Chapter 89: Sealing the Immortal

This time, not only was I stunned, but Li Qing was as well. Fatty exclaimed, "Are you kidding me? The yellow fox spirit from your family wants him to accompany Yezi?"

One-eyed Old Fourth glanced at Fatty, his look still full of resentment. He said, "The spirit said the bald one should go with him. Who else is there besides him?"

With those words, it was settled: the yellow fox spirit Old Fourth referred to had specifically named Li Qing as the one to accompany me into the mountains, since there really was a bald man among us.

Chen Dongfang looked at Li Qing and asked, "Will you go with him?"

Li Qing had always been nonchalant, a bit like Fatty at times, but somehow freer, more easy-going. He shrugged and said, "I don't mind."

"You don't mind, but Fatty does! Now I see how it is—you and Old Fourth are in cahoots. You won't let me go, but you want to take this bald guy. Is it because you're afraid the yellow fox spirit can't kill Yezi alone, so you’re sending another assassin? Let me tell you, old man, you'd better go back now and tell your yellow fox not to play tricks in front of Fatty. In a real fight, I'm not their match, but when it comes to dealing with these evil spirits, I can take on a whole group of them. If you piss me off, I'll barge right into their home, you hear?" Fatty pointed at Old Fourth as he spoke.

Old Fourth glared viciously at Fatty, the cold light in his single eye was terrifying even to me. He said, "You don't need to barge in. The spirit will come for you to settle the score for killing the messenger."

"Oh, so you dare threaten Fatty too?" Fatty rolled up his sleeves as if ready to start a fight. I hurriedly stopped him, dragging him outside, and said, "Don't be rash. What are these yellow fox spirits up to?"

Fatty liked to show off in front of Chen Dongfang, but once outside, he calmed down. He frowned and said, "I don't know, Yezi. I’ve never told you this, but yellow fox spirits are different from other spirits. That’s why I didn’t want to get involved with them from the start."

I stopped him here. I’d heard this before but never had a chance to ask. So I asked, "Fatty, how are yellow fox spirits different from other spirits? Chen Dongfang said the same thing."

"Yellow fox spirits are very troublesome, extremely venomous and sly. If you truly offend one, it can become your enemy for generations. But it’s not their power that worries people like me or those who practice the Tao—they’re just spirits with some cultivation. The real issue is their connection to the Qing Dynasty," Fatty explained.

"What does this have to do with the Qing Dynasty?" I asked, puzzled.

"This is a long story—like a child without a mother, endless to tell. It’s a legend, really. Back in Emperor Kangxi’s time, a yellow fox somehow entered the Forbidden City. All the princes and princesses were terrified, so they ordered the guards to catch it. For the imperial guards, catching a fox shouldn’t have been hard, but this one was incredibly quick and elusive. By some twist of fate, it ended up in Kangxi’s study. The emperor was reading when the fox jumped onto his desk, naturally infuriating him. But then he saw the fox was kneeling, and, oddly enough, it had a clump of cow dung on its head. The emperor, being the son of heaven—a dragon—of course the fox was scared. Even kneeling, it trembled. Kangxi saw the creature had some spiritual intelligence, actually knew how to kneel, so he jokingly asked if it could speak. To his surprise, the fox really did speak, saying it had cultivated for hundreds of years and was about to face its tribulation. If it succeeded, it would become immortal, but it had been injured by an enemy and if the heavenly trial came now, it would perish. So it risked everything to come before the emperor.

Kangxi was even more intrigued, asking why the fox didn’t find somewhere to heal, but instead came to him, risking death. The fox, adept at flattering, praised Kangxi as the wise and virtuous emperor, the true dragon of heaven, and said if the true dragon granted it a title, it could avoid the tribulation and become immortal directly. This flattery worked—Kangxi could only bestow titles to ministers, but now he wanted to try his hand at bestowing a title to a spirit. Seeing the fox was yellow all over, he laughed and said, ‘Given your color, I’ll make you the Yellow Immortal.’ As soon as he said this, the fox knelt to thank him, ever so adorable. Then it spun around and vanished in a puff of smoke, reappearing as a man kneeling before Kangxi. When he looked up, his eyes were round and shifty—just as sly as the fox. He claimed he was indeed that yellow fox, now the Yellow Immortal, thanks to the emperor’s divine grace, and vowed to repay him someday. Kangxi even personally wrote a plaque for the Yellow Immortal. Because of this imperial plaque, what was once a lowly spirit became the revered Yellow Immortal. But that wasn’t the end. Later, Kangxi felt something was off and consulted the Imperial Astronomer. The astrologer said that yellow fox spirits, though cunning and vengeful, would always repay a favor. In the end, Kangxi became the longest-lived emperor of the Qing, and people said it was because the Yellow Immortal ventured into the frigid north to gather thousand-year ginseng for him. That was the karmic tie. When the Qing fell, Puyi set up the puppet Manchukuo in the northeast, supposedly backed by the Japanese, but the spirit of the land isn’t something outsiders can grasp. The shadow of the Yellow Immortal loomed over it. Though it ended in ridicule, it was the Qing’s last lifeline. The northeastern yellow fox spirits gained much from it, capturing the last traces of dragon energy from the Qing. So these yellow foxes are officially sanctioned spirits, even if they’re monsters, and no one wants to provoke them. That’s all I’ll say," Fatty finished.

Listening to this felt like hearing a tale from the heavens. But Fatty mentioned emperors, imperial seals, and the spirit of the land—all things mysterious and elusive, beyond the understanding of ordinary people. I wasn’t sure what to believe, and I doubted the ancients ever imagined that China would one day have no emperor.

At least now I understood why Fatty was wary of yellow fox spirits. He continued, "Anyway, I don’t trust you going with Li Qing. Either we don’t go, or I must go with you."

Having a friend so concerned for me was genuinely touching, but at this point I couldn’t refuse. The Yellow Immortal was bestowed by Kangxi himself; I couldn’t afford to offend it. I certainly couldn’t barge in. So I told Fatty, "Don’t worry, Fatty. Chen Dongfang may have his own agenda, but he’s not out to kill me. Besides, don’t forget, someone is following us. With him watching over you, you can rest easy. Li Qing tried fighting him, but he wasn’t even close."

Fatty said, "I know your big brother is watching from the shadows. He’s skilled, but if someone really wants to kill you, he might not make it in time. Don’t forget, you seem ordinary now, but even Guan Yu wanted to kill you. Your fate is extraordinary. I just feel you’re the key to all this."

"Relax. I know what I’m doing, and I trust my big brother. Stop worrying. With him around, I’ll be fine. But you, outside the mountain—just mind your temper and don’t start anything with Chen Dongfang," I warned Fatty.

Fatty waved his hand and laughed, "Come on, are you giving Fatty a last will and testament? Since you’ve decided, go ahead. If anything happens, rest assured—I’ll collect your body and make sure you’re not left to rot in the wilderness."

"Get lost!" I snapped.

Once we’d settled things, we returned to find Old Fourth standing up. "Decided to go? If so, leave now."

"Now?" I asked, surprised.

It was already dark, and we were about to meet a monster. Going out in pitch-black night seemed like inviting trouble.

"The spirit’s time is limited," Old Fourth replied.

At that moment, my dislike for Old Fourth grew even stronger. Nothing else mattered—just his constant fawning over the yellow fox, calling it ‘the spirit,’ was enough to make me sick.

I looked at Li Qing and asked, "Is it okay to go now?"

Li Qing twisted his neck and said, "I am a blind monk. Darkness has long shrouded my eyes."

His words made me recall Officer Xiao Wang’s story about him playing thousands of games against bots and still losing. I really wanted to slap him.

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