Ji Xiang carried the sack and brought the firearms to the vicinity of the county town.
A fox-like stench, mixed with the scent of incense, gradually approached from afar, causing his brow to furrow.
"I can't even stomach this incense. It's so foul and smelly, not as good as the incense from Milong Casino!"
Ji Xiang felt a bit nauseous. Logically, the smell of incense should be the same everywhere, but in the dojo of this vixen, all the incense carried a fox-like odor, which was truly unbearable.
Setting down the sack, Ji Xiang began to burn incense and offer chapters. He casually took out a talisman and wrote on it. A "text message" turned to ash in the flames, and a golden energy floated, disappearing. It was instantly sent to Dongyue Mount Tai.
In Taoism, there is a method to summon heavenly foxes. The Heavenly Fox, with its nine tails and golden radiance, serves in the Sun and Moon Palace, capable of perceiving Yin and Yang, and ranks among the righteous gods of the Celestial Court.
In just seven or eight breaths, a fragrant breeze swept in. This time, the breeze carried the pure scent of incense, devoid of the fox's stench. What appeared before Ji Xiang was a phantom divine form. After all, Mount Tai was far from here, and the divine generals dispatched in response to the summons were merely ethereal projections.
"Your subordinate greets the True Lord of the North Pole."
This divine general was a Heavenly Fox, its body radiating golden light, its nine tails swaying, and its entire being enveloped in incense smoke, as if immersed in blazing golden flames.
"You recognize me?"
Ji Xiang was surprised that a divine general from the Sun and Moon Palace, whom he had summoned casually, actually recognized him.
The Heavenly Fox general explained that Emperor Wanli had already conveyed the news of his enfeoffment to certain regions. Bi Xia Yuan Jun, having been enfeoffed as a great deity by the Ming Dynasty in the late Jiajing era and overseeing cultivators in the Mount Tai region, naturally knew about this matter. When Ji Xiang's talisman arrived at Mount Tai, Bi Xia Yuan Jun dared not delay and dispatched him.
Ji Xiang asked, "I ask you, do you know Old Fox Jiu Lian?"
The Heavenly Fox general's phantom brow furrowed slightly. He recalled and said, "Is it the fox worshipped by the Wenxiang Sect?"
"She did come to Dongyue to pay respects, hoping to serve in the Sun and Moon Palace and cultivate the righteous path. However, she was refused by the Empress because she was of purple fox origin, had harmed people, taken lives, and cultivated by absorbing souls. Therefore, she was not permitted to continue on the righteous path."
Ji Xiang asked curiously, "What is a purple fox?"
This was indeed obscure knowledge. The Heavenly Fox general explained, "In the Tang Dynasty, wild foxes without a master were called purple foxes. They could emit flames by wagging their tails at night. When they were about to gain sentience, they had to pay homage to the Big Dipper while wearing the skulls of twelve people who died unjustly. If the skulls did not fall, this fox could transform into a human and attain enlightenment."
"There is a chance that these foxes carry a Charm Bead in their mouths. If one can obtain this Charm Bead, they can gain the favor of everyone in the world."
Ji Xiang had often heard of foxes worshipping the moon, but paying homage to the Big Dipper was something he had never heard of.
Upon hearing that it was an ancient Tang Dynasty method, he felt relieved. Much was lost from the Tang Dynasty, and many of today's methods were countered by its divine powers. Perhaps some of the spells used by people today were paths trodden in the Tang Dynasty.
"I command you to subdue this vixen... uh... can you subdue that vixen? Don't be charmed by her stench?"
Given the previous encounter with the little fox, Ji Xiang was not entirely at ease with this Heavenly Fox general.
The Heavenly Fox general immediately felt a sense of embarrassment and quickly said, "A fox of fifty years can transform into a woman, a hundred years into a beautiful woman, a shaman, or a husband who cohabits with women. It can know events a thousand miles away. Only after a thousand years does it communicate with heaven, and it is called a Heavenly Fox."
"Although I am not a fox immortal born in the Tang Dynasty, my cultivation is comparable to that of a thousand-year-old monster. I have witnessed the changes of the Song and Yuan dynasties and have seen all sorts of demons. How could I be mentally ensnared by this vixen with only a hundred or so years of cultivation? True Lord, rest assured, my divine form alone is enough to apprehend her. I shall go find her, chop off her head, and present it to you, True Lord!"
The Heavenly Fox general gave his assurance, and at this moment, Ji Xiang also sensed an astonishing Yin energy!
This Yin energy was quite similar to the Yin energy of the Song Dynasty that had appeared in the Da Gaoxuan Hall previously!
The Zhengyang Bell on his person was already jingling madly!
...
The followers of the Wenxiang Sect had largely shifted their targets. Since most of the gamblers in the county town had already been killed, and they heard that the Three Sect Masters were looking for two people, especially a smelly scholar, the followers became active. However, there was also a problem.
The followers of the Wenxiang Sect carried the fox-like stench, and the incense smoke lingered on them. However, Feng Menglong also had a little fox with him. Although the little fox was a fox immortal and had transformed into human form, she no longer had the fox stench, but she could still produce such a scent if she wanted to.
Feng Menglong's face was ashen, twisted and twitching.
He had been urinated on by the little fox.
This was how she successfully evaded capture by the Wenxiang Sect followers.
Although the incense ash in the copper wire brazing cage could also be burned to produce the incense smoke of the Wenxiang Sect, the little fox was afraid of being controlled again, so she dared not use it.
The little fox quickly rummaged through the goods. There were no good items in the fox's den, and with time pressing, she couldn't find any treasures. She only found a small bead that looked quite miraculous.
"Where are we going now? To find Daoist Master Ji?"
"We can't go to Grandmaster! Grandmaster must be in a place with many monsters and bad guys, killing people! Let's go to the ferry! The boatman should... probably, maybe, possibly, still be there..."
Looking at the county town that had turned into a sea of fire and a battleground, the little fox's tone was already uncertain.
In such a fierce situation, how could the boatman still be waiting at the pier? It was likely that even if they were waiting, they had already rowed downstream along the canal. They would only dare to return after things calmed down here.
It was at this moment that some fox Daoists appeared on the street.
It turned out that after Xu Hongru's news spread, someone immediately notified the fox Daoists. One fox Daoist returned to the Yin Temple and discovered the tragic deaths of his fox offspring. He then went to the back hall and found that the Beidi Tianpeng Ruler had been taken, and along with it, a Charm Bead had also disappeared.
"Capture them! That scholar and that little fox immortal, capture them all! I smell him! He took the Ancestor's Charm Bead! We must find it back!"
"The Ancestor is arriving soon. If the Charm Bead is not found..."
The fox Daoists had already become anxious.
This Charm Bead was a treasure. The reason why the Wenxiang Sect's fox stench could bewitch all living beings was, on one hand, the control exerted by mixing desires with incense smoke, and this incense smoke was refined from this bead.
With this bead, the mesmerizing effect would be enhanced dozens of times. It was almost enough to give anyone who smelled the fox incense smoke a bewitching effect, not only for their own kind but also for others.
Each Charm Bead was very precious and could only be generated with a certain probability during a complex ritual of worshipping the Big Dipper.
The fox Daoists began to sniff for the little fox's scent. The scent of a fox immortal and a fox demon was different.
"Bad, we've been discovered!"
The little fox sensed the scent of the fox Daoists approaching. Her urine could fool those humans, but it couldn't fool these fox spirits. They could detect the scent of a fox that did not belong to their own den at a single whiff!