Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

The harassment by the fox soldiers had been going on for a long time. The person being harassed was a well-known wealthy man in the city, surnamed Luo. When the servants of such a wealthy family fought with the fox soldiers led by the fox spirit, it naturally attracted everyone's attention and caused quite a stir.

Normally, if a family is haunted by a monster, they would hire someone to exorcise it, and the family would stay far away. This person fought the monster to a standstill, and the family being harassed seemed to be fine. Apart from being annoyed and inconvenienced, no one was injured or killed. This strange event was talked about by the people around, and they even took the story to visit relatives to chat. It spread to more distant places and even reached the ears of Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao.

After fighting for so long, although no one in the Luo family was injured, they were very agitated. At first, the fox soldiers would come every now and then, but the intervals became smaller and smaller, and recently they have been coming every day.

Even if no one gets hurt, having to be on guard every day is really a waste of time.

To outsiders, it seemed that the fox spirits had some deep-seated grudge against their family, which was why they attacked again and again. But the leaders behind these fox soldiers should not have acted this way between the two families.

Upon seeing Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao today, Master Luo knew that the opportunity to break the deadlock had arrived. These two were clearly not ordinary people. Even if the giant was just a straw illusion, it would still take them some effort to fight it themselves. They couldn't possibly be like Ren Pingsheng, who could simply poke it with his cane and turn it back into its original form.

Without the two men needing to say much, Master Luo invited them into his home. Upon learning that they had come out of curiosity about his family affairs, he explained the reason and the whole story.

It all started when Master Luo wanted to hire a tutor for his household. A scholar named Hu came to recommend himself. Hu was eloquent and erudite. Master Luo chatted with him for a while, thought he was a good candidate, and hired him as a tutor for his household.

After being hired, Mr. Hu taught very diligently and conscientiously. His family members had a good impression of this new teacher, and their relationship with him grew better and better.

Mr. Hu liked to go out and play, and he always came back very late, sometimes even in the middle of the night. At first, Master Luo was worried about him because there was a curfew in their area. Later, he heard that Mr. Hu had not gone into the city, so there was no need to worry.

If he doesn't go to the city, there aren't many places left to visit. Mr. Hu's travel frequency is indeed quite high. Moreover, whenever he returns at night, the gates of his house are always closed properly, and there has never been any knocking or knocking at the door in the middle of the night. The servants on night duty also say they have never seen Mr. Hu, but he has indeed returned and turned on the lights in his room.

That's strange, how did this person get back?

The more Master Luo thought about it, the more uneasy he felt. He thought that Mr. Hu might be some kind of monster. Considering the other party's surname, Mr. Hu was probably a fox spirit.

When this suspicion arose, the wealthy man began to pay special attention to the tutor in his household and discovered many clues that could prove the tutor's fox identity.

However, he also realized that Mr. Hu had no malicious intent and was dutifully serving as a teacher, showing no intention of harming anyone. So, Master Luo put the matter aside and continued to treat Mr. Hu well, showing no reaction to his strange identity, and they continued to live in peace.

Master Luo had a daughter of marriageable age. Mr. Hu asked Master Luo for her hand in marriage, hinting at it many times. Every time this happened, Master Luo would pretend not to understand and make excuses.

He certainly didn't mind having a fox as a tutor in the house, but that didn't mean he could accept having a fox son-in-law. The life of a fox spirit was definitely different from that of a human, and if his daughter really married him, there would definitely be trouble in the future.

After several unsuccessful attempts to hint at his intentions, Mr. Hu took leave and left. The very next day, a guest riding a black donkey arrived. The guest looked to be over fifty years old, dressed neatly, and had an artistic air about him. The only problem was that no one in the Luo family recognized this guest and they didn't know what he was doing there.

Although he found it strange, the man saw that the guest was not young and had a respectable appearance, so he welcomed him in. After talking with him, he learned that the guest was actually there to act as a matchmaker for Mr. Hu and to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage.

To be honest, Master Luo didn't know why Mr. Hu insisted on marrying his daughter. The woman had been a tutor in his household for some time, and the two had a good relationship. There was no need for such methods to deepen their friendship.

Most importantly, Master Luo couldn't accept that his daughter was marrying a fox.

Therefore, Master Luo resolutely refused the matchmaking, saying that he had already arranged a marriage for his daughter. However, the other party was also prepared, knowing full well about his daughter's situation, and insisted on acting as matchmaker.

Neither side would back down, and after a few tugs of the tug-of-war, Master Luo's temper flared up, and he finally blurted out, "I don't mean anything by it, I just hate that he's not human."

"So the talks broke down, and they became enemies?"

Hearing this, Ren Pingsheng roughly understood. It was possible that Luo Yuanwai's words were just said in anger, but to a real monster, they were really unpleasant to hear.

"Yes, they've made enemies."

Master Luo sighed. Ever since he uttered those words, the two sides had gone from a polite tug-of-war to a shouting match. Amidst the insults, the guest, enraged, lunged at Master Luo. Master Luo quickly ordered his servants to use wooden sticks to drive the guest away. Upon seeing this, the guest immediately fled, abandoning the donkey outside the door.

Afterwards, the servant tried to lead the donkey away, but found that he couldn't pull it no matter what he did. After pushing it over with force, it turned into a grasshopper and ran away, just like the little horse that Ren Pingsheng found in the hiding place of the fox soldiers.

Judging from the guests' attitude when they left, Master Luo knew that they would retaliate again. Starting from the second time, the fox soldiers attacked. The first time, they were aggressive and even threatened to burn down the house. However, after successfully breaking through once, Master Luo's men were no longer afraid. This was because the weapons and mounts were just illusions, made up of grass and insects, and did not cause much actual damage.

But this can't go on forever. The other side are all foxes, so they don't need to work. But it's different for Master Luo. Whether it's the servants or him, the master, they all have work to do every day. They can't be on guard every day and just fight with these foxes.

"I see that these two gentlemen possess extraordinary bearing; is there any way to counter this?"

The conflict between the Luo family and the Hu family was not really a grudge, as the feud came out of nowhere. After the fox soldiers attacked, Mr. Hu never showed his face again, and the Luo family could not even talk to him again.

Regardless, Master Luo felt he should have a serious talk with Mr. Fox, but if he went out, he would have to face the fox soldiers. If he approached them, they would fire arrows. Although the sorghum stalks wouldn't hurt him, it didn't mean he wanted to be hit in the face by a hail of arrows.

As for voluntarily surrendering and marrying off his daughter, that was impossible. He had previously been skeptical of Mr. Hu's identity as a demon, but now, after facing the fox soldiers several times and witnessing the fox spirits' tricks, he was even less willing to let his daughter marry into that family.

Look at the things these foxes use to fight—it's all grass and insects. Mr. Hu used to come back from his travels without knocking or opening the door, so he probably doesn't have any concept of social hierarchy. His daughter is a human, and she can't use the fox spirit's things at all. If she really marries into that family, she definitely won't be able to live a good life.

"Sir, you should have a general idea of ​​how to solve this, right?"

Master Luo explained the whole story without much anger or hatred, nor did he have any intention of asking them to slay the demons. He only asked how to break the stalemate.

“If we are just looking for Mr. Hu, my friend and I can go find him right now.”

Are you two gentlemen confident?

"nature."

Rather than dealing with Hu Bing directly, what Master Luo really wanted to do was to find Mr. Hu and have a calm and peaceful talk. Originally, Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao were outsiders who had clashed with him today, so they shouldn't be able to help with finding someone. However, they met Mr. Zhan and his group last night, which gave them a bit of a connection.

With so many foxes living together, most of them being humanoid, it's impossible for them to live in the city. Mr. Hu frequently traveled while teaching, but he didn't go to the city. The only place that could accommodate so many fox spirits at once must be the mountains and forests.

There are ghosts, demons, and mountain gods in the mountains. Such a lively place definitely deserves more exploration. However, it's still daytime, so we definitely won't see those ghosts from last night. We can only try asking the little monsters in the mountains.

As for the mountain god who is said to have a long face, since he is a quiet person, he probably wouldn't be able to find him anyway, and such a matter wouldn't bother him.

"Alright, it's your turn to perform."

Having just left the mountain in the morning, Ren Pingsheng returned in less than half a day. He patted the armor on Jian Feidao's shoulder, signaling him to come find him.

Jian Feidao's Chongming Eye can pierce through all demonic obstacles, illuminate all darkness, see through all ignorance, and perceive all flaws and evils. In the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, this is like a fiery eye, a walking demon-revealing mirror; he can tell what kind of monster is hiding in the forest with just one glance.

They didn't intend to find their target in one go; they just wanted to use this opportunity to find some small monsters they could communicate with and ask them if they knew Mr. Hu and the Hu family.

The whole town knew about the attack on the wealthy man's side, and the fox soldiers of the Hu family always went out to attack in a grand manner. It was impossible for the mountain monsters not to know.

While Jian Feidao was focused on his search, Ren Pingsheng put one hand on his friend's shoulder and held the jade bamboo staff in the other, still sighing.

"I thought there would be a big show, but it turned out to be just a small-scale incident."

Upon hearing about the war between humans and foxes, Ren Pingsheng came excitedly. Although he knew beforehand that it was a group of ordinary people fighting against foxes, and that the fox spirits were probably not very strong, he really didn't expect it to be such a war that was all bark and no bite.

Those simple tricks made of straw are easily destroyed; they are the best example of a paper tiger.

"It's better if it's not a major war."

Jian Feidao's eyes gleamed with an eerie light, giving him an almost inhuman appearance. The fox spirit's weakness was a good thing; otherwise, the wealthy family would have suffered the first time they were retaliated against in such a conflict.

"Found it...it's not a monster."

As the two were talking, Jian Feidao saw an unusual shadow approaching them. Its aura was peculiar; it was neither a demon nor a ghost, nor was it like an ordinary mortal.

If he had to say, he felt that the other party's aura was similar to that of Xiao Cui, only purer, and he could not see any trace of a fox.

"Of course I'm not a monster."

A young woman emerged from the woods, dressed in a beautiful dress and with an elaborate hairstyle—an outfit that seemed completely out of place for walking in the mountains.

Upon seeing them, whose appearances differed from ordinary people, the girl showed no surprise. She simply smiled and walked forward, stopping at an appropriate distance and offering a bow.

"My name is Pianpian, and I am a hermit living in the mountains."

Pianpian's appearance was truly unexpected. She knew why the two had come to the mountains and was willing to tell them where the Hu family was. This sudden help was certainly suspicious.

However, according to Jian Feidao's keen observation, this graceful young lady was indeed without malice. Her aura was extremely pure. Although she was a cultivator in the mountains, she was actually above the average half-immortal and would probably ascend to immortality soon.

But the two sides had never met, so why would the other party offer to help them?

Pianpian explained this frankly.

“I once had a lover named Luo, with whom I had a son. My son later married a friend’s daughter and enjoyed more than ten years of family bliss in the cave. But my husband was a mortal and had no interest in cultivating immortality, so he was not suited to my cave. I told him to take his son and daughter-in-law out of the mountain and live a mortal life. The Luo family now are my descendants.”

While cultivating in a mountain cave, Pianpian happened to meet a man who caught her eye, but he was not suited to the life of a cultivator. She also foresaw that her son had a promising career in government, so she told them to leave and never saw him again.

There is a difference between immortals and mortals. Pianpian has always lived in the mountains. It would have been easy for her to go out and see her child, but she didn't. Even her later lover and child came up the mountain to look for her, but in the end, they couldn't even find the way to her cave.

As time passed, the Luo family gradually forgot about Pianpian's existence. Pianpian also had no idea which generation of her descendants the current Luo family head was. Originally, if things continued like this, they would forget each other in the world of martial arts. However, Pianpian could not stand by and watch the Hu family play the game of conquering and seizing territory against the Luo family.

After all, there is still a blood connection. If the Luo family were to encounter a worldly lawsuit, Pianpian would not care. But the Hu family is a bunch of fox spirits. She has cultivated for so many years and can be called a fairy when she goes out. A bunch of little fox spirits are bullying her descendants.

But even if she were to intervene, Pianpian wouldn't directly show her face. Cultivators are most wary of being entangled in worldly karma. Her son and lover left, and she didn't even glance at them, simply because she didn't want to be too close to the mortal world.

She was just wondering how to help without showing herself when Jian Feidao and Ren Pingsheng appeared, which was like a godsend. All Pianpian had to do was come out, say a few words, and lead them to Mr. Hu.

"It's so rare."

"What's so rare about it?"

After explaining the situation, Pianpian led the way, but heard the sighs of the people behind her, not knowing what they were saying.

"Your mindset is very rare."

She focused solely on spiritual cultivation, and when she met a man she liked, she would move on; if their thoughts and pursuits differed, she would decisively let them go and continue her spiritual practice. It is truly rare to be able to go with the flow like this, especially in the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio.