A few days later, before the boat arrived at Jining, the two of them explained to the boatman that they wanted to disembark early and hoped he would understand. The boatman agreed and gave them a few taels of silver as wages. Thus, CHIANG, SHUN-JEN (蔣舜仁) and LI, SHIH-LIANG (李士良) disembarked early at a small town before Jining and proceeded toward Jining by land.
They passed through wilderness and fields, and after walking for some time, they arrived in Jining. This place was known as the City of Canals. Chiang Shun-jen decided to stay temporarily at the Minnan Guild Hall in the city, and while there, also purchase a new bag. The two then went to the market, which was bustling with people and noise. Chiang Shun-jen looked at Li Shih-liang’s clothing and felt it was too ragged, so he suggested that Li buy new clothes.
“Soon we shall go to the Confucius Temple. By then, we must dress more properly. Why don’t you use the money you earned to buy some clothing? If it’s not enough, I can help cover the rest.”
They then headed to a clothing shop and began trying on clothes. First, Li Shih-liang put on a green robe with golden embroidery on the right closure. Li Shih-liang felt it looked good, but Chiang Shun-jen disapproved, saying, “Commoners wearing gold embroidery may be considered an offense against social norms.”
“But it looks really nice,” Li Shih-liang said.
“I think it’s not suitable,” Chiang Shun-jen replied.
Then Li Shih-liang picked a beige right-closure robe. This one was relatively plain but had peony patterns as decoration, and he also selected a pair of embroidered shoes.
“The patterns on the shoes are not in accordance with ritual propriety,” Chiang Shun-jen said again.
Afterward, Li Shih-liang tried on more than a dozen outfits, but almost all were rejected by Chiang Shun-jen on the grounds that they violated ritual propriety, which nearly infuriated Li Shih-liang. Their argument also drew the attention of others in the clothing shop, who began whispering to each other, criticizing Chiang Shun-jen for being rigid and out of step with the times. In the end, both of them, unable to tolerate the situation any longer, decided to buy the second outfit Li had tried on: the beige right-closure robe with peony patterns, along with a pair of plain black cloth shoes.
Chiang Shun-jen then went to another shop to buy a straw-woven backpack to replace his damaged old one.
After finishing the rest of their necessary shopping, the two came to a restaurant, ordered some delicious dishes, and ate to their fill. Once satisfied, they proceeded to the Minnan Guild Hall. Upon hearing Chiang Shun-jen’s regional accent and seeing his scholar's attire, the people at the hall invited them into a room to rest.
Li Shih-liang lay down on the bed, while Chiang Shun-jen sat on a chair in the corner. The two began chatting.
“So we’re going to the Confucius Temple in Qufu tomorrow?” Li Shih-liang asked.
“Yes,” Chiang Shun-jen answered.
“Have you ever been there?” Li Shih-liang asked again.
“No,” Chiang Shun-jen replied.
They continued talking. As they talked and talked, they began to feel sleepy, and so they climbed into the bed together and fell asleep.
Chiang Shun-jen felt he was not sleeping well—perhaps he was not used to the environment? he thought to himself. In his dream, he heard the voices of several people talking.
“It’s not a good idea to discuss this here,” one person said.
“There’s no choice. We don’t have a base in this place. I’ve already confused everyone in the guild hall. They won’t be waking up anytime soon,” another person said.
Next came the sound of a group of people arguing about something. They seemed to be debating how trading elixirs required passing through Jurchen territory, going through checkpoints along the way, and how the journey cost was too high. Furthermore, users were prone to death. Therefore, the plan should be terminated.
But one of them said:
“We cannot stop. This is Lord Zhang’s order.”
“It should be stopped! This kind of behavior harms human ethics. We can just use the excuse that the cost is too high to persuade Lord Zhang to end it,” another person said.
“Human ethics? If humans knew of our existence, would they still treat us with benevolence and righteousness? Since ancient times, our kind has been seen as monsters by them. We have had to hide our existence day and night just to live in society. If we are discovered, they will attack us in unison.”
“That’s why Lord Zhang recruited displaced vagrants and gave them elixirs to take—to turn them into our arms and legs!”
“There are too few werewolves in Quanliang Town, and they are reclusive. They simply cannot serve as servants. You know this was a decision made out of necessity.”
“If humans find out we’re doing these things behind their backs, it would only give them an excuse to attack us.”
“So what can they do to us then? What can they do against an army of several thousand werewolves? Besides, werewolves are extremely strong laborers. They’ve improved Lord Zhang’s mining efficiency in Dian and helped us eliminate business rivals.”
“But we have not treated those turned into werewolves well—we’ve simply used them as disposable pawns. One day they will surely rebel!”
“But they’ve been obedient so far. Only that kid from Quanliang Town ran away.”
“Speaking of that kid, where did he go?”
“No idea. People in Suzhou searched everywhere but couldn’t find him. He probably left the city already.”
“Where could he even go? He doesn’t know the outside world at all. He won’t survive.”
“But then how do we make an example? If those werewolf slaves realize we’re not continuing the search, they might…”
“Besides, he’s the only one who might know the method for making the elixir.”
“That reminds me—is it possible to produce the elixir ourselves?”
“We only know one of the ingredients is Chìliǎo (Polygonum bistorta). We don’t know the exact method.”
“Only that kid from Quanliang Town might know. I’ve heard from the elders in that area that he once worked as a page for a Taoist alchemist.”
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“Then self-production is practically impossible. A page couldn’t possibly know the details of alchemy.”
“But if we could produce it ourselves, we’d save a lot of cost. We can’t miss a possible opportunity.”
“We must inform all the guild halls—capture that kid at all costs!”
“Where might he have gone?”
“Could he have run back to Quanliang Village?”
“But only we know the exact path in and out. He couldn’t possibly return on his own.”
“But he was last seen in Suzhou, even farther north than where he escaped. And he was with a scholar. That makes it very likely he’s trying to go back.”
“You say with a scholar… come to think of it, isn’t there an examination happening soon? Could that man be a candidate? Are they heading to the capital together? Since they’re heading north anyway…”
“Then it would be easy to catch him. If we’re lucky, they might even follow the Grand Canal north—maybe they’ll come here.”
The people continued arguing.
Sounds like those people are the fox spirits Li Shih-liang spoke of, Chiang Shun-jen thought. Their conversation explained many things. It seemed the fox spirits, for the sake of convenience in business and their own protection, had treated the werewolves as their slaves. They turned vagrants into werewolves—because in these times, there was no shortage of vagrants. The elixir trade and procurement of ingredients were all for this purpose, perhaps.
As Chiang Shun-jen continued thinking, he suddenly realized something was wrong… Why could he hear the conversation of the fox spirits?
A scent hit him—it was the smell of some kind of incense used in a censer. He suddenly woke up and found Li Shih-liang beside him. The only sounds in the room were the heavy rain and the echoes of people arguing. Li Shih-liang was holding a bag of something to cover his own nose and mouth and gestured with his finger on his lips to signal silence. Then, in a low voice, Li Shih-liang said, “The fox spirits’ power to confuse people can be dispelled by inhaling a stimulating scent. A whole group of them is here—in this guild hall.” Chiang Shun-jen nodded in response.
Chiang Shun-jen said, “Let’s just stay here until they leave.”
The sound of arguing gradually faded. Then someone said, “It’s getting late. Let’s just stay here for the night.”
Looks like we can’t stay after all, Chiang Shun-jen thought, holding the aromatic bag over his nose and mouth. But it was raining heavily outside, and the other party had a large group—sneaking out quietly would be difficult. Then we should just pretend to be asleep, Chiang Shun-jen whispered, “They probably don’t know what we look like. As long as we cover our heads with the blanket and pretend to sleep, we’ll be fine.” Li Shih-liang nodded in agreement but quietly got off the bed, picked up the ring-blade from the corner of the room, then slipped back under the blanket and covered his head…
The two hid under the covers. The sound of their hearts beating echoed between them—thump thump. Then, a group of footsteps approached the room. The voices came closer, chatting casually and beginning to discuss where to sleep.
“I’ll sleep on this bed.”
“Then I’ll take this spot.”
“Huh? Someone’s already sleeping here. Then I’ll just sleep with you.”
“No, that’s too cramped.”
“Just make him get up and sleep on the side.”
Chiang Shun-jen’s heartbeat quickened even more.
“Fine. You—get up.”
“Huh? I said get up… Strange. These two aren’t responding to my command.”
“Maybe your power isn’t strong enough. Let me try.”
“Get up!”
Silence. No movement. The sound of two hearts beating grew louder.
“Looks like you can’t control them either. Whatever. I’ll just move them myself.”
The blanket began to lift. Li Shih-liang’s hand tightened around the ring-blade’s cord.
Then, everything happened very quickly. Before Chiang Shun-jen could react, Li Shih-liang threw off the blanket, looped the ring-blade over the one who had lifted the blanket, and yanked the cord—instantly crushing the person’s head. Blood gushed from the top of the blade’s hat-like structure. Chiang Shun-jen stared at the scene, completely frozen.
The others, seeing what had happened, immediately scattered in response. Chiang Shun-jen watched as their skin split open, revealing fox-like fur beneath. Their skulls began to deform and elongate, turning into fox heads.
Li Shih-liang pressed Chiang Shun-jen’s body down low and threw the ring-blade. It rolled along the wall, and the cord wrapped around the neck of one of the fox spirits, choking him unconscious. The other fox spirits scrambled to dodge the continuous slicing edge of the spinning blade along the wall. One fox spirit lunged at them with claws bared—Li Shih-liang crouched low and kicked him hard in the head. A crack sounded as the skull shattered, and the fox spirit was thrown aside.
Li Shih-liang retrieved the bloodied ring-blade. At this point, three fox spirits remained in the room, preparing to fight. Li Shih-liang’s skin began to tear, revealing wolf fur underneath. His face also started to deform and elongate, transforming into a wolf’s head. Chiang Shun-jen stared in disbelief.
One of the fox spirits bared its teeth and charged forward. Li Shih-liang bit its arm, and the sound of bones breaking rang out. He then grabbed the fox spirit’s arm and bit down on its neck—blood sprayed from his mouth. Another fox spirit tried to pull him away but was slashed across the eyes by Li Shih-liang’s claws. Screaming in pain while clutching its face, that fox spirit had its skull smashed by a punch from Li Shih-liang.
One fox spirit curled up in the corner, reaching out a hand with open palm, saying, “Wait, I don’t want to be your enemy. I’ve always opposed this—I swear, so please don’t kill me, wai—”
Li Shih-liang lunged, choking him by the neck, and crushed his mouth with one hand. Then, pressing down on the top of his head, he cruelly killed the fox spirit.
Chiang Shun-jen watched all of this—the non-human wolf form of Li Shih-liang, and the blood-soaked fur. Li Shih-liang walked toward him. Chiang Shun-jen instinctively dodged. Li Shih-liang packed the ring-blade into his bag, slung it onto his back, and reached out a hand toward Chiang Shun-jen. Chiang Shun-jen reflexively pulled his hand away, his face frozen in fear. Li Shih-liang quickly grabbed Chiang Shun-jen’s arm and ran outside.
In the rain-drenched dark city, the two of them rushed out of the guild hall and ran through the empty streets. They ran and ran—though Chiang Shun-jen’s steps had slowed, Li Shih-liang still pulled him along, even carrying him on his back. Under the downpour, through the deserted streets, they ran wildly. They kept running until they reached a small path into the forest. Then, in the distance, they saw what looked like an abandoned house. Chiang Shun-jen said, “Let’s stop there.”
Li Shih-liang, breathing heavily, said, “No. It’s not safe enou—”
“I said stop right now!!” Chiang Shun-jen shouted, disrupting Li Shih-liang.
Startled, Li Shih-liang quickly rushed into the house. After stopping, he put Chiang Shun-jen down. Both of them were soaked; the rain had even washed away all the blood on their bodies. They sat facing each other, unable to say a word for a moment.
Chiang Shun-jen, trembling all over, spoke first: “We should report this to the authorities… I won’t say you killed those people, but we must report it.”
“No—we can’t. The authorities won’t believe us,” said Li Shih-liang.
“If we let them see your transformed state, they’ll understand,” Chiang Shun-jen said, still shaking.
“You want people to think I’m a monster?” said Li Shih-liang.
“You are a monster!!” Chiang Shun-jen shouted.
“You heard those foxes talking too! Their actions are undeniably harmful to society. The world deserves to know that monsters exist. And you… you cruelly killed those foxes just now—one of them even begged you for mercy,” Chiang Shun-jen said, still trembling.
“If I didn’t kill him, he could’ve gone to summon others. Do you think I enjoy killing?” Li Shih-liang said fiercely.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ve caused me? Because of you, I’ve been hunted by strange people all this time, and the journey to the capital has been full of difficulties,” Chiang Shun-jen blurted out.
What am I saying?
“What’s that supposed to mean? I told you that you could go without me—but you insisted on bringing me along,” Li Shih-liang said.
What am I saying?
“What did I just say aaaaaaaaah!” Chiang Shun-jen cried out.
Li Shih-liang was startled by his hysterics.
“I actually pushed the blame onto you, you poor wolf boy…” Chiang Shun-jen said.
“Who am I? Tell me… Am I a hypocrite?” Chiang Shun-jen muttered in a trembling voice.
“What are you saying?” asked Li Shih-liang.
“Nothing… Sorry I lashed out at you. I’ll lie down for a bit,” said Chiang Shun-jen.
Who am I? Why do I help this wolf boy? Is it because he’s unfortunate? No… I just want to present myself as a good person. I want to prove I’m different from my parents who exploit the people. I want to harm their reputation to elevate myself… I am truly unfilial. I’m a vile man…
Chiang Shun-jen lay on the ground, weeping softly. Li Shih-liang sat cross-legged nearby, staring blankly at him. Outside, the storm swept through the grass and trees. The wailing wind echoed through the night...
References
People’s Government of Jining, “Grand Canal (Jing-Hang Canal)” (), accessed March 22, 2025.
