Little Fox

Yan Jue watched Chu Fu’s figure disappear into the pine grove and let out a breath of relief. She smiled at Qi Xianqing. “It’s fine now.”

Then, all at once, her wrist dipped.

Qi Xianqing reached out and caught her by the wrist.

Qi Xianqing’s cultivation was very high, but when she wasn’t exerting force, her whole body felt oddly soft. Her Immortal Spirit Physique, which drew demons and monsters alike, was actually a thunder spirit root that restrained all the world’s evil things; even her fingertips were cool to the touch.

Yan Jue heard her ask in a low voice, “Can you let go of my hand now?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Yan Jue suddenly noticed the Cold Pool over there.

Today was overcast, and the water’s surface was veiled in mist.

Half of the ghostfire fireflies she had released earlier had gone after Chu Fu; the other half were still drifting above the Cold Pool.

Yan Jue’s eyes rolled once, and she suddenly let go. “Senior Sister, look!”

Qi Xianqing froze for a moment, then followed Yan Jue’s gaze.

Somehow, the ghostfire fireflies had turned a deep sapphire blue, taking on the shape of ordinary fireflies.

One point of blue after another danced in the wind like scattered starlight across the deep night sky.

Yan Jue asked, “Pretty?”

Qi Xianqing paused slightly. “You raised them?”

“Mm.”

It seemed Yan Jue had no secrets in front of Qi Xianqing. Perhaps because she had spent so long with Qi Xianqing in fox form, Yan Jue felt that telling her secrets was very safe.

Qi Xianqing stared at the expanse of starlike light by the lakeshore, a trace of softness appearing in her eyes. She cleared her throat. “Not bad.”

“Pretty nice.”

-

Ever since she drove Chu Fu off by the Cold Pool that day, Yan Jue simply let a few ghostfire fireflies patrol the lakeside.

Constantly drawing the male lead’s hatred was not exactly ideal, but since he was already set against her, she might as well go all the way.

Yan Jue had released exactly seven ghostfire fireflies, no more and no less.

She spent her days buried in the Library Pavilion and had thoroughly studied all kinds of formations in this world.

Seven ghostfire fireflies were just enough to form the Big Dipper Array, creating a small thunder array with considerable power.

With Chu Fu’s current cultivation, he still couldn’t withstand a lightning array’s attack.

Sure enough, Chu Fu never came again.

Yan Jue trained in peace at the Cold Pool, and whenever she had nothing to do, she would run to the Library Pavilion to absorb more knowledge.

That day, the north wind howled.

Yan Jue was curled up under the covers reading when she suddenly

heard knocking at the door from outside.

Yan Jue opened the door, and her neighbor Du Ying’s slightly chubby face appeared before her.

Du Ying was a member of Kongqing Prefecture. Recently, whenever she came to chat with Yan Jue, she would also bring back a copy of The Five Dragons Encyclopedia for her.

Because of that, Yan Jue had come to know all the sect’s gossip inside and out.

Du Ying handed over the latest issue of The Five Dragons Encyclopedia and asked, “Yan Jue, your beginner tasks should be almost done, right? When are you planning to head down the mountain for training?”

Beginner tasks.

Those four words struck Yan Jue’s heart like a bucket of ice water poured over her head, chilling her blood all the way through.

The Five-Dragon Summit was almost here.

She was getting closer and closer to her death date.

Maybe life had been too comfortable lately; Yan Jue had nearly forgotten what kind of situation she was in.

She was not a genuine Five Dragons disciple at all, but a disposable villain who would eventually die.

She had completed two beginner tasks and had one last one left.

Yan Jue frowned and said after a moment of thought, “I’ll go check the Administrative Hall in a bit; see if there’s a suitable task.”

Du Ying: “You’re not going to Five Dragons Square with the leading Senior Sister this time? I thought your last task score was pretty high.”

Yan Jue had to admit, Qi Xianqing really was an excellent leader.

Any task with a senior brother or senior sister in charge would add an extra “task score” for the trial disciple.

That is, after the task was completed, the leading senior brother would score the trial disciples to evaluate their performance in the team.

Qi Xianqing graded very generously. In her group, everyone except Chu Fu got 4 points; Chu Fu alone received 3, barely scraping by.

The maximum score was 5.

Yan Jue felt that the reason Qi Xianqing had deducted one point was probably to keep them from getting arrogant.

In any case, it was still very high.

Over the past two months, Yan Jue had often been with Qi Xianqing at night, and she had heard Qi Xianqing mention in passing that she still had important matters to handle before the Five-Dragon Summit arrived.

She probably wouldn’t be leading a team again for the time being.

And from her experience in Nanxing Town last time, Yan Jue understood that any task led by a senior brother or senior sister would not be easy.

After weighing everything, Yan Jue still decided to find a task on her own and get it over with.

Yan Jue: “I’ll go by myself.”

Du Ying: “Don’t. Tasks with a senior brother or senior sister leading the way are harder, sure, but you can learn a lot from them.

“I spent all day at Five Dragons Market today and finally found a task. I definitely won’t leave you behind this time!”

Last time, Du Ying had taken Yan Jue to Five Dragons Square to look for a task, but no team was willing to accept Yan Jue.

Yan Jue had no choice but to go over to Qi Xianqing’s side.

Du Ying had actually felt a little guilty about it the whole time.

So this time, after careful searching, she chose a team that was short two people.

The task was being led by a late Illumination Stage senior sister. Perhaps because the recent negative gossip about Yan Jue had died down, the other party readily agreed to let Yan Jue and Du Ying join.

Yan Jue blinked. “Then, Senior Sister, what kind of task is it this time?”

Her beginner tasks had already become two in the blink of an eye; one last task remained, and then she could go down the mountain and slip away. Yan Jue was actually a little excited.

Du Ying tossed the token to her:

One hundred li from Five Dragons Mountain lies a mountain called Emptiness Mountain.

Emptiness Mountain is rich in gold; the mountain streams contain abundant Spirit Stones, and many fierce birds and beasts live there, so mortals may not climb it.

Qianding Divine Lingzhi have already grown in Emptiness Mountain; disciples are hereby ordered to go and harvest them.

Mission objective: Collect Qianding Divine Lingzhi.

Mission difficulty: D.

Mission time limit: round trip within one day.

Yan Jue: “……”

Why did she feel like this mission was even harder?

Last time, with Qi Xianqing leading such an elite team, a difficulty rating of D had already seemed sky-high; now the difficulty was still D, but the time limit was actually only one day!

Emptiness Mountain; harvesting lingzhi...

Du Ying: “It’s really that simple of a task. I spent a long time picking it this time; it’s guaranteed to pay off.”

Yan Jue: “……”

After Du Ying left, Yan Jue sat on the bed and pulled out a newly borrowed book from the Library Pavilion, The Illustrated Compendium of Plants and Trees.

Qianding Divine Lingzhi were the finest among the spiritual mushrooms that gathered the essence of heaven and earth; they were a precious material needed by cultivators to increase their cultivation.

Their grade was Xuan among the Heaven, Earth, Xuan, and Yellow materials, and they were further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades. They were exceedingly rare, priceless, and only produced in Emptiness Mountain in the northwestern region.

At first glance, this task still seemed simple enough, just going into the mountains to pick lingzhi.

But when Yan Jue looked at that glaring “D,” she still felt a little numb.

Going into the deep mountains to harvest lingzhi meant there might be demon beasts inside, along with all kinds of dangers.

Wasn’t this exactly the sort of thing cultivation novels loved to write about?

Yan Jue leaned back against the bed and casually tossed the token into the air before catching it again.

No matter what, she’d take it first.

Du Ying had spent a long time choosing this task, and Yan Jue didn’t want to let her down.

Although she still hadn’t learned “Instant Thousand Miles,” that was simply too difficult; she probably wouldn’t figure it out anytime soon.

But that didn’t stop her from taking on the mission.

Only...

For some reason, Yan Jue suddenly thought of someone.

-

At night, Yan Jue, as usual, shook her two fluffy tails and went to the Cold Pool to find Qi Xianqing.

By now, Yan Jue had figured out Qi Xianqing’s routine.

At night, if she had nothing to do, Qi Xianqing would generally stay in Frozen Peach Haven.

A layer of concealment formation had been set up outside Frozen Peach Haven, so it was difficult to find if you had never been there before.

But Yan Jue had already been there once; with her sharp nose, she found the place very easily.

When Yan Jue arrived at Frozen Peach Haven and had just stepped through the courtyard gate, she suddenly noticed something and stopped.

A faint fragrance of meat drifted through the air.

Qi Xianqing had taken off her outer robe. Dressed in plain white underclothes, she sat leisurely in a wicker chair, her raven-black hair hanging over her shoulders. Her left leg was bent, her right leg dangling below the chair, swaying lightly.

A cluster of small animals surrounded her.

A puppy, a little spirit rabbit, and a small pig.

All around them floated the sounds of animal grunts and chirps.

Qi Xianqing had an Immortal Spirit Physique, and this kind of constitution was naturally very attractive to spirit beasts.

Yan Jue knew very well that Qi Xianqing was not only hers; a fox could not monopolize her.

This woman also attracted a whole mess of other animals.

“……”

Yan Jue stared blankly at the person in the distance, her two fluffy tails swishing once.

There was a bamboo basket beside Qi Xianqing.

Yan Jue could faintly see that the basket seemed to be filled with many things that looked like acorns.

Qi Xianqing looked at the little animals, her voice gentle. “Take your time; there’s enough for everyone.”

Yan Jue: “……”

?!

Yan Jue immediately rushed over like a whirlwind, let out a couple of low sounds, and sat down beside Qi Xianqing with her back perfectly straight.

Qi Xianqing was startled by the flash of red. She hadn’t expected the little fox to come running over like a gust of wind; if it had been normal, it would have dawdled in the distance for a while.

Qi Xianqing freed one hand and stroked her head. “You’re here.”

In any case, the little fox didn’t understand anything. Yan Jue bared her teeth and snapped at the surrounding small animals in a fierce display, her whiskers trembling wildly.

One little wild pig with a somewhat bad temper was unhappy too, and huffed back at Yan Jue.

All the fur on Yan Jue’s body stood on end, and her two fiery tails tightened.

Then, suddenly, a hand settled over the fur on her back.

Qi Xianqing curved her lips and, half amused and half helpless, smoothed Yan Jue’s fur as if to soothe her. “I only happened to have some acorns, so I shared them with them.”

“The one I like most is still you, little fox baby.”

“……”

Yan Jue was coaxed into feeling better by Qi Xianqing.

Those animals weren’t very highly cultivated; some hadn’t even awakened their intelligence yet. After finishing the acorns in the bamboo basket, they all left.

Only that little wild pig remained; it had the highest cultivation among them and still wanted to linger a while.

The pig was still very small, with no bristles grown out anywhere on its body. It wore a cape woven from dried sedge grass. It liked this fragrant friend very much; its black eyes gleamed, and its snout kept nuzzling Qi Xianqing while its scallion-like tail wagged as hard as it could.

Yan Jue stood beside Qi Xianqing with an unhappy expression, her lips parted to reveal a row of tiny front teeth.

The little wild pig was chased off by Yan Jue.

Soon, only Yan Jue and Qi Xianqing remained in Frozen Peach Haven.

Qi Xianqing stood from the chair under the peach tree and slowly walked into the room.

Yan Jue was unhappy and huffed, lifting her head.

“Seems like you’ve grown a little taller again?”

Qi Xianqing lifted her by the armpits and raised her slightly, feeling the little fox’s increasing weight. “Whose little fox baby are you, anyway? How do you look different every single day? Just look at how tall you are now.”

Yan Jue had indeed been shooting up these past few months. With her first tail grown in, she had grown much taller as a whole fox.

If three months ago she had been a teddy bear, then now she was a half-year-old golden retriever.

Qi Xianqing: “Sit.”

Yan Jue sat down slowly.

Qi Xianqing: “Shake.”

Yan Jue lifted a paw and placed it in the girl’s hand.

There was a hint of scattered laughter in Qi Xianqing’s eyes. “Spin.”

Yan Jue wrinkled her nose, whined softly, and spun around several times. A faint meat fragrance lingered in the air; Qi Xianqing took out two beef tendon balls from a paper bag, broke them up, and fed them into the little fox’s mouth.

Yan Jue looked at Qi Xianqing and felt inexplicably down.

Thinking that she would be going down the mountain tomorrow, perhaps because she had spent too much time with Qi Xianqing so frequently and so closely this past month, she realized that she actually felt a little... unhappy.

Although Qi Xianqing was very strict with her, she was very good to the little fox.

Yan Jue once again acted like a little fox that knew nothing at all, whimpering as she buried her head and nudged into Qi Xianqing’s arms, her soft little paws clutching at the girl’s arm.

Qi Xianqing: “What’s wrong? Why are you so clingy today?”

Yan Jue said nothing, her tail swishing back and forth as she sat firmly on Qi Xianqing’s lap.

Qi Xianqing’s eyes curved. “Do you want to learn how to talk? I feel like you have something to tell me.”

Yan Jue: “……”

Qi Xianqing pulled the little fox down and set her steadily on the stool opposite her. In a serious tone, she said, “I have something to tell you too.”

Yan Jue looked up at her.

Qi Xianqing: “I’ve received a task from my mentor. I need to go help with something over in Jiangnan, and I’ll be leaving for a few days.”

Yan Jue froze. Qi Xianqing was leaving too?

Under the dim light, Yan Jue lowered her head and quietly licked Qi Xianqing’s hand.

For some reason, after turning into a fox, she had instinctively picked up many ways of expressing herself like a canine animal.

Qi Xianqing idly stroked the little fox’s fur. “Today by the Cold Pool... I saw Junior Sister Yan release the ghostfire fireflies she was raising and drive Chu Fu away.”

As she spoke, Qi Xianqing couldn’t help remembering the sight from that day in the forest: Chu Fu rolling in disarray into the stream, while Yan Jue, with a monkey transformed from Sheming Xu hair, sat on a branch making mischievous faces.

Qi Xianqing didn’t quite understand why Yan Jue had done that. By rights, she clearly liked Chu Fu so much.

Leaning her chin on her hand and looking at the peach tree outside the window, Qi Xianqing murmured, “Why would she do that to Chu Fu? Could it be that she wants to... draw Chu Fu’s attention with this method?”

Yan Jue: “?! ”

That was a dangerous thought, Qi Xianqing.

Yan Jue shook her head and leaped onto the table, her big tail slapping hard at the inkstone on the tabletop.

Qi Xianqing stared at Yan Jue for a long while. “Do you mean that she doesn’t like Chu Fu at all?”

“She’s never liked Chu Fu?”

“She used to like him, but not anymore?”

As soon as Qi Xianqing’s words fell, the little fox nodded her fluffy head.

Qi Xianqing fell into deep thought.

Her understanding of Yan Jue had always seemed superficial.

As for truly understanding her, that had never happened.

What kind of person was Yan Jue, really?

Dawn was almost breaking.

Qi Xianqing leaned against the couch and slept for a while.

The fragrance of the peach blossoms in Frozen Peach Haven was clean and faint, helpful for sleep. Whenever Qi Xianqing was here, she could always fall asleep very easily.

Qi Xianqing knew that the little fox baby usually wouldn’t stay the night here.

The little fox baby had a collar around her neck; she wasn’t someone’s spiritual pet, so she should be a very spiritual beast from the deep Five Dragons mountains.

Qi Xianqing didn’t restrict her either. If the little fox wanted to stay, she could stay; if she wanted to leave, then leave.

...

Qi Xianqing was woken by a faint rustling sound.

She slowly opened her eyes and suddenly caught sight of a fiery red figure on the windowsill over there.

The little fox baby, her fur a vivid flame-red, had her black forepaws carefully propped on the windowsill, her mouth clamped tightly around something.

Then she placed that thing onto the windowsill.

Qi Xianqing sat up; the little fox was startled, glanced back at her, then jumped away through the window and ran off.

Qi Xianqing couldn’t help laughing. Such a clever little fox, and yet still so shy.

On the windowsill sat an oddly shaped little cup, sealed over at the top with a membrane.

A few strands of fiery red fox fur were also left on the windowsill.

Qi Xianqing paused slightly, walked over to the window, picked up the cup, and tore open the membrane.

A sweet tea fragrance drifted faintly in the air; the tea was still warm.

The scent was fresh and soothing, with a light honeyed note rippling through it, as if honey had been added to a good flower tea.

A large number of the animals in Five Dragons Mountain were intelligent.

Not only could they dress themselves, some were even enthusiastic about cooking.

The twin-tailed spirit fox was already a very spiritual creature in the first place; bringing her some good things to give her wasn’t strange at all.

It was just that Qi Xianqing hadn’t expected that the little fox she often kept around would actually bring her something like this.

Some time ago, they had often gone to Valley of a Hundred Flowers for walks. This flower tea mixed with sweetness—could it be...!