Chapter 276: Three-Tailed Fox

Though she said so, Pan Yun and Seeing Miao Zhen still took the bowl she offered and bowed their heads to eat.

Honestly, eating a hot bowl of soup noodles in winter is quite comforting.

Though the wind howled through the house, the talisman bell no longer rang, and Master Xuanmiao was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing Tao Ji show no concern, Pan Yun relaxed and rose to offer incense to the Earth God.

Pan Yun first lit the incense, stuck it into the incense burner, then reached out to straighten the Earth God's statue.

As soon as she touched the statue, her gaze sharpened; her two fingers stabbed forward like a sword, slicing through one incense stick with a spiritual blade. She slapped her palm out, and the wind from her palm carried the severed incense tip toward the corner of the room. "Earth God, lend me this incense stick—I'll return three to you soon."

The incense tip shot off with a hiss; as it passed through a gust of cold wind, a red figure suddenly materialized in midair and thudded to the ground right in front of Tao Ji and the others, who were holding their bowls and watching.

Tao Ji's heart lurched, stopped dead, then leapt wildly—he jumped straight up and screamed, "A ghost—!"

Calm Seeing Miao Zhen and the stunned Tao Ji turned their heads to stare at him.

Tao Ji clutched his bowl and shot behind his disciple, pointing at the red-robed ghost on the ground with a trembling voice: "Th-this… how did this ghost get in? The talisman bell didn't ring!"

Seeing Miao Zhen recognized her at once: "Little Red!"

After all, she was the first—and only—ghost they'd ever met; it was impossible not to remember her.

Tao Ji patted his chest and exhaled in relief: "You know her?"

Pan Yun stepped forward: "Hiding under the Earth God's shrine—you've gotten bolder. Has your cultivation improved?"

Little Red sat up, covered her face, and wailed, "Master, spare me! I didn't know it was you…"

Pan Yun leaned close to examine her face: "Can ghosts go blind? It's night, not daytime."

Little Red kept covering her face and wept, then apologized bluntly: "I know I'm wrong, Master—I just feared you'd beat me again, so I tried to run."

Pan Yun snorted: "Who triggered the talisman bell just now?"

Little Red wiped her tears but stayed silent.

Pan Yun spoke softly: "I forgot to introduce you—this one, terrified of ghosts, is my senior brother. The one who chased after you? My senior sister, whose courage and cultivation both surpass mine."

Little Red's back stiffened.

Pan Yun clapped her hands and stood: "Fine, don't tell me. But it won't be my senior sister who suffers—whether demon or ghost, once caught by her…"

Little Red instantly dropped to her knees, grabbed Pan Yun's leg, and sobbed: "Master, spare me! Red Beauty is good—no, she's a good demon! She's never harmed anyone! Please beg your senior sister to spare her life!"

Pan Yun's eyes lit up: "What kind of demon is Red Beauty?"

Little Red's sobs halted; she wiped her tears: "Fox. A fox."

Pan Yun clapped: "Foxes? I know foxes well. So Great Ming's spiritual energy still works—foxes can cultivate into demons. How many tails has she grown?"

Seeing Pan Yun's lack of surprise, Little Red slumped and admitted honestly: "Three."

Pan Yun looked disappointed: "Only three? Still can't take human form."

Little Red immediately said: "Red Beauty is very powerful—she can already take human form!"

Pan Yun looked unconvinced: "She has such a good cultivation method? Three tails and already human?"

Tao Ji interjected: "Just looks human—ears, tail, and hands haven't transformed properly, right?"

Little Red lowered her head.

Pan Yun: "That's not transformed properly. To truly become human, you must look indistinguishable from a real person—do you understand?"

But a fox with three tails was still formidable. Pan Yun asked: "Has she truly never harmed anyone?"

Little Red nodded fiercely: "Truly not! Master, if you don't believe me, go see Red Beauty—she's just like me, with not a trace of bloodlust on her."

Pan Yun studied her carefully and saw she was unchanged from their first meeting—untainted by karmic stains.

Yet her soul had grown much more solid, and most importantly, she seemed far more lucid.

Pan Yun was curious: "How do you cultivate?"

In the 26th century, she had been curious about this.

After spiritual energy revived, she'd encountered many extinct demons; the state's policy was always: those with reason, persuade and cooperate; those without, fight.

So she knew some demon cultivation methods—even participated in related research.

But ghosts—she didn't.

All the ghosts she'd seen or heard of lost their reason; even if they regained awareness, they never cultivated.

Without consuming others to grow stronger, ghosts eventually faded into nothingness.

But if they consumed others, they eventually lost reason—and were destroyed.

Her teacher once researched this, believing ghosts, like humans, were still energy bodies, with their souls still residing within.

But unlike humans, who replenish energy through food to maintain equilibrium, ghosts either slowly depleted their energy until their souls vanished—

Or they consumed other ghosts, using homogenous energy to replenish themselves. But the soul of the consumed ghost remained within that energy—it didn't vanish just because it wasn't manifest.

So consuming ghosts slowly eroded reason and selfhood, due to the influence of the souls within the energy.

When Pan Yun let Little Red go, it was partly because she saw her innate goodness—even as a ghost, this nature remained, so she hoped she'd fade peacefully and reincarnate on her own;

and partly because she sensed Little Red died unjustly, and though she remembered only her name, Pan Yun hoped that as she neared dissolution, she'd grow clearer, remember who she was, and seek justice—vengeance for her death.

By the way, a vengeful ghost killing her killer incurs no karmic sin.

The Dao may not care, but the Underworld is fair.

Little Red died unjustly; that man owed her a life—her seeking vengeance was only right. As long as she didn't harm the innocent, she wouldn't accrue malevolence.

So she was truly curious: how had Little Red grown stronger without consuming ghosts or harming people?

Little Red felt Pan Yun's eyes shone like twin suns, blindingly bright; she lowered her head and whispered: "My cultivation improved entirely thanks to Red Beauty's teaching. When there's moonlight, I come out to absorb lunar essence; when there's no moon, I go to the graveyard three li west of the Earth God's temple to absorb yin energy."

Not just Pan Yun—even Tao Ji and the others were stunned.

!.

Tao Ji scrutinized Little Red: "You absorb such turbid energy from the graveyard—and you didn't go mad?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Your aura doesn't seem tainted by the graveyard's yin energy at all."

Xiao Hong: "Sister Sister Hong Yan has a cultivation method that can dispel distracting thoughts and eliminate miasma, absorbing only pure yin energy."

Pan Yun listened with great envy and asked, "Do you sell this cultivation method?"

Xiao Hong: "... Master, you're not dead yet—why do you need this method? Could it be... you want to raise a spirit child?"

"Who raises a spirit child using this method?" Pan Yun said. "Raising a spirit child means stripping it of its self, making it obey only my commands. I need this method for myself."

"I'm not dead now, but that doesn't mean I won't die later. I'm preparing in advance, studying the method thoroughly—so if I die one day, I can use it immediately."

Tao Ji, furious, leapt out from behind Miaohe and struck her on the head, spitting twice to either side while bowing with clasped fists. "All divine spirits, forgive this child's foolish words!"

He glared at Pan Yun. "Don't speak nonsense—especially not before the Earth God's shrine."

Pan Yun took the advice, slapped her own mouth twice, then bowed to all around and continued asking Xiao Hong about the method. "Do you sell it? Name a real price."

Xiao Hong looked troubled. "Master Pan, I don't even use mortal gold or silver."

Pan Yun: "I don't mind burning paper money for you."

Her eyes lit up brightly as she counted on her fingers. "I can burn you paper money, paper houses, paper horses, paper clothes, paper sedan chairs, even paper servants—uh, do you like handsome ones? I can burn you a few handsome paper men to keep you company?"

"Even if they can only look pretty and can't speak or do anything useful—they're still beautiful."

Xiao Hong:...

Seeing Pan Yun grow more excited, Xiao Hong hurriedly said, "This method belongs to Sister Sister Hong Yan. If you want to buy it, you must buy it from her. You—just save Sister Sister Hong Yan, and I'll convince her to sell it to you."

"Fine," Pan Yun glanced outside the shrine, then turned to Tao Ji. "Third Senior Brother, how long has Fourth Sister been gone?"

Tao Ji: "Almost half an hour."

Pan Yun nodded. "Then she should be back soon."

Tao Ji agreed it was about time.

Just as he spoke, Xuanmiao returned, leaping down from tree branches while holding a fiery red fox, landing lightly before the shrine and stepping inside.

Everyone, ghost, and cat turned to look.

Pan Xiaohei, seeing the fox's sleek, dazzlingly beautiful three tails, let out a sharp "Meow!" its eyes bright. "Give it to me—I can inhabit its body."

Pan Yun glanced at it, her gaze icy: 【It's not dead yet.】

Pan Xiaohei: "Isn't it in your hands now? Just smash its head—kill its spirit, and it's done."

Pan Yun raised her hand and struck its head.

Everyone turned to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun picked up Pan Xiaohei and tossed it before the Earth God, saying to them, "This cat meows too horribly—I'm making it reflect before the deity."

Pan Xiaohei squatted before the altar, snorting. "Hypocrite. How many humans and demons have you killed in this life and your past ones? You're just afraid—I'll find a better body and one day surpass you..."

Pan Yun sneered: 【Keep talking nonsense, and I'll seal the connection to the Spirit Realm right now.】

"You can't seal it—it's my body!"

Pan Yun: 【I'll seal the Spirit Realm itself!】

Pan Xiaohei fell silent.

Pan Yun: 【What use do you have left besides storage? Storage? I can carve spatial arrays myself. Pan Xiaohei, don't provoke me!】

Pan Xiaohei instantly grew obedient, plopping down on its hindquarters, paws clasped, head bowed, eyes shut, devoutly reflecting before the Earth God.

(End of Chapter)