The story is quite simple. But the protagonists in the story seem to have their unusual reactions. Chen Xu listened to the Fox Demon’s question, did not answer immediately, and instead asked, "Fox Daoist, didn’t the fox fur you left behind get taken by the Lin family’s young daughter when she got married?" The Fox Demon said, "She didn’t manage to get married, you see. That year, because she released me, her father punished her by locking her up in the ancestral hall for ten days, and she fell ill from the cold wind. The cold came fiercely, and within a few days, it turned into a plague. She was isolated in a remote little courtyard by her family, and I saw from a distance and snuck in to see her at night. At that time, my cultivation was shallow, and I couldn’t save her. She then took out the fox fur on her hand and made a wish to me. The first wish was for me not to harm her family, and the second wish was hoping that in the future I could look after the person holding the remaining fox fur. She transferred the wishes she could have made to future generations, but she had already used two of the three wishes. Even if the wishes could be passed down, the Lin family would only have one piece of fox fur left, wouldn’t they?" The Fox Demon said this with a somewhat wistful yet pleased smile on his face. Chen Xu said, "So Lin Yuan used the last piece of fox fur to wish for you to hide in Lin Qi’s coffin tomorrow and question me?" The Fox Demon replied, "Yes, although I am a demon, ever since I gained spiritual insight, I have always kept my promises. What I have promised, I must accomplish. However... I only promised to hide in the coffin and question you tomorrow. I never promised to save him when he is in danger. Whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me, wouldn’t you agree, my friend?" The Fox Demon asked Chen Xu, but before Chen Xu could respond, a relaxed smile appeared on his face. He emphasized, "It was he who chose to die." Hearing this, Chen Xu completely understood the Fox Demon’s logic. Is there a flaw in the Fox Demon’s logic? At first glance, something seems amiss, but when you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. It made so much sense that Chen Xu couldn’t help but be momentarily dazed. Since he began his cultivation journey, encountering ghosts and demons, the encounters with demons had been with Mouse Demons and Fox Demons, but these demons turned out to be well-mannered, sometimes more virtuous than many who claimed to be sages. Although, the Fox Demon’s morality was slightly skewed. Yet the Fox Demon had his reasons, and he added, "Friend, I actually don’t like the Lin Family, which you may find understandable?" Chen Xu replied, "From your point of view, it’s reasonable that you don’t like the Lin Family. You can’t be expected to be grateful to a family that initially intended to harm you just because they captured and released you afterward." These words left the Fox Demon slightly stunned. The hibiscus flower by his temple trembled slightly, and the Fox Demon hurriedly straightened it, saying with delight, "Ah, you’re indeed someone Lin’s child wanted to harm. What you say makes perfect sense. I thought long and hard but couldn’t comprehend my relationship with the Lin Family. I only knew I was incredibly unhappy. Though I promised the Lin family’s young lady to fulfill her wish, yet when carrying out this promise, I always felt something was stifling inside me. I’m not human, so there are things I can’t think through as clearly as you clever humans can. Fortunately, my friend, you’ve analyzed it for me... hey, is this what you humans call a "sudden enlightenment"?" Amazingly, the Fox Demon could even use idioms. At this point, even though Chen Xu remained somewhat cautious of the Fox Demon, his attitude during the conversation had relaxed considerably. Chen Xu said, "It’s just that you’ve been blinded by a single leaf, making it difficult to see the truth for a moment." "You speak so eloquently," the Fox Demon said happily, and he asked, "But there’s still one thing I don’t understand." "Fox Daoist, please speak, though I may not have the answer, I will do my best to help." The Fox Demon said ominously, "Back then, the young lady of the Lin family fell ill with a cold because her father punished her, which later turned into a plague. Her death was undoubtedly tied to her family’s abandonment. But when I went to see her on her deathbed, why was her heart still concerned about her family? She lay there, alone, in that cold room, with none of her family members coming to see her. Even the siblings who usually claimed to love her so much, and even her mother, didn’t come to send her off. You know, she was buried by the servants in a simple coffin when she died. She couldn’t even be laid to rest in the Lin family’s ancestral tomb. If I hadn’t saved up enough silver coins later on to hire a Daoist to perform rites at her grave, there might have been a chance of her turning into a restless spirit after her death. Yet despite all that, she still thought of her family before she died... She even tucked the fox fur I gave her into a book, leaving a note to inform future generations that they could use this fox fur to ask me for one wish. My friend, why do you think that is?" This question left Chen Xu temporarily speechless. The Fox Demon was not annoyed by his lack of response and continued, "All these years, I’ve often thought, among those who harmed her back then were her father and brother, but was I one of them as well? Was I... was I also one who harmed her?" After asking this, the Fox Demon stared intently at Chen Xu. It was only at this moment that Chen Xu realized the Fox Demon had come to see him in the dead of night to ask this very question. On the long street, the hustle and bustle of the mortal world appeared still quite hazy, as if swept into another strange world. Yet in the world before them, there were only one person and one demon. The demon has many doubts about the mortal world, while the human, humans may not truly see the world clearly either. Chen Xu pondered for a moment and said, "The cause and effect in the world is continuous, one link connecting to another, like chains forming. Fox Daoist, have you ever heard of a country perishing because of a horseshoe?" The Fox Demon curiously asked, "What country could perish because of a horseshoe?" "An ordinary horseshoe naturally wouldn’t cause that, but when the frontier is in crisis, and a confidential mission must be swiftly delivered to Shangjing. A posthouse soldier carrying this secret report rides a horse, and midway, the horseshoe falls off, and the soldier stops at a posthouse to repair it. The craftsman repairing the horseshoe does a poor job and makes a mistake. Then at some point in the latter half, the horse with a reattached horseshoe suddenly trips. The exhausted posthouse soldier falls off the horse and dies because of it. The secret report never has the chance to reach the Capital City... six months later, the enemy’s army marches in unhesitated, causing the nation’s downfall. If the world were to conclude that this nation perished because of a horseshoe. Fox Daoist, do you think this should be the interpretation?" Upon hearing this, the Fox Demon furrowed his slender brows and said, "How can one say the nation perished merely because of a horseshoe? If a country collapses simply due to a lost secret message, it merely shows that the nation itself had already rotted beyond recognition, doesn’t it? A strong dynasty wouldn’t be so easily toppled. Honestly, the reasons behind the fall of the nation should be an ineffective military, a foolish Emperor, and incompetent officials, shouldn’t it? To blame a horseshoe when there’s nothing else to blame, is to bully something like a horseshoe! I am a fox, not a human, yet I understand this principle." Suddenly, there was a sound of clapping. Thɪs chapter is updatᴇd by 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⟡𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕥⟡𝕟𝕖𝕥 The Fox Demon looked up to see the scholar opposite, clapping and smiling, saying, "Exactly, so even if the family was malicious, how can one blame the fox?"