The handwriting in Chapter 25 looked very familiar.
Hua Xun never expected to run into Jin Huan at the entrance of the Chen residence.
Since his sudden departure two days ago, he has not shown his face again, nor has he returned to the courtyard that the Chen family had arranged for him.
Just when she thought he was leaving, he suddenly reappeared in front of her. When he learned that she was going to the market, he offered to come along.
Since the monsters were eliminated, the market in Qingmu Town has become increasingly lively.
"Where have you been these past two days?" Hua Xun asked listlessly, glancing at both sides of the market.
She asked casually, but didn't notice that "Jin Huan" beside her paused slightly.
Where did they go?
Baili Sheng lowered his eyes.
He didn't actually leave; he just needed to vent the inexplicable anger rising in his heart.
In fact, ever since the little demon entered Chen Changyan's dream, Baili Sheng's consciousness had been taut like a string.
Just as she embraced Changsang Jiuqing with deep affection, that string suddenly snapped, startling a turbulent surge within her consciousness.
He loathed that he could fall asleep just by smelling her scent, and he loathed even more that his innate demonic body could be so easily disturbed by a mere demon.
Therefore, he thought he should leave.
The hypocritical gods on both sides were utterly boring, and Hua Xun couldn't bear to watch their spectacle; nor did she dare to reveal his shameful side during those ten years.
But as he was about to leave the human territory, he heard mortals in the distance discussing how to spend the winter solstice.
In a split second, he remembered a mundane little thing.
In order to take advantage of Hua Xun, he took the initiative to befriend her and asked about her birthday.
She thought for a long time before saying hesitantly, "I don't know when I was born, but the day I took human form was the winter solstice. So how about every winter solstice is my birthday from now on? This year I'll be... a hundred years old."
He replied, "The centennial birthday is an extremely important day for the demon race."
"Is it that important?" Hua Xun pondered for a moment, "Then should we spend it with someone important to us?"
"nature."
“But I don’t seem to know anyone else,” Hua Xun asked with a smile. “Baili Sheng, can you celebrate my birthday with me?”
Baili Sheng agreed.
So he turned back.
He thought he was just fulfilling a promise he had made long ago.
This little demon had saved his life once, so after giving her some benefits, they had nothing to do with each other anymore.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Seeing that the person beside her remained silent for a long time, Hua Xun gradually recovered from her disappointment and looked at the man beside her.
Jin Huan looked at her and casually made up an excuse: "I had some insights, so I went to the mountains to cultivate."
Hua Xun had also been cultivating for two days. Upon hearing this, he responded but didn't say anything more.
"Where is Miss Hua Xun?" Jin Huan asked in return. "Why haven't we seen that gentleman today?"
Upon hearing this, Hua Xun's eyes dimmed, and she mumbled, "The master... has something to attend to."
"Did you have a dispute?" Jin Huan asked again, a smile slowly curving his lips.
Hua Xun pursed her lips.
There was no real conflict between her and the God. The God didn't even argue with her. In fact... the God probably just thought she was a child throwing a tantrum.
“I think that gentleman treated you far too coldly,” Jin Huan lowered his eyes, concealing the mockery in them. “He seemed kind, but he was actually quite ruthless…”
“Sir is not that kind of person!” Hua Xun retorted subconsciously, frowning as she said, “Sir has the compassion of all living beings and loves all things. He is very kind to me and has saved my life several times.”
What you see is merely the appearance within the appearance!
Jin Huan's long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and his expression gradually lost its warmth.
She had once used the same unwavering loyalty to protect him.
When he mocked himself as a "useless person" or "useless," she would always seriously refute him, correcting him by saying, "You are not a useless person."
"You can read and write, chop wood and dry medicine, and even teach me to write and practice magic. You can do many, many things."
Now, the same methods are being used on others without exception.
There was a brief moment of tension.
Hua Xun knew she had been too emotional, after all, Jin Huan had only said that to comfort her.
She cleared her throat and awkwardly took the initiative to break the ice: "Do you know where around here I can buy talisman paper?"
Her transformation skills were not yet fully developed, so she could only rely on talismans.
Although it couldn't fool powerful cultivators and immortals, it was more than enough to scare Li, a mere mortal.
Jin Huan regained his previous calm demeanor and replied with a smile, "There are several Lingbao Pavilions in Linqi City, which sell all kinds of talismans."
Hua Xun finally perked up: "Then let's go to Lingbao Pavilion."
"us?"
“Yes,” Hua Xun looked at him, “you didn’t come to the Chen family for the bounty?”
“I have discovered the signs that Chen Changyan is unconscious. If you listen to me today, I will give you half of the reward.”
Jin Huan looked at the light in her eyes, paused, and then lowered his eyes: "Okay."
For Hua Xun, traveling more than a hundred miles to and from Linqi City takes only a little over half an hour.
This was her first time visiting a place like the Spirit Treasure Pavilion, and she was immediately dazzled by the dazzling array of magical artifacts and treasures as soon as she entered.
Looking at the pipa that played on its own without anyone plucking the strings, the spirit-seeking butterflies fluttering gracefully in the small barrier, and the various shops selling magical artifacts, Hua Xun was dazzled.
Finally finding a shop selling talisman paper, Hua Xun bought a thick stack and put it in her purse for future use.
As Hua Xun was leaving the talisman shop, she caught a glimpse of a stall selling miscellaneous items. Several bronze mirrors were displayed on the stall, looking very similar to those of the human race.
"What is this?" Hua Xun asked, puzzled.
“This is a memory mirror,” said the wandering monk selling his wares. “If a young lady has a moment worth cherishing, she can use this mirror to capture it and relive it at any time. When not in use, it can also be used as an ordinary bronze mirror.”
Hua Xun was somewhat tempted, but then hesitated because it required twenty spirit stones.
She suddenly came to her senses when she touched the purse.
She is no longer the poor crow she once was; now she has spirit stones and silver coins.
Before coming down from White Mist Cliff, she couldn't bear to damage the palace walls in her room, so she took advantage of the blazing fire to go out and have fun, and chiseled a corner of the jade couch where she rested.
The entire palace on both sides was built of jade imbued with celestial energy; even a small piece of it could be worth a considerable amount of silver in the mortal realm.
As she was carving the jade couch, the deity stood outside the palace, a smile playing on his lips, without blaming her.
I'm thinking of the God again.
Hua Xun dispersed the images in his mind, took out twenty spirit stones and handed them over, then put the recording mirror into his pocket.
When they returned to the Chen residence, the sun was setting, and the sky was tinged with a dusky yellow.
Hua Xun handed Jin Huan several talisman papers and repeatedly instructed him: "After nightfall, you and I will go to the ancestral hall of the Chen family. Remember to write the transformation incantation on the talisman paper. Since you are a demonic cultivator, just transform into a ferocious and vicious ghost-faced demon. Leave the rest to me."
Jin Huan took the talisman and remained silent for a moment before saying, "A vicious and ruthless... demon?"
Hua Xun nodded: "That's right. Have you heard the rumors about the Demon Lord's appearance? Just transform yourself according to the rumors. Be as fierce as you can be, preferably enough to scare people out of their wits."
Most humans had never seen Baili Sheng, but because of his great reputation as the Demon Lord, they described him as a terrifying figure with twisted giant horns, cave-like eyes, a body covered in scales, and a blue face with fangs.
Jin Huan paused for a moment, gave her a deep look, and then said nothing more.
Hua Xun patted his shoulder: "It's for the reward." After saying that, he turned around and went back to Tingxue Pavilion.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw the deity still standing under the plum branch where she had left, her white robes fluttering in the wind, like a fairy or mist.
The parrot was no longer in the deity's arms.
Hua Xun's steps froze, and her heart skipped a beat.
The deity seemed lost in thought, unusually so, and didn't even hear her return.
Hua Xun pursed her lips. If she had run out of the God-King's room that night and greeted him the next morning as if nothing had happened, she could now interact with him naturally.
But she stubbornly stayed in her room for two days. Even though she knew the God wouldn't be angry, she still didn't know how to face him.
Thinking of this, Hua Xun slowed her pace and was about to quietly return to her room.
"Back already?" A gentle voice, like the sound of a clear spring, serene and far-reaching, echoed from behind.
Hua Xun froze, then slowly turned around after a few breaths, her eyes lowered: "Sir."
The deity asked softly, "Where did you go today?"
Hua Xun: "I went to Lingbao Pavilion."
The deity responded calmly.
The atmosphere quieted down, so quiet that you could almost hear the sound of the plum branches rustling in the wind.
A sudden surge of sadness welled up in Hua Xun's heart, and she said softly, "If there's nothing else, sir, I'll go back to my room now."
The deity did not respond immediately this time, and after a while said, "Well, let's go back."
Watching her walk into the room, he gradually lowered his eyes and sighed in confusion, "Are you still angry?"
Inside the room.
Hua Xun leaned against the door, and only after the Divine Lord was no longer in sight did her stiff back gradually relax.
Thinking of the image of the God Lord admiring the flowers alone just now, she felt a pang of sadness in her chest, and even had the illusion that the God Lord was waiting for her.
But how could that be?
Whether she is there or not, the deity is always admiring the flowers.
Hua Xun was listless for a moment, but quickly perked up again. She took out the talisman from her purse, then took out the spirit ink and vermilion brush given to her by the shopkeeper. After dipping it in the ink, she wrote down the incantation for the transformation spell word by word.
The moment the last word was written, the talisman emitted a faint golden light.
Just in case, Hua Xun wrote several more sheets.
She tried to activate her magic power and combine it with the talisman. Her body gradually relaxed. She took out a bronze mirror and saw that Jin Huan's appearance was clearly reflected in the mirror.
It was a success!
Hua Xun subconsciously wanted to tell the God Lord the good news, but then she thought of something and became dejected again.
*
Night falls.
Li dismissed the servants behind her and entered the ancestral hall alone.
Although it's called an ancestral hall, there are no ancestral tablets inside. Instead, there's a fox statue on the platform at the front, its limbs firmly nailed into it by cold, black chains.
Several silver candlesticks were lit around the room, their flames flickering dimly.
Li walked to the center of the room, knelt on the only prayer mat, and chanted "The soul has no way back, the spirit is forever trapped in the abyss" while throwing one soul-suppressing talisman after another into the brazier in front of her.
The talisman burned completely, leaving behind foul-smelling smoke that lingered in the closed room for a long time.
Li did not open the window, but waited for the smoke to dissipate on its own.
Suddenly, the murky smoke gradually gathered together, turning into a line that flew towards the fox statue on the high platform.
Startled by this bizarre scene, Li quickly stood up and tried to disperse the smoke.
No matter how she tried to interrupt, the smoke continued to gather towards the statue.
"What's going on?" Li murmured. "I clearly burned the soul-suppressing talisman..."
Before he could finish speaking, a bright red light suddenly shone from the statue, and a fox's true form, radiating a clear red light, appeared in front of the statue.
Startled, Li gasped and staggered back a few steps: "Who, who are you, playing tricks on me here..."
The fox's mouth didn't move, but its echoing voice resounded in the sky: "Don't you know who I am?"
Li trembled all over: "I don't know, and I don't know what you're talking about..."
"Since you don't know, then let my subordinates tell you," the fox said, glancing behind Li.
The figure hidden in the darkness froze for a moment before slowly revealing itself. Its terrifying appearance, with its blue face and fangs, startled even the fox on the high platform.
When that face, so perfectly matching the demons and monsters imagined by humans, suddenly appeared before Li, Li was so shocked that her face turned pale and she almost fainted.
"To speak or not to speak?" the fox asked sharply.
Li's lips trembled, and she did not respond.
Hua Xun, now a fox, looked at the demon again and winked knowingly.
At this moment, he opened his blood-red maw, which was covered in saliva and streaks of blood, and made a move to bite off Li's head.
However, the demon hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not speak. He only glanced casually at Li Shi with his back to the high platform, a faint red light appearing in his eyes.
Li stood frozen in place, then stared blankly at the platform as if her soul had been captured: "I'll speak."
Hua Xun seemed surprised that it would be so easy, and after a moment of stunned silence, she asked again, "Then tell me, who am I?"
“You are a spirit fox…” Madam Li said in a hoarse voice, “a spirit fox that has cultivated in the mountains for decades, and also… the spirit fox who exchanged souls with my son.”
Hua Xun was puzzled: "Soul swapping?"
Li stood there blankly: "My son, Changyan, has been weak since birth. The doctor predicted that he would not live past the age of six."
“I have sought help from doctors, physicians, monks and Taoist priests, but my son’s life continues to fade away day by day.”
“Until my son was six years old, I went to the mountains to pray and happened to meet a monk. He saw my son’s illness at a glance and said that as long as my son’s soul could be nurtured in a spiritual body, after twelve years, my son’s soul would be intact and he would be healthy for the rest of his life.”
“Which mother wouldn’t want to give her child a good life?” Li said sadly, her eyes reddening. “I gave away half of my family’s wealth to beg a cultivator to find a spiritual body for my son, and just then a spirit fox appeared.”
"Later, my son and the spirit fox successfully exchanged hearts and souls, and I took the spirit fox into my arms and took good care of it, without ever slacking off for a single day."
"Finally, a full cycle has passed. When my son turned eighteen, I never imagined that it would be such a coincidence that I would run into the day of my son's wedding, disguised as a fox spirit," Madam Li said, her eyes wide. "I thought that Qinglian was virtuous and from a good family, so it would be good for her to marry into my Chen family. Therefore, I did not object."
"I made only one mistake: I didn't know how much pain my son was in, trapped in the body of a spirit fox. I didn't know how much torment he suffered, being trapped in the body of a beast, watching his own body enjoy glory and wealth..."
Hua Xun interrupted her: "So, Chen Changyan killed the spirit fox?"
Li's face suddenly turned pale.
Hua Xun said sternly, "Speak."
Li's body trembled slightly: "After returning to his own body, he took advantage of the fox spirit's lingering soul and cooked its flesh."
Hua Xun froze, staring at Li Shi in disbelief.
Therefore, the rest of the story becomes clear.
If a mortal's soul is separated from his body for seven days, he will be scattered and his spirit will be destroyed.
The spirit fox had cultivated in the mountains, so its soul could naturally last longer. Perhaps it was lucky that before it dissipated, the celestial soul of Lord Luohe fell into the human race and attached itself to its body, thus preserving its soul.
Hua Xun's emotions remained unsettled for a long time. Finally, she looked at the demon that Jin Huan had transformed into and nodded gently.
Jin Huan glanced at Li Shi.
As if waking from a dream, Li's eyes gradually regained some light. Looking around, she saw only the statues bound by chains on the high platform, and the fox and demons from before were nowhere to be seen.
It all seemed like a hallucination to her.
Li screamed in alarm, her face pale, and turned to flee outside.
*
Hua Xun and Jin Huan removed the talisman and revealed their true forms, then silently walked towards the backyard.
Along the way, one could hear the hurried footsteps of servants rushing towards the Li family's courtyard.
After hearing the truth from Li, Hua Xun felt a pang of sorrow in her heart.
On the night Fang Qinglian happily married her beloved, the fox's body... was cooked alive.
In contrast, Jin Huan seemed much more composed.
"The matter was resolved quickly," Hua Xunping said, calming her turbulent thoughts. "Jin Huan, thank you for today."
“No need,” Jin Huan replied, then added, “You have already agreed to give me the money.”
"I know, you'll definitely get your share," Hua Xun said irritably, then suddenly remembered something, "By the way, how did you transform into a demon just now? It was terrifying, like I'd really seen it before."
Jin Huan gave her a deep look.
Beneath the Crimson Moon River, there are countless demons, far more terrifying than the most terrifying of all.
Seeing that he didn't reply, Hua Xun assumed he was just improvising and didn't press him further. Just as she was about to say something, she caught a glimpse of a talisman stuck to Jin Huan's side.
"You haven't finished using up the talisman yet?" Hua Xun asked, puzzled.
Jin Huan seemed to be lost in thought, his eyes lowered, as if he were pondering something.
Hua Xun thought for a moment, then casually took the talisman off, but froze when she saw the words on it.
Several lines of incantations were randomly written on the talisman:
He ascends to the Dipper Palace, enters and exits the Purple Court. He feasts and tours the Eight Realms, and ascends to the Three Realms. He flies to the Jade Altar, transforming into a single form.
The handwriting was vigorous and elegant, and looked very familiar.
Over the past decade, she has meticulously traced this handwriting countless times, stroke by stroke…
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