Zhang Chen’s mouth twitched slightly, yet he knowingly asked, "What happened? What do you mean by running into something supernatural?"
Wang Wu took a deep breath, swallowed the last piece of dried meat, then glanced around cautiously before lowering his voice and saying, "Don’t say any more, just leave this village as soon as you can. There’s something filthy here! You should run as far as you can!"
"Filthy? What kind of filthy thing?" Zhang Chen showed a hint of surprise on his face.
Hearing this, Wang Wu took a big gulp of water, then cautiously glanced around once more before lowering his voice and saying, "Let me tell you, I’ve been haunted by something supernatural! That damn thing keeps moving my coarse rice, white flour, and game out of my house, practically emptying it. I haven’t eaten for three days now. Today, when I passed by the stream and saw the water level dropping with fish swimming in it, I caught two big fish, but before I could take them back, that damn ’thing’ snatched them away!"
At this point, Wang Wu’s voice was full of rage and sorrow: "Three days! I haven’t touched a grain of rice for three days! If this keeps up, I’ll starve to death!"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chen couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, looking at Wang Wu, feeling that the Fox Spirit’s actions were indeed excessive. His own previous encounter was now replaying on Wang Wu, a sturdy and gallant man reduced to this state, rendering him speechless.
"Kid, you’d better run while you can. This village isn’t safe. Before long, this ’monster’ will grow strong enough to harm people. I’m afraid I won’t last much longer," Wang Wu said, his voice choked with emotion, eyes brimming with tears. "I originally hoped you’d take care of me in my old age, but that’s no longer necessary. You might as well dig a hole and bury me now."
Looking at the haggard-looking Wang Wu, Zhang Chen didn’t know what to do. He felt powerless against the Fox Spirit and hadn’t figured out its true nature yet.
Especially with the Fox Spirit’s ability to Control Objects, Zhang Chen found it quite troublesome, unable to come up with a solution. For now, he only had the means to protect himself against the Fox Spirit.
"I wonder if there’s anyone with extraordinary abilities in this world who could rid us of that monster," Zhang Chen probed, trying to inquire whether there was anyone with extraordinary powers.
Wang Wu shook his head, "Never heard of it. Once this thing latches onto you, you’re just out of luck. Life or death, who knows."
Hearing this, Zhang Chen frowned, looking at the despondent Wang Wu, unable to think of a solution and could only offer comfort, "Uncle, don’t be afraid. That strange thing hasn’t harmed your life yet, just carried away things from your house. So it’s not necessarily out to take lives. After all, they’re just things. Just give them to it! If you run out of food later, come to my house. I can easily support you. You know, I always have leftover game from my daily hunts."
"Just one thing, you mustn’t curse recklessly in the future. If that thing doesn’t intend to harm you, but you anger it with insults and it retaliates in fury, there’ll be no place to make complaints." Zhang Chen advised.
Upon hearing Zhang Chen’s words, Wang Wu sat on the ground in a daze, feeling somewhat rejuvenated, "If you put it that way, there’s some truth to it. The monster hasn’t hurt me, only moved my things. Perhaps I still have a chance to survive."
"Exactly, better a bad life than a good death. It’s just swallowing a bit of anger, why bother quarreling with it too much?" Zhang Chen quickly consoled Wang Wu, "Starting tomorrow, just come to my house to eat. That’s settled."
"No! Absolutely not!" Wang Wu reacted, shaking his head in refusal, "If you get too close to me and it targets you, that wouldn’t be good. I can’t drag you into this. I absolutely can’t!"
Listening to Wang Wu, Zhang Chen shook his head, "Uncle, do I seem like someone afraid of trouble? At worst, we’ll just feed that thing together."
Wang Wu shook his head stubbornly, "Don’t say any more. I’ve made up my mind. I’ll just eat whatever I can find in the mountains and bring back the game."
Zhang Chen felt helpless hearing this, knowing how stubborn Wang Wu was. He resolved to take game to Wang Wu after hunting. Wang Wu had been good to him, and he couldn’t just stand by and watch him starve.
Zhang Chen sent the dazed Wang Wu back home, cleaned the mud off his body, and comforted him a bit before leaving. Having faced a similar situation with Wang Wu when he was just an ordinary person, he naturally understood Wang Wu’s anguish, only that he managed to pull through and gradually gained the ability to protect himself against the Fox Spirit.
"I wondered why the Fox Spirit hasn’t been bothering me lately. Turns out it went after Wang Wu for revenge," Zhang Chen pondered to himself.
"This damn Fox Spirit, is there really no way to subdue her?" Zhang Chen wondered.
Currently, three abilities of the Fox Spirit are known: First, her soul can freely pass through any material barriers. This is the most troublesome; her soul freely enters and exits physical spaces, moving through materials, unpredictable and untraceable. Second, her soul can transport objects, and combined with slipping through materials, it’s practically unsolvable. Third is shape-shifting; the Fox Spirit can choose to show or hide her soul, visible only to those with the Dharma Eye.