Wow, my husband werewolf

The Talisman

I wasn’t daydreaming. When I returned from my hometown, Elder Hu had given me a talisman to summon her ancestor. It was meant to be used against Hu Fenglou, to save my life. But as things stand, it seems Hu Fenglou no longer harbors any thoughts of killing me. If Old Dong agrees to pay me if I can summon Hu Jiuxiao, then it’s still saving my life, just in a different way.

But I wasn’t entirely sure that Hu Jiuxiao would really come, so I didn’t brag about it to Hu Fenglou. I just told him to go to sleep; what I do isn’t his business.

“Don’t tell me Elder Hu gave you some talisman to use against me!”

Hu Fenglou suddenly asked me with a cunning look.

Elder Hu couldn’t defeat Hu Fenglou, and I certainly wasn’t foolish enough to give her away. So, I flattered Hu Fenglou instead: “Even if Elder Hu had a hundred guts, she wouldn’t dare offend you. Who would want to shorten their own life by taking on the mighty Second Master Hu?”

Hearing my flattery, Hu Fenglou immediately broke into a delighted laugh, sat on the bed, patted his thigh, and said to me, “Come here. Since you’re so sweet today, Second Master will let you enjoy it.”

Forget it. In these days with Hu Fenglou, other than his desires to get into bed and talk dirty, I haven’t seen any other impressive abilities from him. I wonder who gave him the title of Second Master, or is it that all immortals are as unserious as he is?

That night, we stayed at Old Dong’s house. After Hu Fenglou drew that talisman on the door, the house was quiet all night until the birds in the mountains behind Old Dong’s house woke me up the next morning. Hu Fenglou and I got up together. He opened the door to a peaceful outside, with sunlight streaming through the windows, bright and dazzling, nothing like the eerie atmosphere of the previous night.

Around ten in the morning, Old Dong returned in his car, honking at the gate, came down with some groceries, and upon seeing me and Hu Fenglou, he asked, “How was last night?”

Then, turning to Hu Fenglou, he spoke politely, “Second Master, I told you, you couldn’t handle this situation. Once I’ve put these groceries away, if you want to go back, I’ll drive you. It’s hard to get a taxi here.”

“Wait a moment,” I stopped Old Dong. “If I can get Hu Jiuxiao to look into this matter, will you pay me?”

Saying this, my face was burning, it was so embarrassing to ask for money so directly.

Old Dong paused, then interestedly said to me, “Not just for resolving the matter, I'll give you money just to see Hu Jiuxiao. I’d give you two hundred thousand, but this must not be known to Hu Jiuxiao, as it's disrespectful to the immortals. Decades ago, when I was an apprentice, I admired Hu Jiuxiao greatly, visited Changbai Mountain over a dozen times but never saw him. He doesn’t take disciples. If someone were to become his disciple, they’d surely rise to great heights, perhaps even achieving enlightenment and living for hundreds or thousands of years.”

Seeing Old Dong so highly praising Hu Jiuxiao, I started to doubt whether I could really summon him. Before Old Dong spoke, I just thought of Hu Jiuxiao as a slightly more powerful immortal, but now it seemed as if Hu Jiuxiao had ascended to godhood, out of reach for someone like me.

“Should I try?” I asked Old Dong.

“Of course, it doesn’t hurt to try.”

Old Dong didn’t believe I could really summon Hu Jiuxiao. Even Hu Fenglou, hearing my sudden boast, was looking forward to me making a fool of myself so he could laugh at me.

Fortunately, I had brought the book of soldiering spells Elder Hu had given me, which included the talisman to summon Hu Jiuxiao. After setting up the offerings at Old Dong’s doorstep, I took out the talisman Elder Hu had given me, placed it under a wine bowl on the altar, and began to chant the soldiering spell.

“Ah! Summon the god! Let the drums beat! As the continuous loud beats of the drums, I invite the old immortal from his abode, magpies flee to the trees, wolves and leopards retreat to the mountains. I invite the great immortal Hu Jiuxiao from Changbai Mountain, offering fruits and fine dishes, and hope the immortal won’t find me too humble…”

Each different god requires a different soldiering spell, and embarrassingly enough, chanting it,

correcting my pronunciation as Hu Fenglou instructed, felt a bit like performing a Northeastern duet, but faster. If the immortal didn’t show after one recitation of the spell, I would sing it again, up to three times. If the immortal hadn’t arrived by then, it meant they wouldn’t come at all.

I had almost finished my third recitation of the summoning spell, the incense I offered was still burning slowly, showing no signs of an immortal’s arrival.

Old Dong, who had been an apprentice himself, seeing me chant for so long without any sign of Hu Jiuxiao’s arrival, told me Hu Jiuxiao probably wouldn’t come. In his time as an apprentice, he was one of the best in a hundred miles and even he couldn’t summon Hu Jiuxiao, let alone me.

Old Dong’s words deflated me a bit. It was good that I tested the talisman now. If I had waited until Hu Fenglou actually wanted to kill me to try it, I might really have been dead by then.

But I persisted and finished the last line of the summoning spell. Just as my voice fell, the candle in front of me flickered suddenly. Several fiery-red wolves surrounded a white figure, appearing suddenly before my summoning altar. Before I could react, a person in snow-white clothing gently stood on the altar.

This person was a man, dressed in Qing dynasty attire, his jacket of a delicate teal color with stand-up collars encircling a section of his neck as white as jade, followed by a neatly chiseled, pale chin.

If I wasn’t mistaken, this person must be Hu Jiuxiao!

Hu Jiuxiao’s attire wasn’t just unusual by modern standards; even his features were extraordinary. His eyes were narrow and, although he, like Hu Fenglou, was a celestial wolf, there was not a hint of the coquettish allure typical of wolves in his eyes. Instead, his presence was utterly righteous, a slight crimson between his brows, and even his hair was white—neatly kept, fitting in with modern times. Standing before me, I could only feel a profound aura emanating from him. If it were said that Hu Jiuxiao was a celestial descended from heaven, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration; perhaps this is just what celestials look like.

After Hu Jiuxiao appeared, I kept staring at him. I don’t know why I kept looking, maybe because his face was extraordinarily handsome, as if it could melt right into one's heart. And while I stared at Hu Jiuxiao, I remembered what Hu Fenglou had said about how the older a Hu celestial gets, the more they care about their appearance. Someone like Hu Jiuxiao must have cultivated for over ten thousand years.

Of course, that was just my guess.

Apart from me, Old Dong beside me was also staring intensely at Hu Jiuxiao in front of me, too excited to utter a single word. Hu Fenglou, having probably seen Hu Jiuxiao before, now seeing Old Dong and me staring like fools, suddenly scolded us, “Truly pathetic.”

With Hu Jiuxiao present, what business did Hu Fenglou have? I never liked Hu Fenglou much and would have been happy to leave him sooner. Now seeing Hu Jiuxiao, I felt somewhat grateful to Hu Fenglou. If it hadn’t been for becoming his apprentice, maybe I would never have seen such a beautiful Hu celestial. How wonderful it would be if I could become his apprentice.

At that moment, Hu Jiuxiao also lowered his head to look at me. His eyes seemed to hold water, and as he watched me for a while, he then asked me gently, “Was it you who summoned me?”