Chapter Ninety: The Little Fox Who Came to Steal Chickens
After lunch, the rain showed no signs of stopping. After Jiu Ya and the others settled in, the two little girls from the Gu family came skipping over. They were wearing faded coarse cloth clothes, but they were clean and tidy, and their hair was combed into two small buns tied with red ribbons.
Two little girls peeked curiously through the door, only their two fluffy heads peeking out, their bright eyes blinking incessantly. They seemed filled with curiosity about these two unfamiliar older sisters, yet dared not venture inside.
Jiuya found it amusing and waved to them, "Come in, it's raining heavily outside, you might get soaked."
The little girl wiggled a bit, but still came in. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was very cute. She shyly called out, "Hello, sister!"
"Hello to you all!" Jiu Ya smiled and stood up, patting the child's fluffy hair. The little girl's hair was fine and soft, especially since she was still developing. She took two pieces of pastry from the table and placed them in the little girl's hand. "Eat up!"
The pastry was exquisitely made, baked to a golden brown and sprinkled with fine white powdered sugar, emitting a sweet aroma of milk and honey. The more lively little girl showed no resistance, while the other little girl's ears turned bright red. Seeing the incredibly delicate pastry placed in their hands, and smelling its irresistibly sweet aroma, the two girls couldn't help but swallow hard, but dared not eat it without their mother's permission. They looked pleadingly at Aunt Gu, hoping to gain their mother's approval.
"Since it's from your sister, you should take it!" Sister-in-law Gu said with a smile, a hint of emotion flashing in her eyes. Such exquisite pastries were rare in the countryside, and she could tell that these two girls came from distinguished backgrounds.
The two little girls nodded obediently, smiled sweetly at Jiu Ya, and accepted the pastries with peace of mind. They ate them in small bites, afraid that if they ate too fast they wouldn't be able to taste the flavor, their faces beaming with happy smiles.
Jiu Ya asked, "What are your names?"
"Sister, my name is Xiaoyu!" The more lively little girl pointed cheerfully to the rain falling outside the door. "Mom said it was raining the day I was born." Her eyes curved into crescents as she spoke, revealing a smile with a missing front tooth.
The other little girl was a bit shy and whispered, "My name is Xiaolan." Her voice was barely audible. After speaking, she hid behind her older sister, only revealing her big eyes as she secretly sized up Jiuya and Rongjiang.
"The names are all very nice." Jiu Ya smiled. These names were quite well-chosen, much better than names like "Da Niu" or "Er Ya." Noticing that Xiao Lan was staring at Rong Jiang, she teased, "Xiao Lan, do you think this older sister is especially pretty?"
Xiao Lan immediately buried her face behind her sister in embarrassment, but Xiao Yu nodded boldly: "Both of you are beautiful, like people in a painting."
Upon hearing this, Rong Jiang's lips curled up slightly. She rarely interacted with children, and looking at these two innocent and carefree little girls, her heart softened a bit.
All afternoon, Jiu Ya chatted and played with the little girl, not bored at all. Xiao Yu, with her lively personality, quickly became familiar with Jiu Ya, chattering about interesting things in the village. Xiao Lan, though shy, gradually opened up, occasionally adding details her sister missed. Rong Jiang mostly listened quietly, occasionally interjecting a word or two, creating a harmonious and warm atmosphere.
In the evening, after finishing dinner early, Sister-in-law Gu took the two girls back to their room. Xiaoyu and Xiaolan said goodbye to Jiuya reluctantly, promising to play together again the next day.
The Gu family's house wasn't small, but they wouldn't put two beds in one room. Neither of them had the habit of sharing a bed with another person, so how were they supposed to sleep in this one bed?
Jiu Ya and Rong Jiang exchanged glances, and their final solution was simple: since they both claimed to be cultivators, it was easy—they could just meditate together. Jiu Ya secretly rejoiced, thankful that they weren't ordinary people; otherwise, finding accommodation would have been a real problem.
The heavy rain continued into the night, only gradually subsiding in the latter half of the night. The pattering rain lingered in her ears. Jiu Ya closed her eyes, savoring the quiet rainy night, her inner power flowing throughout her body. Suddenly, she sensed an aura that was neither human, ghost, nor demon. What was this? How could it appear here?
Jiu Ya opened her eyes and saw Rong Jiang's slightly furrowed brows. Clearly, they had both sensed this aura. The aura was weak and chaotic, seemingly from someone who was seriously injured, yet it carried a unique, eerie quality.
“Demon.” Rong Jiang’s voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the sound of rain, but Jiu Ya heard it clearly.
Jiu Ya was startled, thinking it was just Rong Jiang's ramblings. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck her: Rong Jiang was talking about a demon! She quietly released a wisp of her divine sense. In the desolate rainy night, a disheveled little fox was tiptoeing into the Gu family's chicken coop. Its movements were very light, without disturbing the other animals. It grabbed a chicken with each of its two paws, and before the chicks could even realize the danger and wake up to scream, its sharp claws slashed through the chickens' necks. Warm chicken blood gushed out, splattering the little fox's face with blood.
Jiuya noticed that the little fox had a deep wound on its hind leg that exposed the bone, and it was trembling with every step it took.
She saw the little fox drink the chicken blood and then tear the chicken apart and eat the meat, leaving only chicken feathers scattered on the ground. Then the little fox touched its wet fur, finding nothing, and seemed to feel a little guilty in its eyes. It glanced at the Gu family several times before limping away.
This fox entered the Gu family's house and ate two chickens, something that an ordinary fox could do. However, Jiu Ya could tell that the aura emanating from it was definitely not that of a fox that had not yet developed intelligence.
"It's actually a fox demon," Jiu Ya murmured. She withdrew her divine sense and looked at Rong Jiang, "It's badly injured."
Rong Jiang sighed, "The injury is quite severe; he can no longer even maintain his human form." Her gaze seemed to penetrate the wall, following the departing fox. "Injured by magic, if he hadn't had a hundred years of cultivation, he would probably have died long ago."
The human form, also known as the innate Dao body, is the most suitable form for cultivation. Once one can no longer maintain the human form, it means that the injury has become so severe that it threatens the very foundation of one's being.
The moment the little fox entered the Gu family home, Rong Jiang noticed it. Seeing that it had no intention of harming anyone, she made no move, simply wanting to see what the little fox was up to. If it had even the slightest intention to harm anyone, Rong Jiang would have shown no mercy.
"Running out in the rain just to eat two chickens?" Jiu Ya didn't quite understand the little fox's thinking. With its cultivation level, even severely injured, it should have had better ways to obtain food.
Rong Jiang said calmly, "It needs to be nourished by living creatures." She paused and added, "And they must be fresh, living creatures, as the life essence contained in their blood can help it stabilize its injuries."
"Are two chickens enough?" Jiu Ya noticed that the little fox's steps were unsteady when it left, clearly indicating that it was in very poor condition.
Rong Jiang said gently, "Of course it's not enough, but it doesn't have the heart to hurt people. I think it's not very old, so it probably wandered into the human world by mistake. We'll just wait for its parents to come and take it back to heal its wounds."
Despite its severe injuries, this fox still possessed enough power to harm several mortals. However, the little fox preferred to risk its life to steal chickens rather than target this family, which earned it higher regard from Rong Jiang.
"I hope so." Jiu Ya frowned slightly, a hint of worry appearing in her eyes. The little fox was so badly injured, and it was raining. I hope it can hold on.
Rong Jiang said in a low voice, "The rain will stop soon."
"Yes, tomorrow should be a good day, right?" Jiu Ya smiled, trying to dispel the inexplicable worry in her heart. "We should be able to reach the nearest city by tomorrow afternoon." She was already looking forward to the lively scene and delicious food in the city.
Rong Jiang nodded slightly, then closed her eyes, waiting for dawn. Her breathing gradually became long and steady, as if she had merged with the surrounding world.
As the first rays of sunlight streamed into the room, Jiu Ya and Rong Jiang opened their eyes at the same time.
The rain did indeed stop, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of earth and grass, with the occasional chirping of birds sounding particularly pleasant.
The door creaked open, followed a second by a scream from Mrs. Gu: "Ah! My chickens! Two are missing! What happened? Old Gu! Come quick and check our chicken coop!"
Brother Gu jogged to the chicken coop, shouting, "What's going on? What happened? I'm coming!" His voice was still hoarse from just waking up, but his steps were quick.
Inside the small chicken coop, several chickens were waiting to be released by their owner. On the stones that made up the coop were several muddy footprints, a few chicken feathers, and a large patch of blood. Looking down, on the ground next to the coop, there was a pile of chicken feathers and a few chicken bones. The bloodstains had been washed away by the rain, but were still clearly visible.
"Damn it! Who was the shameless bastard who stole my chickens?! And they ate them while they were still in our house?!" Sister-in-law Gu was both anxious and angry. "I told you to build the chicken coop higher, but you wouldn't listen. Now look what happened! Someone stole them!"
“No—” Brother Gu pointed helplessly at the crisscrossing footprints on the chicken coop, “Wife, take a closer look at those footprints, they’re not human footprints!” He squatted down and examined the footprints carefully, his brows furrowing more and more.
Sister-in-law Gu squinted and looked closely. "Indeed, they don't look like human footprints."
"They look like fox footprints to me." Brother Gu looked at them for a long time. Although the footprints were blurred by the rain, they were still clearly the paw prints of a canine.
When he was young, he learned hunting from the village hunters for a while, but he could never bring himself to hunt. How could he continue like this? So he simply gave up hunting and obediently returned to being a farmer tending the fields. He sighed softly, as if recalling those past events.
Sister-in-law Gu looked up, her eyes wide with disbelief. “We’re still several miles from the mountains! It was raining last night, and a fox came all the way here to steal two chickens? Why don’t you say it was a weasel?” She put her hands on her hips, clearly not satisfied with the explanation.
To be honest, when I think of stealing chickens, the first thing that comes to mind is weasels! Weasels have stolen chickens in the village before, but that mostly happened in winter when food was scarce.
“The footprints are definitely fox footprints! And—” Brother Gu leaned closer to sniff, muttering, “Is this fox injured? Why do I smell fox blood?” His sense of smell was always keen, and he could distinguish between chicken blood and fox blood. In addition to the fishy smell of chicken blood, there was indeed a trace of other bloody odor mixed in with the air.
"Alright, alright, you have a good nose, if you say it's a fox, then it's a fox." Aunt Gu waved her hand, not wanting to argue. Thankfully, it wasn't a human who stole it; if it had, and someone had been so blatant about it, they would have eaten their chickens. She would definitely be furious. "Luckily, only two of our chickens were ruined, otherwise, all my chickens would have been raised for nothing! Well, when you have time, you should raise the chicken coop a bit higher, in case the fox comes again, how many of our chickens will be left?"
"Understood!" Brother Gu replied, but his gaze involuntarily drifted towards the distant mountains, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes. An injured fox braving the heavy rain to steal chickens was no ordinary sight. He secretly decided he had to talk to the old hunter in the village about it, to see if something had happened in the mountains.
At that moment, Jiu Ya and Rong Jiang also came out of the room and happened to overhear this conversation. Jiu Ya and Rong Jiang exchanged a glance, understanding each other without saying a word. The safety of the little fox had become a shared concern in their hearts.
After giving instructions to her brother, Sister-in-law Gu opened the chicken coop and released the other chickens that had survived. Then she began to deal with the chicken feathers, blood, and bones scattered on the ground. She quickly picked up a broom, swept the scattered feathers into a pile, and then brought over a bucket of water to wash away the bloodstains on the ground.
Aunt Gu quickly tidied up the yard and started preparing breakfast. The clatter of pots and pans came from the kitchen, accompanied by the crackling of firewood, and wisps of smoke rose from the chimney, adding a touch of life to the morning.
Ms. Bai Yu, a dedicated and hardworking woman, naturally got up early to prepare breakfast for her husband. She tiptoed to the kitchen and, seeing that her husband's wife was already busy, went to help. The two worked together seamlessly, and soon prepared a simple breakfast: steaming hot rice porridge, several side dishes, and freshly baked pancakes.
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