Chapter Thirteen: More Human Than Humans

“It’s gone…” I said in shock.

Because I was absolutely certain that I had just seen someone.

And that someone was a man, standing just behind a white birch tree not far away in the woods, staring straight at me.

I even noticed he wasn’t very tall, wearing an army-green coat and a large straw hat that covered half his face. Since I caught only a fleeting glimpse, I couldn’t make out his features clearly.

But at that moment, Master Chen suddenly grew serious, turning his head sharply to fix me with a stern gaze.

I felt puzzled.

“What’s… wrong?” I asked.

Master Chen’s tone was hard, as if interrogating me, each word deliberate: “Sanqi, I need to be absolutely sure… Are you certain… that what you saw just now was a… person?”

Damn.

Being young at the time, I was irritated that Master Chen didn’t trust me.

So I said plainly, “Master Chen, I can be 100 percent—no, 1000 percent sure—there was indeed a person standing right under that white birch tree, staring straight at me; I’m certain it was a person.”

Hearing this, Master Chen’s face darkened completely.

He casually grabbed the nearby hunting rifle, loaded it, and gave me a look, signaling me to follow him.

So, the two of us, one after the other, bent over slightly as we slowly approached the tree where I had seen the figure.

When we arrived, Master Chen first scanned the surroundings cautiously, then led me to stand beneath the white birch.

Quick as ever, I spotted a pair of footprints right beside the tree.

Because the soil there was soft, I could even see the patterns on the prints.

At that moment, I thought to myself:

Master Chen will believe me now that he’s seen these footprints, right?

But to my surprise,

Master Chen’s expression grew tense as well.

Then he squatted down, touched the prints, measured them with his hands, and even sniffed them; after all this, his previously heavy face suddenly relaxed.

He stood up, exhaled a long breath through his weathered face, and said to me, “Sanqi, you were mistaken just now. That… wasn’t a person.”

I was confused.

I thought, Master Chen still doesn’t believe me!

So I swore, “Not a person? Master Chen, have you been drinking too much? There are footprints here—and they clearly look like human footprints; plus, I saw it with my own eyes—it was definitely a person!”

Master Chen smiled wryly and asked me a question.

“Sanqi! You say you saw a person—what evidence do you have? If nothing else, could you at least tell me what he looked like?”

I was stunned.

I hadn’t clearly seen the man’s face. After all, it was just a quick glance, a fleeting glimpse.

I opened my mouth, about to answer, but his next words caught me speechless.

He said, “Sanqi, when hunting in the deep mountains and forests, the one thing you can’t trust is your own eyes. You say you saw a person, but your eyes deceived you. If I’m right, what you actually saw was a creature standing on two legs resembling a human, so you instinctively thought it was a person. Then let me ask you: if standing on two legs makes something a person, what about the yellow weasel we encountered last night? It can stand on two legs and even make a chuckling sound. Tell me… is it a person?”

Listening to Master Chen, I opened my mouth but couldn’t say a word.

Seeing me become unusually quiet, Master Chen sighed and continued.

“Sanqi, and about these footprints—although they look like human prints, let me ask you: how are human footprints made?”

I blinked and replied, “Of course, human footprints are made by human feet… no, by human shoes.”

Master Chen nodded, looked at me meaningfully, and said, “Exactly. If you judge just by the footprint alone, these are indeed the prints of human shoes! But suppose for a moment—what if some animal was wearing human shoes… and made these footprints?”

My heart leapt, and I blurted out, “An animal? Wearing human shoes?”

“Sounds impossible?”

“Master Chen, are you sure you’re not telling me some ghost story? Is this animal possessed or something? Wearing human shoes?”

I found it hard to accept. What Master Chen was telling me seemed as unbelievable as if he were claiming the Heavenly Palace existed.

“Do you think I’m telling stories?” Master Chen sneered, bent down, and picked up a small tuft of reddish-brown fur from the ground near my feet. He said, “Sanqi, do you know what this is?”

I squinted, took the fur, held it up close, inspected it carefully, then sniffed it. Finally, I confirmed.

It was fox fur, marked by a strong fox-like smell.

And I believed this tuft came from the fox’s back.

Because from what I knew, fox fur had two colors: reddish-brown or red on the back, and white or yellow from the armpits to the chest.

“Hmm… so, Sanqi, do you understand now? The ‘person’ you saw was not a person; I suspect it was a fox wearing a straw hat, an overcoat, and dragging human shoes.”

Master Chen walked toward the riverbank, lighting a cigarette as he spoke softly to me.

“This…”

When I heard Master Chen’s words, it was like a thunderbolt striking me—I stood frozen.

In my mind, the scene of the figure I had just seen replayed.

It seemed…

If that figure really was a fox, it actually…

might make sense.

But it was absurd.

I quickly said, “Master Chen, what you’re saying is too strange. A fox wearing human clothes and shoes, standing upright like a person—is this fox possessed or something?”

Actually,

Regarding the strange incident last night when the yellow weasel asked us for chicken, though I was scared, I didn’t think it was particularly unusual.

After all, stories about the Great Immortal Huang were something every child growing up in Northeast Inner Mongolia had heard a bit about.

But now,

Master Chen was telling me that a fox…

could become so human-like…

That was…

Squatting by the riverbank, Master Chen silently tossed me a cigarette. I thought for a moment and accepted it, lighting up.

He first looked around the wild forested hills, took a deep drag, then gazed at the rushing river and slowly spoke words that remain deeply etched in my memory to this day.

“Animals becoming like humans—we don’t know when that began. But humans becoming like animals—that’s been true for a very long time.”