The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

The underworld officials lined up the wandering spirits, and the leader, a fox, bowed and said, "Fox Immortal, you've worked hard. These spirits will be taken back and examined by the Court of Judicial Review to determine their crimes. Once the results are in, we will naturally report to you, Fox Immortal."

"Alright, take it with you." The fox flicked its tail.

The underworld officials, chained together, gradually walked away and disappeared into the depths of the night. A night breeze blew, and the marks on the ground vanished, as if nothing had ever happened.

The fox yawned, glanced at the sky, and turned to go back to the village.

Night had fallen, yet many remained awake. The fox strode through the village, listening intently to the sounds coming from each household.

"My head doesn't hurt anymore." That was Da Niu's joyful shout, accompanied by his wife's sobs.

The door next door opened, and a figure ran out excitedly, standing in the alley shouting, "Mom's gone, there's no one in the corner anymore, I'm healed, I'm really healed!"

The man ran from the east side of the village to the west side, shouting as he walked around the alley.

The man was like a spark; with his shouts, the whole village seemed to be set ablaze. One house after another lit up, and warm light shone through the paper windows, illuminating the village roads in a dim and bright manner.

The fox sensed that the malevolent forces hidden within the villagers had vanished. Satisfied, it nodded and turned to return to the mountain.

A faint, fragmented sound suddenly cut through the noise and was accurately caught by the fox's ears.

"Heavens have opened their eyes! The old mountain god must have returned. Go to sleep quickly, we'll go to offer incense first thing tomorrow morning! I still have some dried peaches from last year in my cupboard, they're so sweet, take them with you, the mountain god loves sweets."

The fox stopped, pondered for a moment, then turned and entered a side path, heading straight for Li Agui's house.

Upon reaching the door, it didn't rush inside. Instead, it stopped at the entrance, staring at the lock. The fox had already noticed that Li Lang's house was quite impressive compared to others in the village; even the lock was larger and had a longer shank, making it look sturdy.

The fox stepped forward, removed the lock, weighed it in its hand, and then bit it before holding it temporarily. It then pushed open the door, circled the room, and rummaged around. It found a small hammer in the woodshed and several nails of varying lengths. Without being picky, the fox stuffed the lock and all the nails into its tail.

The fox felt its tail was heavy after stuffing it with a lot of things. After a moment's thought, it reached in and pulled out a memorial tablet.

This is the very one the mice stole from the wicked ghost. They don't need it now anyway, and it's just taking up space in their tails, so they might as well modify it and let the fox use it.

The fox sat down on the spot, made its right fingernails long and sharp, and slowly began to scratch away the words, sawdust falling down in a flurry. After scratching for a while, the fox would stop, blow a breath to disperse the sawdust, and then continue scratching.

After the planing was almost done, the fox refined the shape and planed away the entire base.

The fox blew a breath, and the memorial tablet became smooth and square, looking more like a small plaque.

The fox tucked the plaque under its elbow and headed towards the village head's house.

It still didn't knock before leaping into the yard. This time it was different; the moment the fox's paws touched the ground, the door to the main house opened.

"Young master has returned." The village head bowed. "I am a light sleeper and was awakened by the commotion in the village. I guessed that young master might come, so I waited here in advance."

"You're just afraid of getting slapped in the face by the fox again," the fox thought to himself, handing the memorial tablet to the village head. "Write a few words for me."

The village head bowed slightly, accepted the fox with both hands, carefully examined it, and asked, "Young master, what about those evil gods...?"

"They've all been captured," the fox said casually.

The village head took a deep breath and bowed even lower: "Thank you..."

The fox ignored his polite formalities and, while the man was thanking him, had already circled the house, found a pen, and handed it to the village head: "I'll tell you what to do, and you write it down."

The village head took the pen and respectfully began to write, but he stopped after writing just one stroke.

The pen tip was dry, not a drop of ink.

"Young master, this..."

"It's alright, just keep writing," the fox said, moving closer and staring at the tip of his pen.

The village head paused for a moment, then remained silent and began writing. After finishing the last character, the village head looked up, about to speak, when the fox had already taken the memorial tablet, turned around, and climbed over the wall to leave.

The village headman strode to the door, pushed it open, and looked around, but the fox was no longer in sight. He stood at the door, staring blankly at the wall.

A cool night breeze blew by, and he shivered, only then coming to his senses. He went back inside, put on a coat, and headed towards the houses in the village where lights were on.

The fox was eager to return home and sped along the road. Before long, it spotted the mountain god's temple.

The temple gates were wide open, and the inside was a mess. Cushions were scattered everywhere, and the offering table had been dragged to the center of the courtyard. The ground was covered with footprints and incense ash. The fox didn't even lift its eyelids, pretending not to see anything. It simply closed the temple gates, took a lock from its tail, and hung it on the door.

The lock was slightly mismatched. The fox tilted its head to look at it, turned it half a circle, and adjusted the angle for a long time before finally managing to hang it up.

Fox pressed his index finger, locking the door with a click. He then took a few steps back, looked up at the door, held up the plaque, and gestured to indicate the location of the sign.

The hammer was used at this time. The fox pressed the plaque against the door frame, held the nail in its mouth, held the plaque with one hand, and imitated the way a nailer nails people, then smashed it down hard.

The nails were of varying lengths, so the plaque wasn't very securely nailed on. The fox didn't care, and with its fingernails extended, it carved the inscription stroke by stroke, following the handwriting it had memorized.

It was drawn very slowly, and although the characters were somewhat loose and crooked, not a single stroke was missing.

"Even gods need rest. No one is allowed to disturb the fox's sleep tomorrow morning!" The fox nodded in satisfaction.

With a leap, it landed in the courtyard, its sleeves transforming into fluffy red fur, the hem of its robes spreading into two fox tails, instantly erasing the restraint and constraint of its human form. In the blink of an eye, only a round, red fox remained on the spot.

After a night of commotion, as dawn was breaking, the fox yawned again, shook itself, and headed straight for its den. Perhaps the wicked spirits looked down on the little temple, or perhaps they hadn't had time to destroy it yet; the den remained exactly as it had always been.

"Let's tidy up the mess in the yard tomorrow; the fox is tired."

The fox flicked its tail, replenishing its dissipated fox aura, and lay down in its den. Now it no longer needed to circle around to choose the most comfortable spot; it could simply use its magic to cover the surrounding soil and change it according to the fox's will.

The fox rested one tail on its chin, wrapped the other tail around to cover half of its face, drooped its ears, and slowly closed its eyes.

In the village below the mountain, lights shone one by one, and the sounds of lively conversation drifted over, but were all blocked by the temple gate. The night wind blew, causing the plaque at the temple gate to sway gently, and the moonlight shone on the plaque, casting crooked characters on it.

I'm taking a break these days, so please don't disturb me unless it's absolutely necessary.