The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

After offering his compliments, the old man in plain clothes subconsciously glanced at the fox's face. Having traveled among humans for many days, he had long been accustomed to carefully observing the listener's expression after each sentence, secretly trying to guess their thoughts.

This is his professional habit.

However, the fox spirit's furry face was expressionless, but the old man in plain clothes did not give up and instead began to analyze the fox spirit's appearance.

A pair of long, narrow eyes with slightly upturned corners indicates intelligence, quick wit, and the ability to read people. A round, fleshy nose suggests a kind and gentle nature, and a dislike of arguing. Round cheeks indicate good fortune and a peaceful end.

The fox felt a chill run down its spine as it saw the old man in plain clothes staring intently at it.

Could it be that the fox's illiteracy has been exposed?

"Why are you looking at the fox?" So the fox took the initiative and asked first.

"This is the first time I've seen your face like this. I was so engrossed in looking at it that I apologize for my abruptness. Please forgive me."

"You can even read a fox's face?" the fox asked in surprise.

The old man in plain clothes hesitated, a slight pause in his gaze: "Of course I can see, but...would the fox spirit be willing to hear the truth from me?"

The fox nodded.

The old man in plain clothes continued, "Although it is often said that one's appearance reflects one's heart, people's thoughts are complex, so how can one summarize them with just one word like facial features?"

The fox wholeheartedly agreed: "Indeed, when I listened to prayers, I saw many people who said one thing but meant another."

"It's a pity the fox can't read faces, otherwise we could have verified each other's interpretations. By the way, what do you think of the fox's face?"

The old man in plain clothes reiterated his previous conclusions, adding, "Your mouth is well-shaped with slightly upturned corners, a sign of good fortune in food. Your fox ears are high and pointed with distinct auricles, indicating that you are well-informed and have good hearing..."

The fox squinted, its whiskers stretched forward, and its tail tip flicked back and forth.

The old man in plain clothes quietly memorized these characteristics, planning to catch a few ordinary foxes to raise, analyze their facial features, compare them with those of the fox spirits, and record the appearance of foxes. Perhaps he could compile a "Fox Physiognomy Manual".

This is his personal hobby.

After speaking for a while, the old man in plain clothes concluded: "Your Excellency is an immortal who has attained enlightenment, and is naturally different from ordinary people. My cultivation is low, and if there are any oversights, please forgive me, Fox Immortal."

"No wonder you have so many customers. But are you praising the fox on purpose because you're afraid of being punished by him?" the fox said bluntly.

The old man in plain clothes gave a bitter smile: "The fox spirit is wise. Despite having a thousand reasons, I still used evil magic to harm people. It is my fault. I should not have taken chances and thought that I could escape punishment."

"In that case, please explain in detail."

"Your Excellency should have already realized that the goose is a human being in the body of a goose."

The fox yawned: "Did the underworld messengers make a mistake again?"

The old man in plain clothes looked puzzled: "No, there is no mistake. This is the punishment the goose receives from the underworld."

"That goose was Chen Atang's friend in his previous life. Because he was idle all day long, he squandered his family fortune and once lived on the streets, begging for a living."

Fortunately, Chen Atang remembered their past friendship and lent him a large sum of money, which allowed him to barely make ends meet.

"But his peaceful days didn't last long. He couldn't break his old habit and went to the gambling den again, losing all the money he had borrowed. When he came out of the gambling den, he suddenly realized what had happened. But he was all alone, not only penniless but also burdened with gambling debts. He didn't know what to do in the future and was afraid that Chen Atang would come after him for the debt. After thinking it over, he made a tough decision and threw himself into the river to commit suicide."

"When a person dies, the debts they owe are not erased. Therefore, the underworld sentenced him to be reborn into Chen Atang's family as a goose, to repay his debts with his own flesh and blood."

The fox understood: "But something went wrong at the end."

The old man in plain clothes sighed, "Chen Atang should have won first place in the pig and goose race. At that time, he would have become famous and his business would have prospered, which would have made up for his previous losses. Unfortunately, Chen Atang was greedy in the end, which not only ruined his own wealth but also harmed the geese."

"That goose should have been able to repay the kindness and eliminate its evil karma, and be reincarnated into the human realm. But in doing so, it can only be reborn as an animal again."

"If it was Chen Atang's mistake, what does it have to do with the goose?"

"The fox spirit is indeed wise; it is indeed true. If things had only come to this point, it would simply mean that Chen Atang and that sum of money were destined to be together but not to be. But the goose was unaware of this, only feeling that it had endured its whole life and finally reached the last moment, only to fail at the last hurdle."

"So he spent his whole life trying to get rid of his bad temper, but the stubbornness that he should have corrected resurfaced. He came to me and begged me to help him get revenge."

The old man in plain clothes shook his head and took a sip of tea: "The moment he begged me, and even from the moment he became obsessed with revenge, whether I intervened or not, his life of cultivation was completely destroyed."

The room fell silent for a moment.

The fox pondered for a moment, then asked, "What is Chen Atang's appearance like, and what is his moral character like?"

"He is honest and law-abiding, still possesses some good karma, and is slightly vain, but this does not cause any major problems. As for his unseen merits, although they are not abundant, he has accumulated some."

"If that's the case, then according to what you said, if he had accumulated good karma, how could he have ended up in this state?"

"The moment he switched the goose, his good karma was already greatly diminished. It was because of this sudden decrease in his good karma that I noticed him," the old man in plain clothes added. "After all, ordinary theft wouldn't cause this kind of reduction in good karma."

The fox's doubts deepened: "Can one's accumulated virtue change at any time?"

"From my observation, one's accumulated merit does indeed change with one's every action. I even have a feeling that every thought can affect one's accumulated merit."

"Have you ever heard of the fox spirit that there is a ledger of karma in the underworld that records everyone's actions and accumulates good karma for them?"

"In my view, good deeds are like money deposited in a bank. Doing good deeds throughout your life is like depositing money into the bank. When you need it, you can take it out to help you get through difficult times. But if you do bad things, it's like owing someone a debt. Sooner or later, you will have to repay it with interest."

He paused, his tone growing heavier: "Virtue can protect you, but it cannot protect you from foolishness and madness. Just like that goose, which came to repay a debt of gratitude, but because of a moment of resentment, it pushed itself back into the sea of ​​sin. Just like Chen Atang, who had some good roots and hidden virtues, but because of a moment of greed, he squandered them all. Hidden virtues are something that exist silently and are lost without a trace. By the time you realize it, it is often too late for regrets."

The fox paid no attention to the old man in plain clothes' preachy insights. It didn't care about mystical sayings like "yin virtue and physiognomy." Compared to the fortune teller who had been immersed in this way for a long time and whose essence had been absorbed into his body, it was more curious about what kind of force the Three Mountains Underworld was.

They can assign a marker to each person and then plan and arrange the lives of others accordingly.

Although the fox was limited to the method of lamp energy and did not personally judge the pig-goose competition, if the fox had been there, he would have chosen that goose.

How exactly was this influence achieved, and to what extent? If the Three Mountains truly possess such abilities, how much did they know about the previous attack by the temple's leader?