The Male Fox

"You're already a ghost, yet you're still so naïve. Ghosts lie, but does that mean humans tell the truth?"

Lu Yan put the bottle containing the three ghosts back into the Kamui Dimension, turned toward the town the female ghost had mentioned, and hurried off.

He hadn't gone far when he heard the sounds of a fight up ahead. Slowing his pace, he hid in a leafy tree and looked down.

Below, a middle-aged man in a gray robe and old-fashioned glasses was wielding a Peach Wood Sword as he fought a young woman in a white dress.

She was slender and beautiful, but demonic energy swirled around her as she darted from tree to tree. She was clearly no good.

"It's him."

"The Republic of China era, warlords vying for power, Simu, ghosts and monsters... So this is the world I'm in."

After seeing the middle-aged man's attire, Lu Yan recognized him as Daoist Simu. Combined with the information he'd coaxed out of the three ghosts, he finally understood which world he'd arrived in.

"Looks like I'll come away with quite a haul this time."

Lu Yan felt relieved. Although cultivation in this world had declined, it had once flourished, and there were plenty of good things to be found.

With that thought, Lu Yan leaped straight down from the tree and shouted, "Daoist, I'm here to help!"

The two who were fighting reacted differently when Lu Yan suddenly appeared.

The woman in white looked startled at first, then delighted. With a coquettish expression, she called out, "Young master, save me!"

Daoist Simu's expression turned anxious. "Watch out! It's an illusion!"

Hearing the woman's coquettish voice sent a chill through Lu Yan. He pulled the Ebony from his clothes and shot the fox spirit.

"Bang!"

At the sound of the gunshot, the fox spirit let out a scream, curled up on the ground, and burst into flames.

"You male fox, trying to use illusions on me, an Uchiha? You're asking for death!"

Thinking of the horrid scene from a moment ago, Lu Yan still wasn't satisfied. He pulled the Ivory from the other side of his clothes and shot the burning fox.

The scream stopped at once, and the fox spirit, still engulfed in flames, was frozen inside a block of ice.

Simu watched this astonishing scene, eyeing the unfamiliar young man who had suddenly appeared with some wariness.

Just then, a series of cracking sounds rang out. Cracks spread across the block of ice, and it shattered into countless pieces.

"Now that's what I call leaving no corpse behind."

Simu's mouth twitched. He looked even more wary.

Lu Yan came to his senses and saw the wariness in Daoist Simu's expression. Feeling a little awkward, he explained, "Daoist, that male fox used Sexy Jutsu on me. It was so disgusting that I couldn't help myself."

"Male fox?"

Simu murmured the words, his expression turning rather peculiar. Then his face relaxed a little, and he cupped his hands. "I'm Simu of the Maoshan Sect. You're quite skilled, young man. Which sect are you from?"

"I'm Lu Yan. I studied overseas for many years and learned a little of the Western Arcanist tradition. I only returned to China recently."

Lu Yan returned the gesture. He didn't mention being a wizard; in Chinese, that word didn't sound much like someone from a respectable school.

"Arcanist?"

"That's the first I've heard of it. What brings you here in the middle of the night, young man?"

Simu studied the young man before him. He wore a black suit, high boots, and a trench coat. His hair and eyes were black, and his handsome face carried a hint of refinement. Simu found his explanation somewhat believable.

Unlike his senior brother, Lin Jiu, Simu had spent years traveling far and wide as a corpse driver and had seen a lot. He'd seen foreigners and wealthy people in the provincial capital dressed much the same way.

Hearing Daoist Simu's doubts, Lu Yan didn't look flustered. He'd already prepared his story. "I left home when I was young. When I returned, everything had changed, and I had no one left to care about. I heard there's a master of the Dao in nearby Ren Family Town, so I'm going to pay him a visit and exchange ideas about what we've learned."

"Oh, then I thank you for your help. We'll part ways here."

Simu narrowed his eyes, keeping his expression unreadable. He cupped his hands, then turned and headed straight for the group of reanimated corpses.

"So cautious?"

Lu Yan was taken aback. He hadn't expected a character who seemed somewhat comical in the movie to be so careful and shrewd.

Looks like I can't take everything from the story at face value. Lu Yan took a step forward and called out, "Daoist, please wait."

"Is there something else, young man?"

Simu stopped and turned around. He met Lu Yan's eyes, his body tensing slightly.

"I saw you fighting the fox spirit just now, Daoist. Your Daoist arts are clearly impressive. Would you be willing to exchange a few pointers with me?"

Lu Yan felt a bit helpless. Sure, it was suspicious to be out here in the middle of the night, but I'm just a kid. What are you so afraid of?

"It's the middle of the night, and I still have to drive these corpses home. I can't discuss the Dao with you."

Simu shook his head and refused outright, intent on not getting entangled with Lu Yan.

"Wait, I'll go back with you."

Lu Yan had no other choice, so he shamelessly started walking alongside Daoist Simu.

Simu hadn't expected the young man to be so persistent, but he stopped objecting and silently allowed him to tag along.

"Whoa, they're all over the place! Gentlemen, stop jumping around!"

"Careful, you'll hit your heads!"

Seeing that all his clients had gotten into a mess, Simu hurriedly hoisted the reanimated corpse the fox spirit had stolen onto his back and hurried toward the others.

"By the authority of the divine command, jump!"

The corpses hopped along, one after another, with Daoist Simu leading the way. Lu Yan found it amusing. Necromancer Sect wizards in his previous life had studied this sort of thing too, but their methods were very different from the Maoshan Sect's corpse driving.

"Daoist, this is too much trouble. Let me help you."

Lu Yan activated his Sharingan and used an illusion to hypnotize a toad. He had Daoist Simu stuff the talisman into its mouth, letting it do the jumping instead.

"Thanks, young man."

Freed from the task, Simu let out a sigh of relief. He looked at Lu Yan's eyes, seeming to want to say something but holding back.

Seeing Simu's constipated expression, Lu Yan thought the Daoist looked a little more like his movie counterpart now. He explained, "These are Sharingan, a kind of ocular jutsu I awakened with naturally. They have all sorts of uses."

"So that's what they are. Those eyes are certainly peculiar."

Simu nodded, pretending to act as though it were perfectly ordinary, like he'd seen plenty of such things.

But this opened the floodgates, and the two began asking and answering questions as they walked along.

"Daoist Simu, I heard the master of the Dao in Ren Family Town is also from the Maoshan Sect. Do you know him?"

"Oh, that's my senior brother, Lin Jiu. Everyone calls him Uncle Nine."

"I see. The Maoshan Sect truly is one of the great orthodox sects."

"Haha, not at all. Just now, I saw you take out two Western pistols. They were much more powerful than the ones I usually see, and one could even unleash flames while the other produced ice. What kind of magical artifacts are they?"

Simu had asked what he really wanted to know. These days, Daoist arts had declined. Cultivators were still only flesh and blood, and they were all afraid of Western pistols. With Lu Yan's guns being so powerful, it was no wonder Simu had been so cautious earlier.

"They're still Western-style pistols, but I carved a lot of auxiliary magical arrays inside them, and the ammunition was specially refined. You could say they're rather unusual magical artifacts..."