Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Xie Lingya felt Shi Changxuan coming over, and the two looked at each other. He turned Tang Qi’s stiff head away from the window, and then made a silent gesture.
Tang Qi’s expression was very stiff and showed some doubts.
Xie Lingya whispered: “The foxes are wearing skulls and worshiping the moon. They are practicing, don’t disturb them.”
It seemed that those skulls were taken away by them. Tang Qi thought it was bold children from nearby villages.
Legend had it that after practicing cultivation, foxes could transform from fox bodies into human bodies and achieve enlightenment. Folk tales had always had a custom of worshiping fox fairies. Especially after the early Tang Dynasty, this trend became popular, and all villages large and small offered sacrifices to the fox fairy.
There was a folk legend that if a fox wore a skull to worship the moon, it would turn into a human form if the skull did not fall. But of course the conditions for becoming a human being could not be that simple. Was it enough to wear a skull and worship the moon?
In fact, that was the key point of cultivation to the end.
The reason why man was the spirit of all things was because of his mind and thoughts. Foxes also had certain intelligence, so they could become spirits more easily than other animals. However, this kind of intelligence was still far behind that of humans.
Therefore, the foxes were worshipping the moon with a human skull on its head. On the one hand, it absorbed the essence of the moon, and on the other hand, it hoped to gain human thinking in order to achieve enlightenment. The skull was where the main soul resided when a person was alive.
These foxes may have some spirituality, so they knew how to steal skulls to practice cultivation. Xie Lingya told Tang Qi to be silent because he was afraid that it would disturb the foxes’ practice and they would hold grudges in their hearts.
Tang Qi nodded like a chicken pecking at rice. He wanted to continue to look out, but he didn’t dare because Xie Lingya didn’t fully explain. He only thought about the fact that there really were vixens in the world. Would they come to catch him?
“Then what should we do now…” Tang Qi whispered again, “Is there anything we can do tonight?”
Hearing this, Xie Lingya couldn’t help but ask Shi Changxuan: “Can they understand human language? I can only communicate with ghosts.”
Tang Qi: “…”
Shi Changxuan: “If it’s an old fox, they might be able to understand.”
Xie Lingya hurriedly started to put on his clothes, and wanted to go out and watch, and also to try to find a way to get the skulls back. The foxes could use skulls to practice cultivation. This was their instinct, but this unintentionally caused other people’s bones to be desecrated.
Tang Qi didn’t dare to stay here alone, so he quickly put on his clothes and followed him out.
Xie Lingya walked around the house. There was no road up the short cliff. He had to climb, but if he moved too fast, he would disturb the foxes, which was very difficult.
At this time, two foxes took off the skull, held it in their mouths, and touched the smaller fox next to them. The little fox then took off the skull as if waking up from a dream.
Looking at the sky again, it was no wonder, because the moon was now hidden in the dark clouds.
Seeing that the three foxes were about to crawl back into the forest with their skulls, Xie Lingya became anxious and shouted: “Wait a minute, give me back the bones!”
As soon as the three foxes heard the sound, they jumped into the grass and trees without hesitation and disappeared without a trace.
Xie Lingya: “…it seems like they really can’t understand people.”
Even if they could, they probably wouldn’t pay attention to him.
Xie Lingya was very depressed, “How can you find them? Taoist Master Shi, are there any talismans that I can use?”
In ancient times, it was common to go into the mountains, so there were many talismans in Taoism that could be used in the mountains. However they were not hunters, so they could not catch the foxes from such a distance.
Tang Qi was also very depressed, “It’s not like nothing happened. The foxes stole the skulls, then those ‘good brothers’ started to make trouble because the bones were incomplete?”
Shi Changxuan thought for a moment and said, “Those foxes look like they have some spirituality, try calling them over with the “Eternal Peace Sutra”.”
“Is that so?” Xie Lingya thought for a while, “I can definitely try it.”
Tang Qi didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
Tang Qi followed as Xie Lingya and climbed up the short cliff while panting, and then he saw Xie Lingya sitting on the ground. He took out his mobile phone and read the words on the mobile phone: “The old man said: The great road is invisible, giving birth to the world; the great road is ruthless, moving the sun and the moon.”
“The great road has no name, it nourishes all things. I don’t know its name, but it is called Tao…”
This was the “Tai Shang Laojun Eternal Peace Sutra”. Xie Lingya had memorized it when Liu Bohe was giving the lecture, but he was still cautious to avoid mistakes. So, he searched it out on his mobile phone before reading it.
Tang Qi knew it was a Taoist classic when he heard it, but he didn’t know why Shi Changxuan said that reading this could call the foxes over. But so many things had happened tonight that frightened and confused him, so he was not in a hurry to get an explanation now, he simply sat down on a stone nearby, holding his hands on his knees and watching Xie Lingya’s “performance”.
But after listening to him, Tang Qi could really feel something from it, even though he couldn’t understand the meaning.
Xie Lingya’s voice was becoming clearer and clearer, and there was a sense of emptiness and tranquility when reciting sutras in the forest. His speed was neither fast nor slow, with a strange rhythm, which made people feel calm without knowing it.
“Eternal Peace Sutra” was only a few hundred words long and could be read in just a few minutes. Xie Lingya recited it repeatedly. When he read it for the seventh time, Tang Qi, who was listening in rapt attention, suddenly heard the sound of rustling in the grass behind him. It took him two seconds to react. He turned his head to look and saw something striking in the gaps in the grass. There were a few green dots.
Tang Qi was shocked. These were reflective fox eyes. What happened? The fox was really here!
He thought to himself, “Aigoo. Is it here because it wants to listen to the chanting? Are these foxes really spirits?”
Xie Lingya also saw those eyes, but he did not stop. After reciting the seventh time, he opened his mouth to explain the scripture he had just recited: “Tao, before heaven and earth, without seeing its beginning, and without seeing its end, heaven and earth are formless, nothing is not the Tao, yet nothing is the Tao. So the Tao is formless…”
The three foxes who were originally squatting in the grass about eight or nine meters away, listening carefully, now actually emerged from the grass, step by step. They approached Xie Lingya’s direction, but the three skulls were nowhere to be seen.
The moon emerged from the clouds again, and with the light not far away, you could see their khaki fur and brown eyes, turning from time to time to guard against people approaching from the side.
Xie Lingya remained calm. After he finished explaining, the three foxes were only two meters away from him, staring at him with big eyes.
Xie Lingya slowly stretched out his hand: “Give it back to me.”
The little fox squirmed in the big fox’s arms, rubbed its head, and looked at Xie Lingya sideways, acting coquettishly, while the big fox licked the little fox’s coat.
Xie Lingya was very angry, “You can listen to the scriptures when you want to listen to them, but you can’t understand when I talk about giving things back?”
—- Liu Bohe had taught the laymen of Baoyang Temple before when they were studying the scriptures that they must not read the scriptures wrongly, and they could only become proficient after reciting the sutras in private, otherwise it would hurt others and themselves. In contrast, if they read it correctly, they could also save others and save themselves.
Taoists said that chanting sutras brought immeasurable blessings. A person who recited sutras could not only save others and himself, but could also save ten kinds of souls, and all the creatures passing by would be blessed. If there was spirituality within them, you would be able to listen to the scriptures and gain understanding.
Shi Changxuan and Xie Lingya just thought that these foxes were worshipping the moon and must have some spirituality, so they tried chanting sutras here. If they heard it and if they wanted to get bathed in this light, they would naturally appear.
Moreover, the comprehension through listening to the sutras was not inferior at all compared to the practice of wearing a skull and worshiping the moon. After Xie Lingya’s previous recitation of the sutras, he saw them hiding in the grass, so he recited it again.
Taoism regarded Tao, scriptures and teachers as the three treasures. Tao could not be transmitted without scriptures, and scriptures could not be understood without teachers. Not everyone had Xie Lingya’s level of understanding. Classics were passed down orally, and secrets left the master’s mouth and just entered the disciple’s ears. Therefore, it was even rarer.
Xie Lingya thought he could take the opportunity to ask the foxes to return the skull as a deal. This way there was no need to use violence, it was good for the fox, good for the corpse, and good for everyone.
And these foxes did come out, but Xie Lingya didn’t know what they realized, however Xie Lingya could tell they were now pretending to be stupid.
Shi Changxuan looked at them and said, “I guess they need something in exchange. They didn’t agree beforehand to return the skulls after listening to the sutra.”
Xie Lingya: “…”
…Xie Lingya felt that he thought of them too naively, or he was just too naive. According to the legends that Xie Lingya had read, an animal would consciously donate something to any Taoist priest or eminent monk who gave them the sermons, but the foxes here came to settle accounts and exchange one thing with another.
There was no other way, so Xie Lingya had no choice but to ask Tang Qi to get some food.
Tang Qi originally looked at the fox’s skull worshiping the moon from a distance and was very scared, but he didn’t know whether it was the effect of Xie Lingya’s chanting just now or the fox’s trickery, but now he felt no fear.
He didn’t want to drag other people in and so as not to scare the wild fox away, he brought a mineral water bottle, two large bowls and some meat.
Xie Lingya unscrewed the mineral water, poured it into a bowl, and placed the two bowls in front of the foxes.
The foxes squatted to watch him pour the water, then came over and licked some water first. The little fox immersed half of his face into it, flicked his head, then bit into a piece of chicken in the bowl next to him.
After the two big foxes waited for the little fox to chew for a while, they each eagerly took a piece of meat and ate it hungrily.
Tang Qi couldn’t help but ask: “Can they turn into humans?”
Just like the vixens in the story who turned into beautiful women.
“It shouldn’t work. Aren’t they still practicing?” Xie Lingya said. At present, they should just have opened up their wisdom.
After all, it was not easy for wild animals to cultivate these days!
The area of mountain forests had decreased, there were fewer places to live, and there were people everywhere. These little guys, looking at how they were eating, may not be full normally.
“You have to give me back the skulls when you’re full,” Xie Lingya muttered beside him. He was afraid that the foxes would act clever and refuse to admit it. “Don’t think that you can cheat people because you are a national second-level protected animal…”
Tang Qi & Shi Changxuan: “…”
The three foxes ate the meat until their bellies bulged, and drank the mineral water, until the fur on their body brightened, then one of the big foxes topped the little fox with his head.
The little fox barked a few times and walked into the grass, looking back every step of the way.
The big fox barked urgently, and the little fox jumped out.
Xie Lingya was also a cunning person. He stroked the tail of the big fox from the back. The fox looked somewhat similar to a dog, but its tail was large and fluffy. He stroked it from top to bottom.
When the fox turned around, Xie Lingya had already withdrawn his hand and looked at it innocently.
The big fox slowly held its tail in front of him and licked it, with a little “suspiciousness” in his eyes.
Shi Changxuan saw this scene from the side and couldn’t help but have a smile in his eyes, but no one noticed it in the darkness.
After about three or four minutes, the little fox came back. It slowly emerged from the grass, with three stacked skulls on its head, and its ears were pressed down to both sides, probably for fear of them falling.
After walking in front of Xie Lingya, the little fox lowered its head, and three skulls slid off its head, and then he called to Xie Lingya several times.
Xie Lingya saw the little fox’s brown eyes staring at him with wide eyes. He wanted to touch its head but thought about how the head had just been covered with skulls. However, facing the innocent eyes of the little fox, he had to settle for the next best thing. He reached out and hugged the little fox’s neck a few times.
As soon as Xie Lingya’s hand touched the little fox’s neck, it rolled and lay on the ground with its legs in the air.
“…It scared me to death. I thought I was going to get into trouble.” Xie Lingya couldn’t help but say something, and then he petted the little fox on the belly a few more times.
The two big foxes were not worried at all, they were just grooming each other’s fur.
Tang Qi was not a person who loved small animals, but when he saw this scene, he actually felt a little itchy.
These were three wild foxes. Their coats were not pretty, and they even played with skulls. But Tang Qi watched them go from being wary, to tentatively approaching, to then lying down close to each other. This process made him feel inexplicably good.
Tang Qi also squatted carefully next to him. The two big foxes immediately stared at him, but when they saw that Tang Qi just reached out and touched the little fox’s back, they ignored him.
“It’s quite slippery.” Tang Qi said, “I don’t know if I should ask them to come more often in the future.”
Xie Lingya: “It’ll scare people when they come.”
“That’s what I thought.” Tang Qi was just expressing such a wish, whether for people or foxes, it was best for them to go their separate ways.
By the time the time for the ritual approached, the two big foxes had finished grooming their fur and called the little fox. It turned over from under the hands of Tang Qi and Xie Lingya, followed its parents, dragged its furry tail, and disappeared into the vast night.
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