Chapter 19: You May Curse Filthily, But I Don't Understand

When the white fox ate Dongpo pork in huge mouthfuls and nearly choked to death after getting a chicken neck stuck in its throat, Gu Zhao's wariness toward it dropped by half.

A stupid, cute glutton that knows how to flatter and act cute probably isn't a bad guy.

After dinner, the embroiderer went to wash dishes and clean up, while Gu Zhao sat down beside the white fox.

The white fox let out a burp, wiped its mouth with a paw, and also looked at Gu Zhao; fear was gone from its eyes, replaced only by curiosity.

"You can understand us speaking, right?" Gu Zhao asked.

The white fox blinked, looking at Gu Zhao as if he were an idiot; of course, that look lasted only an instant before clearing up, and it even nodded.

"Then can you speak human language?" Gu Zhao asked again.

The white fox suppressed the urge to show some expression again, merely shaking its head.

Gu Zhao nodded and continued asking, "Then can you transform into a human?"

The white fox really couldn't hold back; it looked at Gu Zhao as if he were an idiot once more, then helplessly shook its head.

Gu Zhao rubbed his chin, frowning in thought: "This doesn't match what He Laozhang said. He Laozhang said demons can both speak human language and transform into humans. Could it be your power is too weak?"

The white fox wanted to bare its teeth.

Don't you know you shouldn't hit someone in the face? If I could speak and transform, would I be chased by that ghost-spirit?

And can you stop speaking out loud?

The white fox turned its head, refusing to pay attention to Gu Zhao.

Of course, Gu Zhao didn't see the meaning in the white fox's eyes; he merely sized the white fox up and down, his gaze flickering uncertainly.

The white fox suddenly felt a pang of heartache, then heard Gu Zhao say, "I have a few spells I've never used against enemies, and I don't know their actual effect. Can you help me test them?"

The white fox whipped its head around, even the fluff on its tail standing on end.

She had personally seen Gu Zhao strike down that ghost-spirit with three lightning bolts until its soul and spirit were utterly destroyed; she couldn't even speak or transform right now, and she couldn't withstand a single bolt of lightning!

Could that last meal have been my executioner's feast?

Just then, the embroiderer walked out of the kitchen, then felt a flash of Bai Guang before her eyes, and a sudden heaviness on her chest; looking down, she saw the white fox had already burrowed into her arms, pressing itself very close to her.

The embroiderer was overjoyed and said to Gu Zhao, "Young Master, it is very close to me."

Gu Zhao thought for a moment and still didn't shatter the embroiderer's fantasy; he merely said, "Because you two saved each other."

When they had just returned, the embroiderer told Gu Zhao about her encounter in the mountains; Gu Zhao also knew the white fox had already acted on her behalf once before, so it seemed indeed to be a good demon.

"Mm-hmm!" The embroiderer hugged the white fox and asked it, "Will you sleep with me tonight?"

The white fox nodded repeatedly; it only wanted to stay far away from Gu Zhao now. If it weren't still savoring the five-spice roasted chicken from earlier, it might even have had thoughts of running away.

Night fell, in the main hall.

A crack was left in the window; the white fox lay in the corner, exactly where the moonlight from the sky could reach.

Threads of moonlight streamed into the room; the white fox inhaled and exhaled, drawing the surrounding heavenly and earthly Qi and the moonlight into its body, cultivating while healing its injuries, and occasionally glancing at the side room next door.

"Where did this great mage come from?"

"According to the embroiderer, he clearly went into the mountains to cultivate; how could he bring back such delicious food? I haven't eaten such delicious meat even in Changping Prefecture!"

"Also, he clearly knows such powerful spells, yet he seems to know nothing; he must not be from the Spirit Court, nor does he look like those from the sects."

"As a human, he can even grant others the ability to cast spells; this is the power of a deity, and that Miss clearly hasn't formed a pact with him. How did he do it?"

"Tsk tsk tsk, he is human; how can a human form a pact with a human?"

"I wonder if I can form a pact with him..."

Thinking this, the white fox seemed to sense something and turned its head in surprise, seeing that the threads of spiritual power leaking out due to its cultivation were being completely absorbed by the embroiderer at the bedside in a single breath.

"Hmm?" The white fox couldn't help but widen its eyes. "No way?"

On the other side, Gu Zhao sensed the breathing and aura of the room next door and knew that white fox was also cultivating.

"Demons really do cultivate by absorbing moonlight!" Gu Zhao mused, yet countless questions arose: "Did demons really exist in ancient times? Was Liu Bowen slaying the dragon vein real? Did the heavenly and earthly Qi gradually disappear only in the last few hundred years?"

The Taoist scriptures he learned since childhood could actually be used; no wonder Gu Zhao would have such doubts, especially since the Five Thunder Talisman was indeed a family heirloom passed down from his ancestors.

"Which of the ancient myths and legends are true, and which are false?"

"Is it because the Qi gradually disappeared that the Song and Tang dynasties had the Eight Immortals, but by the Qing dynasty only Liao Zhai remained?"

"If that is the case... are the Three Pure Ones real?"

"My head hurts." Gu Zhao pressed his temples with two thumbs. "No more thinking; time to sleep!"

The next day, Gu Zhao did not travel through the room; instead, he went to the back mountain to cultivate, stopped at the post station on the way to collect the yellow paper delivered by express, then returned to the other world to draw talismans again.

When Gu Zhao returned to the mountain village in the afternoon, he found the embroiderer still waiting at the village entrance; unlike the previous two days, this time she was holding a white fox in her arms.

However, when she saw Gu Zhao's empty hands, the white fox couldn't help but let out two "Ying-ying" cries, its disappointment plain to see.

"Didn't you finish yesterday's food?" Gu Zhao poked the white fox.

"Xiao Bai ate it all at noon," the embroiderer said awkwardly, then quickly added, "Grandpa and I also ate some. I didn't let her eat five slices of char siu and a chicken leg; I saved them specially for you, Young Master."

"Xiao Bai?" Gu Zhao looked at the white fox strangely.

The white fox let out a "Ying" and turned its head away.

The embroiderer said happily, "I call her Xiao Bai, and she agreed; besides, she is also a young lady."

Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow. "Having cultivated into a demon, how could she possibly be a young lady? She's probably already an old lady."

Hearing this, the white fox flew into a rage, her eyes round and wide, baring her teeth at Gu Zhao; the fact that she couldn't beat Gu Zhao had already been cast from her mind.

"Ying-ying! Ying-ying-ying!"

Although he couldn't understand her meaning, Gu Zhao knew she was probably cursing quite foully.

But unfortunately, the current situation was that she could understand Gu Zhao's words, while Gu Zhao couldn't understand hers.

So Gu Zhao smiled and said, "See, she admitted it."

The white fox paused, about to kick out with all its strength, but sensing the embroiderer seemed unable to hold it, it merely swiped twice at the empty air, let out two "yin-yin" cries, then resolutely turned its head, refusing to look at Gu Zhao again.

Gu Zhao couldn't help but laugh heartily; teasing a high-intelligence pet was truly too amusing, no wonder those short videos about Border Collies were so popular online.