Chapter 74: The Fox Demon on the Grave Mound

“A grave mound? They can’t seriously expect me to dig into it. That feels… wrong.” Chen Xiyi stared at the small, protruding mound of earth not far away, unable to hold back a muttered complaint.

Though his words protested loudly, his body acted quite honestly, walking him straight towards the mound.

The grave wasn’t large. He figured a few swings of a pickaxe would probably unearth the Module needed. It meant gathering bits of some old, dried corpse, right? Worst case, he’d just dig it up and then bury it back again properly.

“Hey, scholar! Don’t walk any further! Go any further and you’ll bump right into it!”

Before he could get close, a frail, aged voice called out from behind him. Chen Xiyi instinctively turned to look. He saw a white-haired old man, bent at the waist, motioning for him to stop.

“Bump into what? There’s nothing in front of me but…” Chen Xiyi automatically started to ask what he could possibly bump into. But when he glanced back ahead, the grave mound had vanished. In its place stood an opulent, grand mansion. Above its gate hung a plaque bearing two characters: ‘Hu Manor’.

Chen Xiyi’s hand jerked slightly. This was absurd.

Wait… something felt off.

He suddenly realized something crucial: there was no name tag, no Health Points bar, no status indicator floating above the old man’s head.

‘What the heck, playing tricks? Setting the stage while distracting me?’

Clearly, the old man was likely just an illusion, not actually real.

He held absolute confidence in his Home Game system. It could detect even something as terrifying as a Dao-Integrating Eternal. So just an old man? Impossible.

“Old sir,” Chen Xiyi asked, feigning confusion as he turned back, “since when did a Hu Manor appear here?”

Only to find the old man had vanished.

A creaking sound followed immediately – obviously the gate of Hu Manor swinging open.

“May I ask where the scholar has traveled from, and why you linger before the Hu Manor gates?” A sweet, delicate voice floated out.

Chen Xiyi turned towards the source. It was… a woman.

Well, describing her was tricky. Perhaps by ancient standards she was passable, but as a modern-day transmigrator, she looked distinctly average to his eyes.

More importantly, the name tag hovering above her head left him momentarily speechless.

[Enlightened Fox, Health Points: 100%, Status: Greedy, Hungry, Excited]

It didn’t even have a proper name! Just labeled an ‘Enlightened Fox’. Was that because it was categorized as a wild monster, not an NPC?

Did that mean the Dao-Integrating Eternal above his head was considered one too?

The Fox Demon seemed displeased by Chen Xiyi’s lack of reaction. It took further action.

[The Enlightened Fox used Charm Attack on you. Required Negative Status not present. Converted to Health Points damage.]

[Charm Attack dealt 0% Health Points damage to you.]

[Alloy Full Body Armor Durability decreased by 1.]

[Enchantment: Thorns reflected the Enlightened Fox’s Charm Attack. Caused 1% Health Points damage to the Enlightened Fox.]

“……” Chen Xiyi was dumbfounded. There were just too many points of utter ridiculousness here for him to even know where to begin.

Especially the fact that an attack doing zero damage to him resulted in him reflecting 1% Health Points damage back at the attacker. That was sheer absurdity.

‘Hold on… My Alloy Full Body Armor lost 1 Durability point.’ Chen Xiyi suddenly realized that what should have been 1000 Durability now read 999.

Clearly, the attack had done damage; it was just completely absorbed by his Alloy Full Body Armor, preventing him from taking any actual Harm. And because of that, the Enchantment: Thorns triggered, reflecting damage back.

Though, the fact that the game turned “Charm” into Health Points damage simply because it didn’t have that specific Negative Status was rather annoying. He’d assumed it would be flatly immune.

The Fox Demon, who had been trying to catch his eye with a seductive glance, suddenly stiffened. Its expression turned tense and serious as it stared at Chen Xiyi.

After all, the Thorns reflected Percentage-based Health Points damage, not a fixed number.

Thinking about it this way, if he actually went up against that Dao-Integrating Eternal, and just revived fast enough… Could he theoretically kill it after a hundred deaths?

Assuming, of course, it couldn’t heal itself – which seemed incredibly unlikely.

“Miss? Are you alright?” Chen Xiyi looked at the Fox Demon, whose expression had shifted. Thankfully, it was taking the form of a human woman. If it were in the shape of a large fox itself, he doubted he’d be able to read its expression much.

Though he couldn’t be entirely sure. He was stuck within an Illusion Art – an illusion that likely wasn’t altering his own senses, but was changing his surroundings. That’s how he saw this elaborate scene.

If it had altered Chen Xiyi’s senses directly, the result would probably be the same as the Charm Attack – converted into Health Points damage.

After all, it was a Sandbox Game. Without MODs, DLCs, or other modules adding complexity, it didn’t have any of those weird, exotic Negative Statuses. His negative statuses were pretty standard: Hungry, Cold, Overheated… completely normal stuff. “Charmed” simply wasn’t part of it.

Maybe if he’d previously acquired the module from the Shanhe Sect… then perhaps. Too bad he hadn’t.

But even if he had it, would it make much difference? His Alloy Helmet bore the Sturdy Enchantment, significantly boosting his resistance against Negative Statuses.

Therefore, Chen Xiyi felt certain. The mansion the Fox Demon had conjured, even the Fox Demon itself – it was the environment being manipulated, not an illusion being imposed directly on him.

That was actually lucky. Otherwise, he might have just triggered another round of Thorns damage against the poor fox. Ironically, the absence of the required Negative Status also meant the illusion wasn’t covered by his Sturdy Enchantment’s status resistance, so the enchantment didn’t kick in against it.

A bit of give and take. Hard to say if it was a net win or a loss.

“It’s nothing. Just a sudden pain in my chest. My heart ailment troubles me again.” As she spoke, the Fox Demon swayed and deliberately started to collapse, aiming to fall right into Chen Xiyi’s arms.

Moving almost imperceptibly, Chen Xiyi sidestepped. The Fox Demon stumbled violently, almost falling flat. She looked up at him with pitifully watery, reproachful eyes.

Chen Xiyi ignored the look entirely. He had to admit, the Illusion Art was potent; it made everything feel incredibly lifelike.

If he had such an ability, Chen Xiyi thought inwardly, he’d definitely go work in movies. Think about it! You’d basically only need a camera – no other costs. It’d be pure profit.

As for this Fox Demon… if it were a fluffy fox trying to leap into his arms? Yeah, he might have caught it to give it a good patting. Pity it wasn’t.

“Miss, do be careful,” Chen Xiyi said pointedly, craning his neck to peer through the open gate of “Hu Manor”, looking left and right. He was utterly certain inside: this mansion was that grave mound. “You wouldn’t want to face-plant. Doesn’t your family have anyone at home?”

The fox demon frowned. Face-plant? And was this scholar completely without manners? Where was the delicate, easily lured scholar she was used to encountering? Was this one brain-damaged? The phrase “face-plant” literally stuck in her throat like an indigestible hairball.