The next day, Xuan Ye, who had been busy all night, also overslept. When he went next door to knock on Hu Po's door, he discovered she had already left without saying goodbye.
The pot of cosmos flowers originally placed in the inn seemed to have withered overnight as well, with delicate petals scattered all over the floor.
"She knows what she's doing regarding her own matters." Upon learning what happened, Ban Xia's attitude was quite straightforward.
"This matter involves a male ghost, which relates to the Elegant Confinement. This is the responsibility of our demigod clan." Beside them, Chi Xue raised her head proudly.
Ban Xia glanced at her, barely restraining herself from asking how much that responsibility was actually worth, and merely snorted: "That depends on whether your Elegant Confinement cares to intervene. It seems this male ghost is also a victim—his wife was murdered by someone."
"He is an evil spirit. All evil spirits, in their initial stages, involuntarily absorb human resentment and have taken lives before."
Xuan Ye's answer was exceptionally clear.
"And Hu Po is unhappy, very, very unhappy." Looking at the withered chrysanthemums, Xuan Ye added: "Perhaps she hasn't realized it herself, but she can not only communicate with all things, but her emotions also greatly affect them."
"He was a hunter, extremely skilled, and used very unique weapons. He hasn't been dead long. Let's ask the fur merchant—perhaps they'll remember him."
When they set out, Xuan Ye had already planned the route. The three of them went together to find the famous fur merchant in the capital.
It felt somewhat like searching randomly without a clear direction. After all, it was uncertain whether the male ghost was local or had tracked them from afar.
None of the three held much hope, so they were completely surprised to obtain solid clues from the second fur merchant they visited.
"The person you're describing must be Mo Xie." The bald merchant was very certain: "It's been a while since he last came, but how could I ever forget him? The goods he sold me were absolutely top quality—many pieces even made it into the palace."
"Where was he from? How long has it been since he last came?"
"It's been quite a long time—at least seven or eight years. No, nearly ten years. Over nine years ago, I acquired a silver-edged black fox fur from him that supposedly ended up with the Empress Dowager. That was his last transaction." The merchant squinted: "Where was he from? I'm not sure about that. He spoke perfect Mandarin though—a mountain hunter speaking flawless Mandarin, how peculiar!"
Regardless, they finally had a name—significant progress indeed.
Xuan Ye repeatedly expressed his thanks. Before leaving, he bought a fur coat for Ban Xia and instructed the merchant that if he remembered anything else, to contact them, promising generous rewards.
"Besides speaking Mandarin, how was his eloquence?" Xuan Ye turned back at the doorway: "Was he particularly persuasive?"
"More than just persuasive!" The merchant immediately made an exaggerated gesture: "That tongue of his could out-talk even the most silver-tongued! Not only could he speak human language, but he also knew bird calls. I used to keep a song thrush here—every time he visited, he'd imitate that thrush's song. Not only did he mimic it perfectly, but he did it with such rhythm and cadence, truly as if he were conversing with the bird! My dull thrush would get so excited it would flutter wildly around its cage!"
After leaving the fur shop, Xuan Ye remained silent, appearing deeply preoccupied.
"How difficult is it for a spirit to cultivate human form and learn to speak?" he asked Chi Xue after a while."It's difficult." For once, Chi Xue was quick-witted and didn't reach for his tattered book: "Easier than taking human form, but for those with dull aptitude, it would take at least a century of cultivation."
"What if one extracts essence by consuming human tongues? Especially those with extraordinary spiritual sensitivity."
Chi Xue immediately lost his cleverness, flipping through his book with frantic rustling.
After searching for a while without finding anything, his exceptionally long reflex arc finally completed its journey, and he suddenly realized: "Your Elegant Confinement, are you referring to Hu Po? She..."
"Regardless, Hu Po cannot speak."
"With such spiritual sensitivity, how could she fail to master human speech?"
"Everyone has their own shortcomings. Many brilliant minds aren't particularly eloquent."
"Mo Xie might have bitten off his own tongue. After his wife died, he could have bitten his tongue to follow her in death."
"A man who carries a superior ancient sword with him - if he wanted to end his life, would he really choose to bite his tongue?"
Somehow, Chi Xue found himself at a loss for words.
Chi Xue hung his head, resembling the wilted Layered Lotus in his arms that hadn't bloomed for decades - completely devoid of vitality.
"I'm not certain either." After a moment, Xuan Ye spoke again, patting his shoulder: "Let's go back. Remember, you are the Seer of the semi-divine tribe."
"Why would Your Elegant Confinement say that? I never thought I would be the tribe's Seer anyway."
Back at the inn, Chi Xue was still troubled.
"Then why did you react like a cat with its tail stepped on when your Elegant Confinement mentioned Hu Po's shortcomings?"
Chi Xue's mouth fell open as he finally understood, quickly waving his hands: "It's not like that! I just can't bear to see her sad, I..."
"Oh, you just don't want her to be sad. You'd be heartbroken if she were sad. Nothing, nothing."
"Really, it's nothing!" Chi Xue grew frantic, running both hands through his hair: "I don't know why either! That day when I carried her back from the cave, after she took human form, she was clearly smiling, but I just felt she wasn't happy - very wronged, very suppressed, my heart felt so heavy, so very heavy!"
So heavy that his heart felt like a stone, sinking blow by blow to the bottom of water.
Hu Po stood by the lake, tilting her head as she watched her reflection in the water, gazing for a long time.
There came the rustling sound of approaching footsteps from behind. Alert, Hu Po quickly turned around.
"Thinking of your sister Bi Xi?" The newcomer spoke languidly, walking over with graceful movements: "To be honest, you're not as beautiful as your sister, but you're gentler and more agreeable, more likely to please men."
Hu Po remained silent, slowly straightening up and brushing past her shoulder to leave.
"Let's cooperate." The woman grabbed her sleeve: "That Mo Xie, though we played with him to death, his resentment runs so deep. Now his spiritual power is formidable - not just you, even our fox spirit clan is being driven to desperation by him."
"That Taoist priest you've taken up with, he can subdue Mo Xie. Go and persuade him - it shouldn't be difficult for someone as spiritually attuned as you."
The night breeze swept through just then. Hu Po's eyes began to pale, slowly, all color gathering at the center of her pupils, converging into a single line.
"Oh, angry, angry," the woman said, brushing the wind with one hand before letting out a light laugh: "Actually, I'm not afraid of your anger, but I'm proposing cooperation now, so I won't stoop to your level. Be angry if you must - I'll endure it."Dealing with such a tangled fox spirit, Hu Po simply turned away, ignoring her completely.""If you promise me, I'll give you Mo Xie's tongue, and from then on you'll be able to speak."
Hu Po didn't turn back, walking forward even more urgently.
"The foxes and martens have agreed not to invade each other's territory. The treaty I made with your sister Bi Xi has a ten-year term." Seeing Hu Po walking further away, this one finally played their trump card.
"In one more month, the ten years will be up. Your newly transformed young martens are all in Pizhou, including that useless one who cultivated into a half-human form - seven in total. Don't worry, I have no intention of making things difficult for them." After a moment, the fox spirit spoke again, directing their words at Hu Po's retreating back, their voice soft and seductive, without a trace of menace.
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