The fact that I'm a fox has always felt unoriginal to me.
From ancient times to the present, from novels to animations, from legends to movies, you can find hints of foxes everywhere. Regular foxes, fox demons, fox gods, they come in all forms. Even when people want to insult someone, they use the term "vixen[1]" which has been immortalized for centuries.
As a fashionable and handsome fox who considers myself unique and likes to stay at the cutting edge of trends, I really hate this feeling of overexposure. The rarer something is, the greater its value; when foxes are everywhere, we obviously lose our value.
Fortunately, while there may be many foxes, there are still relatively few who have seen foxes like us who can transform into human forms. As long as the mysterious halo around us remains and the aura of mythology endures, I'll find comfort in that.
However, aside from occasionally feeling frustrated about foxes flooding the market, I find myself more frustrated with a country girl named Tang Xiaohua.
Just think about it. In the 21st century filled with trendsetters and fashionable sprawling mega cities, there are still people using "Xiaohua[2]" as their name. What is this if not a "cup[3]"? And the "tableware" that is even bleaker than "cup" is that I, this fox, am the guardian spirit of this Tang Xiaohua!
Alas, this is the inevitable fate of being an extraordinary fox. Just because we have a few more tricks up our sleeves than those ordinary foxes, like soaring through clouds, vanishing through walls, hiding in plain sight etc., we are doomed to bear responsibilities that other foxes don't have to.
I've always had a rather vague sense of self, and I'm not quite sure which class of fox I belong to. Anyway, I know all the spells that foxes know. I remember when I emerged from that pitch-black fox den, my mind was like it had a built-in GPS. I headed straight for the Municipal Maternal and Child Health Hospital. After passing through twelve walls, I stumbled and fell into the delivery room. When I looked up, I saw a nurse holding a newborn baby girl, all slippery and looking like a little old lady.
However, Tang Xiaohua, who had just descended into the human world, remained completely silent. No matter how many times the doctor slapped her, she remained steadfast and resolute, refusing to cry.
Just when everyone began to wonder if something was obstructing the child's airway, I stepped forward and gave her a good slap on her little bottom.
Waaaa! Tang Xiaohua burst into loud crying and was awarded the highest decibel prize for a newborn's cry that year. Then, I noticed that no matter where I stood, Tang Xiaohua's eyes would turn directly toward my location, and then she would giggle.
This girl could see me! She could see me from the moment she was born! This is truly strange. According to the rules of foxes like me, if we don't sweep our tails over the eyes of ordinary humans, they will never discover our presence in their entire lifetime.
I began to wonder who had appointed me as the guardian spirit for this little freak. Unfortunately, ever since I left the fox den, I found that I couldn't find my way back. As for my previous life in the fox den, it rapidly faded from my memory like burst soap bubbles.
I surmise this was a spell cast to ensure I wholeheartedly fulfill my guardian duty. According to the agreement, I must protect Tang Xiaohua until her natural end. During these long and tedious years, the best way to prevent me from deserting and returning to the den for a long nap was to make sure I couldn't find my way home. So cunning!
However, even though my memories were blurred, someone had been occasionally communicating with me using a method similar to the telepathic techniques of the fox clan, conveying certain instructions. I had tried using reverse search methods to expose this evil behind the scenes manipulator, questioning why they had foisted off the freak Tang Xiaohua on me instead of giving me a beautiful and normal little princess born with a gold spoon in her mouth. But I failed each time. The one who had kicked me to Tang Xiaohua's side was undoubtedly an old fox with a high level of cultivation. I couldn't locate their position at all just by relying on a disembodied voice.
In all kinds of desperation, I was obliged to awkwardly stay by Tang Xiaohua's side. I knew that as long as I didn't fulfill my mission, I couldn't return to that comfortable fox den. And I'm such a good home-loving fox.
This stay lasted for seventeen years.
Footnotes:
[1] hú li is fox, while hú li jīng is fox-spirit; vixen; witch; enchantress.
[2] 小 花: Little Flower.
[3] Bēijù (cup) and bēijù (tragedy) are homophones. cān jù (tableware) has cán jú (desperate situation) and cǎn jù (tragedy; calamity; atrocity) as homophones. So the name Xiaohua is “tragic” and being her guardian spirit is the bleaker tragedy.
Translator:
Ohhh....foxy~
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