The early morning sun shone on Ju’an Pavilion, and the jujube tree in the courtyard was full of yellow-green flowers.

For the people living on Tian Niu Lane, the faint scent of jujube flowers and the new resident of Ju’an Pavilion were all just minor anecdotes to remember from the year.

Although few dared to approach Ju’an Pavilion, it was no longer as scary as it used to be. After all, there was now someone who had lived in it for two months and was still safe and sound, and Master Yin from the school often ran to Ju’an Pavilion and was still fine.

Ji Yuan opened the door of the main room walked out, stretching comfortably. As an unemployed vagabond who was, for the time being, not short of money, he could sleep freely until this late. Ordinary people would rise when the sun came up.

“As the sun rises three bamboo lengths,¹ I sleep alone, but it’s a pity, I immortality is not my own!”

After reciting this clumsy poem,² Ji Yuan leisurely walked into the courtyard and took the slender willow branch that he had picked yesterday and placed by the kitchen. With a flick of his fingers, a line of free-flowing water emerged from the tank.

With a flick of his fingertips, the willow branch that had been infused with a trace of spiritual energy using his internal energy technique stretched out straight. It changed shape along with the water in his mouth, and the toothbrush was ready in seconds.

“Uh bah bah- bah…”

He spat out the turbid mouthwash and felt more refreshed!

Ji Yuan now brushed his teeth more efficiently than before,³ and he clearly felt that there was less and less plaque. Maybe he wouldn’t need to brush his teeth one day in the future.⁴

Ji Yuan would be very happy to one day no longer have to take a bath or brush his teeth, but even if he were no longer hungry in the future, he would never give up eating.

This world was already so boring, it would be even worse if he couldn’t enjoy delicious food.

After taking the chess-related bamboo slips and closing the courtyard door, Ji Yuan went out leisurely. Recently, he felt that his “strength greatly increased,”⁵ and he had begun to think about when he might go travel and see this world.

The best proof was that Ji Yuan had now mastered the two volumes of cultivation books, and had practiced well into the two volumes of martial arts secrets. However, he still did not know how define his state in the so-called Seventh Level of True Qi realm with regards to the Iron Punishment Battle Guide. After all, the art assumed a starting point with “Innate True Qi.”⁶

However, since Ji Yuan had no Qi training manuals, he could only temporarily use the Qi circulation method of the Iron Punishment Battle Guide instead, using it to circulate the spiritual energy and completely dissipate the true Qi.

Although he felt a little wronged at the disappearance of the spiritual energy, it was better than nothing, and he improved significantly in martial arts.

In any case, if he wasn’t good enough to be exposed in front of demons and immortals, it was enough to be able to protect himself in front of the public.

While reading the chess scriptures, he walked down the alleys and paths connected to Tian Niu Lane. When he met the residents of Tian Niu Lane along the way, they would respectfully greet, “good morning, Mr. Ji,” and Ji Yuan would respond with a smile.

One of the advantages of having such good hearing was that he could identify who it was based on the voice alone, and he was never afraid of admitting his mistakes when saying hello.

“Woof woof woof… woof woof woof… woof! Woof woof woof…”

At the end of the street in the distance came a wave of ferocious dog barks, as if a group of dogs were chasing something.

Then, Ji Yuan heard the commotion of the crowd on the street.

“Oh, who’s dog is so fierce!!”

“Hey, a fox!”

“It’s really a fox! Hahaha, it’s going to be bitten to death by a dog!”

“What a pity for that fur!”

“Get out of the way, where is the fox? Where is the fox? If I catch it, I’ll get some good fur!”

“Over there, the dog is chasing it, the fur has already been chewed through!”

……

“Woof woof woof…”

“Bang!”

“Wu wu wu wu…”⁷

“Over there! Grab it, grab it! It looks like there’s something in its fur on its back. Keep the dog back! That dog, loosen its mouth, make it let go!!”

“Yelp! … Woof woof woof!”

……

Ji Yuan frowned, inexplicably quickening his pace, and walked away from Tian Niu Lane and towards the most lively and noisy area not too far away. Using his spiritual energy and the martial arts movement techniques, his whole body was like a blurred green shadow crossing the street. It looked like he was just walking, but he was in fact going very fast.

If Ji Yuan hadn’t used that kind of trick, he would have been terrified of the amount of people jumping up and down in the street.

……

A circle of people watching the excitement gathered in a corner of the street.

“Damn dog, let it go! Loosen your mouth!”

“Bang!”

“Wu wu wu wu…”

Two fierce men used wooden sticks to strike at the two big yellow dogs whose jaws were clamped onto the fox. The yellow dogs whimpered in pain and dodged.

There were more than twenty people spectating. They watched the red fox bleeding on the street corner.

“Hahahaha, this fox is ours!!”

One of the men was about to reach out to grab the fox’s tail, but the dying fox jumped up immediately and rushed out into the crowd.

“Wow, playing dead!!!”

“This fox is so smart!”

Someone in the crowd exclaimed.

“Don’t let it run away!”

“It can’t get far!”

The red fox was limped and fled in despair. The pair of large yellow dogs that had been lingering around began chasing after it again.

Suddenly, a green figure in a long robe approached, striding forwards several times.

Carrying bamboo slips and wandering around… Seeing this person was like seeing a spring breeze!

The red fox was stunned and froze on the spot. Then he reacted and immediately bent his forelimbs to kowtow towards Ji Yuan.

“Wu wu wu… wu wu wu…”

The fox’s miserable whines sounded like a cry, and there were still bleeding wounds all over his body, but he didn’t dare get up from his bow.

Several big yellow dogs gathered around, barking nonstop, but did not approach any further. Some people in the surrounding crowd were scared, while others were amazed.

“Hey… This fox won’t become a spirit, right? It can actually beg for help?”

“Damn… that’s true!”

“I’m a little scared! Forget it, just beat him to death!”

“Who is that person?”

“It’s Mr. Ji from Tian Niu Lane, Master Yin’s friend!”

“That’s right, everyone in Tian Niu Lane says he’s a strange person. He’s been living in that small Ju’an Pavilion for a few months!!”

“Woah…”

……

There was a lot of curiosity in the chatter of the crowd. The two people holding wooden sticks who were trying to catch the fox didn’t dare to jump out when they saw the strange situation in front of them.

Ji Yuan, on the other hand, didn’t look at anyone else at all. He just stared at this familiar red fox, and noticed the tiger hair hidden in the fur on the fox’s back.

This red fox had probably developed spiritual intelligence, but he was almost killed by a dog. It shouldn’t be some extraordinary monster, and there was no indication of being a malevolent spirit.

Seeing the fox’s miserable appearance, and how it was constantly begging him, Ji Yuan was also moved with compassion. Moreover, it was obvious that the fox had come to find him, so he could be considered guilty by extension.

Ji Yuan raised his head, glanced at the blurry circle of people, and identified the true owners of the fox in two seconds.

“I wonder if the two of you can part with your desire and give this red fox to me? This fox has been chewed to pieces by the yellow dogs, and its pelt is no longer worth much money. I am willing to pay 100 coins, and the two should sell it for the next face. Would you please give me some face?”

Ji Yuan slightly pressed his hands together in a salute. As he spoke, he looked at the direction of the two men carrying sticks in the crowd. His tranquil, indifferent blue eyes seemed to contain some kind of mysterious energy.

“Uh…it’s a fox fur, after all. A hundred coins is a little…what are you doing?”

One of them wanted to lower the price, but his arm was twisted by the companion next to him. The latter ignored his complaint and nodded to Ji Yuan with a smile.

“Okay, Mr. Ji can take it if he wants it. One hundred coins is one hundred coins, after all.”

“Thank you!”

Ji Yuan took out the purse from his sleeve, took 20 wen handed them to the two of them. He then looked at the big yellow dogs that were baring their teeth, a little troubled.

People can use money, but what about dogs? Would they need meaty bones? Who brought that kind of stuff with them when they went out?

“Uh, how about you all disperse, too?”

Ji Yuan swore that he just wanted to try it, but the big yellow dogs actually hesitated a few times, then turned around and quickly walked away.

At this time, many people in the crowd shocked speechless.

Ji Yuan looked at the crowd that was gathering more and more, sighed, and and stretched out his hand to lift the red fox, who had lost all strength after all the excitement, into his arms.

“Everyone, please disperse!”

After he finished this sentence, before anyone could react, Ji Yuan stepped out of the crowd in a single movement, passing through more people who had just arrived to watch the fun without knowing what was going on, and disappeared into an alleyway.

The people in the crowd turned to look at each other, but they saw only the nosy passersby who had just arrived, not the green figure.

1. Same as chapter 11, footnote 5: around 3-4 hours after sunrise. ↩︎
2. The original Chinese: “日上三竿我独眠，可惜我不是神仙” I can only assume that the “poem” part comes from the fact that both sides are the same amount of characters and that they both rhyme (pinyin: Rìshàngsāngān wǒ dú mián, kěxí wǒ bùshì shénxiān). This novel does like to play around with poetics and literature a LOT. I tried to more or less translate similarly, hence the rhyme. ↩︎
3. T/n: imagine getting power over water and using it exclusively to brush your teeth ↩︎
4. T/n: Quick PSA: this is NOT how brushing your teeth works. Plaque builds up over time, so you need to keep brushing your teeth to ensure that it doesn’t come back. Unless you’re an immortal who magically doesn’t need to brush teeth in the future FOR GOODNESS’ SAKE don’t stop brushing your teeth TT_TT ↩︎
5. I don’t know why this is in quotation marks ↩︎
6. From what I can tell, JY is saying that he can’t determine his current level since he hasn’t learned Qi cultivation methods (only his rough absorb-it-until-it-goes-away method with the chess piece), and since the guide assumes a starting point with Qi he can practice the moves but doesn’t know a reference point for how far along he is. ↩︎
7. Irritating whining sound ↩︎

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read