wife and son. "It's not like we lose a piece of meat by taking a look." While walking, he thought cheerily to himself that seeing the foxes couldn't possibly cost much...

"Fox Home" wasn't too far from the park. Originally, this area was allocated to the zoo for monitoring rescued stray cats and dogs. To facilitate adoptions and care, it was located right next to Shuijun Lake in the zoo and was the same mountain that Baldy once visited to steal fish. You could directly reach it by boating on Shuijun Lake or by exiting the back door of the zoo, crossing a road, and then walking along a mountain path for over a hundred meters.

Many of the visitors who saw the signpost were curious, so they followed the indicated direction up the mountain path to this place. Along the halfway mark on the mountain trail, they often spotted several fit pet dogs darting through the surrounding woods.

About halfway up the slope, there was a large screen with the words "Fox Home" written on it. The area was enclosed with knee-high fencing, forming a large circle and looking like a quaint little farmstead, albeit one that was smaller than where humans lived.

"Could there really be many foxes living here?" asked a visitor, looking around; this place didn't seem like it held animals at all, instead resembling a rural countryside.

"Comrades and friends, esteemed visitors!"

Mr. Lin whipped out a megaphone from behind like a magician and announced in slightly awkward Changping County Mandarin, "This is the zoo's Fox Home, home to a group of foreign foxes that are cute-looking and very intelligent..."

Foreign foxes? The crowd was momentarily taken aback.

Following Mr. Lin and Little Lin around the screen, the visitors finally saw several dozen tiny 'houses', and within those, the foxes made their abode.

Upon closer inspection of the layout of these small chambers, the visitors finally understood why this place was called Fox Home; it wasn't just a name coined haphazardly.

—————— Separator ————

Due to certain special reasons that you know of, the fox plot has been extensively modified. It might seem weird, but it won't affect the main storyline~~

The title cannot be changed temporarily; it will be updated within the next two or three days.