A Short Story Collection with Non-Human Protagonists - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Another Version of the Fox Immortal Story

When Tang Yanqing rushed downstairs, Liu Jin was coming out of the kitchen carrying a steamer tray.

Mist billowed up, washing over her porcelain-white face. Liu Jin’s eyes were like autumn water as she smiled at her: “Morning, Aqing.”

…How is this possible?

Her uneasy heart finally settled back into place, but Tang Yanqing remained utterly confused. Everything that had happened over the past two days seemed to have lost all logic. The pulse she had felt yesterday was clearly that of a dying person. Yet the person she saw now was perfectly fine.

Today, Liu Jin had changed into another pure black cheongsam, paired with a jade bead necklace and gourd-shaped earrings that matched the bracelet on her wrist. Tang Yanqing stared at the dancing green glint by her ear, her mind elsewhere.

Though she hadn’t studied medicine formally, she had been immersed in it since childhood through her parents and grandfather. She wouldn’t have misread a pulse that badly. Unless, unless…

“What are you thinking about?” Liu Jin pressed a bun into her hand.

Tang Yanqing snapped back to her senses, shook her head, and brought the bun to her mouth. “Nothing.”

Cicadas buzzed outside.

Lu Xiaokui came bouncing in holding her phone: “Senior Sister, Auntie Liu, look at this! That Rainy Night Killer was actually caught! Early this morning, the police found him tied up at…”

Tang Yanqing took the phone and looked at the screen.

“At approximately 1:00 AM today, police discovered a young man bound with nylon rope near the Pine Forest Road Police Station. Fingerprint comparison confirmed the man to be Liu (28, unemployed), the primary suspect in several recent rainy night robberies and assaults. According to police, Liu was found with victims’ property and tools used in the crimes. The case is under further investigation. It is currently unclear who bound him and handed him over.”

Last night, when Tang Yanqing found Liu Jin in the alley, she had seen a fleeting shadow…

She looked up at Liu Jin, just about to ask what exactly happened last night.

Lu Xiaokui’s voice rang out crisply beside her: “Auntie Liu, I heard from Senior Sister that you weren’t feeling well last night. What happened?”

Liu Jin, holding a half-peeled egg, let her gaze flicker across Lu Xiaokui’s face before landing on Tang Yanqing.

“It’s nothing, just an old ailment. I’ve troubled Aqing again.”

Tang Yanqing had just taken a breath to follow up, but she didn’t expect Lu Xiaokui to snatch the words away again.

“What kind of ailment is an ‘old ailment’?” Lu Xiaokui asked with righteous curiosity.

Liu Jin was clearly unwilling to elaborate. After peeling the shell, she placed the boiled egg in Tang Yanqing’s bowl and smiled to brush it off.

“It’s a root cause I picked up in the North years ago. Whenever it rains, the illness flares up easily—the chill seeps right into the bones.”

Tang Yanqing was absolutely certain that Liu Jin’s illness was not that simple. But now was not the best time to discuss it. She turned to look at Lu Xiaokui.

“Since the Rainy Night Killer has been caught, can you move somewhere else? This place is too far from school, and it’s inconvenient for me to pick you up,” Tang Yanqing made up a random excuse.

“No, no, no! I’m staying! It’s super—comfortable!” Lu Xiaokui acted cute, leaning over to hug Liu Jin’s arm. “The food here is ten thousand times better than the school cafeteria! Besides, Auntie Liu wouldn’t want me to leave, right?”

Tang Yanqing felt a surge of irritation. Liu Jin had mentioned Lu Xiaokui was a student and only charged her 30% of the room rate; the girl was certainly taking advantage of the kindness.

Liu Jin maintained her shallow smile, looking at Tang Yanqing.

“It is a pity this place is so far. If it were closer to the school, it would be more convenient for you both. Spending so much time on the road every day… I wonder if it will delay your thesis writing?”

Her words held no edge, yet every sentence aligned with Tang Yanqing’s intent.

Lu Xiaokui pouted and shook Liu Jin’s arm, trying to act spoiled: “Auntie Liu! You always take her side! Please, Auntie Liu, don’t kick me out, okay~”

“Fine, fine, we’ll talk about it later.” Tang Yanqing was truly afraid the girl would annoy Liu Jin, so she cut her off. “Finish eating, go upstairs to grab your bag, and get ready to leave.”

“Yay! No moving!” Lu Xiaokui cheered and ran upstairs, her footsteps thumping away.

Only two people remained in the dining room, sitting diagonally across the rosewood table. The pear-wood round table gleamed with a warm brown luster, reflecting Liu Jin’s lowered face.

For some reason, the woman had become nervous. Holding a porcelain spoon in her right hand, she stirred the white porridge in her bowl in circles, appearing preoccupied.

Tang Yanqing also had things on her mind. She had too many questions that she had to ask Liu Jin clearly.

“You, yesterday…”

Clatter.

The moment she spoke, Liu Jin actually flinched, the porcelain spoon falling into the bowl. Tang Yanqing was even more bewildered and quickly steadied Liu Jin’s hand. “What’s wrong?”

She didn’t understand at all—why would Liu Jin be afraid of her? Was she afraid of Tang Yanqing herself, or the questions she was about to ask?

Liu Jin shook her head, her expression unnatural. She tried to feign composure, gently pulling her arm out of Tang Yanqing’s palm and avoiding her gaze.

“…It’s nothing.”

She had known Liu Jin for many years, yet she had never seen such a bizarre reaction.

Truly frustrated, Tang Yanqing leaned in, locking her arm beside Liu Jin and trapping her between herself and the back of the chair. Her inner elbow brushed against Liu Jin’s upper arm; the skin was warm and smooth, like fresh snow that had sat in the sun.

She waited until Liu Jin was forced to look up at her.

The black Xiangyun silk and the grey-white T-shirt were only a hair’s breadth away from touching. The sweet scent of osmanthus enveloped them both. The sound of two hearts beating resonated in the silent air.

Tang Yanqing’s eyes captured Liu Jin’s.

“Are you hiding something from me?” Tang Yanqing asked.

Liu Jin’s eyes tried to flicker away, but there was nowhere to run. Her eyelashes fluttered like butterfly wings, and to Tang Yanqing’s shock, they began to glisten with tears.

A sharp pain twisted in her chest.

A certain overflowing emotion filled Tang Yanqing’s empty stomach, ready to burst out. Tang Yanqing could no longer endure this kind of interaction.

They were so close. She could touch her warmth, hear her voice, see every tiny tremor in the depths of her eyes. They were so close… yet worlds apart.

Tang Yanqing did her best to soften her tone and asked once more: “What exactly is it that I can’t know?”

She heard Liu Jin’s breathing grow rapid. A warm breath fell upon her lips, carrying a dampness as if she were on the verge of weeping. Her voice was so quiet it was almost inaudible.

“Aqing, don’t ask any further… please.”

Tang Yanqing had never expected this reaction; it felt as if she were a bully forcing someone into a corner. She hated this lack of clarity, but she couldn’t keep pressing. She couldn’t actually make Liu Jin cry for her.

“…My fault. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Tang Yanqing didn’t know if this was a consolation or a petulant remark. Having said that, she stood up and walked out of the dining room, her fingers rubbing into her temples, irritably messing up her hair.

She had to find another way to uncover the truth.

When it was time to leave, Liu Jin bid her farewell from the window again: “Aqing, be careful on the road.”

Even from that distance, Tang Yanqing could see the slight redness at the corners of Liu Jin’s eyes. She could only nod obediently. “Got it.”

She still couldn’t help but be a “good kid.”

Today’s investigation site was an old residential compound near the former site of the Fox Immortal Temple.

According to Tang Yanqing’s reasoning, the residents here were mostly elderly locals, making them more likely to know the stories of the Fox Immortal that had circulated in the city for years.

The facts were indeed as she expected. The elderly men and women sitting in the courtyard drinking tea and chatting enthusiastically shared many rumors. They mostly fit the template of the Lady Fox Immortal saving the world, though the details varied.

Only one person’s reaction was diametrically opposed to the rest.

It was a thin, somber-looking elderly woman in a brownish-red dress. She only came out of the building near noon, glanced a few times at the two unfamiliar college students, moved a chair, and sat at the very edge of the group.

“When my great-aunt was young, she waited for her childhood sweetheart who went to the army until she was thirty. She almost cried her eyes out. She went to the Fox Immortal Temple a few times and dreamed of a fairy who told her to go north. She took a train all the way up north, and she actually found my great-uncle—a disabled veteran—at the Longhe Railway Station!” a middle-aged woman with trendy red hair recounted vividly.

An old man nearby slapped his thigh and pointed south.

“Don’t talk about things so far away; there are local ones too. Over by the textile factory, there was an old man named Li who was paralyzed for over a decade. His wife took the kids to pray to the Fox Immortal, and the next day, his courtyard was suddenly full of yellow-flowered medicinal vines. After drinking the broth for three months, he could walk with a cane!”

“Oh, this Lady Fox Immortal is truly effective!”

“If only the temple were still there, maybe my back could be cured too…”

Everyone chimed in, one after another, praising the Lady Fox Immortal. Tang Yanqing was looking down, taking notes, when she suddenly heard someone spit.

“Pah! How unlucky! Talking about demons and monsters in broad daylight!”

She looked up and met the gaze of the woman in the brown dress. The woman fiercely threw her tea in the direction of Tang Yanqing and Lu Xiaokui, then turned to leave. Fortunately, the two were sitting far away, and only a few droplets splashed onto their shoes.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you!” Lu Xiaokui yelled at the woman’s back.

“Oh, little girl, forget it, forget it, don’t mind her…” The other women quickly soothed her. “Sister Zhao is a pitiful person too.”

“Did that Auntie Zhao experience something?” Tang Yanqing asked.

The red-haired woman sighed deeply.

“Sister Zhao is the only one here who hates the Lady Fox Immortal to her core. She had a daughter named Mengmeng. In her twenties, she had a boyfriend, and they were about to get married when the boyfriend had an accident and became a vegetable.”

“Mengmeng ran to the Fox Immortal Temple every day, praying and praying, begging the Lady to save her boyfriend. But not long after, Mengmeng suddenly died.”

“We all think it was probably a coincidence. But Little Zhao doesn’t believe that. For all these years, she has firmly believed that the Fox Immortal killed her daughter.”

This was an entirely new story model. Tang Yanqing wrote “Mengmeng’s death” in her notebook and drew a small question mark.

On the way to the parking lot, Lu Xiaokui began to share her thoughts.

“I knew it! That Lady Fox Immortal definitely isn’t a good person! She’s a fox demon, not a real deity. How could she be like a living Bodhisattva, saving people every day?”

Tang Yanqing didn’t respond.

“Senior Sister, what are you thinking?” Lu Xiaokui asked.

“Nothing, just dozing off,” Tang Yanqing replied distractedly.

Though she shouldn’t think this way, after hearing Auntie Zhao’s story, she felt a strange sense of relief. Tang Yanqing didn’t actually like the version of the Fox Immortal from most stories—the one who was all-responsive and flawless. After all, imperfection is the norm of the human world.

Whether a deity or a demon, one can’t be compliant and helpful to everyone. That would be too exhausting.

Perhaps Tang Yanqing didn’t want to admit it to herself, but deep down, she had already completely overlaid the ethereal legends of the Lady Fox Immortal with a certain person’s image.

…Far on the horizon, yet right before her eyes.

A flash of inspiration hit her. Tang Yanqing suddenly remembered a place where she might be able to find information about Liu Jin’s illness.