In October, Shuifu Village was drenched in continuous drizzle for several days. Unlike the refreshing summer rain, each autumn rain brought a chill, and the temperature steadily dropped. Lu Qingjiu even put on two layers of clothing. Rainy weather always makes people feel lazy. Bai Yuehu's chair had been moved inside, so she felt a little disappointed that she couldn't sit in the yard and rock there like before.

Because Yin Xun wanted to eat sausages, Lu Qingjiu went to town to buy sausage casings and meat. He minced the meat, seasoned it, and stuffed it into the casings. Making sausages requires careful attention to many small details, such as puncturing the casing with a needle before stuffing the meat into it to release the air inside. This helps the moisture inside the sausage evaporate, making it easier to dry. The finished sausages need to be air-dried for a few days before being smoked over fruit wood.

In just one month, Lu Qingjiu's kitchen was filled with bacon, pickled meat, and sausages. Because there were too many things to put them all in, he cleared out a room specifically for hanging these meats. He also laid a layer of newspaper on the floor to prevent grease from dripping onto the ground when the meat was drying.

Just when Lu Qingjiu was thinking about what was missing for the winter, two guests came to the old house.

When Lu Qingjiu heard the knock on the door, she thought it was Li Xiaoyu from next door. Thanks to Xiao Hei and Xiao Hua's hard work, Li Xiaoyu's grades had improved significantly recently. Because of his improved grades, Li Xiaoyu had been visiting their house more frequently, almost every day after school. But when Lu Qingjiu opened the door, she didn't see Li Xiaoyu. Instead, she saw Pang Ziqi, the man who had nearly lost his life because of Yu Shiqi, standing at the door with an umbrella. Behind him was an expressionless man in black. He was a head taller than Pang Ziqi, who stood 5 feet 4 inches tall. While handsome, his rock-hard demeanor gave him an air of indifference.

"Lu Qingjiu." Pang Ziqi asked, "What are you doing?"

Lu Qingjiu said: "I'm cooking...Are you well?"

"Okay." Pang Ziqi replied, but his eyes kept glancing inside the room. He said, "Won't you invite me in to sit down?"

Lu Qingjiu made a gesture to invite him in. At this moment, Bai Yuehu had gone to the fields, and Yin Xun had gone to take a nap and had not returned yet, so he was the only one left in the room.

Pang Ziqi and the tall man behind him entered the house. They were observing Lu Qingjiu, and Lu Qingjiu was also observing them. It seemed that the man should be Pang Ziqi's colleague and also a policeman. It was just that no one knew why Pang Ziqi came here this time.

"Please sit down. I'll go get you a cup of tea." Lu Qingjiu invited them to sit down inside the house.

Pang Ziqi said, "No need. Actually, I came here to thank you."

Lu Qingjiu said: "Thank you?"

Pang Ziqi said, "You were the one who helped me get rid of that thing that possessed me before, right?"

Lu Qingjiu said: “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Pang Ziqi laughed and said, "Don't lie. Since you can see these things, you must have your own methods. I don't intend to hand you over to the higher-ups. I'm just asking you."

Lu Qingjiu sat down opposite Pang Ziqi without saying a word.

Pang Ziqi pointed to the man who had been silent beside him and introduced him, "This is my colleague, Meng Shuiyi."

Meng Shuiyi nodded to Lu Qingjiu as a greeting.

Lu Qingjiu looked at Pang Ziqi: "You came here just to tell me this?"

Pang Ziqi shook his head: "No, I'm actually a little worried about you. Since you can see those things, you should also feel that you are contaminated with the aura of ferocious beasts. I don't think this is a good thing for an ordinary human."

Lu Qingjiu smiled and said, “Are you here because you are worried about me?”

Pang Ziqi smiled awkwardly. "That's one of the reasons. Another reason is that the higher-ups asked me to ask... where did the body of Yu Shi's concubine go?"

Lu Qingjiu was a little curious: "How do you know it's me who can't find it?"

Pang Ziqi said, "I don't know. Didn't I come here to ask you?"

Lu Qingjiu said: "If I say I don't know, will you believe me?"

Pang Ziqi sighed: "Of course I don't believe it."

Lu Qingjiu said: "Then why are you asking me?"

Pang Ziqi said, "Isn't this just routine? If you really don't want to tell me, I won't force you."

His attitude was quite good, and Lu Qingjiu could see that he actually had a pretty violent temper. However, now that Lu Qingjiu had saved his life, it was impossible for him to lose his temper in front of Lu Qingjiu. Moreover, if they had not quickly dealt with Yu Shiqi, judging by the efficiency of Pang Ziqi's department, Pang Ziqi would have been cremated by now.

After learning about Pang Ziqi's intentions, Lu Qingjiu felt that there was nothing much to discuss with Pang Ziqi. He couldn't possibly tell Pang Ziqi about the White Moon Fox, so he refused stiffly: "Sorry, I have nothing to say."

Pang Ziqi sighed. He looked around the house, his gaze finally landing on the chickens sleeping in the coop in the yard. He seemed to notice something unusual, and there was a hint of astonishment in his eyes. He said, "You... know what's next to you?"

Lu Qingjiu said: "I know."

Pang Ziqi had a complicated expression: "Aren't you afraid?"

Lu Qingjiu asked: "What are you afraid of?"

Pang Ziqi: "Of course I'm afraid he'll eat you."

Lu Qingjiu said: "If he wanted to eat him, he would have eaten him long ago. Why wait until now? Besides, if he wanted to eat me, could you save me?"

This made a lot of sense. Pang Ziqi smiled and said, "I don't know if I can save you, but I will try." Since he is a policeman, he must perform his duties as a policeman. He felt that if Lu Qingjiu was deceived into living with the ferocious beast without knowing it, then he naturally had the obligation to remind her. But now it seems that Lu Qingjiu knew very well what he was doing and was full of trust in the ferocious beast.

"Thank you, don't worry about me." Lu Qingjiu said, "We get along very well."

Pang Ziqi nodded.

The two were talking when Bai Yuehu, who had just finished farming, came in from outside wearing a raincoat and a bamboo hat. Lu Qingjiu noticed that the moment Bai Yuehu entered, Meng Shuiyi, who had been in a very relaxed posture, suddenly straightened his back and seemed to become nervous all of a sudden.

Lu Qingjiu turned his eyes away from him and looked at Bai Yuehu with a smile: "Yuehu, you're back."

Bai Yuehu didn't say anything. He casually put the rain-soaked basket on the table, glanced at Pang Ziqi and Meng Shuiyi, and nodded.

"There are freshly steamed corn cakes in the pot," Lu Qingjiu said. "I've been keeping the fire on low to prevent them from getting cold. Go ahead and have some."

Bai Yuehu nodded, turned and walked towards the kitchen, but before leaving, he cast a neutral look at Meng Shuiyi, which made Meng Shuiyi even more nervous.

Pang Ziqi was the least sensitive among them and was completely unaware of the undercurrents. He was still looking at Bai Yuehu, obviously curious about this handsome man.

It wasn't until Bai Yuehu entered the kitchen that Meng Shuiyi breathed a sigh of relief. He turned to look at Pang Ziqi and said, "Let's go."

Pang Ziqi was confused: "Ah? Why are you leaving suddenly?"

Meng Shuiyi said, "It's almost all clear now."

Pang Ziqi said, "Clear? What do you mean clear? I still don't know anything..."

Meng Shuiyi had already stood up and raised his chin: "Let's go."

Pang Ziqi wanted to say something, but seeing that Meng Shuiyi looked serious and didn't seem to be joking, he could only say goodbye to Lu Qingjiu, and the two of them left with umbrellas.

"Hey, why are you in such a hurry to leave? We haven't asked anything yet." As soon as they went out, Pang Ziqi asked Meng Shuiyi puzzledly. It was the first time he saw Meng Shuiyi so panicked.

"If you ask again, you might as well ask him something." Meng Shuiyi said coldly, "Don't come here again. We can't afford to offend Lu Qingjiu."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Pang Ziqi didn't understand, "Isn't Lu Qingjiu a human?"

"Yes." Meng Shuiyi said, "But have you ever seen a human raising a ferocious beast?"

Pang Ziqi finally understood what was going on: "You mean... that man named Bai Yuehu is a ferocious beast? Is there a ferocious beast that looks this beautiful?"

Meng Shuiyi: "What do you think ferocious beasts look like?"

Pang Ziqi said, "At least it's about the same as yours, looking too hard to chew."

Meng Shuiyi: “…”

Pang Ziqi: "Haha, I was just joking."

Meng Shuiyi glared at Pang Ziqi, but didn't bother with him anymore. The two got in the car and left Shuifu Village. It seemed that they would not come back in the short term.

Besides, Lu Qingjiu sent Pang Ziqi and Meng Shuiyi away, and when he was about to go do something, he suddenly noticed a red mark on the corner of his clothes. At first, he thought it was paint that he accidentally got stained on, but after smelling it carefully, he found that the red mark was actually blood.

Where did the blood come from? Lu Qingjiu was stunned. He checked his body and the area around the table, making sure there was no blood anywhere except the corner of his clothes.

"This is weird." Lu Qingjiu tugged at the corner of his clothes and frowned, "Where did it come from..."

"No need to look for it." Bai Yuehu, who had finished eating the corn cake, slowly came out of the kitchen. He still had a piece in his hand and was chewing it slowly. "That Meng Shuiyi is not human."

"It's not human?" Lu Qingjiu asked, "What is it?"

"It's the Mengtu clan." Bai Yuehu replied.

Lu Qingjiu, who was already familiar with the Classic of Mountains and Seas, understood what was going on when he heard the word Meng Tu. Meng Tu was also a god in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It was said that people in ancient times had to go to Meng Tu to file a complaint and describe their situation. The person who lied would have bloodstains on his clothes. This was Meng Tu's method of judging cases, and it also avoided the situation of wrongly accusing people.

There was no doubt that the blood on the corner of Lu Qingjiu's clothes was proof that he had lied. He recalled the conversation with Pang Ziqi just now and felt that it didn't matter that his lie was exposed, so he said with relief: "Can you wash it clean?"

Bai Yuehu saw the bloodstains on the corner of Lu Qingjiu's clothes and said, "It can't be washed clean."

"Ah, it can't be washed clean?" Lu Qingjiu was a little surprised. The shirt he was wearing was his favorite one, and it was a pity that he couldn't wear it anymore.

When Bai Yuehu heard Lu Qingjiu's words, he said it was okay and didn't say anything else.

Lu Qingjiu thought he was comforting himself and didn't take it seriously. He took off his clothes and tried to wash them. Just as Bai Yuehu said, the bloodstains on the clothes were not moved at all. Although it didn't look like much, the clothes were still ruined.

Although it was a pity to waste the clothes, Lu Qingjiu did not dwell on it for too long. If all else failed, she could just cut the clothes shorter and give them to the little fox to wear. Winter was coming soon, so it would be nice to have a few more clothes for the little fox.

Lu Qingjiu has always been carefree and quickly forgot about this matter. But a few days later, someone came to his door again. This time, it was Meng Shuiyi and an old man who looked quite old.

As the two men entered the room, they were very respectful, and the old man even called him Mr. Bai several times.

Bai Yuehu glanced at the old man, then continued to chew chestnuts with his head down, showing no intention of speaking.

"Mr. Bai, I'm so sorry. This child is young and doesn't know much." The old man said respectfully, "I brought him here specially to apologize to you."

Meng Shuiyi said, "Mr. Bai, I'm so sorry." He looked at Lu Qingjiu and said, "Mr. Lu, I'm sorry for what happened before. I brought you some new clothes. I hope you'll accept them." As he spoke, he actually took out a few shirts from his backpack and carefully placed them on the table in front of him. These shirts were exactly the same as the blood-stained shirt Lu Qingjiu had, and they were obviously bought specially for him.

Lu Qingjiu had not expected such a scene at all. He was stunned for a moment and was about to refuse, but he saw the old man looking at him with a pleading look... He was asking Lu Qingjiu to accept these gifts.

Lu Qingjiu glanced at Bai Yuehu and vaguely understood something. He said, "Then... thank you."

After he said this, Meng Shuiyi and the old man's expressions relaxed slightly.

"Shui Yi, please go out for a while. I have something I want to talk to Mr. Bai about alone." said the old man.

Meng Shuiyi nodded, turned around and left the house. Lu Qingjiu also made an excuse that he was going to feed the chickens, and went out with Meng Shuiyi, leaving the house to Bai Yuehu and the old man.

Meng Shuiyi stood in the yard, watching Lu Qingjiu feeding rice to the chickens, and said, "Do you mind if I smoke a cigarette?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Please do as you please."

Meng Shuiyi lit a cigarette and took a puff: "Mr. Lu, I'm sorry for offending you before." When Pang Ziqi told him, he thought Lu Qingjiu was just an ordinary human being who was entangled by a ferocious beast, so he didn't think much about it. But when he arrived at Lu Qingjiu's residence and saw the White Moon Fox, he realized how wrong he was.

Lu Qingjiu was indeed an ordinary human, but the one that was pestering him was definitely not a ferocious beast. It was someone that Meng Shuiyi could not afford to offend—no, to be precise, it was someone that the entire Meng Tu clan could not afford to offend.

Sure enough, a few days later, his grandfather called him back, scolded him and asked him how he had offended Bai Yuehu. After thinking about it, he realized that he seemed to have offended Lu Qingjiu.

After that, things turned out like this. His grandfather brought him here trembling with fear to apologize, fearing that he had really angered the White Moon Fox.

Meng Shuiyi looked at Lu Qingjiu, and Lu Qingjiu looked at his chickens, and neither of them spoke.

Just when the atmosphere was frozen, Yin Xun, who came to eat dinner, walked in yawning. When he saw Meng Shuiyi, he was stunned for a moment: "Jiu'er, who is this?"

"This is Meng Shuiyi," Lu Qingjiu said, "Pang Ziqi's colleague, also a police officer."

"Oh." Yin Xun responded without much interest. He said, "Is there anything to eat? I'm so hungry."

Lu Qingjiu said, "Don't go in yet. Bai Yuehu is talking to someone. Just be patient for a while. Zhu Miaomiao has sent some crabs and will steam them for you later." Female crabs are eaten in September and male crabs are eaten in October. These things are most particular about the season. After that time, the crab roe will not be as plump.

"Okay." Yin Xun rubbed his nose and found a place to sit down.

Meng Shuiyi was not a talkative person, so he stood aside, smoking quietly and listening to the two people chatting.

Lu Qingjiu glanced at Meng Shuiyi, and seeing that he had no intention of talking, he began to chat casually with Yin Xun.

Lu Qingjiu asked, “Do you like crabs?”

Yin Xun smiled and said, "I like it. Crabs are delicious. I had never eaten them before you came."

Lu Qingjiu asked, "How were you doing in Shuifu Village alone before I came here?"

Yin Xun said blankly, "What do you mean? I think it's fine." He smiled as usual, "Oh, don't worry about me, I'm an adult too, I have my own way of living, when you're not around I always find fun on my own, and I'm pretty happy."

Lu Qingjiu looked at Yin Xun without saying a word. He saw that after Yin Xun said this, a bright red blood stain appeared on the corner of his clothes.

Yin Xun didn't notice it and was still smiling happily.

Lu Qingjiu lowered his voice: "What if one day I return to the city?"

Yin Xun scratched his head: "As long as you are happy, you can go anywhere."

Lu Qingjiu said: "What about you?"

Yin Xun said, "Me? I'll just stay in Shuifu Village. I like it here."

The bloodstain on the corner of his clothes was expanding, which seemed particularly ironic with Yin Xun's smile.

Lu Qingjiu looked at his good friend and sighed: "I'm not going anywhere. I have two mouths to feed at home. Besides... I really treat you as my son." After saying this, his clothes were still clean without a single blood stain.

Yin Xun said angrily: "You're taking advantage of me again!!"

Yin Xun didn't know what had happened, but Meng Shuiyi understood the meaning of the bloodstains on the corner of Yin Xun's clothes. He glanced at Lu Qingjiu and found that this man didn't seem as harmless as he appeared. Lu Qingjiu was more interesting than he had imagined.

The two talked for a while, and Meng Shuiyi's grandfather and Bai Yuehu had almost finished their conversation. The old man came out soon, said goodbye to Lu Qingjiu, and left with Meng Shuiyi.

"Um, sorry." Lu Qingjiu stopped Meng Shuiyi, "Can you please leave me your contact information?"

Meng Shuiyi was stunned for a moment, then nodded and left his phone number to Lu Qingjiu. Although he didn't know what Lu Qingjiu was going to do, it was obviously not a bad thing to establish a good relationship with him.

After the two left, Lu Qingjiu went into the house, picked up the shirt, and handed it to Yin Xun for him to change into.

Yin Xun was puzzled: "Why are you changing clothes?"

Lu Qingjiu said: "Just change it when I told you to. Why are you talking so much?"

Yin Xun had no choice but to take off his clothes. After he took them off, Lu Qingjiu took them and crumpled them into a ball to cover the corner stained with blood.

Bai Yuehu saw Lu Qingjiu's actions and pursed his lips slightly. He and Lu Qingjiu looked at each other for a moment, and both understood the meaning of each other's eyes.

Yin Xun's figure was similar to Lu Qingjiu's, so the shirt fit him perfectly. He looked left and right and said, "Why did you buy so many identical clothes?"

Lu Qingjiu said: "What do you know, this is parent-child clothing."

Yin Xun: “…Fuck.”

Lu Qingjiu laughed heartily. He had no intention of wearing the clothes himself, but instead gave all the shirts to Yin Xun, asking him to take them home and wash them before wearing them. Although Yin Xun was puzzled, he accepted the gift at Lu Qingjiu's insistence and took back all the clothes that Meng Shui had left behind.

"I'll give this dress to the little fox." Lu Qingjiu took away Yin Xun's changed clothes. Yin Xun didn't care, but was just wondering why Lu Qingjiu bought so many shirts, and all of them were the same...

Bai Yuehu watched the two of them interacting quietly without saying a word. It was not until Yin Xun had finished his dinner and left that he said, "Why don't you keep one for yourself?"

"I won't keep it." Lu Qingjiu said, "I don't think I like it that much."

"What lie did he tell?" Bai Yuehu noticed that Lu Qingjiu seemed to be in a bad mood, and knew that it must be related to the lie Yin Xun told.

"He said he was very happy living in Shuifu Village before." Lu Qingjiu said.

The White Moon Fox was silent.

"What about you? Are you happy staying here?" Lu Qingjiu looked at the beautiful and mysterious tenant. After spending some time together, he also realized that Bai Yuehu had a very unusual status in the non-human world. He could have lived a more free and easy life, so why was he confined to this remote mountain village?

Bai Yuehu said lightly: "Meng Shuiyi is not here." The implication was that even if he was lying, Lu Qingjiu would not be able to tell.

Lu Qingjiu laughed dumbly: "Do you have any need to lie?"

Bai Yuehu asked, "Why not?"

Lu Qingjiu said: “I thought you disdain to lie.”

Bai Yuehu said, "I've lived for so many years, and I've seen people who never lie, but their lives aren't as good as I imagined."

Lu Qingjiu sighed and stopped talking. This was the truth. Sometimes, white lies can actually make people happier than the cruel truth. He said, "So you don't like it here either?"

Bai Yuehu smiled upon hearing this, his lips curled up in a seductive arc: "No, I like it here."

Lu Qingjiu frowned and looked at him.

"Look, I'm telling the truth, but you don't believe it." Bai Yuehu said, "But I'm serious. At least now, I like it here."

Lu Qingjiu gave up arguing with Bai Yuehu about this matter. He spread his hands and said, "Okay, it seems that this question is meaningless. Let's talk about something meaningful."

Bai Yuehu raised his eyebrows and motioned Lu Qingjiu to speak.

Lu Qingjiu said, "For example, what do you want to eat for lunch tomorrow? The weather is getting cold, and I want to stock up on some mutton, but the refrigerator at home is not enough... Let's just go buy a freezer tomorrow..." His mumbling words were immediately filled with the flavor of the mortal world.

White Moon Fox said, "No need to stock up on mutton. Wait until the coldest time, when the scallion deer meat is at its most tender and delicious. I can just catch a few and bring them back."

Lu Qingjiu: "...So what we ate before was also Conglong, right?" Conglong is an animal in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. It looks similar to a sheep, but its fur is red, and it is said that eating it can cure deafness. Lu Qingjiu sighed that thanks to his familiarity with the Classic of Mountains and Seas, he can already communicate seamlessly with the White Moon Fox without him having to explain it again.

Bai Yuehu blinked: "Is it delicious?"

Lu Qingjiu ruthlessly threw away his conscience: "It smells so good."

Bai Yuehu smiled brightly.

The author has something to say: Lu Qingjiu: This animal is so precious. Aren’t we being too cruel?

White Moon Fox: How can we avoid being cruel?

Lu Qingjiu: Add more star anise to remove the fishy smell

White Moon Fox: ...