Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 45: The Wild Fox Is Homesick

The addition of an injured fox did not break the tranquility of his life. Within the confines of Ju’an Pavilion, the red fox recovered very quickly.

The only thing that gave Ji Yuan a little trouble was making the medicine, and the fact that, after the fox’s injury had improved significantly, he had to eat a chicken or a live duck every day.¹

At first, Ji Yuan even cooked them, but considering that it might later be released back into the wild, the fox couldn’t be allowed to lose its untamed nature, so he bought live chickens and ducks and put them in the backyard for the fox to catch on his own.

Every afternoon in the backyard of Ju’an Pavilion, there was a flurry of chickens flying about and foxes hopping around. Sometimes there were lessons at the private school, and Xiao Yin Qing happily participated in them.²

Unfortunately, as the saying went, all feasts in the world are bound to end.³ Ji Yuan never thought of keeping the red fox as a pet.

After all, it was a fox spirit, not an ordinary domestic dog. Many times, day and night, Ji Yuan had seen the red fox gazing at the looming Niu Kui Mountain.

For a fox who was accustomed to the freedom of the mountains, no matter how good his stay was in Ju’an Pavilion, he was still bound by various rules. In his heart, it would definitely not compare to the vast Niu Kui Mountain.

. . .

On April 23rd, in the dead of night, Red Fox walked out of the side room and into the small courtyard.

The night sky was bright. The fox walked to the jujube tree. With one sprint, he climbed up the tree and reached a branch. Then, he trotted along the branch for a while, before easily jumping again, this time onto the roof of the side house.

He sat down quietly on the roof, looking at the outline of the mountain to the northwest. His tail flicked from side to side behind him. He sat without moving for the better part of an hour.

“Do you want to go back?”

A faint voice sounded, frightening Red Fox so much that he jumped, only to realize that Ji Yuan was standing on the roof, having arrived at some point.

“The moon is bright, the stars are sparse, and magpies fly southward!⁴ You are a wild creature of the mountains. You don’t have to be locked up in the city. I will take you home tomorrow!”

“Uuuu…”

The red fox felt a little reluctant to leave now, not only because of the people, but also because of the cultivation environment of Ju’an Pavilion. One should know, when Ji Yuan performed the Transformation of Heaven and Earth every day, a large amount of spiritual energy gathered in a short period of time, much stronger than it was in the mountains.

Seeing the fox shrinking back, Ji Yuan seemed to be able to sense its thoughts, so he also smiled.

“As a human being, you can’t be too greedy, and the same is true of foxes and demons. There is a big difference between my freedom and the freedom of a little fox like you. I think you long for the freedom in the mountains and wilderness, as opposed to being here.”

Ji Yuan had already seen that, compared to a demon like Lu Shan Jun, a rather virtuous monster, this red fox had obviously only gained intelligence a short while ago. Its wild instincts were greater than its human nature, and it couldn’t be kept in a small yard.

“Even if I give some things up, that doesn’t mean that everything will go smoothly for me. How would you be any different?”

After saying his piece, Ji Yuan floated down from the roof like a willow leaf and went to his room to sleep.

. . .

It was nearly noon the next day, and the sun was shining brightly.

Ji Yuan strolled around the city and arrived at Ning’an School, not far from the county government office.

The school occupied an area of ​​about one mu⁵ and was surrounded by a fence. The courtyard was a two-story loft, with white walls and black tiles, bamboo, and a good view all around. The environment was very nice. It was clear that the school was of great importance to the Ning’an County Government and the officials in the county, and they paid it a lot of attention.

This time, he had just come here to pick up Xiao Yin Qing. This child liked the red fox very much. Although the latter disliked the child, Ji Yuan felt that he should bring Xiao Yin Qing with him when he returned the fox to the mountain. If Yin Zhaoxian agreed, he would bring him on their outing.

“Filial piety comes first, followed by sincerity and trust.⁶ Don’t be slow or lazy when your parents ask you to complete tasks. When your parents wish to teach you, listen respectfully and obey…”⁷

Amid the noise, the voices of the schoolchildren reciting the phrases in unison still reached Ji Yuan’s from some distance away.

This was not the same Ancient China that Ji Yuan knew of in his previous life, but the cultural background was very similar. Even if some literature was different, the connotation of education was the same as the Chinese philosophy,⁸ and the content was quite similar.

There were already many people waiting outside in front of the school. Most were servants from wealthy families, ready to pick up their young masters who were taking classes until noon and bring them home for lunch. Other students either went home by themselves or brought their own lunches.

Children who could attend this school would not come from poorer family backgrounds, but in the end there were still some differences in status.

Ji Yuan could tell the time very accurately. As he approached the school, the sound of voices reading aloud stopped. Students from the school came out one after another, passing by Ji Yuan who was walking in the opposite direction, towards the school. Some students also whispered about the reason behind his strange eyes.

“Mr. Ji!”

Yin Qing, who was exiting with Yin Zhaoxian, called out as soon as he saw Ji Yuan. Yin Zhaoxian and Ji Yuan bowed to each other.

“Master Yin, I want to release the wounded red fox back into the mountains, and would like it if Xiao Yin Qing would accompany me. He would return in half a day. What does Master Yin think?”

Release the fox?

Yin Zhaoxian had also seen the fox. It was so unusually intelligent that sometimes he felt that it had truly become a spirit. He was not worried about his son accompanying Ji Yuan. They had known each other for nearly three months. Ji Yuan’s character and his unfathomable abilities could be trusted. Indeed, it was just that Yin himself was a little itchy.⁹

But there was no way Yin Zhaoxian, as the head of the school, could leave his students to casually take a trip.

“Since Mr. Ji has spoken, then of course there is no problem!”

“Great!”

Yin Qing almost jumped for joy when he heard Yin Zhaoxian’s agreement.

Although Yin Qing was very excited when he had originally heard Ji Yuan’s words, he had resisted the temptation to presume too daringly. If his father said ‘no,’ it would be over.

Seeing his son like this, Yin Zhaoxian smiled and shook his head. In the past, he always felt that Yin Qing was too detached from the world and not grounded enough. After hearing Ji Yuan say several times that Xiao Yin Qing was full of spirituality, he became more tolerant of his son’s innocence.

. . .

Outside the county government office next to the school, the magistrate of Ning’an county was leading three people out of the building to where a carriage was parked at the door.

The county magistrate was a thin, middle-aged man with a short beard. At the current moment, he was not wearing an official uniform, just a long gown¹⁰ and a Confucian hat.¹¹ Behind him were two people in silk clothes, with the fatter one wearing a wide robe.

“I have ordered people to prepare food and drink in the building outside the temple. Please take a seat on the carriage!”

“Alright, you are too kind, County Magistrate!”

“Not at all!”

As the county magistrate was replying politely to the larger man, he happened to notice Yin Zhaoxian and Ji Yuan bowing to each other in the distance.

The county magistrate recognized Ji Yuan, as he was the person responsible for the strange gossip in the county some time ago. In addition, the other party had been living in Ju’an Pavilion for a long time, so he was even more impressed. At this moment, he couldn’t help but take a second look.

“What are you looking at, County Magistrate? Who are those two people?”

The larger man in the wide robe followed the county magistrate’s eyes and saw the scene outside the school, not too far away.

“Oh, it’s nothing. The man in the white shirt with the Confucian hat is Master Yin from the county school. He is quite knowledgeable. The one in the green shirt is a strange but elegant scholar in this county.”

The larger man turned his head to the county magistrate.

“A strange man?”

The county magistrate nodded.

“A strange man!”

Immediately, the county magistrate smiled, stroked his beard, and briefly described the story of the red fox’s worship to the man in the wide robe. The three of them were quite amused.

“The red fox came to ask for help, but the dog retreated after hearing a sound? How could such a thing be true!”

“Hahaha, these are the rumors in the market. They might be true or they might be false, and some words must have been exaggerated. However, the county magistrate also said that this Ji Yuan is definitely not an ordinary person.”

As the two spoke, they suddenly noticed that at the entrance to the school not too far away, Ji Yuan turned to glance at them, before he looked away and led Yin Qing off.

The county magistrate was stunned for about a breath, before he realized that there were still things to do.

“Patriarch Wei, please, let’s go to the building outside the temple!”

“Alright, County Magistrate, please lead the way!”

1. T/n: wow, this fox is being spoiled rotten. ↩︎
2. T/n: unclear whether this means YQ participated in the lessons at school, or whether he was running around with the fox when school let out. Given the manhua context, you can probably assume the latter. ↩︎
3. i.e. all things come to an end eventually ↩︎
4. 月明星稀乌鹊南飞 Apparently a common expression found in classical Chinese literature, used in poetry to describe a peaceful night landscape. JY is acting wise and aggrandizing himself with pretty language. [T/n: when I tell you that this novel is ridiculously poetic…] ↩︎
5. =1/15th of a hectare = 0.01 sq km = ~2.5 acres = ~107600 sq ft. In layman’s terms, that’s around one and a half FIFA standard soccer fields. Not too large for any regular school, but considering it’s in the middle of a capital city, that’s pretty big! ↩︎
6. Talking about the first of the three essential Confucian values, translated as: “filial piety, humaneness, and ritual.” You may recall the second from the discussion on doctors’ values in chapter 42. The teacher states the value, then describes how the students must reflect that in daily life. Being educated was not just about being able to read, it was also a sign of moral character ↩︎
7. 孝悌为首，谨信次之，父母呼命，勿缓勿懒，父母教责，敬听顺承 As you can see, interestingly, the original Chinese is 6 phrases of 4 characters each, making a very lyrical, poetic style of writing. It’s similar to reciting things by rote to a beat, and makes for easy memorization. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep the rhythm in translation without sacrificing meaning, so I made a note ↩︎
8. i.e. the connotation that a good education is a reflection of good moral character is the same ↩︎
9. i.e.: he wants to come along, too! ↩︎
10. 长衫 (chángshān): long gown / cheongsam / traditional Asian dress for men ↩︎
11. Guan is typically translated as hat, cap, or crown. There are a BUNCH of different styles depending on the era/dynasty, but you can look at the pictures to get a sense. ↩︎