Fox in the Forest
"I don't!!"
This sentence made the young prince so anxious that he didn't even know how to call himself.
This was the first time in his life that he was so panic-stricken.
When he saw everyone looking at him in surprise, his face suddenly darkened and he emphasized word by word: "I didn't!!"
The officials looked at each other and spoke cautiously:
"Well, why don't we check it out?"
"It is better to believe it exists than to believe it does not exist!"
"Maybe we can still do it when the time comes..."
Listen to what is being said.
The little prince was so angry that he almost exploded: "You guys, don't you understand what I'm saying?! Did you take the wrong medicine?! You believe this kind of thing?!"
In the live broadcast room, the narrator watched leisurely:
"Oh, I didn't expect there would be such a surprise."
"He thought his counterattack was excessive. After all, eating is the most important thing to him. If he is asked not to eat a meal, he will definitely be mad to death."
"result……"
"I never expected that other people's creative associations would elevate TA's counterattack to an unprecedented level."
"It's not very hurtful, but it's very insulting."
"Uh... this additional mental trauma shouldn't be his responsibility, right?"
The barrage was drowned out by laughter.
【Hahahahahahaha help me!!】
[Hahahaha, how could it develop like this! What a coincidence! Goose goose goose goose!!]
[I don’t think you dare to target the little fox, hahahaha, this is the consequence! ]
[Come to think of it, it seems that the prince dug the hole himself. If he hadn't settled the couple and relieved the husband's pressure, the man wouldn't have gotten better so quickly, and he wouldn't be like now, as if the pregnancy had shifted, hahahaha. ]
[I can't stand it anymore, hahahaha, is this the European emperor little fox? Just by dirtying someone's chopsticks, he can produce such an explosive effect, hahaha. ]
[This is so funny, how can I fight this? I can't win at all! ]
"ah……"
In the camera, the little prince was completely numb.
He was sure that he did not have the symptoms of the young man yesterday. He was just caught off guard, so he vomited.
"It's just that I don't have a good appetite today..."
He took a deep breath and tried to explain, but as soon as he said this, the officials looked even more nervous, muttering:
"I can have a poor appetite any day! But today, right now..."
"Your Highness, why don't you check it out? You see, we are exhausted from the long journey..."
"The doctor is here by chance. Come, come, please invite the doctor. The prince..."
Little Prince: ...
His eyes were blank for a moment.
I want to die, but I feel like someone else should die.
No, it's another fox!
If it hadn't suddenly appeared last night...hiss.
As soon as this thought came to his mind, the little prince became instantly alert and shook his head violently.
wrong!
What does this have to do with the fox?
If he thought so, wouldn't he be admitting that it really had magical powers? What's the difference between it and these fools?
"Your Majesty, look at this...?"
His mind was full of complicated thoughts. When the young prince finally came back to his senses, the white-bearded doctor had already been half-pushed to his side by a group of officials. He was hesitating whether he should take his master's pulse.
“Tsk.”
The corners of the young prince's mouth twitched, and he glanced coldly at the officials behind the doctor who were smiling, but he still took the initiative to extend his hand: "You see."
He looked at the doctor, but spoke to the person beside him, word by word: "Take my pulse carefully and see if there is anything wrong with me!"
The doctor naturally didn't find any problems, and after withdrawing his hand, he even complimented him on his good health.
But officials apparently were not convinced.
They hesitated and pushed for a while, and finally pushed out the stubborn guy who whispered: "But, the man's pulse was fine yesterday. Changes in his body will only appear in the next few days..."
Little Prince: ...
He was almost laughing out of anger: "Okay, then you guys can come back and see me later!"
The officials looked very sincere and said, "Your Majesty, can you please stop provoking that master these days?"
Little Prince: ...
He raised his hand impatiently: "Okay, then, I'd like to see what else you have to say."
A few days later.
The young prince was indeed safe and sound, and the man who had come to report to the officials was gradually recovering, but the officials did not wake up as the young prince expected, but instead -
"Fortunately, the prince did not continue to anger the fox fairy, otherwise it would be difficult to end it!"
"Sure enough, the Fox Fairy is still kind, and it's over after just a few threats!"
"Thank you, Master Fox Fairy. Thank you, Master Fox Fairy!!"
Little Prince:? ?
What are you doing!
He has been quiet these days to fight against fakes, why are your symptoms getting worse? ?
After asking, I found out that the foxes have been coming out at night again in the past few days.
Then, it happened that on the next day, he happened to run into an official, happened to accept the official's respectful apology gift, and happened to listen to the official's words of pleading for him before leaving.
Therefore, all the officials firmly believed that the fox calmed down and stopped in time, so the little prince was not in danger.
Little Prince: ...
Hard, the fist is hard.
A bunch of old men, where is he? ?
He had agreed not to look for the fox, so as not to affect the outcome of the judgment, and he listened;
So, you guys went to look for the fox? Aren't you afraid of the impact...
Bah! I was fooled. It was impossible for such a thing to happen. It had nothing to do with finding the fox!
Looking at the officials' joyous expressions, the young prince suddenly realized one thing clearly.
The incident a few days ago was sudden and shocking, which indeed affected his rationality at the time and made him agree to the officials' words out of spite.
Now it seems to be evidence that he has begun to believe in foxes.
Tsk.
It's difficult.
He now understood that this group of people had already praised the fox to the sky. Even if this coincidence did not happen, there would be other coincidences for them to guess.
It is impossible to expect them to wake up.
Instead of trying to convince them or being convinced by them, the young prince felt that he had to change his strategy.
For example, find some foreign aid.
The teachers he met during his previous travels were very good. They taught him so many things and were always so rational and intelligent. They would definitely not be deceived by the fox's external reputation.
But where to find them...
It was such a coincidence that the little prince had just come up with this idea yesterday, and today, he saw a familiar figure in the restaurant.
A young man in a Taoist robe and holding a whisk in his hand.
At this moment, he was communicating with people in a familiar tone: "Phosphorescent fire is not a ghost. If you want, you can also create one at home..."
“Senior Brother!”
The Taoist paused, turned around in surprise and said, "Junior brother?"
The young prince was very happy that he could meet his long-missed senior brother here by chance. He quickly called a private room and invited him to come and reminisce about the past.
Naturally, there was no reason for the Taoist to refuse.
The two of them went up to the private room on the second floor and sat down facing each other.
First, some reunion after a long separation:
"How are you doing, Junior Brother? Did you come out on your own this time, or was you nagged by your elder brother again?"
"Half and half. I really don't like the atmosphere in the court, so I came back. Where's my senior brother? Are you still helping people solve their problems recently?"
"Ah, about that."
"What about 'Exorcism'? Are you doing that too?"
“… Still working on it.”
"There are no monsters in the world, and you are not someone who needs a few pieces of silver, so why do you always help those fools deceive yourself?"
"Well...if it was before, I could still answer you the same way as before, but now, I am a little unsure myself. Forget it, let's not talk about me. You seem to be busy, so go ahead."
The young prince then told the story of the fox.
He started from his own perspective.
On the way back, he received a note from the county magistrate, saying that there was a fox demon in the city recently causing panic among the people. But when he arrived here, the overall public opinion had changed drastically, and everyone regarded the fox as a fox fairy.
He tried to sober everyone up, but encountered various accidents. Everyone believed him and kept trying to persuade him...
As he listened, the expression of the young Taoist priest opposite him gradually became subtle.
Finally, the Taoist priest couldn't help interrupting, coughed lightly, and asked, "Junior brother, is that fox a red fox? About 18 inches long? And its color is quite dark now?"
This is an accurate description...
The young prince felt bad, but answered honestly: "Yes. What's wrong?"
Then, the senior brother who had taught him many truths and told him that there was no realm in the world that was beyond human reach, and who had originally been the least believer in demons and ghosts, suddenly looked gloomy and said seriously: "If it is it, then I must say that those rumors may really be somewhat credible."
Little Prince:……!
Shocked to the point of being speechless.
For some reason, his mind suddenly flashed back to the series of fox apparitions that the officials had tried to tell him when he first entered the city.
Among them, it seems that there is one Taoist priest in the suburbs...
The young prince almost broke his voice: "The Taoist priest who was talking with the fox scholar in the forest is you, Senior Brother?!"
"Oh? Even you know about this?"
The Taoist priest was a little surprised and scratched his face: "Has the news spread here? Yes, a long time has passed, and this place is not far from the village, um..."
The camera recorded the conversation between the two in the private room.
Narration pops up:
"The successive setbacks made the provocateur doubt his life."
"Helplessly, he could only find a helper, his most respected senior brother."
"However, what he could not have imagined was that his senior brother had actually seen him a long time ago, and even had the honor of fighting with him."
The audience was shocked.
[Wow! Isn’t this the one that was invited from that village…! ]
[Eh? Isn't he a third-rate Taoist priest? He is actually related to the prince? ? He is also his senior brother? ? ]
[No, then why would he cheat and deceive others? He already has a junior brother who is a prince, so he should not be short of money, right? ]
[Hahahaha, do you all care about this? Am I the only one who is looking forward to the little prince's performance of doubting his life later? ]
[I am a bad person, I also want to watch it hahaha. 】
"Fox scholar..."
Now that the incident was mentioned, the Taoist priest naturally began to reminisce.
Time does blur a lot of information.
Details that you didn't notice at the time will be even more difficult to find when you recall them later. You may even find that the automatic completion function of your memory adds logical details, making it even more difficult to detect the problem.
So his narration sounded very mysterious to the little prince:
"That night, I saw it with my own eyes, clearly."
"The fox was walking under the moon, and suddenly lost consciousness and possessed Scholar Wu. Scholar Wu also became a completely different person, and his behavior was very different from when he woke up."
"Junior brother... remember I told you before that there are no demons or ghosts in the world? Today I have to change my words. Some things are indeed mysterious. Even if we have no chance to come into contact with them, it is best to be in awe."
On the opposite side, the young prince fell into silence for a long time.
If anyone else had said those words just now, he would have walked away long ago.
Unfortunately, the person opposite him was his senior brother, someone he had always respected.
So now, even my senior brother has been subdued by the fox.
This was a huge blow to the young prince.
When he was still young, he had a brief meeting with his master and senior brothers during his leisure travels, witnessed their various abilities, and his worldview was overturned and reshaped. From then on, he looked down on officials in the court who believed in various ghosts and gods, and even almost had a conflict with his brother who was the prince at the time.
As a result, just when his views were already deeply rooted, a fox demon suddenly appeared.
In fact, his senior brother was convinced before him, and now he wants to convince him instead.
The young prince was in a daze.
That's ridiculous.
What is this? ?
[Very good, I have begun to doubt my life. ]
[Is the troublemaker in the Dihua world finally going to give in? ]
[Hahaha, I feel sorry for you. My worldview has really collapsed.]
"Junior brother, don't get stuck in a rut."
Finally, the Taoist priest couldn't bear it anymore and took the initiative to persuade him: "This incident also taught me a lesson. I went back to the Taoist sect to ask the master. His words really opened my eyes."
The young prince said in a depressed tone: "What did the old man say?"
"Master said, if we think we are superior to others just because we know a little about the laws of nature, and lose our reverence for all things in nature, then what is the difference between us and those who know nothing at all?"
The Taoist priest poured tea for the young prince, placed the steaming cup in front of him, and said slowly:
"What we know is the result of repeated observations by our predecessors with awe and reason. If we become complacent and think we are superior to others because of such discoveries, then it will be difficult for us to discover new laws."
"To be honest, my previous judgment of demons and ghosts was indeed superficial. Just because I had acquired knowledge that could refute some old stories, I thought there were no unsolved problems in the world and no ghosts existed. Now that I think about it, such a thought was a bit arrogant."
The young prince remained silent.
After a while, until the Taoist priest across from him finished half a cup of tea, he picked up the cup, took a sip slowly, and spoke solemnly:
"Humph... If those old guys had your eloquence, I wouldn't have to worry about it for so long."
"Who would believe those old men who are full of ridiculous reasoning?"
"If you had just put the matter in front of me, I might have noticed something was wrong earlier."
"Humph, it's all their fault for exaggerating things!"
Hearing this, the Taoist priest was a little curious: "Let me hear what they said."
The young prince narrated the causes and processes of most of the events, but did not forget to conceal the fact that he was innocently involved in the last incident.
However, the Taoist priest was very perceptive. After hearing the somewhat hasty ending, he made a reasonable inference:
"Hmm? You didn't pursue the matter after the man got better, and even waited quietly for several days to wait for the result? This doesn't match your attitude..."
"snort."
"Could it be... that this matter implicates you later?"
"No."
"Hey, could it be that you had some sudden reaction, like vomiting or something, which made them think that you were also infected? Did that person just get better at the same time as you got into trouble?"
"……no!!"
"Hahaha, no wonder, no wonder. I was wondering why you are so hesitant now, Junior Brother. It turns out that you have been put in an awkward situation."
"That's enough, shut up!!"
[Hey, I feel like this master is pretty good. ]
[They are all relatively knowledgeable and curious people, and they also understand some philosophy. They correct their mistakes when they realize them, which is very good. ]
[Hahahaha, so you still can’t escape the fake pregnancy thing, right? ]
The little prince's knot was finally untied.
The atmosphere between the brothers became much more relaxed and they began to chat about all kinds of random things.
"Brother, now that you've had that experience in the forest, do you still dare to use your fox tail to fool people?"
"Ah, don't say any more. After that day, all the fox tails I collected disappeared, and I don't dare to make them again. So let it be."
"Humph, you have to use this trick to reassure those fools. Can't you just explain it to them directly?"
"Most of the villagers can't even read, so it's not that easy to explain... Ah, but if monsters really exist, we are being too clever for our own good and are no match for them."
"Tsk, that's difficult."
"It's difficult, but there's nothing we can do. At least for a long period of time, as long as the anomaly doesn't reappear, they can always feel more at ease. Isn't this what you want to see, Junior Brother?"
"…What if there really is a monster in that place, and that monster hates you?"
"Well, there is nothing I can do but sacrifice my life for this. However, if I can encounter a monster twice in a row in my lifetime, it is worth it."
The Taoist priest was as carefree as ever, and the young prince gradually calmed down as he talked with him.
It’s just that the Taoist priest was just passing by and would leave soon.
Before leaving, the Taoist priest seemed to remember something and casually said:
"By the way, Junior Brother, you haven't seen a real will-o'-the-wisp, right? There are many outside the dilapidated temples in the suburbs. You can find a chance to see them. They are quite interesting."
"Hmm...but when I was walking by earlier, I saw that there seemed to be a lot less of them. If you want to see them, hurry up."
"Remember to go~"
The young prince waved his hand at him: "Alright, I got it, I got it."
Do you still think he is a child?
With a target as big as a fox placed in the city, why would he go to look for the will-o'-the-wisp that already knew the truth?
"You all, come here."
After returning to the palace, the young prince stared at the sealed rockery and suddenly asked people to move all the stones away.
The fox ran out from the rockery before, probably it made its nest here. Hum, you have some taste, you know how to pick the best place.
Since Senior Brother has approved it——
Maybe there is something special about that fox!
The young prince finally admitted this.
I have to say, after he admitted this, he actually felt a lot more relaxed.
The various coincidences that happened before did make him doubt himself occasionally, and he even unconsciously thought that the fox was too smart and strange... Well, perhaps he had had some doubts even earlier.
However, due to the inertia of thinking that he had established previously, he still had some tentative mentality. In addition, the exaggerated narratives of that group of officials made him unwilling to admit those absurd words.
Now, after talking with his brother, although he is still curious about foxes, he will probably be much gentler.
"Fox, fox fairy, fox demon..."
The young prince whispered a few words, seeming to be lost in thought.
Since everyone told him not to be disrespectful to the fox before, how about he openly ask the fairy for help now?
By then, if we can really invite——
If it was true, he would naturally find someone to take care of it according to the court custom, and ask the whole city to respect it.
But if it's fake...
The little prince was wondering whether this matter should be dealt with seriously, when suddenly his mind flashed the image of the beautiful red fox under the moon and it gently rubbing against his feet.
He felt inexplicably itchy in his heart.
Well, although it has caused panic among the people in the city, it is after all just an animal that does not know its limits. There is no need to punish the fox. Just keep it in the yard and seldom go outside to scare people.
Then again, he had never raised a fox before, so what did he need to prepare...
The young prince thought for a short while, then turned around and issued a new order to summon the immortal with his attendants.
However--
The fox didn't appreciate it.
Narrator:
"He didn't realize that the provocateur had changed his mind. Seeing the other party's completely different attitude, he thought it was still a trap set by that person and turned and ran away."
"But in fact, due to a series of coincidences and the persuasion of relatives and friends, the provocateur has been subtly convinced by TA."
"He's actually trying to be nice now."
"Unfortunately, he doesn't understand."
In the camera, the little fox pressed down its ears alertly, startled by all kinds of noises in the yard. It was completely unable to cope with it and simply ran away in the cover of night.
This movement must be to catch it!
It’s just stealing a piece of meat!
Is it that so?
The fox was indignant, but there was nothing he could do but to continue running to other places to find food.
Fortunately, it saw the old nest being cleared out in the evening and thought it had a chance to go back.
So mad!!
[Little Fox: Humph, you ignored me at first, but now I tell you that you are too good for me! ]
[Hahahahahaha, now the little prince is finally really attracted to me? Slap in the face!]
[Is this a way to invite the gods? I've learned something new. ]
[The little fox will only be frightened by this situation. I advise the prince to plan carefully. ]
[Who dares to go in when there are so many people in the yard? ! The little fox is really just a pitiful, helpless and well-behaved furry creature! It would be more reliable for the prince to feed the fox himself with food. ]
[It’s so funny, the little fox will go anywhere except to the prince’s house.]
Tsk.
very good.
Seeing that the food in the courtyard had not been accepted for several days, and news of fox visits came from various parts of the city one after another, the young prince had a blank expression on his face.
Not coming, right?
You forced me to do this.
However, before the specific plan of violently summoning the immortals was formulated, an accident occurred -
A man from the countryside heard on the street about the prince's palace's grand event of summoning immortals, and without thinking, he staggered and knelt at the door of the prince's palace.
His face was blue and purple, tears were streaming down his face, and he kept coughing. He could only repeat himself with a weak breath:
"Please, Master Fox, take back the curse..."
"Spare the lives of my fellow villagers!!"
In the third round, the young prince asked his senior brother for help, but he didn't expect that his senior brother was actually an undercover sent by the fox side, and he was directly made to doubt his life.
However, just as the little prince gradually gave in and turned to positive emotions such as "interested" and "liked" -
Someone interrupted the game!
Narrator (adjusting glasses, patting the fox's butt): Wake up, get up and take the blame
The little fox who was waiting to win:?! (woke up)
[Why are all the comments full of compliments? This is really a decline in morals (Fox Fox is heartbroken)]
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