You may curse foully, but I can't understand you

As the white fox wolfed down Dongpo pork, then nearly choked to death on a chicken neck, Gu Zhao let down more than half his guard against it.

A silly, adorable glutton that knew how to curry favor probably wasn't a bad fellow.

After dinner, Xiuniang went to wash the dishes and tidy up, while Gu Zhao sat down beside the white fox.

The white fox burped contentedly, raised a paw to wipe its mouth, and looked at Gu Zhao as well. There was no fear in its eyes now, only curiosity.

"You can understand us, can't you?" Gu Zhao asked.

The white fox blinked. For an instant, it looked at Gu Zhao as though he were an idiot, but that expression vanished quickly. Its gaze turned clear again, and it nodded.

"Then can you speak human language?" Gu Zhao asked again.

The white fox forcefully suppressed the urge to show that expression again and merely shook its head.

Gu Zhao nodded and continued, "Then can you take human form?"

The white fox truly could not hold it in any longer. It gave Gu Zhao another look as though he were an idiot, then helplessly shook its head.

Gu Zhao rubbed his chin, frowning as he pondered. "That's different from what Elder He said. Elder He said Demonic Beasts could both speak human language and turn into humans. Is it because you're too weak?"

The white fox somewhat wanted to bare its teeth.

Do you not know you shouldn't hit people in the face? If I could speak and take human form, would I have been chased down by that ghost god?

And could you please stop saying it out loud?

The white fox turned its head, unwilling to pay Gu Zhao any attention.

Naturally, Gu Zhao could not read the meaning in the white fox's eyes. He merely looked it over from top to bottom, his gaze flickering uncertainly.

The white fox suddenly felt its heart palpitate. Then it heard Gu Zhao say, "I have a few spells that I've never used against an enemy, so I don't know how effective they actually are. Can you help me test them out?"

The white fox abruptly whirled around, even the fur on its tail standing on end.

She had personally seen Gu Zhao use three bolts of lightning to strike that ghost god until its soul and spirit were utterly extinguished. Right now, she could not even speak or take human form—she could not withstand even a single bolt!

Could that meal just now have been this young lady's last supper?

At that moment, Xiuniang emerged from the kitchen. Then she saw a flash of white before her eyes, and her chest suddenly sank. When she looked down, she found that the white fox had already burrowed into her arms, pressing tightly against her.

Xiuniang was overjoyed. "Young Master, it's very close to me."

Gu Zhao thought for a moment, but did not shatter Xiuniang's illusion. He only said, "Because you both saved each other."

When they had returned earlier, Xiuniang had told Gu Zhao about what she encountered in the mountain forest. Gu Zhao also learned that the white fox had helped her once before. It seemed it really was a good Demonic Beast.

"Mhm, mhm!" Xiuniang hugged the white fox tighter and lowered her head to ask it, "Will you sleep with me tonight?"

The white fox nodded repeatedly. All she wanted now was to stay far away from Gu Zhao. If she were not still savoring the five-spice roast chicken from earlier, she might already have been considering running away.

Night fell, in the main house.

The window was open a crack. The white fox lay in a corner, right where the moonlight from the sky could reach.

Strands of moonlight streamed into the room. The white fox inhaled and exhaled, drawing the surrounding Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth and the moonlight into her body. She cultivated while healing her injuries, occasionally glancing toward the side room next door.

Where did this great mage come from?

According to Xiuniang, he clearly went into the mountains to cultivate. How did he bring back something so delicious? I never ate meat this tasty even in Changping Prefecture!

And he obviously knows such powerful spells, yet he seems not to understand anything. He definitely isn't from the Spiritual Court, nor does he resemble one of those sect people.

As a human, he can actually grant others the ability to cast spells. That is the power of gods! And that girl clearly has not formed a pact with him, so how did he do it?

Pah, pah, pah! He's human. How can humans form a pact with humans?

I wonder whether I can form a pact with him...

As the white fox thought of this, she seemed to sense something. She turned back in surprise and saw that wisps of spiritual power escaping from her cultivation were being entirely absorbed by Xiuniang at the bedside with every breath.

"Hm?" The white fox's eyes widened. "No way, right?"

On the other side, Gu Zhao sensed the breathing and circulating aura from the neighboring room and knew that the white fox was cultivating too.

"Demonic Beasts really do absorb moonlight to cultivate!" Gu Zhao sighed, only for countless questions to arise in his mind. "Did Demonic Beasts truly exist in ancient times? Was Liu Bowen's severing of the dragon veins real? Did the Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth only gradually vanish over the past few centuries?"

The Taoist Scripture he had studied since childhood could actually be used. It was no wonder Gu Zhao had such questions. Besides, that Five Thunder Token truly was a family heirloom passed down through his ancestors.

"Which of those ancient myths and legends are real, and which are false?"

"Was it because spiritual qi gradually disappeared that the Tang and Song Dynasties had the Eight Immortals, but by the Qing Dynasty, only Strange Tales remained?"

"If that's the case... are the Three Pure Ones real?"

"My head hurts." Gu Zhao pressed his temples with both thumbs. "Forget it. Sleep!"

The next day, Gu Zhao did not travel through worlds from his room. Instead, he went to the back mountain to cultivate. Along the way, he picked up the yellow paper delivered by courier from the postal station, then returned to the other world and drew talismans once more.

When Gu Zhao returned to the mountain village that afternoon, he found Xiuniang still waiting for him at the village entrance. Unlike the previous two days, she was holding a white fox in her arms this time.

However, when the white fox saw that Gu Zhao's hands were empty, she could not help letting out two "ying ying" cries, her disappointment plain to see.

"Wasn't there still food left from yesterday?" Gu Zhao poked at the white fox.

"Little White ate it all at noon," Xiuniang said embarrassedly. Then she hurriedly added, "Grandpa and I ate some too. There are also five slices of char siu and one chicken leg that I didn't let her eat—I saved them especially for you, Young Master."

"Little White?" Gu Zhao looked at the white fox strangely.

The white fox let out a "ying" and turned her head aside.

Xiuniang said happily, "I named her Little White, and she agreed. Besides, she's a young girl too."

Gu Zhao raised a brow. "She's already cultivated into a Demonic Beast. How could she possibly be a young girl? She's probably an old granny already."

The white fox flew into a rage at those words. Her eyes rounded as she bared her teeth at Gu Zhao. As for the fact that she could not beat him, she had already thrown it to the back of her mind.

"Ying ying! Ying ying ying!"

Though he could not understand what she meant, Gu Zhao knew that she was probably cursing rather foully.

Unfortunately, the situation between them now was that she could understand Gu Zhao, while Gu Zhao could not understand her.

So Gu Zhao smiled. "See? She admitted it."

The white fox froze. She was about to kick her legs with all her strength, but sensing that Xiuniang seemed unable to hold her back, she merely pawed twice at the air, gave two more "ying ying" cries, then decisively turned away and refused to look at Gu Zhao again.

Gu Zhao could not help laughing aloud. Teasing an intelligent pet was simply too entertaining. No wonder those short videos about border collies online were so popular.