First Encounter

First Encounter

"Is that so... Sorry, the various branches of canines all look rather alike. I really can't tell them apart..." Xia Fan said with an awkward chuckle and a shrug, though a storm had already been whipped up in his heart.

Heavens, he had actually encountered a Fox Demon!

His master had once said that among the uncanny evils, Yao were considered one of the less harmful kinds. The reason was that they possessed minds of their own and understood how to seek advantage and avoid harm. Thus, most Yao kept far from human settlements and tried not to deal with people. As a result, there were few records about them. Most tales passed down among the people were merely stories spread by word of mouth and could not be taken as fact. At present, all they knew was that Yao truly existed and were transformed from various animals.

Of course, his master's original description had not been so polite. He had directly called them "beasts, birds, and wild animals," the turbid part of qi, an outward sign of a declining age.

"Canines? What is that?"

"A broad classification. Wolves, dogs, bears, and foxes all belong to this category—"

"Absurd! How can dogs be mentioned in the same breath as foxes?" she cut him off excitedly, but quickly realized her voice had risen too high. She immediately returned to her original icy tone. "Stop changing the subject, human. I asked why you were not afraid."

"You mean that dream?" Xia Fan asked, somewhat embarrassed.

"That nightmare," she emphasized.

"You were the one who made me have it?"

"That's right." The Fox Demon did not deny it, readily admitting it. "Strange signs descended from the heavens, a blood moon hung across the sky, the dead returned to life, Evil Spirits possessed the living—aren't these the things you fear most? With only a little guidance from me, you would fill in the most terrifying scenes you had ever seen in your lives. Even wetting yourselves from fright would be perfectly normal. But why did you show no fear?"

Hey, hey, did she have to put it so bluntly?

Xia Fan now roughly understood the origin of that dream. So she had designed a nightmare scenario, thrown in all sorts of terrifying elements, then let the dreamer's imagination do the rest. In this era, even a meteor shower could be interpreted as an ominous sign and send the world into panic, let alone such a bizarre phenomenon as the night sky being dyed red with blood.

But the problem lay precisely in that "letting the dreamer imagine the rest."

The blood moon was far too classic an element. There were simply too many scenes in Xia Fan's memories that matched it, and with the resurrection of the dead added in, the most fitting image turned out to be the monster respawn scene from the game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild—known for short as "Wild Cooking."

He could hardly tell her that not only had he not been afraid, he had even felt a trace of nostalgia and anticipation, could he? After all, once the blood moon appeared, it meant he could collect weapons and materials from the monsters all over again.

"Well... I suppose it's because I've experienced it firsthand, so I was rather calm," Xia Fan said, coughing twice.

"You experienced it?" The woman stared at him. "How is that possible? I should have been the first to imagine these things..."

It seemed she was quite proud of her nightmare design.

"The world is so vast. How do you know similar strange phenomena have never happened elsewhere?"

"..." She fell silent, seemingly considering whether he was lying. After a moment, she turned away as if intending to leave.

"Wait!" Xia Fan hurriedly called after her.

The woman halted and looked back at him impatiently.

"Why did you do this? I wasn't the only one having nightmares tonight, was I?"

Xia Fan did not consider himself anyone special. It was unlikely the Fox Demon had come solely for him.

"Why ask when you already know?" she snorted. "You intend to become Fangshi, do you not? And exterminating Yao and Demons is something Fangshi are always talking about. In other words, you will become enemies in the future. What is wrong with doing this?"

That made so much sense... Was she trying to wipe out "enemies" while they were still in the bud?

"If that is the case, why not attack us directly?"

She had slipped into Qingshan Town without a sound. As long as she carried a dagger and replaced the nightmare with a sweet dream, probably few people would react before being attacked.

"Because you have not yet become Fangshi."

"...What?" Xia Fan did not understand for a moment.

"Is that difficult to comprehend? You have not truly killed any Yao. Killing you merely because of a possibility in the future is no clever course of action. It would only make your slanders ring true. I would never do such a thing." Her tone was disdainful. "On the contrary, is not wantonly killing others for some inexplicable reason the most common human behavior?"

Xia Fan was dumbstruck.

Were Yao's values all this normal these days?

"Do not do unto others what you would not have done unto yourself"—the saying was easy enough to speak, but few could truly live by it. Even in his previous life, where basic education had become widespread, there were far more people strict with others and lenient with themselves.

"The Bureau of Military Affairs holds its examinations once every three years. Using nightmares to frighten you away is equivalent to reducing the number of Fangshi." She flicked her ears. "A pity. It seems this trick is ineffective on you."

It took Xia Fan quite a while to respond. "...Aren't you afraid I'll tell everyone and ruin your scheme?"

"This is what makes humans most interesting." The Fox Demon seemed to bare her teeth in a grin. "The number of Fangshi positions is limited. If those frightened away lose their qualifications, would your chances of passing the examination not rise greatly? Besides, if you tell the truth, how many people would believe you? Those fellows who were originally meant to be scared away? No, they would never admit they had been deceived by a Yao using such a simple trick. They might even come to resent you instead. Considering these two points, are you certain you would still want to tell them?"

This fellow... Could it be that this was not the first time she had done something like this? He suddenly realized that perhaps he was not the only one who had noticed something wrong with the nightmare.

"All right... I won't tell anyone."

"You admitted that quickly." She seemed to have expected this result all along. "For humans, as long as something benefits themselves, whether it is right or wrong does not matter. Even Evil Spirits they fear like tigers can be used if there is profit to be gained, let alone a mere Yao."

With that, she turned toward the window, preparing to jump down—

"Wait!" Xia Fan called again.

The woman's movement abruptly froze, and her foot nearly slipped off the windowsill.

When she turned back this time, there was already a trace of anger on her face.

"If you are trying to stall for time—"

"Why can't Yao cooperate with people?" Xia Fan demanded with perfect confidence. "To be honest, I had never seen a real Yao before, but if Yao are all as reasonable, righteous, and polite as you, what problem is there with cooperation?"

"Righteous... polite?" The Fox Demon looked somewhat bewildered.

"You are unwilling to do something where one who wishes to condemn need never lack a pretext. That is righteousness. Every time I call out, you stop. That is respect for the person speaking with you, and naturally counts as good manners. Wangliang, ghosts, and monsters cannot communicate, nor would they stop harming the common people simply because they were in the wrong. Clearly, it is unfair for you to place yourself in the same category as them, so I must correct your statement."

"..." This time, it was her turn to be speechless.

Naturally, Xia Fan would not let such an opportunity pass. He pressed his advantage. "Furthermore, you mentioned slander before, which means humans hold certain ingrained prejudices against Yao. But is your view of humans not also a kind of prejudice? Even if most are too ugly to behold, exceptions will always exist—you can understand human speech, so someone must have taught you. What about that former teacher? Were they also the sort of person you speak of?"

For one brief moment, he caught a hint of softness in her eyes.

But that flicker quickly vanished without a trace, as though it had only been an illusion. "A glib-tongued fellow."

"Thank you. I brush my teeth every day."

The woman gave a cold snort. "After saying all that, you merely want me to help you in secret so you can pass the examination more easily, do you not? Unfortunately, I have no interest in whether you qualify or not, nor will I cooperate with someone who wishes to become a Fangshi. Save your breath—"

"If you have time, come chat with me at night," Xia Fan said unhurriedly.

"Cough, cough." The Fox Demon nearly choked. "You... what did you say?"

"The terms of our cooperation." He looked entirely composed. "If you have nothing else to attend to, that is. As for what time you come, that is up to you. Think of it as a rest after scaring people."

She still seemed doubtful of what she had heard. "Chat...?"

"Since it is cooperation, I naturally will not make you work for nothing." Xia Fan picked up a cloth bundle from the table and spread it open before her. "This will be your payment for chatting. What do you think?"

Wrapped in the cloth was the braised beef he had mooched from Wei Wushuang earlier.

It had to be said that the shopkeepers in this remote little town were surprisingly skilled. The braised flavor was rich and fragrant, and the beef slices were delightfully chewy. He had originally planned to save some for tomorrow.

When Xia Fan lit the candle, he had noticed that although she carried an imposing presence, she wore wrinkled linen clothes. Perhaps as a Yao, her ability to endure the wilderness far surpassed that of ordinary people, and she did not care about sun and rain, sleeping in the open and eating in the wild. But that did not mean she had no preferences or did not know how to enjoy herself, especially when she had clearly been taught by humans.

Grrr...

Xia Fan heard a faint rumbling sound.

"What utter nonsense!" The Fox Demon forced herself to look away. "Enough, human. I have no time to listen to your babbling. Keep these things and eat them yourself!"

With that, she swiftly leaped out the window, moving so nimbly that it seemed she feared he would call out "Wait" again.

Xia Fan hurriedly climbed onto the table and called into the pitch-black night beyond, "Whether you come or not, I'll leave the beef on the windowsill! Remember to take it once you're done with your work!"

For a long while afterward, not a single response came from the quiet night.

She had really left.

Xia Fan sat back down on the bed with a touch of regret, his heart still far from calm.

His master had said that if one encountered a Yao, it was best to avoid it if possible. There were few folk records concerning Yao, mainly because they truly had little contact with humans. But from another perspective, it could also be because everyone who had seen a Yao had died.

To claim he was not the slightest bit tense or wary would be deceiving himself. In fact, Xia Fan had kept himself ready to pull the packet of medicine from his pocket at any moment. Should anything sudden happen, he could immediately unleash a spell—though he had no idea what effect it would ultimately have.

Yet more than tension, he felt excitement and curiosity.

How did one come to understand the unknown? Clearly, by approaching the unknown in person. That, too, was Xia Fan's main reason for taking the Scholar Examination.

How could he possibly let slip an opportunity to speak with a Fox Demon at close range?

He just did not know whether she would come back...