Notes on Longevity

Chapter 153 There is a fox spirit in the brothel, named Miss Bai.

"Books, my books."

The scholar lay on the ground, utterly dejected. The woman, hearing him speak, turned to look at the scattered books behind her. With a gentle wave of her hand, the box stood there, and the books, pens, and ink were all returned to their rightful places by the woman's magic.

"Sir?"

The woman restored everything to its original state, but the scholar showed no improvement. She was utterly puzzled: This young master cares so much about books, and I've already restored him, so why is he still like this? Could it be that the woman cast some kind of spell on him?
So she stretched out her right hand, and a faint purple light appeared in her palm. She started from the back of the scholar's neck and moved along the back of his head to his forehead.

Finally, just as expected.

As the woman's hand passed over the scholar's Baihui point, a faint red light appeared.

She cast a spell, forcefully pulling the red light from the scholar's crown chakra, thinking to herself, "That old fox is truly cunning. Under the guise of casting a spell and repairing a book, she actually used it to cast a soul-capturing spell on the young master. You'd better watch out."

"Girl? Didn't you just leave? Why are you back? Wait, my book." After the woman dispelled the spell cast by the other woman, the scholar slowly woke up.

Once he recovered, he looked at the woman before him with some confusion, but then he remembered his book. So, he quickly got up, ran to the box, bent down, and picked up the book to examine it. After finding that it was undamaged, he breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, bowed to the woman, and thanked her: "Thank you so much for saving my book, young lady. I have no way to repay you. Please don't hesitate to ask if you need any help."

The woman smiled as she looked at the scholar who had come back to life: "No need, you saved me too."

She glanced at the scholar who had stood up and was staring at her, and smiled faintly: "Since everything's alright, I'll be going now. It's late, be careful."

After the woman finished speaking, she turned and left, leaving the scholar with a puzzled look on his face as he watched her walk away.

strange?
When did it become me saving her? Wasn't it her who saved me?
Fortunately, the book wasn't damaged by those foxes.

But where did those foxes come from? I have absolutely no recollection of them.
Dao Yisheng pouted, frowned, squinted, and twisted his face as he looked at the man in green and asked, "This story seems familiar, but I just can't remember where I've heard it before."

"How about it? Is this story alright?" The woman in green smiled as she looked at the flowers in the sea of ​​blossoms. Finally, she got up and walked along the flower path through the gaps in the green grass.

Dao Yisheng watched vaguely as the woman in green stood up, and with doubts in his heart, he slowly followed. "But you haven't finished telling your story yet, have you?"

Dao Yisheng clearly remembered the question that the woman in green had asked, but it was definitely not finished, since the reasons had not been fully explained.

"Not yet." The woman in green walked through the sea of ​​flowers, the various scents—delicate, delicate, and rich—wafting towards her. She savored this moment of tranquility. She imagined herself as a five or six-year-old girl, while Dao Yisheng, who had already attained human form, stood behind her.

She ran through a sea of ​​flowers in the afterglow of the setting sun, while he followed carefully with a look of doting affection, just like a grandmother, afraid that she would fall or get hurt.

The next day, the scholar entered the city.

"Young master, it's at least three months' journey from here to the capital. But judging from your attire, could you perhaps be a scholar?"

At a roadside stall, a scholar was eating plain noodles with vegetables while answering the stall owner's question: "I am not very talented, but I just passed the provincial examination."

"So you're going to the capital to take the imperial examination?" The stall owner put down his work and came to the scholar with surprise. "And you must be quite young, sir."

"I am seventeen years old this year." When the scholar saw the stall owner standing beside him, he quickly put down his bowl and chopsticks, nodded slightly, and bowed to the stall owner. "Young and promising, young and promising." He patted the scholar on the shoulder, sighed a few words, and went back to work.

The stall owner was a middle-aged man, but he was a little different from the other stall owners.

Most of the other stall owners were strong and muscular, unlike him, who looked like a frail middle-aged man. Because working long hours requires immense physical strength, someone in poor physical condition might not be able to last long.

The scholar was somewhat bewildered by the stall owner's tap. He saw someone, and stared in surprise at the person passing by, frowning as he wondered: Isn't this the girl who saved me last night? Is she also in this city?
"Come on, make way! Make way!"

He also remembered the several burly men walking beside her—the men who had helped him snatch the books from those foxes' mouths.

"Eh"

By the time he realized what had happened, they were already far away again.

So he quickly finished the noodles in his bowl, then slung his basket over his shoulder and prepared to leave. However, as he paid, the stall owner kept looking in the direction they were leaving.

This piqued the scholar's curiosity: "Stadium owner, do you know that person from earlier?"

Upon hearing the scholar's words, the stall owner put the copper coin in his hand behind his back and said, "Of course I know her. And it's not just me. If any man in this city says he doesn't know her or doesn't know Miss Bai, then he's definitely lying."

"What do you mean?" The scholar was even more confused.

"Of course, it's normal that you don't recognize him." The stall owner looked at the innocent-looking scholar and quickly added.

"This Miss Bai is the top courtesan of the biggest brothel in the city. She is skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing, and dancing. And that's just the worst of her. I heard—and I only heard—that Miss Bai is actually a fox demon."

The stall owner covered his mouth and whispered to the scholar.

The scholar frowned and wanted to speak when he heard the word "brothel," but the stall owner kept looking around and muttering to himself, so he had no choice but to shut up and listen.

However, when he heard the words "fox demon," he was first startled, then exclaimed in disbelief, "How could she be a fox demon?"

"Young master, could you please keep your voice down? I'm just trying to be helpful, don't get me into trouble!"

The scholar's loud voice attracted the attention of other stall owners and passersby nearby. He quickly covered the scholar's mouth, while he himself was also making "shh" noises.

"How did I harm you? Didn't you say he was a fox demon?" The scholar shook off the stall owner's hand, coughed a few times, and spoke.

"I've only heard about it," the stall owner said, shaking his head helplessly.

"I knew it! She saved me last night, how could she be a monster?" The scholar paid the money, slung his chest over his shoulder, and was about to leave. But before he left, he turned back and asked the stall owner, "How do I get to that brothel you mentioned?"

(End of this chapter)