The Little Fox's Immortal Cultivation Encyclopedia

The next day, before dawn, Butcher Zhu woke up. He got up in the dark, lit an oil lamp, and came out of the house.

Time to get to work.

In the courtyard, the footprints of the black pig that ran yesterday were still imprinted on the ground. Zhu the butcher glanced at them, walked to the door of the woodshed, and just as he raised his hand, before he could knock, he heard loud snoring from inside.

"Alright, I'll do it myself." Butcher Zhu rolled up his sleeves, picked up a broom, and began his daily cleaning.

After sweeping the courtyard and the area in front of the shop clean, he took down the necessary knives one by one and began to sharpen them, wiping each one clean and arranging them neatly.

After all this was done, there were already pedestrians on the street.

Butcher Zhu brought over a basin of clean water and began scrubbing the cutting board. As he scrubbed, he glanced around the area in front of his stall out of the corner of his eye.

Restaurants and eateries in the city need the freshest meat. To compete for this business, he made an agreement with many farmers that they would bring their pigs to him every day for him to slaughter. Then, while the meat was still hot, he would distribute it to each farmer's kitchen.

He kept wiping and wiping, and the east was already turning a pale white, but still no one came. Zhu the butcher was a little puzzled and anxious. He stopped what he was doing, leaned out, and craned his neck to look at the street.

Then he saw a black pig.

It appeared at the crossroads at some unknown time, took the pig rope from each passing farmer, and then nudged the farmer away with its snout.

The pig, which originally required one person to lead the rope and another to support its body, was taken over by the black pig and obediently followed it into the yard.

?

"Hey, Old Zhu, your pig is quite clever." The farmer passed by the shop, patted Butcher Zhu with a smile, and walked away.

"Haha." Butcher Zhu chuckled dryly and hurried back to the backyard, where there were already three or four pigs. They were squatting quietly against the wall, not making a sound.

He strode towards the black pig. As he got closer, he noticed that the pig had somehow found an apron he no longer wore and hastily pulled it over its body. There were words written on the apron in blood and scum.

"Master Pig of Zhu's Butcher Shop"

Butcher Zhu's eye twitched, and he suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, if you chase them away, who will control the pigs?"

The black pig glanced back at him and continued leading the pig onto the slaughtering bench. Butcher Zhu quickly stepped forward to help. He pulled the snout rope, the black pig pulled the hemp rope, he tied the front legs, and the black pig held down the hind legs.

Butcher Zhu tied up the pig, but before he could even speak, the black pig darted to the counter, grabbed a knife, and came back.

He took it blankly, picked up the knife and brandished it on the slaughtered pig. The black pig neither dodged nor flinched, but just squatted down and watched.

Butcher Zhu felt a chill run down his spine and couldn't bring himself to do it.

The black pig looked at the man suspiciously, waited for a while, and when it saw that he still didn't move, it went and fetched a knife back, then stuck its snout into the slaughtering bench.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"

Compared to watching a pig being slaughtered, Butcher Zhu could tolerate having pigs watching. He hardened his heart, gripped the pig's head tightly with his left hand, and brought the knife down with a swift motion.

"Sizzle."

Blood gushed out, and without his command, the black pig had already brought a wooden basin and steadily caught the blood.

"..."

Butcher Zhu scalds the hair, guts the meat, removes the internal organs, splits it in half, separates the edges, and trims the meat.

The pig handler shaves the pig, carries the basin, collects the internal organs, holds the pig's body, passes the hook, and wipes the floor.

Butcher Zhu was covered in sweat, whether from physical or mental exhaustion, he couldn't tell.

The black pig walked out of the courtyard with its head down, and no one knew where it went. Butcher Zhu breathed a sigh of relief and stopped thinking about it. He sorted the meat according to the order and waited for the porter he had called in advance to arrive.

Then he saw Pig Master steal two bamboo baskets from somewhere, and he carried them into the yard, all the way to the butcher's feet, where he stared longingly at the man.

Butcher Zhu looked down at the basket on his back, then at the black pig.

"..."

Butcher Zhu squatted down, secured the basket to the pig's body, put lean meat on the left, and fatty meat and offal on the right.

"Send those on the left to Peach Blossom Pavilion, and those on the right to..." After Zhu the butcher finished stating the locations, he was about to explain in detail when he saw the black pig grunt and step out the door.

Before long, the porters arrived late.

"Sorry, I was delayed on the way. Hey, where's today's meat?"

"The pig has been delivered."

The porter raised an eyebrow.

"You're only a minute late, why are you swearing?"

Master Pig was already walking steadily down the street, attracting the attention of passersby, but it didn't care at all.

What are you doing? Even if you've never eaten pork, haven't you at least seen a pig run?

But being stared at with such curiosity wasn't good, so it simply charged forward and arrived at Peach Blossom Pavilion in no time.

The waiter waiting outside the building was yawning against the door. He looked up and saw the black pig, leaving half of his yawn stuck in his mouth.

He hesitated to go forward, so he called out, "The meat delivery has arrived!"

"So early today?" The purchasing agent came out of the building. "The pork... wow, what a huge pig!"

The black pig turned to the side, showing off its apron.

The buyer took out some money and handed it to the waiter, saying, "Go and get it, I have other things to do."

The waiter stepped forward with a bitter face, took out the meat, and suddenly paused in handing over the money. He glanced around furtively, secretly poured out a few copper coins from his purse, and stuffed them into his pocket.

Seeing that no one had noticed, he smiled smugly and was about to go back upstairs when he felt his feet sink.

He lowered his head and met the black pig's gaze.

"Go away, go away, get out of here." He shook his leg.

The black pig grabbed the waiter's trouser leg, pulling him until he stumbled. Seeing that the waiter still wouldn't pay, the black pig released its grip and charged forward.

"Wait a minute, Brother Pig, I'll pay you!" The waiter took out the money faster than he ever had in his life. The black pig grunted, snatched the money, and turned to leave.

Following instructions, the black pig traveled across half of the northern city and delivered all the meat before noon. Satisfied, it grunted and headed home.

Butcher Zhu waited anxiously in his butcher shop for the black pig to return, worried that it might cause trouble outside. He was so worried that he couldn't even concentrate on selling meat. When the black pig returned safely, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But he only managed to breathe a sigh of relief. Behind the black pig, a large group of people were following closely behind.

The black pig, oblivious to its surroundings, walked to the front of the stall, found a shady spot, and lay down to rest.

The group headed straight for the butcher shop. Butcher Zhu's heart tightened, and he stared wide-eyed at their every move.

"This is Zhu's Butcher Shop."

"The pigs are trained so well, their meat must be delicious."

"Master Zhu, cut me two pounds of lean meat!"

Butcher Zhu cut the meat expressionlessly, wrapped it up, and handed it out. He felt like he'd repeated this action a thousand times, yet a crowd still surrounded him.

He turned his head briefly to look at the black pig, only to find that the creature was rapidly approaching, ramming into the crowd and rushing towards a furtive figure.

The guy was taking advantage of the fact that Butcher Zhu was too busy to pay attention to anything else and was groping the pork in the chaos.

The black pig didn't tolerate him at all and charged at him headfirst.

"Wait, the fox spirit won't let you bump into people!"

The black pig paused, hesitated for a moment, and then stomped on the other's foot with one hoof.

This is a black pig weighing 120 jin (approximately 60 kg).

"Aww—"

The screams echoed throughout the alley.