The Monk Turns the Tables on the Nine-Tailed Fox - Chapter 2

Night gave way to day, and the first light split the sky.

I washed the filth from my body, staring ruefully at the bruises and red marks that wouldn’t disappear.

The monk wasn’t an ordinary man.

Had I known, I would never have been stupid enough to tease him and get myself caught up in it.

I dressed quickly and slipped away before he woke.

In my haste, I failed to notice a wisp of golden light circling my ankle bone—

A red thread, invisible to the naked eye, now connected the monk and me.

All I cared about was following the path into town and mingling with the crowd. Everything I saw was a novelty.

My elder sister, who had been down the mountain, said human food was especially delicious.

I walked into a restaurant and waved grandly.

“Waiter! Bring me all your specialties, and a few pots of good wine!”

Sure enough, nothing soothed the heart like good food.

After stuffing myself, I felt much better.

I got up to leave, but the waiter stopped me. “Sir, you haven’t paid!”

I was confused. “You have to give people silver to eat?”

His face darkened at once. “Are you joking, sir? Or were you planning to dine here without paying?”

At a wave of his hand, several burly, vicious-looking men immediately surrounded me.

I shrank back a little.

“Of course not.”

Then I pulled out the copy of The Carnal Prayer Mat that Father had given me and smiled sheepishly.

“Aren’t you always saying there’s a house of gold to be found in books? Here. A collector’s edition house of gold!”

“So you really did come here looking for trouble. Get him!”

The waiter flung out his arm. The brutes swung their broadswords at me, only for a string of prayer beads to block them.

“Please, there’s no need for violence. Tell me how much he owes. I’ll pay for him.”

A familiar figure stood in front of me.

The waiter looked the monk up and down, then waved the hired muscle back.

“Two hundred and fifty taels of silver.” He pointed at the mountain of plates on my table. “This customer has eaten almost every side dish we had.”

The monk gave me a cold look. I turned my face away.

He said nothing more and took out his silver.

After a while, he handed the waiter a silver ingot the size of a bean, then bowed.

“My apologies. I haven’t brought enough silver either.”

…

The two of us were beaten up and thrown into the kitchen to wash dishes.

I stared straight at the monk’s calm face.

He raised his pale, slender hand to his chest and invoked Amitabha.

“My name is Tanluan.”

I knew there was something wrong with this monk.

His body actually contained the consciousnesses of two souls.

Last night, he was called Zhiyuan. Today, he called himself Tanluan.

Whatever his name was, though, I wanted no further entanglement with him.

I was about to conjure some fake silver with an illusion and pay the owner, but the monk stopped me.

“Deceiving others is wrong.”

I tried to escape through a window. He hauled me back again.

“Don’t struggle pointlessly. You’re no match for me.”

After repeated failed jailbreaks, I was furious—and still couldn’t beat him.

I had no choice but to spend a month washing dishes for the owner.

Though throughout that month, the monk did the work while I stood by and ordered him about.

On the day our sentence ended, I threw the dishcloth into his pristine face and delivered my parting threat.

“From now on, you go your way and I’ll go mine.”

“If I see you again, I’ll beat you to a pulp!”

Threat delivered, we met at the very next corner.

I said nothing. I simply turned to leave.

The monk caught me again. His face was utterly indifferent, but he made me a promise.

“Since I’ve taken your body, I will take responsibility.”

I raged helplessly. “Let go!”

He leaned a little closer and showed me the image of a nine-tailed red fox on the wrist where he wore his prayer beads.

“You’ve left a mark on my body.”

Then he cast a spell so I could see the red thread connecting us.

“I don’t know why we’re bound by this red thread of fate. But until I sever it, I won’t let you leave.”

“Oh, I see…”

I took off running, turning to give him a jaunty wave.

“Bye-bye!”

He cast a spell on the silver anklet and bells around my ankle. A slight curl of his finger, and I was back where I’d started.

“…?”

“Monk! You’re forcing me into a relationship?!”