Notes on Longevity

Chapter 152 He regarded the classics as his own life, and those who came before him had no face to see them.

The scent of rouge?
The scholar felt somewhat confused. He devoted himself to studying the classics and never went to places of prostitution. How could he possibly have the smell of rouge on him?

But before he could explain, the alluring woman's body glowed red, and her head seemed to turn into a fox's head. The scholar thought he was seeing things, but when he looked more closely, suddenly a huge red fox tail stood up from behind her.

The scholar was so frightened that he could barely hold the lantern. He turned and ran, but the woman wouldn't let him leave so easily.

The fox's tail suddenly grew longer, and its originally soft fur became extremely stiff, just like the quills on a hedgehog, sharp and prickly.

The scholar ran, but the many books in his chest slowed him down, and he stumbled along. Finally, he fell to the ground, right under the tree where he had just met the injured woman, but she was nowhere to be seen.

The scholar turned his head but couldn't see the woman. He was briefly confused, but then he thought of the fox demon behind him and couldn't care less about that. He immediately got up and tried to run away, but the tail had already caught up with him.

"Help me."

The scholar was entangled in the fox's tail and lifted into the air. The box on his back fell to the ground as he struggled. At this moment, he no longer cared about his current situation. He shouted at the books and writing implements scattered on the ground, "My books, and the pens and ink I spent a lot of money on!"

"You fox demon, let me go!"

The scholar tried to use his hands to support himself on the fox's tail, attempting to break free, but the fur on the fox's tail was incredibly tough. The erect fur was even more prickly, leaving him unsure of what to do. So, he could only shout at the woman.

The woman found it strange. Just now, this scholar was clearly very scared, so how come he suddenly dared to yell at her?
So, confused, she slowly approached with the people behind her.

She noticed the scholar's gaze fixed intently on the book and wondered if there was anything special about it.
She dragged the scholar along with her tail, bent down to pick up a book and looked at it; the two characters "Spring and Autumn Annals" on it looked sloppy.

"Fox demon, what are you doing? Put down my book!" The scholar was terrified when he saw the woman holding his book. How could such a filthy thing touch the sacred books of the ancients? This was utterly disrespectful to the ancients.

"Oh, young master, I didn't realize you value books more than your own life?" The woman understood the reason from the scholar's words, and she smiled. "Although she got away tonight, it seems you're more interesting than her now. This is going to be fun."

"What do you know, you monster! Books are the lifeblood of us scholars! Put them down right now, or else!"

The woman laughed as she watched the scholar struggle but couldn't find a way to break free. She patted the book in her hand, glanced at the other books scattered on the ground, and with her back to the people behind her, she looked at the scholar with disdain and said, "Pick up these books, and then... tear them out page by page."

"Yes."

The people behind her, having received the order, began to bend down and pick up the books from the ground. The scholar, upon hearing this, was even more startled. He no longer cared about the pricking tail, bracing his hands on the stiff fur, his hands bleeding from the blast, and shouted, "No! Put it down! You fox demon, you have a human body but do not perform human deeds. Heaven's justice is clear, you will suffer retribution."

"Retribution?" The woman watched as the men picked up the books, sneered, and raised the book in her hand at him, ready to tear it apart. "You still want to look at these books of yours, oh no, I mean think about how to save your manhood."

"No!" The scholar watched as the woman and several men slowly slid their hands away, feeling as if a thousand ants were biting his body. He struggled angrily yet helplessly, not even feeling the piercings in his palms. His mind was filled only with thoughts of the sacred books that were already being torn up.

What a pity, what a tragedy.

These books must have taken countless years, countless deaths, and countless hours of effort and manpower to write! And now they've been ruined by my own hands.

He now feels that he has let down those who came before him and those who will follow.

The book was destroyed, and he died. That was the only thought in his mind now.
"Stop." The sound of the book being torn reached the scholar's ears. He had completely given up struggling and was prepared to coexist with it. But just then, a weak voice came from behind a tree.

The group stopped moving, and the scholar, as if in a daze, looked in the direction from which the sound came. There he saw the woman he had just met stumbling out from behind the tree.

"Hey, isn't this our Miss Bai? So you haven't gone far after all?"

Upon seeing the woman, the men all threw their books aside and adopted an aggressive stance towards her.

The woman, on the other hand, was teasing the other woman.

"If you let him go, I'll go back with you."

The woman took a deep breath and walked towards them.

"Alright. Just come back with me." The woman retracted her tail, and the scholar landed on the ground in a daze, his book spine destroyed.

He lay there, ignoring them, his eyes filled with tears as he stared at the scattered books, lamenting in his heart, "I am truly incompetent. I failed to protect these sacred books. I don't know how I will face the sages when I go to them. I am filled with regret and shame."

"In that case, let's go back." The woman looked at the other woman coldly, got up to leave, but the other woman stopped her.

"Wait a minute, you can go back, but I need to seal your meridians first. Otherwise, if I release you, you'll run away again right after, which will put me in a difficult position."

The woman swayed her hips and circled around her. Peeking through the gap at the scholar lying on the ground, looking utterly dejected, she frowned and said, "Fine, he did save me just now. But you tore up his book, there has to be an explanation. Aren't you going to fix his book?"

“There’s a reason for this, and I’ll fix it.” The woman smiled and leaned close to the woman’s ear, then her expression suddenly changed, and she said in an icy tone, “But don’t try anything funny behind my back, or you can fix it yourself.”

"I'll fix it, as a way of repaying a favor," the woman said coldly.

"I was just kidding, how could I not believe you?" Upon hearing this, the woman immediately straightened up, waved her hand gently at the scattered books, and everything returned to normal.

As she was leaving, the woman looked at the book, which had been restored, but still saw no sign of the scholar. Somewhat puzzled, she said to the other woman, "You go first, I want to see him."

The woman smiled coquettishly at her and said, "Since you're not running away, I'll wait for you up ahead. By the way, I'm here this time, but next time might be different. Then, not only you, but even this young master might be implicated and lose his life."

"I understand. No, it won't happen," the woman replied.

"Let's go." After receiving the woman's reply, she led the men back the way they came, but she still looked back one last time, somewhat worried.

"Sir, are you okay?"

The woman approached the scholar, squatted down, and looked at him with some concern.

(End of this chapter)