Thousand-Year White Fox

It would be a lie to say I didn't want to go inside and take a look. Yue Qianchou hesitated for a long time before dismissing the thought. The atmosphere around him felt off! It felt like the prelude to danger in movies and TV shows, and the two blood-red characters beside him were particularly eye-catching.

Suddenly, a zither melody drifted from inside the cave, mingling with the sound of rushing water. Although it was unclear, it was definitely the sound of a zither. Yue Qianchou, who had resolutely turned to leave, stopped and tilted his head to listen.

"Damn it, what is this? Isn't this trying to lure me in? No matter, I'm going to take a look." Yue Qianchou made up his mind and headed towards the cave. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat, and it probably applies to people too. I wonder if this is one of those times.

Standing at the cave entrance, a blast of cold air hit him. Yue Qianchou shivered. It was pitch black inside, so dark he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Behind him, the waterfall roared deafeningly, drowning out any sounds from within.

More than half of his clothes were already soaked. Yue Qianchou gritted his teeth and walked in with his scalp tingling. After taking a turn, he couldn't see anything. He reached out and touched the moss-covered stone wall, slowly feeling his way inside. After walking for a while, even though he couldn't see anything, he could feel that the terrain was continuously sloping downwards.

"Damn it! Where does this lead!" Yue Qianchou, trapped in the darkness, felt a throbbing pain in his tooth. The zither music in his ears grew clearer. Suddenly, a faint light appeared in the darkness ahead. He blinked in surprise and immediately used both hands and feet to quicken his pace.

The light grew brighter and brighter. As he got closer, he realized he had reached the end of the passage. A vast underground space opened before him, its surroundings covered in glowing phosphorescent stones. A tranquil pool lay undisturbed within the entire cavern. There were many small islands in the pool, and on the island in the center stood a pavilion. A person seemed to be sitting inside, appearing to be a woman. The zither music was coming from there, mournful and lingering. A stone bridge lay beneath Yue Qianchou's feet, leading directly to the pavilion on the island.

"Holy crap! What kind of forbidden place is this? It's hiding a woman! It scared the hell out of me!" Yue Qianchou grumbled, hands behind his back, as he walked across the stone bridge.

Upon reaching the pavilion, Yue Qianchou's eyes widened and his mouth fell open, almost drooling. The woman before him was dressed in simple white, without any adornment. A single silk ribbon simply tied her exquisite hair. Her bright eyes held a hint of sorrow as she stared blankly at the ancient zither on the stone platform, her slender, fair hands gently caressing the strings. She seemed not to have noticed Yue Qianchou standing before her at all.

This woman, despite her lack of adornment, could be described as devastatingly beautiful without exaggeration. Words like peerless beauty and unparalleled elegance would not be enough to describe her loveliness.

She sat there quietly, playing the zither, her eyes unable to hide a sorrow that made one's heart ache. The zither music was melancholic, as if recounting the pain of missing a lover. Yue Qianchou suddenly felt that this dim stone chamber wasn't illuminated by the surrounding phosphorescent stones; it was her...

Yue Qianchou realized now that the immortal sister who had always lingered in his dreams was nothing compared to the woman before him! Although the immortal sister was slightly younger, comparing them, she was merely a foil to the main bloom.

"A humble scholar greets the lady!" After a long silence, unable to find the right words, Yue Qianchou bowed and finally managed to utter a sentence, his heart pounding wildly. When he looked up, he found that he was like nothing in the eyes of the beautiful woman in the pavilion. She didn't even bother to look at him, let alone acknowledge him.

Like a child who had made a mistake, Yue Qianchou gave an awkward smile, unbothered by her rudeness. He thought to himself, "The beauty must have been lost in her playing and didn't hear me. It's okay! Even though I don't understand what she's playing, isn't there a saying about finding a kindred spirit through music? Today, I'll pretend to be Ziqi listening to Boya play! It's good to meet a beautiful kindred spirit!" With that, he stepped forward to enter the pavilion.

Just as he was about to step into the pavilion, he felt an invisible wall block him. No matter how hard Zhao Wuchou pushed, he couldn't get in. With the beautiful woman before him, he became a little agitated and couldn't help but charge forward.

"Bang!" A purple light screen flashed, accompanied by a powerful rebound, immediately flinging Yue Qianchou several meters away, leaving him dizzy and disoriented. When he got up, he saw that the four pillars supporting the pavilion were engraved with four talismans that glowed with purple light. As the purple light faded and the talismans disappeared, the purple light screen also vanished without a trace.

"Holy crap! Who the hell did this?" Yue Qianchou was furious. He could no longer maintain his composure and cursed loudly. After cursing, he realized his mistake and wished he could slap himself twice. How could he speak so crudely in front of such a beautiful woman? He felt utterly humiliated.

But the beautiful woman remained unmoved, as if he were nothing more than a clown. After blushing, he regained his composure, walked over, and asked sternly, "Did those old fossils from the Qingguang Sect imprison you?"

The beautiful woman still ignored him, continuing to play her zither. He then asked a variety of other questions, but she remained as indifferent as before. Finally, with his pride wounded and having gained nothing, Yue Qianchou walked dejectedly towards the cave entrance...

Shortly after he left, a white, slender figure flew in. It was a beautiful young girl. She walked to the outside of the pavilion, sat down, propped her pretty face with her legs, and quietly listened to the woman in the pavilion play the zither. If Yue Qianchou had seen this girl, he would have been greatly astonished. Wasn't this exactly the immortal sister he had been dreaming of?

"Master! I have a question for you!"

Hao Sansi, holding his wine gourd, looked up and saw his disciple's dejected expression. He couldn't help but chuckle, "What is it?"

"Do you know about the stone cave in the forbidden area behind the mountain?" Yue Qianchou asked.

"What? You went there?" Hao Sansi was taken aback. Seeing his disciple nod, he continued, "That's where prisoners used to be held. Many disciples with extraordinary strength guarded it, which is why it was designated a forbidden area. Now that the cultivation world is relatively peaceful, it hasn't been used for several hundred years. Otherwise, how could you have gotten in?"

"That's not right?" Yue Qianchou asked doubtfully, "How did I see a woman imprisoned inside?"

"Oh! You mean that white fox spirit! She was imprisoned by the previous Sect Master two hundred years ago. Originally, they intended to confine her for a hundred years to repent and reform. After her sentence was up, she refused to leave, so she's been there ever since."

"Fox spirit?" Yue Qianchou was astonished. "Master, you're saying she's a fox spirit?"

"What's so strange about that? A fox spirit that has cultivated for a thousand years can naturally transform into human form, uh..." Hao Sansi suddenly stopped, looked his disciple up and down, and chuckled strangely, "Disciple! Don't tell me you fell for her because she's beautiful?"

"Tch!" Yue Qianchou felt guilty and feigned indifference, changing the subject. "Master! Tell me quickly, why was she imprisoned by the previous Sect Master?"

"I warn you, there's a difference between humans and demons. Don't get any ideas about her, or she'll drain your vital essence. Don't say I didn't warn you." Hao Sansi seemed to see through his disciple's thoughts, offered a serious warning, took a sip of wine, and sighed, "She's a demon ensnared by love..."

After listening to his master's account, Yue Qianchou felt it was an incredibly cliché story, yet he couldn't help but sigh.

It turned out that the woman in the pavilion was indeed a thousand-year-old white fox spirit. Before she could transform into human form, she was injured by a hunter. While fleeing, she was fortunately saved by a scholar. A thousand years later, the white fox spirit transformed into human form and sought out her savior to repay her debt of gratitude. She found a handsome young man, whom the white fox believed to be her savior in a past life. The young man, unaware of the girl's true identity but stunned by her beauty, eventually fell in love with her, and the man and demon became husband and wife.

In the days that followed, the couple was indeed affectionate. The young man studied diligently, hoping to pass the imperial examinations and bring honor to his ancestors. The young woman, shedding all pretense, dressed simply and took meticulous care of him. Their hard work paid off. After ten years of arduous study, the young man indeed passed the examinations with flying colors, becoming the top scholar. The only regret was that the couple had no children for several years, perhaps due to the union of human and demon.

Upon becoming the top scholar, the young man became a disciple of the emperor, his status instantly elevated. The Prime Minister of the Huaxia Empire took notice of him and wished to take him as a son-in-law, but he already had a wife at home, so it was impossible. The Prime Minister was angered and hinted that if he still wished for a grand future, he should divorce his wife, or his future would be bleak. The top scholar was in a dilemma, torn between his virtuous wife and the prime minister's favored daughter, a truly difficult choice.

However, he ultimately could not resist the Prime Minister's authority. Citing his inability to bear children and continue the lineage, he divorced his wife. The white fox was heartbroken, knowing that as a demon, she truly couldn't bear children for her husband's family. She accepted her husband's decree of divorce without complaint. Despite being divorced, the young woman still deeply loved the young man and secretly watched over him.

Fate is unpredictable. Not long after the Prime Minister's daughter married the top scholar, she suddenly fell ill and died. Hearing slanderous remarks, the Prime Minister was enraged, mistakenly believing that the top scholar was dissatisfied with his daughter and had caused her death. With the Prime Minister's power, dealing with a newcomer in officialdom was a foregone conclusion. Coincidentally, the white fox had left for a time during that period. When she returned, her beloved was already headless. The white fox was overcome with grief and, in a fit of rage, slaughtered all hundreds of people in the Prime Minister's mansion.

This incident shook the entire capital. The Prime Minister's Imperial Preceptor was no match for the white fox, so he invited the Qingguang Sect Master. This led to the white fox being imprisoned.

Men bend for power, and women are hurt by love; it has always been this way since ancient times. Yue Qianchou sighed, finally understanding the reason for the beautiful woman's sorrow and melancholy. Even though he knew the beautiful woman was a fox spirit, her peerless beauty lingered in his mind for a long time. In the following days, his cultivation was completely disrupted.

The forbidden stone cave remained dim. Despite his master's warning, Yue Qianchou couldn't resist coming again. He took out the glowing phosphorescent stones he had pried from the cave last time...

At the end of the bridge, the person remained, the zither remained, and the zither music remained. Yue Qianchou walked over slowly and stood before the pavilion, quietly gazing at the face that could captivate all men in the world. Outwardly, who could tell that such a beautiful woman was a fox spirit?

The zither music was melancholic. After learning the white fox's story, Yue Qianchou found the music strangely familiar, as if he had heard it in a past life. As the music reached an emotional peak, his lips parted, and he began to sing along with the zither: "I am a fox who has cultivated for a thousand years, a thousand years of cultivation and a thousand years of loneliness. In the quiet of the night, can anyone hear me cry? Where the lights are dim, can anyone see me dance? I am a fox who has waited for a thousand years, a thousand years of waiting and a thousand years of loneliness. In the rolling red dust, who has planted the seed of love? In the vast sea of people, who has drunk the poison of love? When I loved you, you were poor and studying diligently. When I left you, you had passed the imperial examinations and were celebrating your wedding. Can I dance one more dance for you? I am the white fox you released thousands of years ago. Look, my sleeves flutter, my sleeves flutter. All the vows of love have turned to nothing..."

Yue Qianchou was immersed in the white fox's story, his emotions filled with sorrow. He sang with great feeling, his voice hoarse yet moving. He didn't realize that when he sang, "When I loved you, you were poor and studying diligently," the zither music in the pavilion had abruptly stopped.

And when he sang, "I am the white fox you released thousands of years ago," that peerless face, which was only for that person and no one else, had quietly lifted. She stared blankly at Yue Qianchou, and a pair of crystal tears slid down her beautiful eyes, dripping onto the zither strings, shattering into pieces, their bodies and bones broken.

The music ended, and the person awakened. Yue Qianchou, after finishing his song, came back to his senses and was astonished to discover the two heart-wrenching tear tracks. Their eyes met, and they gazed at each other for a long time. Yue Qianchou immediately understood and secretly felt smug: "Holy crap! I found a kindred spirit. It turns out one song was all it took, so simple! If I had known, I wouldn't have made such a fool of myself that day. Damn it! I get it now. No wonder those little singers in my past life had so many fans as soon as they opened their mouths! And they were all die-hard fans. It seems my voice is pretty good too! Even though I only have this one fan, one is better than ten thousand. Not bad, not bad. Now, let's see me continue my performance. This is the moment to see if she's a die-hard fan."

Yue Qianchou's heart was filled with trepidation. He resolutely turned his head and walked towards the cave entrance with firm steps, thinking to himself, "One step, two steps, three steps... Holy crap! Why isn't she stopping me! If I walk out, she won't be able to call me back."

The white fox, her eyes filled with tears, suddenly noticed that the person before her was gone. She snapped back to reality, saw the retreating figure, and hurriedly called out, "Young master, please stay!"

"That's good, that's good. A thousand-year-old elder sister, I thought you were mute! This young scholar is scared! My heart is pounding! Tsk tsk! But it's different when a beauty speaks. Even 'young master, please stay' sounds so pleasant, it makes my bones go soft. Heh heh, my die-hard fan is here." His selfish thoughts triumphant, Yue Qianchou felt incredibly pleased. He struck a pose he thought was cool, turned around slowly, and said calmly, "Miss! Are you calling me?"

The white fox stood up and curtsied gracefully to him, "May I ask, young master! Where did the song you just sang come from?"

What a figure! Every movement was captivating! No wonder women in my past life cursed women who seduced their husbands as fox spirits. Yue Qianchou was a bit dazed. He suppressed his wandering soul and sighed, "I am a disciple of the Qingguang Sect. I heard your story a few days ago and came to see you once. Seeing your devotion to love, I was deeply moved. I specially composed this song to accompany your zither music, as a token of my admiration." In his heart, he prayed, "Sister Chen Rui from Earth, I'm borrowing your golden song to pick up girls. Please don't hold it against this humble scholar. Amitabha, sin, sin!"

"You flatter me, young master!" the white fox replied. A look of hesitation appeared on her face, and she said with a hint of unease, "I have a humble request, and I hope you will grant it."

Yue Qianchou frowned slightly, thinking, What kind of unreasonable request is this? Does she want to drain me dry? I won't agree to that. Seeing his hesitation, the white fox, fearing he wouldn't agree, quickly added, "Could you teach this song to me, young master? Once I learn it, I will surely repay you handsomely."

"How will you repay me handsomely? By offering yourself? No way, Master warned me that you'd drain me dry." Yue Qianchou indulged in a brief fantasy. Realizing the other party's request was simply this, he immediately walked to the pavilion and said grandly, "Such a small matter is my pleasure to help with. Meeting you is fate, so there's no need to talk about handsome rewards. From today on, we are friends, and we'll keep in touch." This shameless fellow had already set the tone for their relationship.

"When you were singing just now, I was lost in thought. Could you sing it again, young master?" the white fox asked shyly, seemingly feeling that her request was a bit excessive.

Yue Qianchou's heart fluttered. He truly couldn't believe that this shy beauty before him was the fox spirit from legend who had killed hundreds of people in one go. He didn't refuse again. After gathering his emotions, he slowly sang a melancholic song: "I am a fox who has cultivated for a thousand years..."

After the song, the white fox bowed and said, "Thank you, young master! I have learned much, please offer your guidance." She then sat down, her slender fingers caressing the strings of the zither. A mournful melody arose, and as her red lips parted, revealing glimpses of her pearly teeth, she sang a version of the song even more authentic than Yue Qianchou's. The zither music accompanied her singing, echoing within the stone cave.

"Young master, do you think my singing is okay like this?" the white fox asked, standing up.

Damn! This girl is a singing genius. She heard a pirated version and can sing the original! I'm sweating! Yue Qianchou felt ashamed and quickly applauded, saying, "Excellent, excellent! Truly a voice of nature!"

"You flatter me, young master! I haven't asked the name of this song yet," the white fox said with a bow.

Yue Qianchou smiled and replied, "I wrote it for you, so let's call it 'White Fox'!"

"Young master, you can hear music and compose melodies; you are truly my kindred spirit. With this song to accompany me, my life is not in vain," she said, stepping away from the zither and bowing to Yue Qianchou.

Yue Qianchou felt a little guilty and waved his hand dismissively. He looked around and frowned, asking, "Miss, do you really intend to spend your entire life here?"

Inside the pavilion, the white fox moved gracefully and said mournfully, "The years in the mountains are like a single ray of light, and the prosperity of the world lasts for a thousand years. For me, what difference does it make where I am? The Qingguang Sect is full of hidden talents. You, young master, don't seem like a cultivator. Why are you on Qingguang Mountain?"

This question struck a nerve with Yue Qianchou. He shook his head with a wry smile and recounted in detail how he had ended up on Qingguang Mountain and how he had become a good-for-nothing in the Qingguang Sect.

"So that's how it is!" the white fox nodded and said, "It's hard to find a kindred spirit. Meeting you, young master, is fate. Allow me to offer a small token of my gratitude!" With that, she struck her chest with her palm, her red lips opened, and she spat out a golden bead that floated in the air. The white fox pointed two fingers, and the golden bead flew towards the pavilion. Immediately, a purple light screen appeared around the pavilion, blocking the bead. The white fox's delicate fingers pinched, and she sent a finger-spell towards the golden bead. The bead vibrated, and the purple light screen rippled. The golden bead slowly squeezed through the light screen and floated in front of Yue Qianchou.

"Is this for me?" Yue Qianchou asked, catching it in surprise.

The white fox nodded. "It was for this item that my husband lost his life, which I regret deeply. Since I obtained it, I haven't used it. However, its efficacy is beyond doubt. When I was imprisoned, my cultivation had just reached the late Nascent Soul stage. I hadn't cultivated for two hundred years, yet now I've reached the late Tribulation stage. I believe this is all thanks to the efficacy of this bead. As for its other functions, I haven't truly studied them and don't know. However, it must have miraculous effects on changing your physique; I can deeply attest to that. You can just swallow it directly."

"Ah..." Yue Qianchou was greatly astonished. Without cultivating, reaching the late Tribulation stage from the late Nascent Soul stage in two hundred years meant crossing three levels! Even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had seen pigs run while in the Qingguang Sect. For ordinary cultivators, even if they focused solely on cultivation, it was rare for anyone to successfully advance from the late Nascent Soul stage to the late Tribulation stage within two hundred years. This could be seen from the fact that the Qingguang Sect Master, Liu Changqing, who was nearly two hundred years old, had only reached the middle Nascent Soul stage.

"What a treasure!" Yue Qianchou exclaimed. The white fox raised her hand, signaling, "Young master!" He nodded, his gaze sweeping over her delicate red lips. He thought to himself, It came from her mouth and will go into mine. I wonder if this counts as an indirect kiss. Smelling a faint, musky, orchid-like fragrance from the bead, he tilted his head back and swallowed it. Only then did he realize how difficult it was to swallow this egg-sized object. The white fox sent a finger-spell towards him. Yue Qianchou felt a sharp pain in his throat, as if it were tearing, and the golden bead had already burrowed into his body.

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