The moonlight was hazy.
A cold wind howled, and the alleyway was filled with the scent of decay, accompanied by the stench of the sewers.
Something…
Something was moving my hand…
Her groggy consciousness gradually returned.
Her palm felt itchy and wet…
What was it…?
Su Mumu forced her eyelids open, and the sight before her left her stunned.
By her side, a milky-white Little cat stood guard, gently licking her palm.
The barbs on its tiny tongue made her palm sting more and more.
Su Mumu couldn’t help but frown slightly. She let out a helpless sigh and pulled her hand away. “Did you wake me up? Thank you, little guy.”
“Meow—” The Little cat looked up, its eyes clear as crystal blue.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying,” Su Mumu said with a smile.
“Meow, meow, meow—” The Little cat flicked its ears.
“Anyway, thank you. Otherwise, I might have frozen to death…” Su Mumu’s teeth were chattering. She checked her body and found that she had finally turned back into a human.
Her hair color was normal.
Her ears and tail had disappeared.
She checked herself using the front camera of her phone; her appearance had returned to its original state.
“Meow!” The Little cat suddenly pounced on her.
Caught off guard, Su Mumu took the full impact against her chest. “Ouch… I almost didn’t catch you!”
“Meow, meow, meow—” The Little cat’s eyes seemed to sparkle like stars.
“Do you want to come home with me?” Su Mumu asked, puzzled.
To her surprise, as soon as she said those words, the Little cat actually nodded with remarkable intelligence.
Su Mumu’s brain nearly short-circuited. After much thought, she reached a tentative conclusion.
‘Could this Haji… be the one who was stealing wine at the Jiulewu?’
Jiang Mengxin had mentioned that some small animals possessed spirituality.
‘Are you already about to step onto the demonic path?’
Su Mumu sized it up in her heart and then hugged the Little cat tightly, treating it entirely like a hot water bottle.
“Since you’re following me, you’re not allowed to get off the ride halfway.”
“Meow—” the Little cat responded cheerfully.
There were over fifty missed calls on her phone.
The unread messages displayed more than ninety-nine.
They must have all been from Jiang Mengxin.
Anyway, she had to get back to her room quickly!
If she guessed correctly… Jiang Mengxin had been waiting for a long time.
Filled with trepidation and an urgent longing, Su Mumu strode down the cold stone path. Withered maple trees lined both sides, casting shadows under the bright moonlight.
As it approached 1:00 AM, even the sound of her own footsteps felt exceptionally loud.
With every step, she felt as if she were treading through a swamp of varying depths. The feeling of her heart hanging by a thread was truly a complicated emotion…
On one hand, there was the confrontation with Jiang Mengxin just now when she had turned into a fox girl… She had provoked Jiang Mengxin’s resentment once again.
On the other hand, she had suddenly disappeared for one hour. How was she supposed to explain that…?
Argh!
This is so annoying!
Maybe I should just come clean!
I’ll tell Jiang Mengxin everything… No, no, no!
Would Jiang Mengxin even believe it…?
And even if she did believe it, what would she think…?
The best friend she had known for so long, the best girl in the world, turned out to be the fox demon she wanted to slay more than anything else.
Just thinking about this problem made Su Mumu’s head feel like it was going to explode.
‘We’d stop being friends, right?’
‘She’d hate me, wouldn’t she?’
‘A massive rift would form between us, or something like that?’
‘I don’t know!’
‘I don’t know, argh!’
She couldn’t figure it out at all… ‘Of all the godforsaken plot twists, why did this have to happen to me!’
Su Mumu let out a heavy sigh and stopped in her tracks. She looked up slightly, seeing the bright moon obscured by countless dark clouds.
No matter how beautiful the moon was, there were shadows around it.
No matter how bright the stars were, they would be covered by clouds and mist.
‘Perhaps… is there another way for now?’
‘If—and I mean if—if I can keep it from Jiang Mengxin forever and she never learns the truth, then… I wouldn’t have to worry about this, right?’
‘It would be as if this never happened, right?’
‘As long as I can hide it…’
‘As long as I keep hiding it and weld this secret shut in my heart forever…’
As soon as this thought appeared, Su Mumu felt a sense of unease in her heart.
‘But what if I turn back into a fox demon again?’
‘This is already the second time… What if I suddenly turn into a fox demon again?’
‘If I get caught red-handed in front of Jiang Mengxin… the result will be even worse.’
With Jiang Mengxin’s personality, she would probably think: ‘My best friend has been a fox demon all along. She joined the Changsheng immortal sect just to do this and that…’
That was the Bad End she least wanted to see.
A blurry sense of resolve gradually appeared in Su Mumu’s eyes.
Fine.
At this stage, there were only two things she had to do.
One, hide it from Jiang Mengxin; she must never let her know the truth.
Two, investigate why she was turning into a fox demon.
“Meow—!”
The Little cat’s murmur sounded from her arms.
Su Mumu snapped back to reality and looked down at the Little cat in her arms. Its crystal blue eyes were bright and full of intelligence, as if it were trying to say something.
Their eyes met, and in the quiet night, the contact forged an even firmer determination in Su Mumu.
“Little guy, are you agreeing with me? You also think I should solve the problem at its root, right? As long as I solve the problem of turning into a fox demon… all my troubles will be over,” Su Mumu said.
“Humph—” The Little cat let out a satisfied sound, turned over to show its belly, and continued to snore.
“You’ve got it easy,” Su Mumu laughed lightly, feeling a bit self-deprecating.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and whispered, “Alright, Su Mumu, buck up. It’s just a little bit of trouble, right? What have you ever been afraid of in all your years? Just solve it. You can do this!”
The moonlight was shielded by a drift of wandering clouds.
Su Mumu’s expression became unreadable.
She set off, moving at her top speed and even breaking into a light jog. Gasping for breath, she raced against the clock toward her small cottage.
The phone in her skirt pocket was vibrating wildly.
The ringtone accompanied her all the way.
In the courtyard, the pigeons on the banyan tree were already asleep.
Su Mumu kept her footsteps very light, skillfully navigating around the bumpy tree roots until she reached the door.
The door wasn’t fully closed; a sliver of candlelight flickered through the gap.
Su Mumu suppressed her heavy breathing, her face flushing from holding her breath. She bit her lip and took five slow, deep breaths before using her toe to push the door open bit by bit.
“Xin Xin! I’m back—!”
Her voice was that of a sunny, bright, and energetic young girl.
She used her usual smile, just like always.
However, when the door swung fully open and Su Mumu saw Jiang Mengxin’s profile, she completely lost her composure.
Because beneath Jiang Mengxin’s eyes were traces of tears. She turned her head in fear and shock, casting her gaze toward the door.
Her amber eyes shimmered like glass.
Those were tears.
Su Mumu’s lips trembled almost imperceptibly.
In the next moment, she experienced the largest, fullest, and tightest hug of her life.
The scent of flowers filled her nose as she was enveloped in warmth.
Two soft mounds pressed against her, making it hard to breathe.
“Mumu!… Waaaah…” Jiang Mengxin sobbed.
“Xin Xin.” Su Mumu’s eyes dimmed, and the smile on her face vanished.
“I was so worried about you, so worried…”
Jiang Mengxin’s voice was a bit muffled.
Right against her chest, Jiang Mengxin’s erratic heartbeat completely took over Su Mumu’s senses.