Chapter 13 Who is the Little Fox Spirit with the Most Beautiful Tail
byChapter 13: Who Is the Best-Looking Little Fox Spirit with a Tail?
Xie Huanxiang, wrapped in his quilt, lay on the bed, fumbling under the covers until he finally pulled out a light red brocade pouch.
The pouch was a gift from his brother on the day he turned into a human.
The pouch had "Huanxiang's Treasure Pouch" stitched on it. Though it appeared as small as a palm, it had a whole world inside, capable of holding countless treasures.
Xie Huanxiang pinched the two corners of the pouch and shook it. The magical tools and treasures inside tumbled out, piling up into a little mountain on the bed.
The kid sat on top of that little mountain, his tail wagging nonstop. His soft legs were getting red from the tools, but he paid it no mind, digging through them seriously.
He dug around for ages until he found the few Demon Heart Fragments in a corner.
Not bothering to put all the scattered tools and treasures back, he cleared a spot in the middle of the bed, placed the fragments under his pillow, and shut his eyes and went to sleep.
That demon was so strong, he even beat my senior brother, so he should be able to help hide my tail.
...
When Xie Huanxiang woke up, he was sitting on a bed.
The bed had a deep purple wool blanket on it, really soft. He couldn't help rubbing his legs on it, but snorted to himself.
Still, it wasn't as soft as his fox fur, or as comfy.
Xie Huanxiang got bored with the blanket fast. Through the bed curtains, he could just barely hear footsteps outside.
A tall figure walked up slowly and stopped by the bed.
"My Lord, word came from the Demon Palace. That Demon Lord really went to the Tonghua Secret Realm."
"That idiot—doesn't he get that without you, my Lord, he'd just be some half-breed demon?" The demon speaking turned suddenly, saw a tail shadow swaying behind the curtains, and shut up.
Lately, rumors had been going around among them.
While recovering at the Liuyun Immortal Sect, the Lord had secretly kept a little fox spirit who loved to be cute. Sometimes, when the Lord came back at night for urgent stuff, the little fox would come running too.
He wondered if his harsh talk just now had scared the future Young Mistress.
"Leave."
The subordinate hesitated a second before realizing the order was for him. He quickly left the hall and shut the door behind him.
"Why do you always have other demons in your dreams?" Xie Huanxiang stuck his head out from the curtains and looked up at the man. "Are you very lonely?"
The man parted the bed curtains.
The little fox on the bed had ears drooping a bit, a tail wagging fast, and wore a robe slit up to his thigh. He sat there all innocent on the male demon's bed, asking if he was lonely.
He clearly didn't know much about the world yet, but he was already copying the fox spirits from storybooks.
"Among demons, only low-level ones hang out in groups."
The man sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the little fox onto his lap.
Xie Huanxiang watched the man take his hand and said, "My nails haven't grown out yet."
"Mm." The man hummed softly, his rough fingers brushing over his nails.
Xie Huanxiang didn't forget what he came for. He looked at the man hopefully and asked, "You're so strong—you even beat my senior brother. Can you make it so no one can see my tail and ears?"
As soon as he said that, the man grabbed the tip of his tail.
But he figured the man was just thinking it over, like how a medical cultivator checks your pulse, so he didn't pull it away. He just reminded him reluctantly, "Don't mess up my tail fur."
The young fox's tail fur was fluffy and soft, not tangled at all—a clear sign of how much this little fox cared about his coat, probably grooming it all the time.
From a distance, it looked like a swaying orange-red flame, giving off a light demons could never get in their whole lives.
After waiting a bit, the man was still petting his tail. Xie Huanxiang got impatient, pursed his lips, pulled his tail out of the man's hand, and hugged it to himself.
"Quit touching it. Why haven't you figured it out yet?" he said unhappily.
The man's hand went empty, and his fingers, which had been rubbing the tail, stopped.
"I figured it out."
The man pulled a little wooden comb out of his sleeve. "Use this to comb your fur, and regular humans won't be able to see it."
Xie Huanxiang leaned in for a closer look.
The comb had fine, close-set teeth, and on the handle someone had carved a little fox curled up sleeping.
Xie Huanxiang liked it a lot, so he nodded and shoved his tail back into the man's hand, telling him seriously, "Then hurry and comb it for me. You have to comb my ears too."
The fur on the fox's tail was thick and long, and combing it all the way through would take a while.
Xie Huanxiang grew a bit bored. While waiting for the man to comb his fur, he lay on the bed and looked at a storybook the man had conjured from somewhere.
After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, both his tail and ears were combed.
Xie Huanxiang looked around at the blanket beside him.
The blanket was covered in many orange-red loose hairs. Although shedding was common for foxes, he still blamed the man.
"How did you comb it? I never want you to comb my tail again." A hint of moisture gathered in Xie Huanxiang's eyes, and his rims were slightly red, as if he had suffered a great grievance.
"Sorry," the man said softly, his thin lips moving. "It's my first time combing a fox's fur. I'm not very skilled."
"Don't you demons have tails?" Xie Huanxiang asked suspiciously.
He remembered reading in the Liuyun Immortal Sect's records, and even the elders of the fox clan had said in their lessons when he was young, that low-level demons were mostly cultivators who had fallen into demonic cultivation after becoming human, while high-level demons were beast demons that crawled out of the Fire Abyss beneath Eclipse Moon City. Like the demon race, they could transform into human form once they reached a certain cultivation level.
The man was silent for a moment. "We do."
A black-purple tail emerged from under the man's cloak, covered in cold, hard scales. The tip of the tail bulged slightly, bearing a sharp spike—a demon tail born for slaughter.
Bald and ugly.
Xie Huanxiang hugged his own tail with some disdain and asked curiously, "Does Liu Wudao have a tail? Wasn't he born from stone?"
"He does too," the man said flatly. "A high-level demon's tail isn't innate like a demon beast's; it's a weapon cultivated through practice."
"How pitiful—no fur on the tail at all. My tail is much prettier." Xie Huanxiang lowered his head and rubbed his cheek against the tip of his tail.
The man's tail carefully retracted its sharp spike and silently wrapped around the young man's waist.
"Huanxiang's tail is the most beautiful."
Xie Huanxiang was delighted by these words and immediately forgot all about the fur falling out.
"Do you know Wu Liu?"
The man replied, "Not very well. Why?"
"Oh," Xie Huanxiang thought to himself, figuring this Demon Heart Fragment might be something Wu Liu risked stealing. He couldn't let that slip, so he just said, "You mustn't tell him that I'm a fox spirit."
The man nodded. "Alright."
...
When Xie Huanxiang woke up, the sky wasn't fully bright yet, just a faint white glow on the horizon.
The crow demon still wasn't back.
He glanced at the tail behind him, then quickly pulled the Bone Whistle from his sleeve and blew it.
When Wu Liu hurried over, Xie Huanxiang deliberately turned around in front of him and asked tentatively, "Wu Liu, do you notice anything different about me today?"
Wu Liu glanced at his back and said flatly, "No."
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