“This is the book collection of the Great Chan Monastery.” William Grant said, “And these books—classics, histories, philosophical works, collections, scriptures, and so on—are all mixed together without any classification. I’m afraid it’ll be hard to find what you want when reading.”

“Well, to be honest, this old man doesn’t know much either, and I’m not very familiar with book classification.” Mr. Foster’s fur showed a faint blush, as if he felt a bit embarrassed.

Actually, William Grant was already being rather gentle with his words. In most scholarly or wealthy households, the family’s book collection would be meticulously categorized and neatly arranged.

But the books in this stone chamber were a complete mess, as if some nouveau riche, having struck it rich, wanted to decorate his home like a scholarly family and so bought a pile of books and just scattered them around.

“In fact, these books were brought out from the monastery back when the Great Chan Monastery in Central Province was raided and destroyed.” Mr. Foster sighed, “That monastery was enormous, with over ten thousand monks. Every autumn, there were over a thousand monks who went to the countryside to collect rent. Layer upon layer of grand halls, incense burning as horses galloped by, the eternal lamps never extinguished, the lights shining day and night. But alas, when the army broke through, the magnificent temple was reduced to ashes, and all its treasures were looted. Ah, the rise and fall of fortunes truly feels like a dream.”

“Galloping horses to light incense… So, Mr. Foster, you all moved here to the western mountains of Yujing City from the Great Chan Monastery in Central Province.” William Grant finally understood the origins of these foxes.

The Great Chan Monastery in Central Province was located in the heart of the Great Qian Dynasty, a thousand-year-old temple that had reached the height of its glory. Many books recorded its grandeur. It was said that the temple’s grand halls were so vast that the young monks who offered incense to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas each morning had to ride horses to get there in time. Hence the saying “galloping horses to light incense.”

At the same time, this monastery was also a sacred place for martial arts and cultivation, and even more so, a sanctuary of wealth.

Buddhist temples were exempt from taxes, owned vast lands, and enjoyed flourishing incense offerings. After a thousand years of accumulation, their wealth could rival that of a nation.

Unfortunately, twenty years ago, because the Great Chan Monastery conspired with loyalists of the previous dynasty to rebel, the army purged it, and the thousand-year-old temple was burned to the ground.

It was said that the monastery’s accumulated wealth, once plundered, made the finances of the Great Qian Dynasty more stable than ever before.

These things were recorded in the notes of many scholars. William Grant knew all this quite well.

“These foxes must be a clan living near the Great Chan Monastery. After all, monks don’t kill, so it was safe for them to live there, and they could also learn a lot. But foxes are still foxes; though they have spiritual intelligence and understand reason and cultivation, they are not quite like humans.”

At this moment, William Grant had a clear understanding of the fox clan demons.

“I wonder if sir could help me organize a classification? This library is the treasure of my pure fox clan. Once the little foxes can read, they’ll be able to come in and study. That way, we’ll have a scholarly family atmosphere, and with this room full of books, at least my fox clan won’t spend their whole lives muddle-headed, living as mere beasts that eat raw flesh and drink blood.”

Chapter Seven: Martial Classics, Daoist Scriptures

“So, the real reason these foxes invited me wasn’t mainly to teach, but to classify the books for easier reading in the future. I never expected that coming to the western mountains to guard my mother’s grave and study in peace would lead to something like this. That woman from the imperial palace, Yuan Fei, even produced gold coins from the palace—what is her relationship with the foxes? This is all so mysterious; who knows if it’s a blessing or a curse.”

Classifying a library is a huge task.

Many wealthy families with thousands of books would hire experienced scholars to categorize them properly.

William Grant had read many fox demon tales, most of which were about romantic fox maidens and talented scholars. But now that he was actually facing such a situation, he realized these foxes were not just about reading and cultivation.

His sense that things were not simple came directly from the gold coins from Yuan Fei’s palace.

But all of this was just speculation without any clues. For now, the most important thing was to read. With so many books, William Grant, who had always relied on borrowing and copying books to read, was simply thrilled.

“Sir, please rest well. In the coming days, if you have no other matters, you can stay here in the secluded valley. I’ll take care of all your tea and meals.” Mr. Foster saw William Grant flipping through book after book and nodded in satisfaction.

“Then I’ll start sorting and classifying the books tonight.” William Grant said.

“Very well. Little Sarah, Little Faith, Little Susan, go prepare some late-night tea and snacks for sir.”

“Jiji, jiji.” A few cheerful fox cries came from outside.

“This old man is going to meditate and restore my energy. If you need anything, just let me know. The children outside can’t speak yet, but they can understand language.”

After giving these instructions, Mr. Foster wobbled out.

At this moment, William Grant’s attention was entirely on the books filling the stone chamber. As soon as Mr. Foster the fox left, he immediately began walking around the room, his eyes scanning for books that interested him.

“There really is a complete collection of books in this stone chamber, especially those on martial arts and cultivation.”

After about half an hour, William Grant had walked around the entire stone chamber and found that a large portion of the collection was on martial arts, with the rest being Daoist cultivation texts—a truly vast sea of books.