Volume One, Chapter Thirty-One: The Rabbit and the Fox

Just as the plump girl stood there in a daze, with a startled cry from Hanyu, Biyi had also turned into a sheep.

“Let go and run!” The two sheep in the plump girl’s hands bleated in unison. Gritting her teeth, she had no choice but to release them, grabbing Hanyu and bolting away. Hanyu couldn’t help but be shocked: “Do all fat people run this fast?!”

They had barely made it down the steps when Meiniang came chasing after them from behind.

“Where’s Brother Hong?” Hanyu asked anxiously.

“Sigh… He insisted on saving his junior, and ended up… turning into a sheep as well!” Meiniang’s face was full of regret.

“While they’re busy herding the sheep, let’s reveal our true forms and hide!” Hanyu urged. But upon seeing the plump girl, she was momentarily speechless.

“Don’t worry about me! You two go hide!” The plump girl didn’t finish her sentence before she turned and charged back.

“Hey…” Hanyu tried to follow, but Meiniang grabbed her. The two exchanged a look—there was simply no way for someone of the plump girl’s size to hide. For now, self-preservation was the only choice, which was better than total annihilation.

At once, the two revealed their true forms—a rabbit and a fox burrowing into the tall grass, with Hanyu digging ahead and Meiniang close behind. They tunneled a hundred feet underground before stopping.

“Hongqin, those two vixens must have escaped into the painting!” Voices drifted faintly from above.

“That fat girl nearly crushed me!” Hongqin grumbled. It seemed she’d been knocked over by the plump girl’s return.

“Haha, you got squashed by the fat one twice today!”

“Exactly! This one is even heavier than the last! Good thing I managed to touch her face in time!” Hongqin was having a run of bad luck.

“Maybe you enjoyed being squashed last time, hehe…”

“Hey! Laugh at me, will you? I was almost flattened!” Laughter and teasing echoed across the ground.

“Don’t bother looking for those two vixens. They can’t escape anyway. Sooner or later, they’ll come out on their own. Let’s set up a formation at the Gate of Mist and Cloud, and let them walk right into the trap,” Hongqin said, and with that, the demonesses hurried down the steps. Moments later, they returned, then made their way toward the palace amidst playful banter.

No one knew how much time had passed before silence returned above. Only then did Meiniang cautiously poke her head out. After scanning the surroundings and confirming it was deserted, she and Hanyu crept out. They had just begun to shift back into human form when voices whispered nearby. Both were startled and quickly crept through the grass, down the steps. From afar, they saw two demonesses stationed at the boundary of the swirling mists. This must be the Gate of Mist and Cloud.

“Heh, we’ve caught so many rams today. The Lady will surely reward us!” one of them said.

“Dream on!” scoffed the other.

“Well, she did reward us last time! But I’d rather she let us absorb a few rams, hehe…”

“It’s been ages since I’ve had any…” The two giggled, their laughter tinkling.

Hanyu gave Meiniang a sidelong glance with her rabbit eyes, thinking, “Just as wanton as you!”

Meiniang rolled her fox eyes, grumbling inwardly, “You’re the wanton one! I haven’t absorbed anyone!”

“Good thing we’re on guard duty now. Someone else will relieve us soon, or we’d miss all the fun!”

“Yeah! The ones coming to relieve us are bound to be grumpy!”

“Hehe, we’re lucky. Maybe we’ll get more later…”

Meiniang winked at Hanyu, who quickly leaned in. Meiniang used her paw to write in the dirt: “Take them down, wait for the shift, infiltrate.” Hanyu shook her head, pointing at their faces. Meiniang smiled sweetly and wrote again: “Don’t worry, I have a spell!” Hanyu pouted uncertainly but nodded.

They crept through the grass until they were right behind the two demonesses, then suddenly transformed into human form. The demonesses heard the rustle behind them and turned in alarm, but before they could react, Hanyu knocked one out cold with a single blow, while Meiniang seized the other by the throat.

“Don’t scream—or I’ll drain you!” Meiniang said softly. The demoness went weak at the knees and nodded frantically.

“What’s your name?”

“Moyu.”

“And hers?” Meiniang nudged the unconscious one.

“Moju.”

“Good. What’s today’s password?”

“Have you absorbed yet?”

“What?” Meiniang tightened her grip.

“The password is ‘Have you absorbed yet?’ That’s it!” the demoness stammered.

“And the answer?” Meiniang and Hanyu both smiled.

“Not yet! The answer is ‘Not yet!’” The words had barely left her lips before Meiniang struck her unconscious as well.

Meiniang reached behind her waist and, in an instant, produced a fox tail in her hand. Hanyu was taken aback.

“That’s my tail. Attach it to your back, and I can transform you into Moju,” Meiniang explained, handing over the tail.

“Your tail comes off that easily?” Hanyu couldn’t help but laugh.

“Easily? Lose a tail, lose a tenth of my power!” Meiniang stomped her foot, and in a flash, she herself had become the spitting image of Moyu.

“Wow, you look just like her!” Hanyu marvelled, glancing at the real Moyu on the ground.

“Not just like—exactly the same! Wait—” Seeing Hanyu about to attach the tail, Meiniang stopped her and plucked two fox hairs from the tail.

“What for?”

“Watch.” With a wink, Meiniang turned the hairs into two cords, which she used to tie up the unconscious demonesses tightly.

“We need something to gag them,” Hanyu said as she fastened the fox tail.

“No worries! With these cords, they won’t wake for eight hours,” Meiniang replied, kicking the two demonesses deep into the grass.

“Hah! You really are an expert at draining people!” Hanyu teased.

“If anyone’s an expert, it’s that old demoness Baopu! Look at her mirror—one glance, and you’re turned into a ram. Easy to control, perfectly convenient. If only…”

“Hey, hurry up and transform me! The shift change is coming!” Hanyu urged.

“Don’t let the tail fall off! If it does, you’ll revert to your true form!” Meiniang cautioned. Only after Hanyu nodded firmly did Meiniang chant softly, then with a gesture, turned her into Moju’s likeness.

Meanwhile, Yibing, wracked with guilt, finally suppressed the urge to graze. To distract himself, he tried to talk to the other rams, but most ignored him, showing no interest even in rescue. Helpless, he curled up in a corner, dozing fitfully. Suddenly, the commotion of approaching footsteps startled him awake. Craned neck revealed demonesses herding yet another group of rams—leading them was one with Senior Brother Hongkun’s face! An icy chill ran down Yibing’s spine as he struggled forward. The atmosphere in the pen shifted—every ram surged toward Hongkun. Only then did Yibing notice another familiar face among the sheep: Senior Sister Biyi!

“Hey, you—” Yibing barely spoke before Hongkun and the others were jostled aside. At the sight of the only ewe in the pen, the rams—drained to the very brink—went wild, swarming around Biyi. Yibing charged in headfirst. The exhausted rams, weak from being drained, were no match for a large sheep’s assault and were sent tumbling.

“Are you alright, Senior Sister?” Yibing, eyes blazing, shielded Biyi and bared his teeth at the agitated rams.

“Yibing…” Biyi’s face was ashen, her voice trembling with tears.

“What’s wrong with you all?” Hongkun roared, rushing to Yibing’s side. Hongpeng and Jin Guishan quickly flanked them.

“Hey, are you trying to revolt?” The chaos in the pen enraged the demoness guards, who lashed out with their whips, sending the rams scattering. Yibing and the others retreated to a corner.

“What happened to them?” Hongkun asked, bewildered, as Yibing comforted Biyi.

“They seem utterly lost,” Jin Guishan remarked.

“Where are Miss Zhao and the others?” Only then did Yibing realize it was just the four of them.

“She and Hanyu, Meiniang—they escaped!” Jin Guishan replied quickly.

“Good! At least it wasn’t a total sweep…” Yibing was cut off as more demonesses herded sheep into the pen. He caught a glimpse of the lead sheep—was it the plump girl?

“What happened? Why all the commotion?” the newcomer asked the guard as they drove in the latest captives.

“Ha, these rams went wild when they saw a ewe! Honestly!”

“They’re nearly drained dry, and still want to try to replenish their yang with yin?”

“Exactly! Such nerve!” The demoness turned and shouted into the pen, “Don’t get any ideas! If you do, the Lady will have your hides!”

Sure enough, the new arrivals included the plump girl, followed by Qi Yuanxiao, He Lingchi, and the others. Sensing unrest among the rams, Hongkun and Hongpeng quickly closed ranks, shielding the newcomers.

“Junior Sister, how were you caught?” Jin Guishan hurried over as soon as the guards left. But the plump girl only stared blankly, eyes unfocused and empty.

“She’s like she’s lost her wits, wouldn’t respond no matter what I tried!” He Lingchi sobbed.

“Miss Zhao! Miss Zhao!” Yibing squeezed over, calling out, but there was no response.

“Junior Sister!” Jin Guishan kicked her foreleg, but she seemed oblivious, her face blank.

“She looks soulless—maybe that demon mirror stole her spirit!” Hongkun inspected her, and Jin Guishan froze in shock.

Meiniang and Hanyu were growing anxious, waiting so long it felt like ages, until finally footsteps echoed from the staircase above: the shift change was here! Meiniang tugged at Hanyu, both turning away to pretend as if nothing was amiss.

“Moyu, we’re here to relieve you!” the approaching demonesses called out, all complaints and fatigue.

“Oh, wonderful!” Meiniang turned to face them eagerly.

“Wonderful for you, not for us!” the newcomers sighed.

“Did the Lady promise a reward?” Meiniang asked, all smiles.

“No…” was the sour reply.

“No? Then what’s so great about it? No reward, no draining!” Meiniang feigned disappointment.

“You might still get a chance. Us? We’ve got nothing…”

“Nothing until midnight at least!” the other grumbled.

“That’s true!” The newcomers seemed cheered by this.

“Don’t worry, I’ll talk to Hongqin. Maybe someone will relieve you early!” Meiniang winked.

“Really? Thank you!” The newcomers brightened.

“No need to thank me! Remember us in the future!” Meiniang waved grandly.

“Of course! Of course! Why isn’t Moju speaking?” one asked.

“Sore throat—can’t talk!” Meiniang immediately grabbed Hanyu’s hand. Hanyu played along, pointing to her own throat.

“Too frustrated from not absorbing anyone, huh?” the demonesses teased.

“Exactly! Well, we’ll be off now!” Meiniang quickly led Hanyu up the steps.

Not until they were outside the Qingyin Palace did Meiniang finally stop and exhale deeply.

“What’s wrong?” Hanyu asked, noticing her sudden pallor.

“That was close! All my fault—I forgot you can only change form, not voice, with the fox tail. If you’d spoken, we’d have been exposed!” Meiniang patted her chest in relief.

“So why did you pinch my hand, you vixen?”

“And you, little minx, reacted fast enough!”

“What now?”

“Let’s sneak into the palace first.”

“Let’s hurry—if we’re too late, Yibing and the others will be drained by that old demoness!”

“Impossible! These things are always done under the full moon for maximum power gain!” Meiniang replied smugly.

“The moon is already up!” Suddenly, a voice whispered in their ears.

Meiniang and Hanyu stared at each other in alarm—their lips hadn’t moved at all!

“Who’s there?” they cried out in unison, scanning the empty surroundings, certain someone was near.

“Something bit me!” Hanyu suddenly jumped.

“Where? Ow!” Meiniang shrieked as well, leaping into the air.