Volume One – The Hundred Coffin Tombs Chapter Fifteen – The Great White Fox Spirit

I smiled and said, “Although you can hold your liquor pretty well, you’re still no match for my old man.”

Li Kun was momentarily taken aback. “Did your father really drink every day when he was young?”

I nodded. “That’s right. My dad started working at a distillery when he was sixteen, and after each batch, he’d fill a small gourd with fresh liquor to bring home.”

Hearing this, Li Kun asked, “He drank the liquor straight from the still? Is that even safe?”

I shook my head helplessly. “You can’t drink it straight out of the still. That’s basically pure alcohol—it needs to be diluted with water before it’s safe. If you drank it as is, it could kill you.”

After I finished, Li Kun let out a long “Ohhh,” then seemed to remember something and turned to ask, “Hey, Liu, you have a lot of mountains around here, don’t you?”

I nodded, a little puzzled. “That’s right. Why do you ask all of a sudden?”

Li Kun took a sip of the black tea he’d just brewed and said, “Where I’m from, there aren’t any mountains, so it’s impossible to find wild game or mountain delicacies. Liu, are there still a lot of pheasants and wild rabbits around here?”

After he finished, I sat down next to him and replied, “There aren’t as many as there used to be, but there are still plenty of pheasants and rabbits in the mountains. You can see traps for rabbits and pheasants all over the place.”

Li Kun grinned and said, “How about we go up the mountain later and catch a pheasant or a rabbit or something, and have ourselves a feast? It’d go great with some drinks.”

Before I could answer, my father walked in. Upon hearing Li Kun’s suggestion, he said, “That’s a great idea. It’s been years since I tasted anything from the mountains. Son, since your comrade brought it up, you two should head out after you eat. Bring back whatever you catch, and I’ll show you what real gourmet food is.”

After my father spoke, I nodded. “Alright, we’ll go up the mountain and have a feast tonight.”

He nodded back and left the room, saying as he walked, “If you two don’t catch anything, just come back early. Don’t stay out too late—it’s winter now, the days are short, and it gets dark quickly. The mountain paths aren’t easy, so be careful.”

I called after him, “Don’t worry.”

Then Li Kun turned to me and said, “Liu, should we bring any tools or anything?”

I shook my head. “No need. Whatever we need, we can find on the mountain. Who knows, we might even get lucky and stumble across something.”

Li Kun smiled, understanding my meaning. “Alright, then let’s get going.”

I looked at him—he was still a bit tipsy. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

He waved his hand breezily. “Come on, what kind of man would I be if I couldn’t handle this? A little walk will sober me right up.”

I relaxed and got to my feet. “Alright, let’s grab a bite and then head to the mountain.”

Li Kun nodded, and the two of us headed out together.

We found a small restaurant nearby and each had a plate of fried rice. Then we made our way toward the biggest mountain in the area, famous for its wild game—Mount Lei.

Young people are always a bit impatient. As soon as we mentioned going to hunt wild pheasants, that was all Li Kun could think about. He barely paid attention to his food, shoveling down a few bites before tossing his chopsticks aside and heading out.

Mount Lei was pretty far from where we lived, and the only public transport to that area was a single bus that left at six in the morning—so Li Kun and I had no choice but to take my old “twenty-eight” bicycle.

Of course, two grown men together is always more fun than a man and a woman, but with only one bike, someone had to pedal while the other rode. Neither of us wanted to do the pedaling, so we decided to settle it with rock-paper-scissors. I pointed at the bridge up ahead and said, “Best two out of three, loser has to pedal to the bridge.”

I regretted it as soon as I said it—Li Kun won both rounds. So I ended up pedaling while he sat on the back. Li Kun was a big guy, and when he plopped down, I couldn’t even get the bike moving at first. He gave us a push from behind, and finally, we were off.

As I pedaled along, Li Kun laughed loudly behind me.

We joked and played all the way to the foot of Mount Lei.

Though the mountain had been battered by lightning ages ago, it was still vast. We weren’t heading for the summit, but rather into the dense forest covering its slopes.

It was winter, but there were still plenty of pheasants and rabbits around. As soon as we arrived, we heard pheasants calling—more than one, in fact.

Li Kun and I exchanged a look. “Wow, this place is something else,” he said. “We haven’t even started climbing and already we can hear them.”

I nodded, took the lock off the bike, and hid it between two big trees where it wouldn’t be seen—just to be safe, even though few people ever passed this way.

Once the bike was secured, I said, “Let’s head up and take a look.”

Li Kun nodded, and we started up the slope, one after the other.

The path was steep, but there was a narrow trail—either made by people or by the small animals of the mountain. The ground was dotted with delicate footprints.

I bent down to examine them—rabbit tracks. This must be a regular rabbit trail. If we had brought rabbit traps, we’d probably have some luck here.

But we didn’t have any, so all we could do was stare helplessly. I dusted off my hands and said to Li Kun, “This would be a great spot for catching rabbits. Too bad we don’t have the right gear.”

Li Kun nodded, glancing around, just about to say something, when he suddenly spotted a large, snow-white fox hiding behind a rock above us, staring down.

As soon as the white fox realized it had been seen, it let out a sharp cry, then slowly retreated behind the rock.

I heard the cry clearly, and Li Kun hurried over, grabbing my arm. “Liu, do you really have white foxes up here?”

The “white fox” is what we call the large white foxes of this region. The gray ones are called “gray foxes.” We call snakes “long worms,” and weasels are called “yellow immortals.” But the white fox has another name here: the Fox Immortal.

There are old folk beliefs around here—for example, if you find a snake in your home, you mustn’t kill or chase it away, because snakes are considered guardian spirits. If you kill or drive out the guardian spirit, misfortune will soon follow.

There’s no such superstition about gray foxes—they’re common enough. But the white fox is a different story. Here, the white fox is the so-called Fox Immortal.

It’s said that the Fox Immortal is a spiritual creature, able to understand human speech. Not long ago, there was even a tale of a white fox appearing on the road to save someone’s life.