"Young Master Song, do you need something from me?"
I shook my head and said, "No, I just wanted to thank you for finding Nannan today. I specifically roasted lamb for you to come and eat."
Originally, I did have something in mind. I wanted to see if he could find a disciple of the "Chuma" (出马) tradition and form a small alliance. Through the incident with Nannan, I realized the importance of connections. However, seeing Bai Ling'er's attitude immediately made me abandon the idea.
Huang San sighed and said, "Why are you being so polite with me? If you hadn't expelled the evil energy from my body today, I would have probably turned into a demon by now, and all my cultivation would be gone. I should be thanking you."
As he spoke, Huang San stood up and bowed to me. I shouldn't have accepted this bow, but it was a matter of saving my life, so accepting it was understandable.
After finishing his bow, Huang San remained on the ground, his gaze fixed on the charcoal fire in front of him, seemingly lost in thought. After a long while, Huang San spoke again.
"Young Master Song, can your Yin Gua (阴卦) lineage find a Bao Jia Xian (保家仙)?"
I showed a surprised expression. I thought Huang San had given up on this idea after being lectured by Bai Ling'er, but unexpectedly, he brought it up again.
"Huang San, you can already speak. You can find a Chuma disciple and have them venerate you as a Chuma Xian. Why do you need to become my Bao Jia Xian?"
It's important to know that Bao Jia Xian and Chuma Xian are two different concepts. Simply put, Bao Jia Xian are celestial beings that protect me and my descendants. They belong to the Song family in life and are the souls of the Song family in death, only able to leave when the Song family lineage ends or their bodies perish.
Chuma Xian, on the other hand, are different. By finding suitable Chuma disciples to help others resolve malevolent spirits and settle karmic debts, they can gain considerable virtuous merit and accelerate their cultivation. It's a win-win situation, hitting two birds with one stone.
Huang San didn't reply immediately. Instead, he looked up at Bai Ling'er, who was coiled on the lounge chair, and slowly said, "Do you think I don't know the benefits of being a Chuma Xian? But in this region, becoming a Chuma Xian requires the permission of the Old Master Hu. Without his consent, daring to open a shrine privately will not only result in the stripping of one's cultivation but also the ruin of one's entire clan." He trembled slightly when mentioning Old Master Hu, as if the Old Master Hu was extremely terrifying.
Without thinking, I replied, "Then go and ask him. Your cultivation isn't weak. Opening a shrine and becoming a minor Chuma Xian should be perfectly fine."
Huang San shook his head and gave a wry smile. "It's not as simple as you think. If I want to open a shrine and become a Chuma Xian, I must join the Hu family and become a vassal family. To put it nicely, it's a vassal family; to put it bluntly, it's like being a dog. It's simply indescribable. Moreover, we five wild immortals are all equally renowned. If I join the Hu family, my Huang family will be subservient to the Hu family, and when I meet our ancestors after death, I'll be beaten to death."
His words immediately piqued my interest. I had heard of Old Master Hu from my master when he was drunk, but my master mostly spoke of him as an old fox... and then the conversation ended.
Now, hearing Huang San talk about Old Master Hu again, I couldn't help but feel a strong urge to know more about the Hu family, as I suspected that the fox in Molu Village might be related to the Hu family.
That fox had a feud with Zhang Dabiao, and anyone who has a feud with Zhang Dabiao is an enemy of mine. How could I miss this opportunity to gather information? As the saying goes, know yourself and your enemy to win a hundred battles.
Whether it was an illusion or intuition, I felt that the events in Molu Village were not over, and that fox had also returned. If this matter truly involved the Hu family, it would likely be troublesome.
"Old Master Hu is so overbearing. Haven't you ever thought of resisting, or finding a livelihood elsewhere?"
Although others also made a living in the Yin world (阴行) in this region, I rarely saw other practitioners who could see spirits. Even if there were, they were in niche professions like paper effigy makers, corpse handlers, or morticians...
"Things aren't as simple as you think. Don't you know that most people in the Yin world have their territories?"
I shook my head, indicating I didn't know. My master had never mentioned anything about territories in the Yin world. Can't you go to other territories to make a living?
"It's not that we can't, but outside of the Northeast region, people don't recognize Chuma Xian. Even if we find a Chuma disciple and go south to make a living, we'll be seen as malevolent spirits by the local Yin practitioners. Unless it's a Chuma Xian with great power, they can move around. However, great Chuma Xian are rare. Someone like me, with less than a hundred years of cultivation, would be walking into a trap if I went out. If caught, I'd be made into a hat. As for resisting, I wouldn't even consider it. It's said that Old Master Hu has lived for over a thousand years. Do you think anyone has the ability to resist him?"
My heart trembled. "Holy cow, that's amazing! A fox that has cultivated for over a thousand years is almost comparable to Daji in the Investiture of the Gods!"
"Why was I fine going south? Doesn't that count as crossing boundaries?"
Huang San shook his head and explained, "You are human, unlike us wild immortals. Even if you cross boundaries, as long as you don't do anything wicked, no one will bother you. But we are different. Once we cross boundaries, there's only one word: death."
After his explanation, I understood. That fox I saw in the south must have been a Hu Xian with profound cultivation, though I couldn't determine its exact level of depth since I never saw its true form.
Although we had interacted, it always appeared in a special way, something akin to a "technique." Otherwise, with Bai Ling'er's abilities at that time, she wouldn't have been unable to catch it.
"Huang San, I've already said you cannot become a Bao Jia Xian." At some point, Bai Ling'er had woken up. She tilted her head and looked at Huang San with a serious expression.
Huang San's body trembled, and he said with some agitation, "Why? You can be a Bao Jia Xian, so why can't I? Is it just because your cultivation is much higher than mine?"
Hearing this, I was startled. This was heading towards a fight! Although Bai Ling'er had been bullying Huang San, I had a feeling that Bai Ling'er might not be able to defeat Huang San, as the Fifth Prince had sealed most of her powers. If a fight broke out, who would I help?
If I helped Bai Ling'er, Huang San had helped me greatly during the day, and doing so would be unfair. But helping Huang San was also wrong, as Bai Ling'er was my spirit pet, and we had a soul contract.
Bai Ling'er's eyes narrowed, and with a flash, she appeared in front of Huang San, saying word by word, "If I say no, then it's no. I make the decisions in this house..."
Faced with Bai Ling'er's domineering attitude, I was speechless. Can't you just talk things through? Besides, Huang San had no ill intentions; he just wanted to become a Bao Jia Xian. What's the big deal?
Becoming a Bao Jia Xian would be a disadvantage for Huang San, not me. Why would she disagree?
I thought Huang San would back down due to Bai Ling'er's dominance, but to my surprise, Huang San didn't retreat this time. Instead, he stood on his hind legs, his small eyes staring directly at Bai Ling'er, emitting a yellow glow.
"It seems we are destined to fight?"
Bai Ling'er let out a disdainful cold laugh and replied, "If you want to fight, then fight. Who's afraid of whom? As long as you can defeat me, you can be a Bao Jia Xian. If you can't, don't let me see you again."
"Good."
As soon as Huang San finished speaking, he dropped to all fours and bolted out of the courtyard wall. Bai Ling'er also leaped into the air. However, before leaving, she told me to watch the lamb carefully and not let it burn, as she would want to eat it upon her return.
The dozen or so weasels that had come with Huang San ignored me after he left and scurried out the door, disappearing into the night in the blink of an eye, leaving me in disarray in the wind...