"There's a Ghost"

"There's a Ghost"

Back at the lodging, Li stepped out from the shadows by the wall. "Why did you come back alone? Didn't you manage to see the person you wanted to ransom?"

"I saw him, but things were a little different from what I imagined..." Xia Fan recounted what had happened. "He has food and drink over there, and he doesn't plan to go to my post with me."

Li wore an incredulous expression. "Are you two really master and disciple?"

"I suppose... we are," Xia Fan said. That question made even him uncertain. After all, the meaning of master and disciple as he knew it differed greatly from that of this era. "But since he said so himself, I'll let him do as he pleases."

Knowing that his master had not been imprisoned and made to suffer was enough. Considering how civilian cultivators outside official control were somewhat unwelcome in the Bureau of Military Affairs' eyes, perhaps it was better that he did not leave with him.

"Let's consider this matter settled for now. We should eat dinner first."

The inn itself provided meals. Though the food could not compare to a dedicated restaurant's, it was far better than the flatbread and dry rations they had eaten on the road.

Watching Li carefully cradle the hot soup and sip it in little pecks, Xia Fan felt the exhaustion of several days' travel melt away considerably.

Especially when she swallowed a mouthful of soup, her tail would sway from side to side behind her. It was unbelievably refreshing to watch. In a later age, she would probably be petted bald.

How could anyone possibly dislike this? It was simply incomprehensible.

Sure enough, the gulf between eras was even harder to cross than the Mariana Trench.

"What are you laughing at?" Li noticed something was off and asked with a frown.

"Nothing. I was just marveling at how foxes really do belong to the canine family. Even the way they wag their tails is so similar."

Li's tail shot upright and hid behind her back. "How exactly are foxes like dogs? There are so many four-legged animals with tails, yet their differences are already so obvious. Let alone among Yao?"

Uh... had her fur bristled? Xia Fan realized that the canine-family theory seemed to be her forbidden ground, so he could only temporarily set aside his scientific spirit. "...What you said does seem reasonable. Yao probably cannot be classified so casually."

"Isn't that obvious?" Li said irritably. "I already found it strange before. Fine, you can say you don't understand foxes, but wolves and dogs are so different that you humans even use the latter as an insult, yet you still classify them together? I truly don't know who taught you such absurd knowledge!"

A book called On the Origin of Species said so...

Xia Fan decided to set aside the dispute for now. "By the way, since we have time now, teach me about Sorcery Arts. You can tell me everything your master taught you."

"No." The Fox Demon refused decisively.

"Eh? But we agreed before—"

"Yao are born as Qi Sense Users. They are already formed the moment they are born, and no matter how they cultivate afterward, it will not affect their own nature. Humans are different." Li explained seriously. "Although Master did not say much, I still remember that human spellcasting places great importance on temperament. Learning one piece here and practicing another there will not only yield twice the effort for half the result, but can also easily affect one's drawing in of qi."

"That is also why disciples of aristocratic families are generally superior to those from Sanmen. Your master clearly had no ability to point you in the right direction, so you already started much slower than those people. The Bureau of Military Affairs will make up for this when new Sorcery Art practitioners arrive. Rather than having me teach you, it would be better to wait half a month and study Sorcery Arts systematically."

"So there was such a theory... My master never mentioned it." Xia Fan was surprised.

"If he also came from Sanmen, it would not be strange for him not to know. Testing one's temperament is extremely difficult. The supplementary materials alone must be at least third-grade; even aristocratic families may not be able to provide them." Li paused. "Of course, another reason is that the Bureau of Military Affairs keeps an extremely tight grip on this information. Ordinary people do not have many chances to come into contact with it."

Xia Fan deeply understood that. Evil Spirits were not particularly rare, yet almost no one could clearly explain such basic questions as what categories they came in, or how one should save oneself or avoid danger upon encountering them. Even his master mostly relied on experience when dealing with Evil Spirits. If experience failed, he would immediately retreat. Rarely did he ever have a clear plan beforehand.

When Xia Fan passed through several major cities, he had asked bookstores about related information. The answer he received was that there were neither books teaching people how to identify Evil Spirits nor accessible reading materials explaining qi and Sorcery Arts. Someone had surely restricted the circulation of such information. Considering the Bureau of Military Affairs' duties and position, it was the only one capable of doing so.

"Then... do you know much about Evil Spirits?"

"Master mentioned quite a lot over time. There is no harm in telling you." Li said frankly. "But the Bureau of Military Affairs will certainly teach this afterward too. Are you sure you want to hear it from me?"

Xia Fan nodded at once. Not only had he been curious for a long time, but listening to the Fox Demon before him explain it would be better in every way than listening to some white-bearded old man in the government office.

"Then let's start with the classifications—"

Li had barely begun when a sudden knock at the door interrupted her explanation.

"Esteemed guest, esteemed guest! Are you there? There's an old woman outside who wishes to see you... We tried to persuade her otherwise, but she said it was a matter of life and death. If she cannot see you today, she will not leave!"

Xia Fan could not help looking toward the door. In theory, only he was staying in this room, so the "esteemed guest" the other person mentioned had to be him.

The problem was, he did not know any old woman at all...

When he turned back in confusion, the space before him was already empty—at the instant the door had been knocked on, the Fox Demon had silently withdrawn into the darkness.

Xia Fan had originally wanted to refuse, but he hesitated when he thought of it being a matter of life and death.

After pondering for a moment, he decided to first ask why the other party wanted to see him.

Xiao Er hurried away with a clatter of footsteps, then returned to the room shortly afterward. "Esteemed guest, the old woman says Daoist Zhao told her to come find you!"

Daoist Zhao... Could she mean his master, Zhao Dahai?

"Let her come in and speak." Xia Fan gave the darkness a meaningful look, then instructed him.

Before long, Xiao Er led the old woman into the room. "I'll head downstairs first. Call for me if you need anything."

Before the old woman could even sit down, she threw herself at Xia Fan's feet. "Please, little Daoist, save my daughter-in-law and my grandson!"

Xia Fan's mind buzzed slightly. He had long known that ancient etiquette differed from his own, but seeing someone bow to him like this for the first time still struck him tremendously.

Almost instinctively, he reached out to pull her up. "What are you doing... Please, get up!"

"I won't get up unless you agree... Please, Fenghua County has only you who can save them!"

"You need to tell me what exactly happened first." Xia Fan quickly regained his composure. "The sooner I know, the sooner I can think of a solution."

At his words, the old woman stopped crying and allowed him to help her to a chair.

It took nearly seven or eight minutes before Xia Fan finally understood the whole story.

Put simply, there was "a ghost" in the old woman's home!