Chapter 27: When the Fox Marries, Treasures Must Follow!

Hoo, hoo.

Li Siyu took a few deep breaths, beads of sweat sliding down her delicate, oval-shaped face.

Just after drinking that bowl of "Jieduan" (Bone-Mending) soup, she felt a sense of comfort spread through her body, accompanied by a heavy sweat, as if she had just finished a sauna. However, there were no other strange sensations.

Hearing Zhang Hao’s words and catching his gaze, Li Siyu froze for a moment before hurriedly turning her head to the side. "This Jieduan soup is truly restorative; it’s worked up quite a sweat."

"Ah..." Zhang Hao paused, nodding silently without saying anything further.

Looking at Li Siyu, it seemed she had only broken into a sweat without any other changes. Could it be that the Jieduan soup was only effective for him? Or perhaps it could only enhance the five senses of a mountain-walker, while others were unaffected?

If that were the case, there was only one explanation: he was a mountain-walker, and Li Siyu was not. Therefore, she only felt a physical sense of relief and a bit of perspiration. He just wasn't sure what the ultimate effect of the Jieduan soup would be on her and whether it could fully restore her health.

He didn't dwell on it.

The two finished the rest of the soup and ate their meal. Li Siyu returned to her room to rest, while Zhang Hao cleared the bowls and chopsticks and retreated to the side room.

Sitting at the dining table, he poured himself a glass of water and, while sipping it, picked up the *Illustrated Record of Mountain Travels* to read.

Having eaten and rested, it was time to think about serious matters. The fox engagement he had witnessed before descending the mountain earlier could be linked to the "Mountain Phantom Spirit" encountered by the funeral procession today. It was precisely because of the fox engagement—the fox wedding—that the mountain spirits and monsters had been drawn out.

However, Zhang Hao did not know much about fox weddings. In fact, when he had first browsed the strange forest occurrences recorded in the *Illustrated Record of Mountain Travels*, he had read them as mere stories, never paying them much attention. Now, he was forced to study the detailed records of fox weddings. After all, he had run into one...

Flipping to the page on fox weddings, Zhang Hao squinted under the light, focusing his attention.

[Fox weddings are strange forest occurrences that can cause mountain spirits to manifest and monsters to emerge...]

[Whenever a fox wedding occurs, there are many strange changes in the mountains; spiritual plants grow, and rare mountain treasures abound...]

So, did that mean the fleeceflower root and gastrodia he had found yesterday were also thanks to this fox wedding?

Zhang Hao briefly pushed this thought aside and continued reading.

[A fox wedding must be held on an Yin year, Yin month, Yin day, and at an Yin hour. At that time, mountain spirits and wild monsters are at their most active. Anyone who accidentally wanders into the mountains is in extreme danger; the best case is falling into a severe, incurable illness, and the worst is losing one's life on the spot, becoming one with the mountains...]

*Hiss.*

This fox wedding business was truly sinister. But, thinking about it, it made sense; what normal person would go up a mountain during an Yin year, month, day, and hour? That was the time when Yin energy was at its peak—the very moment those wild mountain spirits and monsters loved most. If a human stumbled in then, they would be toyed with relentlessly. Anyone who could enter the mountains at such a time and make it out alive must be a child of destiny—the type who would win billions in a lottery. Just keeping one's life was a miracle; expecting to escape without lasting trauma was impossible.

[If you encounter a fox wedding, you should leave the mountain immediately and make offerings to the Mountain God and Mountain Spirits at the foot of the mountain, begging for their protection. You must stay at the foot of the mountain for one night, without moving or sleeping, and you must not return home to bring disaster upon your family. The next day, when the sun is bright, you must return to the place of the wedding, bringing items the foxes enjoy to plead for their forgiveness...]

Oh... So, it wasn't without a solution.

Zhang Hao realized with a start, nodding thoughtfully. It stood to reason; if an ordinary person accidentally stumbled into a fox wedding, there had to be a way to survive. In the records, these fox entities were also "cultivating"; they didn't necessarily want to kill people and damage their own karmic merit. But without the *Illustrated Record of Mountain Travels*, an ordinary person would never know these steps.

Zhang Hao skimmed through this section quickly. Immediately, his gaze was drawn to the next sentence.

[Whenever a fox wedding occurs, rare mountain treasures are sure to appear. They will be presented as offerings during the wedding, and a mountain-walker may claim them!]

Following this, another sentence appeared even more prominently:

[Great fortune is accompanied by great disaster; the best case is losing one's soul and becoming dim-witted, the worst is a violent death in the mountains.]

Zhang Hao’s pupils constricted. His hand holding the ancient book trembled slightly, and his breath seemed to catch in his throat.

These two sentences were easy to understand—too easy! If one saw a fox wedding, mountain treasures would appear. This made sense; wild spirits were creatures of the mountain themselves and were naturally drawn to its treasures, so their appearances were often accompanied by them.

What he cared about most was the final part: *A mountain-walker may claim them!*

Could that mean that as a mountain-walker, he could go up the mountain during a fox wedding, follow the foxes to the wedding site, and then, while those "foxes" weren't paying attention, snatch the mountain treasure directly?

*Tsk, tsk, tsk.*

Good heavens, that was too thrilling. To snatch a treasure from the midst of a group of fox-like mountain spirits and monsters—just thinking about it was heart-pounding. Of course, it was also dangerous enough to be fatal. One small mistake, and he was as good as dead.

Most importantly, he had only seen the fox engagement; he truly didn't know when the actual wedding would take place.

Zhang Hao gasped, closing the ancient book with a heavy heart, forcing himself to stop thinking about it. He certainly loved mountain treasures. As long as he obtained one, he could receive rewards from the book, and perhaps unlock other functions he hadn't yet explored. Ever since the book glowed and granted him the "Mountain-Viewing Technique" inheritance, he had been wondering if the *Illustrated Record of Mountain Travels* had other hidden capabilities. He just hadn't had the time to experiment.

Logically, learning about the fox wedding was the perfect opportunity to test if the book had other functions.

But... this was just too damn dangerous.

Just following those foxes to the wedding site wasn't something a normal person could do. He had felt his hair stand on end just seeing the fox engagement; if he saw the full scene of a fox wedding, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep for weeks. It was just too eerie. Furthermore, how to actually follow the foxes to the location was a problem in itself. And to snatch a treasure under the gaze of human-like foxes and wild spirits? That was as difficult as reaching the heavens. He was only a level-one novice, not a max-level expert.

*Sigh...*

A soft sigh escaped his lips. The feeling of having a treasure right in front of him but being unable to take it was truly agonizing. Knowing there was a treasure there but being unable to get it due to the circumstances—it would have been better if he hadn't known that fox weddings brought treasures at all.

Besides, the *Illustrated Record of Mountain Travels* didn't even record what kind of treasure it was. If it had, he could have weighed the pros and cons before deciding whether to go. As it stood, it was impossible to calculate.

Zhang Hao’s face was full of conflict, his curiosity and reason locked in a fierce, evenly matched battle.

After a long while, he spat on the floor.

"Let's see if there's any way written in the *Illustrated Record of Mountain Travels*."

Muttering to himself, he picked up the ancient book once more and began to read it with painstaking care.