Chapter 155: Chapter 153: The Tale of the Old Street

The third-floor attic wasn’t large, just big enough to hold a shrine, but it was otherwise quite spacious.

The kind of place perfect for children to play in.

But there were no children in the inn, so no one ever came up here. It was safe and convenient.

Wen Ying and the innkeeper stood on the short ladder, looking into the third-floor space.

The place where the household god, the Fox Immortal, usually slept—oh, no, sat in state—was now empty of any person (or fox).

A few porcelain bottles were scattered on the floor, but none were broken.

Ashes from burnt incense were scattered on the ground.

The innkeeper’s sigh echoed in Wen Ying’s ear.

Wen Ying surveyed the scene and spent one hundred thousand reputation points to have the system run a diagnostic.

’Ah, the beautiful sound of spending money...’

[Host, it is indeed the legendary household god, the Fox Immortal, but...]

"Stop being so wishy-washy. You don’t sound like a system."

[...]

[To be honest, the system also finds it strange. Why would something like this awaken in this world?]

’Are you sure it’s normal to call this so-called household god a "thing," even if it is just a fox?’

[The truth of the matter is something the Host will have to investigate for herself. One day, you will understand.]

"You stu—... My dear little system, I just want to know where it is now. Is it a danger to the people here?"

[Rest assured, Host! That thing—oh, no, the Fox Immortal—its power is insufficient to cause any more trouble! The Host simply needs to go to the designated location, find it, and bring it back.]

"Didn’t you just say you didn’t know?"

Seeing Wen Ying staring blankly at the small attic, the innkeeper sighed again. "Little Ying, I... I really don’t know where the Great Immortal went. I know you have your ways. Please, think of a way to bring it back. This whole thing has caught me completely by surprise. If you can take it with you, that’s fine too. I can’t control it, and it can’t protect me."

Wen Ying understood what the innkeeper meant. Everyone on this street knew her story.

It was truly tragic.

"Auntie, since the household god belongs to your family, there must be some kind of pact. It’s not something that can just be taken away. We need to find it first to understand the situation. We can discuss the rest later. To avoid causing a panic, let’s keep this between us for now."

The innkeeper nodded. She didn’t have any other ideas.

Everything she knew about the household god was just stories she’d heard from others since she was a child. She had kept it with her because her grandfather had given it to her.

It was a way to remember her grandfather.

But she never expected things to turn out like this.

"Little Ying, do you... know where it is?"

Wen Ying went downstairs with the innkeeper following behind her. After leaving the inn, they headed toward the abandoned backstreet.

The abandoned backstreet was about a thousand meters away from the inhabited part of town.

A clear dividing line, like the border between Chu and Han, separated the two areas.

The innkeeper didn’t speak, just followed Wen Ying. After about seven or eight minutes, they arrived at the entrance to the backstreet.

"Little Ying, you’ve probably never been here before, have you?" The innkeeper seemed lost in thought.

"In all the decades since I married into this town, I’ve only been here once, back when my husband was still alive. What I know about this place is just from a few things he mentioned. It seems like the people on our street don’t like to talk about this old street."

Wen Ying knew nothing about any of this.

To figure out why the Fox Immortal had come here, she needed to know some of the local history.

So Wen Ying asked, "Auntie, is there a story behind this old street?"

The innkeeper mulled it over for a moment. "Something terrible seems to have happened on this street once. It was a long, long time ago, even before my husband was born. I only know about it because he told me. That’s why almost no one from our street ever comes here.

And just like that, more than twenty years have gone by, but this place is still just as run-down.

I heard that in the eyes of the older generation, something unspeakable happened here. It was caused by those Japanese devils, who were worse than beasts. My husband heard the old folks say this place is unclean, that the yin energy is overpowering. If the spirits were our own people, they wouldn’t have been neglected for so many years. But they say the yin energy is from the Japanese.

There’s a place in there where a lot of those Japanese devils are supposedly buried. A company, or something? I can’t say for sure, but I know a great many of those bastards died. The story goes that a great master was the one who took action against them. After that incident, everyone on the street moved away, and this place became a kind of forbidden ground by silent agreement. No one comes back."

Even if the innkeeper hadn’t mentioned it, Wen Ying was well aware of the history with the Japanese.

National and familial hatreds don’t just spring from nowhere.

The monstrous, inhuman atrocities they committed could never be erased!

History books can be rewritten, but the truth cannot.

"I was young and reckless back then, just curious, so I went in once. Nothing happened to me, but my husband warned me never to tell anyone about it. I’m only telling you now because you’re going in, Little Ying."

The innkeeper still looked hesitant. Nothing had happened back then.

But now that a legendary Fox Immortal had appeared, could that place still be safe?

Hearing the innkeeper’s words, Wen Ying casually pulled a sheet of talisman paper from her pocket and handed it to her. "Auntie, take this with you. You’ll be fine inside."

The innkeeper’s hand clenched the talisman paper, and only then did she relax, following Wen Ying into the backstreet.

It seemed very different from her memory. The grass in many places was exceptionally lush, yet it hadn’t grown tall.

There were broken roof tiles, half-crumbled walls, and pieces of wood lying on the ground, dried out by the wind.

Strangely, there was no man-made trash on the street, not even any that might have been blown in by the wind.

Every one of these scenes seemed to tell the story of the street’s desolation.

The two walked and looked, and after about two hundred meters, the innkeeper beside Wen Ying suddenly sneezed.

"Strange. It’s so hot for July. Why do I feel a little cold?"

But it was just a chill. The innkeeper didn’t feel anything else, only a growing coldness around her.

Wen Ying felt nothing. Her attention had been focused on the backstreet, but when she heard the innkeeper’s words, she took a moment to concentrate.

"Auntie, if you’re not feeling well, maybe you shouldn’t go any further? I can bring the Fox Immortal out for you."

The innkeeper shook her head. "How can I rest easy letting you go in alone? I’m old; every extra day I live is a bonus. Besides, that Fox Immortal belongs to my family. I can’t just abandon it. As long as there’s no mortal danger here, I have to go with you."

In the end, Wen Ying didn’t argue.

’There’s no mortal danger, but I’m afraid she’ll get sick after we leave.’

’The aura here isn’t good, after all.’

The innkeeper watched as Wen Ying, as if performing a magic trick, produced a piece of candy in her hand.