Chapter 8: Suffering Through the Ages

  Shi Yi An walked over, saw the lump of flesh moving up and down, and thought there might still be hope. He didn't care about anything else, squatted down, used his hands to pull apart the lump, and took a closer look, only to find it was a small child about half a meter tall.

  The child was not wearing clothes, and his whole body was smoked black, emitting a smell of burnt fur. Shi Yian inserted his hand under the child's nose and felt that the child still had a breath. Because he didn't know the extent of the injury, Shi Yian didn't dare to hold him randomly, and he didn't have the ability to deal with such emergencies, so he could only call Yun Mo for help, but after calling twice, no one responded.

  Damn it, the usually elusive Yun Mo, today when he's really needed, can't be found. Shi Yi'an rushed out of Si Wei Ju to find others for help, and coincidentally bumped into Yun Mo who was hurrying back, Yun Mo glanced at him but didn't respond, sidestepped and entered Si Wei Ju, rushing straight towards that black kid. That black kid somehow opened his eyes, clumsily got up, stretched out his hand in the direction of Yun Mo and said: "Yun...Mo...Yun Mo."

  Yun Mo walked over and bent down, picking up the child. He himself looked like a teenager, and now he was holding another half-grown child, making him look even more awkward.

  "Do you know him?" Shi Yi asked weakly. Last time, he had burned Cloud Ink's desk and Cloud Ink had given him a stern look. This time, if he had chopped up Cloud Ink's child, he would have to string himself up and roast himself to eat.

  Yun Mo nodded and took the child into the house, while Shi Yi anxiously circled around the room. He really wanted to check if the child was hurt by the lightning, but he felt guilty and didn't dare to practice on his own again. After all, he had made such a big mistake, and it was lucky that no one was killed; otherwise, he would have been in deep trouble, and the punishment for causing someone's death by lightning would be severe.

  At dinner time, Shi Yi had something on his mind and didn't speak as much as he usually did. He also didn't know if he should tell others about this matter.

  "Yi An, what's wrong with you today? Why are you so quiet?" said Da Bo suddenly, putting down his bowl and chopsticks.

  Shi Yi An, who was suddenly mentioned, said it's nothing and continued eating with his head down.

  "How's your Thunderbolt Fist training going today?" Little Shu was really bringing up whatever came to mind.

  "It's okay, I guess." That thing is brought up, and it should be okay, I suppose.

  "Speaking of which, today the mansion has a little demon crossing its tribulation. I saw that the heavenly thunder was heading in the direction of Si Wei's residence, and it was also the peach blossom spirit at the door."

  "It's not like that, judging from the power of thunder, I'm afraid ordinary animals and plants can't withstand it." The old man said.

  "Is it heavenly thunder? Shi Yi An hastily opened his mouth to ask: "In other words, this heavenly thunder is because there's a demon who wants to cross the tribulation, so it will be brought down, and has nothing to do with others?"

  "Or what did you think it was?" The young uncle's tone was playful, his eyes smiling as he looked at Shi Yian.

  I thought it was me who summoned him with the talisman, and I even thought that I almost used lightning to turn a child into BBQ. Speaking of children, Shi Yian slapped his thigh, and suddenly understood that the child who was struck by lightning and turned into a piece of charcoal was none other than Mao Dunzi, with those round, shiny black eyes, and that stubborn personality that clung to Yun Mo like glue.

  You little ball of fur, you've brought down heavenly thunder and calamity on yourself, and now your old man is scared half to death along with you.

  After dinner, Shi Yi hurried back to Si Wei's residence without stopping. It was not unexpected that he saw Yun Mo and the little kid sitting at the table eating, Yun Mo wasn't eating, just sat beside watching, the little kid took a spoon by himself, and was diligently scooping rice into his mouth.

  When he saw Shi Yi An enter, the little kid puffed out his cheeks, as if wanting to spit out the food in his mouth onto Shi Yi An's body.

  Shi Yi An was just the opposite of Shi Yi Xing, he could tolerate small animals but couldn't stand naughty kids. After glancing at the little brat, he said coldly: "If you dare to spit on me, I'll use talisman paper to seal your mouth shut."

  The little kid looked up at Yun Mo with a pleading expression, and Yun Mo patted his head helplessly.

  "Yunmo, I asked you to help me raise a fox, how did it end up becoming a child?" Shi Yi'an sat across from Yunmo, his tone somewhat helpless. After all, raising a fox only required giving it a place to sleep and some meat to eat, and if it dared to cause trouble, just throw it in a cage. Now, this fox had transformed into a child, and its living standards had risen significantly, not to mention that if you dared to treat it poorly, the Juvenile Protection Act would not let you off, and this kid was clearly a handful, just thinking about it made him feel very troubled.

  Yun Mo patted his sleeves and said: "It has nothing to do with me, it was originally going to pass the tribulation quickly, I thought you knew."

  Yun Mo thought that Shi Yi An had brought the nine-tailed fox back to wait for it to pass its tribulation and then make it his spiritual pet. However, Shi Yi An didn't have this idea at all. Not to mention, he had already forgotten the lesson about spiritual pets taught by Eldest Uncle. Even if he hadn't forgotten, he wouldn't want to take in a milk doll as a spiritual pet. This thing not only couldn't help him but would probably cause trouble for him instead.

  "Take it with you for now, kid." Shi Yian thought of reaching out to poke the little boy's chubby face, but the little boy dodged quickly and stuck out half of his small tongue at him. Shi Yian spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness, indeed he still didn't have a way with children.

  Two days after Mao Tuanzi's cultivation as an adult, Shi Yian deeply regretted it. If he had known that there would be such a situation now, he should have braised him when he was still a fox. When the clever Mao Tuanzi discovered that the powerful Tian Shi in front of him was actually just an empty shell and didn't have any skills at all, Shi Yian could no longer deceive him.

  A lively and mischievous Tuanzi, from morning till night, relying on his own magical powers, chased the Peach Blossom Spirit outside until it screamed and ran wildly. Or he would hold a drum in front of the study door and beat it, but the drum was confiscated by Yunmo, only to have him pull out a flute from who-knows-where and start blowing it, producing a sharp sound that was like stepping on a chicken's neck. What's even more annoying is that he would use his soft and sweet voice to sing some folk songs in an off-key tone, tunes that even Shifu had never heard before.

  Shi Yi An couldn't bear it anymore after drawing the wrong talisman for the third time, gritting his teeth and crumpling all the waste paper into a ball. He activated the spiritual energy in his body and burned the wasted talismans to ashes. Having reached the end of his patience, he decided to go find his younger uncle to think of a solution.

  Young uncle listened to the whole story and unusually didn't find fault or make sarcastic remarks, but readily agreed to help. He found a notebook, tore out a page, ripped it into irregularly sized scraps of paper, muttered something under his breath, raised his hand and scattered the things in his hand towards the window, those drifting scraps of paper turned into a thousand paper cranes flying away.

  His skilled technique once again left Shi Yian standing next to him stunned. If he really mastered this move, wouldn't picking up girls become effortless in the future?

  "Is it done?" Shi Yi'an asked.

  "Just wait." San Shu stood with his hands behind him, looking out the window. The wind outside blew in, blowing his hair into a frenzy, giving off an air of grandeur.

  Dianmo Xuan's house spirit, Yu Qing, picked up a broom and walked over, sweeping away the thousand paper cranes that hadn't flown away. San Shu, who had failed to pretend to be cool, scratched his head and gave Yu Qing an awkward smile.

  Although this Third Uncle is often out of tune, it has to be said that when doing things, finding him is still more reliable. However, after a few days, someone came to tell Shi Yian that there was a couple visiting, saying they were looking for their son.

  Yun Mo was taking a bath with Tuanzi, so Shi Yi'an went to the main hall alone. Thinking that he would really meet the fox spirit, his heart was still somewhat excited.

  In the living room sat an ordinary-looking elderly couple, the old man wearing a faded blue and gray striped short-sleeved shirt, the old woman wearing a floral blouse that could be bought anywhere in the market outside, both of their pant legs were hanging three inches above their cloth shoes. This simple appearance was completely opposite to the luxurious style that Shi Yian had imagined, and he suddenly felt a sense of suffocation.

  The two old couples not only came, but also brought a lot of local specialties, such as mushrooms, wood ears, hazelnuts, walnuts and other mountain goods, filling two large bags to the brim. Because the bags were too full, some small mushrooms rolled out of one of them. This gave Shi Yian a strong feeling that they must have mistaken their child for someone else. The fox spirit transformed from the demon couldn't be like this.

  "It's been a while since our Mu Mu went missing, and we've been searching for her everywhere. We didn't expect that she would accidentally run to your esteemed residence. Thank you for taking care of her, it's really been a bother lately." The old lady spoke in a manner unlike ordinary rural women.

  "Hey, no, no, no, I didn't take care of it, it's all Yunmo's credit." I just used an electric rod to knock it down and put it in a cage, that shouldn't count as taking care of it...

  "I'm lazy and don't cultivate diligently, but this time I was able to pass the tribulation smoothly, all thanks to the blessings of your esteemed household."

  The young uncle spoke politely: "The Fox Clan's innate talent is strong, and being able to cross the tribulation also owes it to his own person."

  The people on both sides were so hypocritical, exchanging pleasantries with each other. Shi Yi'an just sat there with an "I'm new here, I don't understand" attitude, silently drinking tea until Yun Mo and Tuanzi came over from the backyard, at which point this superficial conversation finally came to an end.

  Tuanzi let out a loud cry and rushed over to fling herself into the old lady's arms, chattering away in a language that neither of us could understand, and the old lady replied to her in the same tongue.

  Even if Shi Yi An had doubts about the identities of these two before, he was now certain that even if they weren't their parents, they definitely came from the same "star" as Tuan Zi...

  The old couple thanked Yun Mo deeply, making him feel a bit embarrassed.

  After the old couple left, Shi Yi'an asked his younger brother: "Are all fox spirits like this? They look a bit unprofessional."

  Young uncle shaved his head and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? That couple has long been promoted to fox spirits. In the lower ranks of the Fox tribe, it's not low, only someone as common as you would look at faces."

  "You're not common, you don't judge by appearances. I'm just a common person, so I have to see what they've sent." Shi Yian flipped over the two bags and pushed aside the pine nuts and mushrooms, saying: "My family's Yun Mo doesn't eat worldly smoke and fire, these things are useless even if given."

  Suddenly a black wooden box fell out from under the bag, hitting the ground with a thud. Shi Yi'an picked up the box and shook it next to her ear, hearing something hard inside.

  "Good stuff!" Shi Yian opened the box and saw a bright green jade pendant at the bottom, carved into the shape of a nine-tailed fox. The craftsmanship was exquisite, and the material was top-notch. Even Shi Yian, who knew nothing about jade, could tell that this thing was good stuff at first glance.

  "Take care of that bear child, Yun Mo. You've been working hard for the past two days, so take this." Shi Yi'an snapped the box shut and handed it to Yun Mo. She herself sat down in a chair beside him, munching happily on a bag of pine nuts.

  Young uncle kicked Shi Yian with his toes and said, "What are you doing? That jade is the token of the Fox tribe. What do you want to give it to Yun Mo for? If something happens when you go down the mountain, you can find the Fox tribe for help."

  "Going down the mountain?" Shi Yi'an stuffed all the peeled pine nuts into his mouth, crunching away loudly, and patted the remaining residue on his hands, mumbling indistinctly: "At my current level, it's really hard to say when I can go down the mountain. Besides, that thing was given by the Fox tribe to the person taking care of Mu Mu, what am I doing with it?"

  Yun Mo stood there, holding the wooden box and admiring it for a while before putting it away. Shi Yi An squatted down to distribute the other things sent by the Fox tribe to the others, and after making the rounds, returned to Si Wei's residence to find Yun Mo sitting on the stone bench under the sea peach tree in a daze, with the box placed on the stone table.

  Shi Yi An suddenly felt a pang of guilt at the sight, because he disliked bear children, so he asked San Shu to help Tuan Zi find his family and sent Tuan Zi away. Now that he thought about it, Yun Mo had been alone for hundreds of years since he became an adult, and finally had a Tuan Zi to accompany him during his lonely times, but in the end, this Tuan Zi was sent back home by himself.

  Shi Yi An walked up to comfort him, but just then saw Yun Mo take out a pair of white gloves from his pocket. He poured the jade out of the box and casually placed it on the table, his face filled with excitement as he stroked the box with great care, not missing a single detail or pattern. At the same time, he would occasionally bring it to his nose for a sniff, looking like a pervert.

  ……

  "Yun Mo?" Shi Yi'an called out tentatively, and saw Yun Mo immediately put the box back on the table, then turned around with a serious expression, his facial control rivaling that of Master Shi.

  "Is there anything else you'd like to instruct?" Yun Mo asked.

  "There's nothing, I'm just telling you that I won't be back to sleep tonight. The giant thunder symbol has been stagnant lately and I plan to practice more." Shī Yī ān said. After all, Yún Mò is the house spirit of Sī Wēi Jū, so he knows whether Shī Yī ān is in the room or not. Rather than having Yún Mò search everywhere at night and causing unnecessary trouble, it's better to tell him in advance.

  Yun Mo lowered his eyelids and thought for a moment before asking: "Fourth Master wants to take you to Ghost City?"

  "Shh." Shi Yi An made a zipping motion across his mouth and said, "You mustn't breathe a word about this. I had to beg your uncle for ages before he agreed."