Chapter 60 The Clever Little Stoat

Fu Heng choked for a moment, then sneered, "This Prince, afraid of ghosts? Impossible. Countless souls have perished under my sword, why would I fear them?"

The people he had killed were all enemy soldiers, generals, bandits, and rebels. Standing on their respective sides, they were all deserving of death, none of them innocent. Even if they truly turned into vengeful spirits to haunt him, he had nothing to be rattled about.

It was simply that encountering this situation for the first time, realizing that ghosts might actually exist in this world, had dealt a massive blow to his belief system. That was what caused Chu Li to mistakenly think he was afraid of ghosts.

"You just said you were talking to a couple of white ferrets. Can you communicate with ghosts... or animals?"

Fu Heng felt that this woman's behavior was increasingly exceeding his cognitive boundaries; he even had the sensation that they were not living in the same world.

Chu Li looked at Fu Heng as if he were an idiot. "Since when did the Prince become so foolish? Is there anyone in this world who can communicate with animals? And furthermore, when did this maiden ever say that ghosts and spirits exist in this world? The Prince should not be so overly superstitious; you must believe that there are no ghosts in this world."

Fu Heng: ......

"I am going to find a little white ferret now. Does the Prince wish to come along?"

Chu Li took the initiative to end the previous topic, and seeing this, Fu Heng stopped pressing the matter, quickly quickening his pace to follow her.

"So, that pair of white ferrets also has a child? You promised them you would look for the little white ferret, which is why they gave up on slaughtering the city?"

Fu Heng was very clever and had already guessed the general outline.

"Indeed. The father and son of the Wang family happened to see the family of three white ferrets back then. Those two white ferrets had already developed a degree of spiritual intelligence and had begged the Wang family father and son to spare them, but they were still ruthlessly killed. The little white ferret went missing, so the parents assumed their child had also met a tragic end, which is why they triggered the blood curse after death."

"I told them their child was still alive, and that if they continued to create mass slaughter, it would harm the child."

Fu Heng listened attentively, without a single shred of doubt toward what Chu Li had said.

After returning that day, he had specifically gone to research legends regarding foxes, yellow weasels, white ferrets, willow-tree spirits, and gray rats. Although most of the records in the ancient texts were exaggerated anomalous tales, there was no lack of travelogues documenting animals attaining spiritual sentience.

"You are not surprised at all. Did you not suspect that I was just making up lies?"

Fu Heng answered Chu Li earnestly, "You have no reason to deceive this Prince."

After a pause, he added, "This Prince is merely an ordinary mortal who has lived for twenty winters; how could I possibly understand everything in this world? Matters concerning you sorcerers are not something I understand very well."

Take that matter, for instance... the mysterious military tally in Fang Siyao's possession was also something beyond his understanding...

Chu Li raised an eyebrow, thinking to herself that this man at least possessed some self-awareness.

***

As they spoke, they arrived at a thicket of withered trees. The ground was charred earth, and the dead tree roots sticking out crookedly from the soil clearly bore traces of having been scorched. A few scattered wild graves dotted the landscape, and as a cold wind blew past, the scene felt all the more eerie.

"This place must have experienced a wildfire," Fu Heng said as he paced toward a wild grave, noticing that the soil of the grave mound had split open, evidently unable to escape that wildfire either.

Rong City was already located in the frigid northern lands, and agriculture was not well-developed. Once open fields like this were scorched by a wildfire, it would become even more difficult for vegetation to grow in the future.

Those exposed, dead tree roots had long since lost their vitality and would crumble into dust at the slightest touch.

Chu Li took out the white ferret pelt, waved it in her hand, and suddenly, a faint rustling sound came from one of the wild graves.

Fu Heng possessed exceptional hearing and instantly grew alert. When he realized the sound was coming from the grave directly behind him, he became visibly tense.

Chu Li noticed the anomaly and could not help letting out a soft laugh.

Fu Heng: "What are you laughing at?"

Chu Li smoothed her face, instantly wiping away her smile, and said with a cold expression, "I wasn't laughing."

Fu Heng: ......

The next second, a crisp sound echoed from the wild grave. Before either Chu Li or Fu Heng could react, a white shadow shot out swiftly, leaving a blur in its wake, and immediately afterward, Chu Li felt her hand grow light.

"Squeak!"

Looking closely, it turned out to be a tiny white ferret hiding behind a grave mound, dragging the white ferret pelt it had snatched from Chu Li behind it. It exposed only its little head, glaring at Chu Li with round eyes, baring its teeth and doing its utmost to display a fierce demeanor.

Chu Li's eyes lit up. She loved cute things! This little creature was simply too endearing.

Fu Heng stood holding his long sword in place, his gaze shifting back and forth between Chu Li and the little white ferret.

"Looking at it this way, it truly does bear some resemblance to a sable, but this Prince thinks this white ferret looks much more pleasing."

Chu Li chuckled softly:

"Sables are certainly more ethereal, but this little white ferret also carries the bloodline of the Great Immortal White. Its aptitude is quite good, and it has already developed some spiritual intelligence, so it naturally appears much more lively than ordinary animals."

Look at those wise little eyes of its; it was practically scolding her, taking her for the enemy who murdered its parents.

Fu Heng examined it closely and found that this white ferret indeed seemed to possess human-like understanding; he could actually read its expression.

***

"Squeak! Squeak-squeak!"

The little white ferret stood up on its hind legs, baring its teeth and wailing at Chu Li. Its slender little body trembled intensely from the force of its screeching, and even its snow-white fur seemed to be straining with effort.

The more Chu Li looked at it, the more she adored it, and she could not help taking a step toward it.

The little white ferret instantly acted as if facing a formidable enemy, its fur standing completely on end. Its sharp, piercing cries grew increasingly rapid, as if it might pass out from agitation at any second.

Seeing this, Chu Li had no choice but to halt her steps, squatting down halfway with a helpless expression as she looked at the little white ferret.

"Don't be nervous. I'm not the one who harmed your parents; I'm here to help you."

With that, Chu Li extended her hand and beckoned to the little white ferret.

Clearly, the little white ferret had not calmed down yet and kept a wary eye on Chu Li.

One of its paws remained tightly hooked around the white ferret pelt behind it—that was its father's pelt, which still retained his scent.

Those damp, watery little eyes stared unblinkingly at Chu Li, while Chu Li radiated goodwill as much as she could.

Eventually, the little white ferret calmed down enough to sense the unusual aura emanating from the human female before it.

This was... the scent of a mystic arts practitioner.

"Squeak?"

Chu Li curved the corners of her lips and once again extended an invitation to the little white ferret.

"Would you like to come with me? I promised your parents I would find you so they could depart in peace. I will take care of you until you reach adulthood. Once you are grown, you can choose for yourself whether you wish to stay or return to the mountain forests to find a mate and raise kits."

Fu Heng: ......

Why did this woman sound as though she were coaxing a little child?

And didn't she say she couldn't communicate with animals? Weren't they chatting quite well right now?