Chapter 20 Who is the Most Malicious Little Fox Spirit

Chapter 20: Who's the Meanest Little Fox Spirit?

Xie Huanxiang returned to the small wooden cabin, sat on the couch, and began brushing his tail fur. He was only halfway through brushing it when a knock came at the door.

"Come in," he said, tossing aside the brush and craning his neck to look.

The man pushed the door open and walked in, carrying a jar of wine and a basket of grapes in his hands.

Xie Huanxiang's eyes lit up. He hurried forward to close the door, then grabbed the grape wine from Wu Liu and sat down at the table by the window.

Popping the seal off the wine jar, a crisp, boozy smell hit him in the face. Xie Huanxiang lowered his head, stuck his whole tiny face into the jar opening, and stuck out his tongue to lap at it like a little critter drinking water.

When he lifted his head, the tip of his nose was pink from the booze, and his amber eyes were all watery.

He hugged the wine jar, pressing his chubby cheek against it, and slowly opened his mouth to take the grape Wu Liu fed him.

"Hey, you can't tell anyone I was drinking. If Big Brother finds out, you're gonna get it," Xie Huanxiang shot Wu Liu a glare, spit the grape seeds into the guy's palm, then stuck his little head back into the wine jar, his tail wagging happily.

"Huanxiang's drunk," Wu Liu said, snatching the jar away. The little fox, eyes glued to the wine jar, dizzily crawled after it, climbed into the guy's arms to keep burrowing into the jar, the bell between his legs jingling softly as he moved.

"How is it already empty?" Xie Huanxiang lifted his head from the jar and grabbed Wu Liu by the hair. "Did you sneak my wine and grapes?"

The more he talked, the madder he got. "Don't you know dogs can't drink booze! Or eat grapes!"

As he smacked the guy, Xie Huanxiang accidentally hit somewhere that made Wu Liu let out a sudden grunt, his breathing starting to shake.

"Wu Liu, why's your hand bleeding so much?" Xie Huanxiang stared blankly at the blood soaking through the guy's arm.

"I ran into Meng Zejun on my way down to buy the wine," Wu Liu said in a low voice. "He gave me some trouble."

"He's purposely stopping you from getting me wine! I knew it, he's such a pain in the neck!" Xie Huanxiang pressed his lips together angrily.

Wu Liu stayed quiet, not arguing back.

"You're hurt. Does that mean tomorrow you can't catch me some pheasants or go buy wine?" Xie Huanxiang blinked slowly, leaned in to check Wu Liu's wound.

"If it doesn't hurt, then I can," Wu Liu said.

"I know this one," Xie Huanxiang, sitting in Wu Liu's lap, pulled down the guy's clothes, revealing a muscular arm with a deep sword wound that went down to the bone.

The kid's slender, soft fingers rested on Wu Liu's firm arm muscles as he lowered his head and blew gently on the wound. "A little blow, and it won't hurt anymore."

"Wu Liu, doesn't it hurt anymore?" Xie Huanxiang lifted his flushed face and gave a crooked smile.

"..." Wu Liu found it hard to describe that smile. It was like the purest snow on top of Cang Mountain—afraid it'd melt in his hand, worried someone else would take it if he left it alone. Wanting it but scared to lose it, he could only hide it in the shadows and stare without blinking.

Wu Liu closed his eyes, turned his head away, his ears turning red, his voice hoarse. "It doesn't hurt now."

He carried the drunk little fox spirit to the couch but hesitated, not putting him down.

The orange-red fox tail coiled around his veined arm, rubbing against it unconsciously.

In truth, Meng Zejun couldn't have hurt him at all; the cost would have been exposing his identity.

His wounds had mostly healed, and he could have left at any time.

Wu Liu frowned, pondering for a moment.

But he hadn't yet uncovered the demon clan's plans, so staying at the Liuyun Immortal Sect was necessary—a pretense for the sake of business.

His expression gradually relaxed. He placed the person in his arms onto the couch, crouched down, and removed Xie Huanxiang's shoes and socks.

Then he picked up the brush carelessly tossed onto the pillow and silently began to groom the little fox spirit's tail fur.

Even drunk, Xie Huanxiang treated his tail with utmost seriousness, frowning as he muttered about how to avoid losing any fur.

As he murmured, he drifted off to sleep.

...

Xie Huanxiang woke up in the dead of night.

Someone knocked on the door of the small cabin. Thinking it was Wu Liu, he slowly hopped off the bed, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and went to open it.

"Huanxiang," the man outside said. His long hair was half-tied in a scholarly style. Perhaps because it was dark, Xie Huanxiang felt the man's usually gentle eyes were now pitch-black, and his smile carried an odd quality.

But he didn't think much of it and asked drowsily, "Second Senior Brother, why are you here so late?"

"I heard you had a dispute with Meng Zejun at Xiuyuan Hall today, so I came to check on you," the man said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. He stared at Xie Huanxiang. "Huanxiang, what would it take for you to forgive him?"

He took another step closer. "Isn't your own senior brother closer to you than that outer disciple? Today, my... my brother met him on the road, and one sword strike wounded him. What's so great about such a useless man?"

Xie Huanxiang looked at him in confusion, blinking. "But Second Senior Brother, didn't you say that if I don't like him, I should treat him as if I don't have him as a senior brother?"

"I was talking nonsense! How could you not have Third Senior Brother?" The man leaned in, grabbing Xie Huanxiang's arms. "Huanxiang, if you forgive him, you'll have one more senior brother to dote on you. I promise, he'll never call you a fox spirit again. For my sake, forgive him, okay?"

Xie Huanxiang stepped back repeatedly until his lower back hit the windowsill. His pale, delicate face was shadowed by the man's tall figure. "Second Senior Brother, you're acting really strange."

"Strange? I think so too. Why is it that your Third Senior Brother, who has cultivated the Heartless Dao for years with a steady mind, has been thrown into turmoil day and night just by your teasing and a few words, his cultivation even regressing?" The man stared at him intently. "What did you do? Tell me, okay?"

Xie Huanxiang thought back seriously.

What had he done to Meng Zejun?

He had poured leftover wine on Meng Zejun's head, had Wu Liu break Meng Zejun's legs, slapped him, and smashed his head with a stone.

The more he thought about it, the more pleased he became. So he had done all these vicious things to a human! He truly was the most formidable spy of the demon clan.

But Meng Zejun was too strange.

"I didn't do anything," Xie Huanxiang tilted his head, looking at him earnestly. "Second Senior Brother, please tell him to stop bothering Wu Liu."

"Why can't I bother that outer disciple?" The man's brow furrowed, his teeth grinding.

Xie Huanxiang pursed his lips. "Because Wu Liu is my dog. No one can bully him except me."

After all, he had boasted that if Wu Liu obeyed him, he could walk tall in the Liuyun Immortal Sect.

"Third Senior Brother can be your dog too," the man said immediately.

"I don't want that," Xie Huanxiang lifted his foot and gently kicked the man's approaching body. "Second Senior Brother, if you keep helping him, I won't talk to you anymore."

----------------------------------------