Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

"Then you should go back and apologize properly to the people in the village."

"But... what if they see a monster like me and start beating me to death with their sticks...?"

“Your crime does not warrant death; I will plead for your life.”

"Then...we'll do as you say, sir..."

"Wuzhui, let's go back," Zhuang Xing said.

"The legendary life of Wuzhui, the demon-slaying horse, has been added to another chapter." Wuzhui stood tall and proud.

Zhuang Xing smiled and led the horse and the fox back to the village.

"Sir, you must plead for me..." The fox walked at Zhuang Xing's feet.

It was terrified of Zhuang Xing just a moment ago, but now it sees Zhuang Xing as its protector.

Zhuang Xing made a pact with it not to kill it, but those villagers, in a fit of anger, might just beat it to death.

As we approached the village, before even entering, we heard a noisy commotion.

Several burly men stood warily at the village entrance, carrying farm tools.

Sure enough, they all woke up.

Yunling was also standing guard at the village entrance, talking to someone.

When Yunling saw Zhuang Xing return, her eyes lit up and she waved.

The villagers were taken aback when they saw the Taoist priest, but when they saw the fox with copper coins wrapped around him, they immediately gathered around it, staring at it angrily.

It seems they've already heard about the fox demon stealing money from Yunling.

“Go, do what you’re supposed to do,” Zhuang Xing said.

The fox looked at Zhuang Xing with a slight tremor, gritted its teeth, and went to the villagers, untying the copper coins off its body.

With the crisp clinking of copper coins, the fox knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly to the villagers.

It didn't speak, but you could tell it was begging for forgiveness, kowtowing and admitting its sins.

She looked so pitiful, as if she could be beaten and scolded at will.

The villagers took a step back and looked at each other.

There was surprise in his eyes, and a hint of fear. Faced with such a strange and eerie event, it's hard for an ordinary person not to feel fear.

Zhuang Xing realized that the fox was playing a clever trick; it wanted Zhuang Xing to speak on its behalf.

If it, a fox spirit, were to suddenly speak human language, it might frighten the villagers.

But if Zhuang Xing, the Taoist priest, were to step forward, the situation would be different.

The reputation of a Taoist priest is obviously much more reliable than that of a fox. Even in small villages, most villagers would treat Taoist priests with great respect.

This is a world inhabited by demons. In the eyes of most people in this world, Taoist priests and Buddhist monks are people who can communicate with ghosts and gods, and they dare not offend them easily.

It knows how to leverage external forces and is also adept at navigating social situations.

However, Zhuang Xing had previously promised to plead for it, and he believed that admitting one's mistakes and correcting them was a great virtue. He did not want the fox to have any more disputes with the villagers.

"Fellow villagers, I was passing through the village on my way to have a pair of horseshoes made when I stumbled upon this fox spirit stealing money. That's why I went out and chased it back." Zhuang Xing stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Although this fox committed theft, it was repentant and came back with me to return all the money."

"Fellow villagers, can you forgive its mistake?"

"this..."

The villagers looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

Finally, an older person stepped forward.

"May I ask where you learned your master?"

"We come from Chenzhou and are disciples of Xuanqing Temple." Zhuang Xing took out his talismanic manual, "These are the talismanic manuals of the two of us."

The elder opened his eyes wide and looked at the talisman. He saw the official seal on it and immediately said respectfully, "Thank you, Daoist, for subduing this fox demon. Otherwise, we would have been unable to eat or sleep in peace."

The old man turned to the villagers and said, “You have all seen it. This fox demon has been completely subdued by the Taoist priest. If any of you have been robbed, come forward and count your money back. This fox demon has naturally been taught a lesson by the Taoist priest.”

Once the old man made up his mind, the others echoed his decision.

Several people who had lost money came forward to claim their money.

Fortunately, the fox didn't target every household. It only searched a few houses in the village that looked relatively large and had some money. There were no disputes over money, and each household quickly returned their money.

The fox bowed deeply to the old man and kowtowed three times to Zhuang Xing before getting up and hiding behind him.

Upon seeing this, the villagers became even more respectful to the Taoist priest, offering them money to express their gratitude for his help in resolving the village's difficulties.

Zhuang Xing accepted the money. Even when Xuanqing Temple went down the mountain to exorcise demons, they still had to charge money.

This is a customary rule.

However, the village pooled together three strings of cash for him, but he only accepted one string.

After receiving the money, he and Yunling each drew some protective charms and gave them to the villagers.

It was obvious that the villagers breathed a sigh of relief after accepting the talisman; they should be able to get a good night's sleep tonight.

However, the villagers still kept their distance from the fox. Apart from some children and onlookers, most people stayed far away.

Zhuang Xing knew that the villagers were afraid of demons and did not intend to stay any longer. He found the village blacksmith and asked him to forge horseshoes for his horse, Wuzhui.

Out of courtesy, the villagers politely invited the Taoist to stay and rest, but Zhuang Xing said he had to hurry on his way, so he shoeed his horse and left. The villagers then decided not to keep him any longer.

It takes about half an hour to forge a pair of horseshoes.

This includes the time spent repairing horseshoes and testing new horseshoes.

In fact, the keratin on a horse's hoof is similar to that on a human fingernail; if you don't trim it for a long time, it will feel uncomfortable.

When the blacksmith repairs the horse's hooves, the horse, Wuzhui, knows how to cooperate without needing any guidance.

"The Taoist priest's horse is truly intelligent," the blacksmith exclaimed.

“It’s very clever,” Zhuang Xing said. “Actually, we were able to catch the fox thanks to it.”

“Brother, I told you long ago, I can run faster than the wind,” said Wuzhui.

The villagers picked radish leaves and brought them to Wuzhui.

As the blacksmith trimmed its hooves, the black horse chewed its food.

“This is great, I like it,” said the horse.

Zhuang Xing sensed some changes in his surroundings; the fox's bewitching spell seemed to be losing its effect.

This spell shouldn't have worked on him, as Yunling was completely unaffected. However, due to some unknown reaction, he suddenly understood the horse's words.

"Wuzhui, I feel like I'm starting to not understand what you're saying anymore," Zhuang Xing asked. "Is there anything else you want to say? Like what you want to eat tomorrow, or if you feel unwell anywhere, I can help you adjust your diet."

"Brother, do that one more time, you know, that one!" The horse raised its front hooves again.

Zhuang Xing shrugged, then nudged the horse with his fist.

"It's a pleasure working with you," he said.

"Neigh~"

What did the horse say to him? What was it?

Zhuang Xing could only guess in his heart.

Chapter 202 The Unlucky Fox

The horseshoes were repaired and new horseshoes were nailed on before noon.

After packing their bags, they set off for the capital once again.

As they walked, Zhuang Xingcai told Yunling about the origins of the fox.

“I’ve already promised it I wouldn’t hand it over to the authorities,” Zhuang Xing said. “Do you agree to let me release it?”

“You’ve already promised it, so we have to keep our word,” Yunling said.

"It's just that I agreed to it, not that you agreed to it," Zhuang Xing said.

The fox suddenly stopped, its ears perked up, and it looked at the girl in front of it.

Seeing the fox's startled expression, Yunling smiled.

"Alright, looks like you don't want to catch it either," Zhuang Xing said with a smile.

"Zhuang Xing, stop teasing it and let it go," Yunling said.

“I was just about to let it go.” Zhuang Xing turned his head. “Fox, which state are you planning to go to?”

"Well... I haven't decided yet..." the fox said. "Which state are you two Taoist masters planning to go to?"

"We're going to Beijing and Zhuzhou. Would you like to come along?"

"If you don't mind, Daoist, could you give me a ride?" the fox said ingratiatingly. "But I won't go to Zhuzhou. There's an imperial city there, and the regulations might be even stricter than in Xizhou. I just want to find a quiet place with people to stay for a while. I don't want to keep wandering around like this."

"Fine, since I've already done this good deed, I might as well see it through." Zhuang Xing thought to himself that this fox was quite shameless; no wonder he could get along so well in the world. He was quite the smooth talker. "I'll give you a ride."

"Thank you very much, Daoist Master!" the fox said happily.

"Speaking of which, why exactly was your household registration discovered? That tiger demon has been dead for ten years, and you've lived in the human world for ten years. Household registrations are updated every three years, so why weren't you discovered before?"

“Master Dao, you don’t know this,” the fox complained. “Although the household registration is compiled every three years, there are set times when the household registration official will check the village’s household registration. The official will only come to check when the autumn tax is collected.”

"The investigation was not thorough at all. Sometimes they would just ask a couple of questions and that would be the end of it."

"Besides, Xizhou has had a major incident in the past. When Tiger Great Sage committed a crime, many people fled."

"So as long as the taxes are paid, the household registration officer won't ask any more questions."

"But who knew that this spring, before the spring plowing season, the officials suddenly came. They had never come in the spring before, but this year was the only time they came."

"When they came, they brought things like wheat and cotton. They said that every household would have to grow wheat and cotton, and they absolutely had to. They would count the number of people in the family and distribute the wheat and cotton seeds to each household."

"I had no idea they were coming. I wasn't prepared at all. I was drinking tea with some people under a tree outside the village when I got back and got caught red-handed."

"Among the soldiers who came to the village, there happened to be a cultivator. In my panic, I revealed my true colors."

"There were swords and spears everywhere, how could I dare to stay? I thought my life was more important, so I ran away without caring about anything else. I guess all my savings of ten years were confiscated."