Chapter 128: Chapter 127: I’m Your Ancestress!
Yu Nuanzhao snorted lightly, "I’m your great aunt!"
"What?"
The fox demon was startled, stared at Yu Nianzhao for several more moments, and said with grievance, "You don’t have a fox scent on you at all. You are clearly a human. No, besides the human scent, you have a death aura too. No matter how you explain, you are clearly not my kin, so how can you be my great aunt?"
"Get lost! Of course, I’m not one of your Fox Clan. Look again closely!"
Yu Nianzhao overlooked him from a higher position.
The fox demon stared at Yu Nianzhao’s face for a long time, suddenly recalling that night outside the Yan Wang Temple when he saw the King Yan statue...
"You—you—you, are you that King Yan statue?"
"Oh, you remembered, huh?"
"No wonder you have the death aura, could it be that you are... King Yan?"
The fox demon trembled, if it really was King Yan, he would be nothing compared to him, a mere fox demon would not be able to face King Yan.
"You’ve only just gained intelligence and already want to commit misdeeds? Instead of properly hunting animals for food, you recklessly wish to eat humans? Aren’t you just courting death?" Yu Nianzhao mercilessly scorned him, "Had you already stained yourself with human lives, the talisman I threw earlier wouldn’t have been so weak; it’d have killed you by sending you to the underworld to await reincarnation."
"Boohoo... But I’m a fox demon, if I don’t eat people, other demons will laugh at me."
The fox raised two paws to cover its cheeks, crying helplessly and with grievance.
"Laugh at you with a hammer! If you really eat humans and I find out, I’ll beat each of those demons to death first. Don’t you know eating humans is illegal? Those demons also eat humans? Where are they? I’ll go eliminate them first."
Yu Nianzhao rolled up his sleeves, ready to catch the fox demon.
The fox demon said with grievance and pity, "I didn’t see them eating humans, but everyone says so."
"They’re probably just boasting. Though there are many evil spirits around Shangjing, I’ve never heard of that many demons causing mischief. If they all loved to eat humans, there would have been a lockdown here."
Yu Nianzhao raised his hand to press his temple, "Why have I been running into a bunch of fools lately?"
"Were they deceiving me?" The fox demon was shocked, unwilling to believe he’d been tricked.
Yu Nianzhao walked up to him, staring at him imposingly, "No matter if you’ve been deceived or not, this whole region is under my Yan Wang Temple’s protection. If I catch you killing and eating people here, I’ll slaughter you and peel your fox skin to make a fur coat, got it?"
"Y-yes, I understand." The fox demon trembled, complying with her demands to mitigate consequences.
"You may leave now!"
"Okay, I’ll leave now!" The fox demon sighed in relief, planning his departure.
"Wait!"
"Huh? What’s wrong now?" The fox demon’s heart raced, worried and anxious.
"You marked the person’s body, aren’t you going to remove it?"
"Alright, I’ll remove it now."
The fox demon scrambled over, startling the hunter, almost provoking him into a faint at the sight of the golden-haired fox.
"The claw marks on your ankle, that’s the mark he imprinted on you. Once erased, he won’t be able to track your location or find your home." Yu Nianzhao explained.
The hunter promptly rolled up his trousers, and indeed found three clear claw marks, already scabbed over.
The fox demon brushed his large tail over the wound, and the claw marks magically vanished.
The fox demon, like a dog wagging its tail, gleefully said, "Master, I’ve erased the mark. May I leave now?"
"Hmm!" Yu Nianzhao pondered for a moment before asking, "Where do you live?"
The fox demon’s tail drooped down, "Just on the hill ahead, the man ran onto my turf to hunt, so I acted. I happened to have never tasted human meat, was taunted by other Fox Clan members a bit, and gave chase."
"Choose friends wisely!" Yu Nianzhao shook her head, "As long as you don’t commit misdeeds, you could try to choose another path."
"What path?" The fox demon asked earnestly, his clear eyes staring attentively.
"If you truly wish to become a fox immortal, naturally you’ll have to cultivate a connection with Buddhism. Choosing crooked paths will only lead to your destruction by the Heavenly Dao." Yu Nianzhao raised a hand and made a throat-slashing gesture, "Your kind isn’t good news, they want to set you up. I’m pointing you to a clear path, as long as you follow my orders, oversee the pilgrims around Yan Wang Temple, you may come to my temple daily to absorb the Buddhist aura; I can share some incense with you. This is far better than any evil path of consuming humans. Building Buddhist connections will naturally lead you to become a fox immortal."
"Really?" The fox demon’s tail stood up again, shaking energetically, "I can really absorb Buddhist aura and share incense?"
"I said you could, so you can."
"Great, I’m certainly willing! It’s a deal then! I will protect the pilgrims around here for you!" The fox demon was overjoyed, unexpectedly benefiting from misfortune.
Mind you, no temples around here willing to share incense with a demon.
Other temples, though not as mighty as Yan Wang Temple, still bask in Buddha’s light that small fox demons generally cannot enter.
Now that he has the legitimate opportunity to enter Yan Wang Temple, he was ecstatic.
"Then let’s start tomorrow. I’ll notify Jing Rui, not to stop you, providing you with a special pass." Yu Nianzhao casually drew a talisman in mid-air, letting it slowly fall upon the fox demon.
The fox demon instantly felt a warm, comfortable sensation throughout his body.
"With this talisman, you won’t be burned when entering and exiting Yan Wang Temple."
"Thank you, Master! My gratitude is beyond words, I’ll certainly work diligently." The fox demon joyously spun around.
Yu Nianzhao raised her eyebrows, looking at his useless appearance, happily accepting a fox demon to work for her felt quite good indeed.
"Alright, you can go now."
"Yes, Master, I’ll return tomorrow." The fox demon joyfully departed, quickly vanishing from sight.
The hunter’s claw marks also disappeared, kneeling gratefully to Yu Nianzhao, then leaving.
After dealing with the fox demon’s matters, Yu Nianzhao didn’t rush back to Prince Su Mansion, instead heading over to the separated residence from the Chu Family’s second-house.
Yu Nianzhao quietly jumped up, standing under the Chu Family’s eaves, overlooking the brightly lit courtyard.
"Ahhh! Father, save me! I feel uncomfortable all over, the female ghost is now attached to me, she almost strangled me earlier!"
Chu Wenyao rolled on the ground, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
The courtyard was sparsely populated, Mr. Chu didn’t want his son’s disgrace to become known, so only a few servants and the Daoist he hired were present.