In this AU, every Sanren is a fox (every disciple of Baoshan, even the ones that went down the mountain and their descendants), but to have a full transformation and all of the fox powers said disciple must have a pearl, in which they'll condense all knowledge and spiritual power acquired during their lifes or parents lifes (this would be a special case).
Baoshan Sanren gives a little of all the knowledge she has acquired during her lifetime to all her disciples (said knowledge is not about spiritual cultivation, but rather the skill capable to show what hides in the heart of people, theirs desires, fears, and so on), the sole purpose of this act is protect her disciples so they won't get tricked and trapped to serve greedy mortals.
Someday, Cangse Sanren decides to go down the mountain and agrees to never comeback unless her life is in serious danger.
Down the mountain she goes to have adventures and help the common people as well as make several friends, she's mad tho. People keep trying to trick and bound her. For power nonetheless! It isn't even because they like her! (My girl is really offended).
As time goes by, our girl continues to live her best life, going to the lan lectures and wrecking havoc (as any fox would if challenged). Is in that cold mountain that she meets Wei Changze.
They fall in love, hard. Some even say the Jiang Sect were lucky for catching a fox, but even so the Jiang Elders are confused with the fox choice of a "life partner", as she says.
"Why choose a servant when you could have an heir?"
But the couple don't stay within the lotus sect enough for them to figure it out. Suddenly (or not so suddenly, as you will know later), Wei Changze secedes from the sect and goes on to marry and travel as a rogue cultivator with his beautiful and funny wife.
The couple spend their days helping villages in the extreme south of Hunan, going as close as to visit Wuzhou in Nanman. Having their way into each others body's and just loving one another fully.
Several cases resolved later, they stoped at a village for 7 month because Cangse found herself pregnant. Their son comes with the first sunshine of a day in the red season. Soon after this blessing the couple started to try and find a place to settle down, just so until their child grew into his teens to continue their adventure together, but then...
The Wei couple died on a nighthunt they thought would be easy, none of their investigation nor the villagers comments pointed to a yao with this magnitude, it was in Yiling that the Wei couple died, few miles away from the burial mounds border, leaving their little treasure A-Ying, to be on his own.
But not all is lost and the world isn't as dark and cruel to our little A-Ying, after all his parents were not fools so, before going on their nighthunts, Cangse left her pearl with her son saying that "if she or baba don't return in two nights A-Ying must eat the pearl so it will keep him safe" and after the two nights, eating the pearl A-Ying did!
A gift for @flautistsandpeonies because I think they will like it. Love, @anjimimi 💙🐇❤