Becoming a Fox Spirit from Under One Person.

What is it?

Chen Ruoan couldn't say it either.

The incense had burned out, leaving only pale ash in the burner. A wisp of divine intent dissipated, and the black-clad youth transformed back into a fox head, appearing above the lingering smoke above the ashes.

Wei Shufen waved gently and smiled as she said goodbye.

The fox nodded, and the green smoke dissipated into a vortex, condensing towards the center until it transformed into an invisible wisp of pure energy.

Some people break off their engagements and create a "three-year agreement," while others agree to spend three years just to date a fox. The story unfolds in truly bizarre ways.

With her mind at ease, Chen Ruoan returned to Longhu Mountain.

A fox-like figure darted gracefully between the buildings, its gait quite distinctive; it always raised its front paws high before gently lowering them. The Taoist priests of the Zhengyi sect, upon seeing this, remarked that it appeared to be eccentric and carefree in its joy.

Zhang Zhiwei stood under the eaves, his hands tucked into his sleeves, watching quietly. He asked in a low voice, "What's wrong with this fox? Why is it so happy?"

Zhang Huaiyi, who was standing nearby, replied, "Maybe it's because of that white fox?"

“That makes sense.” Zhang Zhiwei nodded in agreement.

This is a special period.

···

On a snowy day, Chen Ruoan said he wanted to meditate in the underworld, and Zhang Zhiwei volunteered to protect him, which was a good opportunity to shirk the chores assigned by his master.

The fox and the Taoist priest hit it off immediately. Chen Ruoan focused his mind, while Zhang Zhiwei blatantly slacked off.

"Ah—" After a while, the Taoist priest yawned absentmindedly and muttered listlessly, "Meditation takes too long and is really exhausting. I wonder what this fox is trying to relieve in its state of mind?"

···

In Qinghe Miao Village, Wei Shufen spread her hands out, guiding the thick Yin Qi with her fingertips, which gathered into a pool of viscous liquid in her palms.

"Is it done?" she asked.

Chen Ruoan used his golden eyes to see through the illusion, then nodded and explained, "It's done. It's a Li Gu, a type of Shun Qing Gu. The person who obtains the Gu can exert several times the power by overdrawing their life force."

Wei Shufen rubbed her palms together: "Yes, a desperate gamble, a sorrowful yet courageous curse."

The fox looked at the black Gu, and the life-threatening technique it used was common among the methods of the supernatural. It could even convey the tragic grandeur of a life-or-death battle.

Indeed, being immersed in literature will bring out a unique melancholy quality in people.

The wind is quite noisy today.

Yet the wind seemed to be weeping.

After demonstrating the Li Gu, Wei Shufen took out another Gu cup.

The bowl is dark brown all over, with a round belly and short legs. The surface is engraved with simple patterns of the five poisonous creatures. The bowl is fitted with a lid with a small snake knob. There are small vent holes on both sides. The inner wall is rough and has a faint fishy smell.

The Qinghe Gu Gu, a sacred object passed down for generations by Miao Gu masters.

"It suddenly occurred to me that the price that the human body cannot bear should be borne by the artifact. The circulation of the five elements can be achieved through the method of the five saints contending, and then completed within the sacred object—"

The original Gu can be transformed into any kind of Gu poison.

"Impressive." Chen Ruoan was once again amazed by the top-notch talent of the "Thirty-Six Thieves".

"Didn't you teach them?" Wei Shufen glanced behind her. "If anyone's really good, it's you."

"I'm really amazing," Chen Ruoan reluctantly admitted.

Wei Shufen took out another letter from her bosom and stuffed it into the fox's arms.

"This is?"

Before she could explain, the girl ran away in a flash.

Chen Ruoan opened the envelope. Inside was a short, passionate poem, its content fiery and its emotions pure. Because the sentiments it expressed were so direct, this letter had the potential to become a black mark on history.

Having been poisoned by the information age for so long in her past life, the fox finds confessions of love to be nothing more than a second of electronic information and a red exclamation mark. She can hardly recall the naivety mixed in with a love letter.

Chen Ruoan placed the envelope under the ancestral tablet.

Ah, how wonderful it was when the days passed slowly.

As the fox gets to know Wei Shufen better, his vague feelings become clearer. He does have feelings for her, but they are still far from romantic love.

By the spring of the following year, the mountains outside Qinghe Village had turned green. Chen Ruoan sat high on the mountaintop, while a girl at the foot of the mountain was carrying a bamboo basket and picking herbs in the wild. A fox pendant hung from the bottom of the basket and swayed back and forth.

As they watched, a powerful feeling suddenly struck the fox's heart.

"I think I understand."

Snapped!

Chen Ruoan clapped his hands, suddenly realizing what was going on.

This has nothing to do with gender. Imagine someone whose heart flutters, whose first love, and whose first tenderness in growing up are all related to you. There are no comparisons with exes, no lingering thorns of old habits, no regrets hidden in the past. It's a completely clean start from scratch.

You accompanied her as she grew from a naive, clumsy, sensitive, and stubborn girl to a confident, gentle, and worldly-wise woman. Many of her little habits and preferences bear your mark.

The cost of getting along with her is extremely low. You don't need to guess, fight, or work things out until you're exhausted. She understands your temperament and adapts to your pace. You don't need to readjust to another person's values ​​and lifestyle.

There are no complicated calculations or adult entanglements between you; it's simple, direct, and pure. She can heal all your social fatigue and emotional exhaustion. She's a version that belongs only to you, not a generic mature lover; her exclusivity is unique.

···

I've fallen into another trap; this damn nurturing system.

This development model is both fascinating and dangerous. If the other party is not given enough respect and independent space, it can easily turn into an emotional tyranny under the influence of "control desire".

Chen Ruoan sat cross-legged on the mountaintop and began to reflect.

"I don't think I've caused any strange effects."

Fortunately, although the fox's methods are insidious, its nature is upright.

Chapter 84 Kun Kun, how did you end up dying?

Wei Shufen tiptoed to pick the herbs on the cliff face, but her fingers couldn't reach them after several attempts. She jumped up a few times, and the delicate stem and leaves of the herb slowly bowed and rested on the girl's slender wrist.

Looking up, the fox pendant, receiving a wisp of divine intent, leaped and landed in the bamboo basket behind Wei Shufen.

Besides herbs, the basket also contained wintersweet, pine branches, peach blossoms, and wisteria. Shufen said that once the chickens and ducks on the altar got tired of the food, she could add some fresh and elegant flowers to cleanse the palate and reduce the greasiness.

With nothing else to do in Qinghe Miao Village, Wei Shufen strolled along the mountain path, humming a lyrical tune.

The fox nestled in a bamboo basket, watching her long, flowing hair flutter in the mountain breeze, the orchids swaying green and the wild berries dotting the roadside red, and the bluestone path winding around the bamboo house towards the depths of the clouds.

“Grandma said she wants to see you,” Wei Shufen said.

Chen Ruoan knew that the "grandmother" the girl mentioned was the Grand Gu Master's prized disciple, who was about to take over the position of "Grand Gu Master".

"Enno," the fox replied. "What do you want? You haven't been neglecting your duties lately, have you?"

Chen Ruoan had the illusion that his teachers were cracking down on early romance, but Wei Shufen had not neglected her cultivation. On the contrary, she had become more thorough in her research on Gu. For this reason, he really couldn't figure out why she was called "office".

"We'll find out when we meet. If it's bad news, we'll grit our teeth and deny it no matter what."

Got it!

This increasingly suggests a pre-sanction collusion, thankfully the fox has no parent to call upon.

Chen Ruoan sat in a small bamboo basket and swayed as she arrived at a bamboo house. The "grandmother" that Shufen mentioned was a woman who was not yet forty years old and was dealing with the ancient books that she had found in the box.

"Grandma!" Wei Shufen called out.

"I told you not to call me grandma, call me master."

"Yes, Grandma. What do you want with us, Grandma?"

"I'm looking for this fox friend." The old woman raised her hand to urge her disobedient apprentice to leave as soon as possible.

Wei Shufen pouted unhappily, placed the bamboo basket in front of the door, and carefully retreated to the side of the street.

"Don't bully him."

"Stupid girl!" the old woman cursed under her breath. Judging from the fox's skill in using Gu these past few days, no one in Qinghe could surpass him except for the Grand Gu Master. And how many people in the village could bully him?

Chen Ruoan, clinging to the fox pendant, sat upright in front of the door: "Grandma."

"Sigh—" The old woman slapped her face in annoyance and said helplessly, "Never mind, call me whatever you want."

"What advice do you have for me, Grandma?"

boom! boom! boom!

The old woman brushed off the dust covering the wooden box and pulled out several crumpled books. The pages were yellowed and torn, and many were stuck together, making them impossible to separate.

"Among the three sisters, Shufen is the most talented and the most likely to succeed as the 'Grand Gu Master.' However, this girl has always been too obsessed with Gu and too competitive."

“I was afraid she would fall into some kind of extreme in the future, but since you came, Shufen has changed. Last year, she asked me for the legendary method of refining Gu, but I didn’t tell her the truth. Perhaps now is a good time.”

The old woman tidied up the books, wrapped them in blue cloth, and handed them over with both hands.

Chen Ruoan glanced at it and complained, "You guys seem to have a bit of disrespect for tradition."

"It's been hundreds of years since anyone has successfully crafted this, so it's been left unused and no one believes in it anymore, so it's naturally been neglected. But I feel that you have a chance to bring the legend back to life."

The old woman wanted to pat Chen Ruoan on the shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

But it was difficult to pat a fox's shoulder, so she took the opportunity to stroke the fox's fur.

The fox flipped through the book, which contained a detailed description of the legendary Gu, but like some classic plot devices in detective novels, the most crucial part was missing.

The love potion used in Qinghe today retains the original name of the legendary potion, which is "Sincerity," but its effectiveness has been greatly reduced.

The legendary Cheng Gu is a type of Gu that evolves over time, transforming at a crucial juncture to unleash astonishingly powerful abilities.

"Is it because Shufen has cultivated the Love Gu - Sincerity that she's started being so direct?"

This kind of Gu, with its "demon core," is indeed difficult to defend against.

The ancient texts of Qinghe Miao Village were so poorly preserved that they were almost unrecognizable. Chen Ruoan engraved the barely identifiable parts of the books onto the precious records of the wishing tree.

The divine power carried by the fox pendant and the divine tablet is far less than that of the original body, which greatly limits the research on Gu. Chen Ruoan is struggling with whether to return to Qinghe, but he has not been back to his hometown of Taishan for more than a year. He wonders what the Yaoyue Tower Mansion looks like now.

"It's alright, you go back first. I still have three years," Wei Shufen said. "If I can't figure out a mere love curse in three years, then I'm not worthy of taking over the position of Grand Gu Master."

"Well."

"But you can write to me on the way."