Chapter 151 That’s Fox Skin

Chapter 151: That Was Fox Demon Fur

The first lunar month was drawing to a close, its festive spirit completely faded. Households were already bustling, focused on the year's livelihood.

After several days of customers seeking her out to buy incense, A Chan realized she had to open her shop for business.

Before opening, however, she first gathered her silver, then took two thousand taels in silver notes and headed to the Western Market.

This time, her objective was clear: she went straight to the largest hunting shop in the Western Market.

The shop was expansive, with multiple counters. A Chan approached the counter marked with a "Beast" placard. The shopkeeper behind it smiled faintly as she neared. "What can I get for you, miss?"

"A Longzhi's fifth brain."

The Longzhi, with its nine heads and nine tails, resembled a nine-tailed fox. However, its excessive number of heads made it less intelligent, rendering it an easy target for hunters.

The shopkeeper paused, surprised—this was an unusual request. Yet, there happened to be a Longzhi corpse in the storeroom.

"Please wait a moment, young lady."

The shopkeeper went to the storeroom and returned about fifteen minutes later, carrying a black jar.

The jar was unsealed, emitting an indescribable odor—both sweet and fishy, eerily strange. Black bloodstains clung to its rim.

"Take a look, young lady. Is this what you wanted? Freshly dug Longzhi brain, guaranteed fresh." The shopkeeper placed the jar on the counter for A Chan to inspect.

A Chan covered her nose in disgust and peered inside. She then asked the shopkeeper for a twig and prodded the contents. The darkened cerebral matter was remarkably elastic, remaining intact despite being poked twice.

She nodded in satisfaction and asked, "How much?"

"This Longzhi's cultivation was at the Third Realm. Each brain costs one thousand taels, and since you specified the fifth brain, there's an additional five hundred taels."

The price was close to her estimate, so A Chan didn’t haggle. She handed over the silver notes and received a jar of the darkened cerebral matter.

Before she left, the shopkeeper sealed the jar for her and tied it with hemp rope so she could carry it by hand.

A Chan carried the brain matter home and placed the jar by the well. She then fetched a salt jar from the kitchen, measured out three heaping spoonfuls of salt into the brain jar, and filled it with well water.

Every day after that, she changed the water. By the seventh day, when the water was poured out, a dark membrane had formed on the surface of the brain matter.

A Chan used chopsticks to lift out the film. Though it appeared small at first, when spread out, it was surprisingly wide.

She laid the film flat on the cleaned ground and let it air-dry naturally.

During this time, her incense shop finally opened its doors. The number of daily customers was steady, keeping her busy.

Amid the bustle, the first lunar month slipped by, and February arrived.

One evening, after closing the shop, A Chan went to the backyard to inspect the dried membrane in the corner. It had hardened, now dusted with white crystals on its surface.

She cut the film into small pieces with scissors, placed them in a prepared wooden box, and would later grind them into powder.

After handling the film, A Chan rubbed her empty stomach. She had been so busy that she had missed supper and was now exhausted and hungry.

She sighed heavily, thinking to herself how difficult it was to be human.

Just as she stood up to put away the wooden box before heading to the kitchen for food, the sound of a door opening reached her ears.

A Chan turned her head and saw Chen Hui emerging from the house.

"Hui Niang, you’re finally awake!" She hurried over, on the verge of tears.

Chen Hui smiled faintly. Though she wasn't exactly alive, the feeling of waking again was still pleasant, especially knowing someone was waiting for her at home.

"I actually regained some consciousness a few days ago, but my transformation wasn't complete, so I woke up late."

"How do you feel? Any discomfort?" A Chan asked.

Chen Hui shook her head. "No, everything’s fine."

"That’s good." Then, as if remembering something, A Chan lowered her voice. "Did you see the land deed I left on the table?"

Chen Hui’s smile faded slightly. She sighed softly and asked, "Yes, I saw it. Did Ru Hui pass peacefully?"

"She did. Everything that had troubled her was resolved."

Chen Hui paused before asking, "Did you help her?"

The matters weighing on Ru Hui’s mind likely couldn’t have been resolved in her lifetime. If A Chan said so, something must have happened afterward.

A Chan didn’t deny it. "She was your friend. Helping her was the least I could do."

Besides, making just one incense candle had shattered half of the chain around her neck—well worth it.

Now, only one chain remained out of the original six.

With Hui Niang awake, A Chan felt alive again.

Hui Niang prepared a bowl of chicken wontons for her. Sitting contentedly at the table, A Chan ate the steaming wontons while Hui Niang pulverized the dark membrane pieces in the box by hand.

"It smells so good. What is this?" The film itself had no scent, but once crushed, it perfumed the entire room with a sweet fragrance.

After finishing the last wonton, A Chan answered, "This is the main ingredient for Spirit-Soothing Incense. I thought that incense was too much work and ineffective, so I used this directly."

"Use it... for what?"

A Chan replied, "Someone from my past will be arriving in the capital before long. This is a gift."

Hui Niang carefully collected the powdered fragments into a cloth bag and tied it securely before asking, "What kind of old friend?"

"Someone who... once saved my life."

Over ten days had passed since A Chan mentioned her friend’s arrival, and now it was February 12th, the Flower Goddess Festival.

Last year at this time, she and Xiao Lin Shi had visited the Flower Goddess Temple on Yong Mountain to make offerings. This year, it was Hui Niang who accompanied her.

The temple forecourt teemed with visitors. A Chan bought two plum blossom branches and gave one to Hui Niang.

After offering incense to the Flower Goddess, she cast her blossom toward the jade vase in front of the statue.

The ground around the twin vases was already strewn with failed offerings, but A Chan’s landed perfectly inside one.

Seeing this, many around her blessed her good fortune. Some even thrust their own blossoms at her, as if hoping to share in the Flower Goddess’s blessings.

On the way down from Yong Mountain, A Chan carried an armful of plum branches, all but disappearing behind the flowers. Her mood remained cheerful throughout the return trip, as if sensing more luck coming her way.

The carriage rumbled along back toward the city but jerked to a halt not far from the Eternal Peace Gate.

"Hui Niang, what's wrong?"

A Chan felt the carriage stop and lifted the curtain to look outside, only to see many carriages and commoners blocked ahead at the city gate.

Chen Hui stood up in the carriage, observing the gate for a moment before turning to A Chan. "Guards are blocking passage outside the gate. It looks like a high-ranking noble is about to enter the city."

"What noble could warrant such pomp and circumstance?"

"The procession is coming."

Hearing this, A Chan immediately climbed out of the carriage. Supporting herself on Chen Hui's arm, she stood on the carriage and looked into the distance. Sure enough, a dark procession of carriages was approaching the city gate.

As the procession drew near, the carriages that had been held back suddenly stirred. The normally docile horses seemed spooked, as if sensing danger.

The coachmen struggled to calm the horses, but their efforts were to no avail.

Watching this, A Chan narrowed her eyes slightly and said to Chen Hui beside her, "Hui Niang, park the carriage here. Let's go get a better look."

"Alright." Without asking for an explanation, Chen Hui helped A Chan down, and the two walked forward together.

They pushed through the obstructing carriages and pedestrians but were stopped by guards brandishing spears.

These guards wore black cloth armor and carried long spears, their frames wiry and their gazes sharp. They didn’t resemble ordinary guards at all—more like battle-hardened soldiers who had seen countless fights.

A Chan’s eyes skimmed over the spears in the guards’ hands, noting the black circular totem engraved on each shaft. The corner of her lips twitched slightly.

Today truly was a good day. The long-awaited visitor had arrived.

The procession finally came into A Chan’s view. The first thing she saw were four white horses.

These horses bore single horns on their heads, their hooves like tiger claws, and when they opened their mouths, razor-sharp fangs were visible. They were not ordinary horses but *bó* beasts—predators capable of taking down tigers and leopards.

Once the *bó* beasts appeared, the agitated horses suddenly knelt, causing the people inside the carriages to scream in alarm.

As pandemonium broke out on both sides of the road, the *bó* beasts slowly pulled an ornate carriage forward.

That carriage, too, bore the black circular totem.

This was Shangjing. Few here would recognize this emblem, but in the Northern Wilderness, every soul would recognize it.

It was the insignia of the Residence of the King of Northern Wilderness.

The King of Northern Wilderness was forbidden from entering the capital without imperial decree, but the Consort of the Northern Wilderness King hailed from Shangjing and could naturally return to visit family.

The woman seated in this carriage was the most revered noblewoman of the Northern Wilderness.

A Chan’s gaze shifted from the lavish carriage to the pale-skinned young man riding one of the *bó* beasts beside it.

His features were handsome, and he was dressed entirely in black. At that moment, he was sweeping the crowd on either side with wary eyes.

His gaze swept past A Chan without pause.

Then, as if sensing something, he suddenly tightened his grip on the sword in his hand.

The next moment, thick smoke billowed from beneath the Consort of the Northern Wilderness King’s carriage, quickly enveloping it. Within the smoke, shadowy figures could be seen, along with the clashing of weapons.

This was clearly a premeditated assassination attempt.

With this unexpected turn, the guards blocking the road rushed forward to assist. The bystanders who had been held back dared not advance—instead, they retreated, fearing they might be caught in the crossfire.

Chen Hui shielded A Chan as they moved aside, though A Chan’s eyes remained fixed on the carriage.

The violence flared up suddenly and was quelled just as quickly.

In the end, A Chan only heard someone shout, "Zhao Yin, you damned bastard!"

Then, a severed head went flying into the air.

The smoke gradually dissipated. The man called Zhao Yin now stood beside the *bó* beast. From a distance, A Chan couldn’t make out his expression—only his sword glistening with blood, dripping steadily from the tip onto the ground.

Four corpses lay around the carriage. Three had been killed with a single strike, while the fourth had been decapitated, leaving the luxurious carriage splattered with blood.

With the Consort of the Northern Wilderness King facing an assassination attempt outside the city gates, the garrison commander dared not delay. He immediately led troops out to escort her inside, just in case.

They intended to take her straight into the city, but then the carriage curtain was abruptly drawn aside. Two strikingly beautiful young maids stepped out first, followed by a soft cough. A dignified woman swathed in white furs emerged from the carriage.

At the sight of the noblewoman, the garrison commander immediately knelt and bowed deeply. "Your lowly servant pays respects to the Consort."

The Consort of the Northern Wilderness King should have been in her fifties, yet her face appeared no older than thirty or forty, unwrinkled, with piercing, icy eyes. When she looked at someone, they felt as insignificant as an ant.

She ignored the kneeling crowd and instead turned her gaze to Zhao Yin, who stood beside the carriage.

Seeing the Consort emerge, Zhao Yin immediately stepped forward, prostrated himself beside the carriage, allowing her to step onto his back as she descended.

The Consort’s fur train dragged through blood that had yet to be wiped clean. One of the maids let out a startled gasp, and noticing this, the Consort glanced back and frowned.

Zhao Yin had just risen when he saw this and immediately knelt again in apology. "This worthless one begs for punishment!"

"Rise."

Zhao Yin obeyed, standing up—only to receive a resounding slap across the face.

The strike was loud, leaving a clear handprint on his cheek. He heard the icy voice before him utter a single word: "Worthless!"

After the slap, Zhao Yin knelt once more.

The Consort of the Northern Wilderness King didn’t spare him another glance, allowing her maids to remove the fur cloak and toss it aside.

Watching this, Chen Hui remarked curiously, "I wonder what kind of fur that was—the fur was so lustrous."

A Chan, still observing the scene, answered softly, "That was the pelt of a demon fox."