Chapter Three
Baozhu didn't know why she was back decades ago when she opened her eyes. She didn't understand why Li Zhi would come up the mountain alone, and she had no idea what the source of the resentment on his body was.
In her previous life, Baozhu first met Li Zhi in Fuxia Village. After being led to Li Zhi by a red fox, she tossed and turned on the mountain all night and decided to pretend to be a down-on-her-luck young lady seeking refuge with relatives. In the dead of night, she knocked on the scholar's door.
She had only recently gained sentience and hadn't seen many mortals. She took on the identity of a young lady she had met before who had died young, and became entangled with Li Zhi for a lifetime.
Baozhu casually stroked the fur of the red fox in her arms, her brows furrowed as she recalled her time with Li Zhi in her previous life.
"Tell me, what ordinary lady in this world would knock on a scholar's door in the middle of the night? Why didn't he suspect anything?"
At that time, in the dead of night, the dim light illuminated the beautiful woman's delicate features. The fox spirit hid her tail and quietly accompanied the scholar, her slender, fair hands carefully grinding ink.
The serious-looking scholar only occasionally glanced at the beautiful woman beside him out of the corner of his eye. He seemed to be concentrating on writing his policy essay, but the ink on his pen became increasingly unrestrained.
The redness on the scholar's face was probably from the lamplight, and the upturned corners of the young lady's mouth were perhaps a smile in the shape of the lamp's flame.
Baozhu recalled the past, and all her memories of Fuxia Village were related to Li Zhi. Her only impression of that small, quiet mountain village was the silver poria flowers hanging at the door of every household. They were small, soft, and lovely, but they exuded a smell that monsters hated.
Since ancient times, mortals have used it to ward off evil spirits. If Baozhu hadn't been so devoted to Li Zhi, and if there hadn't been so few traces of silver poria flowers in Li Zhi's home, a monster like her would never have caused trouble in a village filled with the fragrance of silver poria flowers.
So where does the malicious resentment in Li Zhi's body come from today's reunion? Could it be that there is a powerful demon in Fuxia Village that she doesn't even know about?
Baozhu thought and thought, but still couldn't figure it out.
With something on her mind, she was inevitably a little unsteady on her feet. The red fox had a tuft of fur pulled out by the absent-minded pearl, and in pain, she immediately jumped off her arms, turning back to howl angrily.
"I'm sorry." Baozhu withdrew her hand and quickly apologized to her sisters.
The red fox grunted and groaned, circling the pearl in the cave, extremely agitated, just like a donkey pulling a millstone.
The red donkey pulled the millstone a few times, then suddenly stopped, rammed into the pearl, knocking it backward, and then nimbly hopped away from the cave.
Baozhu got up, rubbing her chest, and said reproachfully, "What are you doing?"
The red fox returned, poked its big head out of the cave entrance and looked back at her. Seeing that Baozhu hadn't gotten up yet, it croaked and pointed its head down the mountain.
"But I've already said that I never want to have anything to do with Li Zhi again in this lifetime."
Baozhu's mouth turned down, and her face scrunched up as if she had eaten something sour.
The red fox seemed to roll its eyes, ignored her, and went down the mountain on its own.
Baozhu, the fox, was left in the cave and watched helplessly as her sisters walked away. She sat on the ground with a long sigh and pondered for a while. She stood up with difficulty and muttered to herself, "I was just afraid that Li Zhi would be killed. I had no other thoughts."
As she spoke, Miss Baozhu awkwardly followed the scent of the red fox and headed down the mountain.
The two foxes arrived outside Fuxia Village in the blink of an eye.
Before even entering the village, Baozhu could smell the scent of silver poria flowers from afar. The pungent, sour smell made her eyes water and she couldn't help but sneeze.
The red fox looked up at her with pity, its bushy tail swishing twice.
"I'm fine. It just smells a bit unpleasant, but that's all."
Baozhu waved her hand, tears welling in her eyes, pinched her nose, and, with the moon as big as a disc above her head, swaggered into the village with the red fox.
It was late at night, and all the dogs in the village were asleep. Baozhu and the red fox walked all the way to the center of Fuxia Village, under an old locust tree.
"I don't see anything wrong with it." Baozhu peeked around the locust tree, then let go and took a deep breath.
"Chirp!"
The scent of the silver poria flower was too strong; she couldn't smell anything, only letting out a tremendous sneeze.
Startled by the noise, the geese sleeping in the yard of the house closest to the old locust tree suddenly woke up, spread their wings, and walked hesitantly toward the gate.
The goose honked loudly at the door.
Upon hearing the honking of the geese, an elderly woman with a full head of white hair pushed open the door in the courtyard and walked unsteadily to the entrance.
The geese are still honking.
The old woman suspiciously pushed the courtyard gate open a crack and peered outside.
There was nothing special outside, except for the silent old locust tree.
Baozhu's sneeze nearly woke up half the village's dogs and geese. Seeing the dogs barking, villagers were gradually getting up, slipping on their shoes and holding lamps to check. She had no choice but to hold her breath, suppress her aura, and leave the old locust tree with the red fox along the wall.
In her daze, Baozhu unknowingly walked to the small courtyard where Li Zhi lived alone in her previous life.
This humble courtyard is quite far from the other houses in the village, giving it a somewhat secluded feel. The courtyard wall is so low that Baozhu could see everything inside just by standing up straight. It is also close to the mountain, so it is hardly a good place.
The dilapidated little courtyard, with its withered silver poria flowers hanging at the entrance, which the owner had not replaced, made Baozhu feel much more comfortable.
She walked around the courtyard and checked it carefully, but still couldn't find anything wrong.
Baozhu returned to the red fox, who was now lazily sprawled on the ground, and peered at the small courtyard from afar. She asked, puzzled, "Could it be that he didn't provoke someone in the village?"
The red fox couldn't understand, and only glanced at her with its eyelids lifted.
After all this commotion, it was already past midnight.
The dogs in the village that had been woken up by Baozhu quieted down, and the village returned to peace.
Just then, a gust of wind suddenly rose, carrying a slight chill, and made the gate of Li Zhi's courtyard rattle loudly.
It was chilly, and Baozhu got goosebumps on her arms.
In the blink of an eye, a figure appeared in the shadows at the entrance of the courtyard, graceful and slender, like a woman.
Baozhu's eyes widened, and the red fox arched its back.
The woman was originally a shadow, but after blinking a few times, she became solid and took on a human form. Baozhu only saw her back, and she had a slender waist that could be grasped in one hand.
The woman stood at the gate of the courtyard, swaying left and right in the wind. After a while, she reached out and knocked on Li Zhi's gate.
"Is anyone there? Help me!"
The woman's voice was high-pitched and thin, yet it carried far in the quiet night.
In the middle of the night, a woman knocked on Li Zhi's door for help, and Baozhu suddenly felt uneasy.
She pursed her lips, remaining silent and observing coldly.
There was a commotion in Li Zhi's courtyard. After the woman spoke again, Li Zhi, dressed in hemp clothing, pushed open the door with a lamp in hand.
If Baozhu weren't in human form right now, she would definitely be as furious as a red fox!
This Li Zhi! He's wasted all his education. When a woman knocks on his door in the middle of the night, he actually gets up to open it. Does he even remember the four virtues of propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame?
The angry pearl drifted like wisps of smoke to the woman's side. Startled, the woman turned around and unexpectedly met her gaze. All ten eyes on the pale face, which looked like a jumbled mess, widened in unison.
"Go to hell."
Baozhu swiftly reached out, grabbed the woman's long, purple tongue, and swung it forcefully towards the edge of the village. With a soft "poof" sound from afar, the woman transformed into countless tiny specks and flew away.
Just before Li Zhi opened the door.
Therefore, when Li Zhi held the oil lamp in his left hand and opened the courtyard gate with his right, the woman at the door had already been replaced by Baozhu.
The young lady he had seen in the mountains during the day appeared at his doorstep late at night, begging for help. Li Zhi was slightly taken aback.
In the interplay of lamplight and moonlight, Baozhu stood alone, her jade-like cheeks gleaming with an alluring light. Her cheeks were puffed out as if she were angry, and she glared at Li Zhi with a hint of resentment before lowering her head again.
Li Zhi's eyelashes trembled slightly.
However, Li Zhi quickly stepped aside and said softly, "It's late at night. Has Miss encountered some difficulty?" After saying that, he looked behind Baozhu and asked, "I haven't seen Miss's servants. Have you been separated from her?"
Baozhu sighed, recalling her previous life's words, and embellished them slightly: "It turns out she wasn't a loyal servant at all. After we went down the mountain, she actually stole the money and even tried to sell me..."
She swallowed the rest of her words, as if she were extremely saddened, and Baozhu covered her face and wept.
Upon hearing this, Li Zhi did not ask any further questions, but simply gestured for the courtyard to be entered.
Baozhu walked into the house, and as she passed Li Zhi, she glanced up at him.
Unfortunately, Li Zhi's expression was shrouded in darkness, and Baozhu couldn't see it clearly.
The dilapidated courtyard gate was closed again, and a red fox slowly emerged from the corner of the wall.
The two foxes went down the mountain together, leaving only one fox to return alone. If it could speak human language, it would probably have started cursing right now.
Sitting in the familiar yet unfamiliar room, Baozhu had long forgotten about the red fox.
She held the hot tea that Li Zhi had just brewed, slowly blowing on it to cool it down, while secretly watching his busy figure in the main room.
Li Zhi vacated the inner room for Baozhu and prepared a simple bed for himself in the main room, intending to make do with it for the night.
The dim light made Li Zhi's figure appear enormous, imprinted on the mottled walls of the main room.
Baozhu looked away, staring intently at the shadow.
After a while, Li Zhi finally finished tidying up. He stood by the half-closed door and said in a low voice, "I am observing mourning for my grandmother, and the conditions at home are simple. Please forgive me, Miss."
Baozhu gave a soft "hmm".
Upon hearing this, Li Zhi closed the door and blew out the oil lamp.
"Please rest assured, Miss."
Baozhu hummed in agreement again.
This time, Li Zhi did not answer. She heard a rustling sound outside the door, presumably because Li Zhi had already gone to sleep fully clothed. After a while, the room fell silent.
The fox had excellent hearing. Baozhu leaned against the bed, quietly listening to Li Zhi's breathing outside.
Li Zhi was not asleep.
He seemed to turn over, then couldn't help but say, "...I still don't know how to address you, Miss. My name is Li Zhi."
Baozhu stood up silently and walked quietly to the thin wooden door.
"My name is Baozhu."
Just like in her previous life, she took on the name of that mortal lady who died young.
There was no further movement outside.
The precious pearl, like a wisp of green smoke, entered the main hall.
A sliver of moonlight slipped in from outside. By its light, she leaned down and looked at Li Zhi, who was lying on the simple bed with his eyes closed.
He was under the spell of the precious pearl and had fallen asleep.
In his sleep, no one knows what he dreamed of, but his handsome brows were tightly furrowed, and beads of sweat seeped from his forehead.
Baozhu slowly reached out and touched Li Zhi's cheek.
It is warm and elastic.
She couldn't help but press her face against it.
That's wonderful. He's still alive and well, living a vibrant life.
This body is so young. Baozhu reached out and stroked it, and beneath the thin linen clothes was Li Zhi's strong chest.
However, he is now entangled with a malevolent resentment within his body.
Baozhu's lips drew near his. She took a deep breath, and a chilling aura emanated from her, causing the temperature in the room to plummet, making even the fox demon shiver.
With a slight exertion, the resentment dissipated in Baozhu's hand. She stood up and carefully examined Li Zhi's house.
A bed, two tables, three chairs, and a box of books.
In the kitchen of the small courtyard, there was a small half-jar of rice and a basket of green vegetables.
Everything seemed normal, and the source of the resentment did not appear to be in Li Zhi's home.
Completely baffled, Baozhu sighed and rubbed her head.
"I've lived two lifetimes, and I'm still not smart."
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