Where on earth did such a huge wife of mine go, right here?

"Is this a trope?"

Zhang Ba stared blankly at the smiling young man in front of him, listening to his clear, ringing voice.

The youth was dressed similarly to Zhang Ba in coarse hempen garments, not any high-grade fabric, but his face was younger and far more handsome than Zhang Ba's, making Zhang Ba want to punch him.

"Huh?" Zhang Ba let out a strange involuntary yelp.

"Isn't the longest road you've walked in your life a trope?" the youth chuckled lightly before speaking.

"Uh... No, the longest road I've walked in my life is the path from Niulang Ridge to Niulang Town," Zhang Ba scratched his head and defended himself.

Zhang Ba did not know why he felt the need to defend himself. Perhaps it was out of a reluctance to be outdone by the youth before him, and to avoid being looked down upon by the woman inside the thatched cottage.

"Oh, is that so? Then may I go in?" the youth said noncommittally.

Although he was asking, he did not wait for Zhang Ba to make a decision. He simply squeezed past Zhang Ba and entered the house.

"You... you... you can't go in!" Only then did Zhang Ba think of objecting.

Zhang Ba hurriedly turned around, raising his hand to grab the youth and stop him from entering the house, but his hand froze mid-air. His entire body stiffened in place, eyes wide and tongue-tied as he stared ahead, as if attempting to use a menacing posture to drive the youth out.

Yet what his wide eyes beheld at that moment was a terrifying scene, one that perfectly matched his current expression.

Inside the cottage, three foxes the size of dogs were cowering together and speaking in human voices.

"Daoist priest, to spare people where possible is the right thing to do. We merely gained spiritual enlightenment, defying the ordinary. When the anomalous becomes demonic, why must you pursue us so relentlessly?" The fox that looked withered and aged emitted a voice somewhat familiar to Zhang Ba.

"You killed people, ate people, and even harmed living souls. I was born a human, and it is naturally my duty to slay you," the youth said righteously, his voice crashing against Zhang Ba's ears like a thunderclap.

"You humans also slaughter each other, and furthermore kill our kind and eat our kind. For us demons to eat you humans is merely heaven's cycle lacking bias; there is retribution, an eye for an eye. The truth behind this the Daoist priest should understand. Why press us so hard?" the old fox continued.

"I was born human, so naturally I uphold justice for humanity. You are a demon; do you know the saying 'those not of our race must surely harbor different hearts'? All the more reason for me to exterminate you," the youth replied solemnly.

The youth's words made Zhang Ba's blood boil with passion. Hampered by his current state of being unable to move, Zhang Ba desperately wished he could grab a rooster, pluck a handful of its feathers, and make it shriek and cheer for the youth's remarks.

"Enough said. I wonder if your bizarre magic is ready yet?" the youth added tauntingly.

"Elder sister, younger brother, run quickly! I'll hold him off!" Hearing this, the old fox let out a low roar to her two juniors.

With the roar, her form rapidly expanded, doubling in size until she was as large as a calf, and she ferociously lunged at the youth.

The youth neither ducked nor dodged, simply standing his ground as if frozen. Then, he spat out a streak of white brilliance that shot straight toward the enormous forehead of the charging old fox.

Splat...

The old fox's forehead was pierced right through, brain matter and blood bursting forth. The youth gracefully and effortlessly dodged aside, leaving poor Zhang Ba, still frozen stiff behind him, to be directly drenched from head to toe.

The old fox was dead, but the other two foxes managed to escape, nimbly bursting a hole through the wall of Zhang Ba's thatched cottage and fleeing outside.

"Not much of a challenge," the youth muttered, looking at the fox corpse on the ground and then at the two holes in the cottage, shaking his head with a sigh.

With that, the youth grabbed the fox corpse by the ground and dragged it toward the doorway. As he stepped out of the house, he lightly patted Zhang Ba's shoulder.

At this gentle pat, the stiffness in Zhang Ba's shoulder vanished instantly, and he regained control of his own body.

Ignoring whatever reaction Zhang Ba might have, the youth simply continued pulling the fox corpse.

Dragging the carcass outside the thatched cottage, he tossed it directly onto the ground.

Clap, clap...

The youth then brushed his hands together.

The sound of his clapping echoed through the wilderness, and shortly after, a child emerged from another corner of the thatched cottage. The child was carrying a large sack, one as massive as a stone millstone, yet dragged it effortlessly behind him as if it weighed nothing at all.

With a broad smile, the child approached the youth and patted the sack he was dragging. "There, mission ac... um, didn't fail... the demons are all trapped inside here."

"Good, very good," the youth nodded, then formed a hand seal completely unfamiliar to Zhang Ba.

With an air of casual indifference, the youth pointed a finger at the sack.

At this gesture, a cyan-yellow flame instantly surged over the sack.

The fire enveloped the entire bag, and whatever was inside immediately began to scramble frantically, as if burned by the pain, attempting to tear through the sack and escape. Yet escape was impossible; the sack was extraordinarily sturdy, trapping them tightly within.

Nor did the expected screams reach Zhang Ba's ears.

*Truly the methods of an immortal,* Zhang Ba thought to himself.

In the end, the sack was burned down to mere ashes, and the fox demons inside became ashes as well.

Having reduced the fox demons to ash, the youth did not stop. He repeated the hand seal toward the fox carcass on the ground, and it too erupted with cyan-yellow flames.

For about the space of a quarter of an hour, Zhang Ba felt as though he had been left in a state of utter stupefaction the entire time.

"Sorry to have startled you," the youth said with a smile toward Zhang Ba only after all the fox demons had been burned to death.

"Uh... um... uh... I... um... it's fine, yes, perfectly fine," Zhang Ba responded nervously.

"Right, I know. Can we stay at your place for the night?" the youth asked next.

"Uh... I suppose so," Zhang Ba felt his brain was still struggling to function properly.

"Thank you. My name is Chen Jin, a swordsman," the youth introduced himself.

"Oh, oh, oh..." Zhang Ba nodded repeatedly. "My name is Zhang Ba, a... farmer."

"Thank you," Chen Jin said once more, then grabbed the child and strode directly into the thatched cottage.

"..."

After standing dazed in place for a moment, Zhang Ba also returned to the cottage.

*Wait, where is my wife?* Zhang Ba suddenly remembered a very crucial matter.

At this thought, Zhang Ba turned back to look at the heap of ashes remaining on the ground...

*Sigh, I'll just have to find another one,* Zhang Ba thought, feeling a bitter ache in his heart. He genuinely wanted to scoop up the ashes from the floor and wail out the word "wife."

*I'll just have to save up money again.*