When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Han Zong's back, turned away from me. As I tried to sit up, I felt as if my hands and feet were pinned to the ground. When I turned my head to look, I was instantly horrified. My body from the neck down seemed to have disappeared, leaving only a neatly laid-out piece of clothing connected beneath my neck. I glanced to the sides and saw nothing but sleeves nailed down with nails. My clothes? Just as I realized this, a woman's voice said, "You used his clothes to preserve his soul, but what good does that do? You can save him for a moment, but can you save him for a lifetime? Even if you bring him back, you cannot return his human skin. With a fox skin on him, he is destined to be entangled with evil spirits, never finding peace. How many times can you save him?" "If I were you, I would let go and allow him to die more painlessly. Preserving his soul as much as possible and letting him be reincarnated is the right path." Han Zong replied, "Saving him for even a moment is still saving him. He has benefited from your kindness, and he has also accepted your karma. You wouldn't just stand by and do nothing, would you?" The woman laughed, "Precisely because I have received his kindness, I am telling you to let go. Not to mention whether you can defeat that fox, even if you escape this disaster, what then? Rather than letting him struggle between life and death for a lifetime, it would be better to let him reincarnate and start anew. Don't you think?" Han Zong was at a loss for words for a moment, and after a long while, he finally said, "You're right!" Han Zong slightly turned his body to look at the corpse lying on its back in the snow, arms crossed. Isn't that me? When I came up from the well, I was already frozen stiff. The female corpse in my arms had long since stood far away, yet I still maintained the pose of tightly holding onto the female corpse. My soul, however, didn't know how it ended up in my own clothes. Han Zong stared at me for a while before covering my mouth and nose with his hand. Was he trying to suffocate me? I wanted to shout for Han Zong to stop, but no sound came out of my mouth; I could only watch helplessly as Han Zong pressed down on my face.
As Han Zong tightened his grip, he suddenly stopped his hand: "Look at this child, he's about to freeze to death, yet he still clings to you. He's not just fighting for his own life; he wants to avenge his grandfather. I can't just let him go like this. Otherwise, he won't be able to rest in peace." Han Zong stood up and said, "Let this child choose for himself whether to live or die!" The female corpse suddenly turned around: "How do you choose?" In that instant, I found I could speak: "I said before, no matter what happens, I accept it. As long as I can avenge my grandfather, that's all that matters." The female corpse was silent for a moment before shaking her head: "Why are some people always so stubborn? You can come to me when you're ready. As for what price you will pay after I help you, we'll talk about it once you manage to survive!" "I must remind you. The price for my help may exceed your imagination. If you can't handle it, you might find it hard to even die. If you want to back out now, it's not too late." I looked at her and said, "I agree!" Han Zong did not stop me; he only sighed deeply to the heavens. The female corpse uttered "Heaven's will" and then vanished into the night. Han Zong scooped up some dirt from the collapsed well and stuffed it into my pocket, wrapping my soul in my clothes, and carried my body home. He lit an oil lamp above my head: "Xiao Jiu! You rest well; after tonight, your soul will return." "Rest well; I'll take care of the rest!" That night, my soul did indeed return, but I developed a high fever and couldn't get up, lying in bed for three days. It wasn't until the fourth night that Han Zong helped me up. Han Zong took me to the kitchen, took the dirt he had brought back from the well, and sprinkled it around the water vat, saying to me, "Shout for someone at the water vat! Call that woman out." I had heard before that one shouldn't go near wells where people had drowned, not only because of the fear of the ghosts in the well pulling people in but also because bringing back dirt from the well could mean bringing back water ghosts. If you brought the dirt home, any place that could hold water would become similar to a well. If you leaned in to look, you might get grabbed by a hand reaching out from inside and pulled into the water. I approached the water vat, knocked three times, and shouted "Zi Mu." Immediately, a sound of rushing water echoed from within the vat, as if muddy water was surging out in waves. Moments later, the water vat, over a meter high, seemed unable to withstand the force of the water and suddenly cracked open in several places, yellow well water gushing out from the cracks. I suddenly felt as if several more people had appeared in the room.
I instinctively took half a step back, and the kitchen doors and windows creaked open and shut on their own, banging against the frames with a loud thud. As I tilted my head slightly, I saw the pot lid slide off the stove, and a human hand reached out from the pot, pressing its pale fingertips against the rim, as if trying to climb out. Immediately after, a basin, a kettle... every container that could hold water spilled out murky water that carried a fishy smell, and the temperature in the room plummeted to freezing, making me shiver even while standing indoors. At that moment, Zimu poked his head out from the water tank and said lightly, "Alright! Stop scaring him." The strange noises in the room instantly ceased, and Zimu continued, "I brought you eight water ghosts. With them protecting you, they should be able to fend off that fox and its offspring." At this point, Hanzong also revealed his plan: "I told you that the fox has been fixated on you because it wants to reclaim its skin." "I've pondered the tanner's secret method several times. Your grandfather's skin exchange with you had a time limit. The fox skin on you will eventually fully merge with you. Once your skin has grown together, even if that fox were to strip your skin away, she wouldn't be able to take it back. Therefore, we need to use this to force her out." Hanzong said, "In my lineage, there is a method that can quickly merge your skin. Back then, your grandfather and I didn't let you use this secret method for two reasons: first, he couldn't find the materials, and second, this method leans towards the dark arts, leading to endless troubles afterward. Third..." Hanzong paused and added, "The third, and most important point, is that it will truly cause the fox skin to merge with you. No one knows what kind of consequences that will trigger." "I asked Miss Zimu to find the secret medicine that can make your human skin merge. If you've thought it through, we will go to the water tonight to lure the fox." "Think it over carefully."