Chapter 17: The Mountain Spirit and the Celestial Fox’s Test

“Sir!”
Fox Boy Hutu performed the disciple’s salute beneath the tree and called out.
Ji Ming ignored this young fox lord and instead turned to the Old Master, asking, “Old Master, do you know if there is a mountain spirit nearby?”
Perhaps it was because he was in the presence of the Old Master, or perhaps out of genuine interest in that art of imitation, but having been disregarded by Ji Ming, Fox Boy Hutu’s demeanor shifted from before; he eagerly replied instead.
“The mountain spirit you speak of, Sir, must be the mountain ghost who dwells within these borders.
He resides in an old temple some twenty li to the southeast. Outside the temple grows an ancient locust tree—you will recognize it at a glance.”
“So it’s that Lord of Mud and Mire,”
Ji Ming said to himself.
At this, the Old Master stepped forward, cupping his hands, and said, “Though Hutu can be unruly, his nature is pure and good. I hope you will continue to guide him.”
The Old Master already possessed the heart of a Confucian; his values aligned with contemporary scholars, holding fast to the sacred order of Heaven, Earth, sovereign, kin, and teacher.
It was for this reason that Ji Ming, personally invited by the Old Master to serve as instructor, dared to keep up certain airs.
In the Old Master’s presence, Ji Ming nodded solemnly, though inwardly he was quite perfunctory.
Just days ago, this young fox lord had invited him out to hunt, but in retrospect, it was clearly a ruse, a collusion with those two monsters to put him in peril.
If he were not living under the foxes’ roof, Ji Ming would have long since…
Well, the truth was, he simply had no way to deal with this fox lord—the gap between them was too great.
When the Old Master left, Ji Ming immediately leapt down from the tree, endured his wounds, and devoured the bat fiend’s corpse in one go.
Witnessing Ji Ming’s bloody feast, Lord Hutu was somewhat taken aback.
He himself had, from birth, eaten only spirit rice and drunk sweet dew, reading the classics—never had he engaged in such bestial, bloodthirsty acts.
Moreover, seeing this Crow Song, always mouthing sage teachings and behaving with decorum, now acting like a savage beast, struck him with a peculiar shock.
Days passed in the society, and Ji Ming’s injuries gradually healed.
Perhaps it was because of his remarks on the art of imitation that day, but it seemed he had risen a notch in the Old Master’s esteem; his meals no longer lacked spirit tea, and portions of jade-like spirit rice were even added.
The foxes in the society said this green spirit rice was supplied directly from the Celestial Fox Institute, best for nourishing the body and expelling impurities, so as to cultivate a pure and spiritual constitution.
Ji Ming carefully stored all the spirit rice he received, having already resolved to walk the path of cultivation as a human.
For among monsters, he saw no bright future. The prospect of attaining enlightenment in a hundred years, divinity in a thousand, was simply too long for him.
Compared to humans, monsters seemed like relics the world was intent on discarding.

Stowing away the spirit rice, Ji Ming felt a tinge of emotion.
Setting aside the fox lord for the moment, the Old Master’s generosity truly warmed his heart, so he offered a few minor suggestions about education.
He called them suggestions because he knew he did not truly understand the fox society.
While he had noticed the fox students’ lackadaisical attitude toward study, he did not know the root cause; all his reasoning was speculative and unverified.
So he gave only suggestions, providing the Old Master with a different perspective.
Even so, the Old Master gladly accepted, and discussed the matter with Ji Ming in depth.
The Old Master made Ji Ming feel acknowledged and respected; he felt himself integrating more deeply into this world.
His days in the society were always full, and recently he had begun studying the written script again.
Honestly, much of the ancient seal script he had learned from the hungry ghosts, and some characters were closer to pictograms, with certain differences from the world he once knew.
Beyond the seal script was a form prevalent in the current era—Ba script.
When Ji Ming discussed this script with the Old Master, he explained that it originated from an ancient oracle script, and had become popular in order to replace the old seal script that had persisted since the reign of King Huang.
The Old Master added that while humans could abandon seal script in favor of Ba script, monsters could not; it was the root of their race, the essence of their heritage.
Even this matter of script showed the ongoing contest between the Green and Yellow Heavens throughout ages—the silent thunder he felt resonated all the more.
Thus, many days passed in study.
Before seeking out the Lord of Mud and Mire, he decided to deepen his mastery of the Yin Wind technique.
The Yin Wind he currently wielded, even when enhanced by the Wind-cleansing Elixir, had yet to reveal its full power.
After visualizing the “True Form of the Yin Wind” and making some progress, he realized that further advancement required him to absorb the remaining breath of the dead in a graveyard.
After death, the body sometimes retained a last breath, which, over time, became a yin miasma within the corpse.
If Ji Ming could find one or two such pockets of yin in the graveyard, his Yin Wind would truly be complete; otherwise, it would remain only a crude wind-calling spell.
The Fox Society of Mount Heng was situated atop a vast cemetery.
Those most familiar with the place were the fox students and society mice who played among the graves after lessons.
Ji Ming, using his position as an instructor, inquired among the society and easily gathered the locations of many graves rich in yin miasma.
Thereafter, he flitted in and out of the tombs, absorbing one breath of yin after another, until a chill began to cling to his crow’s form.
With his mastery of the Yin Wind much improved, Ji Ming began contemplating how to seek aid from the Lord of Mud and Mire.
He did not believe that a small-time monster like himself could expect much face or assistance from such a being.

The only viable method was to borrow the banner of the Old Master, or to make use of the Lord’s penchant for gambling in his old temple.
The latter seemed to offer more room for maneuver.

“Sir!”
As Ji Ming was out gathering yin miasma, the fox lord trailed after him once again.
It had been like this for days—the fox lord, for reasons unknown, insisted on pestering him to learn the art of imitation that Ji Ming had invented offhand.
Seeing Ji Ming’s obvious attempt to avoid him, the fox lord grew somewhat dejected.
“Sir, am I being a nuisance?”
Ji Ming suppressed his impatience; now was not the time to offend this one.
“I’ve heard the annual Grand Examination of the Celestial Fox Institute is approaching. Shouldn’t you be studying diligently in preparation?”
At the mention of the examination, the fox lord’s look of dismay became quite genuine.
“The Fox Institute’s exam tests nothing but astronomy and geography.
To master astronomy, one must learn the arts of celestial divination.
To understand geography, one must master the tongues of the birds of the Nine Continents, and inquire of the birds of the four seas to discern the lay of the land.
Yet, I have not even memorized all the stars and constellations, much less the divination formulas and the subtleties of the Book of Changes.
As for the birds’ tongues, I have learned only one hundred and sixty-three, and my knowledge of geography is limited to just one continent, Valley Grain.”
“Ah—”
Ji Ming was genuinely startled.
He had not expected that qualifying as a Celestial Fox student would be so arduous.
Just pondering the requirements made him feel they must be both tedious and overwhelming.
“I say this not to gain your sympathy, but to prove that I am not without promise—that I am worth some of your effort.”
Since the fox lord had spoken so candidly, Ji Ming decided to be direct as well, if only to put an end to his constant pestering.
“Then let me ask you something!
That day when you invited me off the grounds, was it at the urging of those two monsters, the bat and the owl?
And you, noble fox lord, did you know their true intentions were to put me to death?”