Li Ang chuckled and asked, "Why did you play a trick on my companion last night?"
"...I found him quite handsome, so I just wanted to tease him a bit," the Black Fox said.
At that moment, other members of the mission team also hurried over and were quite surprised to see a fox that could speak the Fujian dialect.
"Since we are all here to attend the banquet, we should get along harmoniously," Li Ang said with a smile, taking out a glass marble and shaking it in front of the fox. "I'll give you this treasure if you show us some of the fox spirit's skills, how about it?"
Last night, he had learned from Chai Cuiqiao that most monsters transform into humans because they covet the wealth of the human world. They wish to indulge in eating, drinking, and merrymaking. This means luxury items like gold and jewels are also valuable to them...
When the Black Fox saw the flawless marble with a golden leaf hidden inside, its eyes lit up, and it nodded, "Okay."
It jumped down from the roof beam with ease, and a puff of white smoke wafted around its body.
With a BANG, a palace-garbed beauty appeared. However, her dark face was covered with bulging, coarse flesh, and her bristly beard was extremely coarse, making her a regrettable sight.
Everyone inwardly cursed. Wanli Fengdao's face turned pale, while Xing Hechou scratched his head and said, "....Aren't foxes that transform supposed to all be beauties?"
The male fox, being overwhelmingly scrutinized, also showed an embarrassed face and protested, "I haven't reached the realm of transformation yet. This is just a clumsy Illusion Technique, that's all...."
After speaking, it changed back into its fox form and howled twice. Immediately, a large group of foxes jumped in from outside the door.
This group of foxes was diverse in color and size, both male and female. The largest one, a white fox, coughed twice and spoke in an aged voice, "Sorry, everyone. This lad is naturally mischievous. He's unrefined in his Illusion Technique but still always showing off, making you all laugh."
"Not at all, this...," Xing Hechou hesitated, glanced at the Black Fox, and continued, "This young master's Illusion Technique is quite unique. It has really opened our eyes, opened our eyes."
A group of foxes laughed out loud. The Black Fox, feeling mocked by the crowd, hurriedly took out the glass marble and showed it to the old fox. "Grandpa, look, they gave me a bead."
"Oh?"
Seeing the golden leaf inside the marble, the old fox grinned. Its anthropomorphized expression was quite horrific. "Since it's a gift from honored guests, you keep it. By the way, are you here for the banquet? How come I haven't seen any of you before?"
Li Ang, who was well-prepared, lied casually without changing his expression. "We are disciples of Taoist Head Tan Teng from the Ayitobie Archipelago overseas. Our master sent us back to the Central Plains to gain experience. Hearing of this unrestricted banquet, we came uninvited."
"I see," the old fox nodded, not delving further.
A bunch of little foxes chattered away, all discussing trivial family matters. For instance, one vixen had recently seduced a down-and-out scholar, only to be chased by a shrew for being the other woman. Another male fox had secretly visited a brothel in the human world for some fun but ended up locked in a cellar because he didn't bring money.
In the strange tales of the Ming and Qing dynasties, not all fox spirits are constantly seeking to absorb vital energy from men. On the contrary, there are both male and female fox spirits that live in clans and can coexist peacefully with humans.
Featured in *Observations from the Thatched Cottage* is a story where the second floor of a pawnshop was occupied by a group of foxes. Every night, their chatter could be heard. Since they never harmed anyone, they lived peacefully for many years.
Until one night, loud whipping and scolding sounds came from upstairs. Everyone hurried to listen. Suddenly, they heard a pained male voice from above cry out, "You downstairs are all sensible people! Where in the world does a wife beat up her husband?"
Coincidentally, in the crowd was a man with scratch marks from his wife on his face. The crowd burst into laughter and replied, "It happens, it happens, nothing unusual."
The foxes upstairs also burst into raucous laughter, and the sounds of whipping and scolding ceased.
It may be that female fox spirits generally have greater mana than male foxes. Indeed, there are many stories in supernatural novels about female fox spirits committing domestic violence against male foxes. For example, a farmer named Zhou Jia from Song Village couldn't bear his wife's beatings any longer.
One night, while his wife slept, he sneaked off to the dilapidated temple at the village entrance to hide, hoping to wait for dawn and ask the neighbors for help.
In the middle of the night, his wife woke up and found her husband missing. She tracked him to the temple. Standing before the deity statues, she listed Zhou Jia's crimes and loudly demanded he lie down and take his beating.
A group of fox spirits resided in the temple. Hearing the sounds of whipping and pleading, they scurried out from behind the statues and clamored, "How can such injustice exist in the world? This is intolerable!"
The many male fox spirits rushed forward, seized the whip from Zhou Jia's wife, stripped off her clothes, and whipped her mercilessly until she bled.
Suddenly, a group of female fox spirits appeared, arguing, "You male foxes only ever help smelly men! This man has been cheating on his wife with another woman. Shouldn't he be beaten to death?"
So, the female fox spirits rescued Zhou Jia's wife and placed her in a corner. Then, they captured Zhou Jia and began whipping him. The male and female fox spirits bickered and argued for a long time, tugging the two humans back and forth. This continued until the commotion attracted the village guards.
Only then did everyone disperse. Zhou Jia had to exert every ounce of his strength to carry his wife back to the village. On the way, his wife continued to quietly curse him.
Just as the same rice can nourish a hundred different kinds of people, monsters, like humans, have passions and desires. These include greed, anger, foolishness, resentment, hatred, love, and the pain of parting.
There are those who are vile and wicked, as well as those who are upright and righteous. There are those who cling to life, fearing death and living despicably, as well as those who willingly sacrifice themselves for justice, distinguishing right from wrong.
The foxes attending the banquet had all brought their families: males and females, old and young. Their idle chatter, filled with mundane family matters, was highly reminiscent of modern-day tour groups of elderly men and women traveling abroad.
After settling the fox spirits, the monastery was soon filled with more noise as numerous monsters arrived.
There was a white-foreheaded Tiger walking erect in a Taoist Robe, wielding a horsetail whisk;
a Giant over four meters tall with one eye and huge feet, holding a massive wooden club;
a thieving-looking old man with a crooked stick, guarded by a pack of brown rats;
a plague ghost oozing sores all over, with a purplish-black tongue drooping onto its chest, dressed in white with a black hat;
All sorts of demons and monsters gathered in the temple courtyard, forming several small groups, talking loudly, and greeting each other warmly as if they hadn't seen each other in ages.
Ignoring their strange appearances, the harmonious and friendly manner with which these monsters interacted closely resembled rural entrepreneurs at a reception...
No matter how you looked at it, it was all so unsophisticated.
"TSK, TSK, TSK..." Wanli Fengdao looked at the courtyard full of monsters. His heart was thumping, his body stiff, and his hands sweating. He was also secretly thinking that all of these were walking bundles of rich rewards...
Xing Hechou, on the other hand, had secretly let out a sigh of relief. It was just as Li Ang had said. If the task force hadn't discovered the truth about Solitary Cold Temple and had instead confronted Chai Cuiqiao head-on and eliminated her, they would have been completely unaware of the banquet. They might have panicked at the arrival of these demons and engaged in direct conflict with them. At that point, everyone would have died. Thankfully, thankfully.
Wiping the cold sweat from his hands, Xing Hechou assessed the fighting power of the monsters with an expressionless face.