Second Master Huang said he’d casually caught the fox spirit’s true form for Chen Ji along the way, and sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. While running, he suddenly halted, kicked aside the nearby bushes with one foot, snatched up the red fox that was sleeping soundly in his jaws, and just walked off without a second thought.
Thanks to the Yellow Weasel’s supercharged speed, Chen Ji made it back home smoothly before noon. The System Cat shook out its fur and sashayed over with a graceful feline strut to greet him.
Second Master Huang wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Chen Ji kept a cat, but today, seeing him bend down to scoop the cat into his arms and pet and coo over it, he inexplicably felt a surge of sour jealousy: 【A little mangy cat that does nothing but eat and sleep—what good is it? Tsk!】
System Cat: 【What is Second Master Huang saying?】
Chen Ji: 【It says you’re a useless good-for-nothing, only good for eating and sleeping.】
【Meow to hell with it daring to curse me! Chen Ji, let me go! A mere yellow-skinned weasel acting all high and mighty! Let me go tear it apart!】 The System Cat thrashed wildly in Chen Ji’s arms, sending fur flying everywhere. Chen Ji pinned its head down and held it firmly against his chest, refusing to let it loose.
Chen Ji certainly wasn’t about to let the System Cat actually tangle with Second Master Huang. Unless the cat deployed some high-tech gadgetry, how could it fight him? One swipe of his claw would shred it. The System Cat might not mind, but Chen Ji would feel bad about it.
Second Master Huang wasn’t one to back down either. He planted one claw on his hip and jabbed the other toward the System Cat: 【Oh ho! Got the nerve to rage at your Second Grandpa Huang, do you? Come at me! Who’s afraid of who? If I don’t squash you flat into cat pancake today, you won’t know who’s boss!】
System Cat: 【Bring it! Who’s afraid of who!】
Chen Ji couldn’t help but burst out laughing, especially when he remembered that Second Master Huang could only hear meows. The System Cat clearly didn’t share his hearing, so they couldn’t understand each other at all… Were they just yelling past one another?
He hugged the System Cat a little tighter and soothed Second Master Huang. “Second Grandpa, could you lock the fox up in the chicken coop first? I’ll whip up a couple of dishes for you and warm up a pot of wine.”
Second Master Huang snorted coldly, then trotted off with the fox spirit in his mouth. He’d originally wanted to complain that penning a fox spirit in the chicken coop was basically rewarding it, but upon arrival, he saw not a single chicken in sight. That instantly put him in a better mood.
For lunch, to thank Second Master Huang, Chen Ji prepared three hearty dishes—butter-fried cod, Orleans roast chicken, and eight braised pig trotters. He even cracked open a 2.5-liter bottle of cola for him. Second Master Huang ate his fill with great satisfaction, then took the leftovers Chen Ji had packed for him and headed home to nap.
【I’m off then! Call out if you need to grab that delivery later! Don’t treat your Second Grandpa Huang like an outsider!】
“Got it.” Chen Ji waved with a smile, then headed straight to the chicken coop. The red-furred fox spirit had woken up by now. It had two bloody puncture wounds from Second Master Huang’s bite and was huddled shivering in the corner of the coop. When Chen Ji entered, it panicked and tried to leap over the wall to escape, but Grandpa Second Huang’s rope bound it tight—it couldn’t go anywhere.
The System Cat finally poked its head out, peering curiously at the red fox: 【It looks pretty pitiful now… Chen Ji, don’t get too close. Careful it bites you and gives you rabies.】
【I know.】 Chen Ji took one look at the red fox’s condition, then went to the kitchen for some food and water. He placed them in the corner of the coop and left.
Uncle Liu probably wouldn’t come by this afternoon.
Even with no visitors, dust still settled in the rooms. Chen Ji had been slacking these past few days, and a thin layer of gray already coated the green bricks in the main hall.
Chen Ji fetched a bucket of water. The System Cat was about to tease him for finally getting off his butt when it watched him dismantle the robot vacuum, pour the water in, and upload a custom blueprint to its system. Moments later, the diligent little machine set to work cleaning.
System Cat: 【…】
The System Cat watched wide-eyed as Chen Ji draped a yellow cloth over the robot vacuum. It was adorned with cloud-patterned lotuses and embroidered in gold thread with four large characters: Mountain Lord Compassion.
【When did you buy that…?】 The System Cat muttered. 【Why not just grab a speaker and play some scriptures while you’re at it?】
【While you were asleep.】 Chen Ji shot it a sidelong glance. 【I thought about it before, but I wasn’t sure if Grandpa Mountain Lord followed Daoism or Buddhism. Better not play anything random. Can’t have blasting ‘Seven Miles of Fragrance’ or ‘Jiangnan’ for Grandpa Mountain Lord, right?】
The System Cat was momentarily at a loss for words.
Chen Ji gave its paw a squeeze and spoke earnestly. “Grandpa Mountain Lord, this is a new gadget from down the mountain called a robot vacuum. I figured your hall needs constant cleaning, but I’m useless—weak constitution and all, plus repairing the temple. I just can’t do it all myself. So I shelled out a fortune for this machine, all so you can enjoy a spotless shrine at all times!
“My respect for Grandpa Mountain Lord comes from the heart, not just show. I’m sure Grandpa Mountain Lord can feel my sincerity!”
System Cat: 【emmm…】
Chen Ji shot the System Cat a look, and it wisely shut its mouth.
Since he now knew Grandpa Mountain Lord truly existed—and was probably offering real protection—Chen Ji wasn’t about to miss the opportunity. After all, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Grandpa Mountain Lord might not know what a robot vacuum was and think he was just being lazy with some half-baked contraption. But if Chen Ji explained upfront that it was expensive, that he’d spent a lot to buy it specifically for temple repairs, maybe Grandpa Mountain Lord would be touched by his sincerity and grant extra blessings?
Sometimes, talking mattered more than doing.
Chen Ji supervised the robot vacuum for a bit, then returned to his room utterly content for a midday nap. The System Cat, meanwhile, headed to the pond out back to fish with its tail. It never ate what it caught—it was purely for the joy of fishing. Heaven only knew if a cat’s tail could actually hook a fish.
About an hour later, Chen Ji woke up. It was the perfect time of day, with sunlight at its warmest. He drew back the curtains, letting the rays spill across the bed. Bathed in the glow, he pored over the Cave Abyss Scripture, Part One, that he’d drawn from the System Cat earlier.
The book might as well have been scribbles to Chen Ji, but Uncle Liu had said the past twenty or thirty years had been peaceful until this fox spirit business cropped up… It gave Chen Ji a bad feeling. And with all the cow-headed ghosts and snake spirits popping up on Little Azure Mountain now and then, at this point, he had no choice but to study it seriously.
Better to rely on himself than others.
The front of the Cave Abyss Scripture was packed with lengthy passages of sage wisdom. Chen Ji skimmed them to grasp the gist. The real meat was in the talismans that followed. For his first one, he chose the Profound Penetration Talisman, which bridged the yin-yang divide.
Chen Ji initially thought to trace it on his tablet, but he set the stylus down the moment he opened the app. Instead, he grabbed a stack of white paper and a fountain pen to copy it by hand.
As expected, the first attempt came out jagged and incomplete, missing both form and spirit, with that frustrating sense of failing to connect the strokes. For the second, he broke the talisman down into its three structural components and drew them separately. This time, it went smoother—at least it resembled the original.
The third, the fourth… Chen Ji patiently drew one after another. Practice makes perfect; he’d get there with time. After churning out thirty or forty in a row, the System Cat burst in from outside: 【Chen Ji, why haven’t you come out yet?】
Chen Ji: 【Practicing talismans.】
【Let me see!】 The System Cat hopped onto the bed and peered over. It tilted its head, puzzled. 【Didn’t you say you’d opened your Heavenly Eye? Why learn these talismans?】
Chen Ji tapped a line in the Cave Abyss Scripture with his pen cap: 【It enables Profound Penetration.】
【I can only see them. But to interact, it seems I need to enter their boundary domain.】 Chen Ji thought for a moment, then continued. 【Second Master Huang mentioned ‘Dharma Image’ today. That must refer to the spectral form… It splits a spirit into two parts: the true body in our dimension—the Yellow Weasel is a yellow weasel, the fox is a fox.】
【The Dharma Image hides in another dimension. They can’t easily cross into our world. Like that Spectacle King Cobra before—it dragged me into its boundary domain. Key point: the snake spirit was about Second Master Huang’s level, maybe a touch stronger. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have spoken of it in that tone.】
The System Cat cocked its head. 【But I remember Second Master Huang’s Dharma Image entering our dimension three times before.】
Right when Grandpa Second Huang nearly got strangled by Chen Ji and had no choice but to manifest his Dharma Image for direct conversation.
Chen Ji nodded. 【The snake spirit pulled me into its realm after the White Tiger killed it—meaning its true body was just bones left. The Dharma Image stirred trouble using those bones, so it could only drag me into the boundary domain to attack directly via the image.】
【Today’s fox spirit was different. It forcibly attached its Dharma Image to a human host—breaking through the boundary domain. Second Master Huang said forcing a crossing damages one’s cultivation.】 Chen Ji murmured. 【Here’s the issue: it’s already crossed into our world, same as me, so why can’t I touch it? Logically, I should be able to.】
【So my conclusion: my Yin-Yang Eye only lets me ‘see.’】 Chen Ji chewed on his pen. 【For deeper interaction, I need to either alter my constitution or borrow external aid.】
【I looked it up—some folk remedies claim Rhinoceros Horn Incense and Ox Eye Tears can temporarily commune with yin and yang, but nothing about touching yin entities… Forget the incense; that’s a felony with no cap. But Ox Eye Tears? Worth a shot…】
The System Cat had a sudden realization. 【No wonder you brought that red-furred fox back… Isn’t that a bit vicious?】
Chen Ji spread his hands. 【I’m just testing if Ox Eye Tears and Profound Penetration Talismans work. How’s that vicious?】
