News of the State of Xu

The fox burst into laughter, rolling on the ground clutching its belly as it answered: “He is just a pig-headed fool. What sort of scheme could he come up with? He took a bunch of monsters and feasted for three days, spewing curses the entire time. He cursed himself into a drunken stupor, woke up a short while later to keep cursing, and once they finished eating everything in the cave, they all scattered back to their own dens.” Li Tongya was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether to laugh. He chuckled dryly twice, only to see the fox turn solemn and speak with earnest gravity: “Your family’s roots are too righteous, far too close to the common folk. It has always baffled me and earned my disapproval. They are nothing more than petty commoners; so what if those monsters eat a few of them? Aren’t the common people kept and raised precisely to be used? If you don’t use them, they will only multiply more and more. In the end, they will oppress one another, run out of land and livelihoods, and turn around to curse and hate you... “I have stayed by the shore for several hundred years and seen plenty of this. When a newly rising family is weak, they treat the commoners a bit better, but once they reach Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment, who among them still cares whether those people live or die? Yet your family has not shifted its mindset after all this time... Reasonably speaking, you are a perceptive man; you shouldn’t be like this.” The fox rambled on and on before finally looking up at Li Tongya. Seeing his grim expression and the faint tinge of anger in his eyes, it slowly fell silent, shrinking back a little as it shook its head. It wanted to apologize yet felt aggrieved, and merely stared at him. “Huu...” Li Tongya let out a sigh, suppressing the discomfort in his heart, and said somewhat wearily: “Fellow Daoist, you have said too much. My own brother was devoured as blood food by others, and I, Tongya, come from peasant stock; I have no stomach for such words. My family fosters our people for our own purposes—there is no need for you to trouble yourself over it.” The Bairong Fox was a monster after all. Although it considered Li Tongya an intimate friend, from beginning to end, the only person it valued was him alone. Seeing that Li Tongya refused to heed its advice, it flicked its tail and answered: “That stupid pig will probably pay you a visit to ask about what happened here. You will have to deal with him yourself!” Li Tongya nodded in thanks. Opening up the towns for these monsters to feed on was utterly out of the question. Li Tongya had always loathed the actions of the high-and-mighty Purple Palace and Golden Core cultivators above them; if he truly threw open the towns, how would he be any different from those cultivators? What was more, the magical mirror required the blessing of incense to condense talisman qi, so the more people under their rule, the better. According to the standards described in the *Sacrificial Beast Method*, the incense provided by the people currently under their rule yielded talisman pills that Li Tongya still considered far too few, making it all the more impossible to let go of them. Seeing that Li Tongya had things under control, the fox could only nod. Li Tongya then asked: “Fellow Daoist, do you know anything about the situation of the monsters in the State of Xu?” “The State of Xu...” A flicker of terror passed through the fox’s eyes, and it lowered its voice: “How could I not! With Buddhism advancing south, we monsters fear them far more than you immortal cultivators do!” Li Tongya raised an eyebrow, and the fox flicked its tail, explaining: “Buddhism has magic arts. Spouting nonsense about ‘fateful affinities’ and whatnot, the moment they lay eyes on you, they want to capture you! Once caught, they force you to become a vegetarian. If it were just eating vegetables, that would be one thing, but they also turn you into their running dog, calling it a ‘spirit beast’... Who wouldn’t be terrified? Who wouldn’t fear that?” The fox shook its head and stood up, continuing: “Don’t look at how respectable we monsters seem here in Jiangnan. As long as we develop sapience, refine away the transverse bone in our throats, and achieve a certain level of cultivation, we can call immortal cultivators brothers, exchanging pleasantries as fellow daoists and seniors. We can even establish the Sixteen Monster Caves to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Three Sects and Seven Gates, and Purple Palace monster cultivators can roam the four seas and make friends across the realm... “In the north, however, there is no place for monsters to exist. As a monster, you either die or become a human’s slave—how could there be a third path? They are all planted with spells and ordered about as so-called spirit beasts, trampled underfoot for the rest of their lives! If any monster walks through the void up in the sky, they couldn’t care less whether you are good or evil; they will drag you down and ‘enlighten’ you no matter what!” Li Tongya found this truly eye-opening. Stirred by a thought, he replied: “If that is so, then the monsters in the State of Xu right now have no backing or faction protecting them. My family wishes to capture a monster from the State of Xu and bring it back, but I was worried we might violate some taboo.” The fox laughed loudly, waving its paws repeatedly: “Nowadays, any monster with a shred of background or common sense has already fled the State of Xu. Only those ignorant beasts who turned into monsters on their own are willing to stay there. Buddhism has already swallowed up more than half of the State of Xu; who would still want to stay?” “I see.” Li Tongya now had a plan. Seeing that a monster for the sacrificial rite was within reach, his mood brightened, and he could not resist asking further: “Why has Buddhism’s southward advance met no mighty figures stepping forth to halt it? After all, this is a clash of orthodoxies.” The fox shook its head and answered: “How would I know about you humans? They probably lost.” Li Tongya fell silent. His family had not even stepped beyond Lake Wangyue yet, so he was in no position to ponder such grand matters. He brought out some spirit rice to express his thanks. The fox happily hugged the large sack, sitting down to eat by itself. Li Tongya then took his leave, riding the wind back north. The fox sat there for a while, grunted as it scrambled up, and pulled two spirit stones from a hollow in the tree. Licking them with its saliva, it mixed them with the spirit rice to eat. —— Li Tongya landed hurriedly on Mount Lijing, troubled in mind. He thought to himself: *This journey must under no circumstances be known to the Yu family. Without a Foundation Establishment cultivator holding the fort, who knows what kind of trouble Yu Mugao might stir up. The quicker I go and return, the less danger there will be.* *That Foundation Establishment wolf demon was able to claim a mountain and rule as king, so its strength should be quite decent. If it were a matter of slaying the beast, I would be confident, but going all alone, I wonder if I can capture it alive...* Li Tongya weighed his options. The matter of capturing a monster alive was truly peculiar; he certainly could not invite any Foundation Establishment cultivators to assist him. For a moment, he was at a loss. After pondering for a breath, he thought: *Why not invite the magical mirror out into the world... and use it to suppress the monster...* With that, he strode across the central courtyard and entered the rear courtyard. A pure white light barrier surfaced. Li Tongya formed a hand seal, and only then did an opening wide enough for a single person appear in the barrier. This inner formation was linked to the Sun Dial Profound Light Formation on Mount Lijing, and only a secret art could unlock it. In the entire Li family, only a mere handful of people knew of it. Li Tongya stepped into the rear courtyard. The bluestone pavers across the ground were covered in moss. The wind had been fierce last night, and it being autumn, withered leaves lay strewn all over the yard. Li Tongya merely waved his sleeve, and the fallen leaves across the ground immediately piled up neat and tidy. He walked forward a few steps, entered the ancestral shrine, and replenished the incense before proceeding into the secret chamber in the rear courtyard. There, on a stone platform swirling with magical light, lay a greenish-gray mirror. Only the size of a palm, it hovered quietly as pale-white moon essence flowed down upon it, bathing the stone chamber in a misty haze like an immortal realm. With a gentle wave of Li Tongya’s hand, several magical-power candles in the stone chamber lit up. He performed a deep, formal bow, stood up, and gathered his thoughts. Looking upon the magical mirror before him with a rather complex expression, he said respectfully: “Li clan descendant Li Tongya respectfully requests the magical mirror to venture forth, to eliminate monsters and execute evil, and partake of the blood offering...”