Chapter 7: Dressing Pitifully

  An old woman walked over with a bowl of porridge, handed it to Zhang Fei Yang, her eyes shining brightly, and said slowly: "Those fox demons suck the essence and blood of humans. Anyone who is infatuated by them will either die from exhaustion of their essence and blood or go mad. I knew a man in a nearby village who was harmed by a fox demon and lost all his hair, leaving only bones."

  Zhang Feiyang said, "It's actually so terrifying. Where is the fox demon located?" After finishing speaking, Zhang Feiyang felt that his classical Chinese was not bad, fortunately he didn't sleep in language class, and here he could both understand and communicate.

  The old woman pointed northward, looking a bit frightened, and said: "At the foot of Red Cloud Mountain, among the piles of rocks!"

  "Red Cloud Mountain?! Isn't that where I'm supposed to go?!"

  Zhang Fei let out a startled cry and almost spilled the bowl of porridge in his hand.

  "That's right, it's where you're going. Piles of rocks, very accurate. My equipment is hidden there, heh heh!" Tangerine had woken up at some point, and that arrogant voice echoed in Zhang Fei Yang's mind.

  Zhang Feiyang closed his eyes, the Lian Yao furnace still held between his ring finger and little finger, a thread of spiritual energy entered the Lian Yao furnace, instantly seeing the small orange deity at the bottom of the furnace, on the sleeping platform between the five elements fantasy realm, using a toothpick to pick its teeth.

  Zhang Fei Yang immediately began to communicate with the spirit of the orange, saying: "Orange, you wouldn't be fooling me, would you? You hid your equipment in the pile of rocks? Conveniently hidden in the den of that group of fox demons?"

  "Right! When I hid those equipment back then, there were indeed some wild foxes around. Who would have thought that they've all become demons now? They must have absorbed the spiritual energy from my equipment and gradually gained insight, grasping certain celestial mechanisms to become demons."

  "Damn it! If we go to get the equipment, we'll definitely be in for a disaster! I don't want to have my essence sucked out by that fox demon, I'm still a virgin! I'm not going!"

  Tangerine said, "You have to go! You're a virgin, that's the best, virgins are generally purer, as long as your will is firm, it'll be hard for the fox demon to hurt you. I'll guide you from beside you, you should be fine."

  "What's meant by 'should be nothing' is that it might also mean something."

  "As long as your mind is pure and your will is firm, and you are not a lustful person, then there's nothing to worry about. When the time comes, whether or not something happens still depends on how you perform in the situation."

  "Dead orange, you're the one who's a lustful rogue!"

  Tangerine smiled and lay on the bed, disappeared, Zhang Feiyang couldn't feel it anymore. Now that Zhang Feiyang has no spiritual power, after Tangerine disappears, Zhang Feiyang can't find it and can only wait for Tangerine to appear again.

  Zhang Fei Yang opened his eyes, only to see the two old men staring at him blankly. He suddenly realized that he had forgotten about their presence while communicating with the orange spirit earlier. Embarrassed, he said: "I'm exhausted from dealing with the fox demon and almost fell asleep just now, please forgive me, venerable ones!"

  Old Dong said: "Alright, alright, if you don't mind the humble and poor abode, after you've eaten dinner, just sleep here in this humble home."

  Zhang Feiyang agreed, and he was also hungry. He ate the porridge quickly, and after two bowls, he felt sleepy. Zhang Feiyang insisted on not sleeping in the old couple's bed, as it would be unlucky. So the old couple spread a blanket over the haystack, and Zhang Feiyang lay down to sleep amidst the hay.

  Zhang Feiyang temporarily settled down at Old Man Dong's house, during which he went into the village again and saw those villagers who had chased him before. He explained a bit to them, and they immediately realized it was just a misunderstanding, and they all showed silly smiles.

  That evening, Zhang Fei Yang was at Old Man Dong's house, still sitting on that stool, saying: "Old man, I'm going to the Piled Rocks tomorrow to kill those fox demons and avenge your son and the villagers who were harmed."

  Dong Lao Tou was shocked and said, "No, no! Those fox demons are not ordinary. Previously, a Taoist priest came to capture them, but he never returned. He must have been eaten by the fox demons. You're going empty-handed, it's more likely to be unlucky than lucky."

  Zhang Fei said: "My mind is made up, I'll set off tomorrow. Do you have any weapons here that I can take with me for self-defense?"

  Dong Lao saw Zhang Fei's determined face and couldn't persuade him, so he said: "I don't have any weapons here, but I'll take you to see the village chief now. He has some weapons that can be used for self-defense."

  Zhang Feiyang and Old Man Dong entered the village overnight, arriving at the village chief's home. The village chief was a kind-hearted middle-aged man who, upon hearing that Zhang Feiyang wanted to go kill the fox demon, felt great admiration but also tried to dissuade him with good words. Seeing that Zhang Feiyang had made up his mind, he could only go inside and fetch a dagger, saying: "Those fox demons are cunning and changeable; this dagger is the best thing to use against them."

  Zhang Fei put away his dagger and thanked him, then he and Old Man Dong returned to Old Man Dong's home.

  The village head gazed at Zhang Fei's back in the night, shaking his head non-stop and muttering: "Another brave warrior is going to die." Every year, four or five people take up arms from him to go kill the fox demon, but not one of them can come back alive. Although they never return, the village head always feels a pang of regret, yet every time he holds onto the hope that the fox demon will be eliminated, only for his hopes to be dashed again.

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