“Tell me.” Jiang Mengxin found a chair, sat down, and crossed her legs, her toes tapping rhythmically.
She happened to be blocking the only path Su Mumu could use to leave.
“It was too cold at the door, so I thought I’d come in to warm up…” Su Mumu said.
“The door?” Jiang Mengxin frowned. “Where is my best friend?”
“Uh, I don’t know,” Su Mumu said.
“Did she go back first?” Jiang Mengxin murmured.
“Anyway, the chat is over, so I should be going now.”
Su Mumu smiled sheepishly, treading lightly as she tried to sneak past Jiang Mengxin.
However — right at that moment.
A sensation of being wrapped suddenly came from her neck.
*Click — * the sound of a metal buckle locking.
“Don’t even think about running.”
Jiang Mengxin held a slender chain in her hand, which stretched all the way to the collar on Su Mumu’s neck.
“…Ah!?” Su Mumu couldn’t believe it. She frantically touched the collar around her neck; the metal felt cold to the touch.
Her heart went cold, too.
“Since you scared away the cat I was going to catch, you can be the cat.” Jiang Mengxin’s voice was very soft.
Su Mumu kept clawing at the collar on her neck. “…I’m a human, not some pet!”
“You’re a fox,” Jiang Mengxin said.
“I’m not!” Su Mumu grit her teeth.
“Then what is this? A toy?” Jiang Mengxin reached out, grabbed the snow-white fox tail, and gave it a slight tug.
“Eee!” Su Mumu’s eyes immediately brimmed with mist.
“It seems a fox’s tail is quite sensitive?” Jiang Mengxin continued to play with it, though she sounded a bit uncertain.
“Let go!” Su Mumu’s face flushed with shame. “Do you hear me? I’m going to get angry!”
“Resist all you want. This collar has a tightening function. If you don’t want to taste the feeling of suffocation, be good,” Jiang Mengxin said. “Let’s go. Follow me to the inner hall of the immortal sect.”
With that, Jiang Mengxin stood up, tugged the chain, and forcefully dragged Su Mumu toward the exit.
‘Can I even go there? If I go, I’m finished…’
“Wait! Hey, hey, hey, don’t… I, I know what you’re really thinking! Stop for a second!”
“Oh?” Jiang Mengxin looked back with a slight surprise and stopped walking.
The situation did not look optimistic.
Su Mumu couldn’t care about anything else anymore. “You want to catch me, right! It’s all my fault for mocking you last time… This is a form of revenge, or… a way to prove something to yourself!”
“You’re… actually quite smart.” Jiang Mengxin looked somewhat stunned.
“Right, right, so… you caught me this time. You’re really amazing! You’re super cool. This is the first time I’ve ever been caught… You’re very strong!” Su Mumu spoke at a rapid-fire pace.
But she found it strange.
‘Why did Jiang Mengxin’s expression become even worse?’
She didn’t care; she would just keep praising her.
“Truly! I never expected to be caught… are you listening to me?” Su Mumu asked.
“You. Little. Fox!” Jiang Mengxin’s face darkened. “You… are doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
“What?” Su Mumu froze for a moment. “No… I didn’t get caught on purpose!”
Jiang Mengxin’s eyes looked like they could kill. “I suddenly feel like eating charcoal-grilled fox.”
“Huh!?” Su Mumu’s face turned pale. “No way, big sister! Are you an ogre? I’m truly admiring you now, so why are you still angry?”
“That mouth of yours… really needs a slapping,” Jiang Mengxin said.
“Then I won’t talk? Just let me go,” Su Mumu said tentatively.
“Not a chance.” Jiang Mengxin was completely determined. “You’ve mocked me time and time again, and even now, you’re still mocking me… I won’t let you go today.”
“I wasn’t mocking you…” Su Mumu explained.
“Come with me.”
Jiang Mengxin tugged the chain again.
Su Mumu was forced to step forward, stumbling along.
The two of them moved toward the exit of the shop little by little.
“Let me go, okay?”
“Don’t even think about it.”
“Sister Jiang Mengxin, would you have the heart to see me beheaded?”
“You fox, just where did you learn my name…”
Jiang Mengxin was confused. Suddenly, she noticed the chain in her hand had become much lighter.
She looked back.
At the same time, the sound of a metal buckle locking rang in her ears.
*Click.*
The collar was firmly locked around her own neck.
The little fox girl who had been begging for mercy a moment ago now wore a grinning expression that was quite aggravating.
“The tables have turned~~” Su Mumu shook a key on her fingertip.
“How do you have a key…?” Jiang Mengxin was baffled. She quickly began to fumble through the pocket of her skirt.
But Su Mumu’s hand was one step faster. She reached into the pocket and snatched the other key away.
“Give it back to me!” Jiang Mengxin said urgently.
“They’re flying away.” Su Mumu casually tossed them behind her. The keys clattered as they landed somewhere unknown.
“You…!” Jiang Mengxin immediately wanted to go search for the two keys, but after taking only a few steps, she was pulled back by a slight force and couldn’t move.
“The situation has reversed, you know? Sister Jiang Mengxin, you seem a bit silly.”
Su Mumu arched an eyebrow. She had already picked up the chain from the ground and coiled it several times, gripping it firmly in her palm.
“…I was careless.” Jiang Mengxin’s face was full of frustration. She should have known to stay calm.
Su Mumu suddenly felt playful. “Sister Jiang Mengxin, things aren’t looking good right now~~ Late at night, in an empty shop, captured by a fox demon, and in this current state…”
Sure enough, after those words were spoken, Jiang Mengxin trembled a few times, and she couldn’t even speak clearly.
“So, so what? You’re currently inside the Xianzong. If you dare to do anything out of line, you’re dead!”
Su Mumu rubbed her chin. “I haven’t performed essence absorption in a long time. Although the effect isn’t very obvious with girls… it’s barely enough to make do.”
“Essence absorption!?” Jiang Mengxin was stunned.
Su Mumu’s eyes curved into crescents. “Are you scared?”
“I’m not scared.” Jiang Mengxin looked away.
“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt much.” The smile at the corners of Su Mumu’s mouth was completely uncontrollable. “It’s just the pain of pulling tendons and bones; it will be over in thirty minutes.”
Jiang Mengxin was speechless.
“Whether it’s okay or not is up to me.” Su Mumu gave the chain in her hand a tug.
Abruptly, Jiang Mengxin’s body lost control. She leaned forward a small step, nearly pressing her body completely against Su Mumu’s.
Their breaths intertwined.
The air was deathly silent in the dark environment. Outside the window, the shrill and cold moonlight shone, accompanied by the occasional cry of a cuckoo.
It made everything feel like a dream.
Su Mumu gazed into Jiang Mengxin’s eyes from such a close distance.
Those amber eyes were truly beautiful. Every time she looked at her, she felt that the stars in the sky didn’t compare to her in the slightest.
Perhaps Jiang Mengxin was most beautiful at this time?
Like a resilient rose that had encountered a swamp. Even if she was swallowed by the mud, she would still struggle to bloom with a hint of fresh color.
“You are humiliating me.” A look of hatred flashed in Jiang Mengxin’s eyes.
“I am not,” Su Mumu said.
“You clearly could have just escaped,” Jiang Mengxin said.
“It’s still too early. There might still be people outside,” Su Mumu said.
“You know everything about the Xianzong, and you seem to know me even better. You even knew where my skirt pocket was… Who on earth are you?” Jiang Mengxin asked in a low voice.
‘Who am I?’
‘Do you want to know?’
‘Then I’ll tell you.’
“I’m your best friend,” Su Mumu said.
“Stop lying,” Jiang Mengxin said.
Su Mumu chose to respond to that answer with a silent smile.
See?
She didn’t believe it.