I Dug Up a Fox Spirit - Chapter 2

Well. He really was a thousand-year-old spirit.

Our ancestor had been quite something after all.

“What’s your name?”

“Who are you to ask my name?”

His ears twitched, his voice impatient.

My fingers itched. I grabbed his tail and gave it two vigorous squeezes.

He went rigid. “Who said you could touch that?”

“You said your surname was Zhao… Are you her descendant?”

He narrowed his eyes and looked me over in disgust.

“How can you be so weak? You haven’t a scrap of magic.”

Weak, yes.

But who had magic these days?

He sprang up and pinned me against the edge of the coffin.

“Excellent! She imprisoned me for over a thousand years. Today, I’ll settle that debt with your blood!”

I blinked. “Kitty, before you get your revenge… could you help me find my ox?”

“K-Kitty?”

His ears flicked.

“Who are you calling that?”

“Your ears and tail…”

I gestured. “They’re just like the tabby cats in the village.”

“I am a fox! A nine-tailed celestial fox! How dare you compare me to an ordinary cat?”

Oh. A fox.

“All right, Your Fox Majesty.”

I was happy to oblige. “Could you help me find my ox? Dad said I could come to you when I needed help. You can’t refuse.”

“Who is your father? Why can’t I ref—”

A thunderbolt crashed down before he could finish. His fur stood on end, his face scorched black.

His Foxship froze, golden pupils shrinking. “…A contract? You’re not her. Why are we bound by a master-servant contract?”

“What’s a master-servant contract?”

“It means…”

His eyes shifted. He abruptly shut his mouth.

“I’m not telling you!”

Fine. Don’t.

I could guess most of it. I was probably the master, and he was the servant.

“Find my ox,” I repeated.

“No.”

I raised my hand to the sky. “Heaven above, strike this disobedient servant dead…”

“I’ll find it! I’ll find it!”

He clapped a hand over my mouth just as a second bolt struck him square in the forehead.

The fox let go, staggered back two steps, and muttered something around a wisp of smoke.

“#%<*}<¿|…”

I didn't catch it.

Probably repenting.

On the way down, the fox told me his name was Qi Yu.

He really was a spirit. He found my ox without much trouble at all.

It had fallen into a deep pit. It couldn't climb out, and I couldn't pull it up.

Qi Yu sat at the edge with his arms folded, nodding off.

I nudged him. “Fox, could you get the ox out?”

He bristled. “I told you, my name is Qi Yu!”

“All right, Qi Yu. Could you get the ox out?”

“You asked me to find it. You never said anything about getting it out.”

I raised my hand. “Heaven ab—”

Qi Yu covered my mouth. “Fine! I'll do it! Stop calling on Heaven!”

“All right, Fox.”

He leaped into the pit and hoisted the ox out with one hand.

I stared, dumbfounded. What a treasure. Why hadn't Dad told me to dig him up sooner?

Then I wouldn't have had to plant all that rice myself.

Once the ox was out, we discovered it had sprained a leg and couldn't walk.

I pointed at Qi Yu. “Carry it home.”

“Me? Why don't you carry it?”

“Can't you manage it?”

I blinked. “Dad said you were the strongest of the three.”

“That's why he told me to dig you up first.”

Dad had taught me: if you want someone to do something, flatter them first.

They called it kissing ass.

I was kissing fox ass.

Crude, but the principle was sound.

Qi Yu's ears moved. “Your father really said that?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“What else did he say? To think someone still remembers me after a thousand years…”

“Carry the ox down, and I'll tell you.”

“All right.”

At home, he settled the ox in.

My eyelids were fighting to stay open. I turned toward the house.

Qi Yu caught my sleeve and gave it a little shake. “Zhao Xiaoman, don't go to sleep yet. What else did your father praise me for?”

Half-asleep, I mumbled, “He said… you never talked nonsense.”

Qi Yu fell silent.