The Fox Spirit I Raised at Home - Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I was starting to suspect some kind of demon had gotten into my house. We had two dogs, and yet a fox could still come and go freely?

That made no sense…

Faced with fox fur, Xiao Huang covered his nose while Xiao Hei turned his head away and pretended not to see it.

Where was all that barking energy they had when Chi Jiuling was around a few days ago? How come they went mute the moment they ran into a fox?

You little mutts, look me in the eye and tell me what this is supposed to be.

How could two dogs let a fox raid the house? I even raised so many chickens.

Sure enough, a lot of the chickens were gone. I counted and recounted them, and there were exactly six missing.

I understood the missing chickens, but why was the salt jar nearly empty too?

It wasn’t like I used that much every day…

Chi Jiuling wandered around by the kitchen door. “Ah Wan, what’s wrong?”

“We’ve had a thief in the house. A fox came in the middle of the night and stole things. I think it even stepped on my waist. My back is still sore, and there was fox fur all over the bed.”

“It also stole my chickens. Six are gone, and even the salt in the jar is down by a lot.”

“Did the fox eat the chickens, then run into the kitchen to lick salt?”

The moment he heard the word “lick,” his eyelashes twitched unnaturally. “Maybe it was a wild fox. If you’re upset about it, I can go into the mountains and catch a few wild chickens to make it up to you.”

Him? He had been recovering pretty well these past few days, and he didn’t look nearly as sickly as before, but he still had that delicate scholar air about him. If he went into the mountains, he’d probably end up getting eaten by a tiger.

“Forget it. They weren’t worth much. I’ll just fix up the fence again.”

After repairing the fence, I gave both dogs a serious talking-to, making myself perfectly clear, before washing up and going to bed.

That night, Chi Jiuling came to me in my dream again. This time, he had a human form, with only his ears and tail still exposed.

He held my hand and rubbed his face against it gently. “Ah Wan, this was my fault. I’ll make it up to you.”

His peach blossom eyes lowered slightly, making him look unbearably tender. Then, after saying that, he slipped under the covers.

That familiar sensation came over me again. After that, I spent the whole dream climbing mountains, one after another. Before I could even catch my breath at one summit, I was hurrying off to climb the next.

“I can’t do this anymore… I don’t want to climb anymore…”

He came out from inside my skirt, his rosy red tongue licking the corner of his lips, then lowered his head and breathed out a faint white mist onto my face.

The mist drifted into my nostrils, and my body turned light and soft. I slept soundly through the night.

When I woke up, I couldn’t remember the details of the dream anymore, but I felt refreshed and full of energy.

Hm? It seemed like I had gotten stronger again. To be specific… I used to be able to plow five mu of land in one go. Now I could do ten.

The skin on my body was acting strange too. Maybe the sun had been too harsh, because my skin had actually started peeling.

When I carefully peeled it away, the skin underneath was much fairer and softer. A layer came off each day, and gradually I became so pale it almost looked translucent.

I nearly scratched my head raw trying to figure out what was going on. Some kind of skin disease?

I went to see a doctor, and all he said was that I was in excellent health and full of vigor.

Since nothing felt wrong, I couldn’t be bothered worrying about it.

But lately, something had definitely been off about Chi Jiuling. His condition had gradually improved, which was a good thing.

But he never wore those luxurious white robes again. Every day, he dressed just like me in rough cloth and plain linen.

He also stopped staying shut up in his room for half the day. Instead, he was always helping me with chores: sweeping, feeding the chickens, chopping firewood, washing vegetables.

That handsome, immaculate face of his, bent over doing that kind of work…

For some reason, it felt a little degrading.

A beauty like jade shouldn’t be tied down by such trifles. I told him so more than once, but he always just smiled and said it was fine.

This time, when I came back from outside, the house had been cleaned until it was spotless.

He had even cooked a meal and was sitting there waiting for me.

The way he looked at me was strange, all soft and affectionate. It made goosebumps rise all over my skin.

Uneasily, I sat down and picked up a bite under his expectant gaze.

It was awful…

The heat had been all wrong, burned on the outside and undercooked inside. As for the seasoning, one dish was too salty and another too bland.

But he had meant well, so all I could do was humor him.

At dusk, after finishing my farm work, I hurried home. It was almost time to make dinner, and if I didn’t get to the kitchen soon, I’d have to eat that kind of food again…

But he beat me to it once more. I had already made up my mind, but he coaxed and smiled at me until I stumbled back out in a daze.

A man being too handsome could be pretty terrifying too…

“Sister Meng…” someone called from outside the yard.

It was Shen Gu’s voice. When I walked over, I found him staring at me blankly. “You… you look really beautiful…”

“Brat, what nonsense are you spouting?”

Realizing he’d misspoken, he flushed red all at once. “I… I was being presumptuous…”

I couldn’t be bothered to argue with him. Instead, I looked at the oil paper parcel in his hands. A delicious smell was wafting out from inside. “What’d you bring?”

“My mother made meat pies and told me to deliver them.”

As if I didn’t know his mother. She was terrified I’d snatch away her precious son, so why would she send me meat pies?

Obviously, he was just repaying kindness with kindness. Good lad. I hadn’t misjudged him.

I took half a pie and tasted it. It was rich with meat, perfectly seasoned. Whatever else might be said about Aunt Zhang, her cooking was first-rate.

Seeing how satisfied I was, Shen Gu looked delighted and sat down beside me on the rock.

“Sister Meng, actually, there’s something I’ve always wanted to tell you…”

He clutched his sleeve, his lashes trembling with nerves. “I… I…”

I was waiting to hear what came next when suddenly I heard, “Ah Wan, it’s time to eat.”

Chi Jiuling stood by the courtyard gate. He was clearly smiling, but his voice had gone low, as if he was unhappy.

“Wait a sec. Shen Gu has something to say to me.”

Shen Gu looked at him, then at me. “Who is he?”

The whole immortal business… saying it out loud would only bring trouble. I scratched my ear. “Someone I rescued from the mountains. He’s been recovering at my house these past few days.”

“Isn’t it inconvenient for him to be staying in your home…?”

Thinking back on it, it was a little. Ever since he arrived, I couldn’t bathe by the well anymore and had to go all the way to the river.

I also couldn’t wear those cool, breezy clothes anymore, or else his ears would turn red and he’d look all awkward.

The longer I thought about it, the uglier Chi Jiuling’s expression became. Even someone as dense as me could read his face, so I hurriedly waved my hands.

“It’s not a problem, not a problem…”

“He helps me cook, and he can feed the chickens too.” Even if the food he made tasted awful, and every time the chickens saw him they flapped and screeched in panic…

“Men and women should keep proper distance. A lone man and a lone woman living together is inappropriate. Sister Meng, from now on you should…”

Chi Jiuling strode over and threw an arm around my shoulders. “Then I’ll marry her in the future.”

Huh?!

Shen Gu’s face went even paler, and tears immediately welled in his eyes. “Sister Meng, have you already pledged yourself to him for life?”

“No-ow…” Chi Jiuling pinched me!

“Ah Wan and I have grown close over time and are perfectly suited to each other. Naturally we’re a match made in heaven, so I won’t trouble you to worry about it.”

He pulled me into his arms by the waist. I had just wriggled free and was about to explain when all I saw was Shen Gu’s back.

Could that kid really run that fast under normal circumstances?

“What nonsense are you spouting? How are we a match made in heaven?”

But he kept a dark expression, stared at me for a long while, then silently turned and went back into the courtyard.

???

He eats my food, lives in my house, and now he’s giving me attitude? The nerve!

I was so full of pent-up anger that I ate every last meat pie by myself instead of saving any for him.

I was stuffing myself with meat pies while he glared at me viciously. He actually reached over to snatch them. “You’re not allowed to eat his meat pies! Can’t you see I made a whole table full of dishes?!”

Hmph. Before, I’d been sparing his feelings and not saying anything even though they tasted bad, but now…

“They taste awful. I’m not eating them.”

“Meng Wan…” he ground out through clenched teeth and lunged to grab the oil-paper package. I clutched it tight and refused to let go.

Damn. He looked sickly and weak, but he was actually pretty strong.

We fought back and forth over it a few times, and in a burst of anger I kicked him and sent him flying.

His whole body shot straight backward a long way before he slammed into the big tree in the courtyard and finally stopped. Half-green, half-yellow leaves rained down all over him.

He pressed a hand to his stomach and looked over at me in disbelief.

I stood there blankly, only then realizing I’d gone a little too far…

The last time I’d fought someone at close range was when I beat up bandits. I broke arms and legs left and right.

With a track record like mine, how did he even dare fight me over food…

“Are you okay? I’m strong, and when I’m mad I don’t always know my own strength…”

I pressed on him a few times. He was fine.

Huh?! As expected of an immortal-he didn’t even have a fracture or a dislocation.

Just as I was marveling at how tough his body was, he suddenly grabbed my wrist. “You hit me for his sake?”

I glanced at the fallen meat pies on the ground and immediately felt a little guilty. Maybe I had been a bit too protective of my food…

Seeing my guilty look only made him more emotional. “If you have feelings for him, then why did you take off my clothes?!”

Huh? What?

How did this get dragged back to the clothes again… “Are you seriously still not over that old business?”

“Did you look or not?”

I did…

“Did you touch or not?”

I did… “How is that touching? I was wiping you down!”

He was so angry his eyes reddened, and he actually forced out tears. “We’ve already done that kind of thing. How can there still be someone else in your heart?”

I looked at his face, growing more gorgeous the more he cried, and wanted to retort, but suddenly I felt a little dizzy.

His lips were so red, glistening with moisture, like they’d be soft and springy…

No, this is an argument! “Who do I have in my heart? Don’t talk nonsense! And besides, there’s nothing between you and me at all!”

He bit his lip and glared at me, his peach-blossom eyes pink at the corners and shimmering with moisture. Just looking at him kept making my mind drift.

Damn, arguing with someone that good-looking is way too much of a disadvantage…

I was still dazed when he suddenly lowered his head. That impossibly beautiful face came straight at me, and he… he… he kissed me?

By the time my brain caught up, my hand had already flown out.

Smack.

The crisp sound jolted me fully awake. I was strong-if I really put my back into it, I could kill someone with a slap!

And yet his cheek only turned a little red… What kind of body was this? He could really take a beating…

Before I could finish marveling, he touched the reddened side of his face, curled his lips in a smile, then ground his teeth and kissed me again.

“N-no… mmph!”

Smack!

“Why are you still coming at me?!”

Smack!

No matter how hard I shoved, he still kept trying to lean in. Slap after slap did nothing to make him back off.

If anything… it was like he was enjoying getting hit. There was a nasty sort of amusement glittering in his eyes.

As the distance between us shrank again, I gritted my teeth and rammed my head straight into his.

Ow… his skull was so hard…

But at least I finally knocked him out.

I squatted on the ground, clutching my head and crying from the pain, slowly waiting for the worst of it to pass.

Then I looked at him again.

Why did he suddenly have two furry ears on his head? And that tail… one, two, three, four… four of them.

I plucked some fur from them and examined it carefully. It was the same fox fur that had fallen onto my bed before.

I thought he was some immortal, but he was obviously a fox spirit!

My head gave a jolt, like a fresh breeze had swept across my face. It felt as if the clouds had parted and the moon had come out-everything became clear, and my mind had never been this sharp.

I remembered now. In the dream… no, that was real.

He said he wanted my help, but this was the kind of help he meant.

And he wanted it every night too. He was downright insatiable.

They say fox spirits like to drain a person’s vital essence. He must have set his sights on mine.

And just thinking about his kisses left me with that itchy, unsettled feeling, like a cat scratching at my heart. I’d never felt like that before.

It had to be sorcery. Fox spirits were best at bewitching people.

When Chi Jiuling woke up, I was sharpening a knife. He was tied up tight, like livestock waiting for slaughter.

I was afraid ordinary mortal rope wouldn’t hold him, so I specially used the splendid robes he was wearing to tie him up. The knot was a pig’s trotter knot-the more he struggled, the tighter it got.

He twisted a few times without getting free, and the color drained from his face. “You want to kill me?”

I ran a finger along the blade. This chopper was too dull; even after grinding it for ages, it still wasn’t sharp enough. “I saved your life, and not only are you ungrateful, you even took liberties with me.”

“You stinking fox, you pretended to be injured when really you were after my vital essence all along.”

His eyes brimmed with tears, and they quickly spilled down his face. “We’ve eaten together, slept together, and kept each other company all these days, and this is what you think of me?”

“Do you truly not feel even the slightest bit for me?”

Huh? Why was he dragging love into this again? I was holding a knife!

“Don’t talk nonsense. You drained my vital essence. You’re a malevolent yao, and should be slain.”

He stopped talking and just cried, glaring at me with reddened eyes. But it wasn’t pure hatred in that look-there was something else mixed in, something I couldn’t quite name.

It made my heart feel all restless and prickly. Ahhh, so annoying. Forget it. I’d just chop him and be done with it.

When he saw me coming over with the knife, he actually closed his eyes and stretched out his neck, offering it up for execution.

He’d cried so hard even his neck had flushed pink, and every now and then he’d hiccup a little from sobbing…

I found myself unable to do it after all. “Why are you crying? You’re the one who drained my vital essence, okay? You did something bad, so why do you look more aggrieved than I do?”

Seeing how pitiful he looked, my heart softened again. Maybe he really had only done that to survive…

I untied the knot and flung the knife back onto the chopping block. “Go. And don’t hurt people anymore.”

“You’re driving me away?”

“What, do you still want to keep harming me? Humans and demons are of different kinds. It’s already generous enough that I’m not killing you.”

His gaze shattered. He viciously wiped away his tears, then just flew off.

Whoa. So demons really can fly.

After Chi Jiuling left, I wandered around the little courtyard for a while before starting to clear away the cold dishes and bowls covering the table.

I hadn’t looked carefully before, but the colors of the dishes on this table were actually arranged pretty beautifully.

They weren’t transformed from rocks and dead grass, were they? He was gone already, but they still hadn’t changed back…

I dipped a finger into some sauce and sucked it clean.

Mmm! It was delicious!

Sorcery. It had to be sorcery! Otherwise how could his cooking improve that much in just half a day?

My stomach was growling with hunger, but I still didn’t dare eat any of it. In the end, it all went to Xiao Huang and Xiao Hei.

Then I spent another quarter of an hour making a pot of noodle soup. When I ladled it into bowls, I somehow filled two without thinking.

I stared at them for a while, then ate both bowls myself.