Yue Yujiu of Yidu County suffered hauntings from a fox spirit in his home. Silks and delicate wares were often spirited away by the fox demon, only to be tossed over the neighbor's wall. Yue Yujiu had set aside a roll of fine cloth for making clothes, but upon opening it, he found vast swathes had been sliced away by the spirit. Such pranks, countless in number, plagued the household, driving everyone to despair and constant condemnation. Yue Yujiu finally intervened: "Stop cursing it; the fox spirit might hear." From the rafters, the spirit replied, "I already have," and from then on, its mischief grew bolder.

One day, the couple lay abed, unwilling to rise, when the fox spirit stole their clothing. They huddled naked on the [Note: The original text contained an explicit placeholder in this section, which I have represented here as a blank space as per the instruction to preserve all content elements and structures, though the context implies a position of shame or vulnerability], their hands clasped, pleading toward the empty air. Suddenly, a woman entered through the window, tossing their garments onto the bed. Upon closer inspection, she was of medium height, dressed in red beneath a long, pale skirt.

Yue Yujiu quickly donned his clothes and bowed low. "Since the Great Immortal intends to favor us," he said, "please cease these disturbances hereafter. If you do not disdain it, I wish to adopt you as a goddaughter. Would that be acceptable?" The fox spirit replied, "I am older than you; how could I be your daughter?" "Then let us become sworn siblings," suggested Yue Yujiu. "What do you say?" The fox spirit nodded assent. "That is more agreeable." Peace was thus restored. Yue Yujiu instructed his children to address the spirit as "Eldest Aunt."

Around that time, the home of the Young Master Zhang in Yan Town also harbored a fox spirit residing upstairs, often engaging the family in conversation. Yue Yujiu asked his spirit, "Do you know the spirit residing with the Zhang family?" The fox replied, "That is my beloved aunt; of course, I know her." Yue Yujiu urged, "Auntie Xi never disturbs anyone; why don't you learn from her?" The spirit paid him no mind, continuing its disruptive ways.

However, the spirit largely ceased tormenting others, focusing its entire attention on antagonizing the daughter-in-law. It would either toss the daughter-in-law's shoes, socks, or hairpins into the street, or, while she was eating, place rat droppings and filth into her bowl. Each time this occurred, the daughter-in-law would erupt in fury, hurling the bowl and unleashing a torrent of foul language: "Vile fox! Dead fox!" and endless other invectives.

Privately, Yue Yujiu implored the spirit, "My children and grandchildren call you Auntie, yet you show no semblance of elder behavior." The fox spirit retorted, "Tell your son to divorce his current wife and take me as his bride. From then on, I guarantee your household will know peace." The daughter-in-law, who had been embroidering while perched atop the clothes cabinet, heard this and spat, "Shameless, filthy fox, daring to fight another woman for a man?" No sooner had the words left her mouth than thick smoke billowed up from beneath her buttocks, her nether regions burning as if on fire. Standing up to check, she saw that the large pile of clothes she kept in the wooden cabinet had entirely combusted into ash.

The fox spirit then instigated Yue's son, ordering him to send his wife away. The young master refused. The spirit pressed him repeatedly, but the son remained unmoved. Enraged, the fox spirit bombarded him with pebbles, beating him until his head was bloody and he nearly died. Yue Yujiu, distressed and furious, heard that Li Chengshui of West Mountain was skilled at drawing powerful talismans, so he invited him to come and subdue the demon.

Li Chengshui spent three days painstakingly drawing a talisman with mud mixed with gold dust onto red cloth. He then lashed a mirror onto a wooden pole, sweeping its reflection around the entire house, keeping a young acolyte close by to give an immediate warning upon detection. Upon arriving at a certain spot, the acolyte declared, "There seems to be a dog clinging to the wall." Li Chengshui moved with the swiftness of the wind, producing a talisman and sticking it firmly to the wall. He then performed ritual steps, tracing the Big Dipper pattern in the courtyard while chanting incantations.

Before long, the pigs and dogs of the Yue estate approached, heads bowed submissively, tails wagging as if attentively listening to Li’s instructions. Li Chengshui waved his hand: "Go now." The swine and canines nodded in unison and departed in single file. Li continued his chanting, and a flock of ducks obediently approached; next came a flock of chickens. Li pointed at one hen and shouted sternly. The flock scattered instantly, but this single hen remained crouched on the ground, flapping its wings and crying out, "I dare not again!"

Li Chengshui announced, "This fox haunting is entirely due to the effigy of your household's Goddess Zigū causing trouble." The family members shook their heads. "We have no memory of a Zigū statue." Li insisted, "Zigū is still present." The family pondered deeply, their minds wrestling with the past, and finally recalled, "Three years ago, during a game, we used wheat stalks to fashion a Zigū idol. It was from that very moment the fox spirit began plaguing our home, and it has persisted until now."

The group searched everywhere and finally located the idol on a beam in the stable, handing it over to Li. Li Chengshui took the statue and cast it into the fire to burn. He then pulled a wine bottle from his robes, chanted an incantation three times, cursed three times, and the hen rose up and vanished without a trace.

From within the bottle, the fox spirit’s voice emerged, venomous with resentment: "Old Man Yue, how cruel! Years from now, I will return." Hearing this, Yue Yujiu felt a surge of fear and begged Li to destroy the wine bottle. Li refused, instead tucking the bottle away before taking his leave.

Later, some people observed dozens of wine bottles hanging on Li Chengshui's wall, their mouths tightly stoppered, each containing a trapped fox spirit. Consequently, private suspicions arose: Li Chengshui deliberately released demons to cause mayhem, thus collecting exorbitant fees for their subjugation, a scheme for immense profit—a clear case of creating a market for rare goods.

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