I dragged my aching body back to the Tang family. Yes, I was hit by a speeding and overloaded truck. Though my body wasn't a true flesh and blood form, I still felt pain to some extent.
Tang Xiaohua was still fast asleep. Moonlight had appeared outside the window at some point, casting a silver glow on her face when she turned over. Delicate and gentle, it was clearly a different visage, yet it vividly reminded me of another person.
I gently caressed her youthful face. Finally, I placed my hand on her forehead, closed my eyes, and let a warm power flow from my heart through my hand, seeping into her world.
"Bu Yu..." I called her name over and over in my heart.
"Yes..." Tang Xiaohua, still fast asleep, moved her lips.
"Why did you have to lie to those dying people?" My gaze fell on her wrist which was missing flesh and blood, a dull ache in my heart.
"The Spider-Man asked me if I wanted to truly help those in danger," she said slowly, "He said that if I told those dying people that you could live another twenty years, they wouldn't die."
I had to curse that wretched Bug Man in my heart. It was him who, in order to obtain the prophecy flower's petals, which were Tang Xiaohua's flesh and blood, awakened all of her abilities using this method and subsequently provoked the Hell officials who were in charge of life and death.
"I'm not an ominous being... not a doomsayer... I can also save people," Tang Xiaohua murmured, "It turns out that lying isn't necessarily a bad thing..."
I was stunned and asked the question I wanted to ask the most, "Why did you lie to me about Shifu?"
"I warned my senior brothers... I saw Shifu use a sword to cut open their bodies, extract their inner cores, and finally turn their bodies into green ashes, putting them in porcelain jars and sealing them in the walls. But they didn't believe me and said I had a Qi deviation[1] while practicing. That day, Snow Leopard accidentally discovered Shifu making medicine with our senior brothers' inner cores. Shifu wanted to kill Snow Leopard to silence him... I heard Snow Leopard crying for help... I felt like I was going insane; scorching power was running through my body. I struck him in the chest with one palm... My right arm felt like it was on fire..."
"Why didn't you promptly tell me?" I really wanted to grab her and give her a good beating.
"You love Shifu so much, trust him, respect him... Toppling him would mean toppling your entire world," Tang Xiaohua's brows furrowed slightly, "Your inner core hasn't been refined yet... You've always wanted to be Shifu's successor. If... the murderer is Shifu, will you still continue to practice? Giving up cultivating at this critical moment...would seriously damage your primordial spirit and could be fatal. However, if the murderer is me... you will be angry and deeply hurt, but as long as you have the heart to seek revenge from me, you will definitely work hard to refine your inner core... Once you pass this trial, you will become the mountain god you aspire to be." Her brows relaxed, "There's nothing more important than ensuring you live well. Telling lies wasn't to deceive you, but because... I love you."
Foxes, especially male foxes, never cry. However, I made an exception today. "You're such a fool!" I wiped away my tears, took a deep breath, and pinched Tang Xiaohua's nose.
She sneezed and opened her eyes. "Xiao Tou... you're not sleeping yet?" She sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"I'm going away for a while," I pretended to be casual, speaking grumpily as usual.
"Where are you going? How long?" She asked nervously.
"Home. Um... about a month," I poked her on the head. She breathed a sigh of relief. I carefully studied her appearance, trying to engrave her silly look in my mind - I'm not leaving for a month, it's forever. But before that, there's one more thing I need to do.
"Go to sleep. I have to leave," I gently pressed her back onto the bed.
"Right now?" She looked at me reluctantly. I nodded. She gazed at me for a long time and then suddenly grinned, "Then, let's pretend we'll see each other tomorrow!"
Tomorrow is April 1st, April Fools' Day. I smiled, "Sure. See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow!" She happily snuggled into her blanket, "Make sure to come back soon!"
I left her room without saying a word. It wasn't until she was sound asleep once again that I passed through the wall and stood by her side, watching her sleep like a little pig. I think the warm and doting smile on my face at that moment was something that hadn't appeared in many years. You'll become a normal girl. From now on, you won't remember anything related to me. You'll have a brand new happiness. This is the last thing your guardian spirit, this fox, can do for you.
Before dawn, a fox with snow-white fur leaped out of Tang Xiaohua's bedroom window. It landed lightly on the ground, glanced up at Tang Xiaohua's home, and then vanished into the dim light without looking back.
[1] 走火入魔: to experience serious negative physiological and psychological changes resulting from the ‘improper’ practice of qigong or other self-cultivation techniques; to develop meditation psychosis. You might have come across terms like inner demon, obsession etc. to describe qi deviation.
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