Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 1: Taoist Hu

At daybreak, stalls selling breakfast had already been set up on both sides of the streets in Hejian Prefecture.

Smoke from cooking fires rises, people come and go, creating a scene of peace and prosperity.

The stall in front of Chen Ji was selling the famous donkey meat hotpot.

Red donkey meat in the pot, roasting on white fire under the stove.

The donkey meat, braised with more than ten kinds of spices, mixed with the aroma of freshly roasted wheat, drifts in the wind, which is extremely tempting.

A father and daughter bought some steamed buns and took a bite of them without waiting to leave.

The stewed buns were dense, with the pastry crumbs scattered all over the floor. His cheeks were puffed up, with donkey fat flowing down his face, revealing a strange sense of satisfaction.

Chen Ji widened his eyes and licked his lips with his thick tongue.

"It looks delicious, I really want to try one!"

“Ah-ah…Ah-ah…”

The donkey behind him suddenly turned his head, looked to the side and screamed.

Chen Ji looked over and saw a burly man in a coarse cloth shirt pushing a cart parked beside the stall.

A donkey with its skin removed was lying on the cart.

The cart was covered with red meat and white bones. The donkey's head hung from the cart board, and its dead white eyes stared straight at Chen Ji. Blood dripped from between its teeth and rolled into a bloody mud ball on the loess. Flies immediately swarmed over to compete for the food.

"Old Li, I've brought you a donkey! Your business is really good. You sold a whole donkey in just one day."

The sturdy man took out a towel, wiped the sweat off his face and sighed.

"That's a craft passed down from our ancestors. You won't find another one like it in Hejian Prefecture!"

The stall owner shouted in response, glancing behind him.

"I just bought two donkeys yesterday. I'd like you to take them over and help me deal with them later."

"Easy to say!"

The strong man unloaded the donkey, turned around and looked at Chen Ji with admiration.

"A good donkey can produce at least 300 kilograms of meat!"

As he said this, he reached out and grabbed Chen Ji's neck.

Chen Ji looked at the strong man, watched his movements, listened to the sounds, then turned his head to see his own body. His body instantly felt cold and some memories came to his mind.

"Oh no! I'm a donkey!"

……

The hustle and bustle of the street gradually faded, and Chen Ji finally remembered everything.

He didn't originally belong to this world. Three days ago, he got lucky while crossing the road after work, and when he woke up, he was already a donkey.

Perhaps it was a side effect of traveling through time, but my previous memories were a blur. I only remembered that two days ago someone took me to the mule and horse market and sold me for five taels of silver.

He just woke up a little today and fell into the hands of the butcher.

Chen Ji suddenly felt anxious, short of breath, and started to tremble.

If it were a donkey from another place, it might still have the opportunity to be used as a means of transportation, a mount, or to carry goods.

But this is Hejian!

No donkey could walk out of the river alive...

“Ah-ah…Ah-ah…”

Chen Ji was terrified and immediately screamed for help, but what he heard was a sharp donkey bray, which attracted the attention of everyone around him.

"Dad, look, this donkey seems very scared."

The girl holding the donkey meat BBQ suddenly pointed at Chen Ji and spoke.

"Is it?"

The man glanced at Chen Ji, disapprovingly, and squatted down to coax his daughter lovingly.

"You want it to be scared, that way the fire cake will taste good."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, take a bite and see."

The girl picked up the fire and took a big bite, her red little mouth was unclear and her eyes narrowed into crescents.

"It's indeed delicious, Daddy."

The girl bit into the fire cake, forgetting what she had just seen and concentrating on eating.

Chen Ji lowered his head, looked around and groaned.

Everyone around him was laughing, and no one noticed that he was not a donkey, but a human being.

The strong man's hand had already touched Chen Ji's neck, untied the rope, and pulled him out.

Chen Ji was terrified to the extreme.

I wanted to run, but I had no strength at all. I could only grit my teeth and press my limbs against the ground as if they were filled with lead, refusing to move an inch.

The strong man tore twice, lowered his head and stared into Chen Ji's eyes, and suddenly the strength in his hands loosened.

"Strange! I've killed donkeys all my life, but I've never seen donkey eyes like these. They're so round, they look like a pair of human eyes. It's really scary!"

Chen Ji trembled all over, thinking that there would be a turning point.

Unexpectedly, the strong man turned around and took a sack from the cart and put it on Chen Ji's head.

"These eyes are creepy. If you cover them up, you won't be able to see. No matter what you are, I'm going to kill you quickly. I hope you'll be reborn into a good family in your next life!"

As the sack was put on him, Chen Ji's vision suddenly darkened and his heart was completely dead.

As expected, there is no such thing as meeting a noble person on the roadside. I am probably going to die here.

Just then, a voice came out from the crowd.

"Wait! This donkey looks strong and healthy. It would be a shame to kill it. How about selling it to me?"

"Master Hu is here!"

People who were buying fire cakes nearby greeted him respectfully.

There was a sack on Chen Ji's head, but it was not clear.

Through the light and shadow that came through the gaps, I could vaguely see that the speaker was an old Taoist priest in a grey robe with white hair and a youthful face. In his hand he was holding a fortune-telling flag that he used to tell fortunes and read faces.

Someone nearby introduced this Taoist priest Hu to someone he didn't know, saying that he was very accurate in fortune-telling and reading characters, and that he really had the skills.

"What does the Taoist priest want with this donkey?" the stall owner asked in confusion.

"I've been practicing diligently these past few days, and I'm planning to go out and visit friends, discuss Taoism, and travel the world... I just happen to be short of strength." "In that case, I should give it to you, Taoist priest!"

The stall owner bowed.

"I spent five taels of silver to buy this donkey. Taoist priest, just compensate me according to this amount."

"Wouldn't that be a waste of your time? It's not appropriate. I should give you an extra two cents."

The old Taoist took out a bag of small change and picked out some to give to the stall owner.

Five taels of silver was not a small sum, so the stall owner did not dare to be careless. He asked someone to look after the stall and went to a nearby store to borrow a scale. When he came back, he looked incredulous.

"Master, you are very capable. It is exactly five taels and two cents, not a cent off."

"It's good that it's not bad. I'll take this donkey with me."

"Master Taoist, please excuse me."

"Shh!"

The old Taoist took off the sack on Chen Ji's head, and light returned to his eyes.

"let's go."

The old Taoist slowly pulled the rope and led Chen Ji out of the crowd.

At first, Chen Ji couldn't believe it, until he walked out of the city gate and saw the poplar and locust trees standing upright on both sides of the road, the breeze was light and the clouds were clear. He finally believed that he had survived and didn't have to worry about becoming the donkey meat hotpot in the shop for breakfast tomorrow. His steps became lighter and lighter.

"How could there be someone as strange as you? You don't feel sad about being turned into a donkey, but you're so happy to escape the chopping block?"

The old Taoist suddenly spoke.

"Ah!"

Chen Ji screamed in shock, his brisk steps stopped in mid-air, and he fell heavily to the ground. He turned his head and stared at the old Taoist with a pair of eyes that looked neither human nor donkey, and all the hairs on his body stood on end.

He wanted to survive, but he didn't want anyone to see that he was really a human being.

Although having the body of a donkey and the heart of a human being is not glorious, it is his biggest secret at the moment.

Moreover, he just heard people around him say that the old Taoist was only good at fortune-telling, so how could he know him personally?

"Don't be afraid. I'm not their accomplice. I just saw that you have three souls and seven spirits. So I know you are not a real donkey, but a person who has been harmed by the evil magic of animal creation."

The old Taoist stopped and said seriously.

Chen Ji stood there in a daze, his heart in turmoil.

"Three souls and seven spirits? The evil method of creating animals? What the hell is that? Aren't I dressed as a donkey?"

While still coming back to his senses, the old Taoist frowned again.

"What kind of grass are you talking about? Are you hungry?"

Chen Ji was speechless, not knowing what to say. After a moment of silence, he suddenly realized something else.

What he just made was the bray of a donkey. How did the old Taoist understand it?
"Ah!"

Chen Ji shouted again.

"You're asking that?"

The old Taoist looked at Chen Ji with a smile, opened his mouth and let out the same loud donkey's bray, but to Chen Ji it sounded just like a human voice.

Then the old Taoist turned his head and looked at the branches beside the road, where birds chirped. The birds on the trees spread their wings in response, and it took a long while for them to stop. The old Taoist closed his eyes and nodded, enjoying it quite a bit.

When the birdsong gradually subsided, the old Taoist slowly spoke: "Bird and animal language is just a small practice."

Creating animals? Cultivating? Spoken bird and animal language?

Chen Ji was stunned, and a huge sense of absurdity and unreality emerged in his mind.

Where have I traveled to?
"Let's go! The method of creating animals cannot be solved in three days. You don't want to be a donkey for the rest of your life, do you?"

The old Taoist urged.

Chen Ji didn't have time to think about it. No matter how strange and wonderful this world was, he had to become a human first.

There is a small river outside the city with gurgling water.

When Chen Ji saw the water, for some reason, a fire suddenly ignited in his heart and body, burning his mouth so dry that he wished he could dive into the river and drink up the entire river.

But he was worried that this was some kind of evil magic, so he didn't dare to act rashly.

"Don't be so tolerant. The law of creating animals requires drinking a lot of water to break it. Go away quickly."

The old Taoist's voice sounded slowly, and he took off the saddle from Chen Ji.

Chen Ji was no longer burdened and jumped into the river to drink.

After a while.

A donkey skin covered with mud and sand was piled on the shore. A naked handsome young man stood up in the water, his eyes bloodshot, and he bowed towards the river bank.

"Thank you for saving my life, Taoist priest!"

But when he looked up, he found that the old Taoist had hidden far away, with a gray Taoist robe lying on the ground.

"Put it on first!"

Without an inner garment, his crotch felt empty, and the linen fabric was a bit prickly. Chen Ji was not used to it, but in order to figure out what was going on as quickly as possible, Chen Ji quickly put on his clothes and walked back to the old Taoist priest and bowed.

"Thank you for saving my life, Taoist priest. Oh, and I will collect the silver as soon as possible and return it to you."

Chen Ji thought about the silver he had just received. It would be bad to let the Taoist priest save his life and still lose money. Although this world looked different from the ancient times he knew, it should not be difficult to make some money.

"It's okay. It's just a small favor, but it's better than burning a life."

The old Taoist waved his hand, looked at Chen Ji again, lowered his head and glanced at the ground, and suddenly he was amazed.

"Just now you were a donkey. I only saw that you were not a donkey. I didn't expect you to become a human now. It's so strange."

"Master, what's strange?"

Chen Ji looked down at himself. His arms and legs were intact, and his shadow in the water showed that he was a handsome young man. There was nothing wrong with him.

"Your three souls are damaged, and your seven spirits are incomplete. Your soul should be as light as air, but it is as thick as ink. This is strange."

"You seem to be a normal person in your behavior and speech, but you have no memory at all and you have the signs of a missing soul. This is the second strange thing."

"Am I right?"

Chen Ji's face was filled with horror.

I didn't expect that this old Taoist priest was almost able to see through my origins.

She was stunned for a moment and pursed her lips.

"How did the Taoist priest know this?"

(End of this chapter)