The Fox Demon and the Little Taoist - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Xuantian Temple was destroyed.

The fox demon stood on the temple eaves, red robes fluttering in the wind, arrogant and unrestrained.

“Stinking Taoist, if you don’t hand over what I want, I’ll bloodbath your Xuanqing Sect.”

The master would rather die than reveal the whereabouts of what he sought. Enraged, the fox demon’s nine fiery tails lifted my master into the air.

Everyone panicked and fled.

The master was gravely injured and disappeared without a trace.

My senior brother had always disliked me and used the opportunity to drive me off the mountain.

I immediately set up a fortune-telling stall at the most bustling market street below.

After my parents died, the master took me in. Since childhood, I’ve had great talent for the way of fate.

Earning a bit of silver to make a living was enough.

Chapter 2

One day, a young master surnamed Li arrived, claiming to be a scholar. He came to ask when he would pass the imperial examinations.

The visitor wore plain, simple clothes and looked ordinary, except for a pair of slightly upturned peach-blossom eyes that seemed very familiar.

Seeing my slight surprise, the scholar covered his mouth with a fan and smiled faintly:

“Taoist, do you recall an old friend?”

Where would I have any old friends?

I shook my head and began to cast his fortune.

Strange. I couldn’t divine anything at all.

I cast the divination again. A gentle breeze brushed past.

Oh, there it was.

How strange.

“This time next year, young master, you can give it a try.”

The scholar thanked me repeatedly.

But he kept delaying in handing over the five copper coins.

After a long while, his face pale, he said:

“Sir, I’m short on money. Could I… repay you with my body?”

His peach-blossom eyes drooped listlessly, looking sickly and easy to take advantage of. I waved my hand to let it go.

Unexpectedly, when I closed my stall, that young master appeared again, looking utterly embarrassed and struggling to speak.

Seeing the tattered cloth bundle he was carrying behind him, I sighed.

We were both fallen wanderers. It seemed he was another homeless soul.

I was being clung to.

Oh well.

I brought the scholar back to the little run-down thatched hut where I was temporarily staying.

After helping Aunt Wang at the village entrance catch a chicken thief through divination, she kindly told me about an abandoned thatched hut in the village, uninhabited because it was haunted.

So I moved in.

The hut was shabby, but the scholar was very grateful.

That night, as I was about to eat cold steamed buns as usual, I saw the scholar staring at me blankly.

I thought he was disgusted by the buns, so the next day I went to Aunt Wang’s vegetable plot at the village entrance and asked for some greens.

Aunt Wang was warm-hearted and refused to take money.

When I got home from closing my stall, hot rice and dishes were already on the table.

“Taoist, you’ve worked hard. I made a few simple dishes. If they don’t suit your taste, please don’t mind them.”

I’d thought he was a pampered scholar who’d stay away from the kitchen, but I never expected his cooking to be exceptional.

I immediately downed three bowls of rice.

Not only that, the messy, dilapidated hut was soon tidied up by him until it was bright and clean.

On sunny days he would sun the straw bedding until it was dry and fluffy. When it rained he’d even come all the way to town to bring me an umbrella.

Hot meals three times a day, and laundry and mending were no trouble at all.

Even Aunt Wang couldn’t help asking me if this scholar was some kind of little house husband I was keeping at home.

He was so capable and virtuous that I felt embarrassed.

Yet when the scholar heard this, he just covered his mouth shyly:

“Little Taoist, I’m already extremely grateful that you took me in. Great kindness needs no thanks. Li can only offer his humble efforts.”

That seemed to make sense.

Perhaps I’m truly heartless and unfeeling. I’ve never been one to dwell on things.

Although a cultivator’s desires are faint, having someone care for my daily needs who also seemed to enjoy it-to refuse further would be ungracious.

“In that case, I’ll trouble you, Young Master Li.”

“May I ask the Taoist’s honored name?”

I waved my hand:

“I’m nobody special. Just call me Bodhi.”

Bodhi…

I didn’t notice the sharp glint that flashed in the Little Scholar’s dark eyes.

The Little Scholar studied very diligently.

He especially liked to study bitterly at night.

Every time I went to sleep, I could see the candlelight still burning brightly in his room.

I fell asleep extremely fast, drifting off in a haze and sinking into deep slumber.

Completely unaware that the candlelight would suddenly go out as soon as I was asleep.

Under the moonlight, the “frail scholar” had already shed one skin.

One fiery red long tail smashed open the flimsy wooden door, and the remaining eight tails wrapped in demonic wind lunged fiercely at me.

Seeing me oblivious, a folding fan playfully lifted my chin.

“I’ve finally found you.”

The fox demon’s androgynously beautiful face gave a cold smirk.

His tawny glass-like eyes turned blood-red in an instant.

His five fingers became sharp claws and thrust straight for my heart, but something blocked them. Chi Li narrowed his eyes in thought.

As if realizing something, he snorted with understanding.

The chill around him intensified.

Bodhi has no heart by nature. Only by becoming emotionally attached could this protective barrier around the Dao heart be broken.

So that’s how it is.

Truly, efforts were made with great care.

The next morning when I woke up, the scholar had already prepared breakfast.

I expressed my thanks and as usual picked up my bowl to eat.

I didn’t notice that he hesitated, wanting to speak.

It wasn’t until I was about to leave that he hesitantly stopped me.

“Taoist, didn’t you notice anything unusual about me today?”

Unusual?

I circled around him.

Looked at his arms, looked at his legs-perfectly intact.

Of course, I wouldn’t know that after I left, a demonic, sinister expression appeared on that innocent, pure face.

How angry and unwilling he was.

Chi Li casually poked a passing villager.

At the sight of him, the villager immediately forgot how to walk, his face full of lewd infatuation.

“B-beauty…”

Chi Li sneered and flicked his fan, sending the man flying ten miles away.

Was this little Taoist blind? To be immune to the looks our fox clan prides itself on?

That evening, just as I finished washing up and was about to go to bed, I suddenly heard the scholar’s frightened cry.

“T-Taoist, save me!”

I hurriedly opened the door.

The scholar, as if seeing his savior, pressed himself close behind me.

“Taoist! There’s a snake in my room… Could I perhaps stay the night here?”

In the candlelight, those eyes glimmered with tears, the corners of his eyes red.

For a moment, it was as if I were the scholar from the storybook.