The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

The fox recalled carefully that on the day of the goose race, it witnessed the entire process through the connection of incense and did not notice any external intervention. In the end, the goose was able to win the championship simply because it was the best.

Therefore, it seems either the Three Mountains' methods are too sophisticated, or they don't directly affect the living. The fox leans towards the latter. Because according to the voice, the Three Mountains are in charge of the underworld and govern the souls of the dead, so the living are naturally not under their direct jurisdiction.

Looking at Chen Atang's case, the Three Mountains punished the geese to repay the debt of gratitude, which was both to settle the karmic debt and to temper the geese's character. According to this style of doing things, the incense master who steals yin energy and murders the living will definitely not be on the same path as the Three Mountains.

The fox pondered for a while but couldn't figure it out, so it simply put it out of its mind. It looked up at the old man in plain clothes: "Since you can see unseen virtues and read faces, have you ever looked at your own face?"

"Judging others, not yourself." The old man in plain clothes shook his head.

"Do you have any memories of your past with this body?"

"Naturally, there isn't."

The fox nodded: "I've finished asking my questions. You have a new guest coming in, so I won't bother you any longer."

The old man in plain clothes looked surprised: "You're not going to punish me?"

A hint of mockery flashed in the fox's narrow eyes: "The fates of those two were their own fault. What does it have to do with you? Your retribution is not here."

"Let's wait and see."

The fox gradually disappeared into the darkness, leaving only a lingering echo of laughter.

The candlelight flickered gently, and the old man in plain clothes was stunned, not understanding why.

Before he could figure it out, heavy footsteps approached. The old man in plain clothes put away the fox spirit's teacup, took another clean cup, filled it with hot tea, and waited until the footsteps reached the door before speaking calmly:

"Come in."

A woman with a round face and plump cheeks, wearing makeup and a brightly colored cloth skirt walked in and plopped down on a stool.

"Sir, I have an urgent matter to attend to." She hadn't even caught her breath before she blurted out the words.

"No rush, speak slowly." The old man in plain clothes pushed the teacup towards him.

The woman didn't stand on ceremony, downing her drink in one gulp, and continued, "Sir, do you know Scholar Xu?"

"Recently, Mr. Xu has become very famous in the city, and I have heard about him."

"Oh dear, sir, you've heard of it? That's wonderful! Mr. Xu is getting married!"

The old man in plain clothes smiled and said, "This is a joyous occasion."

"It's a happy occasion, but this marriage..." The matchmaker looked around, then leaned closer. "You're marrying a ghost."

The old man in plain clothes remained calm: "So you found me here?"

"Oh dear, yes, such an evil matter, what ordinary doctor would dare to handle it? We can only come to you for help."

The old man in plain clothes took a sip of tea, and his right eyelid twitched, making him inexplicably startled.

"Could this be the retribution the fox spirit spoke of?"

"Tell me your story from the beginning."

"Alright." The matchmaker seemed to have been looking for someone to talk to for a long time. "Xu Sheng and E Niang have been in love for a long time. Xu Sheng was born into wealth and nobility, but unfortunately his father died early and he is still young, so there is no one to take charge of his family."

The matchmaker clicked her tongue and sighed, "An orphan and a widow, guarding a mountain of gold, how could they not attract unwanted attention...?"

The old man in plain clothes gently tapped the table: "Get to the point."

"Well, in short, the Xu family has fallen on hard times, and their former friends have stopped contacting them. Only Xu's mother has been able to raise Xu Sheng with great difficulty."

The matchmaker summarized what she had just said and continued, "It was under these circumstances that Xu Sheng met E Niang. They fell in love at first sight, and E Niang was captivated by Xu Sheng's talent, so she secretly pledged her life to him."

"This matter was the talk of the town before, the Cheng family's daughter falling in love with a poor scholar, it's like a story from a folk tale..."

The old man in plain clothes continued to tap on the table.

"In short, after a while of commotion, Master Cheng still couldn't go against his daughter's wishes, and Xu Sheng lived up to expectations, passing the imperial examination and becoming a scholar. The two were a perfect match, and their lives should have been smooth sailing, but..."

The matchmaker went around in circles and finally got to the point: "If you ask me, E'niang was such a good woman. How could she have such a short life? A perfectly good person, she became a ghost."

"When E'niang mysteriously disappeared, everyone searched for her for a long time and exhausted themselves. Even Master Cheng was about to give up, but Xu Sheng did not give up. Then one day, Xu Sheng came home and told his mother that he had seen E'niang and that he wanted to marry her."

The old man in plain clothes somewhat regretted pouring tea for the matchmaker.

"Later, everyone couldn't persuade him otherwise, saying that he had hysteria, so they invited me over. Originally, I was there to comfort him, but when I arrived on the first day, everyone was still acting with me. When I arrived on the second day, they were all crying their hearts out and urging me to get the two of them married as soon as possible."

"So I also met Eniang. I think these two children are sincere, and the girl's soul doesn't harm people. She looks no different from a living person. Let's arrange a marriage."

"But you don't know how this marriage is arranged."

The matchmaker slapped her thigh: "The three letters and six rites, the wedding ceremony—these all have rules. But those rules are for the living. Now the bride is a ghost! How can we choose an auspicious time, how can we perform the wedding ceremony, how can we enter the bridal chamber? What if we offend something and cause trouble?"

As she spoke, she took out a red envelope from her sleeve and placed it respectfully on the table.

"The Cheng family asked me to invite the fortune teller. They said he is the most capable person in the area, able to determine good and bad fortune, set rules, ward off evil spirits, and judge marriage compatibility. There is nothing he cannot handle. They want him to take the lead in this marriage; he will decide what to do."

The old man in plain clothes pondered for a moment: "Have you ever seen what that woman looked like when she was alive?"

"I haven't seen it myself, but Cheng's parents have. It's their own flesh and blood; they can't possibly not recognize their own child, can they?"

"Hiss, sir, do you suspect that E'niang is a vengeful ghost? Since the Mid-Autumn Festival, there have been quite a few ghost stories; everyone's gotten used to them. We can't afford any problems, can we? The Peach Goddess is watching." The matchmaker was stumped. She frowned and looked at the old man in plain clothes for help. "How about we take E'niang with us tomorrow night to pray before the Peach Goddess?"

"Have any strangers visited the Xu family in the past few days?"

"Of course there are. Everyone wants to see what's going on, but the Xu family has already closed their doors and won't let anyone in."

"Was there a handsome man dressed in blue who came to the door?" the old man in plain clothes asked more specifically.

"Never seen it before."

The old man in plain clothes was filled with mixed emotions. The matter seemed to be without any problems. The course of events and his own motives were all reasonable, so why was he still uneasy?

Could something have gone wrong somewhere else?

"Did you bring their birth dates and times?"

"Yes, I brought it."

The matchmaker then pulled out a red invitation card from her sleeve: "These are the birth certificates from both families. Please take a look, sir."

The old man in plain clothes suppressed his thoughts and slowly said, "Alright, I'll go to the Xu family tomorrow, see that girl's soul, and then we'll decide on a plan."

……

Wildflower Honey Shop.

The queen bee sat upright at the table, tilting her head to listen, and wrote two words on the unfolded letter paper.

The Xu family.

She blew on it gently, folded it up, and put it into a small bamboo tube.

"When will it be given to those three?"

"Observe the fox's mood."