Ai Cao glanced at the proprietress who was still standing blankly at the door.
She looked again at the door, which had long since turned into wood chips, and said seriously, "I don't know how to fix a door, and I can't restore it to its original state."
Ai Cao took out the piece of silver that the proprietress had pushed back earlier and stuffed it back into the proprietress's hands. The proprietress no longer looked down at the ground, letting Ai Cao hold the silver in her hand, just staring at her with her mouth open.
Ai Cao asked, "Is there anything else?"
The proprietress shook her head vigorously.
She opened her mouth, but swallowed the words she wanted to say.
She was just a mortal with no cultivation whatsoever, and should not and could not get involved in the affairs of immortals.
Respect the clothes first, then the person. Just by looking at the white clothes this woman is wearing, it's clear she's not some immortal she could possibly talk to.
The proprietress quickly rubbed her stiff cheeks and gave Ai Cao a fawning smile. She hadn't noticed the piece of silver she still had in her hand, leaving a red mark on her face from the silver's friction.
The proprietress smiled and said, "How could we trouble an immortal? I'll find a carpenter and he can take care of it tonight."
She finally noticed the loose silver in her hand, and her voice became hoarse: "This, this silver... how can I possibly accept yours..."
Ai Cao shook her head and said, "I also need you to take care of the corpses in the yard."
“This…” The proprietress hesitated and looked towards the courtyard.
The male guards' corpses lay scattered haphazardly in the courtyard. Ai Cao had just piled the guards' bodies together, leaving ample space for the little fox to eat them.
The snow-white fox had been stained pale pink with blood. It tore open the sword wound on the corpse's chest with its claws and nuzzled inside with its nose to chew on the flesh.
The skin was arched and undulated by it.
It ate while making cheerful noises.
Ai Cao continued, "If you care about their identities, just say you know nothing about this." Ai Cao offered her a reason, "Whether you say you were controlled by me or that your memory was erased, it's fine."
The proprietress gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and said, "Fine, leave this to me."
She quickly turned and left.
For now, only Ai Cao and the little fox were in the courtyard. Ai Cao took a tea set from the room and came out to sit in the courtyard, pouring herself a drink. She had only drunk her third cup when the little fox's head finally peeked out from the corpse.
Its nose was covered in bits of flesh and blood. Mugwort couldn't help but chuckle softly and asked, "Want me to wipe it off for you?"
The little fox excitedly rushed towards her and jumped onto her lap, acting all cute.
Ai Cao smiled as she wiped its nose and face.
The corpse, which had been completely devoured and left only as a human skin, slumped down softly.
The mugwort wiped the little fox's face clean, and the specks of light behind the fox obediently gathered together. They coalesced into a new, fluffy, snow-white tail.
The little fox proudly flicked its third tail.
The clear, foolish look in its black eyes was finally gone.
Ai Cao caught a glimpse of cunning in those dark eyes, and smiled as she patted its head, saying, "Now that you can take human form, stop pretending you don't understand me."
The little fox whimpered and nudged her hand with its nose.
Artemisia argyi picked it up without hesitation and placed it on the table: "Transform."
The little fox twitched its ears.
Like crystalline stardust, it slowly emerged. It gathered and surrounded the little fox, enveloping it layer by layer—
They dispersed.
A young woman in a silver-white dress jumped off the table, puffing out her cheeks and yelling at her, "How dare you be so mean to me!"
The woman's fox-like eyes seemed to hold a smile, as if they contained a pool of spring water; but her dark pupils were full of anger, which diminished the intelligence on her face considerably.
Ai Cao shrugged. She dodged the woman's swinging fist and poured her another cup of tea.
The woman angrily took the teacup, took a sip, and then spat it out with a grimacing expression.
"I didn't yell at you, did I..." Ai Cao asked, "Don't you like drinking tea?"
The woman was so angry that her eyebrows shot up, and she slammed the teacup down on the table with a fierce expression.
"I thought it tasted good because you drank so much!" The woman spat twice more and said, "I didn't expect it to be so bitter and astringent. I don't know where you got this stuff from to mess with me."
Artemisia smiled.
The woman sat down next to her and asked, "What's your name?"
"Mugwort," said the mugwort, "and you?"
The woman said, "Logically speaking, I am Qingqiu Qingyun. But I have changed my mind now, I don't want the name Qingqiu."
The woman thought for a moment. A troubled look appeared on her face, and she hesitated before saying, "But I haven't thought of a new name yet."
Ai Cao filled her teacup and said, "Do you have any ideas about a name?"
The woman nodded. She pointed to the human skin on the ground and said, "It was he and my clansmen who helped me restore my cultivation and body. I remembered my name to mourn them."
Ai Cao silently observed the woman's expression for a few seconds.
Though she claimed it was a memorial service, the woman's face showed no trace of sadness. Ai Cao knew she was just saying it. Perhaps, her true thoughts were the opposite of what she said.
The woman gave a sly smile and said, "It's a pity I don't remember their names, otherwise I could have carved their names and erected a monument for them..."
Ai Cao laughed, "Saying it again would be going too far."
The woman stuck her tongue out at her. If she hadn't already taken human form, she would have loved to spit on the mugwort's face.
The woman said, "Are you in such a hurry for me to have a name?"
Ai Cao nodded: "I can't keep calling you Little Fox. Someone has spread rumors in this city, and if I call you that outside..."
"Will it attract a lot of enemies?" the woman blurted out.
Ai Cao paused for a moment and said, "It would kill too many people, which is not good."
The woman glanced at the yard. The landlady hadn't yet called anyone to deal with the corpses in the yard; the male corpses lay on the ground in strange positions and postures.
The woman nodded and said, "Okay."
She raised her hand. Instantly, sharp nails over an inch long grew from her fingertips—she forcefully slashed her wrist, and several glistening, silvery-white beads of blood floated out from the wound, swaying and drifting before her eyes.
There were eight blood beads in front of her.
Two of the blood beads were relatively clear, while the other six were dark and indistinct. She put the two clear blood beads into her mouth and chewed them, making a "crunching" sound.
The woman said, "This is the ninth incarnation." Her speech became soft and slow. "How could I have attained human form in my ninth incarnation?"
She looked at the mugwort, a smile in her eyes: "I'm not sure who I am yet. But mugwort, who are you?"
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