"Paper from Songzhu Xuan? This is made through dozens of procedures. A hundred sheets cost at least twenty taels of silver, equivalent to my half-year's monthly allowance. The purple inkstone is also of top quality. The stone is fine and smooth with a warm feeling. Even in winter, the ink won't freeze when ground. The musk ink is made by blending top-quality pine smoke with gold foil and musk, and pounding it. When writing, it flows smoothly, and the characters are vigorous, with a refreshing fragrance. The brush is also a good one, made of pure fox hair. This set of stationery is worth at least several hundred taels. This young duke Jing Yuxing of Li is really generous. I heard that this person is courteous to the virtuous and eager to do good deeds. He often helps poor scholars and has a good reputation in Yujing City. But I think his ambition is not small...."

Hong Yi carried a bundle on his back and was on the road to the Western Mountain outside Yujing City on foot.

He was preparing for the imperial examination. Tired of being bullied in the marquis' residence, he simply went to the Western Mountain to stay for a while and could also guard his mother's grave.

His mother's grave was on the Western Mountain, a solitary one. His mother's status meant she couldn't enter the ancestral temple of the Hong family after her death.

The Western Mountain is a large mountain outside Yujing City, covering nearly a hundred miles. Although not majestic, it has dense forests, complex terrain, and many peaks. There are flowing springs and waterfalls, as well as rocky mountains and forests.

There are many foxes, wolves, and wild beasts in the mountain. Every winter, some noblemen and officials would enter the mountain for hunting.

While walking, Hong Yi thought about the set of stationery that Young Duke Jing Yuxing gave him yesterday and pondered in his heart.

When it was getting dark, Hong Yi reached the foot of the Western Mountain. After cleaning his mother's grave and offering incense, he stayed in a small temple not far from the foot of the mountain.

This temple, called Qiuyue Temple, was a dilapidated Buddhist temple. There was only an ordinary old monk guarding it. Hong Yi would stay here for a while every year. One reason was to guard his mother's grave, and the other was to seek peace and quiet.

After giving the old monk a few strings of incense money and having a bowl of mushroom vegetarian noodles, he stayed in the side hall to rest. He lit the lamp and burned the charcoal to prepare for night reading.

The north wind howled, making the walls creak.

In the courtyard of the side hall of the temple, the ground was covered with artemisia and withered grass was blown up by the wind, presenting a desolate scene.

"This temple is getting more and more dilapidated every year. But the Great Qian Dynasty doesn't value Buddhist temples and prefers to build Taoist temples. No wonder." Looking at this desolate and dilapidated temple, although Hong Yi felt emotional in his heart, he felt much more refreshing than in the marquis' residence and was at ease.

"Mother, if you have a spirit in heaven, bless me to pass the examination and restore your dignity."

Staring at the lamp wick as big as a rapeseed oil bean, Hong Yi prayed silently.

Bang!

The lamp wick burst into a flower.

Woo-woo! Woo-woo!

In the distance in the deep mountain, several shrill howls came, like wolves or foxes, mixed in the night wind, and also like night owls.

Deep mountain, ancient temple, north wind, wolf and fox howls. All these were terrifying scenes.

But Hong Yi wasn't afraid in his heart. First, he thought he had never done anything wrong. Second, he had read many fox and ghost stories. In them, as long as the scholars were upright and fearless, ghosts and evil spirits couldn't approach them.

Tightening his clothes, Hong Yi opened the door and walked into the courtyard.

"Well? What's that?"

As soon as Hong Yi came to the courtyard, he found several fist-sized green fires floating up and down in the valley about several miles away. It was very strange.

"This kind of ghost fire comes from the human bones. It's often seen in the random graves and it's not really a supernatural phenomenon." Facing the floating ghost fires, Hong Yi smiled and said to himself.

Suddenly, a shrill cry came from the deep mountain in the distance. A black shadow flew up in the ghost fire and turned into the sky in an instant, making people think of an old monster coming out at night to suck people's hearts. If an ordinary person saw such a scene, they would already be frightened to the core.

But Hong Yi knew by the sound that this was a night owl in the mountain.

Suddenly, he felt a bit poetic and recited loudly: "A hundred-year-old owl becomes a wood spirit, and laughter rises from the green fire nest."

"Young man, you are not old but an elegant person. Laughter rises from the green fire nest..."

Suddenly, a clear and sweet voice came from behind.

Hong Yi's shock was extraordinary! Cold sweat broke out all over his body. Turning around hurriedly, he saw in his room, under the lamp, a girl in a pink lady's dress, standing gracefully and charmingly. She was about eighteen or nineteen years old, extremely beautiful, and had a beauty that made people gasp for breath.

A beauty under the lamp was an extremely beautiful scene.

But Hong Yi had no intention of appreciating the beauty. Just think, in an ancient temple in the deep mountain, a woman suddenly appeared for no reason. If not a ghost, then a monster.

"Are you a ghost or a monster?"

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Hong Yi pinched his fingers and steadied his mind.

"Oh, how do you know if I'm a ghost or a monster?"

The woman who suddenly appeared looked at Hong Yi with a smile.

"It's simple. Your clothes are thin. The deep mountain is cold. Normal people can't endure it at all. Second, there are no families within a ten-mile radius. How could a single woman like you appear in an ancient temple late at night?" Hong Yi said, suddenly feeling a bit numb in his feet.

"Well, I'm a ghost." The woman suddenly changed her expression, with a cold tone and a blue face, as if she was about to pounce and eat someone at any moment.

"I have never consciously done anything wrong in this life. I came to the ancient temple to read and also to guard my mother's grave. Why did you come to me? If you are a flirtatious female ghost who wants to have a romantic encounter with a scholar, then I tell you, you have the wrong person. I, Hong Yi, have been reading since childhood. Although I'm far from being upright and intelligent, I still can hold onto principles and integrity. You go away quickly."

Hong Yi flicked his fingers, gathered his courage, and looked fiercely.

"I don't have the Taoist methods of driving away gods and ghosts like those Taoist priests. I have no strength in my hands and don't know martial arts. I'm weak and can't fight. When encountering a ghost, I can only rely on my strong spirit... I can't show weakness. Once I show weakness, the other party will attack. My thoughts must be upright and firm."

When Hong Yi glared fiercely at the woman under the lamp, he cheered himself up in his heart and strengthened his belief.

When dealing with ghosts and monsters, Hong Yi firmly believed that he must be bold first.

"Hehe, hehe. Young man, you are so funny."

Suddenly, the woman laughed and waved her hand: "I was just joking with you just now. I'm not a ghost. A ghost has no shadow under the lamp. Come here. You should be able to feel the blood and qi in me. Is there such a ghost? If there is a ghost with blood and qi, then it's not a ghost but a Yang God or Celestial Immortal in Taoism."

"Oh?"

Hearing the woman's words, Hong Yi looked up at the beautiful shadow under the lamp. Sure enough, the woman had a shadow under the lamp.

After hesitating for a moment, Hong Yi still stepped into the room.

Sure enough, he could feel the fragrant breath when the woman spoke. She was a living person.

"Well, you are not a ghost or monster. Ghosts and monsters are transformed from intangible thoughts. Even if they have profound skills and can manifest, they are just a cold mass and won't have the feeling of a flesh-and-blood body. You are not a ghost or monster, but you are not an ordinary person either. Then you must be a swordsman or fairy living in seclusion in the deep mountain?"

Hong Yi tapped his eyebrows with his finger.

"Oh? You seem to know a lot about ghosts and monsters. Scholars don't talk about supernatural beings. You are not an ordinary scholar." The woman had a hint of doubt in her eyes when looking at Hong Yi.

"That's just people who read dead books. We scholars should hold onto righteousness, understand principles, know about ghosts and monsters, and understand the divine. This is the exploration of things." Knowing that the other party was not a ghost or monster, Hong Yi's mind steadied and became flexible.

"Hehe, I came to the Western Mountain today to visit relatives. I didn't expect to meet such an interesting young man like you." The red-dressed woman said to herself: "A scholar, well, not bad. Exactly, among my relatives, there are also children who want to study. I want to hire you as a teacher to teach them. I don't know if you will go. The salary is ten taels of red gold per month."

"Ten taels of red gold per month?" Hong Yi was greatly surprised. In the Great Qian Dynasty, the ratio of gold to silver was one to fifteen. Ten taels of red gold was one hundred and fifty taels of silver per month, which was a huge amount.

Hong Yi only had a monthly allowance of four taels of silver in the marquis' residence. Don't look at only four taels. But one tael of silver could be exchanged for one thousand copper coins, and one copper coin could buy a big pancake. One tael of silver was enough for a small family of three to live for a month.

Even someone like Jing Yuxing gave Hong Yi stationery worth several hundred taels for just one poem, which surprised even Hong Xuejiao, a noble lady of the marquis' family.

"Don't you believe me? I can pay the deposit in advance." The woman smiled, shook her hand, and wiped it on the table.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, a row of shiny small gold cakes was placed on the table.

Hong Yi could tell at a glance that these were the gold coins made in the Great Qian Dynasty. They were like small cakes and were also called "gold cakes" by the people and "gold coins" officially. One tael each.

"The color of this gold. It's not ordinary gold. Only the palace has such money." After seeing this gold coin, Hong Yi was stunned in his heart. The color of this gold coin was red.

Seventy percent gold is cyan, eighty percent gold is yellow, ninety percent gold is purple, and only ten percent gold is red.

As the saying goes, "No gold is completely pure, and no man is perfect." It means that there is no such thing as completely red gold in the world.

However, Taoist alchemists can refine it. This kind of red gold is also called "medicinal gold" and is an ingredient for Taoist alchemists to refine lead and mercury and make golden elixirs.

This kind of red gold is also minted into coins and only exists in the palace.

It is usually given by the emperor and empress to civil and military ministers or imperial concubines in the harem.

"This woman seems mysterious, but actually she lacks some delicacy in her mind and easily exposed her identity. People in the palace, she doesn't look like a palace maid. What is she doing in the Western Mountain at night?" After a moment of doubt in his heart, Hong Yi said: "A gentleman loves money and acquires it in the right way. You want to hire a teacher and offer ten taels of gold per month. It shows that the students are not that easy to teach. You put the money away. Let's go and have a look first."

Although he really wanted the money, today's incident was too strange. Hong Yi had to be careful: "Don't be lustful for women or money. No ghosts or monsters can do anything to me."

"That's for sure. Let's go. It's really hard to find a teacher these days. It's rare to meet an understanding scholar like you. Although you are a bit young, you are not afraid of ghosts or monsters. That's rare. It's you." The woman said to herself and stood up.

"Now?" Hong Yi's eyes widened.

"Of course." The woman smiled again. "It's about sixty miles from here. But with your speed, you won't be able to reach there before dawn. Let me take you."

"Men and women should not have physical contact. Besides, it's so late. Come back tomorrow during the day." Hong Yi certainly tried his best to refuse. In the deep mountain and ancient temple at night, following a mysterious woman out suddenly would definitely be more of a curse than a blessing.

"I have to go back at dawn. What men and women should not have physical contact? No one will see." The woman looked up at the sky. There was a hint of authority that couldn't be explained between her eyebrows. Suddenly, she reached out and grabbed Hong Yi's arm. The whole person leaped and directly reached outside the courtyard of the temple.

This leap was like shrinking the ground into inches. It was directly a distance of twenty steps for an ordinary person. Hong Yi only felt like he was floating in the clouds.

"Shrinking the ground technique?"

"What shrinking the ground technique? This is just the footwork of 'Jumping Monkey and Lifting the Body'."

With the whistling wind and the woman's voice in his ears, Hong Yi only saw the big trees passing by, and he felt like a kite being flown. His ears, mouth, and eyes were all filled with wind and he couldn't even open his eyes.

"This woman is faster than a horse." Hong Yi simply closed his eyes.

After about two or three incense sticks of time, Hong Yi suddenly felt a sudden stop. Opening his eyes, in front of him was a pitch-black valley. In the middle of the valley, there was a vague firelight.

"What's that!"

Hong Yi saw a scene that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

In the middle of the valley, there was a big bonfire burning. Next to the bonfire, dozens of snow-white foxes were sitting half-crouching and half-sitting, just like humans. Especially, they were each holding a book and making strange sounds, as if they were reading, just like children studying in a private school.

A group of foxes, reading like humans!