A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

The little fox, clutching the roast chicken, remained frozen in place, gazing at the flowers with tearful eyes but no answer.

Tears were still clinging to his face, threatening to fall but not quite.

"Waaaaah..."

"Waaaaaaahh ...

After a brief silence, the little fox burst into an even more heart-wrenching and devastating wail!

While crying, it pounded the bed with its paws.

"Cuihua!!! My Cuihua!"

"You promised to wait for me?! What happened to your vows of eternal love?!"

"I've only been out here for a few years?! Huh?! A few years?!"

"They've even had a whole litter of kids?! And three males and three females at that?! Doesn't anyone care about family planning?!"

"I fucking...I fucking..."

The little fox cried until it hiccuped, cried until it couldn't breathe, cried until it began to doubt its very existence.

Ji Zuodao, standing to the side, slowly finished gnawing on the chicken wing and threw the bones into the trash can.

Then, after wiping his hands, he looked at the little fox who was crying so hard he was almost unconscious, blinked, and kindly reminded him:

"Um..."

"When you ran away from home back then, I don't think you told Cuihua?"

"You stole the Empress's secret stash of money in the middle of the night and then ran away by climbing over the wall."

"Cuihua came to the back mountain to look for you the next day, crying her eyes out, thinking that I had captured you to make medicine."

"After waiting for three years without any news, I finally went with Dazhuang."

He paused, then concluded:

Strictly speaking...

"You were the one who ran away first."

"They waited for you for three years; they've done more than enough."

Little fox: "..."

Looking at the little fox's "hopeless life, might as well bury it" attitude, Ji Zuodao finally had a change of heart, or rather, he got tired of playing with it.

He leisurely picked up the roast chicken that the little fox had just thrown away, patted off the non-existent dust, and happily finished the last few bites of meat before spitting the clean bones into the trash can with a "pui" sound.

Then he wiped his greasy mouth.

"Alright, I'm not teasing you anymore."

"Your Cuihua is still single."

"Really...really?!"

The little fox, on its deathbed, suddenly sat up, its ears perking up instantly, tears still clinging to its furry face.

Ji Zuodao nodded, then a wicked, mischievous grin—the kind that's so familiar to the little fox, the kind that tells you he's up to no good—revealed on his face.

"However..."

He drawled out the sound, savoring the little fox's fleeting, tense expression:

"Back then, your Cuihua came to our door crying her eyes out, asking if I had hidden you away to make medicine."

"When I saw this, I thought, 'This won't do. What kind of woman would she be, constantly thinking about a heartless man like you?'"

I told her that she was keeping a mistress on the side.

"She's living a happy life and doesn't want to leave. Tell her not to wait anymore and to find a good family to marry into."

"Hime, Sa, Michi!!!"

"Damn you, you idiot!!!"

The little fox's fur stood on end, its teeth bared, its little paws flailing wildly in the air, as if it wanted nothing more than to pounce on Ji Zuodao and give him a few slaps on the face.

"You fucking bastard! You fucking bastard!! I'll fight you to the death!!!"

"Hey, calm down, calm down."

Ji Zuodao reached out and easily pinned down the little fox that was trying to attack with a single finger.

"Let me finish."

"After hearing this, your Cuihua didn't say anything, wiped away her tears, and turned around and went home."

"After returning home, he secluded himself, refused visitors, and devoted himself to diligent study and practice."

"Coincidentally, the Empress was in a good mood at that time, perhaps because she was angry that you stole her secret stash of money, and she personally disciplined you."

"Before I came down the mountain, I heard that Cuihua had already touched the edge of the Buddha's image."

He paused, looked at the little fox, his eyes filled with even more sympathy, mixed with a hint of schadenfreude:

"So, you little show-off, good luck to you."

"You've offended two women in one go—one is your mistress, because of her secret stash of money; the other is your Cuihua, because of her scumbag boyfriend."

Ji Zuodao patted the little fox's head, his tone sincere:

"You'll be in for a rough time later..."

The little fox was about to open its mouth and pour out all the essence of traditional Chinese culture it had learned in its life, but when it heard the word "later," it deflated instantly like a punctured balloon.

Its ears drooped, its tail hung listlessly, and its voice was so low it was almost inaudible, tinged with a sob:

"What future... what future? I don't even have many years left to live..."

"Waaah... Brother Dao, after I die, skin me alive and sell my skin. It'll be worth something, just consider it... just consider it as returning the Empress's secret stash..."

"As for Cuihua..."

The little fox sniffled, and tears welled up in its eyes again.

"Tell her to forget me, just pretend I never existed..."

"Oh?"

Ji Zuodao raised an eyebrow and chuckled:

"Want to end it all? Deserting the battlefield?"

He shook his head, his smile malicious.

"Sorry, no way."

"I'm determined to watch this spectacle."

"what?"

The little fox paused for a moment, then suddenly realized:

"Huh...what does that mean?"

"Is there... any hope for my health?"

Ji Zuodao stroked his chin, his tone returning to its usual smug indifference:

"It's beyond saving. Once the foundation is destroyed, it's destroyed. Even Hua Tuo himself would have to shake his head in disapproval."

"However..."

He paused, looking into the little fox's eyes, which had regained a little light but were still filled with trepidation, and slowly said:

"You're lucky."

"Years ago, I was quite curious once. You're the kind of person who gets a sore butt even after sitting in meditation for more than three incense sticks, how come you've transformed in less than twenty years?"

Ji Zuodao clicked his tongue, as if recalling some interesting past events:

"I'm a very curious person."

"It just so happened to be your birthday that day. You got completely drunk and hugged a big tree, shouting, 'Cuihua, I love you!'"

"I just casually extracted some of the primordial essence blood to go back and study it to see what exactly happened."

The little fox's eyes gradually widened:

"That time on my twentieth birthday?! No wonder I felt so unwell the next day, with a sore back, aching legs, and cramps. I thought some fox had taken advantage of me! Turns out it was you! Ji Zuodao, you bastard!!!"

"Hey, don't interrupt."

Ji Zuodao waved his hand.

"It just so happened that around that time, my master chef went abroad for an exchange program and learned a bit about... cloning? Yes, cloning technology. He found it interesting and got involved to play around with it too."

"We struggled for quite a while, and in the end..."

Ji Zuodao reached into the bulging human skin bag at his waist and rummaged around.

Then, I pulled one out—

With its bright red, glossy fur, eyes closed, and motionless, the little fox resembled a beautiful plush toy.

"Here it is."

Ji Zuodao casually tossed the "stuffed toy" onto the blanket in front of the little fox:

"It's soulless, just an empty shell. I usually use it as a foot warmer; it's quite warm."

The little fox stared blankly at the fox in front of it that looked almost exactly like itself, its mind a little confused.

Ji Zuodao pointed to the body, speaking casually:

"Pick up your half-baked ability to project your spirit and practice it properly."

"Once you've mastered it, your soul will leave your body and enter it."

"If we're lucky..."

He grinned:

"Maybe we can start over."

The little fox looked at the ownerless body in front of it, which shared the same origin as itself.

He looked up again and saw Ji Zuodao's smug, smiling face.

It opened its mouth, as if it wanted to curse.

But then my nose tingled, and tears welled up uncontrollably again.

This time, it wasn't despair, it wasn't resentment.

It is a narrow escape from disaster, a miraculous turn of events, a tiny but powerful light that illuminates the rest of one's life after overcoming countless obstacles.

"Ji Zuodao..." The little fox sniffed, her voice thick with sobs, and muttered under her breath:

"You bastard..."