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Xing Ruyi looked at the fox with a confused expression, her eyes nearly spinning in circles. She clasped her hands together and said in a pitiful tone to the fox, "Dear Future Husband, please, can you reveal the secret quickly?"
The fox glanced at the Old Man, appearing gentle but speaking in an uncompromising manner, "Are you coming to me, or shall I come to you? You know, we from the Fox Clan don't do things for free. If I help you with this story, then I will need some compensation from you; that's how we operate in the Fox Clan."
Initially, when the Old Man was just a transformed fox, Si Niang didn't pay much attention. However, now that the fox was part of the Fox Clan, Si Niang couldn't help but poke Xing Ruyi and ask, "What is the Fox Clan?"
"Oh, it's the Fox Clan!" Xing Ruyi whispered a lie into Si Niang's ear without losing her composure. "The Fox Clan is a very ancient family, and everyone in it practices spells. This Master seems to be one of us, so he understands what's going on. But as you just heard from the fox, this Old Man might be practicing dark arts. I suspect that if he truly did what the fox suggested, it would likely be to borrow a life!"
"Borrow a life! Why would someone want to borrow a life?"
"Actually, many practitioners of unorthodox methods do this. I've encountered someone who borrowed a life before; their methods were quite cruel."
"But you still haven't told me what borrowing a life means. Can one really borrow someone else's life?"
"For ordinary people, it might be impossible, but for those who practice dark arts, it is feasible. However, it's not done with consent; it's done forcibly. Si Niang, let me ask you: if your husband could avoid death on the condition that you had to take someone else's life in exchange, would you do it?"
Li Siniang was taken aback and pondered for a moment before looking up with a bittersweet smile. "If such magic truly existed in this world, I admit I would be tempted because I don't want my husband to leave. But if it meant harming another person's life in exchange, I probably wouldn't do it. However... if possible, I would willingly give half of my life to my husband—not asking to be born together but hoping to die together."
Xing Ruyi hadn't expected that her casual question would make Si Niang feel so sad. She cursed herself internally while patting Si Niang's back.
"That's right; if it were me in that situation, I would make the same choice as you. But Si Niang, not everyone in this world is as kind as we are. Those who borrow lives would take as many as they could without considering others' lives." Xing Ruyi stood up and walked over to the Old Man. "Old Man, the Fox Demon sincerely hopes you are not that kind of person."
"He is not that kind of person! I may not know what you're doing or what you've done to me, but I can guarantee he is not like that. He is a good husband, a good father, a good grandfather. Over all these years, I've never seen him use any spells. This must be the scheme of that female ghost; she wants to harm our family."
The old lady reached out to pull at the Confining Immortal Lock. As soon as her fingers touched it slightly, flames ignited and burned her back. Even so, she did not give up and endured the pain of her soul being scorched as she tried to free her husband.
This time, the fox intervened; he used spells to trap the old lady and approached the Old Man.
"Are you envious of our Fox Clan? Envious that we can live for hundreds or even thousands of years?"
The Old Man snorted coldly and did not respond.
"Indeed, immortality is a desire for everyone, and we, the Fox Clan, can easily achieve it through initial capital and subsequent effort. As for you, you have also used your dark arts to borrow the lives of others to extend your own life. In a certain sense, you have indeed achieved longevity. But are you happy?"
"I certainly—" The response that should have been straightforward was interrupted after those three words as the Old Man choked on them. He first glanced at the trapped old lady, then looked at the house where his daughter-in-law had lived, falling silent.
"You are not happy! In fact, I am not happy either. I have lived longer than you, possess more powerful magic than you, and will never grow old. But so what? I can only watch helplessly as my parents, my clan members, and my once good friends disappear one by one from my life. The stronger the magic, the longer the life, the more loneliness and solitude one possesses. I do not consider living long to be a blessing.
Now, standing before you is this girl named Xing Ruyi. Like you, she is just an ordinary mortal, but she is the one I love and is about to become my wife. Do you know? I once hesitated about whether to marry the Fox Demon because I am from the Fox Clan and she is from the human race. I could live for hundreds or even thousands of years, while she could only live for a few decades. I couldn't bear to watch her leave me, so in order to extend her life and allow her to live for hundreds or thousands of years like me, I did many things in secret. But in the end, I gave up!"
At this point, the fox smiled slightly at Xing Ruyi and then lowered his head to hold her hand: "You have asked me more than once what I did during those days when I disappeared. You have also asked me why I didn't marry you. The truth is that it wasn't that I didn't want to; it was that at that time I couldn't. I couldn't bear your departure nor could I imagine how you would endure seeing me unchanged while you aged."
"It is indeed hard to bear!" Xing Ruyi nodded and touched the fox's exceptionally handsome face: "Such a handsome face that won't age; just thinking about it makes people envious and jealous. But so what? Even if I found an ordinary person just like me, would marrying him make me happy? Would marrying him ensure we grow old together? Would marrying him mean he wouldn't despise me for aging or change his heart halfway through, turning me into a discarded wife? Clearly, these are all uncertainties as well. Since they are all uncertainties, why shouldn't I choose the best husband for myself, enjoy the best care, and also admire this most handsome face beneath? Even if the time of happiness is short-lived, at least I've experienced it, right?"
"Indeed, my Fox Demon!" The fox said with a spoiled smile before turning his gaze back to the Old Man.
"The words of the Fox Demon may sound ridiculous to you, but this is my future wife's unique perspective. It took me a long time to realize what I truly wanted and what she truly wanted. I could help her extend her life; in fact, I could use even more advanced methods of borrowing life to keep her with me forever. But would she still be truly herself at that time?"
The Old Man hung his head low and remained silent.
"I beg you, let him go! He is not one of your kind! After being married for so many years, I've never seen him harm anyone. He is a good person; everyone in this village can attest that he is a good person!"
The old lady listened in confusion as her spirit flickered in the moonlight. After several forced touches with the Confining Immortal Lock, her spirit was burned by its light and was soon on the verge of dissipating.
Xing Ruyi felt some pity and shook the fox's hand: "Can you help her? She is about to lose her soul."
"I can't!" The fox replied resolutely: "At this moment, the only one who can decide her life or death is him—not us. Haven't you noticed that despite all that has happened in this village with so many wandering souls and ghosts outside, not a single Ghost Messenger has come to do their work? Granny Han here is like that; Cui Cui is too; as well as that mother and child from the Gou Family and other villagers who died unjustly."
"Why?" Xing Ruyi asked in confusion.
"Because they are all Ghost Slaves raised by the Old Man. He used special methods to raise them for his own purposes. These Ghost Slaves are different from ordinary ghosts; they do not fall under the jurisdiction of Ghost Messengers. This situation is akin to what mortals call 'no man's land.' The only ones who can help them are those Taoists; otherwise, they will face soul dissipation unless their captor is willing to sacrifice themselves to grant them freedom."
Although the old lady was muddled by everything else she heard, she understood this last sentence clearly. She looked at the Old Man and tried hard to appear strong to comfort him: "I know you're not like them; I also know this is all part of their scheme—they conspired with that female ghost to harm you. Don't worry; I'm fine. I won't lose my soul; I'll... I'll wait for you on Yellow Springs Road. You see how well you're doing; you wouldn't want me to travel alone; you're afraid other Ghost Messengers will bully me or that I'll get lost halfway through—so don't worry; I'm not leaving so soon; I'll wait for you."
“Ake, you stop it, I really…” The Old Man's lips trembled, but he couldn't finish his sentence.
“It’s okay, I really don’t mind. Simpleton hasn’t gotten married yet; you have to live well!”
“Simpleton can’t possibly get married!” The fox couldn’t bear to interrupt the old lady, but if this continued, it would be dawn soon.
“Because your husband will never allow Simpleton to marry anyone!”
“You’re talking nonsense!” The old lady let out a ghostly scream, and in an instant, her expression turned fierce.
“He’s not talking nonsense. He’s right; I can’t let Simpleton marry anyone because I… because I need to borrow Simpleton’s life!” The Old Man finally admitted, “Ake, I’m sorry!”
“Have you lost your mind? Are you senile? What nonsense are you spouting? Simpleton is your Grandson, your own Grandson! How could a Grandfather want his own grandson's life?”
“I want his life!” The Old Man’s eyes turned bloodshot, like a demon crawling out of Hell. “In your eyes, he is my Grandson, but in my eyes, he has always just been a vessel. I raised him only to keep his body, to use his body to carry my soul. From beginning to end, I have never cared about any of you; all I want is to live, to live forever!”
The old lady was stunned, Si Niang was also taken aback, and Xing Ruyi looked at the Old Man in confusion. Only the fox and Li Mao showed no change in their expressions.
Finally, Xing Ruyi came to her senses. She was furious and rushed in front of the Old Man, grabbing his collar with her hand and angrily asking, “You can borrow a life, but how can you borrow the life of your own Grandson? Are you crazy?”
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