The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

The shrews had specially chosen the mice; they were all about the same size, just in case the fox would feel jolted on them. But the burrow wasn't perfectly straight, and the journey was inevitably swaying. The fox took the opportunity to doze off.

When I opened my eyes again, I had no idea how much time had passed.

The fox yawned: "Are we almost there?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the fox's tail arched slightly, and the shrew emerged from underneath: "Almost there, almost there, Peach Village is just up there!"

For the first part of the journey, the shrew ran along with the sedan chair. But when it saw that there was nothing to do and the rats carrying the sedan chair would take turns, it simply climbed onto the sedan chair as well.

"That's enough for now." The fox jumped down from the sedan chair, glanced around at the ground, chose a spot, and began digging a hole.

The fox scratched around a few times with its paws, and patches of dirt fell down one after another, much of it landing on the fox's head. It didn't flinch, it just twitched its ears.

"You don't need to follow, Fox will go by himself."

The fox poked its head out and saw a peach orchard. The rain was still falling, and the distant village was hidden in the rain, appearing and disappearing in the mist.

The fox emerged completely, shook its head like a rattle drum, and then swept its breath away, creating a new fox.

The mother shrew nodded, gave a shout, and the mice behind her immediately patched up the hole, then carried the sedan chair and disappeared into the pit in a flash.

The fox secretly memorized the location, looked around, and followed the path in its memory toward the village.

The rammed earth walls, the blue-tiled roofs, and the crooked roads were exactly the same as when I last came, except that because of the rain, there weren't many people on the road, making it seem even quieter.

Last time I came, the fox was just a little fox following behind people, and it only dared to walk close to the wall when it came to the village. Now it's different. The fox swaggered in the middle of the road, and no one could do anything to it.

The fox, head held high and chest puffed out, got rained on in the face and its steps became increasingly unsteady until it finally leaned against the wall. The rain was too heavy; it was better to stay close to the wall.

The fox circled around several houses and stopped in front of a small courtyard. It took a key from its tail, unlocked the door, and went inside.

Most of the flowers in the yard were withered beyond recognition, and the dog bowl in the corner was filled with muddy water.

This used to be Li Agui's home.

Li Lang's business was thriving, and many merchants from other places would do business with him. Li Lang had long ago entrusted a familiar caravan to take Li Agui to a distant place to avoid disaster. They should still be on their way back.

Even if she comes back, it won't affect the fox. Granny Li will stay in Tao County and accompany Pu Caiyu to study.

This will be the fox's den from now on. Speaking of which, how many dens has this fox made? It must have been infected by the rabbit eating too much of this.

The fox pushed open the inner room door, and a musty smell hit it. It wrinkled its nose and, just like before, used a odor-absorbing method to clean it up.

"Let's rest for a while. We'll go up the mountain after the rain stops."

The fox's ears twitched, and suddenly footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate.

"Is anyone there, Granny Li? Mr. Li?"

The fox remained silent, pretending not to hear.

The person called out for a while, then pushed open the door and stepped into the courtyard. It was an old man, leaning on a cane and wearing a straw hat.

The fox remembered his scent; he was Tao Shierlang, the village head of Peach Village.

The fox's paw stepped over the threshold, remaining a black paw in mid-air, but transforming into a pair of human feet wearing black boots as it fell.

"Old man, what brings you here?"

"I am the village head here. A young man saw that Granny Li's door was open, but he didn't see anyone, so he asked me to come and take a look."

"You're quite well-informed," the fox said, stepping aside to invite the village head into the house. He explained, "Li Lang fell ill before, and I happened to know some medicine, so I cured him. As a result, he gave me this house to stay in. Don't worry, old man, I don't live here permanently."

Li Lang had already guessed it. He had exchanged statements with the fox and taught it these lines to prevent the fox from jumping around too much and saying something strange.

"So, young master, you've come from the city." The village head's eyes lit up, as if he wanted to say something, but after a moment's hesitation, he didn't speak immediately. "Are Granny Li, Mr. Pu, and his son all well?"

"Everything's fine, and Dahuang is doing well too."

The village head was taken aback. After thinking for a while, he remembered that it was their dog and couldn't help but laugh, "Young master is so thoughtful, he even remembered this."

"Isn't this normal? It would be strange if you didn't ask Dahuang."

"Then I won't disturb you any longer. It's not good for this house to be empty. It will be more lively with you staying here, young master."

The fox got straight to the point: "Is there something you want to ask?"

The village head looked at the fox more closely and slowly asked, "Have you heard of that...that fox god in the city?"

"I've heard of it, and I've even seen it. What's wrong?"

Tao Shierlang's expression became complicated. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed back: "Nothing, just asking."

He turned to leave, but the fox blocked his way, its expression serious: "Did something happen at the mountain god temple? What's that extra thing doing?"

The village head's expression changed, and he hurriedly tried to cover the fox's mouth, watching it nervously.

Without saying a word, the fox understood everything.

"Goodness, not only did they steal the fox's things, they must have done other bad things, ruining the fox's reputation!"

"What exactly did it do?"

A flicker of fear crossed Tao Shierlang's face. He hesitated for a long while before stammering, "I wouldn't dare to say anything reckless..."

The fox used its magic to spread a fragrance that quietly soothed the village head's fear.

The village head hesitated slightly, realizing that the young man before him was not only refined and cultured, but also knowledgeable in medicine, and a friend of Li Lang—one of his own. His words immediately became much more fluent:

"Young master, you may not know this, but ever since it appeared, strange things have been happening more and more frequently in the village..."

Without the fox asking questions one by one, the village headman blurted out, "It was Da Niu who first encountered it. Last time Da Niu went to work in the fields, he accidentally lost his water bag. He searched for it several times but couldn't find it, so he went to the temple and lit an incense stick."

"But unlike before, as soon as Da Niu finished lighting incense, he saw the statue in front of him open its eyes and clearly tell Da Niu where he had lost his water bag. Da Niu went back to look for it and actually found it there."

"A statue of the mountain god?" the fox frowned.

"Yes, it was the Mountain God who opened his eyes," Tao Shierlang continued. "The next day, when Da Niu went back to fulfill his vow, the Mountain God didn't appear. Instead, a figure whose face was obscured emerged from behind the statue and told Da Niu that he was a temple guard under the Mountain God and the Fox God, and that Da Niu could seek him out if he needed anything."

"Da Niu told us about it as soon as he got back, but we didn't pay much attention to it. After all, we'd heard about what happened in Tao County before, so it wasn't surprising."

"So whenever Da Niu encountered something, he would go to the god. After a while, the villagers saw this and when they encountered difficulties, they also tried to pray to him a few times. Every time, it was effective. So they pooled their resources and built a small temple for the soldiers as well."

"But after that, things didn't go as planned."