chsdbacks Chapter 24: The Spirit Fox Beast Mark! The First Appearance of the Strange
Chapter 24: The Spirit Fox Beast Mark! The First Appearance of the Strange
Lu Wanrou paused slightly, then untied an exquisitely embroidered sachet from her waist and gently placed it on the table: "What a coincidence. Sister, you don't have any refreshing herbs, but you do have a sachet made from them. I wonder... if it will be of any use?"
"A sachet of refreshing herbs?" Zhang Ping's eyes burst with barely suppressed joy, but the next moment, doubt arose in his heart.
The recipe calls for "Awakening Grass," which is sliced, dried, crushed, and then stuffed into a sachet... Does that still count?
"Madam! No! This is a gift from the head of the family to you..." Lu Qiang blurted out, his voice filled with urgent dissuasion.
Lu Wanrou raised her hand, cutting off Lu Qiang's words in an unquestionable manner.
She turned to Zhang Ping, her fingertips tracing the delicate satin of the sachet, her voice soft yet tinged with emotion: "Brother Zhang, this item holds extraordinary significance for me." She raised her eyes, looking directly at Zhang Ping.
"If you truly need it urgently today, I will give it to you. I only ask one thing of you!"
Zhang Ping's heart skipped a beat, and his face became solemn: "Please speak, sister!"
"The Lu family of Fucheng has recently been plagued by treacherous individuals who are relentlessly pressuring us, leaving our martial arts forces stretched thin." Lu Wanrou's voice was extremely low, yet every word was clear.
"If Brother Zhang is capable enough in the future, he must help the Lu family... overcome this calamity!"
"...May I ask who your family's enemy is?" Zhang Ping's heart sank.
The awakening herb is crucial, but if it gets him embroiled in immense trouble, it could lead to his death. The Demon Exorcism Bureau? The Prefect? Neither of them are people he can afford to offend.
Lu Wanrou seemed to sense his concerns, and a wry smile appeared on her lips: "Brother Zhang, rest assured, you don't need to fight against such a behemoth. Just... just having the strength of Master Chong at the Refining Realm would be a lifesaver for the Lu family!"
The Refining Realm... Zhang Ping's tense back relaxed slightly.
With the blessing of animal patterns, this goal is not out of reach.
"Okay! I'll remember Sister Rou's kindness!" he solemnly agreed.
Lu Qiang's lips moved, but in the end it only turned into a deep sigh, his face unable to hide his disappointment.
After exchanging a few perfunctory words, Zhang Ping, with the imprint of the beast pattern in his mind, found an excuse to hurriedly take his leave.
After his figure disappeared outside the courtyard gate, only Lu Wanrou and Lu Qiang remained in the pavilion. The cold wind swirled up the withered leaves, causing them to land on the stone table.
"Madam, that is, after all, the head of the family..." Lu Qiang finally couldn't hold back.
Lu Wanrou gazed at the bleak autumn scenery outside the pavilion, wearily closing her eyes, her fingertips icy cold: "Just a sachet... If it can bring a glimmer of hope to the family, it's worth it." She waved her hand.
"Go ahead, leave me alone."
Lu Qiang silently withdrew.
In the pavilion, Lu Wanrou stood alone, her beautiful face silently etched with confusion and profound weariness.
"I hope...it was all worth it..."
……
In the west of the city, a forgotten, dilapidated house shivered in the cold wind. In a corner where the walls were barely intact, Zhang Ping spread all the materials out on the ground.
In the dim light, he took a deep breath, the cold, dusty smell filling his lungs. His hand trembled slightly as he pressed it firmly against the pile of pungent fox meat and other ingredients.
"Branding, animal markings!"
A sudden surge of fishy stench, mixed with the spiciness of hay, filled the air.
The fox meat melted with other ingredients, transforming into a condensed white stream of light that hovered in mid-air like a living thing.
"It's done!" Zhang Ping felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.
The invigorating herbal powder in the sachet really works! The favor owed to the Lu family wasn't in vain.
The white light seemed to possess a spirit, circling around him once.
Zhang Ping made a shallow cut on his left arm with a knife. As if smelling blood, the light darted in!
"Hiss—" A strange, sharp, tingling sensation burst forth from the wound, spreading to every part of the body.
He groaned and leaned against the cold earthen wall, his body convulsing slightly uncontrollably.
This strange feeling lasted for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before it slowly subsided.
Zhang Ping
Age: 20
[Realm: Mid-stage Skin Tempering Realm]
【烙印：驴鞭纹（满）牛力纹（满）马腿纹（69％）狗鼻纹（83％）牛皮纹（39％）地龙再生（16％）鹰眼纹（74％）危险感知（11％）灵狐隐匿（0％）】
[Ruyi - Donkey Whip Pattern: Indicates immense strength in the lower limbs, as solid as iron]
[Divine Power - Ox Strength Pattern: Surging energy, robust physique]
[Horse Leg Pattern: Galloping like lightning, moving like the wind]
[Dog nose print: A trace of a hundred flavors, hard to conceal]
【Cowhide texture: as tough as aged leather, absorbs force and strength】
[Earthworm Regeneration: Severed Limbs Can Regenerate, Life Continues]
【Eagle Eye Pattern: Penetrating the deepest recesses and observing the smallest details, moving with the speed of observation】
[Danger Perception: Acting on impulse, preventing disaster before it even begins]
[The Spirit Fox Conceals Its Form and Breath, Its Qi and Blood Obscure]
(New flavor panel)
Branding complete!
Zhang Ping slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, the air still carrying a faint fishy sweetness and the fresh scent of grass.
He keenly noticed the panel's description of [Spirit Fox Concealment]: "Qi and blood are as dark as darkness."
"...Disguise my blood and qi levels?" A thought flashed through my mind like lightning.
What surprised him even more was that after the branding was successful, a warm current quietly permeated his whole body. Although the increase in every part was subtle and hard to detect, the combination of speed, strength, reaction, and even the resilience of his skin made his limbs and bones surge with a new and more coordinated sense of power.
"As expected, the enhancement from the full-body branding is the most balanced!" His previous guess was confirmed. He immediately began testing this long-awaited stealth ability.
With a slight thought, he urged the spirit fox to hide.
In an instant, he felt the air around him become viscous, and the light seemed to deliberately avoid him.
Looking down at myself, I was standing there, yet I seemed to blend into the shadows of the background, even my breathing became silent.
Even more miraculously, the blood and qi that were originally flowing in his body were now like stagnant water in a dry well, calm and weak, like a novice who had just touched the threshold of skin tempering and whose foundation was unstable!
"His presence... has vanished? Even his vital energy is disguised so thoroughly?" Zhang Ping marveled at the effect.
He stepped out of the dilapidated house. The late autumn wind was biting, and there were few pedestrians on the street.
Zhang Ping tried walking past an old man selling roasted sweet potatoes. The old man's cloudy eyes swept over the spot where Zhang Ping was standing, but it was as if they were passing through empty space, without stopping.
He then tried to approach a passerby who was hurrying by, and gently patted the person on the shoulder.
"Huh?" The passerby turned around abruptly, his face showing surprise and annoyance at being interrupted. His gaze swept blankly around the man's face before finally looking around in confusion.
"Who? Who took my picture?"
The results were remarkable!
Zhang Ping felt much more at ease, and his gaze fell on the old beggar on the street corner who was resting with his eyes closed: "It's very effective for ordinary people... but what about martial artists?"
A martial artist's alertness is far beyond that of an ordinary person; within seven steps, not even the slightest movement can escape their notice.
Zhang Ping's mind raced, and he turned back towards the direction where the Lu family's caravan was stationed. He focused his mind, fully activating his spirit fox's concealment ability, moving slowly along the street like an inconspicuous shadow.
The few martial artists on guard along the way glanced at his location without any change in their eyes, as if they were looking at an ordinary pile of debris.
It wasn't until he approached the core area where the caravan's valuable goods were stored that a guard at the Body Refinement Realm suddenly looked up alertly, his sharp gaze instantly locking onto him.
"Important area ahead! Young Master Zhang, please stop!" The guard recognized Zhang Ping and spoke with a businesslike distance.
Zhang Ping immediately stopped, forcing a perfectly timed apology on his face: "Sorry, sorry, I was distracted for a moment." He tactfully turned and walked away.
As he turned around, Zhang Ping couldn't help but smile: "It's done! As long as I don't reveal any killing intent, even martial artists of the same level... will have a hard time detecting it!"
He finally understood how the fox spirits had sneaked into the town right under the noses of the night watchmen.
This ability is simply incredible!
Or perhaps... a thought surged into Zhang Ping's mind: maybe his ability to conceal his beast markings was even stronger than that of the spirit foxes themselves!
The spirit fox was enormous, and its aura as a strange beast was difficult to completely conceal. Meanwhile, he—an ordinary-looking young man, easily lost in a crowd—combined this ability to disguise his vital energy…
"The trouble of arousing suspicion due to rapid cultivation... is also resolved!" He deliberately activated his concealment power, and the fluctuations of blood and qi on his body surface were weak and unstable, clearly showing that he had just broken through to the Skin Tempering Realm and his foundation was unstable! To anyone else, he was just an inconspicuous low-level martial arts apprentice.
A smile bloomed in Zhang Ping's eyes: "Infinitely wondrous uses... the Spirit Fox's concealment is truly legendary!"
Ok? !
Just then, a cold sensation landed on his arm without warning.
Zhang Ping looked down and saw a fingernail-sized, angular ice crystal stuck to his skin, melting instantly and leaving a damp mark.
An aged voice drifted into my ears:
"It's snowing..."
Zhang Ping looked up.
An old woman with a full head of silver hair and a hunched back, who had been leaning on a smooth wooden cane, stood silently less than three steps away from him.
A kind smile graced her wrinkled face, her cloudy eyes gazing at the hazy sky, showing none of the awe that ordinary people should have for Zhang Ping, this martial artist.
"It doesn't seem to be winter yet, does it?" Zhang Ping's gaze swept over the old woman, then looked at the leaden-gray sky.
Lanjiang Prefecture is located in the southwest, and in previous years, it would not snow until the middle of winter.
"The spirit fox has brought snow," the old woman murmured to herself, her smile unchanged.
Zhang Ping remained silent.
It is easier for a martial artist to shake a mountain than to change the heavens. How could a mere spirit fox or strange beast summon wind and snow? It is those unpredictable and treacherous great demons... Thinking of this, a chill ran down his spine.
The few pedestrians on the street noticed the snowfall and exclaimed as they rushed home. In the blink of an eye, the deserted streets were even emptier, with only the howling of the cold wind remaining.
"Grandpa, the snow is getting heavy. Aren't you going home?" Zhang Ping asked casually as he prepared to leave.
The old woman remained standing there, staring blankly at the falling snowflakes, as if frozen in time.
"Grandma! Why are you out again!"
A crisp sound broke the silence.
A little girl with pigtails, about twelve or thirteen years old, ran up from the street corner. She had a chubby face, but her eyes were as clear as a mountain spring.
"Hehehe..." The old woman finally moved, slowly turning her head to look at the girl, her kind face instantly gaining a touch of warmth.
"It's stuffy inside, so I came out to soak up some human warmth."
"Oh dear, let's go home quickly! The snow is going to get heavier!" The little girl grabbed the old woman's arm with surprising strength. She glanced quickly at Zhang Ping, her eyes clear and curious, and then, without another word, pulled the old woman away.
The snow finally fell in a flurry, scattering across the sky like torn goose feathers.
Zhang Ping stood still, letting the cold snowflakes fall on his hair and shoulders, his brows slightly furrowed. He squinted, watching the old man and the young girl support each other, their steps faltering in the wind and snow.
Until they turned into another alley and completely disappeared from sight.
An inexplicable and strange feeling welled up in my heart and wouldn't go away.
"Never mind, let's go back and talk about it first."
He shook his head and strode away, disappearing into the increasingly dense snow.