Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person.

boom!

Bang bang bang!

Several bullets whizzed past, grazing Zhang Zhiwei's robes. The golden light protecting his body touched the bullets, scattering a few tiny, shimmering golden sparks.

"It's pretty much the same as I guessed." Zhang Zhiwei glanced down at the hem of his clothes.

This level of sporadic shooting, as long as it's not a dense hail of bullets, can be completely withstood by the Golden Light Mantra alone.

Cao Wenqing's face turned ashen, and he raised his Mauser rifle and fired several shots in quick succession.

The bullets' trajectories were deflected by the transformed golden light, immediately veering off course and embedding themselves one after another into the nearby tree trunks.

Cao Wenqing was shocked. He had seen many extraordinary people with supernatural abilities at his father's place. Even the chief Gu master of the Medicine Immortal Society was nothing more than someone who could be shot down with one bullet. But this Taoist priest in front of him could actually withstand bullets.

And that black fox, we thought it was just a wild fox that had gained sentience, but who knew it could both breathe out demonic winds to confuse people and summon clouds and rain to make guns misfire. What is its origin?

Zhang Zhiwei pressed on relentlessly, his intense pressure almost suffocating Cao Wenqing.

He fired a few shots in a panic, but all he heard from his right hand was a weak and hollow "click"—he was out of bullets.

"Eek! Whoa!"

In desperation, Cao Wenqing stumbled several times and, as if losing his mind, threw the Mauser pistol at Zhang Zhiwei, shouting in a trembling voice, "You, you..."

"Don't come any closer!"

Snapped!

Zhang Zhiwei caught the Mauser C96 and twirled it a few times with his fingers.

"Why would you just throw away something so good?"

"With this thing, I'm afraid there won't be many people who can save their lives by practicing martial arts in the future."

"You want it? I'll give it to you!" Cao Wenqing's eyes darted around, a wicked thought forming in his mind. "With such supernatural abilities, why don't you come with me and live a life of luxury? With my father as your backer, it's much better than you wandering around outside!"

"Wow, you really are..." Zhang Zhiwei casually tossed the pistol aside, and it crashed into the hard mountainside next to the woodland, breaking into pieces.

"We don't need to fight to the death, let's reconcile! Is it possible to reconcile?"

"My trip was supposed to be limited to punishing the wicked and eliminating evil, and I was told not to use any extraordinary means. Since I did, it means you are wicked enough. We usually deal with people like you using four words. Do you know what they are?"

"Wh-what?"

"Eliminate evil completely."

"You dare! My father is Cao..."

stab~

Zhang Zhiwei coiled electric arcs around his fingertips and, before Cao Wenqing could finish speaking, blasted lightning into the top of his head.

The pale mist and hazy fog drifted away, and the few remaining soldiers huddled together, none daring to advance further.

Zhang Zhiwei tilted his head, feeling like he had gotten himself into big trouble, but he couldn't feel at ease if he didn't kill him.

Chen Ruoan leaped down from the branch and looked down at the charred corpse beneath him, knowing that the journey ahead could no longer be taken at a leisurely pace like a leisurely stroll.

This town is no place to stay any longer; it's time to leave, or rather—to escape.

"Should I hear the rest of his father's name?" Zhang Zhiwei suddenly asked, unsure of the enemy's situation and the extent of their influence.

"They're probably local bullies who control several towns, not really powerful figures."

Few of the Cao family warlords in Anhui have made a name for themselves in history. Cao Wenqing's father was probably a small to medium-sized force that privately established its own armed forces and swaggered around the area, committing numerous atrocities.

We can't associate certain warlords with the surname Cao. Even Cao Kun shouldn't be in this godforsaken place.

"Keep heading northeast. Once we cross several important towns, we'll be safe."

Using her geographical knowledge from her previous life, Chen Ruoan planned her escape route.

He had always thought that traveling with Zhang Zhiwei would be a simple task, but he never expected that local forces would get involved, and the difficulty would suddenly be upgraded to hell level.

In the face of the times, even the future "Supreme Peak" and the Heavenly Daoist are nothing more than a speck of dust swept up by the tides of history. Even with the addition of a Xuanhu, their weight would be negligible.

Chen Ruoan set off again.

Zhang Zhiwei had considered that he might disobey his master's orders during his travels, but he never expected to disobey so thoroughly. He drew a few "speed talismans" and traversed dozens of miles in the blink of an eye.

In just a few days, the man and the fox traversed the entire Anhui province, approaching the border area of ​​Anhui, Henan, and Shandong provinces.

At this pace, Chen Ruoan will be able to reach the foot of Mount Tai in less than three days.

"I can't run anymore. I have to live up to my master's word 'sincerity'." Zhang Zhiwei slumped down at the highest point of the barren mountain, watching the vast dust rising from the mountain path.

A group of people traversed the countryside, leaving long trails of smoke behind them.

"It's bandits again," Chen Ruoan said.

At the intersection of three provinces, a power vacuum exists, leading to local authorities passing the buck and creating a situation where "all three provinces are in charge, yet none of them are in charge."

In addition, the Yellow River has repeatedly breached its banks and flooded, inundating farmland, destroying houses, displacing people, and causing them to lose their livelihoods.

Desperate farmers were either coerced into joining the bandits' ranks or voluntarily became outlaws to survive, leading to rampant banditry and thieves roaming freely in the area.

"Aaaaaah!"

Chen Ruoan's fox ears perked up as she heard a mournful cry coming from the mountainside. She flicked her tail and called out to Zhang Zhiwei, "Something's up down there. I'm going to sneak a peek."

Zhang Zhiwei didn't even look up, just brushed the mud off his Taoist robe: "Remember to call me if you can't beat them."

"Okay."

Chen Ruoan readily agreed, leaping down and flashing through the branches and leaves of the forest, instantly reaching the mountainside.

Hidden deep in the dense forest was a bandit's makeshift hideout. Withered branches and fallen leaves covered with tattered cloth, it blended in with the surrounding trees, and no clues could be found without close inspection.

A piercing wail and foul language were emanating from the hideout.

Chen Ruoan, lying on a tree branch, saw two burly bandits with fierce faces dragging a woman who was crying uncontrollably, tearing at her clothes, and uttering vulgar and offensive words.

"Damn it, he's even more of a beast than me."

Chen Ruoan cursed and exhaled a gust of demonic wind.

The wind swept up fallen leaves and pebbles, rushing straight to the hideout and causing the bandits to stagger and fall.

"Damn it, why is the wind blowing all of a sudden?" one of the bandits cursed, rubbing his eyes. Seeing that there was no movement around him, he lunged at the woman with lust, "Little wench, you can't escape!"

The two felt all the blood rushing to their groins, and they paid no attention to the strange things around them.

call--

Another gust of evil wind swept in, this time carrying a chilling aura that made the tattered cloths of the hideout flutter loudly.

The forest was shrouded in mist, and a thousand foxes roamed in the shadows, their claws and teeth menacing, their mournful cries echoing through the air.

Chen Ruoan's icy voice echoed from the mist: "How dare you commit such despicable acts in my territory?"

"Hey?"

There shouldn't be such fog in the forest when the sun is shining brightly. The two bandits noticed the shadowy figures in the fog and were terrified.

The two men had no time to spare for the woman and scrambled down the mountain.

The fog blocked their path, and amidst the swirling mist, a gigantic fox's mouth suddenly appeared, its sharp teeth like blades, piercing the necks of the two men.

Blood spurted out, and Chen Ruoan bent down to lick it, unconsciously letting out a satisfied sigh.

"No, no! After animals obtain Qi, are they really that interested in eating raw flesh and blood?"

bah bah bah!

Chen Ruoan spat out the sweet, metallic taste from the tip of his tongue and looked up to see the woman huddled in a pile of withered branches.

Her hair was mostly disheveled, her long, dark hair was covered with bits of grass, and she clutched her chest tightly with both hands. Tears streamed down her face, but she dared not wail, only suppressing soft sobs.

"Mountain, mountain god?" the woman asked the fox tentatively.

"That's one way to think about it. How were you kidnapped?"

"I was robbed on my way home to visit my family."

"A person from Shandong?"

"Yes···"

"It's on my way, I'll give you a ride."

···

After resting, Zhang Zhiwei followed the previous sounds and walked towards the mountainside. When he was halfway there, he saw a woman carrying a black fox slowly walking towards him on the mountain path ahead.

Chen Ruoan nestled in her arms, limbs outstretched, half her body leaning against the pair of soft, fragrant breasts. Her amber eyes were half-open, half-closed, and her tail lazily draped over the woman's arm, looking completely at ease.

Upon seeing the Taoist priest, the woman paused slightly, a hint of unease flashing in her eyes, but she still nodded slightly in acknowledgment.

"Master Daoist."

"Hmm." Zhang Zhiwei responded simply, his gaze falling on the fox's leisurely posture. "You certainly know how to enjoy life, you lecherous fox."

"Envious?"

Zhang Zhiwei said in a serious tone, "I am a practitioner of spiritual cultivation."

Who isn't a fox in the midst of spiritual practice?

Chen Ruoan retorted, "Then let me ask you, do foxes need to undergo tribulations of love during their cultivation? Ying Ning, Lian Xiang, Hong Yu, Xiao Cui... there are countless examples of fox girls who underwent tribulations recorded in ancient books and classics."

Zhang Zhiwei gave a deadpan look and complained:

"If you consider 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio' as the orthodox path of cultivation, you are probably the only fox in the world who would do that."

Chapter 17 A Little Fate

What happened to Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio?

Before the Qing Dynasty's classical Chinese novels, there were also legends of foxes overcoming love tribulations and becoming immortals, but due to the passage of time, no one cared about or remembered them.

Chen Ruoan remembered a saying that foxes undergo seven tribulations to become immortals, namely, enlightenment, lifespan, dog tribulation, military tribulation, human transformation, thunder tribulation, and love tribulation.

The lightning tribulation, which can terrify animals to the point of utter panic, even ranks before the tribulation of love, is not considered the final hurdle on the path to immortality.

Moreover, in legends and tales about foxes, the power of foxes is always inseparable from the word "deep affection," and matchmaking is a specialty of fox spirits.