Lin Jue lowered his head and looked at the fox beside him. It lifted its head to meet his gaze. Its eyes, still new to the world, were clear and pure, as if it understood nothing at all. The distracting thoughts in his mind quieted a little.
"Don't you go turning into a demon and harming people when you grow up..."
He offered the heartfelt warning, but the fox's eyes remained innocent and bewildered, as if it hadn't understood him. Lin Jue smiled and kept walking.
Soon they reached the woods at the village entrance.
"This is the place."
Lin Jue pointed to the pit ahead, where there were marks of burning.
Zhang Da must have started a fire here. Somehow, it had caused the ground to cave in. Along with his curses and insults, it had ultimately enraged the evil creature. It had brought the creature into the world ahead of time and made it resent Zhang Da.
Whether that was good or bad was hard to say. It depended on whether the Daoists from Floating Hill Peak and the divine power summoned from Mount Qi Yun could have discovered the creature if it hadn't emerged early.
A villager was carrying a table over just then.
The two Daoists from Mount Qi Yun untied the bundles beside them. One took out the items while the other arranged them, and soon they had set up an incense table and an altar in the woods.
The little fox was still young and had grown tired from walking. It glanced at Lin Jue, then sat down right where it was.
Lin Jue, meanwhile, watched what lay ahead with solemn curiosity.
One man lit incense and candles. The other took up a brush and wrote a formal prayer on green paper, then solemnly