Chapter 4: Cursing the Fox

“Have you heard? The Zhang household is haunted. More than ten people have died already.”

A voice suddenly came from behind him.

“I heard. How could I not have heard? This matter has caused a huge uproar. According to my cousin, who works as a guard at the Zhang Residence, even the authorities got involved. More than a dozen yamen runners went to the Zhang Residence a few days ago, but several of them died. After that, even the authorities no longer wanted to manage it.”

“I’ve heard about this too. Supposedly word has come from inside the Zhang Residence that whoever can subdue that ghost creature will receive one thousand taels of silver.”

“Then let’s hurry over and try. If we succeed, we won’t have to worry for the rest of our lives.”

“Heh, do you know there were several people before you who thought the same thing? But now grass is already starting to grow on their graves.”

Li Si listened to the words from the table beside him and remained silent. This world really was dangerous. Hauntings, which he had never seen in the real world of his previous life, now seemed to have become ordinary matters.

Li Si thought again. That ghost or monster might perhaps become his first batch of soul points. But he was not prepared to go there now. He planned to wait a few more days, until he had nursed his body back into somewhat better condition. This body was truly weak beyond measure right now. He had only walked a few hundred steps just now, yet he already felt a little short of breath. No wonder he could see ghosts.

As Li Si pondered, he had already finished the bowl of tofu pudding. He placed five copper coins under the bowl, then walked out. Although Boss Zhou had said he would not take his money, Li Si still had to pay.

Afterward, Li Si headed toward the market entrance, preparing to buy some good food today to calm his nerves.

As soon as he entered the market entrance, he saw a crowd gathered together. Li Si felt somewhat curious and walked over. When the others saw it was him, they made way for him and reminded the people beside them to make way for Li Si.

Seeing them open a path for him, Li Si also smiled, cupped his hands, and thanked them. The prestige the original owner had accumulated before had still brought him many benefits.

Li Si walked up close and discovered that a pretty-faced woman was wearing white mourning clothes and kneeling in the street. Beside her was a corpse covered with a white cloth.

“There has been a severe drought in Jingning County, and this humble woman and my father could no longer survive there. We came together to Fengmen County to seek refuge with relatives, but who would have known that those relatives had already moved away from the county town? My father happened to fall gravely ill, spending all the savings we had brought with us.” As the woman spoke, she began to sob. The sight of her crying made one feel pity for her.

“This humble woman has had a bitter fate. I lost my mother when I was young, and my father struggled bitterly to raise me. We depended on each other for survival, and now he too has passed away. I only hope some kind-hearted person can bury my father. This humble woman would be endlessly grateful and is willing to become my benefactor’s slave girl, serving like an ox or a horse.”

The people around her began discussing this among themselves, but not a single person stepped forward. After all, most people who came out this early were ordinary commoners nearby. Who had spare grain to support another person?

However, a few young men were tempted. These men had no families of their own. If they took this chance to marry a pretty wife, it would also be a very respectable thing. But a coffin alone cost more than ten taels. What if this woman ran away? Even so, some people were still eager to try.

Li Si saw things clearly from up close. This woman said that she and her father had depended on each other for survival and had lived a wretched life, yet her skin was fair, and her face was pure and beautiful. That snow-white skin was even several degrees better than his own. One had to know that the original owner had spent every day at home studying the books of sages, and coupled with his mother’s inheritance, his skin was three degrees more beautiful than that of ordinary women. Yet this woman’s skin was even better than his, which was clearly somewhat abnormal.

Li Si felt there was a problem in his heart. Could she be another ghost or monster? He quietly glanced at her with the Eight Trigrams Mirror, and that single glance gave him quite a fright. In the mirror, he saw a white fox wearing mourning clothes, covering its face with its paws and weeping pitifully. Although it was clearly a fox, its movements were exactly like a human’s.

And as the fox wiped its tears, it was actually wiping away the saliva at its mouth.

Could this fox be trying to sneak into someone’s home to eat people? Li Si sucked in a cold breath. But then he thought of the Protective Talisman on him, and he was not afraid of this fox spirit. What he should be thinking about now was how to resolve this matter.

“Hahahaha...” After a while, as if he had thought of something, he suddenly bent over, clutched his stomach, and burst into loud laughter, laughing so hard that tears were about to fall. It was as if he had encountered something extremely funny.

When the people around him saw him like this, they were somewhat bewildered and did not understand why this Scholar Li was laughing. Thus someone asked him, “Scholar Li, why are you laughing?”

“I thought of... something very... funny. Hahahaha...” Li Si laughed so hard that he could not control himself. Snot and tears both ran down, and even speaking became somewhat difficult.

The people around him grew even more confused. The person who had asked earlier then asked again, “Then what funny thing did Scholar Li think of?”

“I had a dream last night. I dreamed there was a fox wearing mourning clothes and selling herself in the street to bury her father.” Li Si wiped away his snot and tears, then clicked his tongue and laughed. “I’ve only heard of monkeys wearing crowns, but this is the first time I’ve seen a fox wearing human clothes. That’s why I found it funny.”

Hearing Li Si say this, everyone looked at one another. How could they not know who Scholar Li was mocking?

When the woman heard Li Si say this, she suddenly began wailing loudly. As she cried, she screamed, “I am only a weak woman, and I have no relatives left. Now that I have suffered such humiliation, how can I keep living?”

The more she spoke, the harder she cried, making the people around her feel some sympathy for her. Some people even looked at Li Si with angry eyes.

Seeing everyone act this way, Li Si sighed inwardly, then said again, “Then could you tell us which medical hall your father was treated at, which doctor treated him, and which person you and your father came to seek refuge with? What is their surname and given name? Where do they live?”

The pretty woman’s wailing suddenly stopped. Panic showed in her eyes, and she fell silent, unable to speak.

When the people around her saw this, how could they not know who was telling the truth and who was lying? At once, the crowd retreated several steps.

“Heh.” Li Si gave a laugh and cursed with a smile, “With someone like you, the nose isn’t your nose, and the eyes aren’t your eyes. Did you think putting on a human skin would make you human? A beast is a beast. It will never be human. A demon is born from a demon mother, and a human is born from a human mother. Look at you, neither human nor demon. Do you even know what thing you are? Oh, right, what is your mother’s esteemed surname?”

When the people around him saw him like this, they were instantly stunned. When had they ever seen the usually refined and courteous Scholar Li cursing in the street like a shrew?

At the same time, when that pretty woman heard Li Si curse her like this, she was so furious smoke seemed to pour from her seven orifices. The more Li Si cursed her, the more she resembled a fox. At first, her pitch-black pupils turned into blood-red vertical pupils. Then her cheeks became long and narrow, her nose and mouth protruded forward, and finally, a large snow-white tail shot out from behind her mourning clothes.

“Ah!”

“Fox!”

“A fox!”

“Wah!”

The crowd beside them instantly erupted into chaos, so frightened that they ran everywhere. When had they ever seen such a demon creature?

The huge snow-white fox crawled out from within the mourning clothes, bared its teeth at Li Si, and its face was extremely ferocious, as if it were about to choose someone and devour them.