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

As Fatty Girl stood there in a daze, Hanyu suddenly cried out, “Watch out!” But it was too late—Biyi had already fallen to the ground and turned into a sheep.

“Let go and run!” shouted the two sheep in Fatty Girl’s hands simultaneously. Gritting her teeth, she had no choice but to drop them and drag Hanyu away in a frantic dash. Hanyu was secretly astonished: “Can all fat people run this fast?!”

Just as they ran down the steps, Meiniang caught up from behind.

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

“Sigh… He insisted on rescuing his junior, and now… he’s a sheep too!” Meiniang wore an expression of deep regret.

“While they’re herding the sheep, let’s reveal ourselves and hide!” Hanyu urged. But when she looked at Fatty Girl, she was rendered speechless.

“Don’t worry about me! You two hide!” Before Fatty Girl even finished her sentence, she turned and charged back.

“Hey…” Hanyu wanted to chase after her, but Meiniang pulled her back. The two exchanged glances. Fatty Girl’s physique made it impossible to hide her; at this point, survival was the priority—it was better than everyone getting caught. So the two transformed back into their true forms, one rabbit and one fox, and burrowed into the grass. Hanyu dug the hole ahead, Meiniang followed, and they didn’t stop until they’d gone a hundred feet underground.

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

“That fat girl crushed me!” Hongqin could be heard grumbling, evidently having been run into by Fatty Girl’s retreat.

“Heh, that’s twice you’ve been crushed by the fatty today!”

“Exactly! And this one’s heavier than the last! Good thing I flashed her face with my hand!” Hongqin also felt today was full of misfortune.

“Maybe you secretly enjoyed it last time, hee hee…”

“Hey! Laugh at me, will you! Hmph, I almost got flattened!” A chorus of boisterous laughter erupted on the ground.

“No need to bother searching for those two hussies. They can’t escape anyway and will come out sooner or later. Let’s set up the formation at the Gate of Mist and Cloud so they walk right into the trap,” Hongqin declared, and with that, the demonesses hurried down the steps. After a short while, they returned, still bickering, and headed for the palace.

After who knew how long, when all was quiet above, Meiniang finally poked her head out. Looking around, she found the coast clear. With Meiniang in front and Hanyu behind, they cautiously climbed out. As they were about to assume human form, they heard hushed voices nearby. Their hearts leapt in alarm, and they quickly crept along the grass, down the steps, and saw from a distance that two demonesses were stationed where mist and cloud met. This must be the Gate of Mist and Cloud.

“Heh, we caught so many rams today—the Mistress will surely reward us!” one demoness gushed.

“Hmph, keep dreaming!”

“Oh, you never know! Last time we got a reward! But best of all would be if we could ‘harvest’ a few rams ourselves, hee hee…”

“I know! It’s been a while since I last did, hehe…”

Hanyu shot a sharp look at Meiniang, thinking, “Just as lascivious as you!”

Meiniang rolled her fox eyes, retorting silently, “You’re the lascivious one! I didn’t do anything!”

“Good thing it’s just us on guard now. Soon someone will come take over, or we’d miss everything!” one demoness said.

“Yeah! The next shift will be so annoyed!”

“Heh, we’re not too bad—maybe we’ll even get…”

Meiniang suddenly winked at Hanyu, who quickly leaned in. Meiniang scratched in the dirt: “Take them down, swap shifts, sneak in.” Hanyu shook her head and pointed at their faces. Meiniang smiled and wrote again: “Don’t worry, I have a spell!” Hanyu pouted suspiciously, but nodded.

They crept forward through the grass until they were right behind the two demonesses, then suddenly transformed into human form. The two demonesses, startled by the sudden breeze behind them, barely turned around before Hanyu knocked one out, and Meiniang grabbed the other by the throat.

“Don’t scream! Or I’ll ‘harvest’ you!” Meiniang cooed sweetly. The demoness went weak at the knees and nodded frantically.

“What’s your name?”

“Moyu.”

“And hers?” Meiniang nudged the unconscious one.

“Mozhu.”

“Good! What’s today’s password?”

“Harvested yet?”

“What?” Meiniang tightened her grip.

“The password is ‘harvested yet!’ That’s it!” the demoness explained in a panic.

“What’s the reply?” Meiniang and Hanyu both grinned.

“Not yet! The reply is ‘not yet!’” No sooner had she spoken than Meiniang knocked her out as well.

Meiniang reached behind her waist and in a flash produced a fox tail. Hanyu blinked in surprise.

“This is my tail. Pin it to your waist and I’ll make you look like Mozhu,” Meiniang said, handing over the tail.

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

“Not so easily! I lose one tail and my power drops by a tenth!” Meiniang stomped her foot, and in the blink of an eye transformed into the image of Moyu.

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

“Not just like—exactly the same! Wait a second!” Seeing Hanyu about to pin the fox tail behind her waist, Meiniang hurriedly stopped her and plucked two fox hairs from the tail.

“What for?”

“You’ll see.” With a wink, Meiniang turned the fox hairs into two ropes and securely tied up the two demonesses on the ground.

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

“No worries! Bound with my fox hair, they won’t wake for eight hours!” Meiniang kicked the two demonesses deeper into the grass.

“You really are an expert at this!” Hanyu teased.

“If anyone’s an expert, it’s that old demoness of Baopu! Her mirror turns people into rams with one flash—so easy to manage. If only…” Meiniang’s mind drifted off.

“Hey, hurry up and change me before the new shift arrives!” Hanyu urged.

“Don’t let the fox tail fall off! If it does, you’ll revert to your true form!” Meiniang warned, only beginning the spell when Hanyu nodded firmly. She muttered under her breath, slashed in the air, and Hanyu instantly took on Mozhu’s appearance.

Overcome with guilt, Yibing finally resisted the urge to graze. To distract himself, he tried chatting with the other rams, but most ignored him, showing no interest even in the prospect of rescue. Left with no choice, Yibing curled up in a corner and dozed off, only to be startled awake by the sound of approaching footsteps. Stretching his neck, he saw demonesses herding a group of rams, and his heart thudded with dread.

Sure enough, the lead ram had Senior Brother Hongkun’s face. Yibing, who had felt no fear before, now shivered. He squeezed forward, but the atmosphere in the pen changed abruptly as all the rams surged toward Hongkun. To his shock, Yibing realized one of the sheep was Senior Sister Biyi!

“Hey, you all—” Before he could finish, Hongkun and the others were jostled aside. Seeing the only ewe in the pen, the rams—drained and desperate from being ‘harvested’—lost all reason and surrounded Biyi. In a flash, Yibing charged in. The exhausted rams couldn’t withstand such a collision from a hefty sheep, and were sent flying.

“Are you alright, Senior Sister?” Yibing stood protectively in front of Biyi, baring his teeth at the frantic rams.

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

“What’s with all of you?” Hongkun rushed to Yibing’s side, and Hongpeng and Jin Guishan flanked them as well.

“Hey, you want to rebel?!” The pen descended into chaos, prompting the demoness guard to lash out with her whip, scattering the rams. Yibing and his friends quickly retreated to a corner.

“What’s wrong with them?” Hongkun asked, bewildered. Yibing, still comforting Biyi, shook his head.

“They seem completely spiritless,” Jin Guishan commented.

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

“She, Hanyu, and Meiniang all escaped!” Jin Guishan quickly answered.

“Oh, good! At least we weren’t all caught…” Yibing was about to finish his sentence when more demonesses approached, herding more sheep. Leading them, unmistakably, was Fatty Girl!

“What happened? Why was it so rowdy just now?” The new demoness asked the guard as she herded Fatty Girl and the others into the pen.

“Ah, these rams saw a ewe, and their eyes turned red! Heh!”

“What’s this? About to be drained dry, yet still thinking of ‘harvesting’ yin to replenish yang?!”

“Exactly! Too bold!” The demoness turned to the pen and shouted, “Don’t you try anything! If you do, the Mistress will skin you alive!”

Indeed, it was Fatty Girl being herded in, followed closely by Qi Yuanxiao and He Lingchi. Seeing the rams growing restless again, Hongkun and Hongpeng quickly surrounded Fatty Girl and the others.

“Sister, how did you get caught?” As soon as the demonesses left, Jin Guishan hurried over to ask. But Fatty Girl stared blankly at him, her eyes empty and unfocused.

“She acts like an idiot—no matter how I call her, she won’t respond!” He Lingchi sobbed.

“Miss Zhao! Miss Zhao!” Yibing hurried up, but Fatty Girl showed no reaction.

“Sister! Sister!” Jin Guishan kicked her leg with his hoof, but she remained dazed, as if she felt nothing.

“She looks soulless—maybe that demon mirror did this!” Hongkun quickly examined her. Jin Guishan was stunned.

Meiniang and Hanyu waited anxiously until finally, footsteps echoed from the stairs—at last, someone was coming to relieve them. Meiniang tugged at Hanyu, and they stood with their backs to the newcomers, feigning ignorance.

“Moyu, we’re here to take over!” the approaching demoness called out with bitterness.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Meiniang quickly turned around.

“Good for you, but not for us! Sigh…” the relieving demoness sighed deeply.

“Did the Mistress say there’d be a reward?” Meiniang asked, feigning delight.

“No…”

“No? Then what’s so good about it! Still no ‘harvesting’ for us!” Meiniang feigned disappointment.

“Well, maybe later! It’s always midnight before we get a turn!”

“True!” The demoness brightened a little.

“Don’t worry, when I get back, I’ll ask Hongqin to have someone take your shift early!” Meiniang winked.

“Really?! Thank you so much!” The demoness beamed.

“No need to thank me—remember us next time!” Meiniang waved expansively.

“Of course, of course! Why isn’t Mozhu talking?” the demoness asked, nodding eagerly.

“Sore throat—can’t speak!” Meiniang immediately grabbed Hanyu’s hand. Hanyu caught on and, without a word, pointed to her own throat.

“Too much ‘fire’ from not harvesting, eh?” the demoness teased.

“Exactly! We’ll be off then!” Meiniang hurriedly pulled Hanyu up the steps.

Not until they were outside the Hall of Pure Sound did Meiniang stop and let out a sigh of relief.

“What’s wrong?” Hanyu asked, noticing her sudden change of expression earlier.

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

“So why’d you squeeze my hand, you pervert!”

“Hmph, you little vixen, you reacted fast enough!” Meiniang shot back.

“What now?”

“Let’s sneak into the palace first!”

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

“Impossible! It all has to wait for the full moon—only then is it best for cultivating power!” Meiniang said smugly.

“The moon’s already up!” Suddenly, a voice whispered by their ears.

Meiniang and Hanyu stared at each other—neither’s lips had moved.

“Who’s there?” they cried in unison, looking around at the empty surroundings, yet someone was definitely nearby.

“Something bit me!” Hanyu suddenly leapt up.

“Bit you where? Ah!” Meiniang shrieked as well.