The Little Fox Spirit Doesn't Want to Carry a Cub - Chapter 10

Li Ruan knew so little about the affairs between men and women that he only half-understood Lin Jianxue’s words. In a state of utter confusion, he saw Lin Jianxue out of the cave. The latter transformed with a shake of his body, becoming a white fox.

This white fox was the size of a normal adult fox, standing nearly half as tall as a person. His fur was fluffy and smooth, appearing to shimmer with light under the post-snow sunshine.

Li Ruan was deathly envious.

Although Li Ruan felt his own appearance was also very good, the fact that his demon form could not grow had always been the thing he was most dissatisfied with. A fox like A-Xue—both beautiful and majestic—was what a fox demon ought to look like.

As a light breeze stirred the white fox’s fur, he turned around, revealing two fluffy, slender tails behind him.

Two.

Li Ruan’s eyes dimmed slightly. “A-Xue, your tails… haven’t they grown back yet?”

Aside from anomalies like Li Ruan, whose size never changed regardless of cultivation, a normal fox demon grows a new tail every three hundred years. Since A-Xue had cultivated for a millennium, he should have been a three-tailed fox.

But ever since Li Ruan had known him, he only had two. When others asked, he remained indifferent, merely saying he had accidentally lost one while visiting the human world.

Li Ruan didn’t understand. How could one “accidentally” lose a tail?

Furthermore, even if one was lost, shouldn’t it grow back after another three hundred years of cultivation? Yet Li Ruan had known A-Xue for more than three hundred years, and his tail had never returned.

Lin Jianxue paused and looked back. “You asked me that once decades ago. Forgotten again?”

“Ah?” Li Ruan was startled. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t remember…”

“You, you remember nothing except wanting to ascend.” Lin Jianxue’s tone remained nonchalant; he didn’t seem offended, just somewhat helpless. “My cultivation has hit a bottleneck and hasn’t progressed for a long time. These tails likely won’t be coming back.”

Li Ruan: “Then I’ll help—”

“—’Then I’ll help you, we’ll think of a way together, we’ll definitely solve it’?” Lin Jianxue cut him off, finishing the sentence for him. “That’s exactly what you said decades ago. You really don’t remember a thing.”

Li Ruan scratched his ear dejectedly. “No wonder others say I’m stupid. This brain of mine…”

“Keeping nothing in your heart is a good thing.”

Lin Jianxue said, “My current cultivation is enough for my needs. Whether I can take a step further, I don’t care. As for you, after you recover your cultivation this time, you must not go rushing off to undergo the Tribulation recklessly without being prepared again.”

“…I won’t always be able to make it in time to save you.”

Li Ruan wagged his tail. “I know.”

Lin Jianxue raised a front paw and lightly tapped Li Ruan on the head. “I’m off.”

Jiang Shen slept all the way until nightfall before finally waking up.

He had slept for too long; upon waking, his entire body felt weak and supple, his throat was parched, and he could barely muster any strength. Jiang Shen took a deep breath but felt a dull tightness in his chest, making breathing difficult.

Looking down, he saw the little fox curled into a ball, clutching his tail and sleeping soundly right on his chest.

…No wonder he couldn’t breathe.

The corners of Jiang Shen’s lips curled up, and he pinched the tip of the little fox’s tail.

The little fox was hard to wake once asleep, but sensing a disturbance in his dreams, he hugged his tail tighter with both front paws, leaned his head over, and hid the tip of the tail under his head.

He became an even rounder ball for a moment.

Jiang Shen wanted to play with him a bit longer, but his body was currently uncomfortable, and the pressure from the little fox was truly taxing. He could only knead the back of the fox’s neck and call out softly, “Little fox, wake up.”

The first call didn’t wake him. With his eyes closed, the little fox reached out a front paw and swatted Jiang Shen’s hand away.

He had quite a temper.

“Little fox? Li Ruan? Li Xiao-Ruan?”

Amidst Jiang Shen’s persistent pestering, Li Ruan finally woke up in a daze. He first blinked his eyes blankly, then looked up and saw Jiang Shen, jumping up in excitement.

“Jiang Shen, you’re finally awake!”

He stepped on Jiang Shen, causing another bout of coughing.

“S-sorry!” Li Ruan quickly scrambled off him and explained, “Your body was very cold during the day and you kept shivering. I wanted to help warm you up, but then…”

Jiang Shen sat up while pressing a hand to his chest. “Cough… but then you accidentally fell asleep on me?”

Li Ruan lowered his head guiltily.

“During the day…” Jiang Shen turned his head toward the cave entrance and realized the moon was already high in the sky. His brow furrowed as he asked, “What happened to me?”

“You got sick.”

When Li Ruan mentioned this, his tone seemed somewhat hesitant, and even his tail curled up.

Jiang Shen noticed something was off and was about to ask, but the latter was already busy pushing fresh water toward him and holding a pill in his mouth to feed him.

“Where did this medicine come from?” Jiang Shen asked.

“A-Xue gave it,” Li Ruan said. “A-Xue said to take it once in the morning and once at night. I fed you once this morning, and now it’s time for the second.”

Jiang Shen held the medicine bottle, in no rush to take it. “A-Xue was here?”

“Yes.” Li Ruan nodded, then fell silent again.

What’s wrong?

Doubts rose in Jiang Shen’s mind. He raised a hand, wanting to stroke the little fox’s head, but before he could touch him, the fox actually dodged.

“You won’t let me touch you?” Jiang Shen asked. “What have I done to make you unhappy now?”

“N-no…” The little fox still looked very hesitant, but he soon seemed to make up his mind, looking up to meet Jiang Shen’s gaze. “It’s my problem. I need to apologize to you.”

Jiang Shen was stunned. “Apologize?”

Li Ruan gave an “en” and said truthfully, “Your illness was actually caused by me.”

He explained the events of the previous night from beginning to end. “…I apologize to you. I clearly promised I would never harm you, but I broke my word last night and almost caused your death. I’m sorry.”

Jiang Shen became thoughtful.

A moment later, he chuckled softly. “Just because of this little thing, you won’t even let me pet you?”

“This is very important,” Li Ruan said. “A demon must keep its promises. You cannot go back on your word.”

The little fox’s serious look was truly adorable, but seeing that he was quite stubborn on this matter, Jiang Shen suppressed the smile in his eyes and soothed him. “But I don’t believe the fault lies with you.”

“Eh?”

“Since this happened unintentionally, it cannot be considered ‘harming’ me.”

Jiang Shen said, “Furthermore, it was I who failed to put you back in your nest last night. Counting it up, it was my own lack of caution that caused today’s accident.”

Li Ruan’s eyes lit up. “So… you’re not angry with me?”

“I was never angry with you to begin with.” Jiang Shen couldn’t help but laugh. “On the contrary, it’s you who won’t speak to me properly or let me touch you… if you truly want to make it up to me, shouldn’t you proactively let me pet you?”

A light breeze stirred in the cave as the little fox jumped directly into Jiang Shen’s arms.

“Pet, pet, however you want.” Then, feeling that he was no different from those fawning mortal pets, Li Ruan emphasized, “Only for tonight. This Lord Fox Demon permits it.”

Jiang Shen was nearly killed by the cuteness of this display.

After rubbing him for a while, Li Ruan reminded him to take the medicine again. Knowing the fox wouldn’t harm him, Jiang Shen took the medicine as told, then asked, “Didn’t you say A-Xue never leaves his cave? Did you go specifically to fetch him?”

“No, he came looking for you.” Li Ruan wanted to explain but felt he couldn’t do it clearly. He jumped off Jiang Shen’s lap. “Come with me!”

The little fox ran toward the cave entrance.

Jiang Shen had been shivering during the day, so the little fox had kept the fire in the cave burning very brightly. Worried that the bodies would smell if left too long, he had dragged them outside.

It had snowed during the day, and the two bodies were completely covered. The little fox used all four paws to dig for a good while before uncovering them.

“These two…”

“A-Xue found them.” Li Ruan hesitated during his explanation, omitting the part where A-Xue killed them. He watched Jiang Shen’s expression closely, asking tentatively, “These two… were they looking for you? Are they related to you?”

He didn’t quite dare tell Jiang Shen that A-Xue had killed them.

Although A-Xue said these people were likely Jiang Shen’s enemies, Li Ruan couldn’t be certain. If A-Xue’s judgment was wrong and these two were actually Jiang Shen’s friends coming to find him, then…

Then he wouldn’t know what to do next.

At times like this, Li Ruan felt his brain really wasn’t very sharp. He had watched over the bodies all day without thinking of a solution.

Jiang Shen sat on the snow and leaned over to examine the corpses, not noticing Li Ruan’s internal struggle.

After a moment, he said, “These two were almost certainly looking for me.”

Li Ruan was so nervous his fur stood on end.

“These people came to kill me,” Jiang Shen paused, “or rather, to confirm whether I am dead.”

Both corpses were dressed as villagers, but their hands and the webs of their thumbs bore the calluses of long-term martial arts training; they certainly weren’t ordinary villagers. They carried nothing to identify themselves, but it wasn’t hard to guess where they came from.

Jiang Shen’s return to the capital was a secret. Only half a month had passed; news of the Crown Prince’s disappearance wouldn’t have spread so quickly. Even if it did, no one would know he disappeared at Mount Changming.

Therefore, no allies would be here looking for him.

Those who came could only be enemies, not friends.

It appeared there were survivors from the group that ambushed him at Mount Changming. Someone had passed the news of his uncertain fate after the fall to the mastermind, which was why they were continuously sending people to search the mountain.

If Jiang Shen were in their position, he would do the same.

Alive, I must see the person; dead, I must see the corpse.

Li Ruan only half-understood Jiang Shen’s analysis. He asked, “Do you know who wants to kill you?”

“I don’t,” Jiang Shen said. “The civil and military officials, the imperial relatives—anyone is possible.”

These terms were too far removed from Li Ruan; he didn’t actually know who they referred to, but he could tell it was a great many people.

Li Ruan remarked, “What on earth did you do? You’re so hated.”

Jiang Shen smiled, not minding the little fox’s choice of words.

After living together for so long, this little fox was no different from a child in his eyes—pure-hearted and blunt.

He rubbed the little fox’s head and stood up using his crutch.

Tonight the sky was full of stars. Jiang Shen looked up for a moment and said softly, “The wrong I committed was likely being born into the Imperial family.”

They returned to the cave.

Before Jiang Shen woke up, Li Ruan had buried several sweet potatoes under the campfire, and they were now roasted and ready to eat.

Li Ruan gnawed on a sweet potato and asked Jiang Shen, “What should we do now? A-Xue doesn’t like mortals entering Mount Changming. Do you have a way to make them stop coming?”

Jiang Shen thought for a moment. “I do.”

After eating, Jiang Shen took the writing materials from his bundle.

He quickly wrote a letter, rummaged through his bundle for a moment, and pulled out a white jade clasp pendant, tying it to the letter.

“You mentioned before that the little titmouse who visits you occasionally goes to the capital to find food,” Jiang Shen said. “Could you ask him to help me deliver a letter?”

Li Ruan asked, “To your home?”

“No, to a pawnshop.”

Li Ruan blinked in confusion.

Jiang Shen thought for a bit and explained in a simple way the little fox could understand: “The owner of that pawnshop is my friend. After he receives the letter, he will inform my other friends and have them reveal my whereabouts elsewhere. When the person who wants to kill me realizes I’m not at Mount Changming, they naturally won’t send more people into the mountains.”

Jiang Shen had his own spies and contact network in the capital, and that pawnshop owner was a link in that network.

Sending a letter served two purposes: first, to report his safety and stabilize his people; second, to have a few subordinates disguise themselves as him and feign a trip south to divert the mastermind’s attention.

Li Ruan asked, “Will this work?”

Jiang Shen: “It will, but it can only buy us time.”

A fake will eventually be exposed. Jiang Shen knew this method wouldn’t last long. In fact, the best way would be for him to return to the capital and appear openly before the public; everything would be resolved.

But his injuries were not yet healed, and the enemy was in the dark while he was in the light. Returning rashly would only put him in danger.

And besides…

Jiang Shen glanced at the little fox crouching beside him and smiled.

He didn’t really want to go back yet.

Li Ruan, however, said, “Actually, I have a better way.”

He flicked his ears and said excitedly, “You can dual cultivate with me right now. After we finish, I’ll use my magic to heal your injuries and then send you back.”

Jiang Shen: “…”

Jiang Shen: “No.”

“Why?” Li Ruan didn’t understand. “Aren’t you worried about something like last night happening again?”

He leaned in, rubbing his head against Jiang Shen’s leg. “Don’t worry, I’ve asked about it—dual cultivation is just a method of training. As long as you know how to be moderate, it won’t harm your essence, and it will even be very comfortable. Aren’t you interested at all? Don’t you want to try?”

Jiang Shen remained silent. “…I am not interested.”

Although he liked this little fox very much, there was no way he could be “interested” in a fox.

“Stingy.”

The little fox pushed off with his front paws and shoved. Jiang Shen had little strength after his recent illness and was caught off guard; he was knocked onto the bed by the little fox.

The little fox pressed down on him with force, nuzzling around his neck.

The soft fur made him feel itchy. Jiang Shen asked, “What are you doing?”

Li Ruan said fiercely, “Seducing you. Can’t you tell?”

Jiang Shen gave up resisting and sighed.

Where was this little fox pure-hearted? He was clearly full of messy thoughts.

Li Ruan persistently nuzzled him, stepping here and there on his body. After a while, Jiang Shen’s expression gradually changed.

Li Ruan also stopped.

He used a small paw to touch the place where he sensed something was different. “How did this place…”

It seemed to have swollen up.

It was hard.

He had never encountered this before.

Li Ruan tilted his head and touched it again.

Jiang Shen’s face instantly became extremely strained.

He rolled over and sat up, grabbing the little fox to pull him away from his body, his ears turning a bright red. “Don’t misunderstand, I absolutely did not—”

Jiang Shen’s voice cut off.

His gaze flicked to the medicine bottle sitting nearby.

The little fox was suddenly suspended in the air. As if he hadn’t reacted yet, his small paws pawed at the empty space blankly, his gaze toward Jiang Shen utterly innocent.

Jiang Shen took a deep breath. “Exactly what kind of medicine did you give me?”