Chapter Twenty-One: Demon Appraisal

Xiao Xiao had never even considered whether a spirit could understand his words.

As it turned out, the spirit lived up to his expectations.

Furthermore, "Can you see me?" The pronunciation was slightly peculiar, carrying a strange, rhythmic cadence, yet it was undeniably human language.

Xiao Xiao was stunned.

The fox spirit he had encountered before could speak, but that had been through possessing a human body and speaking in a human form. Naturally, that paled in comparison to the shock of a spirit speaking in its own true form!

"Y-you can talk?" Xiao Xiao was so shocked he stammered, his voice rising involuntarily.

This drew the attention of the people around them.

Of course, this was also because, during the time Xiao Xiao had been gripping the spirit's tail, the young man had been desperately urging his friends to push him away.

The spirit had already lost interest in the human who had disturbed its habitat. Now, it was observing the rare human capable of seeing it with great interest.

It had been a very long time since it had encountered a human who could perceive it.

...

"Old Third, what's wrong with you?"

"Third Brother, when did you run over here?"

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Bo and Zhao Lüzheng walked over, looking puzzled.

Zhuge Yun gazed regretfully at the departing figure of the young man. Just like that, he left? He had expected something to happen.

He looked a few more times, unwilling to give up, until the man was no longer in sight, then turned back. "Hey, you guys say..."

"Huh? Where did everyone go?"

Shifting his gaze, he saw Xiao Xiao and the others under the maple tree ahead.

As he walked over, he grumbled, "You guys just left me behind like that?"

"Who was the one staring so affectionately at someone else?"

"What are you talking about? I just wanted to see if any other strange things would happen..." Zhuge Yun replied, somewhat disgruntled.

...

Zhuge Yun’s banter diverted the attention of Zhang Bo and Zhao Lüzheng.

Xiao Xiao let out a sigh of relief and slowly released his hand, his eyes fixed on the spirit, fearing it might take the opportunity to lash out with its tail.

Fortunately, it seemed this spirit had a decent temper.

This was evident from its earlier, playful teasing of the young man, even if it had gone a bit too far at the end.

"Old Third, what is it? Still not enough?"

To others, Xiao Xiao staring at the spirit in the tree appeared as if he were "obsessed" with the maple tree.

"You really do love maple trees."

To this, Xiao Xiao could only smile.

He couldn't exactly say he wasn't looking at the maple tree, but at a spirit, could he?

"But, Old Third, Comrade Xiao Xiao, aren't you hungry? I'm starving; I urgently need to eat."

"Yeah, Third Brother, my stomach is growling too."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go, let's go get something to eat." As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Xiao was met with a unanimous roll of the eyes from the others.

Who was the one who had been staring at the maple tree without stopping?

To be able to act like nothing was wrong—it was truly "shameless."

...

Facing the contemptuous glares of the others, Xiao Xiao remained quite calm and ignored them. He cast a subtle glance back, but the spirit was gone.

Xiao Xiao was startled, then felt that it was just as well; he decided to come back alone next time.

A spirit that could talk.

Xiao Xiao felt the world before him had become a little more fantastical.

What a miraculous world.

Xiao Xiao smiled and followed Zhang Bo and the others down the mountain.

...

After a day of playing, once they finished washing up that night and climbed into bed, Zhang Bo and the others quickly fell asleep.

Listening to the snoring in the dormitory, Xiao Xiao pulled his quilt over his head and carefully took out the black notebook.

Under the faint light of his phone, everything appeared hazy.

That was why the faint silver glow was so eye-catching.

What... was this?

Xiao Xiao’s nose almost touched the cover of the notebook, and he discovered that, at some point, a few characters had appeared on it.

The font was familiar; it was the same script he had seen inside the notebook for the names of the spirits.

Xiao Xiao traced the characters that had suddenly emerged, reading them one by one: "Manual of Spirits."

Was this the name of this black notebook?

So it wasn't some nameless notebook, but something with a "name and surname."

Then, how did it appear in the library? Why would it appear in the library?

Even if Xiao Xiao racked his brain, he could not find the answer.

However, on one point, Xiao Xiao felt a vague certainty. He felt as if everything were destined, and this Manual of Spirits was meant to be his.

Since the object was in his hands, there was no need to dwell on the trivial details.

A man shouldn't be so petty.

Xiao Xiao quickly calmed his agitated heart and slowly opened the book.

He looked at the first few pages; there were no changes. The previously dim illustrations of the Ershu and the Qinyuan had regained their vibrant appearance, with bright red cinnabar looking like flowing water, outlining a sense of vitality.

Xiao Xiao couldn't help but smile slightly.

He continued to flip to the next page.

The yellowed, coarse paper looked ordinary, but Xiao Xiao felt a stir in his heart. He seemed to perceive an unusual aura, surging and brewing, ready to burst forth.

A large splash of red rendered across the paper, and the spirit he had encountered at Xiangshan that morning gradually revealed its form.

Shaped like a pheasant with a long tail.

As red as cinnabar fire with a green beak.

"Ling-Yao."

Xiao Xiao whispered to himself, a thoughtful expression crossing his brow.

Suddenly, Zhang Bo turned over on the bed across from him, startling Xiao Xiao.

Subconsciously, Xiao Xiao hurriedly closed the Manual of Spirits and covered it with his hand, terrified that the silver glow might leak out.

When Zhang Bo’s snoring resumed, Xiao Xiao finally breathed a sigh of relief, then felt a bit amused. Why did he feel like a thief with a guilty conscience?

Besides, since ordinary people couldn't see spirits, he figured they probably couldn't see the peculiarities of the Manual of Spirits either.

...

At least for now, Zhang Bo and the others could only tell it was an ordinary black notebook; they knew nothing of the contents and assumed it was blank.

If that were the case, they likely wouldn't notice if the Manual of Spirits changed, would they?

...

Xiao Xiao carefully turned over. After that scare, his heart was still pounding. He checked his phone and was shocked to see it was already two in the morning.

He had class tomorrow morning; it was time to sleep.

The dormitory finally returned to darkness.

...

There were no classes on Wednesday afternoon, so Xiao Xiao went to Xiangshan alone.

Walking along the mountain path, the trees were dyed in vibrant colors, and the ground was covered in a layer of bright red maple leaves.

Here, it felt as if even the sky were red.

If it were twilight, with the evening glow filling the sky, surely this scene would be even more intoxicating?

Xiao Xiao did not linger long for the beautiful scenery, his pace rather hurried.

He didn't know if the Ling-Yao was still in the maple grove where he had encountered it last time.

If not, in a place as large as Xiangshan, he didn't know how he would find it.

As he drew closer to the grove, Xiao Xiao’s footsteps began to falter.

He was worried. Before coming, he had been filled with excitement and hadn't thought about anything else.

Once he reached the spot, a flurry of thoughts rushed in, making him inexplicably conflicted.

...

Gazing at the maple grove before him, Xiao Xiao stopped in his tracks.

Compared to the weekend, there were far fewer people at Xiangshan today.

Only occasionally could he see a few tourists passing by.

This, of course, was a good thing for him; he didn't want others looking at him like he was a lunatic.

After thinking about all sorts of messy things, Xiao Xiao finally made up his mind and took a step forward, entering the maple grove.

His feet crunched on the ground, making crisp sounds. The overlapping maple leaves and branches fractured the light and shadow before him. The clean, slightly astringent fragrance of maple wood at his nose gave a sense of peaceful years.

Xiao Xiao’s anxious heart slowly calmed down.

There was no use in being impatient now; it all depended on his luck.

...

Uh, it seemed his luck wasn't very good.

Xiao Xiao, having walked through every inch of the grove, couldn't help but smile bitterly.

His heart sank slowly, and he felt inevitably downcast.

However, Xiao Xiao suddenly sensed something. He turned his head abruptly and couldn't help but smile.