The legend begins with becoming a white deer.

"Little master, what's wrong?"

The girl was a little worried when she saw the ghost's ever-changing expressions.

Xu Ling took a deep breath, quickly composed himself, and slowly said, "Young lady, the old monk you just mentioned... is my master."

"what?"

The girl was taken aback by what she heard.

Qi Ji listened intently from the side, feeling a sense of surprise.

He had previously heard Xu Ling mention his master, who had been traveling for over a year without sending a single letter, which was why he had left the temple to search for him. He never expected to hear the news here.

"But this news is probably not much."

Qi Ji blinked his doe-like eyes. Although human traffickers only kidnap children, anyone who tries to stop them will surely meet a bad end, given the traffickers' ruthless behavior.

If the master of the ethereal being is lucky, he will only be seriously injured and imprisoned.

If luck is bad, it's probably already...

Xu Ling stood up, solemnly clasped his hands in a gesture of respect to the girl, and said with a hint of gratitude in his voice, "Thank you for telling me about my master's whereabouts. I have been searching for him for almost a year. I never expected to hear about him from you. I will never forget this kindness."

The girl quickly stepped aside and whispered, "Little Master, you don't need to thank me. I should be thanking that old monk. If he hadn't risked his life to stop those bad guys that day, my brother wouldn't have been able to escape."

The girl lowered her head, clutching the hem of her clothes, her fingertips slightly white, her eyes filled with lingering fear and relief.

"If my younger brother is also captured, and he doesn't survive that terrible stone sieve... the consequences..."

The girl felt a mix of fear and relief when she thought about the stone sculptures she had seen before.

Fortunately, her younger brother was not arrested with her.

"After I leave here, I will go to find my brother."

The girl clenched her little fist firmly.

"Don't worry."

With a serious expression, the young man said solemnly, "After this operation at the Xuan Yin Grottoes is over and the human traffickers' headquarters is officially destroyed, I will accompany you to find your brother. Even if we search dozens of surrounding countries, I will protect you until we find your brother."

"Young master, I... thank you."

Qi Ji's golden deer-like eyes looked at the two teenagers, one a monk and the other a layman.

One of them looked very serious.

One of them nodded, his eyes red-rimmed.

A playful thought suddenly popped into Qi Ji's mind.

Along the way, they searched for their relatives, sharing both joys and sorrows. It turned out that a man and a woman might develop feelings for each other as they searched. In the end, after finding the girl's younger brother, the young monk was overcome with worldly desires and decided to leave the monastic life.

"Hehe, if that's really the case, it would be quite a wonderful thing," Qi Ji thought to himself with a smirk.

Just then, very light footsteps came from the side.

Qi Ji turned his head and found that the person who came was the woman in black.

"Has the interrogation of Su Yanji ended?" Qi Ji wondered to himself.

The woman in black glanced at the sleeping children on the ground around them, then her gaze returned to Qi Ji. Her voice was low: "Bai Lu, may I speak to you in private?"

Qi Ji nodded slightly, got up and followed her to a large tree not far away.

To be honest, he was already very curious about this mysterious woman in black, and he figured she was probably just as curious.

... ... ....

The night wind rustled through the leaves.

The distant firelight cast long, slanted shadows of the man and the deer.

"Bai Lu, first of all, I must thank you. Really, thank you so much for saving those two children."

The woman in black spoke first, her tone filled with genuine gratitude: "Although I also have a way to temporarily suppress their petrification, it only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. To completely eradicate that thing, I cannot do it with my abilities. Even with the help of some rare medicinal herbs, it will still be very troublesome in the end, and success is not guaranteed. It is far from as easy as what you did."

"Yo~"

"It's nothing, a small matter."

Qi Ji let out a low cry in response.

Then he looked up and sized up the other person, and called out again, his golden deer eyes filled with a clear question.

The meaning is clear: "Why do you have the aura of a spirit beast on you, and why is your life force so weak, like a candle flickering in the wind?"

The woman in black easily understood Qi Ji's meaning and smiled gently.

The next instant, a dark blue aura quietly rose from behind her.

In the darkness of night, nine fluffy, long fox tails slowly unfurled, swaying gently behind her, ethereal and graceful.

Deep within the illusory image, the outline of a fox, entirely black, could be vaguely seen, exuding an ancient and mysterious spiritual aura.

The woman in black said in a calm voice, "The reason I have the aura of a spirit beast is because I am a spirit beast myself. Let me introduce myself. I am the spirit beast Nine-Tailed Nether Fox, and my name is Shu Si."

"Nine-tailed Ghost Fox... Shu Si..."

Qi Ji nodded upon seeing this, and then a golden-green aura of a spirit beast rippled around him, while he responded with a clear and melodious deer cry.

The meaning is the same as introducing oneself: "I am the White Jade Spirit Deer, or simply White Deer, and my name is Qi Ji."

"Qi Ji, I didn't expect you to have given yourself a name just like me."

A hint of surprise flashed in Shu Si's eyes, then she smiled and said, "Speaking of which, I saw your news in the newspaper 'Chronicles of the Nations' created by humans a few days ago. I learned that the eleventh spirit beast has been born in the world. Although I was surprised at the time, I didn't pay much attention to it. But I didn't expect that your ability would be so peculiar. In addition to the wood attribute, you can also use the life attribute spiritual power."

Shu Si withdrew the illusory fox tail behind her, and her expression suddenly became solemn.

"Alright, Qi Ji, let's get down to business. I have two things to discuss with you."

"First, I hope you can help heal my original body."

Shu Si paused for a moment, then explained, "You asked me earlier why my life force is so weak. That's because I'm not my true form right now. I'm just an avatar of my true form, the Nine-Tailed Nether Fox. As for why I can take on a human form, that's due to my true form's special abilities. Five years ago, my true form was severely injured due to some events, and I haven't recovered yet. Originally, I planned to spend a lot of time recovering little by little, but who knew I would meet you here. Your life force contains endless vitality and has incredible healing abilities. If you're willing to lend a hand, my true form's injuries will surely heal quickly."

Shu Si looked at Qi Ji with a sincere tone.

"If this matter succeeds, I, Shu Si, will owe you a favor. In the future, I will not refuse your request."

"It really is a clone."

Qi Ji pondered to himself.

The Nine-Tailed Fox's abilities are quite mysterious: illusions, clones, and the ability to speak human language easily. I just don't know how it performs in direct combat.

Qi Ji did not agree immediately. He disliked the intangible concept of "favors" and cared more about the tangible benefits he could obtain.

"I don't want favors, do you have any precious medicine?"

Qi Jilu cried out and stated his request.

Shu Si was taken aback at first, then burst out laughing: "You want precious medicine? You're quite straightforward."

She nodded and said, "Of course. There are six precious medicinal herbs in the place where my main body resides. They are highly potent. If you are willing to help my main body recover, I will give you all six of them."

"Six plants!"

╰(°▽°)╯

Qi Ji's golden eyes suddenly lit up for a moment.

The wonderful taste of stealing five precious herbs from Su Yanji in the past was still lingering in my memory. I never expected that Shu Si would ask for six herbs in one go, one more than last time.

"Yo~"

Qi Ji nodded immediately, almost without hesitation.

"It's a deal. After settling the matter with the human traffickers, I'll go with you. A spirit beast doesn't lie to a spirit beast. If we agreed on six precious herbs, then we'll have six precious herbs."

"Okay, it's a deal."

Shu Si breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Qi Ji agreed so readily.

She had personally witnessed the miraculous effect of Qi Ji's [Breath of Life] in dispelling petrification, and knew that with Qi Ji's intervention, there was definitely hope for her physical injuries to heal.

Then Shu Si composed herself and said, "Oh, right, there's a second thing. Actually, this is to remind you."

"Qi Ji, you should be able to sense that the petrifying evil power on those children in the underground palace originates from the blood of a spirit beast."

Qi Ji nodded.

That deathly stillness, imbued with a strong, corrosive bloodlust, left a deep impression on him, and he instinctively felt repulsion and disgust.

"Although I don't know how they obtained that blood, that spirit beast was one of the culprits who severely injured my body back then."

Shu Si's tone turned colder, and her expression became serious.

"Your ability is based on life force, while that spirit beast's ability is to strip living beings of their life force and petrify them. In a sense, your origins are completely opposite to that of the spirit beast, and you are natural enemies. Therefore, once it senses your presence, it is very likely to attack you and eliminate you as soon as possible."

"If you encounter this in the future, you must be extremely careful."

Upon hearing this, Qi Ji's expression also became serious.

He let out a soft cry and pressed for the name of the spirit beast.

Shu Si slowly opened her mouth and uttered four words.

"Mysterious Stone Spirit".

"Like you, it is a four-legged beast with horns and a tail, and its body is entirely black."