Chapter 72 Part 1
Zhang Da Yong immediately looked beneath his right hand. Empty.
How could it still be there? Forty years had passed, two generations.
Wu Heng asked thoughtfully, “Think carefully. Have there been times when you were almost in danger, but something lucky happened?”
Zhang Da Yong stared blankly at Wu Heng, murmuring, “People always say I’m lucky, always escaping disaster.”
Near Lunar New Year, while changing a lightbulb, standing on a rickety ladder, he heard a cracking sound, and just as he was about to fall, the ladder miraculously stabilized.
Walking down the street, his shoelace came undone. He bent down to tie it, and at that exact moment, a car accident happened right in front of him. A few seconds earlier, and he would have been hit.
Waking up one night, feeling cold, his blanket mostly off, assuming he just moved around in his sleep, he found a thief stealing chickens from his coop, the chickens he was raising for his wife’s postpartum confinement.
Everyone said he was lucky, he believed it himself. Looking at Wu Heng, speechless, realization dawned.
So-called luck. All these years, although they never owned a dog, a black dog had been guarding their home, diligently, loyally.
It stayed for forty years, protecting him, and he hadn’t even provided it with a dog house, a comfortable bed, or even a single meal.
And this was where his uncle used its blood for a ritual, its place of death.
“Why didn’t you reincarnate?! Stupid dog! Dumb dog!” Zhang Da Yong choked back a sob, overwhelmed.
‘Woof?’ The black dog, tilting its head, its happily wagging tail drooping, whined sadly.
Wu Heng said, “It couldn’t. It was eaten. Others saw it as food, livestock, but you, as a child, considered it family, yet your actions betrayed that belief. This created karmic entanglement.”
Humans ate meat, livestock entered the cycle of reincarnation because they were considered animals, no emotional bonds.
Zhang Da Yong retched, bile rising in his throat, blood and saliva dripping from his lips.
[Holy crap, what did I just hear?! This is insane!]
[I’m confused, weren’t we talking about the Goddess of Childbirth? Did she actually grant their wish?]
[Just my personal opinion, I hate anyone who eats dog meat.]
[So he ate his dog as a child? How cruel! That would traumatize a child for life! Were they that desperate for food?]
[If this is true, why would the Goddess grant such heartless people a child? Doesn’t she check their character? Who would dare pray to her now?]
[+1. I was planning to visit Qingfeng Temple, but if this is true, I’m not going.]
Qingfeng Temple, having gained popularity and boosted local tourism in recent years, was furious.
Beyond the tourism revenue, they genuinely revered the goddess, how dare these netizens blaspheme?!
Zhang Da Yong’s wife, seeing her husband speechless, asked Wu Heng anxiously, “Doctor Wu, what should we do? Prescribe medicine for Hei Tan?”
Wu Heng shook his head. “It’s not difficult, just find a practitioner to perform a small ritual for it.”
Zhang Da Yong laughed and cried simultaneously, then rushed to the shed, grabbing a cleaver and a hoe, his face red with rage. “I’m going to dig up my uncle’s grave!”
His uncle, a practitioner of metaphysics, a renowned Feng Shui master in town, often visited their house, how could he not know about the dog ghost?! He knew!
But he never mentioned it, perhaps because it was just a dog, not harming anyone, or perhaps he thought a dog wasn’t worthy of a ritual.
“Dad! Calm down! Don’t be impulsive!” His son stopped him.
How could he be calm?! He had been living in fear these past few days, worried about his rapidly growing nails, then this, his emotions were a mess.
‘Your owner isn’t so bad,’ the chubby fox said, pushing the window open with its paw, playing with its nails.
Hei Tan, turning to Su Da Yi, wagged its tail proudly. ‘Woof!’
Zhang Da Yong, hearing the fox, his tools confiscated by his children, looked at Wu Heng, his voice trembling, his eyes bloodshot, “Did… did Hei Tan ask the fox to repay us?”
Wu Heng nodded.
Su Da Yi, playing with its fluffy tail, said disdainfully, ‘I came to repay the favor, that dumb dog said it didn’t need anything, only worried about evil spirits harming its owner, asked me to do this instead.’
They were “fox friends” after all, as witnessed by the villagers.
A dog, trapped in the human world, unseen, untouched, believing its owner loved it, its needs met, truly a hopeless romantic.
Su Da Yi scoffed. Although both canines, thankfully it was a fox, beautiful and clever.
“Can I… see Hei Tan?” Zhang Da Yong asked softly.
Wu Heng could have done it remotely, but he didn’t say anything. Su Da Yi spoke, ‘Pluck one of my glorious tail hairs and chant this incantation three times passionately—’
‘Su Da Yi, Su Da Yi, thin as lightning, is Su Daji!’
Zhang Da Yong: “…”
Although finding the chant slightly embarrassing, he walked up to Su Da Yi and quickly plucked a hair from its tail.
Su Da Yi clutched its tail and wailed, ‘You have no taste! Ruining my beautiful fur! Pluck one of the others… although those are quite pretty too.’
Staring at its reflection, it had trouble choosing, then instantly forgave him.
Zhang Da Yong, his face burning, chanted the ridiculous incantation three times, his vision blurring, then he saw a large black dog wagging its tail furiously.
Their eyes met, and Hei Tan, realizing Zhang Da Yong could finally see it again after forty years, whimpered excitedly, its paws scrabbling at him.
No dog was as happy as it, still with its owner after forty years, most dogs only lived for a decade or so. It wasn’t like those old, immobile dogs, it was still healthy and strong, guarding its owner’s home, although its owner couldn’t see it for forty years.
It wasn’t a stupid dog, like Guan Guan had said, it was the smartest dog in the world.
Zhang Da Yong burst into tears.
[As a pet owner, this is heartbreaking.]
[I envy Zhang Da Yong, reuniting with his childhood companion thanks to the fox, I also want to see my pets again.]
[My cat passed away three months ago, and she told me in my dream that she didn’t like the cat food down there, what should I do? QAQ]
[Although we can’t see Hei Tan, I know it must be very happy now.]
Wang Pengzheng, watching at home, hugged Hei Bao tightly, suddenly imagining his dog dying too, and wailed, “Hei Bao, please don’t die!”
Wang Hei Bao, puzzled, what was going on with him now?
‘Woof, woof, woof!’
Zhang Da Yong looked at the excited Hei Tan, then at the darkening sky, a thought forming.
Hei Tan used to pull him to and from school every day. It picked him up that day but never took him home…
Wu Heng looked at Su Da Yi, who was grooming its fur, ‘A Fox Immortal’s illusion magic is the strongest among the Five Immortals, be a good fox and finish what you started.’
Su Da Yi, preening, haughtily extended a paw. ‘This Fox Immortal will generously allow you another hair.’
This time, Zhang Da Yong carefully chose one, which annoyed Su Da Yi. ‘What do you mean? So you think the other ones aren’t good enough?!’
Zhang Da Yong: “…”
So whether he chose carefully or not, he would still be scolded?
Wu Heng almost laughed out loud when a light jacket was placed on his shoulders. He turned and saw Shi Xuan, his face slightly flushed, his eyes narrowed as he looked at him, pointing at the loquat wine on the table.
Drunk?
He heard Zhang Da Yong chant the fox’s incantation and blow the hair into the air. A rickshaw… or rather, a dog cart appeared.
Hei Tan excitedly ran to the front, putting on the harness, barking at Zhang Da Yong, urging him to get on.
Zhang Da Yong, a grown man now, couldn’t possibly ride it.
Having watched Wu Heng’s live streams, he asked cautiously, “Doctor Wu, can I write my name and birth date on a piece of yellow paper and place it on the seat instead?”
Wu Heng, playing with his jacket sleeve, said, his voice devoid of emotion, “Your name is fake, your birth chart forged, what use would that be?”
Zhang Da Yong was stunned, then he heard Wu Heng say, “Just put a strand of your hair with the root on it.”
[??? So much information! Fake name? Forged birth chart?]
[A fake name is understandable, but a fake birth chart? That requires skill. His uncle practices metaphysics…]
[Something’s not right here. I have a bad feeling.]
[But didn’t Wu Heng say he was a prayed-for child?]
Netizens had their suspicions, watching intently.
