The Love of Mingya in the Fox Spirit

Fox Demon Mingya's Love for Axe Little Stone

　For a brief introduction, please see the title; for further information, please see the table of contents; and for even more details, feel free to click and take a look. Book club QQ number: 751466739

Chapter One: "New Life"

"Ah Shi, quickly take Ah Ming and run! The monster is coming to the village to eat people again!"

Whose voice is that? Am I sleeping alone in the dorm? Is it the dorm supervisor coming to check the rooms again?

Zhuge Ming suddenly opened his eyes. Instead of the familiar white ceiling, he was greeted by a vast blue sky. Around him weren't towering concrete buildings, but rather rows of mud-brick huts, as if he had stumbled upon a remote, impoverished mountain village without internet access. He was being carried away at breakneck speed by a complete stranger, the violent jolting causing him intense pain.

"Who are you? Why are you hiding behind my back? In broad daylight, under the clear sky, do you think you can forcibly abduct me, the flower of our motherland?"

Upon hearing Zhuge Ming's words, the man carrying him was taken aback. Given the critical moment, he didn't quite catch what Zhuge Ming was saying. So, as he ran, he exclaimed happily, "Ah Ming, you're finally awake! You've been unconscious for two days. The village doctor said you might never wake up again. I was so scared!"

I was unconscious for two days? Did I sleep for two days straight? That's impossible, I'm not a koala, I can't sleep that much.

Another violent jolt, and Zhuge Ming's fragile body couldn't withstand it. His whole body felt like it was about to fall apart, and he grimaced in pain.

His head started to ache again, and a memory that didn't belong to Zhuge Ming suddenly appeared.

After a while, Zhuge Ming finally figured out the ins and outs of the matter.

"I actually time-traveled..." Zhuge Ming muttered speechlessly.

The owner of this body is also named Zhuge Ming. He grew up in a small village called Zhuge Village. Because the village is far from human cities, it is closer to uncivilized land (that is, a place where there are no human settlements and wild animals are everywhere). In addition, the land here is barren and cannot be used to grow crops on a large scale.

Therefore, in order to make a living, the villagers had no choice but to go out hunting to obtain animal meat, and then travel over mountains and rivers to the city to exchange it for food to survive.

The owner of this body is 8 years old. According to the village tradition, he was supposed to go hunting in the forest with the village hunters, but he was accidentally hit head-on by a crazed wild boar. He then fainted due to severe injuries and finally died after two days of hard work. After that, his body was taken over by Zhuge Ming.

The person carrying Zhuge Ming on his back is named Zhuge Shi. He is one of Zhuge Ming's few friends. Zhuge Ming is an orphan who lost both his parents at a young age and grew up relying on the charity of others. Lacking parental love from childhood, he became withdrawn and had very few friends.

However, precisely because he had rarely experienced love, Zhuge Ming took every relationship extremely seriously. This was also the reason why he had such a good relationship with Zhuge Shi. Therefore, after Zhuge Ming was injured, Zhuge Shi took him to his home so that he could take care of him.

"No wonder I feel unbearable pain all over my body. It turns out this body itself is seriously injured. I wonder if I will also succumb to these injuries and die? No way! Dying right after transmigrating would be such a disgrace to our army of transmigrators." Zhuge Ming felt a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Roar!" A roar suddenly came from behind, and Zhuge Ming turned his head with difficulty to look back. What he saw almost scared him so much that he traveled back in time.

It turned out that a tiger with its jaws wide open was pouncing on Zhuge Ming from behind. Zhuge Ming could clearly see bits of flesh on the tiger's sharp teeth, accompanied by a stench strong enough to knock a person unconscious.

At that moment, the tiger's mouth was only centimeters away from me. Even though I knew I might be saying goodbye to this world where I wouldn't even leave a mark on my butt, I, Zhuge Ming, even if I die, even if you bite me to death, I will still say in my decaying voice: "Couldn't you have brushed your teeth before you tried to eat me?"

Just when Zhuge Ming thought he was about to pass away peacefully again, someone suddenly shouted: "Demon, stop your arrogance! Behold my inescapable net!"

As soon as the man finished speaking, a large net shimmering with golden light appeared, binding the tiger demon that was only 0.0001 centimeters away from Zhuge Ming. Then the man shouted, "Activate the sword formation!"

Suddenly, the sword he was carrying on his back flew out of its scabbard and, as if it had eyes, stabbed at the tiger demon with lightning speed.

"Roar!" The tiger demon let out a mournful cry, and its body went limp as it collapsed, splashing blood all over Zhuge Ming's face.

Seeing this, Zhuge Shi, who was running for his life, stopped. He was still in shock and didn't say a word for a long time.

As an ambitious young man of the new generation, Zhuge Ming had never experienced such a grand scene before, but he had watched many 3D movies. Therefore, his ability to accept such situations was much stronger than that of Zhuge Shi, a poor and unsophisticated child from a remote village. After a moment of stunned silence, he began to examine the person who had saved the two of them.

His black hair was bound by a crown with the Tai Chi symbol. He looked like a middle-aged man, with a determination in his eyes that was unusual for ordinary people. He wore a yellow Taoist robe, and although he was thin, he was still upright, which made him look very reliable. The white leg wraps on his feet showed his competence.

That was definitely a flying sword! It was so cool! This world seems to be more about metaphysics than technology. No, this person might be the starting point for my contact with the true power of this world. In order to survive, I need to get closer to him and find out what kind of world I am in.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Ming composed himself and weakly clasped his hands, saying, "I am Zhuge Ming, thank you for saving my life, Daoist Master."

Huh? You're asking why Zhuge Ming suddenly became so refined and cultured? Just kidding. What can't we modern young people do? After watching so many period dramas, it's a piece of cake for us to pretend to be cultured and well-mannered young people.

"Hmm?" The Taoist priest sighed softly, seemingly curious as to why there would be a well-mannered child in this remote and impoverished place. After all, this was almost a desolate and uninhabited area, where the residents were already struggling to survive, let alone educate their children.

"No need for formalities, it was just a small favor. I was merely passing by when I saw these demons causing trouble. As a member of the human race, how could I allow these demons to harm the people at will? Let me deal with these demons first."

The Taoist priest waved his hand, his anger growing stronger as he looked at the monsters still devouring people in the village. Then, he spoke to us indignantly.

The Taoist priest turned around, his back to Zhuge Shi and Zhuge Ming, and began chanting incantations. As his voice grew louder and faster, the sword stuck in the tiger demon's head emitted a dazzling light. Suddenly, the sword was pulled from the tiger demon's head and flew into the air, then multiplied into two, then four... In no time, countless swords were swirling above our heads, like a cloud of swords.

The man-eating monsters in the village also noticed the countless swords overhead and sensed the immense power within the sword cloud. They all stopped what they were doing and stared at us tremblingly. A pig monster, steeling itself, stepped forward and said:

"Who are you? We are demons under the command of the raging lion of Qiaoling Mountain. I advise you not to meddle in other people's business, or my king will be very impolite to you."

"Hmph! How could I, the dignified Daoist Tianyun, be afraid of a mere lion demon? You have acted recklessly and cruelly within my human territory, harming my fellow human beings. Today, I will make you pay for your crimes in blood!!"

The Taoist priest replied coldly. Then, with a wave of his hand, the sword clouds hovering above his head rained down, accurately striking the monsters in the village. Before long, none of the monsters survived.

Chapter Two: "Becoming an Apprentice of Tianyun"

Seeing the monsters that had been rampaging just moments before wiped out in the blink of an eye, the villagers stared in stunned disbelief at Daoist Tianyun.

An elderly man with gray hair and a hunched back walked out from the crowd, leaned on a cane, bowed to Daoist Tianyun, and said respectfully, "Thank you for your help, Daoist Master, for saving the lives of everyone in the village. Although our village has been attacked by monsters before, they were all minor incidents. Today, for some reason, there are many more monsters than usual. If it weren't for you, Daoist Master, I'm afraid the whole village would have suffered at the hands of the monsters today."

"Yes, yes, thanks to this Taoist priest, otherwise I would have almost been eaten by that monster," a villager said with lingering fear.

"Mommy!!!" a child who had lost a loved one cried out.

Zhuge Ming looked at the old man and, from the body's past memories, discovered that he was the village chief of Zhuge Village, Zhuge Zhong, who was also Zhuge Shi's grandfather. Having grown up eating food from many families, he had received a lot of care from him since childhood, so Zhuge Ming was very grateful to this old man.

Daoist Tianyun quickly helped the village chief up and said solemnly, "Old man, there's no need for such formalities. We are all human beings and should support each other and fight against external enemies. Moreover, the demon race is inherently cruel. Since ancient times, humans and demons have been irreconcilable enemies. Subduing demons and eliminating evil is the duty of us cultivators. Therefore, I cannot accept your bow."

"This Taoist priest seems quite upright; he should be a reliable backer. I've just arrived in this world and am still too unfamiliar with it. I need someone with a broad perspective to help me understand it. Besides, this village is frequently attacked by monsters, which is extremely dangerous. For my own safety, I'd better cling to this powerful figure as soon as possible. But how can I get him to take me away?" Zhuge Ming thought to himself.

"You're too kind, Daoist Master. While that may be true, there are very few people in this world who care about the world like you. I have a request that you would be happy to grant."

"Oh? What is it?" Daoist Tianyun asked in confusion.

"As you can see, Daoist Master, we mortals who don't know magic were able to deal with the previous monster invasions, but from today onwards, there will likely be even more and stronger monsters coming. The village's current strength is simply insufficient to resist the horde of demons, and Daoist Master will not be staying here for long. Therefore, we hope that Daoist Master can take some of the young children in our village as disciples and teach them magic so that they can protect the village in your place," the village chief earnestly said.

Upon hearing the village chief's words, Zhuge Ming couldn't help but mentally shout "666!" to him.

"What do you call a divine assist? This is a god-level teammate! Village Chief, I love you to death."

Upon hearing this, Daoist Tianyun fell into deep thought.

As Tianyun Daoren reached middle age, he felt that his strength had reached a bottleneck. In addition, with the increase of age, his physical condition would also decline. He knew that he would probably not be able to break through to the next realm in this lifetime. However, he did not want his skills to be lost to anyone and wanted to cultivate some useful talents for the future human race. Therefore, finding a suitable disciple to inherit his mantle was one of his purposes for this trip.

Just then, he heard the village chief say this, so Daoist Tianyun pondered for a moment and replied, "Old man, I promise you that I will recruit disciples in your village. However, I must make it clear that I will only select one or two children to follow me when I recruit disciples, as I will focus on quality over quantity."

The village chief was overjoyed to hear that Daoist Tianyun had agreed, and quickly said, "Of course, of course. As long as Daoist Master agrees, this old man will be satisfied." After saying that, he waved to the surrounding villagers, and soon some villagers came with wine and meat. The village chief took the wine and meat and respectfully handed them to Daoist Tianyun.

"Thank you, Daoist Master. Our village is extremely poor and has no gold or silver treasures. We only have the meat from the animals hunted by these hunters and some homemade Liang wine to express our gratitude. We hope that you will not find these things too bad and will accept them."

Daoist Tianyun laughed heartily: "Hahaha, I wouldn't accept any worldly possessions even if you gave them to me, but I will accept this wine and meat."

He then took the bag containing the wine, took a big gulp, and exclaimed, "Good wine!!" He then began to devour the animal meat given to him by the village chief.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Daoist Tianyun turned and walked towards Zhuge Ming and Zhuge Shi. When he reached them, he stopped and looked at them, saying, "One of you is exceptionally intelligent, and the other refused to abandon his friend and escape alone in times of crisis. Since I saved you, it is a matter of fate between us. I wish to take you two as my disciples and teach you magic and the principles of being a good person. What do you say?"

"Oh ho? I knew that the nine-year compulsory education in my great Celestial Empire and the plot of TV dramas are still very useful. The deliberately refined and cultured appearance I showed earlier really worked. This Taoist priest was able to see that I am intelligent and have good judgment at a glance." Zhuge Ming thought happily.

Upon realizing this, Zhuge Ming disregarded his physical pain and hurriedly got off Zhuge Shi's back. At the same time, he pulled the still bewildered Zhuge Shi to kneel on the ground and then kowtowed three times with difficulty, saying as he kowtowed, "A teacher for a day is a father for life. Master, please accept this bow from your disciple Zhuge Ming."

Seeing this, Zhuge Shi also imitated Zhuge Ming and bowed to Tianyun Daoist in a very respectful manner.

When the surrounding villagers saw that Daoist Tianyun had accepted Zhuge Ming and Zhuge Shi as his disciples, although they were somewhat disappointed that their own children had not been chosen, they still offered their blessings to the village chief, saying, "Village chief, your child is promising! Shi has been accepted as a disciple by such a powerful Daoist, he will definitely be much more capable than us in the future. Your family will never have to worry about eating meat again."

The village chief was overjoyed to see his grandson chosen, but he humbly said in response to everyone's blessings, "Haha, this brat has been restless since he was little. Now that the Taoist priest has taken him away, I can finally have some peace of mind."

After the two finished bowing, Daoist Tianyun nodded in satisfaction, smiled, and bent down to help them up: "Disciple, please rise quickly."

When Tianyun Daoren's hand touched Zhuge Ming, Zhuge Ming felt a strange power coming from Tianyun Daoren's hand, which quickly spread throughout Zhuge Ming's body. Then Zhuge Ming felt a series of sharp pains and simply fainted.

When Zhuge Shi saw Zhuge Ming lying unconscious on the ground, he asked anxiously, "Ah Ming, Ah Ming, what happened to you? Ah Ming, are you alright?"

Tianyun Daoist smiled and explained, "Don't panic, Xiaoshi. I saw that Xiaoming was seriously injured before. Although I don't know how he managed to hold on until now, this can't go on forever. So I injected some of my magic power into Xiaoming's body in the form of healing. His injuries will be almost healed when he wakes up."

If Zhuge Ming were still awake, he would probably jump up and punch Tianyun Daoren in the knee, shouting, "Don't call me Xiaoming! I can't bear such a grand name as Xiaoming!" Unfortunately, he can't hear these words now, so of course he can't resist.

"Thank you, Master. Thank you, Master." Upon hearing that Zhuge Ming was alright and his injuries were about to heal, Zhuge Shi said gratefully to Daoist Tianyun.

"It's alright. Go and say goodbye to your family first. Once Xiaoming wakes up, I will take you two away from this place, teach you magic, and help you understand this world."

"Yes, Master," Zhuge Shi replied, then ran towards his family.

"Master, why not bring A-Ming to my humble abode so that I may treat him to a proper meal?"

"No need. Ah Ming's body is recovering now, so he shouldn't move around too much. I'll also set up an array for you to prevent those demons from causing trouble again."

"Thank you, Daoist Master." Then, Daoist Tianyun instructed the village chief to leave one villager to guard Zhuge Ming, while he accompanied the village chief to set up the formation. Seeing this, the villagers scattered to their homes to repair their damaged homes and dispose of the corpses of the monsters killed by Daoist Tianyun. However, homes can be rebuilt, but how can those who lost their lives in this calamity return? The historical tapestry of humanity and monsters is destined to be stained only with blood.

Before leaving, Daoist Tianyun looked at Zhuge Shi's back, then turned to look at Zhuge Ming, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and murmured, "I hope that you two can inherit my mantle and carry it forward. I may not be able to fulfill the wishes of the previous generation, so I can only entrust them to you. I hope you will not disappoint me."

Chapter Three: "Leaving the World of Fox Demons"

An hour later, Zhuge Ming slowly woke up.

The first thing Zhuge Ming did after waking up was to check his physical condition. After all, the excruciating pain he had just experienced had truly terrified him. When he noticed the changes in his body, he immediately realized that his newly recognized master had probably been healing him. Not only could he no longer feel the pain he had experienced before, but he also felt as if he had taken some kind of stimulant, and his condition was better than ever before.

Looking at his master, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground with his eyes closed in meditation, Zhuge Ming felt a surge of gratitude. He quickly stood up, bowed to Daoist Tianyun, and said, "Thank you, Master, for healing my injuries."

Upon hearing this, Daoist Tianyun opened his eyes and saw that Zhuge Ming had woken up. He then stopped meditating. Just then, Zhuge Shan finished saying goodbye to his family and returned to Daoist Tianyun's side. However, Zhuge Shi's eyes were filled with tears as he cried to Zhuge Ming, "Ming, so many people in the village have died, and many of my playmates are gone..."

Seeing Zhuge Shi weeping uncontrollably, Zhuge Ming was at a loss for words to comfort him. After all, this was the cruelty of reality, the law of nature. There was never any right or wrong in the conflict between humans and demons. Humans could eat animals, and demons could eat humans in return. There was no reason for it. If there was any right or wrong, then the only mistake was weakness. The strong prey on the weak. Only by becoming strong could one protect one's life and truly do what one wanted to do.

Thinking of this, Zhuge Ming planted a seed of wanting to become stronger in his heart, just waiting for the right time to let it take root and sprout.

Daoist Tianyun didn't say anything, but sighed heavily, and then said to the two of them in a deep voice: "In a moment, I will take you two brothers away from your hometown. While Xiaoming is unconscious, I will also set up an array around the village. This array can protect the village for 10 years."

However, this formation will also disappear in ten years due to the insufficient magical power I left behind. Therefore, you two will need to replenish its magical power. This is also the goal I set for you. Within ten years, you must cultivate your Taoist arts to a certain level before you can replenish its magical power.

"Yes, Master," Zhuge Shi and Zhuge Ming replied in unison.

Zhuge Shi had also recovered. After all, this guy had always been the carefree type; he was injured yesterday, but today he was back to his energetic self. Zhuge Shi scratched the back of his head and asked in confusion, "But Master, how do you know when one has reached a certain level in Taoist cultivation?"

"Since ancient times, humans have been good at wisdom but not strength, while demons have been good at strength but not wisdom. Being able to fight against powerful demons is a manifestation of one's own great mastery of the Dao. When you can fight against a demon king on your own, that will be when you have truly achieved something," Tianyun Daoist patiently replied.

"Wait, did I hear that right? Humans are good at wisdom but not strength, demons are good at strength but not wisdom. Why does that sound so familiar? Oh my god, isn't that a classic line from the world of Fox Spirit Matchmaker? No way? I didn't come to this world, did I?"

Tianyun Daoist's words stirred up a storm in Zhuge Ming's heart. To verify his conjecture, Zhuge Ming tentatively asked Tianyun Daoist, "Master, who is the most powerful among the demons now?"

"Currently, there are five major powers in the demon realm: Tushan Fox Domain, Xixi Sand Fox Domain, the Southern Kingdom of the Borderlands, the Northern Mountain Empire, and the most mysterious Aolai Kingdom. Among the first four known powers, Huan Du Qingtian, the ruler of the Southern Kingdom, has the most profound power. Tushan Honghong, who has suddenly risen to prominence in the last hundred years, is also a force to be reckoned with. The strength of Aolai Kingdom is even more unfathomable, so you'd better not provoke the people of Aolai Kingdom in the future."

Zhuge Ming was speechless, realizing he had indeed transmigrated into the world of a fox spirit. He should have watched the entire anime carefully back then. Having confirmed his world, the first thing to do was to confirm his timeline.

"However, Master just mentioned that Tu Shan Hong Hong has risen to prominence in the last hundred years, which means that Tu Shan Hong Hong has not yet rekindled her relationship with Dongfang Yuechu. It seems that the main storyline has not yet begun. No, there is still too little information. I need more information," Zhuge Ming thought to himself.

"Master, since the demon race has so many experts, isn't the human race in a very dangerous situation right now?"

"That's not the case. Although the demon race is powerful, none of the major demon kings are willing to be subordinate to others. Therefore, the demon race's strength is scattered, and they are unwilling to unite. Individual forces cannot compare with the Dao Alliance, which has royal families."

Unfortunately, the human race originally had another pillar of strength—the Eastern Spirit Clan, a family of divine fire. However, the old patriarch of the Eastern Clan passed away a few years ago, leaving the clan without a successor and causing it to slowly decline. "Tianyun Daoist also expressed his regret when mentioning the Eastern Spirit Clan.