Chapter 87 Extra 1: The Master and his little fox Taoist companion, the vixen...
It was snowing heavily, and a hunter was walking on the road wearing a thick felt hat and carrying a cloth bag. He took a big gulp of Shaodaozi wine to warm himself up, his face turned red, and his beard trembled.
The only sound heard in the woods was the sound of the wind. The hunter felt uneasy. Although he was familiar with this mountain, he took this side road today in order to get down the mountain quickly.
Fortunately, because of this detour, he was lucky enough to pick up a dead female fox and a wounded little fox protected under its belly. The two foxes had snow-white fur, and the little fox had a tuft of red hair on its forehead, which looked very rare.
A bear howl was heard from afar, and the hunter was surprised that there would be a blind bear in the winter. However, he did not dare to be careless and quickened his pace to go down the mountain.
The wind and snow became stronger, and the snow particles scratched his face painfully. The hunter opened the bag and shook it. The little fox kicked its legs and was still alive.
When he looked up again, he saw a headless blind bear standing in front of him, with its head held in its arms and howling at him.
The hunter had never seen such a scene in his life, and he immediately fell to the ground. He held his breath and pretended to be dead, but the monster swung out with its claws!
"Edict."
A cold and casual voice echoed through the forest. The snowflakes stopped for a moment. A blue light flashed, and the monster was broken into several pieces, which slowly burned away.
The hunter quickly knelt on the ground, kowtowed and said tremblingly: "Thank you, immortal, for saving my life!"
A subtle air current swept up the snowflakes and lifted him up. The hunter raised his head and saw a Taoist in dark blue clothes, with his eyes half closed, his sleeves fluttering, standing on the falling snow.
There was a small mole on the fold of his eyelid, and he was handsome beyond mortal standards. There was an indifferent look between his brows, and light blue spots lingered around him, making him look like an immortal.
"Will you please sell me the fox in this bag?"
The hunter was even more convinced that he was an immortal. He saw through him at a glance and offered him with both hands. "Give it... give it to the immortal!"
He pondered for a moment, then with a wave of his hand, a trembling little white fox appeared in his arms.
Its hind legs were bleeding, and it looked up at him pitifully. Its beautiful eyes, like black grapes, were watery. It called to him weakly and sniffed the sandalwood scent on his body.
He looked slightly stunned, lowered his eyes and gently rubbed his spine, then took the female fox in the bag away and left a gold ingot for the hunter.
"Master has brought back a divine beast!"
A little boy in front of the mountain gate saw him walking slowly towards him holding something, and immediately shouted loudly, scaring away the divine bird in the mountain, which made a clear cry.
Zhou Baiqiao held up his robe and held the little fox firmly in one hand. There was no cold wind at all and a blue halo protected it.
"Master brought back a divine beast?"
A disciple saw that he was actually using his spiritual power to protect its heart meridian and immediately guessed what kind of mythical beast it was.
Soon this news spread throughout the entire Xuanwu Mountain. Taoist Lingheng, who was meditating in the main hall, suddenly opened his eyes, and a light blue spiritual power fluctuation flashed before his eyes and then disappeared.
"Is the Grandmaster injured?"
As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes widened in surprise. The master who usually loved cleanliness and was indifferent to everything was carefully wiping the dirt off the little fox in his arms with a towel. His movements were cautious and his eyes were so soft that he didn't look like a swordsman at all.
Moreover, his disciples could not see it, but he could tell at a glance that this was a fox with some intelligence. It had been practicing Taoism for only fifty or sixty years, which was equivalent to an eighteen or nineteen-year-old human.
There's nothing special about it, except that the fur is nice.
"Hurry up and see it."
"Yes, disciple, I will obey your command."
Ling Heng sat aside, but the master didn't hand the little fox over to him, but held it in his arms, leaving only its hind legs exposed to him. The master rubbed his head and coaxed it in a low voice.
"Be good, don't be afraid."
Ling Heng's face was distorted, thinking back to the time when he went down the mountain to kill monsters and came back with only one breath left. His master raised his hand and gave him some water, but as soon as he was able to get out of bed, he was told to go practice swordplay. How could he be so rude to him?
"Grandmaster, this little fox has not only skin injuries but also internal damage. It should be because it consumed too much spiritual energy in a short period of time. If you regularly inject spiritual energy into it and nurture it for a period of time, it will be fine."
Zhou Baiqiao nodded slightly, slowly stroked its fur along its spine, and waved his hand to ask him to prepare medicine for the little fox.
"Master, it is a monster after all..."
Zhou Baiqiao just raised his eyelids and looked at him, and Ling Heng immediately bowed and said no more.
Zhou Baiqiao gathered spiritual power at his fingertips and tapped into its spiritual platform, carefully examining its bones and spiritual elixir. It turned out to be a beautiful, ordinary little fox with a pure aura.
Although he was intelligent, he still thought of himself as a wild beast, following his mother to eat chicken, fruit and drink mountain spring water.
"I know you have exhausted your spiritual energy to heal your mother. Life span is limited and cannot be forced. She has entered the reincarnation cycle. You must grow up well to repay her motherly love for trying her best to protect you with her remaining warmth on snowy days."
"I have buried her well."
The little fox could understand but couldn't speak yet. It looked up at him, its beautiful black eyes glistening with tears, and its claws tightly grasped Zhou Baiqiao's Taoist robe.
Zhou Baiqiao didn't know why, but his heart softened when he saw its eyes. He sighed and hugged it, rubbing and rocking it.
The little fox was injured and lacked energy, so Zhou Baiqiao took care of it all the time. He even stopped his morning lessons with his disciples and was busy combing its fur, transferring its spiritual energy and changing its medicine.
"No wonder everyone says it's a vixen. Even the master is bewitched by it."
The disciples who were sweeping in front of the hall were talking to each other in low voices when two sword-wielding young men walking on the clouds suddenly appeared in front of them.
"What vixen?"
"Daoist Lord Youhe, Daoist Lord Baiyang." The two of them immediately greeted each other in a low voice and did not dare to say anything else.
Zhou Baiyang was wearing a goose yellow robe, with his long hair standing up and tassels hanging in his hair. He was about to slip away to see the vixen who had bewitched Zhou Baiqiao.
Zhou Baiqiao was holding the little fox in front of the desk, with a few strong words casually placed on it. Zhou Baiqiao smiled and read to him in a low voice. His voice was slow and the rhythm of the words was very pleasant, and the little fox's ears twitched.
"You point it out and give yourself a name."
The little white fox jumped onto the table. It was only half the size of an arm. It smeared some ink on its paw pads and wrote a few words. Then it squatted in front of Zhou Baiqiao with graceful steps.
Its hind legs have not fully healed yet, so it can only walk a few steps, but when it does walk it tries its best to be graceful and beautiful. It is a very good-looking fox.
"Kong" Zhou Baiqiao took out the pieces of paper with words stained with plum blossoms.
"Yan" and "Ze"
For some reason, Zhou Baiqiao felt a shock in his heart and felt that this is what it should be called.
"Kong Yanze." He pronounced it softly and lovingly.
The little fox's pink and white ears twitched again, it hummed softly, and blinked its black eyes.
"Yan Ze, can you speak slowly with me?" Zhou Baiqiao has been teaching it to say some simple words recently. The little fox is very smart, but he just doesn't like to talk.
"Master! I'm here to see the vixen!"
Zhou Baiyang pushed the door open and came in. Kong Yanze, still feeling insecure, hurriedly jumped into Zhou Baiqiao's arms and buried his head.
"presumptuous."
Zhou Baiqiao had already raised his fingertips to seal Zhou Baiyang's mouth, but the little fox in his arms kept him busy stroking its fur, so he finally just raised his eyes to warn him.
Zhou Baiyang was a junior in Zhou Baiqiao's secular family. He did not have such a reverent attitude towards him as if he were a statue of God, so he walked boldly forward to look at Kong Yanze.
Kong Yanze's ears twitched, and he raised his small fox face with a natural smile, and his black eyes followed his hanging tassels.
Zhou Boyang was instantly fascinated and reached out for a hug. Zhou Boqiao frowned and was about to leave, but Kong Yanze jumped down, squatted gracefully in front of him with his short legs, and stretched out his claws to reach out.
"Oh, you want this?"
Zhou Boyang picked up the tassel of the headband and hung it over Kong Yanze, letting him play with it. Kong Yanze became playful and stretched out his paw to play with it.
"Good... fun..." A clear young voice sounded intermittently.
Zhou Baiqiao picked it up and rubbed its spine: "Tell me more?"
Kong Yanze was eager to break free and play with the spike. "Go... down... and play."
Zhou Boyang watched Zhou Boqiao's face change from a faint smile to a solemn one, and his skin tightened. He quickly took off the hairband and handed it to him and put it in his arms. However, Kong Yanze lost interest and fiddled with it twice before stopping playing.
Zhou Baiqiao's expression relaxed again. He threw it back and looked up at him.
"After coming back from this training trip down the mountain, your spiritual power has not improved at all. Why don't you go back to meditate and comprehend?"
Zhou Baiyang got a headache when he heard his words, and immediately bowed: "Disciple, I'll take my leave and go to meditate now."
Before leaving, he quickly exchanged a glance with the little fox lying in his master's arms.
"Grow up quickly, I'll take you down the mountain to play!"
Zhou Baiqiao was stunned. He waited until he left before picking up Kong Yanze and looking into his moist black eyes.
"Do you want to practice and learn some skills?"
Kong Yanze could understand, so he made a few wailing sounds. Zhou Baiqiao couldn't understand what he was saying, and he couldn't find anyone to teach him fox language. Kong Yanze realized that he couldn't understand, so he stumbled and tried to speak.
"Practice...train...go down the mountain...play?"
Zhou Baiqiao somehow understood what he meant. He was so young, yet he was so playful. The purpose of cultivation was to have fun.
Zhou Baiqiao thought about it and realized that he would transform into a human form sooner or later. Without magical skills, he would easily get hurt and suffer losses, so he still had to practice.
“Well, Yanze, practice hard, and others will not dare to bully you, so you can go down the mountain to play.”
Kong Yanze's ears twitched, he yelped, grabbed his dark blue Taoist robe, climbed onto his shoulders, and licked his cheek.
"I... practice... cultivation."
Zhou Baiqiao smiled and treated it as just a playful kid. He picked it up and put it on the desk, then spread out a few books.
"So not knowing how to read is not an option. You can't write now, but you must first learn to speak and read."
The little fox was surprisingly hardworking. He immediately kicked his legs and curled up on the small cushion on the table, sweeping his fluffy tail across the paper.
"Recognize... words... and speak..."
The master finally continued to give morning lessons to his disciples, but he had to wear a little white fox. Yes, he wore it.
The little fox lay on his neck like a scarf, and sometimes stretched out its claws to pick at the hairband on the master's head. The master was worthy of being the master, and he didn't change his expression and didn't care.
Zhou Boyang went crazy when he returned, and he kept promoting how cute the little fox was, but Yao Youhe ignored him. Until one morning class, Kong Yanze jumped off the table and walked to the disciples, taking a graceful tour with his short legs.
She stopped beside Yao Youhe and stretched. Yao Youhe was instantly fascinated. She lowered her voice and stretched out her hand: "Let me touch you?"
Kong Yanze turned his head and leaned over to her, deftly climbing onto her hand and letting her touch his fur. The disciples around him no longer had the heart to listen to the morning class, and all glanced over there with envy.
Kong Yanze felt comfortable with his fur stroked, his fluffy tail sweeping back and forth, his eyes squinting.
"Yanze."
Zhou Baiqiao tapped the table in front of him twice with his fingers, and everyone shuddered. The master seldom showed his emotions on the surface, so this sound was quite displeased.
"I'll play with you next time." The clear boy's voice said goodbye fearlessly without controlling the volume. He jumped down and walked back to Zhou Baiqiao with elegant steps.
As expected of a vixen, wherever she goes, all eyes follow her. Kong Yanze really likes this feeling of being the center of attention, and he walks slowly, sweeping his tail.
"Yan Ze." Zhou Baiqiao called again.
"I can't walk fast. My feet hurt."
Zhou Baiqiao knew he was lying. The superficial wounds had healed long ago, but the elixir was still dull and bleak. But he just sighed and picked up the scroll.
"All right."
Kong Yanze was unmoved by any persuasion and continued to walk slowly. Now even the sword cultivators, who were of a hard-hearted nature and not easily swayed by external things, were staring at him.
What a cool little fox.
*
Ling Heng came to see Kong Yanze again, and just before arriving at the courtyard, he felt something was wrong.
Who tied the swing to this sacred cypress? And who pulled out all the sacred grass and planted all the flowers? Moreover, it was winter, but once I entered the courtyard, it was warm as spring.
As soon as Ling Heng entered, he saw his master in a dark blue Taoist robe holding a piece of gorgeous red satin with dark patterns and wielding it on the little fox. His usual solid dark blue headband was replaced with one with a tassel pendant.
"Grandmaster!"
Ling Heng looked left and right but could not detect any signs that his master had been cast under a spell, not to mention who had the ability to cast a spell on his master.
"Master, what is this?"
Ling Heng lowered his voice. He knew how much his master treasured this little fox.
"Yan Ze said he wanted to go to school and attend morning classes like them, and wear robes like them."
He rubbed Kong Yanze's head as he spoke. Ling Heng was sure that the little fox couldn't transform now. How could the master not know...
Ling Heng was hesitant to speak. After finishing the diagnosis, he took the opportunity when the little fox ran to the courtyard to play and looked at Zhou Baiqiao.
"Grandmaster, are you... a little too..."
Zhou Baiqiao sat upright behind his desk, looking down at the plum blossom footprints on the pages of the book. His high black hair hung down with a dark blue hairband. He was still the immortal who was indifferent to everything in his plain clothes and wooden hairpin.
"You're pampering it a bit too much. Are you planning to take it in as your apprentice?"
Zhou Baiqiao raised his eyes slightly and twisted the claw marks on the pages of the book with his fingers.
"I have a relationship with him, but we are not master and disciple, and I have not been able to understand it."
Ling Heng frowned. "Could it be that it is the destined person predicted by the celestial phenomena?"
The master's cultivation has reached the highest level, but he cannot ascend to heaven. The astronomical deduction only says that he has a connection with the worldly world and has not yet achieved perfection.
When Zhou Baiqiao heard Kong Yanze running around in the yard, he raised his lips slightly, lowered his eyebrows and said slowly: "Let nature take its course."
Ling Heng didn't know what to say. His master was cold and emotionless. He had a talent for Taoism, but he practiced swordsmanship, which focused on killing.
What we cultivate in our mind is our ego. We don’t take anything to heart because nothing enters our heart.
This kind of love like a father and a brother goes straight into my heart. I really don’t know what kind of fate this will be.
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