Shi Shaojian: A Fox Spirit? Male or Female?

It wasn't Vice Minister Wu who cried for help, though it was certainly related to him—for the one screaming was the Seventy-First Prince, whose arm was currently being shoved into the mouth of the half-human, half-corpse Wu! Thinking he was injured, Liu Xiu didn't intervene, merely watching with curiosity as Vice Minister Wu tried to bite the boy. Just because Liu Xiu held back didn't mean others would. Four-Eyed Daoist moved swiftly, swooping in to rescue the Seventy-First Prince. Next, he raised his bronze sword to give Vice Minister Wu a quick death. But Master Yixiu, who loathed taking life, naturally refused to let the half-corpse perish. What followed unfolded just like the original plot. The two traded strikes and dodges over Vice Minister Wu, making Liu Xiu sorely tempted to whip out a Flawless Defense card followed by a Snatch. Of course, he only entertained the thought for a second before turning to Jiale nearby to ask something else. "Did Vice Minister Wu mention whether they were scratched by the imperial-clan jiangshi on the road, or in the woods?" He asked mainly because he didn't remember the imperial-clan jiangshi ever catching Vice Minister Wu and the Seventy-First Prince in the woods in the original story. "I think it was on the road..." Jiale spoke uncertainly. Hearing this, Liu Xiu frowned. "On the road? Are you sure the two of them could have outrun an imperial-clan jiangshi?" Seeing Liu Xiu frown, Jiale racked his memory at once. "Oh, right! I remember now! Vice Minister Wu said a flying woman saved them back then, and then the monster dragged her into the woods to get intimate!" "???" What kind of nonsense was that?! Liu Xiu's brows knit slightly. One thing was certain: Vice Minister Wu and the prince had indeed run into the imperial-clan jiangshi along the way and were rescued by a flying woman. Wait. A flying woman! Liu Xiu instinctively thought of the corpse-stealing fox spirit from the opening of Uncle Jiangshi. He instinctively looked toward Four-Eyed Daoist, who had just finished Vice Minister Wu off with a sword thrust. "Martial Uncle Simu, did you encounter any demons on your way back with the corpses?" Though Liu Xiu's question sounded odd, Four-Eyed Daoist still shook his head. "No. Forget demons—I didn't even see a ghost of a shadow the whole way!" This wasn't just good luck. He had only gone out to pick up clients, not to escort them back to their distant hometowns. The distance was short, and since it was a route he traveled often, any demons, ghosts, or monsters along the way had long since been culled. "..." Could there really be a demon jiangshi? Liu Xiu frowned slightly, confusing Four-Eyed Daoist. Just as the latter was about to speak, Liu Xiu asked, "Can demons turn into jiangshi?" "Of course they can! Jiangshi doesn't just refer to humans. Demons and beasts can naturally turn into jiangshi too. I once saw a martial uncle turn a free-range chicken raised for two and a half years into a jiangshi chicken!" The speaker wasn't Four-Eyed Daoist, but the ever-smiling Daoist Qianhe. Liu Xiu gave an "Oh," then said, "I just divined something again. For instance, a demon jiangshi is very likely to appear this time..." "Uh, Martial Nephew, surely not?" The ever-smiling Daoist Qianhe lost his smile. It wasn't because he doubted Liu Xiu's words, but because he believed them. The reason, naturally, was the brocade pouch Four-Eyed Daoist had told him about. Because of that, he considered Liu Xiu's grasp of heavenly secrets unfathomably deep. Though, in his heart, he still wondered why Liu Xiu had left instructions for Four-Eyed Daoist and Master Yixiu to pray for rain in the first place. "Ah Xiu, could you have miscalculated?" Four-Eyed Daoist asked with a furrowed brow. His thoughts were similar to Qianhe's; he merely wondered if Liu Xiu might have erred. "I also divined that this demon jiangshi is most likely a fox..." Liu Xiu said, thinking to himself that the plot had deviated once again. Beside him, Shi Shaojian's eyes lit up. "A fox spirit!" As for the word "jiangshi" that followed, Shi Shaojian completely ignored it. He asked curiously, "Is it male or female? Ahem, I mean, Junior Brother, did you divine anything else?" He didn't mean anything by it. It was pure curiosity! "I also divined that it's going to strike right now..." Whoosh— Before his words even finished, his hand was already in motion. A chilling dual-toned light of black and crimson suddenly burst forth across the room as Liu Xiu swung the Crimson Firmament Sword through midair. Just as everyone instinctively squinted, wondering why Liu Xiu had attacked out of nowhere, they saw a white flowing sleeve reeking of strong musk drift straight down toward Vice Minister Wu on the floor. "What a handsome little Daoist..." A strange, seductive yet raspy voice drifted in from beyond the door. Startled, everyone turned to look. They were met with the white sleeve whipping back outside, and beneath the dim sky, an alluring woman in white showing only half of her face. "There really is a fox spirit?" Catching the musky odor drifting from the sleeve, Four-Eyed Daoist's eyes went wide. Shi Shaojian's eyes sparkled, and he drew the Xuandun Sword from his back. "Fiend, take this!" Hegemon Body—activate! Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art—activate! Shi Shaojian was surprisingly proactive. Before Liu Xiu could say a word, and before the others could even react, he charged straight at the woman in white outside. His speed, his reaction, and his burning battle spirit left Daoist Qianhe and the others marveling—he was truly worthy of being their Senior Martial Brother's apprentice and son! Only Liu Xiu, watching Shi Shaojian act purely out of lust, could barely keep a straight face as his eyelid twitched. He quickly looked around and barked: "Martial Uncle Qianhe, you three protect the two injured senior brothers! Jiale, Qingqing, stay with Martial Uncle Qianhe!" Then he turned to Four-Eyed Daoist and Master Yixiu. "Martial Uncle, Great Master, keep putting up talismans and scattering glutinous rice..." "Understood!" Everyone agreed without hesitation, finding nothing amiss with Liu Xiu taking command of the situation. His arrangements were entirely reasonable—though Daoist Qianhe felt deep down that he could still fight! "I'll go back up Senior Brother!" Leaving those words behind, Liu Xiu gripped the Crimson Firmament Sword and rushed out the door. Just as he was wondering why his predictions kept coming true and thinking there had to be something bizarre about the fox spirit only showing half her face— Shi Shaojian's terrified shout echoed from outside. "Stay away from me...!" "???" Liu Xiu was thoroughly bewildered. Stepping outside, he was greeted by the sight of Shi Shaojian stumbling frantically backward. Yet Shi Shaojian's expression didn't look like sheer terror; it looked more like he had seen something repulsive—and felt thoroughly swindled! Baffled, Liu Xiu instinctively followed the white sleeve pursuing Shi Shaojian to its source. There, several meters away, he saw the fox spirit's full face. The half that had previously been hidden was a mangled mess of shredded flesh and gore, chilling to the bone. From that alone, Liu Xiu could easily imagine just how violent the imperial-clan jiangshi's "intimacy" with the fox spirit had been. "Ugh, what am I thinking?!" Liu Xiu shook his head, feeling sick to his stomach at the thought of the imperial-clan jiangshi. With a swing of his sword, he severed the pursuing sleeve with a burst of sword qi and shouted, "Senior Brother, leave this to me!" "Good brother!" Deeply moved, Shi Shaojian clapped Liu Xiu on the shoulder. Casting a repulsed backward glance at the fox spirit, he held back his dry heaves and sprinted toward the house. Yet the moment he stepped inside, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. Facing away from him stood a jiangshi covered in charred, festering sword scars, with a fist-sized putrid hole in its back near its heart, its entire body far more mangled and bloody than the fox spirit outside—none other than the imperial-clan jiangshi! Damn it, Junior Brother, you set me up! Just you wait!! Shi Shaojian held his breath, his face pale green. But this time, he didn't run. Gripping the Xuandun Sword tightly in his right hand, he moved! Hegemon Body—activate! Hegemon Body Three-Light Primordial Magnetism Art—activate! Bang— Roar— The commotion inside made Liu Xiu's ears twitch, and he furrowed his brow. Looking at the fox spirit, he offered a faint smile. "Actually, your corpse poison can still be cured." "No need. I feel wonderful like this. But you... you'll be just like me soon enough..." An infatuated look surfaced in the fox spirit's eyes as her voice grew raspy and cold. A sinister grin spread across her pale, two-toned face. Raising hands that had warped into fox claws, she blurred into a white afterimage and lunged at Liu Xiu. Slash— Slash— A piercing chill of black and crimson light, crackling with electrical arcs, suddenly lit up the dim sky. Having crossed behind Liu Xiu, the fox spirit reached up in a daze to touch her neck, utter bewilderment written across her two-toned face. "So..." "Dead people don't need to talk," Liu Xiu said coolly, turning to dash into the wooden cottage overrun by the jiangshi. Only after he left did the fox spirit's head slowly slide off her neck. The fox spirit's head tumbled across the ground for several rotations before coming to a stop. Yet she did not die immediately; instead, with a blank stare, she finished her broken sentence: "So... fast... a sword..."