The red fox had somehow fallen asleep atop the stone table. A gentle breeze occasionally stirred its fur, while its large tail covered its body and sometimes swept back and forth before it.
Ji Yuan changed out of the green robe stained with fox blood and put on a wide-sleeved long gown of a similar style but bluish in color. When he emerged from the room, this was the sight that greeted him.
A red fox lay beneath the jujube tree, lending the scene a profound air of tranquility.
Seeing Ji Yuan emerge from the room, the fox, which had been sleeping soundly, abruptly opened its eyes and raised its head to look at him.
"Rest peacefully at home. I'll go to the market and buy you some food."
As Ji Yuan spoke, he walked past the red fox. Before opening the courtyard gate, he paused, then turned to look at the red fox that had been staring at him all along.
"You live in Ju'an Pavilion now, so don't let me discover that some household in the neighborhood has mysteriously lost a chicken or a duck. Understand?"
Though Ji Yuan's tone was exceedingly gentle, beneath the gaze of those pale eyes, still as an ancient well, the red fox felt overwhelmingly guilty.
"Whimper..."
"Mm, I'll take that as you understand!"
Only after saying this did Ji Yuan leave and head toward the market.
Today, he went to Sun's Noodle Stall again. From far away, Ji Yuan could already hear diners at the stall discussing the Street Oddities from that morning.
"Oh, Mister Ji is here!!"
Old Man Sun was still the first to spot Ji Yuan. The chatter at the noodle stall instantly fell silent, and many faces turned to look at him, only to immediately turn back and continue eating noodles when Ji Yuan's gaze shifted their way.
"Hello, Mister Ji!"
Two regular customers who had known Ji Yuan before greeted him.
"Hello!"
By the time Ji Yuan answered, he had already reached the awning of the noodle stall. Old Man Sun deliberately came out and wiped down the only empty table once more.
"Mister Ji, please sit. We have sheep offal today. I saved some for you!"
"Good. The usual—a bowl of braised noodles and a bowl of offal!"
Ji Yuan tugged at his sleeve and sat down. Old Man Sun did not leave, instead lowering his voice to ask a question.
"Mister Ji, I heard people say that around noon, you saved a fox?"
Those familiar with Mister Ji of Tianniu Quarter knew that he was modest, courteous, and broad-minded. Old Man Sun considered himself quite close to Ji Yuan, so he felt no pressure asking when his curiosity was stirred.
The other diners also pricked up their ears, and even the slurping of noodles ceased.
Ji Yuan found it rather amusing. Even though the era was different, people's hunger for gossip was much the same. He felt no pressure and simply told the truth.
"It did happen. This person Ji had wandered to the street when that fox, bitten in pursuit by a yellow dog and beaten by idlers, fled all the way to my feet. Seeing how miserable it looked, I was moved by pity and saved it."
This sort of matter was really like an old man from a wealthy household marrying a young concubine—something people would chatter about for a while before it faded away. A fox bowing to a person was rare, but it ultimately had no impact on ordinary people. Still, a particular impression of Mister Ji from Tianniu Quarter had now been firmly planted in everyone's minds.
Ji Yuan spoke lightly of it, never mentioning the mysterious sight of the fox bowing to him or the yellow dog retreating on its own.
"Mister Ji truly has a kind heart!"
Old Man Sun had business to attend to and could not continue chatting. After offering that praise, he went back to work, though he became even more convinced that Ji Yuan was indeed an extraordinary person. He thought that perhaps someday, he could ask him to interpret a dream or something.
Today, Ji Yuan abandoned his usual habit of chewing slowly and savoring every bite. He finished his meal of noodles in a flash, then went straight to the market and bought two chickens—one alive, the other already slaughtered by the vendor.
On his way home, the old hen dangling upside down from his hand was still listless. But the moment he pushed open the courtyard gate of Ju'an Pavilion—
The chicken and fox locked eyes in an instant.
"Cluck~~~ cluck-cluck-cluck~~~ cluck-cluck-cluck-cluck~~~"
Driven by instinctive terror, the old hen immediately began flapping wildly, beating its wings with all its might. The fox on the other side also stood up from the stone table, baring its teeth with a hissing "tss tss," claws and fangs exposed in a fierce display.
Ji Yuan had a bit of a headache. He closed the courtyard gate and raised the dead chicken in his other hand toward the red fox.
"You'll eat this today. Once you've recovered a little more, I'll give you live chicken."
After saying that, Ji Yuan walked directly to the side of the kitchen, shut the old hen inside the long-dusty chicken coop, then entered the kitchen to fetch a pot and boil water.
Ji Yuan, who did not know how to cook dishes, spent some effort removing the entire chicken skeleton, intending to make a simple dish of plain boiled chicken.
Though it appeared to have recovered quite well, Ji Yuan had seen how the fox looked that morning. Better to let it have a meal of cooked food first.
Dusk gradually descended. After Ji Yuan carried the chicken soaked in broth, still in its clay pot, to the stone table, he began earnestly studying that calligraphy scroll by himself.
In his previous life, there had been sayings that calligraphy was like swordsmanship. Ji Yuan had never believed them before, but now he had no choice but to.
The characters on the calligraphy scroll flowed together in one piece, vividly resembling a roaming dragon brimming with sharpness. There was no direct description of sword moves upon it, yet in Ji Yuan's eyes, it possessed a seamless, heaven-formed sense of sword momentum.
With a wave of his hand, a twig beneath his feet flew up and landed in Ji Yuan's grasp. He did not know whether cultivation techniques possessed similar arts, but when the so-called "fetching objects through the air" of high-level internal cultivation was performed with Spiritual Qi, it truly carried an airy elegance untouched by mortal dust.
"Whoosh, whoosh... swish, swish... wuuu..."
Using the twig as a sword, Ji Yuan had no specific sword technique. He temporarily fused that free and unrestrained sword momentum into the saber technique of the Iron Punishment Battle Post, relying on his keen instincts to smooth away its roughness. Hooking, hanging, tapping, lifting, thrusting, sweeping, and cleaving all came readily to hand.
Gradually, the shadow of saber technique vanished. Even the shadows of specific moves disappeared. Ji Yuan felt as though he were wielding a brush to practice calligraphy, his sword momentum like the tip of a brush, sword shadows flowing freely as though there were only a single strike and a single form, yet also naturally linked together like a dragon.
The calligraphy of Ji Yuan's body in this life had already been considered exquisite. At this moment, it was as though he were dancing with a sword while rewriting the Sword Intent Scroll.
Within Ju'an Pavilion's courtyard, the wind turned as it pleased. When the sword momentum curved and turned, a soft breeze curled around him; when it turned fierce, the clear wind surged up and down with mounting intensity. Its transformations were unpredictable, wondrous beyond measure!
Ji Yuan grew increasingly unrestrained. The twig in his hand seemed to be guided by clinging silk. Finally, with a sleeve-sweeping, sword-flinging move, the wind in the courtyard wrapped up fallen branches and jujube blossoms, rushing diagonally upward out of the small courtyard. It became a faint green-yellow flower dragon that flew over Tianniu Quarter before finally dispersing.
Some townsfolk raised their heads at the fragrance, seeing only the clear wind carrying blossoms that fell like rain...
After a long while, the sword ceased and the wind stilled within the little pavilion's courtyard. The sky was already scattered with stars!
Ji Yuan slowly calmed his breathing. That hearty and uninhibited feeling just now had truly been exceptionally delightful. More importantly, even if this person Ji could not see it himself, he understood that he must have looked incredibly dashing and graceful just now!
"Not bad. No matter where this sword intent calligraphy scroll without sword moves came from, I'll call that just now Roaming Dragon!"
Perhaps the peerless martial arts master Zuo Kuangtu from decades ago would never have dreamed that the precious secret manual in his tomb would already be less useful than chicken ribs to Ji Yuan, while the Sword Intent Scroll he had written in his final days, sighing over a lifetime of sword intent, would instead be treasured by Ji Yuan as a priceless gem.
At some unknown point, the fox had already finished the chicken. It stared blankly at Ji Yuan as he set Roaming Dragon flowing through the courtyard. The sight of fallen flowers spiraling around the courtyard like a dragon in the wind before flying far away carried an aura close to the Dao, leaving the red fox profoundly shaken!