Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

As the sun set, a fiery cloud spread across the horizon.

At the end of the official road, an outrageously large ancient banyan tree stood across the middle of the road.

This tree must be possessed by a spirit; its trunk is so thick that dozens of people holding hands couldn't encircle it, and its aerial roots hang down like an old man's beard, densely packed, blocking half of the road.

The strangest thing is that a three-story wooden building was actually embedded in the tree canopy.

The wooden building, built using some unknown method, had grown together with the tree branches. With its upturned eaves and corners, it was adorned with two strings of large red lanterns that swayed in the wind, giving it an indescribable eerie feel.

The plaque bears four large, wildly cursive characters: Qifeng Inn.

"My goodness..."

Gu Xiang craned his neck, his mouth agape wide enough to fit an egg, his book box nearly slipping off his back. "This...this is a place for people to live? You can build houses in trees?"

Su Qing glanced at him, fanning herself with a folding fan: "You're making a fuss over nothing. Even in the capital, there are houses built on clouds. This is nothing."

She lifted her foot and walked down the steps at the base of the tree. The wooden planks creaked under her feet, making her teeth ache.

"Let's go, we'll stay here tonight."

Gu Xiang swallowed hard, gripping the straps of the book box tightly, as if he wanted to embed the book box into his flesh.

This place is gloomy and doesn't look like a proper inn at all; it looks more like a shady inn run by monsters in a storybook.

Upon entering the lobby, a wave of heat mixed with the smell of alcohol hit you.

It was incredibly noisy inside, with people playing drinking games, cursing, and smashing bowls—it was so loud it felt like the roof was going to be blown off.

The seated guests were also strangely shaped: there were burly men carrying ghost-head sabers, swordsmen whose faces were obscured by straw hats, and several scantily clad women laughing hysterically.

Gu Xiang shrank back, wishing he could hide behind Su Qing.

Su Qing, on the other hand, was in her element. She swaggered to the counter and tapped her folding fan on it.

"Innkeeper, I'd like to stay at the inn."

The innkeeper, a still-attractive middle-aged woman, was cracking melon seeds and didn't even lift her eyelids: "We're full, please go somewhere else."

Without wasting words, Su Qing flicked her wrist, and a gold leaf gently landed on the counter.

The innkeeper's eyes lit up instantly. He spat out a melon seed shell and grinned so hard his face powder practically fell off: "Oh my, this young master is truly a handsome man! I was blind just now. There just happened to be a spare room in the top-tier section, reserved especially for you!"

She reached out to touch the gold leaf.

Su Qing pressed down on the gold leaf with her folding fan, a half-smile on her face: "One room?"

"This..." The innkeeper glanced at the poor-looking scholar behind Su Qing, "You two...would you like two rooms?"

Gu Xiang quickly poked his head out and whispered, "Brother Su, two rooms! We absolutely need two rooms!"

Although he now suspects he's gay, it's precisely because of this suspicion that he needs to avoid any appearance of impropriety!

If a man and a woman are alone in a room, what if Su Qing does something to him at night, or he does something to Su Qing? How can they live their lives like that?

Su Qing glanced back at him, a mischievous smile playing on her lips, then turned to the innkeeper and said, "Just one room. My brother here is a coward, afraid of the dark, he can't sleep without me."

"Who...who's afraid of the dark!" Gu Xiang's face turned bright red. Just as he was about to argue, Su Qing pushed Jin Yezi over.

"Also, bring me all the good food and wine, especially chicken, give me two. They should be plump and tender."

The shopkeeper beamed, grabbed the gold leaves, and tucked them into his pocket: "Alright! Young master, please go upstairs!"

Gu Xiang watched the gold leaf disappear into the shopkeeper's bottomless ravine, her heart bleeding.

That's gold!

That's enough to feed the entire Gu family village for three years!

They changed rooms already?

"Brother Su... this is too much of a waste..." Gu Xiang muttered from behind, "Actually, we could sleep in the woodshed, or sleep on the floor..."

"Shut up." Su Qing didn't even turn his head. "This young master is too delicate and precious to sleep in the woodshed. If you want to go, I won't stop you."

Gu Xiang immediately shut up.

In this desolate wilderness, it's better to kill him than to leave him to sleep alone in the woodshed.

……

At dinner time, the lobby was bustling with noise.

Su Qing chose a seat by the window. The table was full of big fish and meat, and the most eye-catching were two roasted chickens that were glistening with oil.

She didn't even use chopsticks; she simply tore off a chicken leg, took a bite, and squinted her eyes in satisfaction.

He looked exactly like a fox who had successfully stolen a fish.

Gu Xiang sat opposite, looking at the table full of dishes, not daring to pick up her chopsticks.

"Eat up, what are you standing there for? Are you afraid I'm poisoned?" Su Qing threw another chicken leg into Gu Xiang's bowl.

Gu Xiang looked at the chicken leg in the bowl, his Adam's apple bobbing.

He was indeed hungry; after walking all day, his stomach was rumbling with hunger.

"Thank you so much, Brother Su."

He picked up a chicken leg and had just taken a bite when a crisp sound suddenly came from the center of the hall.

"Snapped!"

The gavel struck, and the entire hall fell silent instantly.

An old storyteller with a goatee stood on the stage, waving a tattered fan and clearing his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we will not speak of the grudges of the martial world, nor of the political intrigues of the imperial court. We will tell a story from long ago, a strange tale that took place at Luofeng Slope—'The Monk Who Gouged Out His Heart'!"

Upon hearing the words "Luofengpo," Gu Xiang's ears perked up.

Su Qing paused for a moment, then continued gnawing on her chicken wing as if nothing had happened, her gaze drifting towards the storyteller.

"Three hundred years ago, there was a scholar named Bhikkhu. This Bhikkhu was handsome, with clear eyebrows and bright eyes. What was even more remarkable was that he was born with a seven-aperture exquisite mind, which could understand the spirit of all things."

The storyteller's voice, with its varied intonation, whetted everyone's appetite.

"This monk was on his way to the capital for the imperial examination. He passed by Luofeng Slope and rescued an injured white fox. The white fox was a demon who had cultivated for a thousand years and was only one step away from transforming into a human. Seeing that the monk was handsome and had a clever mind, she was moved by worldly desires and transformed into a beautiful woman to marry the monk."

Gu Xiang listened so intently that he forgot to chew his chicken leg.

"The two had been in love for three years, but the fox demon's time to transform into human form had come. If she could not completely shed her demonic form, she would be struck by heavenly lightning and her soul would be scattered. The only way was to eat a human heart, and it had to be a seven-aperture exquisite heart that she willingly offered."

A collective gasp filled the lobby.

"The fox spirit then pretended to be in unbearable pain in her chest, wailing every day. The monk, heartbroken for his wife, sought medical help everywhere, but to no avail. Finally, the fox spirit, with tears in her eyes, said to him, 'My lord, only a human heart can cure my illness.'"

Gu Xiang's chopsticks trembled slightly.

The monk asked, "Whose heart?" The fox spirit pointed to his chest and said, "Your heart."

"Ah!" someone couldn't help but exclaim.

The storyteller sighed, his tone turning sorrowful: "That monk was a lovesick fool. Upon hearing this, without a word, he picked up a pair of scissors and ripped open his own chest!"

He held the still-beating, warm heart in his hands and offered it to the fox demon, smiling as he said, "Wife, eat it while it's hot, and the pain will go away."

"The fox demon swallowed the human heart with tears in her eyes, overcame her tribulation, and transformed into an immortal. The monk, however, lay in a pool of blood, his chest empty, his eyes wide open in death!"

"Snapped!"

The gavel struck again.

"This is what they call: a foolish heart given to a faithless lover; one can paint the skin and bones, but not the soul. A pitiful, love-struck monk, his passionate blood fed to a beast!"

The lobby was deathly silent, then erupted in a murmur of sighs.

Some people cursed the fox demon for being vicious, while others laughed at the scholar for being a fool.

Gu Xiang sat there, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

He was still clutching the half-eaten chicken leg in his hand, looking both comical and pitiful.

"It's...it's too tragic..." Gu Xiang sobbed, "That scholar...how could he be so foolish...waaaaah..."

Su Qing slowly wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth, and looked at Gu Xiang, who was crying her eyes out, with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"Brother Gu, is it really necessary? It's just a story."

Gu Xiang sniffed, her eyes red as she glared at Su Qing: "How could it be so serious! That was a human life! That was true love! How could true love be so cruelly trampled on!"

Su Qing smiled, poured herself a glass of wine, and swirled it in the glass: "What about you?"

"What?" Gu Xiang was taken aback.

Su Qing leaned forward, staring into Gu Xiang's eyes: "If you encountered such a stunningly beautiful fox demon, and she wanted your heart, would you give it to her?"

Gu Xiang was stunned.

Looking into Su Qing's seemingly smiling yet enigmatic eyes, he suddenly recalled the scene he had witnessed by the stream earlier.

Those dazzlingly white legs, those alluring eyes...

If Su Qing is that fox demon...

Gu Xiang shuddered violently, shaking his head to banish the terrible thought.

He slammed the chicken leg into the bowl and angrily said, "No! Absolutely not!"

"Oh? Why?" Su Qing raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you say it was mutual affection?"

"Even mutual love can't be faked!" Gu Xiang retorted, her face righteous. "If it's true love, how could one bear to take the other's life? That fox demon deceived her husband for her own immortality—that's selfishness! That's wickedness!"

He became more and more excited as he spoke, spittle flying everywhere.

"And that scholar! He's a fool too! Our bodies and hair are gifts from our parents, how can he so easily harm himself for a woman? What will happen to his parents if he dies? What will happen to his ambitions after ten years of hard study? He's utterly stupid!"

As Su Qing listened to Gu Xiang's impassioned speech, the smile in her eyes deepened.

This idiot has pretty sound values.

but……

Su Qing put down her wine glass and suddenly leaned closer to Gu Xiang.

Their faces were so close that Gu Xiang could see the fine downy hairs on Su Qing's face and smell her faint fragrance.

The fragrance wasn't like the smell of cosmetics; it was more like... a scent that could make you lose your mind and become infatuated.

Gu Xiang's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively shrank back: "Brother Su... what are you doing?"

Su Qing stared into his eyes, her voice low and slightly husky, magnetic, like a feather gently brushing against the tip of her heart.

"Gu Xiang, have you ever considered that what the storyteller said might not be true?"

"Wh...what do you mean?" Gu Xiang stammered.

Su Qing extended a finger and gently tapped Gu Xiang's chest. That spot was where his heart was beating.

"Perhaps that fox demon wasn't lying at all. She just wanted to eat human hearts, because human hearts... really taste delicious."

Gu Xiang felt a burning sensation on the spot on his chest where the needle had been, and his scalp tingled.

Su Qing's lips curled into a strange smile, and her eyes became unfathomable, as if she could suck one's soul into them.

She leaned close to Gu Xiang's ear, her breath sweet as orchids:

"Actually... I'm also a fox spirit in disguise. The reason I took you to the capital this time was to fatten you up, and then... to dig out your heart and eat it."

boom!

A loud bang echoed in Gu Xiang's mind.

He stiffly turned his head to look at Su Qing, who was standing right in front of him.

The lamplight flickered, making Su Qing's face appear somewhat blurry in the shadows.

Those peach blossom eyes gleamed with an eerie light, their pupils seemingly bulging upwards, much like... the eyes of a wild beast.

The surrounding noise seemed to disappear in an instant.

Gu Xiang could only hear the sound of her heart pounding wildly, as if it were about to burst out of her chest.

Fox...fox spirit?

Is Su Qing a vixen?