A Short Story Collection with Non-Human Protagonists - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Summer of Passion, Secrets, and the Turning Point

Since it makes no difference where she types as long as she has her laptop, Tang Yanqing began lingering at the inn to write her thesis.

After procrastinating for two days, she had only managed to produce a title: A Study on the Resilience of Fox Immortal Beliefs in the Process of Urbanization.

Delaying it didn’t matter much; after all, every thesis in the world has a way of automatically completing itself right before the deadline. Furthermore… if things got truly desperate, she could always just interview the Lady Fox Immortal herself.

However, she found herself flipping through the few medical books she brought from home over and over again. Just in case—just in case there was actually a method in those books to cure Liu Jin.

Fortunately, the days remained sunny, and Liu Jin did not suffer another relapse.

In the afternoons, even the sunlight grew lethargic. The electric fan hummed with a gentle white noise. Tang Yanqing looked out from the study window; Liu Jin was sitting on the second-floor corridor, head bowed, painting her nails.

The breeze lifted the hem of her violet cheongsam. A cluster or two of vibrant wisteria embroidery cascaded down the slit of her thigh, swaying in the wind, seemingly carrying a faint fragrance.

Tang Yanqing closed her laptop and stood up to leave.

“Senior Sister, where are you going?”

Lu Xiaokui, who was organizing the audio recordings from their various interviews, took off one earbud and looked up.

Tang Yanqing stretched. “Just walking around. My back hurts.”

She bypassed the tree shadows and headed upstairs, plopping down onto the rattan chair opposite Liu Jin. She snatched the nail polish brush from between Liu Jin’s fingers.

“Let me do it for you.”

“Aqing…”

Liu Jin curled her fingertips, trying to hide, but Tang Yanqing caught her hands and pressed them onto her own knees.

“Don’t move.”

The woman’s ten fingers were slender and soft, like orchids carved from white jade. Tang Yanqing dipped the brush into the thick crimson liquid, moving it slowly along the texture of the nail, covering the transparent keratin layer.

Since the age of five and a half, when she realized she hated playing house, Tang Yanqing had never touched any cosmetics, including nail polish. But she put in her best effort, working meticulously, even softening her breathing for fear of making a mistake.

A stray lock of hair blew across her eyes. Just as she was about to frown, something soft touched her forehead—Liu Jin reached out with her free hand and brushed away the annoying strand.

When she finally finished, Liu Jin withdrew her fingers to inspect the results of this sudden whim. Tang Yanqing was actually somewhat nervous, watching Liu Jin’s expression closely as if waiting for a teacher to announce a test score.

“You painted them so well,” Liu Jin said in the gentlest voice in the world, the corners of her lips curving softly upward. “You always do everything so well.”

No one had ever praised her like that before.

She wasn’t a great student, her temper wasn’t great, and the school she got into wasn’t particularly prestigious. No one had ever told her, You do everything well. The deepest, most vulnerable part of her heart was suddenly filled with a surging, warm current.

Tang Yanqing pulled Liu Jin by the wrist and hurried toward a vacant guest room. Sneakers and high heels—the footsteps overlapped in a staggered rhythm.

“Aqing, what—”

Before Liu Jin could finish her question, Tang Yanqing had already back-locked the door, pressed her against it, and leaned down to kiss her.

The touch of the lips was fleeting. Liu Jin pushed against Tang Yanqing’s shoulders, calling a halt to the sudden kiss.

“Aqing, stop it, in a moment…”

Tang Yanqing kept a straight face, scaring Liu Jin with an air of absolute seriousness: “The nail polish isn’t dry yet. If you keep moving, you’ll smudge it.”

Panicked, Liu Jin actually let go of her hands, leaving herself at Tang Yanqing’s mercy.

…Tang Yanqing was certainly a malicious liar, but for the all-powerful and much-revered Lady Fox Immortal to fall for her tricks so easily, surely she was a little bit to blame as well?

Tang Yanqing put her arms around the woman’s waist and back, beginning a slow, meticulous kiss. Liu Jin’s lips were lush and full; biting them felt like two pieces of glutinous rice cake mixed with osmanthus honey—sweet, soft, and numbing to the bone.

Tang Yanqing stroked the silk beneath her hands inch by inch, crumpling the wisteria flowers into a ball until the stems were creased. The flowers caught the heat of her palms, as if falling into summer along with her.

Outside the window, a torrential rain began under the bright sun. The trees and soil were soaked; rainwater overflowed the stone steps, submerging the blue bricks in watery shadows, as if painting a tiny lake.

“A-Jin, where is your tail? How come I haven’t felt it?” Tang Yanqing whispered, biting Liu Jin’s earlobe.

Liu Jin couldn’t speak at all; she simply buried her head in Tang Yanqing’s shoulder and shook it repeatedly.

The furniture here was too old and ancient. When they kissed while leaning against those ancient woods, the whole room creaked and groaned. Their breath was as hot as a steaming volcano. And both were sinking into the flames.

“Miss? Miss?”

Grandma Gu was looking for someone in the corridor, passing by the guest room several times. Only a door separated them. They could even feel the floor vibrating beneath their feet.

“Aqing, let go quickly…” Liu Jin pleaded breathlessly.

“Shh, be careful, she might hear you.”

Tang Yanqing whispered into Liu Jin’s ear, then turned back to block her mouth, kissing her even deeper. Fingers interlocked, the bright red nails rested against the back of Tang Yanqing’s hand, vivid and dripping with color.

Her life had been a dull, empty plot of land; only by Liu Jin’s side did the orioles fly and the grass grow, and the withered trees find their spring.

When Tang Yanqing finally remembered to go downstairs to write her thesis, Liu Jin caught up to her at the turn of the stairs and handed her a small object.

Tang Yanqing looked down; it was a sachet with a snow-white base, embroidered with bright yellow osmanthus flowers. It carried the same fragrance as Liu Jin.

“No matter what happens… you must keep this with you,” Liu Jin said.

The last time Liu Jin gave her a gift was the wristwatch when she got into university. It was an old-fashioned gift, but Tang Yanqing cherished it deeply and never dared to wear it.

She squeezed the sachet into her palm, then leaned in for a quick peck on Liu Jin’s lips. “Okay.”

Liu Jin’s cheeks were burning; she gave Tang Yanqing’s arm a light pinch and tucked a stray hair back behind her ear.

“…Stop playing around, get downstairs.”

Life should have continued in this sweet and leisurely way. Lazily writing a thesis, waiting for Liu Jin to bring tea, snacks, and mung bean soup; repeating this from dawn till dusk. Whenever there was a chance, Tang Yanqing would slip to Liu Jin’s side, kissing her in every corner of the inn, lingering wantonly.

She liked the way she was reflected in Liu Jin’s eyes. Like the entire universe was preserved in warm amber.

Just after lunch, Tang Yanqing said she was hungry again, so Liu Jin actually went to the kitchen to cook tangyuan for her. Tang Yanqing avoided all the guests—known and unknown—and slipped into the kitchen after her. A twenty-four-year-old “child” is at an age to be clingy.

The water boiled on the stove unattended; Tang Yanqing was busy leaving a crimson hickey on the skin hidden by the cheongsam collar. If not for the fear of Grandma Gu and Lu Xiaokui’s suspicion, Tang Yanqing wouldn’t even have wanted to go home.

Starting from some unknown day, the symphonic metal she listened to while riding was replaced by cheesy, sweet pop songs.

The weather forecast says the temperature for the next seven days Is very suitable for walking with you I want to accompany you through every sunset and sunrise Please take care of me This is my love letter

Even the exhaust from the cars on the street seemed to have a pink filter over it. She moved through it all with joy.

Life should have continued in this sweet and leisurely way.

Until that morning.

Liu Jin was out, and the whole house became gloomy. Dark clouds crowded the sky; the air was so heavy it almost solidified, brewing a world-shaking storm.

“Senior Sister, I found something. I have to tell you.”

With a somber face, Lu Xiaokui led Tang Yanqing into her guest room.

“What’s so serious? Don’t tell me the voice recorder burned out?” Tang Yanqing didn’t realize the severity of the situation and was still joking around.

“Yesterday when you went to the bathroom… I found this in the study.”

Lu Xiaokui picked up an envelope from the table and handed it to Tang Yanqing. Two characters were written on it in brush and ink:

Life Covenant.

The envelope seemed to have some years on it. The font was strange and sharp, as if the strokes were forced together, possessing a peculiar quality that was almost but not quite text.

“What is this?” Tang Yanqing asked. She had never seen such writing.

Lu Xiaokui’s brow was furrowed, looking as if she didn’t know how to begin. “Open it and see for yourself.”

The envelope wasn’t sealed. Tang Yanqing pulled out the folded thick paper inside. On the paper were several lines of small text, the font similarly bizarre and distorted.

The moment she understood those words, Tang Yanqing’s scalp went numb. It was shocking.

From the moment of the thumbprint, the Covenant Holder may take the remaining lifespan of the Covenant Giver in exchange for divine powers.

Covenant Giver: Tang Jiguo, Yan Wei-jun

Covenant Holder: Liu Jin

Date: August 23, 2022 AD

Below were two bright red thumbprints and a fox paw print.

Tang Yanqing was speechless with shock. If this paper was real, then three years ago, what took her parents’ lives wasn’t a car accident… it was Liu Jin.

“Senior Sister, there’s also this.”

Lu Xiaokui brought out a wooden box and opened it before her. Inside, it was orderly and packed to the brim with hundreds of identical envelopes.

They were all Life Covenants signed by Liu Jin.

She had taken countless lives to obtain heavenly power, yet she was praised for generations as the most benevolent Lady Fox Immortal.

Tang Yanqing bolted out of the room. As she crossed the courtyard, the first drop of the storm hit the top of her head.

“Aqing, where are you going?” Liu Jin came in from the gate, looking at her with surprise. “It’s about to rain.”

Tang Yanqing gave Liu Jin one last look, complex emotions surging in her heart. She didn’t know how to confront her. She didn’t know if Liu Jin explained… whether she would even believe her.

If the hands she had kissed were covered in human blood, was she an accomplice?

Tang Yanqing didn’t answer Liu Jin; she sprinted out of the inn. Her motorcycle plunged into the curtain of rain. The downpour washed over her. For the first time, she realized that summer rain could be so cold; it almost completely drained her body heat, making her arms tremble with cold, yet it did nothing to ease the pain in her chest.

All the past events replayed in a chaotic mess in her mind. How Liu Jin smiled at her, how she called her name, how she found pleasure in their kisses.

…And how Tang Yanqing had carried her parents’ ash urns through a long, long tree-lined path toward the silent cemetery.

Tang Yanqing stumbled as she parked her bike in the apartment’s parking lot. Passing the trash can at the bottom of the building, she pulled the sachet out of her pocket. It was soaked through, yet it stubbornly emitted its cloying sweetness in this water-drowned weather.

She stood before the trash can for five minutes before finally climbing the stairs.

A figure was standing in the hallway, right at her door. She only saw clearly when she got close—it was an old man with graying hair at his temples, his face somewhat familiar.

It was the old man who lived in the unfinished residential complex.

“Grandpa Xu? Why are you here?” Tang Yanqing asked in astonishment.

The old man, with the faint red birthmark on his hands, was trembling. He pulled a bright, cold light from his pocket.

What was going on now?

Tang Yanqing turned to flee, but the dagger had already pierced her shoulder. She reached out to touch it; warm blood mixed with the rain all over her, flowing down her shoulder blade. As she took another step, a second stab went in.

“It’s all the fault of that monster, framing my son on purpose! Tricking me for so many years… d*mned monster, d*mned fox… I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kill you!”

The blade pierced her body again and again.

Tang Yanqing lay on the ground, watching the blood-red liquid spread across the floor, yet she couldn’t feel any pain at all. It was as if someone had knocked over many bottles of nail polish.

She opened her palm; the sachet lay in her hand. The osmanthus, soaked in blood—she hadn’t known it would become so vivid and intense, completely losing its elegant simplicity.

…I should have thrown it away earlier.

Tang Yanqing closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.