Chapter 21 021 Raising a Fox: The cold wind was biting, and the smell of snow filled her throat. Lu Yuanyuan frowned and looked him over.
This little Duan Lansheng, who looked only six or seven years old, had short arms and legs, and thick, glossy black hair that reached his waist, which was left loose in the snow. His little face was so tender, it looked like you could squeeze water out of it. His eyebrows and curled eyelashes were covered with white frost, and his lips were frozen pale.
At first glance, one might mistake her for a delicate and adorable little girl.
One has to admire the genetic talent of the nine-tailed fox's offspring; they are truly extraordinary. Even from their youthful features, one can already glimpse their future splendor.
Duan Lansheng lay on the snow, his body haphazardly wrapped in a large cloak. The clothes underneath were not the official robes of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect; they were very thin. In the dead of winter, such thin clothing was only suitable for wearing in a house with underfloor heating. His two short legs were already buried in snow, and his trousers were soaked and cold.
Lu Yuanyuan lowered her eyes, and memories of her past life surfaced in her mind.
She knew that Duan Lansheng had entered the Shu Mountain Sword Sect when he was a little over eight years old. Before he was eight, he had always lived with his mother, the Nine-Tailed Fox, and several fox demons who followed the Nine-Tailed Fox. Later, his mother's clan fell into ruin for some unknown reason, and he suddenly became an orphan.
The cultivation world already dislikes demons, let alone a child born from the union of a human and a demon. The demon didn't accept him either; seeing that he was thin and weak, and finding him uncomfortable, it wouldn't eat him, but only used him as a toy to kick and amuse itself.
Fortunately, by chance, Duan Lansheng encountered the sect leader of Shushan, who was then hunting down demon beasts in the demon realm, as well as Yin Xiaozhu, who was only thirteen years old at the time, and successfully joined the Shushan Sword Sect. His miserable days finally came to an end.
The man before him, Duan Lansheng, though dressed in thin clothes, was made of fine material, not at the shabby clothes of a beggar. Considering his age, could it be that his maternal clan had recently fallen from grace?
As Lu Yuanyuan pondered, she lifted her cloak and froze.
The snow where Duan Lansheng lay was covered with a large pool of bright red blood. Like crushed red plum blossoms, the varying shades of blood were a shocking sight.
How can there be so much blood?
Lu Yuanyuan immediately bent down, scooped him up, and reached out to touch him.
The six or seven-year-old child lay on his side in her arms, so light that he seemed to be nothing but bones, his back smooth, without any cuts or tears.
Lu Yuanyuan was startled, and as if sensing something, she turned her head, picked up the black cloak beside her, and shook it. It felt heavy in her hand.
Sure enough, it was this cloak that was stained with blood.
Come to think of it, she had just seen a dark, monstrous creature lying on Duan Lansheng's chest. But now, after examining Duan Lansheng thoroughly, she couldn't find any wounds.
What exactly is that monster? What did it do to Duan Lansheng?
It couldn't be a lustful ghost.
The lustful demon is a type of evil spirit that resembles a large, powerful ape, and can change its form at will, disguising itself as a handsome man to seduce women. It is absolutely impossible for it to be as ugly and thin as that monster.
Let alone lustful ghosts, looking back on her two lives, Lu Yuanyuan was certain that she had never seen that thing.
However, since it was so easily scared away, it probably doesn't pose any threat.
It's probably just some insignificant little sprite.
Lu Yuanyuan suppressed her doubts and focused on a more important question: "Why did Duan Lansheng become so small in the sea of consciousness?"
System: "Perhaps it's because the knot in Duan Lansheng's heart that's currently tugging at his heart was formed at his age."
In the world of cultivation, a person's memories are also called divine consciousness. When divine consciousness gathers together, it forms the sea of consciousness.
It compiles fragments of a person's life, with the most important experiences taking up a larger proportion. It originates from reality, yet is freer than reality itself. Here, the master of one's consciousness can conjure up the past, the future, and any age of themselves.
Generally speaking, people only open their consciousness to their spiritual partner or other people they are willing to entrust their lives to. This is because it is equivalent to revealing one's vulnerabilities and true nature to outsiders without any concealment.
As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise. Evil creatures like the Lustful Demon, which are skilled at mental attacks, often target the sea of consciousness—taking the opportunity to infiltrate a person's sea of consciousness and cunningly using a maze-like method to trap the owner of the sea of consciousness in their unresolved issues or painful memories, causing them to become addicted and unable to escape.
When the mind is trapped in the past, the body will naturally lose its ability to resist.
...
Lu Yuanyuan: "Then how did I get sucked in?"
System: "Because of force majeure. You are a mortal, without a golden core, and your spiritual sense is too weak. Now, your spiritual senses are in cahoots with his; only when he leaves can you leave."
Lu Yuanyuan: "Is there a time limit?"
System: "Please look at the panel."
Only after being alerted by the system did Lu Yuanyuan realize that an hourglass had appeared in her mind.
System: "Leave here before the sand runs out, and neither you nor Duan Lansheng will be harmed."
The air was thick with the chill of the wilderness, the wind howled like knives against our faces, and dark clouds gathered in the sky. It looked like a heavy snowstorm was imminent.
We can't stay here; we need to find cover.
Lu Yuanyuan made a quick decision and looked around.
The snowfield was vast and empty. Beneath the snow, many withered branches sprouted, like twisted human hands reaching towards the sky. Forests surrounded it on all sides; it was unclear which way to go.
Without direction, without companions. One can imagine how terrifying this place would become after dark if Duan Lansheng were alone.
Lu Yuanyuan shook off the remaining snow from her cloak, rolled Duan Lansheng up, and carried him on her back in a small bundle before standing up and carefully observing all directions.
After a long while, she actually saw a faint white light in the forest to the east.
As expected, since she was just a guest who had stumbled in by mistake, the illusion used against the master of the sea of consciousness was not 100% effective against her.
That one unusual white light is most likely the real path to leave this snowy land!
Lu Yuanyuan took a deep breath, carried Duan Lansheng on her back, and hurried towards the other side, her steps uneven. The darker it got, the stronger the wind and snow lashed at her. Lu Yuanyuan was not dressed warmly and was shivering, relying entirely on her willpower to keep going.
But soon, she discovered a terrible situation—her life points were rapidly decreasing, and her limbs were becoming increasingly stiff. It seemed that even within her sea of consciousness, the loss of life points did not stop.
Duan Lansheng sank behind her like a small weight. Perhaps the clothes separating them were too thick, preventing her from absorbing his life force. Lu Yuanyuan had no choice but to stop, intending to move him to the front and hold him. However, as soon as she untied the cloak, she saw that the child inside had silently transformed back into a white fox, its narrow fox eyes closed, curled up motionless.
This version of Duan Lansheng was much thinner and smaller than his original form in his youth, resembling a sickly cat, though his tail was thicker and fluffier than a cat's. However, after being soaked in snow water, his fur had frozen into clumps.
After turning into a fox, he didn't become lighter, but he became smaller and easier to hug. Lu Yuanyuan pinched the back of Duan Lansheng's neck to make sure he was really unconscious and wouldn't suddenly jump up and bite people, then put on her cloak and tucked him into her arms.
As soon as the miniature power bank was pressed against her chest, a long-lost warmth began to flow through her body, and her frozen limbs regained their strength.
System: "Ding! Health is increasing. Do not remove the contact point during the process."
Her lost strength returned, and Lu Yuanyuan tightened her embrace, exhaled, and regained the motivation to continue her journey. She didn't notice that when Duan Lansheng was tucked into her clothes, his thin front legs kicked.
She hurried as fast as she could, and before the blizzard started, she finally reached the place of light. It was a wild path leading down the mountain, and following it straight ahead, a town came into view.
After dark, the streets were deserted, and all the shops were closed, making the place quite desolate. Lu Yuanyuan knocked on doors one by one until she finally found a family willing to open the door. The homeowner was an elderly woman who was hard of hearing and lived in the front yard with her two children.
Lu Yuanyuan was absorbed into Duan Lansheng's sea of consciousness in her original form. Her money pouch was at her waist, containing the three medium-grade spirit stones and some silver stones she had received as a reward last time. She spent ten silver stones to rent the vacant backyard of this family.
Thankfully it was dark, so no one noticed the bloodstains on her cloak. Otherwise, they probably would have considered her a suspicious person and refused her entry.
The house in the backyard also had a small kitchen. As soon as Lu Yuanyuan entered the house, she took off her blood-stained cloak, quickly boiled a kettle of water, poured it into a copper basin, brought it into the room, warmed her hands, and washed the wounds on Duan Lansheng's two hind paws.
When he was in human form, she didn't notice the wounds on his body. It wasn't until he transformed into a fox that she noticed blood on both his paws and ice crystals clinging to his fur. He must have run a long way, wearing his feet raw.
The white fox was unconscious. But when a cloth was soaked in hot water and poured on his paws to wipe away the blood, he would still twitch in pain and gasp weakly.
Lu Yuanyuan paused, then continued her work, neither deliberately hurting him nor being careless, and finally sprinkled the medicine powder on him.
She knew that this Duan Lansheng was actually the same person he was outside. He had simply forgotten that he had grown up and thought he had returned to when he was six or seven years old.
She wanted to make Duan Lansheng cry, to make him suffer. But she disdained to use abusive or bullying methods.
No matter when, if you can't do something, you just can't do it.
Moreover, she is not pursuing such a short-sighted result.
She arrived too late. It was far too difficult to get Duan Lansheng outside to lower his guard and feel close to her.
But the man before me, who has returned to his true self, is much easier to approach.
Such opportunities are rare. Once Duan Lansheng is released, the kindness and help she gave him today, like a savior, will surely remain in his heart.
Lu Yuanyuan patiently washed him twice and wiped his body down. After all this fuss, the ice on Duan Lansheng's hair melted, and he slowly woke up.
As his vision cleared, he found himself in an unfamiliar room, with a girl dressed in coarse linen standing before him. Duan Lansheng's fox-like eyes narrowed, and he bared his sharp teeth. Before Lu Yuanyuan could react, a dark shadow flashed, and Duan Lansheng leaped off the bed, seemingly trying to escape.
But the room door was locked.
Duan Lansheng grew up among fox demons and has now lost her memories of living with humans, so it's normal for her to distrust them. Fortunately, she doesn't have the aura of a cultivator, so she shouldn't arouse the demons' resentment.
Lu Yuanyuan thought for a moment, then squatted down behind him, adopting a friendly tone, and said softly, "Duan Lansheng, don't be afraid. I know your mother, Nine-Tailed Fox, and I'm here to help you."
Following the formula in dating advice articles, using such rhetoric to coax him should be a faster way to gain his trust.
As Lu Yuanyuan was thinking this, her hand suddenly stung. She gasped, looked down, and saw four bloody welts on the back of her hand, with beads of blood oozing out.
What's going on? This method isn't working?
After realizing he couldn't get out, Duan Lansheng crawled under the table, hiding in a corner, his fox-like eyes half-closed, glaring at her with wary, cold hatred.
After becoming like this, his behavior became straightforward and childlike.
Lu Yuanyuan held onto the edge of the table with one hand and squatted down. She didn't forcefully pull him out, but frowned slightly: "You can understand what I'm saying, right? Duan Lansheng, I'm not a bad person. If I wanted to harm you or cook you, I wouldn't have washed the blood off your fur and applied medicine."
But no matter what she said, Duan Lansheng remained huddled in the corner, refusing to come out.
It seems this matter cannot be rushed.
This town is full of ordinary people; we can't let Duan Lansheng escape. Fortunately, the windows are nailed shut, so Duan Lansheng can't squeeze through the gaps. We just need to guard the door.
If this were truly a coming-of-age story, the female lead should be sleeping with Duan Lansheng in her arms at this point, trying to win him over with love.
However, Lu Yuanyuan glanced at the back of her hand and wisely decided to give up.
Forget it, she's not the female lead. And the fox's claws and teeth are so sharp; she'd rather have her own hands.
Thinking of this, Lu Yuanyuan pushed the bed in the room to the door, blocking it. This way, if Duan Lansheng wanted to leave, he would have to get past her first.
On her first night in this unfamiliar place, Lu Yuanyuan didn't sleep well. She lay there until the rooster crowed, when she was woken up by a knocking on the door.
"Queen, I've brought you some breakfast and left it by the door!"
"This is what the homeowner, Aunt Li, said warmly."
Aunt Li's hearing loss is quite severe. Last night, Lu Yuanyuan said her name several times, but the other woman still smiled and nodded, pronouncing it as "Quan Quan." Lu Yuanyuan gave up correcting her and let her do as she pleased.
Lu Yuanyuan squatted down, opened the door a crack, and brought in the breakfast.
In an instant, a dark shadow seized the opportunity and darted out from some corner, rushing past her feet, trying to escape. Fortunately, Lu Yuanyuan was prepared and grabbed him by the back of the neck, lifting him into the air.
Duan Lansheng hissed, his fox-like eyes bloodshot, and bared his teeth at her.
At the same time, a loud "gurgle" sounded in the air. The white fox's hind legs, which had been kicking, froze.
Lu Yuanyuan was taken aback and glanced at her left hand. Today, Aunt Li had cooked plain porridge, sprinkled with finely chopped meat and scallions, giving it a faint meaty aroma.
"..." Lu Yuanyuan had a sudden inspiration and tentatively asked, "Do you want to eat chicken?"
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