Northeastern Wild Fairy Tales Record

  Inside the 20-centimeter-high grass, a white fox was actually lying down, quietly as if it were a beautiful sleeping beauty, so lovely that even children like us couldn't bear to do anything harmful to it.

  In that instant, my heart was filled with pity and affection. I don't know why, but I just wanted to protect it, like a family member. I slowly walked up to the white fox's side and squatted down, while Dog Egg beside me spoke up in admiration: "Third Brother, this fox is really beautiful, can you give it to me? I'll give you all the frogs I caught, okay?"

  When I heard Dog Egg's words, I raised my head and glanced at him, then looked down at the little white fox on the ground who hadn't woken up due to our arrival, and I was really delighted in my heart.

  As for Dog Egg's words, I automatically ignored them and didn't plan to reason with him. Over the years, as long as it was something good, it basically all belonged to me, and only what I didn't want could be given to him.

  "Don't even think about it, this white fox is mine. Don't mention those few broken toads of yours, even if you gave me a few great generals, they would be useless. Today, that's all, I'm going to take it home now." After saying that, he didn't care about Dog Egg's disappointed expression and still reached out to hug the white fox by himself.

  I really don't know what's going on with this white fox, but when I touched it with my hand, it was still sleeping and didn't wake up. Its little white nose just twitched a few times, making it look even more adorable.

  With the left hand holding the bag of frogs and the right hand hugging the white fox, I ran home quickly. Dog egg was disappointed and didn't have the mood to catch frogs anymore, so he could only follow me home with his head hung low in dejection.

  When I walked halfway, I turned back to look at Dog Egg, his face was crying like he had lost his parents, and I thought to myself, how could I say that Dog Egg is my loyal follower, it's not good for me to treat him like this.

  "Alright, stop making a face. I'll let you come and play with it next time, okay? Geez!"

  After hearing my words, Dog Egg finally burst into bloom with his brilliant chrysanthemum, calling me "Third Brother" in one breath, and started walking with me together, no longer following behind me like a resentful package.

  After the two returned home, Dog Egg also followed me to my house. I handed over the frog to my grandmother and at the same time showed her the white fox, which scared her on the spot. The previous yellow-skinned one hadn't been settled yet, and now I was holding back a white fox again.

  To know that foxes are generally older and have become spirits to turn white, ordinary foxes are mostly multicolored, with light yellow being the most common. But when I saw a big white fox in my arms, like a large cat, Grandma's heart was also a bit uncertain, wondering if it was a fox cub or a spirit that had turned into an immortal fox.

  When I was hesitating, my grandmother asked me: "San Er, where did you catch this fox?"

  "Just now, I and Dog Egg were catching frogs in Dongwa Zi, and we thought we had found a frog's nest. But after digging up the grass, we saw this white fox instead. I liked it so much that I brought it back. What's wrong, Grandma?" I asked curiously.

  Grandma heard me say that I picked it up in the Dongwa grass, and she couldn't guess either. This matter still needs to find my second uncle, so she told me to stay at home and not run around, and have fried frogs for dinner in the afternoon.

  And I was delighted to see the fox, and I didn't have any more thoughts of going out to play. Even if I did go out to play, it would be with the fox, and I wouldn't look for anything else. Dog egg also followed me into the house, and as soon as I entered the house, I put the fox on the kang and stroked its white fur, which was smooth like silk.

  And the dog egg also stretched out his hand to touch, was slapped away by me with a slap, and said: "What do you want to do, just look at it, don't move blindly, or I won't let you watch."

  "Oh, I see, Third Brother." Dog Egg said disappointedly.

  The two of us were in the house watching the fox, feeling delighted, and time passed very quickly.

  And my grandmother went out of the yard to find my second uncle, because she wanted my second uncle to take a look and see if this fox was really a fairy or not, in case it would cause some big trouble later.

  One wave has not yet subsided when another one rises, it's a autumn of many events indeed.

  He let out a sigh in his heart and quickened his pace, hurrying towards my second uncle's home.

  On the way, I met several villagers who asked me where my grandma was going. My grandma replied that she was going to Xitou, which means going to my second uncle's house.

  Because my second uncle's home is at the westernmost part of Tunzi, in our local dialect it's also called Xitou. Here, "tou" means "side", so Dongtou (East Head) refers to the east side, and Xitou (West Head) refers to the west side.

  I arrived at my second uncle's home, and upon entering the house, I saw my second uncle lying on the kang sleeping, while my second aunt was sewing shoes. After seeing my grandmother, my second aunt hastily put down her work on the kang and asked enthusiastically: "Auntie, how did you come?"

  After finishing, he kicked my second uncle with a foot and kicked him up. Seeing my grandmother, my second uncle also asked: "Auntie, sit down, what's the matter?"

  "They're all here, I'm going to talk to Lao Er about something. San Er, that careless thing, has caused trouble again, and I don't know what to do, so I came to ask you." My grandmother said, sitting down on the kang with one leg tucked under her.

  "What has San'er done now?" My second uncle also asked with a questioning face.

  My grandmother filled the large pipe with tobacco, lit it up and slowly said: "This morning after breakfast, Little San said he wanted to go catch frogs. I thought nothing of it and let him go. But just now when he came back, I saw him holding something in his arms. Upon closer inspection, it was a fox, and what's more, a white-haired one. The old folks all say that if a fox is white, it's basically a spirit or an immortal. But the one Little San was holding in his arms was about the size of a cat, so I couldn't tell for sure. I told him to find you to take some time to go see whether it's really a spirit or not. Otherwise, if something happens... sigh..."

  "This kid is not big, but the ability to cause trouble is not small. The day before yesterday, he just kicked Huang Pizi, and today he brought Huoxian back home. I have seen the skills of Xiao San, and I am convinced." My second mother also said on the side.

  My second uncle glared at my second aunt after hearing her words, then turned his head to look at my grandmother who was smoking one mouthful after another, and comfortingly said: "Auntie, don't worry, the fox spirit is relatively better, and it won't be so coincidental. The little three brought back might just be an ordinary little fox, not a celestial one. How about this, I'll go with you now to take a look at home."

  "Alright, then I'll trouble you to go again. This isn't right, my heart isn't at ease." After saying that, my grandmother put the tobacco pouch on the edge of the kang and tapped out the tobacco leaves that had already turned into ash inside.

  At the same time, put down the legs that were squatting, and I was about to go home with my second uncle.

  And my second aunt is a straightforward person, whatever she says, she won't beat around the bush. So again holding my grandmother's hand, she said: "Auntie, what I just said didn't mean anything else, don't take it to heart. Let the second child go home with you and take a look, don't think too much about it, maybe it's just a little fox, not a fox spirit."

  "Hey... I'm an old man, what's there for me to choose from you young ones?" My grandma also said with a smile.

  "That's good, then you two go ahead. Come over and hang out when you have time, we'll chat nicely." My second aunt also said with a smile.

  When my grandma and second uncle came into the house, I was still lying down watching the fox that had been sleeping soundly for a whole day, but the white fox still hadn't woken up and remained fast asleep.

  I just propped my head up with both hands and stared at the white fox. Normally, I wouldn't persist in such a quiet thing, but somehow, looking at the white fox made me not want to go out and play at all. I just wanted to quietly watch the white fox and wait for it to wake up.

  When my second uncle and grandmother came into the house, I didn't notice at first, but when my grandmother spoke up, I realized that someone had entered the room.

  "San Er, I've called you several times. What's wrong with you? Even a fox can hear its grandma's voice, why can't you?" My grandma said, patting my head with her hand.

  I didn't answer my grandmother's question, but instead turned around with a puzzled expression and asked: "Grandma, Second Uncle, you said this fox is sick, it has been sleeping for so long, why hasn't it woken up yet?"

  My Second Uncle didn't answer, but instead walked forward and looked at the white fox who was fast asleep. In his hand, he started calculating again. My Second Uncle was a disciple of Outrageous Horse, apart from cutting this one move, there was another which was calculation.

  I don't know if it's using the eight trigrams, heavenly stems and earthly branches or what, but anyway, by calculating, you can know the course of events. I saw Second Master doing a calculation for a family before.

  It was just last year's incident, and it was also the old Wang family in our village, nicknamed Wang Dabang. When he went out to visit relatives, he encountered Zhang San (wolf) on his way back. At that time, Northeast China still had many wild animals, with blue skies and green grass, tall trees and dense grass. So there were ranges for them to roam, and they were relatively numerous. This Zhang San might have just been passing by and didn't intend to harm anyone, but Wang Dabang from the old Wang family didn't know that, thinking Zhang San was out to rob him.

  He then took out the large chopper on his back, and it just so happened that he had seen this chopper at a relative's house, where Wang Lao Da had taken a liking to it and had shamelessly asked for it.

  But who knew it really came in handy, seeing Zhang San brought out the machete, and when Zhang San saw Wang Lao Da walking towards him with a machete, at this time Zhang San probably felt the killing intent on Wang Lao Da's body.

  The animal's perception is the strongest, and as soon as there is a slight movement in the wind, it will know. Seeing Wang Lao Da's appearance, it knows that it has encountered an evil person. So it is facing Wang Lao Da with its teeth and mouth open, making low calls, but Wang Lao Da does not understand animal language. However, Zhang San explains that he is just passing by and does not want to harm anyone.

  But Wang Lao Da rushed towards Zhang San, with a big chopping knife, and swung it in a circle, striking Zhang San. In a frenzy of wild dancing knives, Zhang San was killed by Wang Lao Da's blade.

  Then Wang Lao Da took Zhang San's corpse back home, and when he got home, trouble arose. In the middle of the night, he heard a crying sound from outside the house, which was extremely mournful.

  Wang Lao Da was also a bold person, otherwise he wouldn't have dared to confront Zhang San. So, wearing just one outer garment, he went to take a look. After taking a look, relying on Wang Lao Da's boldness, he was also frightened quite badly.

  An old woman in a gray mourning dress stood outside the house, crying. When she saw Wang Lao Da, she opened her mouth and cried out: "Have you seen my son? Today is supposed to be my birthday, but he hasn't come yet?"

  As soon as he heard this, Wang Lao Da didn't dare to make a sound. This was Zhang San's mother who had come looking for her son. In the middle of the night, a woman wearing mourning clothes, an old lady, asked him if he had seen her son.

  Old Wang was so frightened that he felt a chill from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and his scalp was numb. He stammered: "I didn't see it, go check another house."

  "I saw my son's clothes at your house, I've looked everywhere else, is he really at your house? Let him come out and go home with me, his father and I are waiting for him." The old lady said tearfully.

  Although the tone was like begging Wang Lao Da, but the expression seemed to have already known, both eyes staring straight at Wang Lao Da.