The woman stood in the doorway, casting a shadow of a fox on the ground from the light outside. The human skin that had thrown me aside earlier squatted at her feet like a dog, shaking its head and scanning me with its eye sockets filled with dry grass. The woman stroked the smooth top of the human skin's head with one hand, turning her eyes and laughing sinisterly, "Why resist? Isn't it better to be obedient like him?" Having been cornered by the stone fox, I no longer knew what fear was. Gritting my teeth, I grabbed a table leg from the ground and charged at the stone fox, aiming the pointed end at it. The stone fox merely waved its hand lightly, and I was lifted into the air again, crashing heavily against the wall. This time, I fell so hard that I couldn't even stand up, half-leaning against the wall, glaring at the stone fox: "You are too much... on what grounds..." "Still just a child!" the stone fox shook its head and laughed, "I can bully you because I'm stronger than you. Is that even a question? Come with me!" The stone fox extended its hand from three meters away, its bloodied palm growing larger in my sight. In just a few seconds, that bloody hand had blocked my view. The moment its fingers gathered in the air, I felt as if I was being lifted, involuntarily trying to stand up. This is it! My grandfather is gone; no one can save me now. I couldn't bear to imagine what would happen if I fell into its hands. Just as I closed my eyes, waiting for death, two loud bangs suddenly echoed from the walls of the ancestral house, like bowstrings being released. Immediately after, two gusts of wind flew past my ears. Before I could react, the sound of the wall collapsing followed, along with the stone fox's scream as the glass shattered and flew away. In an instant, the sounds in the room changed four times in succession. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was two blood-stained crossbow bolts and pieces of wall plaster scattered on the ground. As I tried to get up to see what was happening, a figure dressed like a eunuch from a movie appeared in the room. With an elegant gesture, they picked up a crossbow bolt from the ground, sniffed it under their nose, and muttered to themselves, "Still not ruthless enough! If I had acted a bit later, I could have taken its life." I asked tremulously, "Who are you?"
Han Zong seemed to understand my thoughts: "No need to look; that fox is seriously injured and won't come looking for you within seven days. We have time to chat." "Please, ancestral master, have a seat outside!" I led Han Zong to the main room, poured him some tea, and lit a cigarette. Han Zong was not polite; he pinched the cigarette, took a puff, and said, "This is the only thing that pleases the old master." Han Zong smoked slowly and said, "Don't take what happened earlier to heart; it's not your fault for looking down on us. After all, we are just an old ghost who has lived for some years, not even a true spirit, so how could we compete with that fox?" "Our family served under Emperor Hongwu, living a lifetime of skinning people, and passed down a set of skills for skinning humans, which is why we were revered as the Evil Ancestor by the skinning craftsmen." Emperor Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang, was not the first to skin a person, but he was the first to write "skinning" into the legal code. Before him, "skinning" had not been used as an official punishment, and human skin is not like animal skin; it is extremely difficult to peel off a complete human skin with all features intact. Those who could master this skill would naturally be honored as ancestral masters. Han Zong continued, "Skinning people is ultimately not a righteous path. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, this skill was no longer used. I, the old ancestor, have cut off the incense and fire, lost my descendants, and have thus become no spirit; naturally, I have no great abilities and cannot compare to Wenquxing or Bi Gan! That's why I have always been afraid to confront that fox head-on."聊天GPT-4o mini"Your family is the ancestor you've always looked down upon but can't see!" When the person turned around, I could clearly see their face. The person had a gaunt face with a pair of white eyebrows that slanted upwards, like knife tips piercing into their temples. Their eyes seemed soft but concealed a chilling sharpness, making anyone who met their gaze instinctively look away. Have I seen this person before? A flash of realization hit me, and I trembled as I spoke, "You are the ancestor?" "That's right!" the person chuckled, "I am your ancestor, Han Zong!" I had just smashed the ancestor's tablet, and now he had appeared? He must have heard me cursing him just moments ago! There was no point in arguing anymore; I simply knelt down and bowed my head to Han Zong, saying, "Grandson Chen Jiu pays respects to the ancestor." Han Zong let out a laugh, "You little rascal, you have some quick wit; you know what your ancestor likes." "Actually, this matter isn't entirely your fault; our family truly lacks the ability to duel with foxes." I instinctively glanced outside. Apart from the shards of glass scattered across the floor, there were also traces of blood, likely from Han Zong's crossbow bolt that had injured the stone fox but failed to capture her. Han Zong seemed to understand my thoughts: "No need to look; that fox is seriously injured and won't come looking for you within seven days. We have time to chat." "Please, ancestor, come sit outside!" I ushered Han Zong into the main room, poured him some tea, and lit a cigarette for him. Han Zong was not polite; he took a puff from the cigarette and said, "This is the only thing that pleases me." As he slowly smoked, he continued, "Don't dwell on what happened earlier; it's not your fault for looking down on our family. In the end, we're just an old ghost who has lived for some years, not even considered a deity, how could we possibly be a match for that fox?" "Our family served under the Hongwu Emperor, peeling human skin for a lifetime, and we passed down a technique for skinning people, which is why we were revered as the evil ancestor." The Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang was not the first person to skin humans, but he was the first to write "skin peeling" into law. Before him, "skin peeling" was not officially used as a punishment, and human skin is not like animal hide; it is very difficult to remove a complete human skin with all features intact. It makes sense that those who could master this technique would be honored as ancestors. Han Zong continued, "Skinning humans is ultimately not a righteous path. After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, no one used this technique anymore. I, the old ancestor, have cut off my incense and fire, lost my disciples, and thus cannot become a deity; naturally, I have no great abilities, not comparable to Wen qu xing or Bi Gan! That's why I never dared to confront that fox head-on."
Han Zong glanced at me as he spoke, and I finally understood why he had been holding back. I replied earnestly, "I don't know Bi Gan, I only know my ancestor!" What I said was the truth; Bi Gan is indeed a celestial deity, but he is too far removed from me to save my life. Although Han Zong is just a ghost and lacks the power to confront the Stone Fox, he is doing his utmost to help me. The incident where I smashed his spirit tablet was enough to leave me feeling utterly ashamed. Han Zong chuckled, "You're quite the slippery one, but I must say, I love hearing that flattery about my ancestor." He then shifted the topic, "Are you wondering why your grandfather didn't seek Bi Gan's help and instead chose to worship me, this evil ancestor? It's because the gods in the heavens are too distant from the mortal realm. He had never met Bi Gan in his lifetime, but he saw me once when he was a child. I suspect that's why he decided to revere me as his master." "We've benefited from your grandfather's incense offerings, so we couldn't avoid stepping up. That's why we had to tough it out and deal with that fox." "Unfortunately, that fox is not only hard to deal with but also extremely cautious. Your grandfather and I devised three plans, yet we couldn't kill her." Han Zong continued, "The first plan was for your grandfather to use the secret techniques left by Bi Gan to skin over a hundred foxes, hoping to provoke the Stone Fox into falling for my ambush. But that time, the Stone Fox didn't even glance our way." "The second plan involved using your grandfather's life as bait, but we only succeeded halfway." I suddenly looked up at Han Zong, "Are you saying my grandfather intentionally… intentionally died?" "Exactly!" Han Zong nodded, "The events at the grave were merely a ruse; the real scheme against the fox was centered around your grandfather's life." "Back then, when the fox asked your grandfather to skin it, it swore not to harm him or his family. So, your father and mother remained safe. Yet when it came to you, it skinned you. That fox deliberately exploited the loophole in its oath." "Your grandfather was also exploiting the loophole in that oath. That night, when he went out, he carried something that could provoke the demon fox. He intentionally allowed the fox's offspring to bite him to death, just to fulfill that fox's vow. Unfortunately…"