Chapter 12: A Banquet at Niu Fu

These few foxes have shallow Daoist Practice and are not skilled in magic; they cannot yet transform at will, and being influenced by the obsession on the skull, their original concepts have also been somewhat affected.

The Old Fox said, "That won't happen. We have established a Karmic Connection, and he is merely cultivating his primordial Qi. That Sparrow Spirit even frequently travels between us to act as a liaison."

Just at this moment, the sparrow landed on the Old Crooked-Neck Tree and chirped, "Master Xu invites you to come to Niu Fu for a banquet at the third watch of the night!"

"Isn't his surname Xu? He is at the Xu family, so why is it at Niu Fu?"

The Miscellaneous Fur Fox asked in more detail and only then learned that Niu Congcong was a classmate of Xu Jia.

It is no wonder he was cautious; although the few of them were crippled and their fur was worthless, if Xu Jia had set a trap to wipe out their whole nest, they would truly have no way to survive.

The old fox has lived for over fifty years, equivalent to more than three hundred years for a fox, and he relies on being cautious and meticulous.

The other foxes, hearing that they could eat chicken, already had eyes shining with greed: "Heh heh! This person is truly not bad; he didn't forget about us."

Seeing their two different attitudes before and after, Old Fox found it ridiculous and comical; they had no depth of character and were short-sighted, so he couldn't help but sigh, "You lot!"

He then said, "Tidy yourselves up properly. It would be best to go take a bath and get rid of the fishy, gamey smell. Tonight, I will take you to eat roast chicken!"

The group of foxes chuckled.

The Miscellaneous Fur Fox kept them under strict discipline, not allowing them to steal chickens, and they could only catch mice and frogs to eat.

Moreover, after transforming into humans, one must learn human habits. The simplest way is to start with eating. The reason beasts are beasts is because they eat raw meat and drink blood. Foxes must learn from humans, eat cooked food, and eat rice boiled from grains... Only in this way can they gradually understand human nature, grasp the human heart, and know human sentiments.

Once they have seen many people and understand the ways of the world, they can freely transform into whatever appearance they desire, such as a scholar or a young lady. Not only can they do happy things with people, but they can also rely on this to earn money and increase their cultivation and Daoist Practice...

But now there is a better path, which is to hang around with Xu Jia, Master Xu.

Master Xu is an Immortal who practiced in a past life and awakened his Past Life Wisdom in this one; he is a good backer.

Furthermore, he is so true to his word; he said he would kill chickens to feast them, so he killed chickens to feast them, and he had no intention of looking down on them in the slightest.

The Spotted Fox said, "Five miles away from here, there is a Fanyin Valley. Inside, there is a 'Di Gou Quan'. Previously, a monk was in seclusion there practicing, chanting scriptures, and the echoes often resounded through the valley, hence the name. Shall we go there to wash our bodies and cleanse the filth?"

All the foxes readily agreed and went there together.

The Di Gou Quan is called a spring, but it is actually a small stream with a spring eye upstream, bubbling with water.

The few foxes were afraid of polluting the water source, so they did not jump into the spring eye, but only used the Di Gou Quan water downstream to thoroughly wash the filth from their bodies.

The One-testicle Fox and the Lame Fox even started playing in the water.

The Miscellaneous Fur Fox then took out "scented balm" and applied it to each of them.

"After washing this time, you will have severed ties with the past."

"You must remember not to act recklessly. If you offend the Great Immortal and lose this Karmic Connection, don't blame me for not protecting you."

The group of foxes applied the scented balm, and the rank odor on their bodies was covered up significantly.

Waiting until dusk and nightfall, they worshipped the Dipper, performed magic, transformed into human forms, and tidied their clothes, appearing much less disheveled.

Because they were going to a banquet at a wealthy household, they did not bring the young ones who had not yet become spirits. Only the four of them who could transform into human forms went with their heads held high. On the Niu family's side, Niu Congcong had already given orders: once it was prepared, it should be set out in the courtyard, and then everyone should return to their rooms. No one was allowed to come back out, not even to go to the latrine to defecate or urinate.

Although this rule was strange, the servants and matrons working in the mansion followed the rules. With the master away, whatever the young master said was what it was, and besides, he had given them some reward money, so they all huddled in their rooms.

Until it was close to the Zi hour, Niu Congcong, who was hiding in his room and unable to fall asleep for a long time, heard movement outside.

First, there was a gust of "whooshing" demonic wind, then the sound of the demonic wind stopped, but there was a sound of "cackling."

Immediately following that was a "rustling" sound, as if mice were active.

Just when he was about to lose his composure, he heard the "crunching" sound of bones being gnawed.

At the same time, he heard a conversation like two idiots chatting: "One, two, three, four... four, three, two, one... sure enough, ten chickens."

"There are four of us, and here are ten chickens. Each eats two. Eh, there's so much left over, so let's divide one more each. There are still two left, not enough to divide, right?"

"What's not enough to divide? You get one, I get one, I get one, he gets one..."

The voice was sharp, like a child's, and also like an old woman's.

Not only did Niu Congcong hear it, but the servants also heard it, and they were already puzzled.

Today is neither a festival nor a holiday, and there is no happy occasion, so why kill so many chickens? It turned out it wasn't for them to eat, just left sitting in the courtyard.

Niu Congcong wouldn't let them come out, so how could they not be itching with curiosity, holding back and wanting to see what was going on? If humans weren't eating it, could it be ghosts eating it?

As a result, hearing these sounds in the courtyard in the middle of the night, they were all so scared that their foreheads broke out in a sweat and their whole bodies turned cold. They huddled under their quilts, covered their heads, and curled into balls.

"Are these who came humans? Or ghosts..."

Niu Congcong also doubted: "Is this the Immortal connection that Brother Xu told me about? What does this Immortal connection look like?"

Unable to help himself, Niu Congcong peeked through the crack in the window.

He saw four human figures, of different heights and ages, their eyes glowing with green light, grabbing chickens and gnawing on them. By the moonlight, he saw sharp teeth, and when they reached a state of great satisfaction, a tail would sway back and forth there.

Niu Congcong was startled, covered his mouth, but his breathing became heavy.

The old woman transformed by the Miscellaneous Fur Fox sensed something wrong, and her head turned strangely to the back, meeting Niu Congcong's eyes exactly.

Niu Congcong was so scared that he slowly squatted down, then got on all fours, crawled in the dark, climbed onto the bed, and covered himself with the quilt, already in a state of: "I've eaten the chicken, so don't eat me anymore."

The Miscellaneous Fur Fox turned her head back and scolded the little foxes: "Don't eat it all, bring some for the little ones!"

After saying this, she opened her mouth and stuffed in a whole chicken. This is a small technique of fox demons, which can store some things and then spit them out. When a mother fox feeds her cubs, she will vomit up the half-digested food for the cubs to eat.

The foxes ate to their heart's content. Having not had so much grease for a long time, they also said one after another: "We must let the little ones have a taste. After becoming human, we must eat roast chicken every day! It is simply a delicacy of the human world!"

The Lame Fox sighed: "This is really something to brag about. In the past, such wealthy households kept their doors tightly shut and raised several dogs; we didn't even dare to enter..."

(End of chapter)