Chapter 55: The Ashen Immortal (2 / 2)

The giant rat suddenly stood upright, hands clasped behind its back like a strolling elder. It leisurely walked back and forth a few times.

This move terrified the crowd — more than half the people fled in panic. After all, who wouldn't be scared by such a strange sight? Even the village chief was sweating and pale, huddling with the foreman in fear.

I kept my eyes on the rat. It tumbled, leapt, flipped — behaving like a circus clown. After about five minutes, the villagers began to adjust. Some kids even started giggling.

Watching its performance suddenly reminded me of a story my grandfather once told me. You can treat it as a tale — but after you hear it, you'll understand why this rat is performing tricks.

Back in my grandfather's youth, after the old Master Zhang passed away, he inherited the man's teachings to survive — going out to find dragon veins and select burial sites for clients.

At that time, the "Smash the Four Olds" campaign hadn't started yet, and wealthy landlords still paid great attention to funerals. One time, my grandfather took a big job in Xinmin. He was there for an entire month, from scouting the land to handling all the arrangements.

He stayed in a small room outside the landlord's house. That summer was oppressively hot, with no fans and no breeze. He stepped outside late one night to smoke a pipe and cool down.

Just as he lit his tobacco, a white fox slowly emerged from the darkness of the forest. A normal person would've run for their life, but my grandfather understood that foxes are spiritually sensitive. So he casually tossed over a sweet potato from the landlord's rations and said:

"Wandering around this late, huh? Life's hard for the common folk too. If you're hungry, go hunt in the wild. But if you're desperate, make do with this sweet potato for now."

The fox sniffed it but didn't eat. Then, astonishingly, it stood upright, put its front paws together, and slowly knelt on the ground — palms pressed, head bowed, as if in prayer.

My grandfather took a puff of his pipe and chuckled when he told this part. I, impatient, urged him to get on with it.

He smiled and said, "Animals trying to become human must go through one final ritual — they need a 'sealing decree' from a human."

If you say, "You look so human," a spirit beast can then transform into a person. But if you say, "You look like a dog," then it might literally turn into a dog — a catastrophe for them, potentially ruining a thousand years of cultivation and even causing death.

That's why the fox didn't appear in the daytime — it could only try its luck during the dead of night.

Being skilled in Yin-Yang arts, Grandpa immediately understood. He said:

"You must be at the end of your path. Ready to become human, right?"

The fox bowed like a pecking bird. Then, it suddenly turned and ran back into the forest. Grandpa figured it had something to fetch, so he waited.

About ten minutes later, the fox returned — carrying a bundle in its mouth.

It opened the cloth and revealed two bright silver ingots. Clearly, it didn't want to owe karma and offered them as payment. Grandpa accepted the silver.

Then — unbelievably — the fox began to put on clothes.

You can imagine how clumsy that looked: a fox dressing itself in a floral skirt, fumbling and twisting.

Grandpa chuckled and puffed his pipe. Then he said:

"Why do you look so much like a person to me?"

The fox froze, eyes suddenly gleaming with joy.

He added, "That floral dress looks nice. You must be a young lady."

As soon as he said that, the fox finished dressing and ran joyfully into the darkness.

Half an hour later, a young woman wearing that same skirt walked out of the woods. Grandpa said she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen — far beyond anything he'd witnessed in his lifetime.

She walked up to him, bowed deeply, and said:

"Thank you, benefactor, for granting me humanity. I shall forever protect your long life."

Grandpa smiled and pointed at her back.

"You're gorgeous, no doubt. But that tail of yours… maybe lose it?"

"Yes, yes! I'll give it up!" she cried with joy.

And just like that, the tail vanished. After that, the fox spirit left the forest, and my grandfather used those two silver ingots to buy a house in Shenyang, the very home that was later compensated during urban redevelopment.

He told me many times:

A man must watch his words. If you encounter a spirit beast trying to become human, help them. Do not mock them — that's a sin.

The rat before me was clearly like the fox in my grandfather's tale. I remembered that Ashen Immortals like to smoke, so I borrowed a cigarette from the foreman, walked slowly up to the rat, and respectfully offered it.

To my amazement, the rat took it in a human-like gesture.

I lit it for him. The way it puffed on the cigarette made the entire crowd burst into laughter.

I said:

"Why do you look so much like a person when you smoke? I don't think you should be a rat anymore — be a human from now on."

The rat took a few strong drags, jumped up in excitement, and — before I could say more — it scurried down into the burial crevice.

Just as everyone marveled at this, the rat emerged again — this time carrying a grey cloth bundle in its mouth.

I knew the Ashen Grandmother was at the threshold of becoming human, so I said nothing further. I accepted the bundle, gave a deep bow, and watched it return to the underground cavern.

Then I turned to the still-stunned workers and shouted:

"Begin construction! Let's get to work!"