Der Fall des Geisterboten – Die Geschichte einer Seele, die den Körper verlässt

Kapitel 17

"No. It's a fox. It's almost reached the pinnacle of its virtue and has been hesitating between becoming an immortal or a human..." the dragon replied.

The dragon sighed, "It's a demon, so it was meant to cultivate immortality, naturally it became an immortal."

“But once you become an immortal, you lose all emotions and desires,” Chi sighed.

Seeing it sigh, the dragon couldn't help but find it amusing. "We are all immortals, how could we have lost our emotions and desires?"

“The fish in our pond say that it refers to lust. What is lust?” Chi asked innocently.

The dragon, on the contrary, felt embarrassed. "Love...lust?"

"Hmm." Chi nodded. "What is it?"

The dragon stammered for a while, but couldn't resist the gleam in the dragon's eyes, and said, "It's...the feelings between men and women..."

Chi was still puzzled, "Huh?"

"Well, it's like this: a man and a woman have feelings for each other and want to be together..." the dragon tried to explain.

“Oh. Just like us?” Chi nodded.

The dragon was stunned. "You, you shouldn't talk nonsense!!!" it cried out, causing ripples to spread across the water.

"Isn't that right?" Chi scratched his head. "But I want to be with you..."

"It's different!!!" the dragon kept shouting.

"What's different?" Chi asked innocently.

"..." The dragon gritted its teeth, "If it's love, then you can live for the other person, die for the other person, and wherever the other person is in the world, that's where you'll find peace... Do you understand?"

Chi thought for a moment, "It doesn't sound like a good thing."

The dragon nodded, "That's right!"

"Why is the fox hesitating?" Chi was even more puzzled.

The dragon's voice turned somewhat gloomy, "I don't know... Just think about it and forget about it, but whatever you do, don't try it."

Chi thought for a moment, "Wouldn't it take two people to try?"

The dragon was furious. "Enough talk! Go back to your pond! If you ask me this kind of question again, don't blame me for being rude!!!"

So the dragon had no choice but to slink back to the pond.

Seeing its appearance, the demons said knowingly, "It got scolded again..."

The river shrimp crawled over righteously and said, "Idiot! Why didn't you fight back? That dragon insulted you, so just insulted it back! If you can't win an argument, then fight! It's tied to the water-suppressing sword, it's no match for you!"

The demons all agreed to the proposal.

The dragon clutched its paws, looking completely innocent, "But I can't..."

The river shrimp touched its head and walked away tremblingly.

The carp, true to its word, patted its chest and said, "Don't worry, I'll teach you!"

The blackfish immediately looked at it with admiration, "Carp, you can do everything, you're so amazing..."

"That is..."

"Carp!"

"Heizi!"

"Carp!"

...

The catfish shook its head and said to the dragon, "It's alright if you don't learn this kind of thing."

The fox on the shore nodded helplessly, "That's right, it's useless to learn it..."

"Why?" Not only the dragon, but also the blackfish and the carp asked in confusion.

The fox sighed, "I studied it, but when I saw Ji You GG, I still couldn't say a word..."

Chi suddenly realized, "Oh, so even shrimp can't argue with Yin Ming."

The river shrimp jumped up and roared, "Why are you dragging me into this again?!"

The black carp and carp held back the river shrimp that was about to explode.

"Shrimp, don't be angry. Getting angry means you've been right," the catfish said earnestly.

"Oh, so the fox gets angry every time it hears Cong speak." Chi suddenly realized again.

This time, the fox jumped up and roared, "It has nothing to do with Tingcong!!!"

By sheer coincidence, Tingcong, who was delivering chestnuts, overheard these words. He stood there, watching the fox.

The fox shut its mouth, somewhat embarrassed.

Ting Cong didn't say anything, put down the chestnuts, and turned to walk away.

Before the fox could even think, it found itself in pursuit. Too small to take long strides, it transformed into human form.

"Stop right there!" it shouted, grabbing Tingcong's hand.

Ting Cong turned around, avoiding its gaze, "Isn't it none of my business?"

The fox stamped its foot. "You didn't hear the whole thing, how would you know what I said? That's not what I meant."

Tingcong looked up at it, her eyes burning with sorrow. "What does that mean? I know you love Master. I've always known!"

The fox was confused by what he said, "What does this have to do with my liking for Jiyou GG?"

Tingcong gritted his teeth and yelled at it, "If you like it, then like it! It has nothing to do with me anyway!"

The fox was even more confused, yet a dull ache filled its chest, making it hard to breathe. Indeed, even with knowledge of insults, one can't win an argument...

Seeing that it didn't speak, Cong shook off its hand and turned around.

"Don't go!" the fox shouted. "Explain yourself!"

"What did you say?" Ting Cong said softly, "If I said it, would you abandon your master? Would you be a decent human being?... Haven't you already made up your mind in your heart..."

The fox felt even more uncomfortable, its heart clenching and aching.

"I don't understand..." it complained softly.

Tingcong turned around and looked at it, "I said... I like you..."

The fox was stunned. It stared at him blankly. "...You...you're a human..." it finally said after a long while.

Ting Cong didn't say anything, but simply reached out, took out the jade pendant from his pocket, and handed it to it. "Here, take this back..."

The fox took the jade pendant in a daze, the pendant still faintly warm from its body heat.

"I'm so stupid..." he said with a laugh, cursing himself under his breath, and then walked away without looking back.

Only the fox remained in the bamboo forest. Holding the jade pendant, it stood there for a long while before returning to the pond.

The demons watched as it walked to the side, picked up the bag of roasted chestnuts, but didn't eat them. Instead, it sat down, holding the jade pendant, and stared blankly.

"Oh no..." the carp whispered, "It didn't even cry or make a fuss..."

"Isn't it good that you don't cry or make a fuss?" Chi asked, puzzled.

"Not good!" the demons exclaimed in unison.

"What do we do now?" Blackfish suddenly had a bright idea. "Old catfish, why don't you go up and start a conversation to comfort it?"

The catfish gasped. "Young man, what nonsense are you spouting? At a time like this, just leave it alone."

Chi hugged his paws with some self-reproach and said, "It's all my fault for talking nonsense."

"Hehe, speaking of nonsense, I once..."

"Old Catfish! Don't change the subject!!! That's not fair!!!"

= =#

...

That night, the fox sat by the pond. The moon slowly rose and then slowly set... It had three days left...

...

Chapter Twenty-Six

Finally, the blackfish and the carp mustered their courage and asked the fox, who had been sitting by the pond all day, "Fox?"

The fox didn't react.

"Fox, shall we roll around and play?" The black fish transformed into human form and rolled around on the grass.

"Yes, yes~" The carp also transformed into human form and rolled around with the black fish.

The fox still didn't react.

The blackfish and the carp exchanged a glance and sighed.

Just then, the crisp sound of horses' hooves grew louder as they approached, and a crimson steed instantly came into the sight of the demons.

"So fast!" Yin Ming exclaimed from horseback, then dismounted.

"You're all here? That's great! I asked the cook at home to make some qingtuan (green glutinous rice dumplings). Would you like to try some?" Yin Ming smiled and handed over a lotus leaf package.

"Wow... a fox... it's a green dumpling..." the blackfish and the carp immediately shouted exaggeratedly.

The fox still didn't react.

"Oh no! The fox won't eat the green dumplings! The world is going to end!!!" The blackfish and the carp hugged each other and cried.

The river shrimp transformed into human form and rushed ashore, kicking them away.

"Fox, don't stoop to the level of a fish!" the river shrimp laughed, handing the green dumpling to the fox.

"What's wrong?" Yin Ming asked, observing the strange behavior of the demons.

Blackfish, who was captivated by storytelling, excitedly recounted the whole story.

Yin Ming couldn't help but laugh. He bent down and looked at the fox. "What's so difficult about that? Just choose the side that makes you happy."

"Happy?" The fox suddenly reacted, looking up at Yin Ming.

"Yes. If you feel happy being an immortal, then be an immortal; if you feel comfortable being human, then choose to be human. You've been a demon for so long and seen so much, which one do you feel happier being?"