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"Why does the old man want to harm me?" Xing Ruyi looked at the fox in confusion. "We chose the day to leave Luoyang on a whim, and deciding to stay in this village was also a spur-of-the-moment decision. I had no reason to believe the old man would want to harm me!"
"Spur-of-the-moment, impulsive killing—these terms should be familiar to you," the fox said with a smile. "You were the one who explained them to me."
"I know that well. Back then, I thought you were just an ordinary fox, and you took advantage of me quite a bit. Of course, I also forced you to watch a lot of legal programs. You still think that impulsive killing is something unique to human society, something that could never happen in your Fox Clan. Wait, are you saying that the old man's intention to harm me was entirely spontaneous?"
"Exactly. He originally only wanted the lives of those villagers he had chosen, but your appearance gave him a better option. Fox Demon, you should understand that your coming here with me was not just an accident; it is also related to your fate."
"Could it be that the old man is practicing some kind of evil technique?" Xing Ruyi pondered while tapping her chin, watching Li Mao capture the female ghost. "My eyes may not be as sharp as yours, but I can tell that the old man is neither a monster nor some kind of undead creature. I truly can't think of any reason he would want to harm me or those villagers."
"It's fine if you can't figure it out; I just passed by and will let him tell you himself," the fox said as she took Xing Ruyi's hand and walked over to the female ghost. "I know you're anxious, so let me share some trivial matters first.
She is not from Xiangxi Miao Village but an ordinary woman. During her escape with her mother, she was rescued by someone from the Gou Family. Of course, this rescue had ulterior motives; he was merely interested in her beauty and wanted to take her home as his woman.
Unfortunately, people from the Gou Family are typically selfish and never engage in losing deals. The man only wanted this young woman before him and was quite annoyed with her mother for being a burden. So on their way back to the village, he murdered her mother.
As a child witnessing her mother being killed and being forced to marry her enemy, she naturally resisted fiercely. But alas, she was just a weak woman; her struggles only brought her more torment and pain without any results.
At this moment, the old man you mentioned appeared. He offered this woman a method—a way for her to take revenge!"
"What method?"
"She willingly allowed the old man to cast a curse on her, becoming his Ghost Slave, and then killed her enemies. In this regard, the old man did not deceive you because the mother and son from the Gou Family were indeed killed by her. Not only were they killed by her, but like her, they also became puppets in the old man's hands."
The fox casually pointed at the female ghost, who immediately began to moan in agony.
"How do you know this is a curse? There shouldn't be such techniques in your Qingqiu!" Xing Ruyi curiously poked the fox and asked.
"What's so unusual about this? Have you forgotten that in your hometown, Qingqiu is not a paradise?"
"That's true!" Xing Ruyi suddenly remembered that the fox was the only one in Qingqiu's history to be ousted by its own kind through schemes and force, so she looked at him with some sympathy, hugged his arm, and asked, "So what happened next? You still haven't told me how you know about curses."
"If I know about poisons, how could I not understand curses? Curses originally evolved from poisons, and both poisons and curses were first used by monsters as tricks. However, while these spells are just playful among monsters, they can be deadly when used on humans. Although I in Qingqiu disdain using such tricks, not using them doesn't mean I don't know or understand them."
"So what kind of curse did she fall under?" Xing Ruyi asked, raising her chin. Suddenly a scene flashed through her mind, and she muttered to herself, "I think I know; I've seen this kind of head flying around before. That curse seems to be called the Head Curse!"
"That must be the thing you're talking about!" The fox said, frowning as he glanced at the Ghost Fog in front of them and waved his hand. The Ghost Fog dissipated instantly, revealing a peaceful countryside night.
As the Ghost Fog cleared, Xing Ruyi realized they had arrived at the Old Man's doorstep. Their carriage was still parked there, protected by the barrier set up by the fox. Bell was completely unaffected by what had just happened and was still sleeping soundly. Simpleton lay unconscious in his own yard. The Old Man stood in the middle of the yard, bound by a transparent rope, while the old lady stood beside him with tearful eyes, trying to break the rope. Unfortunately, every time she got closer, the rope would ignite like fire, burning not only her soul but also the Old Man's flesh.
Xing Ruyi felt pity in her heart as she looked at the rope and asked the fox, "What is that?"
"It's a Confining Immortal Lock that I borrowed from someone else!"
"The Old Man is an immortal?"
"Of course not!" The fox chuckled in disbelief. "Look at him; does he look anything like an immortal? The Confining Immortal Lock is just the name of this rope; it isn't specifically meant for binding immortals. It's just very sturdy— even if an immortal were bound by it, they wouldn't be able to break free."
"Could it be that this is the legendary magical tool?"
"Anything used by practitioners can be called a magical tool. Just like that Copper Mirror Moxuyou gave you before; it's also a magical tool. But you've misused it as an ordinary mirror."
"Now that you mention it, I seem to remember that Moxuyou said that Copper Mirror can reflect ghosts and show their true forms. This sounds a bit like the legendary Truth-Reflecting Mirror!" Xing Ruyi said as she patted her bag that she always carried with her. "It turns out I've been mistreating my magical tool all this time; what a sin!"
The fox shook its head, remaining silent as it looked at the old man and said, "Your Ghost Slave has already been captured by me. As for the people in the village, with my Fox Demon around, waking them up is not a difficult task. But you, before you die, do you have anything you want to say?"
"Hmph!" The old man changed from his previous demeanor, becoming fierce and menacing. "You are just a fox that has gained some intelligence, yet you dare to be arrogant in front of me."
"And what about you? You are merely a monster that has borrowed a corpse to return to life. Compared to me, don't you have even less right to be arrogant?"
"Hmph!" The old man snorted again and fell silent.
The fox led Xing Ruyi to sit down on one side, then ordered Li Mao to light a fire, set out some snacks, and heat a pot of Peach Blossom Wine. Only then did it start chatting with Xing Ruyi casually.
"Whether it was the story that old man told you before or the one I just shared, there is one person who was not mentioned."
"Who?"
"The child in her womb!" The fox pointed at the female ghost and then looked into her eyes. "Don't you want to know whether the child in your womb is a boy or a girl, and where she is now?"
The female ghost glanced at the fox and then turned her head towards the old man.
"You are carrying a girl, born in an auspicious year, month, and hour. Do you remember the time when you committed suicide by hanging? He chose that for you! The reason he picked that time for your death was not only to use your corpse to refine Ghost Slaves but also so that the child in your womb could be born at that auspicious time. Only girls born at that hour meet his requirements."
The female ghost's eyes turned red. Although the child in her womb was of the Gou Family bloodline, it was still her child born after ten months of pregnancy. As a mother, she couldn't possibly feel no emotions at all. For revenge, she willingly allowed this man before her to refine her into a Ghost Slave. He had promised her he would help protect her child and let her grow up safely. So over the years, she had never asked about how her child was doing.
"Don't worry; he hasn't done anything bad to that child. On the contrary, he has treated her well and carefully raised her." The fox said with a slight smile, pointing at the old lady who had been guarding the old man. "She is the child who was taken from your womb back then. Not only did she grow up successfully, but she also married this man and became his wife, giving birth to a son for him."
Upon hearing this, both the old lady and the female ghost exchanged glances and shook their heads.
"It’s hard to accept, isn’t it? Clearly, she is your own daughter, yet she has turned into a ghost just like you, and even appears much older than you. This is not surprising; you died in your prime, while your daughter, strictly speaking, is in mourning." The fox said, lightly tapping the old lady's ghost. In an instant, her silver hair turned black, the wrinkles on her face smoothed out, and even her height seemed to increase slightly.
As the radiance around the old lady faded, Xing Ruyi was finally able to see her appearance clearly. At this moment, she appeared to be only about eighteen or nineteen years old. Her features and the expression that inadvertently revealed itself between her brows were strikingly similar to the ghost opposite her.
"She really looks like her. Not only do their features resemble each other, but even the expressions between their brows are quite similar. However..." Xing Ruyi looked at the fox with an eager expression as if waiting for an answer.
The fox patted her head: "First take a bite of this snack, and then I'll tell you!"
Xing Ruyi quickly took a bite of the mung bean cake and shook the fox's arm: "Hurry up! My curiosity is all stirred up now!"
"A belly full of curiosity?" Si Niang fixed her gaze on Xing Ruyi's abdomen.
"Oh no, it's not what you're thinking." Xing Ruyi's cheeks flushed slightly as she hurried to explain to Si Niang: "What I mean is that my curiosity is about to burst out of my chest."
"Your choice of words is always so peculiar." Si Niang imitated the fox's earlier demeanor, shaking her head in both exasperation and amusement.
"Now that we know Granny Han's true identity, I want to ask you: have you guessed the true identity of this Old Man?" The fox raised an eyebrow and asked Xing Ruyi.
"The Old Man's true identity is obviously Simpleton's Grandfather; there's nothing more to it. Oh wait, no. You just mentioned that the Old Man is actually that gentleman from back then—the one who initially quelled the Gou Family curse and saved Simpleton's life. But..."
"But there’s another person involved, right? If he is that gentleman from back then, then where did Simpleton's real Grandfather go?" The fox waved a finger in front of Xing Ruyi's eyes: "I just told you something about Fox Demon—that part of his story is false. Since part of the story is false, then what he previously said about the gentleman must also be fabricated."
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