Chapter 92: Enlightening the Ignorant Foxes (First Subscription Request for Monthly Votes)

The Yushan City God saw this and his brows were already tightly furrowed.

The Wenchang Mark is not hard to understand; generally, scholars and provincial graduates who are about to take the examinations, and who are practically guaranteed to pass, will all be marked by Wenchang and entered into the "Civil Official Registry."

Automatically transferred from the White Register into the Vermilion Registry.

The Buddha Shade Mark is also not hard to understand; it indicates sincere devotion to the Buddha, having received a response from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and having been initiated from afar. After death, one can follow the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation, be entered into the judgment of the Three Good and Three Evil Paths of the Buddhist gate, and bypass the City God Underworld Office process.

Such faithful believers with Buddhist affinity, within a single county, if not a hundred, then at least seventy or eighty. There is no other reason; it is simply because chanting the Buddha's name is the easiest thing to do, and the Buddhist gate opens wide its doors of convenience.

But this Xu Jia, he has truly crossed out his name from the Life Registry! This means he is currently not a living person.

The City God closed the book and said, "Where is the Death Registry Book? Bring it here for me to see as well."

The Chief Clerk brought out the Xu family's Death Registry Book; the Death Registry Book is for those who have already died but have not yet gone to be reincarnated.

The City God flipped through it, but did not see Xu Jia in the Death Registry Book: "Since he has already crossed out his name from the Life Registry, he must have automatically entered the Death Registry. How is it that his name is removed from the Death Registry? Could it be that he is already recorded in the Heavenly Court? Or perhaps he possesses some spell to cross out the Death Registry?"

Life Registry crossed out, Death Registry removed... yet this person is still wandering and cultivating in the human world. If he is not an unregistered person, then he must have a great background...

So, is Xu Jia an unregistered person?

Would an unregistered person loudly proclaim that they had taken a trip to the Underworld and then returned to life?

Then, should he ask a higher level? The Yushan City God finally shook his head and abandoned this thought. This matter can only be resolved within the county; if it is blown up to a higher level, it will not be a small matter, and it could easily affect his performance evaluation.

A headache!

Before he died, the Yushan City God could be upright and impartial, but after becoming a City God, the Heavenly Court, the Underworld, and all living beings in the Three Realms have another set of ways for him to act. The supervision is even stricter, and in order not to trigger the supervision, there are many well-intentioned deceptions.

………

On Xu Jia's side, he had already woven a Wind Fan. This fan did not require much effort to produce a long, steady gust of wind. If blessed with a Wind Curse or Wind Method, it could reveal extraordinary power within the Dharma Realm, and when fed back into reality, it was also somewhat miraculous; a casual wave could make one feel a breeze brushing their face from three zhang away.

If a Wind Pellet were embedded in the fan handle, it might even be able to fan up a gale.

After finishing the Wind Fan, Xu Jia gave one to Hu Jinhua, letting her use it to fan the fire. It was just right since she was practicing the Fire Method; in future battles, the wind would aid the fire, and it would surely be infinitely powerful.

Sure enough, with the Wind Fan to fan the fire, the heat of the iron pot and large stove was much stronger. One would think it was burning coal rather than firewood; the stove mouth was glowing red with a golden hue, and the Ginseng chicken soup stewing on the stove was bubbling away.

Hu Jinhua fanned the fire while chanting the Zhurong Fire Qi Curse, sensing the stove fire.

As for the braised chicken, roasted chicken, grilled chicken, and smoked chicken, another batch had come out of the pot, and the little weasels and foxes had already started eating.

"I love to eat~ roasted chicken butt~ don't fight me for it!" The form Hu Du Xiu had transformed into was no longer so ugly, but at this moment, his nature was teased, his fox tail poked out from his old clothes, and his human face began to distort, turning into a fox face, his whole face smeared with chicken butt grease.

Hu Jinhua fanned the fire while scolding, "Look at your ambition! You only love eating these stinky, musky things!"

"That's right, that's right!" The Lame Fox, Hu Butang, tore off a chicken leg and gnawed on it no less vigorously, his mouth bulging like a hamster's: "You really don't know how to eat!"

The result was that he got kicked in the leg again.

Hu Delu liked to gnaw on chicken necks; with his sharp fox teeth, he gnawed the meat on the neck into shreds, slurping until the bones made a squeaking sound.

The two weasel spirits, Huang Silang and Huang Jiuniang, were also three parts human and seven parts beast.

Huang Silang wore a small cap, his figure short, like a three or four-year-old child. His tail was exposed, and his two little hands held a chicken head, slurping the chicken brains. With a flick of his tongue, he gouged out the chicken eyes, then with a snap, he took out the chicken tongue: "None of you know how to eat chicken. You don't know that the head is the essence. Although a chicken is small, it has five sense organs and seven orifices. Eating the chicken tongue makes one speak more fluently, eating the chicken eyes makes one see more clearly, and eating the chicken brains makes one think more sharply!"

Huang Jiuniang held the chicken liver and cooked chicken blood, gnawing on them. She was dressed similarly to Huang Silang, only she wore a paper flower on her head and a yellow bellyband on her body. Her face was also strange, her features tangled together: "What's so good about eating brains! The essence is in the five viscera. The five viscera are good for nourishing the Five Elements Origin Qi, and chicken blood is something that moves the Qi. Eating this is the best!"

The rest who hadn't been able to transform were happy gnawing on bones, eating chicken stomachs and intestines. Although they also craved chicken meat, Xu Jia had said that a portion of the chicken had to be taken to nourish the five Out-of-Body Messengers.

Another portion Hu Jinhua had to take to the market to sell, so they could only eat the leftovers.

However, although they were leftovers, after being stir-fried, deep-fried, smoked, roasted, or braised, they were still full of the human flavor of life, a different taste from the raw food they used to eat.

It was just that they hadn't yet learned to use chopsticks or bowls and plates, nor could they sit on stools to eat at a table; they hadn't yet learned some rules and etiquette.

Xu Jia, however, found it interesting. While holding the Wind Fan to act cool—clearly, it wasn't hot, yet he kept fanning to create a breeze, as if he were Zhuge Liang reborn—he couldn't help but be "fond of being a teacher."

"What books do you usually read?"

Hu Du Xiu and the others were eating happily when their bodies suddenly stiffened, and then they lowered their heads, eating in small bites, not daring to make a sound.

Huang Silang said, "We read many books, such as *Mu Chunzi Records of Subduing Demons*, *Tianliang Huang Family Genealogy*..."

Xu Jia nodded: "Then have you read any classics?"

"What is called a classic?" Huang Silang showed a curious look. Hu Du Xiu couldn't help but sneer: "So he's someone who doesn't know the Dao."

Xu Jia chuckled: "Du Xiu, you get up. What Dao do you understand? You can speak about it."

Hu Du Xiu was still gnawing on a chicken butt, and suddenly it didn't taste good anymore. He stammered: "I have learned the principles of being human: one must not steal, one cannot do things that corrupt morality... one must endure hardship and work hard..."

Xu Jia frowned: "I told you to read the classics to enlighten your wisdom. What principles did you realize from these classics? Why are you saying these empty, grand, and hollow things?"

Hu Du Xiu was immediately unable to answer, his legs trembling, wanting to run away.

"Alright, keep eating. Remember to write an essay after you finish."

The other foxes immediately began to gloat.

Xu Jia chuckled: "Don't laugh, everyone has to write. Just write about eating chicken, what principles did you realize from eating it? Didn't you all just speak so eloquently?"

"Um, do we have to write too?" Huang Silang asked weakly.

"Write! Your old grandmother has temporarily entrusted you to me, so I must discipline you more. Five hundred large characters, not one less."

Hu Jinhua was there fanning the fire, fanning one stroke after another, not daring to make a sound.

She secretly thought: "You all better pray for your own luck!"

She also hoped: "Don't look at me, don't look at me!"

Xu Jia suppressed the little foxes and weasels a bit, hoping they wouldn't become too arrogant because of this. Although suppressive education is not advisable, these little demons were all very ignorant, and some behaviors had to be nipped in the bud to cultivate morality.

Mengzi said: Human nature is inherently good.

Xunzi said: Human nature is inherently evil.

Xu Jia, however, believed that all living things are born "ignorant," which corresponds to the "Meng Hexagram" of the I Ching. "It is not I who seek the ignorant youth; the ignorant youth seeks me. The first consultation tells; the second and third are a nuisance; if it is a nuisance, I do not tell. It is beneficial to be upright."

Meng is the state of ignorance, which needs guidance and direction.

The stage of ignorant youth is when one learns the fastest. Many habits and dispositions of all sentient beings are best cultivated during the stage of ignorant youth; this is enlightenment education.

If jade is not polished, it cannot become a vessel. And without being carved, once one passes a certain age, it becomes a case of "it is easier to change rivers and mountains than a person's nature."

So how can one get the right guidance? Naturally, it depends on teachers, and there are also parents, but parents are too intimate and may not necessarily have the heart to be strict enough to correct them.

Therefore, it requires a teacher to correct them again and again; when they are in a state of ignorance, one can cultivate the righteous path, and this is the meritorious deed of creating a Sage.

Xu Jia does not necessarily have to cultivate Sages, but since he has established the Fox Immortal Hall and needs them to protect his Dao and cultivation, their words and actions are linked to him.

Originally, they were also in a state of ignorance and did not know any powerful magic spells.

Now that Xu Jia is teaching them, if they go out and commit evil deeds as a result, that would be Xu Jia's karmic obstacle.

Right now, they are only eating chickens, and these chicken demons have some evil nature and evil deeds.

But what if they want to eat chickens in the future? By stealing and robbing? And if they are discovered, they use Divine Abilities and magic spells to resolve it?

Therefore, Xu Jia sees the subtle signs of things to come, but he does not stop eating for fear of choking; he does not forbid them from eating chickens or force them to change their habits to become vegetarians, but rather, through this method, he has them write essays to reflect on and understand principles, and to put them into practice.

Xu Jia lacks sufficient wisdom and does not think he can teach every little demon to be upright; he can tolerate small mistakes, but there must be a bottom line. Of course, while small mistakes can be forgiven in practice, he cannot tell them directly that he will tolerate their small mistakes; clear rewards and punishments are inevitable.

Xu Jia has not yet had time to establish some detailed rules and precepts; previously, there were only these few foxes, so they were easy to teach.

Now that there are these weasels, and there may be more in the future, Xu Jia pours this bucket of cold water on them just when they are most carried away, in order to establish his own authority.

Sure enough, he still grew up to become the person he hated most when he was young.

At the time when others are happiest, he brings up the very thing they want to avoid.

Xu Jia still felt a bit of secret satisfaction, and with his hands behind his back, he left the Fox Immortal Hall.

This pot of broth will probably need to boil for some time; it is most nourishing when it is boiled down to a paste or jelly-like state.

After Xu Jia left, the foxes erupted in chaos, throwing away the food in their hands and beating up Hu Du Xiu: "Told you to keep your mouth shut! Having chicken butt to eat still couldn't plug your mouth! You're the one with all the trouble!"

Immediately, there were the screams of Hu Du Xiu; he felt aggrieved too, for it was clearly Master Xu who first tested those weasels, so why blame him!

(End of this chapter)