The Little Fox Spirit Doesn't Want to Carry a Cub - Chapter 14

When he once again discovered himself waking up in Jiang Shen’s embrace, Li Ruan was so startled he nearly tumbled off the bed.

He hurriedly reached out a hand to check Jiang Shen’s temperature.

Fortunately, he wasn’t burning.

Wait—

Hand?

Li Ruan looked down and saw a pair of hands as white as jade. He froze for a moment, curling his fingers like a little fox’s paws before shifting his gaze back to the person beside him.

“Jiang-Jiang-Jiang—Jiang Shen!” Li Ruan called him excitedly, “I can transform into human form!”

“…En.”

Li Ruan: “Why don’t you seem happy at all?”

Jiang Shen said, “I am very happy.”

He didn’t even open his eyes as he spoke, and his voice sounded utterly exhausted.

He didn’t look happy in the slightest.

In contrast, Li Ruan was truly delighted. Even while lying in Jiang Shen’s arms, he couldn’t keep still, chattering away to himself: “Why did you sleep with me again last night? What if you got sick? Did you put these clothes on me? Did I change back after falling asleep last night? Stop sleeping, wake up! What exactly happened? I—”

Before he could finish, a pair of arms reached out and pulled him back into the man’s embrace.

As if petting a fox, Jiang Shen kneaded the back of his neck.

“Don’t be noisy,” Jiang Shen said feebly. “Sleepy…”

Naturally, he was happy the little fox had transformed, but no matter how happy one was, a person still needed sleep.

Last night, the little fox had transformed and slept in his arms as solid as a rock. To avoid disturbing him, Jiang Shen had forced himself to stay awake all night by taking the medicine.

However, he regretted taking the pill not long after.

His head wasn’t dizzy after taking it, but with a person suddenly appearing in his arms out of thin air, no one would be able to sleep.

In short, Jiang Shen had been “spirited” in every sense of the word all night long, only managing to quiet down as dawn approached.

Jiang Shen sighed and said, half-asleep, “How about… you just change back?”

“I won’t,” Li Ruan refused immediately. “I finally managed to transform again; I have to check if my spiritual power has returned.”

He broke free from Jiang Shen’s embrace, threw on some clothes, and jumped off the bed.

The youth was agile; not a sound could be heard when his feet hit the ground. He stood barefoot on the floor and was about to say something to Jiang Shen.

Poof—

A faint red light flashed, and the youth’s figure vanished. The clothes fell to the floor, forming a small lump in the center.

The lump shifted as the little fox flailed his paws, struggling to break free from the pile of clothes. He slumped on the floor, exhausted. “…I changed back.”

Jiang Shen withdrew his gaze and, as if relieved, rolled over and pulled his cloak over his head.

…Finally, I can get some proper sleep.

Li Ruan was not discouraged.

Since he could transform briefly, he would surely find a way to stabilize it and resume his cultivation.

Once Jiang Shen woke up, Li Ruan pulled him into a detailed discussion about the previous night. The man and the fox performed a serious analysis for a long time and finally reached a conclusion.

Firstly, Jiang Shen’s essence could indeed restore Li Ruan’s cultivation. However, because Li Ruan’s foundation was destroyed, he couldn’t properly harness the absorbed power, leading to his lack of control.

It was very much like minor spirits who had just gained awareness—they could absorb spiritual energy from the outside world but didn’t know how to use it.

To use it freely, he would have to re-establish his “Foundation.”

Building a foundation was both easy and difficult, depending entirely on one’s own fate. Most importantly, it required a massive amount of spiritual energy.

However, they had now solved this problem.

“…Are you sure this will work?” Jiang Shen looked at the celadon medicine bottle the little fox had placed before him, feeling skeptical.

Li Ruan nodded firmly. “It will definitely work.”

This tonic could restore Jiang Shen’s Yang energy, which would then transform into essence within his body to be promptly absorbed by Li Ruan. This way, Jiang Shen wouldn’t fall ill from excessive essence depletion.

This was the conclusion Li Ruan reached after his analysis.

He added, “Think about it, A-Xue said before that you’d definitely need this medicine later. Wasn’t he talking about today? We didn’t realize this usage before and wasted so much time.”

Jiang Shen: “…”

He somehow felt that wasn’t what A-Xue meant.

However, the little fox’s logic wasn’t without merit.

After taking the medicine last night, he didn’t feel any sense of depletion this morning. Furthermore, perhaps because the little fox had been continuously absorbing his essence throughout the night, he hadn’t experienced that restless “inner heat” he usually felt after taking the drug.

As for certain uncontrollable physical reactions…

Those were likely just side effects of the medicine. They were certainly not due to his own reasons.

Definitely not.

“Is it okay or not?” Seeing that Jiang Shen hadn’t answered for a long time, the little fox hooked his claws into the man’s sleeve. “Dual cultivation won’t do, and taking medicine won’t do—should I just find another mortal instead? There are so many caves on Mount Changming; I’ll just find one to lock him up in. He won’t disturb you.”

“No,” Jiang Shen refused without a second thought.

The little fox looked at him, those clear red eyes full of resentment.

He compromised. “I’ll take the medicine.”

Using restorative tonics to provide a demon with essence for cultivation—he was likely the first person in the world to do so. But this was at least better than dual cultivation.

Jiang Shen comforted himself internally.

The little fox’s transformation was so unstable; if he truly agreed to dual cultivate and the fox changed back halfway through like he did this morning…

He didn’t dare think further.

The man and fox thus reached a tenuous consensus.

In the days that followed, another task was added to Jiang Shen’s daily routine.

He had to take one pill every morning and evening. Once the medicine was absorbed, he would let the little fox cling to him for half an hour to absorb the transformed essence.

With such harmonious cooperation, Li Ruan’s spirit finally began to improve day by day.

Only during the first few days were things a bit difficult, as Li Ruan wasn’t sure when Jiang Shen would fully absorb the medicine, nor how much essence he should take.

Jiang Shen’s body was no longer as weak as when he was severely injured, so absorbing a bit extra was no big deal. However, if the absorption happened too late or too slowly, he inevitably suffered some “hardship.”

On several occasions, Jiang Shen’s expression was dark with suppressed frustration. After Li Ruan finished absorbing the essence, he would still have to soak in the canyon’s hot spring for a good while.

He truly endured quite a bit of struggle.

However, physical struggles could be endured, and after they became more synchronized, such situations rarely occurred.

What was harder to bear was something else.

Jiang Shen set down his book and gazed at the dense forest in the distance, letting out a sigh.

Ever since the little fox began his re-cultivation, Jiang Shen couldn’t see so much as a single fox hair aside from the twice-daily essence absorption sessions.

Lately, the fox didn’t even come back for meals, heading out with a few fruits every day and staying away for the entire day.

He truly was using him as a furnace for essence.

Jiang Shen sat guarding the cave, feeling exactly as if he were a neglected spouse left in an empty chamber.

The sound of flapping wings came from the sky. Jiang Shen looked up; it was the little titmouse bringing him letters again.

But it didn’t come alone.

After being exhausted from several deliveries, the titmouse had finally learned to be clever. It sought out other small birds in Mount Changming who hadn’t left yet and took them to the capital. By sharing the food provided by the pawnshop, it had the other birds deliver the letters for it.

After a few such trips, the titmouse only needed to lead the way and no longer had to carry the letters itself.

Furthermore, through this arrangement, it managed to stockpile quite a bit of food.

Jiang Shen felt that if this bird could transform into a human, it would certainly be a very successful merchant in the mortal world.

Today was the same; the titmouse led the way, and behind it, several birds worked together to carry a medium-sized cloth bundle, dropping it at Jiang Shen’s feet.

But there were no letters in the bundle.

There was only one letter, held in another bird’s beak. The bundle was full of yuanxiao (sweet glutinous rice balls).

Jiang Shen was struck with a realization: “Is it almost the New Year?”

Time meant nothing in the mountains; in the blink of an eye, he had been at Mount Changming for over two months. He had nearly forgotten such an important date.

He was in no hurry to deal with the rice balls, unfolding the letter first.

There were only four words on the page:

—The fish has bitten.

The birds chirped loudly at his feet. Jiang Shen smiled softly and turned to go back into the cave. He first tossed the letter into the fire to burn, then brought out some fruit to share with the little fellows.

“No need for a reply today. You may go,” Jiang Shen said.

The titmouse chirped out a long response and flew off with its subordinates.

Jiang Shen watched the birds leave before turning his gaze toward the forest.

It was late; it was time to call the little fox back to eat yuanxiao.

As he stepped out, it began to snow again on Mount Changming.

Jiang Shen stepped through the soft snow into the forest. The woods were silent; aside from his footsteps and the sound of the wind, no other noise could be heard.

The little fox had mentioned where he usually practiced, but fearing he might disturb him, Jiang Shen rarely went to find him.

After walking for a while, he soon found that familiar streak of bright red in a clearing.

The little fox was crouched in the snow with his eyes closed, his body already covered in snowflakes.

Yet he remained motionless, as if he hadn’t noticed at all.

Jiang Shen stopped.

In all the time he had known the little fox, this was the first time he had seen him looking so serious. The fox always chattered about cultivating and ascending, as if the process were not difficult at all in his eyes.

But how could it not be difficult?

Ordinary demons had to cultivate for hundreds of years just to transform into humans; as for ascension, who knows how many centuries that would take.

Hundreds of years of cultivation destroyed in an instant, only to start all over again—if it were Jiang Shen, he likely wouldn’t have been able to accept it so easily.

Yet his little fox hadn’t hesitated for a moment, truly starting again bit by bit, relying on the meager cultivation gleaned from his essence.

Why?

Exactly why was he willing to pay such a price just to cultivate and ascend?

Jiang Shen looked up toward the sky.

Above those Ninth Heavens… what exactly is there?

A strange sensation suddenly rose in Jiang Shen’s heart.

Born into the Imperial family, he had understood one principle from a young age: if you want something, you must fight for it yourself. As long as he was strong enough, there was nothing in this world he couldn’t obtain; everything would be under his control.

But since coming here, he had discovered there were simply too many things he could not control.

There is always a person beyond the person, and a heaven beyond the heaven.

The snow fell heavier than before; swirling flakes drifted down from the sky, and the little fox’s lower body was already buried in the white.

Jiang Shen closed his eyes and composed himself.

Lately, he was becoming more and more prone to wild fantasies.

This was not a good sign.

Jiang Shen sighed silently and was about to step forward.

The little fox’s body suddenly glowed with a red light.

The light was very soft, forming a faint halo around the little fox, enveloping him completely.

Within the light and shadow, the little fox’s form began to change slowly.

It was a youth.

As if a newborn in the womb, his body was curled within the halo, his slender arms wrapping around his knees. A mane of jet-black long hair drifted in the wind and snow.

Then, the youth raised his head from between his arms and blinked.

The surrounding light faded.

Jiang Shen froze in his tracks.

Unlike the previous times he had witnessed the little fox showing a phantom or suddenly transforming, this was the first time he had seen the complete process of the little fox’s transformation.

The youth’s skin was very white. His expression seemed a bit blank as he looked around, quickly spotting Jiang Shen.

His eyes lit up.

The hazy, snowy scenery of the mountains was instantly eclipsed by the smile in his eyes.

“Jiang Shen, I’ve established my Foundation!” the youth shouted, “I can transform now!”

Jiang Shen didn’t answer. He stared at the youth, his gaze moving slowly from the face to what lay behind him.

The youth realized something and turned his head to look behind him.

Behind the youth grew a single fluffy tail; because the owner was in high spirits, the tip of the tail was cocked high. And on his head, a pair of fluffy fox ears peeked out from his hair.

He furrowed his brow, and the fox ears drooped accordingly.

“The tail… it seems I still can’t change it back,” Li Ruan said piteously, clutching the extra tail.

Jiang Shen still didn’t speak.

He stiffly turned his gaze away, only to feel a sensation of wetness at his nose and mouth.

He raised a hand to touch it.

He touched a hand full of crimson.