During the Zhengde period of the Ming Dynasty, in Xiaojiawan Village at the foot of Taibai Mountain, there was a carpenter named Xiao Fucai. His craftsmanship is exquisite, and he is highly praised by the villagers. Although his family was not wealthy, his reputation won him a lot of customers, so his business was good, and he had endless work to do every day.
Xiao Fucai remained single until he was 29 years old, when he heard that a young widow from a neighboring village, Zhang, was looking for a remarriage. So, he found a matchmaker and expressed his wishes to Zhang.
The matchmaker quickly convinced Chang for him, and the two decided to spend the rest of their lives together.
The wedding was simple but warm, and Xiao Fucai finally had his own family. Zhang was only 25 years old at the time, and she was very satisfied with the sturdy and capable Xiao Fucai, and felt that her new husband was much stronger than the sixty-year-old master she had married before, so she cherished the family very much.
The married life was happy and happy, and the Zhang family showed extraordinary virtuous qualities. She takes care of the housework, cooks the food, and keeps everything in the house in order.
Xiao Fucai is working hard outside, striving for a better living environment for his wife.
One day, Li Dahu, a big family in a neighboring village, came to Xiao Fucai's workshop and ordered a sandalwood cabinet. He asked Xiao Fucai to provide the materials and send them over after the production was completed, and he only bore all the costs.
Sandalwood is a rare and precious wood, and there is no such tree in the mountains behind Xiao Fucai's village, so he decided to look for it deeper in the mountains. After climbing two mountains, he finally found a sandalwood tree with a thick bowl mouth on the mountainside.
Xiao Fucai cut down the tree and excitedly carried the tree back. However, when he was halfway there, he suddenly heard the screams of animals coming from the woods. Curious, he followed the sound and found a large white fox trapped in a trap set by the hunter. The white fox was bleeding from his body, apparently stabbed by the tip of the ground thorn bamboo below when he fell into the trap.
Carpenter Xiao's heart moved, this fox is not small, the fur is so soft and beautiful, if you can get it, the fox skin may be able to exchange for a considerable fortune for yourself, and the fox meat can also eat a few meals beautifully.
He looked around to make sure there were no other animals or people nearby, then picked up a rock and threw it at the white fox. The stone hit the target accurately, and the white fox rolled a few times before falling to the ground motionless.
Carpenter Xiao excitedly ran forward and hooked the white fox with a branch.
After returning home, Carpenter Xiao peeled the fox skin and dried it, stewed the fox meat in a large pot, and the couple had a beautiful meal. After the fox skin is dried, he will take it to the county and sell it, and he will get at least 2 taels of silver.
After a few months of hurried, on this day, Carpenter Xiao went to work in a neighboring town. Because I was busy with work, I walked home at night.
As he walked on the mountain road home, a beautiful woman appeared in front of him in the moonlight like water. She wore a white dress and looked like a fairy in the forest.
She greeted her and said, "You are Carpenter Xiao, I am Widow Hu, my bed is broken, I can't sleep at night, please ask Master Xiao to help repair it." Carpenter Xiao wanted to refuse, but seeing her beautiful face and weak and helpless expression, he had no choice but to agree.
Under her leadership, Carpenter Xiao came to the outside of a cave. He was amazed and asked, "You are a widow and you live in a cave?"Aren't you afraid?”
Widow Hu said helplessly: "After the death of her deceased husband, the little woman was disgusted by her in-laws, and no one wanted to marry for a while, so she had to move to this mountain. When someone dies and is willing to marry me, then move out!”
When Carpenter Xiao heard her say this, his heart softened, and he thought to himself that this Widow Hu was indeed a beautiful woman, even much more beautiful than his wife Zhang. If it weren't for the fact that he already had a wife, he might have considered spending the rest of his life with her.
The cave is divided into three or four small rooms by large stones. Widow Hu led him into the innermost room, which was Widow Hu's bedroom, and there was a dilapidated bed against the stone wall.
Carpenter Xiao didn't have any extra words, and immediately took out his tools and began to repair the bed.
Only half an hour later, the collapsed wooden bed was completely repaired by him. At this time, Widow Hu went to the kitchen to boil hot water, made a bowl of tea, smiled and handed it to him, and asked him to drink saliva and rest.
Xiao Fucai was indeed a little thirsty, he took the tea bowl and drank most of it in one go. There was something strange about the taste of this tea, which he had never tasted before. He sat for a moment, then stood up and prepared to go home.
However, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, his body began to heat up, and sweat ran down his forehead.
At this time, Widow Hu walked up to him, looked at him with beautiful eyes and said with a smile, "Brother Xiao, this bed has been repaired, we should also try it to see how it works." It may be fine for one person to sleep on it, but if two people roll on it, I wonder if it will break”
Carpenter Xiao hurriedly said no. However, Widow Hu suddenly hugged him, hugged him tightly, and invited him to lie on the bed together.
At this moment, Carpenter Xiao understood the widow's heart. He originally wanted to refuse, but the bowl of tea he had just drunk seemed to make his body completely out of control.
In this way, the two of them rolled over on the bed for two hours, but the bed was still not broken. Seeing that the sky was about to break, Carpenter Xiao struggled to get up and wanted to leave.
However, Widow Hu grabbed him and said, "Do you still want to leave now?"Are you able to walk?”
She blew softly at him, and Carpenter Xiao felt his body begin to change, turning into a big yellow fox. She took out an iron cage and locked him in it.
Widow Hu looked at him and said with a firm look in her eyes: "Don't hide it, I am a fox fairy in the mountains." You killed my husband a few months ago and made me a widow. Originally, I wanted to kill you to get revenge, but I saw that your carpentry skills are so exquisite, and your kung fu is still good. As long as you promise to stay in the mountains and be my man, I will treat you as my husband and will not hurt you. To make sure you don't run away, starting this month, I will turn you into a fox, locked in a cage during the day, and only at night will you regain your manhood. ”
Carpenter Xiao, who turned into a fox, sighed helplessly in his heart and silently accepted the reality.
He remembered that the fox he had killed that had fallen into the trap turned out to be the man of the fox demon. He fell into her hands, maybe it was the arrangement of fate, this is also a kind of cause and effect, and it can only be recognized.
From then on, Carpenter Xiao began his miserable life that was worse than death.
During the day he was turned into a fox and spent in a cage;And at night, Widow Hu would force him to drink a strange tea, and after drinking this tea, he would be full of energy and play with Widow Hu.
More than half a month has passed, and Carpenter Xiao has been tortured by this life. He didn't know how long he would last. At this moment, Carpenter Xiao, who had turned into a fox, suddenly heard the sound of a fierce fight outside. It turned out to be his wife, Zhang, who rushed into the cave with two Taoist priests.
At the beginning, since her husband's disappearance, Zhang was very anxious. She searched everywhere for her husband's traces, but it was as if he had disappeared from the world. After searching everywhere to no avail, she decided to find a Taoist priest for fortune telling.
The Taoist priest told her that her husband was not dead, but was trapped by some kind of monster.
Zhang knelt on the ground and begged the Taoist priest for his help. In desperation, the Taoist priest decided to take another Taoist priest and Zhang's family to step into this vast mountain forest according to the guidance of divination.
After several days of arduous searching, they finally found the fox demon's cave.
The battle between the two Taoist priests and the fox demon was fierce and tense, and in the end they succeeded in eliminating the fox demon. The Taoist priest looked at the fox in the cage and knew in his heart that this was a fox turned from a human.
The Taoist priest opened the cage and released the fox, then took a bottle of wine from his pocket, took a big sip, and sprayed it at the fox. The fox was overwhelmed by the smell of alcohol, and rolled on the ground a few times in pain, and then turned back into Carpenter Xiao.
The husband and wife reunited, and the two hugged their heads and cried excitedly. They were grateful to the Taoist priest, if it weren't for his wife's insistence, if it weren't for the Taoist priest's rescue, Carpenter Xiao might have died in Huangquan.
After Carpenter Xiao returned home, after a month of recuperation, his body gradually recovered.
From then on, when he saw foxes, weasels and other animals, he would stay away, and he would not dare to provoke, let alone kill!He was well aware of the spirituality of these animals and was in awe.
Jing Yue Zhai works Author: A Fei