Red Fox

Ji Yuan had already mentally cursed out Zhang Shilin and the others to the eighteenth generation of their ancestors. Although they were also looking out for their own lives, he had saved them after all, hadn't he? So why the hell did they leave without even taking him along, not even a word of goodbye!

The most infuriating part was that Ji Yuan wanted to curse but couldn't even shout out loud, having to hold it in until his face turned red.

It took a long while before Ji Yuan's emotions finally settled.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Calming himself down, Ji Yuan slumped dejectedly beside the Deity Statue.

'Damn it, what do I do now? Should I risk going down the mountain?'

He glanced at the food and water next to the Deity Statue. At least those bastards had some conscience, leaving him something to eat.

After cooling off a bit, Ji Yuan remembered that when he was asleep, he thought he'd heard Zhang Shilin calling him, but he'd been sound asleep at the time and probably hadn't responded.

"Still, I'm your lifesaver, you know. Couldn't you have waited for me to wake up and say thanks before leaving? Or at least shaken me awake..."

Ji Yuan couldn't help sighing. The Traveling Merchants leaving like this had completely thrown off his plans.

After all, he'd arrived in an unfamiliar world. Originally, Ji Yuan had planned to go down the mountain with the Traveling Merchants, hopefully using his status as their savior to get them to help him find a place to settle, then figure things out from there.

Since this world had a Tiger Spirit, there were bound to be true Masters, maybe even cultivators or immortals. That meant his eyes might not be incurable. If he got lucky, Ji Yuan might even step onto the path of cultivation.

Having something like transmigration happen, and then running straight into a Tiger Spirit right off the bat—Ji Yuan had been hitting a streak of low-probability events. Statistically speaking, that counted as pretty good luck.

Thinking about it this way, Ji Yuan actually felt a little excited.

He picked up the small sack of food from the ground, grabbed a steamed bun to bite into, slung the Bamboo Tube's hemp rope diagonally over his shoulder, and carefully groped his way out of the Mountain God Temple.

With his level of vision, it was barely useful for anything beyond vague details—at least he could make out the outlines of surrounding scenery, but he had to be especially careful where he stepped.

"Roooar~~~~"

Just as he reached the temple entrance, the Tiger Roar came echoing from the distant deep mountains.

Ji Yuan flinched, and that little bit of excitement was instantly scared out of him. He reflexively stumbled backward, then his foot suddenly hit something round, and his body lost all balance.

"Crash..."

"Clang~"

"Thud..."

"Ow..."

Ji Yuan had stepped on a candle, fell backward, slammed into the temple's offering table, and then tumbled down, ending up in a Dark and Gloomy daze.

"Tch... hah... damn... when it rains, it pours!"

Ji Yuan struggled to sit up, feeling for the pain and carefully touching the Back of his Head. He found a big lump there—it hurt every time he touched it. Luckily, the pain seemed to be only on the surface; his brain should be fine.

After resting a while, Ji Yuan felt a bit better and stared blankly at the small sack and Bamboo Tube by his hand.

This fall had dampened his impulse to go down the mountain. If he took a tumble like that while climbing up or down a slope, then this person Ji might end up completely wrecked.

Ji Yuan had always been someone who valued his life, even someone afraid of pain. He'd lost his life in his previous one, and though this life's start wasn't great, at least there was something to look forward to.

"Rumble..."

Thunder sounded, and Silver Snakes danced across the sky again. Ji Yuan wasn't startled this time, but with The Coming Storm on the horizon, it seemed even less suitable for a Half-Blind like him to go down the mountain.

As the saying goes, going up is easy, going down is hard—how fitting!

'Maybe... I'll just rest a bit more?'

"Pitter-patter-pitter-patter..."

Soon, raindrops fell densely. The weather in the mountains really changed on a whim. Now Ji Yuan didn't have to agonize anymore—going out now would definitely be bad luck.

So Ji Yuan sat down At the Desk, closed his eyes, and focused his mind, letting himself calm down.

Sure enough, as his mind settled, that beautiful, colorless picture in his heart slowly emerged with the sound of rain, the vivid scenery bathed in the mountain rain unfolding gently.

In the heavy rain, what Ji Yuan loved most was listening to the sounds of animals running around. Those images felt so full of life, even making him think of the smell of barbecue.

Suddenly, Ji Yuan heard a small animal darting about in the rain, seemingly heading toward the Mountain God Temple. With a few quick steps, it darted under the temple eaves.

Water was still dripping from the little animal's body. In Ji Yuan's hearing, it cautiously entered the temple, but stopped as soon as it crossed the threshold, as if it had spotted Ji Yuan sitting At the Desk.

Ji Yuan opened his eyes. Before him was a blur of light and shadow; the little animal's shape was also a vague outline, smaller than a native dog.

From observing in the rain earlier, Ji Yuan knew this should be a fox.

These animals were timid and wouldn't attack humans, so Ji Yuan felt relatively at ease.

Strictly speaking, this abandoned Mountain God Temple belonged to the animals most of the time. You could tell from the animal droppings inside; Ji Yuan and the Traveling Merchants were just passersby.

Both sheltering from the rain, Ji Yuan had no intention of driving the fox away. It was pretty boring being alone anyway.

This was a Red Fox with relatively vivid Fur color. It crouched at the temple entrance, staring at Ji Yuan. Seeing that the person inside didn't react for a long time, it relaxed a bit, hesitated, then stepped inside the temple door, pressed against the front wall, and started shaking its body.

"Pat-pat-pat-pat-pat..."

The rainwater on the Red Fox's fur flew off with the rapid shaking, much of it splattering onto Ji Yuan a few meters away, making him raise a hand to shield his face.

But while the fox was shaking itself dry, Ji Yuan could hear the Details of the fox more clearly—the fluffy fur down to the finest hair. Clearly, this was a very pretty Little Fox.

The fox was well-behaved too. After shaking off the water, it leaned against the wall by the temple door and lay down to rest, occasionally casting a wary glance at Ji Yuan's reaction.

One person and one fox—one temporarily unable to move, the other sheltering from the rain in the temple—faced each other in silence, each keeping to themselves.

At that moment, Ji Yuan finally felt hungry. There was naturally no hope of eating anything good, but at least he still had a small bag of dry rations to fill his stomach.

Fumbling to open the bag, he pinched the contents. The dry flatbread was as hard as stone; the steamed buns weren't exactly soft, but they were far better than the flatbread. So he took out one bun.

Tearing off a small piece, he brought it to his nose and sniffed. There was no musty or moldy smell, so he stuffed it into his mouth and began to eat. The more he ate, the hungrier he felt. One bun didn't last more than a dozen seconds before it was gone.

Ji Yuan couldn't resist taking another bun. After wolfing it down in the same manner, he forcibly suppressed the urge to grab a third.

The bag wasn't large. With two buns gone, it had noticeably deflated. Reaching in to feel around and count carefully, he found only two buns and three pieces of flatbread left.

As a fine young man of the 21st century with a proper job, though everyone always talked about struggling to make a living, he had never actually worried about starving to death. So his reaction in this regard had been slow. Now, Ji Yuan suddenly realized with a start that his food supply was far from ample!

And even if he went down the mountain, he probably had no relatives or friends to rely on. How would he make a living? What could he, in his current state, do? Beg?

"How frustrating!"

Ji Yuan couldn't help blurting out in a neurotic outburst.

It startled the fox outside, which rose to its feet in alarm.

But that drew Ji Yuan's attention over.

"Hehe, Little Fox, this blind man of mine doesn't have anything to feed you. I do have some buns and flatbread, but one, you don't eat them, and two, I'm not willing to give them. If you could just eat me, that would save me some trouble."

"Hiss..."

The fox's fur bristled slightly, its limbs tensing as it bared its teeth at Ji Yuan with a hiss.

"Just kidding, just kidding! You go catch a field mouse or a rabbit, that's fine..."

Ji Yuan spoke gently and calmly. He felt that his earlier voice and movements must have provoked the fox. Even a rabbit bites when cornered; don't underestimate a fox as just a Wild Beast!

For a long while, neither the person nor the fox made any further moves. The fox cautiously curled up in the corner of the wall, and Ji Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the altar to continue staring into space.