Han Zong hadn't even said "What a pity" yet, and I was already crying out loud. My grandfather risked his life just to gamble on a slim hope. That fox, of course, feared the calamity that oaths could bring, but my grandfather, like Han Zong, was trying to exploit the loopholes in the heavenly laws. Would the heavenly laws allow such things to happen? Tears flowed uncontrollably down my face as Han Zong quietly watched me. It wasn't until my emotions stabilized a bit that he raised his hand to pat my head: "Child, don't cry. We don't have the strength to compete with others in magic, so we must gamble our lives on this, and we can't just sit and wait for death." "Your grandfather is a good man! You must also show some of that manly spirit. Even if we can't defeat that fox, we have to ruin her cultivation that took hundreds of years. Otherwise, not only would your grandfather have died in vain, but I also wouldn't be able to swallow this anger." "Child, remember this: As long as you live, you can cry. But after crying, we must find a way to reclaim those fallen tears. Otherwise, we can't afford to lose face." When I looked up at Han Zong, I suddenly felt as if my grandfather had returned. The figures of my grandfather and Han Zong seemed to overlap, and I instinctively called out, "Grandfather!" Han Zong was slightly taken aback, then burst into laughter: "That bastard with the surname Dong, I have a grandson now. Our family waited a lifetime for that grandson, but unexpectedly, it's after I died that I recognized my grandson." "Xiao Jiu, we acknowledge your call of 'Grandfather.' We will die together, grandfather and grandson." "Mm!" I knelt down and bowed my head to Han Zong, acknowledging him as my god-grandfather. Han Zong took my hand and had me sit beside him: "Xiao Jiu! What I just said about 'What a pity' was referring to the trap I set with your grandfather, waiting for the fox to come looking for you, and then using a hidden crossbow to shoot it dead." "That fox is very slippery. It clearly wanted to catch you but wouldn't come in. My two crossbows couldn't take its life." Han Zong's voice became serious: "That fox is too cunning. To catch it, we need to lay out a long-term plan and gradually lure it in. After this injury, that fox won't give us another chance to set up our plan. Seven days later, it will definitely come back to catch you." "We still have two chances left." I looked up and asked, "Grandfather, how can there be two chances?"聊天GPT-4o miniHan Zong hadn't even said "what a pity" when I burst into tears. My grandfather risked his life just to gamble on a slim hope. That fox was certainly afraid of the calamity brought by oaths, but my grandfather, like Han Zong, was exploiting the loopholes in the heavenly laws. Would the heavens allow such things to happen? Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably, and Han Zong quietly watched me until my emotions stabilized a bit. Only then did he raise his hand to gently pat my head: "Child, don't cry. We don't have the strength to compete with others in a battle of spells. We have to gamble our lives on the outcome; we can't just sit and wait for death." "Your grandfather is a good man! You must show some of that masculine spirit too. Even if we can't defeat that fox, we have to ruin her hundreds of years of cultivation. Otherwise, not only will your grandfather have died in vain, but I, your ancestor, also won't be able to swallow this anger." "Child, remember this: as long as you're alive, you can cry. But once you've cried, you must find a way to retrieve those fallen tears. Otherwise, we can't afford to lose face." When I looked up at Han Zong, I suddenly felt like my grandfather had returned. The figures of my grandfather and Han Zong seemed to overlap, and I instinctively called out, "Grandpa!" Han Zong was momentarily taken aback, then burst into hearty laughter: "That bastard with the surname Dong, I finally have a grandson. Our family waited a lifetime but never got that grandson, and who would've thought that after I died, I'd recognize a grandson." "Xiao Jiu, that 'grandpa' you just called, we accept it. We'll die together, grandfather and grandson." "Mm!" I knelt down and bowed my head to Han Zong, acknowledging him as my god-grandfather. Han Zong took my hand and had me sit beside him: "Xiao Jiu! What I just said about 'what a pity' was referring to the trap I set with your grandfather, waiting for the fox to come looking for you, so we could shoot it dead with a hidden crossbow." "That fox is very slippery; it clearly wanted to catch you but wouldn't come in. That's why my two crossbows failed to take its life." Han Zong's voice turned serious: "That fox is too cunning. To catch it, we need to lay out a plan over a long time and lead it step by step into the trap. After getting injured this time, that fox won't give us the chance to set up again. Seven days later, it will definitely come back to catch you." "We still have two opportunities left." I looked up and asked, "Grandpa, how can there be two opportunities?"
"I'm saying, you have a second chance!" Han Zong said, "That fox is determined to get its own skin back. However, it swore to place the skin in your grandfather's hands as collateral. As long as your grandfather is alive, it cannot take the skin. Once your grandfather dies, that vow will be broken." "When it came last time, it forced you to drink a mouthful of fox blood. That was to make you nurture its skin until your grandfather dies, so it could reclaim the skin. But with that mouthful of fox blood, you'll need to keep that skin for at least five years before it can act. So, when it comes again, even if we lose, it will only kill me, not you. You will still have a second chance at life." I looked at Han Zong in terror, "Grandfather, let's not bet on a second chance; let's bet on this one." Han Zong laughed, "Don't worry, I don't want to die either. We still need to find that water ghost in the well." "Although the fox can float on water, it can't stir up much of a storm. With that water ghost helping you, we can strike at her in the water. You should rest for the night; tomorrow night, I'll take you to meet that water ghost. This time, we need to release her." I couldn't help but ask, "Grandfather, what exactly is that water ghost?" "I don't know!" Han Zong shook his head, "Originally, going to the well was just a ruse to summon the water ghost. The true intention of your grandfather and me was to have him die at the hands of the fox." "At first, I thought the ghost in the well was just a woman who had died unjustly. It wasn't until I faced her that I realized her power was terrifying. Moreover, there are more than one restriction in that well." Han Zong said, "If she is willing to help you, we have a chance. This time, you must go down into the well and ask that female ghost to act." I gritted my teeth, "Alright, when are we going?" "Tomorrow!" Han Zong said, "You've been keeping vigil for your grandfather these past few days and have worn yourself out. If you go down into the well now, I'm afraid you won't even survive long enough to see that woman. You should rest well tonight, and we'll go tomorrow night." As he spoke, Han Zong patted my forehead, and I fell into a drowsy sleep. When I woke up, it was already the next evening. Han Zong insisted that I eat a full meal before we set out; only by eating well could I withstand the cold in the well. At that time, I could hardly eat anything. I forced myself to shove food into my mouth until I couldn't eat anymore, then picked up the things Han Zong had prepared and headed to the grave well. After several incidents in the village, no one dared to approach the dug-up well. When I went back, the well was still open, just like before, exposed in the snow. Han Zong glanced into the well and took out a piece of paper filled with writing, saying, "Burn the paper and throw it into the well. If there's any movement in the well, we'll go down." I didn't look at what was written on the paper; I just lit it on fire and tossed it into the well, leaning over the edge to look down.
The red light from the flames flickered down the well wall for a moment before suddenly extinguishing. A strange sound, resembling a cry, suddenly echoed from within the well, and the murky water began to bubble up from the depths. I watched as the churning water surged towards me, and Han Zong reached out to grab my shoulder, lifting me up. Before my feet could find their balance, a white column of water erupted from the well and poured down on my head. In the cold of winter, the icy water drenched me, making me shiver immediately. Han Zong sighed and said, "Let's go! The one in the well doesn't want to see us. We should go back and think of another way!" I trembled and replied, "No… I… I want to go down and take a look." "No way!" Han Zong shook his head. "That piece of paper just now was like our invitation. We followed the proper etiquette to request an audience, but the host doesn't want to see guests, so we have to leave. If we force our way in, it's like turning against the host and it could end badly; we might not make it out at all." I was so cold that my face turned blue, but I stubbornly held onto Han Zong, refusing to go back. "Sir, let's just go down and take a look, okay? If we go back, we won't think of any other way. We're bound to die anyway, so we might as well take a chance." Han Zong hesitated for a long while before saying, "You take off your clothes, drink a few more sips of wine, and I'll take you into the water." I quickly stripped off my cotton clothes and poured wine into my mouth from the bottle. Han Zong laid my clothes and pants on the ground, nailing down the cuffs and pant legs. He then piled snow into a round shape at the collar of the clothes and pulled out a few strands of my hair to stuff into the snowball. If one were to glance up at that moment, they would think there was a person lying in the snow, limbs outstretched. Han Zong took a deep breath and said, "I hope this dummy can save your life when the time comes!"