The phone call ended.
Su Mumu’s heart was in complete turmoil, and she felt as if she had lost half her soul. It took a long while before she finally managed to recover.
‘I need to check the pills… They have to be effective!’
Turning off the stove, Su Mumu grabbed a rag and lifted the pill furnace, placing it on the edge of the counter. She lifted the lid with a trembling hand.
The inside of the pill furnace was a dark, messy glob that looked like black sesame paste. A pungent medicinal scent hit her, causing Su Mumu to wrinkle her small nose.
‘Could it be… that they all failed? Is there not even one successful one?’
Su Mumu hurried to find a pair of chopsticks. After some digging, she finally managed to find three tiny, delicate pills within the sesame-like mess. She carefully fished them out.
Although they looked terrible and their surfaces were sticky… that didn’t matter! The only thing that mattered was whether they would work.
Su Mumu had always been a woman of action. Would they work? She would know after eating them!
So, after a brief moment of hesitation, she decided to take only half a pill, slightly reducing the dosage recommended on her phone.
***
Time ticked by, second by second. With the lights out, the Xianzong was incredibly silent.
“Why is it a bit cold?” Su Mumu murmured. “Is my body itchy?”
She quickly pulled off the black robe and inspected her body. Her skin appeared to be in perfect condition. At least to the naked eye, there were no side effects.
‘I’m probably just too nervous, and it’s a psychological illusion.’
Su Mumu thought for a moment and decided to warm up her bed. Keeping her body temperature up would help absorb the medicine’s power!
Moonlight filtered through the window frame, spilling onto the head of her bed.
Whenever Su Mumu could not sleep at night, she would always turn on her side to admire the moonlight and try to catch the stars within that hazy halo.
‘Hey, there isn’t a single star tonight!’
Su Mumu stared blankly at the dark night sky. Unknowingly, her eyelids grew heavy.
*Coo, coo, coo.*
A turtle dove perched on the banyan tree in the courtyard and began to sing.
‘Seriously… every morning a bunch of stupid birds start chirping… how annoying.’
Su Mumu rolled over and pulled the covers over her head. Suddenly, there was a violent pounding on the door.
*Knock, knock, knock!*
The sound exploded in her ears like artillery shells, and Su Mumu snapped awake instantly.
“The Eldest Miss has arrived!” a familiar voice called out from behind the door. it was Jiang Mengxin.
“Xin Xin!?” Su Mumu finally reacted.
‘Wait, wait, wait! Why did I sleep so soundly!’
Su Mumu quickly reached out and felt around her head and backside. She checked several times, and though she was incredibly shocked, the ears and tail were gone!
She then snatched her phone and opened the front-facing camera. Reflecting back at her was a familiar, pure, and cute girl’s face.
‘I, Su Mumu, have returned to human form!’
Just then, the sound of a key turning echoed from the door.
*Click.*
The door slowly swung open.
Jiang Mengxin stood there, framed by the morning light behind her, making her appear as if she were glowing. Her amber eyes were exceptionally bright as she scanned everything in the room.
“Honestly! The room is still such a mess. You really don’t like cleaning up!”
Jiang Mengxin grumbled as she walked into the room with practiced ease. This room had originally been rented by both Su Mumu and Jiang Mengxin.
To be precise, Jiang Mengxin helped pay half the rent because Su Mumu was poor… she had no money! Because of that, Jiang Mengxin had her own set of keys.
“Xin Xin… go outside and wait for a second.” Su Mumu hid herself under the covers, her voice sounding muffled.
“Lord Mu, busy mining in broad daylight? You aren’t holding back at all, are you?” Jiang Mengxin said mischievously, already standing by the bed.
“I’ll sue you for slander!” Su Mumu retorted.
Jiang Mengxin reached out and grabbed the corner of the duvet. “Slander or not, Sister Xin will know after taking a look — “
*Whoosh!*
The covers were forcefully pulled away.
Su Mumu curled up, hugging her legs and looking back with a face full of terror. She was completely naked.
Jiang Mengxin was slightly stunned for a moment. “Sorry!”
Su Mumu gave her a frustrated look. “Help me get my nightgown.”
“Since when did Mumu start sleeping naked?” Jiang Mengxin asked, looking confused as she turned to the wardrobe to pick out a nightgown.
The wardrobe was small, and there were very few clothes inside — only a few items. As Jiang Mengxin pulled out a plain white nightgown, her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a robe as black as ink.
“I heard the sleep quality would be better, so I wanted to try it,” Su Mumu replied dismissively.
However, Su Mumu soon noticed something strange about Jiang Mengxin.
“Xin Xin, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Jiang Mengxin snapped out of it and handed the nightgown over with a smile. “Here. Just the nightgown? Nothing underneath?”
“I’m too lazy to wear anything else at home,” Su Mumu said indifferently.
“Does Mumu like cosplay?” Jiang Mengxin asked.
“No.” Su Mumu put on the nightgown and smoothed out the wrinkles. “But I can cosplay as Jiang Mengxin, hehe.”
“You little brat, you get bold as soon as you put on clothes, don’t you!” Jiang Mengxin muttered.
“After all, a person is extremely vulnerable when they’re naked,” Su Mumu said.
“Then what do you usually do? Wear a robe? Cosplay as a person in black?” Jiang Mengxin suddenly changed the subject.
Su Mumu did not understand what she meant for a moment and gave her a puzzled look. Jiang Mengxin immediately pulled the black robe out of the wardrobe. “This.”
It was the one she wore last night…
Su Mumu’s nerves instantly tightened. ‘Crap, I forgot to put it away.’
“How does Mumu have this kind of clothing?”
Jiang Mengxin’s eyes were fixed on Su Mumu. It was a slightly strange look, one that hid some sort of emotion.
“That…” Su Mumu waved her hand. “If you like it, Xin Xin, I’ll give it to you.”
“No… that’s not what I meant.” Jiang Mengxin thought for a moment. “Remember that fox demon I mentioned on the phone last night?”
Hearing this, Su Mumu’s racing heart finally settled slightly. She responded, “I remember. What about it?”
“Actually, that fox demon was wearing a black robe. It looks like the same one?” Jiang Mengxin began to inspect the black robe repeatedly.
“Such a coincidence!?” Su Mumu acted surprised.
“Yeah. Where did you get this, Mumu?”
“I found some discounted fabric online. I was going to use it as a rag, but then I got bored and hand-sewed it.”
“I see…” Jiang Mengxin took out her phone and searched for a bit. “There really are a lot of discounted black robes?”
“Yeah… yeah…” Su Mumu’s eyelid twitched.
“Damn it!” Jiang Mengxin said dejectedly. “Mumu, you have no idea. I didn’t sleep well at all last night! I had nightmares all night!”
“What did you dream about?” Su Mumu asked.
“That fox demon… I almost caught her, but then I woke up!” Jiang Mengxin said.
“That’s… quite a pity,” Su Mumu agreed.
To be honest, she didn’t know what to say. She felt like if she said one wrong word, she would be caught red-handed.
*Grumble.*
Su Mumu was startled and belatedly rubbed her stomach. She hadn’t eaten all night and was starving.
Jiang Mengxin teased, “Is Mumu’s tummy thundering?”
As she spoke, she felt around in her skirt pocket and pulled out a bag of warm steamed buns. However, most of them had been squashed and deformed.
“It’s too cold outside, and I was afraid they would get cold if I just carried them, so…” Jiang Mengxin placed the buns on the nightstand with a bit of embarrassment.
“These are steamed bun potato mines,” Su Mumu joked.
“Eat up, eat up. I’ll bring you a cob cannon next time,” Jiang Mengxin said.
While Su Mumu was eating the buns, Jiang Mengxin looked around idly. “Oh right, I want to boil some water. Can I use the stove?”
“The… the stove?” Su Mumu froze.
“Mm-hmm.” Jiang Mengxin walked toward the door. “It’s over there, right?”
“Yes… it is, but…” Su Mumu wanted to stop her, but it was too late.
The room was too small, and Jiang Mengxin was already nearing the stove. The uncleaned alchemy furnace was still sitting right there!