Looking at the handwritten copy of the Legend of the White Snake, Ding Songyan fell silent for a long while, then sighed inwardly:
"That demoness said she'd copy it out for me, and she actually did...
"Why is a demoness of the Sage-Slaying Path like you so true to your word? Isn't Deception your main discipline?
"You're acting like a stalker. When I was telling stories outside Dangkang Temple, you were probably somewhere nearby, listening in secret..."
Ding Songyan turned to the end and discovered that Ji Hanyi had even made some alterations to the three songs, adding playable qin scores, pipa scores, and the like.
"Quite the talented woman, too..." Ding Songyan sucked at his teeth, set down the Legend of the White Snake, and dug out the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas he had hidden back among the books.
By the light of the oil lamp, he soon found the description he wanted:
"Taowu: tiger-shaped, dog-furred, with a human face, tiger claws, tusks, and a tiger's tail. Its tail measures eighteen feet. Fierce, stubborn, and unruly. Consuming it transforms ferocity and breeds evil, governs schemes and commands deceit, never retreats in battle, accords with heaven and earth, and foreknows things to come."
"Does 'accords with heaven and earth' mean sensing heaven and responding to earth? Does 'things to come' mean future events? Then 'foreknows things to come' really would excel at the Art of Numerology... Did Demoness Ji make me swear an oath and spare my life because she saw certain scenes in the future?" Ding Songyan formed another guess about what had happened earlier.
What astonished him even more was the trait "governs schemes and commands deceit":
*"Falsehood-Piercing, concealing outward abnormalities, deceiving others, oneself, and heaven and earth-all seem to be ingenious applications of those words.