Chapter 1 When Everything is Clear

By the time I had figured everything out, dawn had broken. I pushed open the door and went out to find Jasmine already busy in the kitchen.

The house was full of the usual activity: the minor spirits doing chores, the training ones practicing their skills. Everything was so ordinary, yet so warm and wonderful.

Isn't that what life is all about? The lives of ordinary people are the most real, the most fulfilling.

All my efforts were simply to maintain my own peaceful and stable existence.

The funeral shop was my home, and these minor spirits were my family.

"Good morning, boss," Jasmine greeted me enthusiastically.

I smiled apologetically. "I was possessed by evil spirits the other day, and my mind wasn't right. Did I scare you?"

Jasmine chuckled. "Boss, don't mention it. Our funeral shop is here to deal with such things. If people knew that the boss himself could be possessed, how could they trust you to handle their affairs?"

"They don't trust me anyway. You think those who come to the shop are here for Wan Qian?

They look down on me, this young kid. They're interested in these minor spirits and the abacus in my hands. If Ding Kan hadn't wasted so much time, preventing the spirits from taking on other jobs, they wouldn't bother with me at all."

"Speaking ill of me again? I knew you were like that, always badmouthing me behind my back," Ding Kan said, stretching as he came downstairs.

I replied, "No, this time it wasn't badmouthing. I was just concerned about your health and wondering when you'd recover."

"Oh." Ding Kan moved his body, performing some large movements, and then told me, "I feel like I'm almost fully recovered. My Xuan Gong (mysterious skill) has almost returned to ninety percent. As long as the bunny babies sign off on it, I can be discharged at any time."

*Pa!*

Ding Kan seemed to have been hit by something. A white blur flashed by, and a rabbit's footprint appeared on Ding Kan's clothes.

"What happened? Did what I said displease the medicine-pounding immortals?" Ding Kan was obedient, afraid of angering the rabbits, and even changed his term of address from "bunny babies" to "medicine-pounding immortals."

I laughed. "The little bunnies aren't that petty. They didn't come to kick you; they came to sign off on your discharge."

"Sign off?"

"That's right. Didn't you say that you were almost fully recovered and just needed the little bunnies to sign off before you could be discharged? So, the dear little bunnies thoughtfully came to sign for you!"

"Really?" Ding Kan was overjoyed, almost jumping with excitement. "I'm finally free! I can finally leave this shop!"

Watching Ding Kan dance around like a child, the playful minor spirits also started to sway with him, which made Jasmine shout:

"Hey, hey, hey, the food is on the table! Everyone behave! If you knock over the table, no one eats!"

Ding Kan was so well-behaved and immediately went to the table and sat down, more obedient than a kindergarten child. The minor spirits looked disappointed and returned to their respective memorial tablets.

While eating, I asked Ding Kan what his plans were.

Ding Kan said, "I'll go to Daqing Mountain with you first. Granny Yin had said long ago that Eighth Miss shouldn't interfere with the Fox Clan's talismans; she's not suitable to go to Daqing Mountain. The medicine-pounding immortals approved my discharge early probably so I could go to the temple with you."

"Yes, that's what I thought too. You're more suitable than Eighth Miss, but Eighth Miss..." Would Eighth Miss be willing to stay in the shop?

"Don't worry. You can't persuade her, but she'll listen to Granny Yin," Ding Kan said.

"Okay, then we'll pack up in a bit and set off today."

For some reason, I said this without much confidence. I had a strong premonition that even if we planned it out, it would be difficult for us to make this trip today; something would definitely happen.

Could it be that Granny Yin wouldn't be able to persuade Eighth Miss? Eighth Miss is very quiet now. With her temperament, if she disagreed, she would have jumped out long ago and wouldn't have been so silent.

I shouldn't think too much. A premonition is just a premonition and not always one hundred percent correct. If nothing happens, Ding Kan and I will leave directly. If something does happen, we'll deal with it as it comes.

After the meal, Ding Kan and I packed up simply and prepared to leave.

Although Daqing Mountain wasn't too far from Huacheng, only a few hours by car, the temple was deep in the mountains. Many roads could only be entered on foot, and a round trip would probably take several days.

Before leaving, Ding Kan naturally had to get lovey-dovey with Rakshasi Girl for a while. It was just a few days away, but it was as if he was a soldier going to the front lines, which was really exaggerated.

After they finally said goodbye and Ding Kan was about to get into the car, a woman suddenly stood in front of my car.

The woman's hair was disheveled, her eyes were red, and there were traces of makeup that hadn't been cleaned off her face.

"Wan Qian, you can't leave!" The woman stood in front of the car, blocking my way.

"You are—Shi Wanling?" I looked at the woman in front of the car in surprise.

"Yes."

This was naturally not the girl who came in a wheelchair a few days ago but the caregiver who pushed the wheelchair.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked Ling Dang.

"Wan Qian, you can't go to Daqing Mountain, at least not now," Ling Dang said.

"Why?" Although I had a premonition that we wouldn't be able to leave today, I really didn't know what had happened.

"The full moon is coming soon, Wan Qian. You can't go up the mountain during the full moon."

"Why?" I still didn't understand.

Ling Dang didn't explain but quickly searched on her phone and found a news item.

"There will be a blood moon. Within three days, a blood moon will appear on Daqing Mountain. Although the blood moon doesn't have much impact on people and can even be appreciated as a spectacle, what this blood moon represents for foxes, you can ask the fox in your house." Ling Dang gasped for breath.

Afraid that Ling Dang's information was false, I re-searched it on the Internet with my own phone and found that there really was a blood moon.

No wonder I always had a bad feeling in my heart. It turned out that this was it.

Eighth Miss had told me long ago that the blood moon was of great importance to the Fox Clan. If a blood moon appeared this year, there might be a Fox God drinking blood. At that time, the Fox God would personally come to the place illuminated by the blood moon to bless his fox children and grandchildren.

Of course, the Fox God would only bless the fox children and grandchildren he liked. As for those he hated, he might even drink their blood. If someone the Fox Clan hated appeared in the area where the Fox God descended, the consequences would naturally be imaginable.

Just based on the fact that Half-Fox was already on Bai Tingting's body, this big fox would never welcome me.