Chapter 27: Little Jiji

An Xiyan had a dark line forming across her forehead.
Wasn’t the fox supposed to be the most cunning creature in the world?

But this little thing—why did it look so dumb? And its courage… so tiny?

With her arms crossed over her chest and an expressionless face, An Xiyan asked, “Little thing, what benefit do I get from becoming your master? If you can’t give me at least one or two good reasons, I’ll send you straight to heaven.”

“Heaven?” The red-tailed fire fox furrowed its brows in confusion and blinked at An Xiyan.

An Xiyan let out a cold chuckle. “Going to heaven means I’ll kill you. Do you understand now?”

The red-tailed fire fox’s jaw dropped wide open in shock, terror written all over its little face. It nodded hurriedly, “Master, I understand! Please don’t send me to heaven!”

“Hmph, then you’d better start answering honestly,” An Xiyan said with a playful glint in her eyes, though her tone remained icy.

The red-tailed fire fox shivered. Its eyes darted about nervously, and it put on a bitter expression.

If it told the truth, it might end up worse off. But if it didn’t, it couldn’t possibly disobey its master. One wrong move, and its tiny life might be forfeit!

In a trembling, teary voice, it said, “Master, every part of me is a treasure. But aside from my blood, everything else can only be given to you after I die.”

An Xiyan had to stifle a laugh. This little fox was surprisingly honest.
She thought to herself—raising a fox that could detoxify all poisons might actually be a pretty good deal.

And when she got bored, she could keep it as a pet, maybe stroke its fur now and then.
All in all, not a bad arrangement.

In a calm tone, An Xiyan said, “Since you’ve already acknowledged me as your master, that means you’re supposed to stay by my side. You can’t just go and switch masters whenever you feel like it, right?”

The red-tailed fire fox nodded, lifting its little head high and looking at An Xiyan with a serious expression.

“Master, you might not know this, but among the red-tailed clan, we can only recognize one person as our master in our entire lives. We’re not allowed to switch.”

Hearing this made An Xiyan feel even more satisfied.

She then warned the red-tailed fire fox, “Little thing, if you want to follow me, you’ll have to obey everything I say.”

“When I tell you to do something, you do it. You can’t go off doing your own thing, and you’re not allowed to disappear without a trace. Do you understand?”

The red-tailed fire fox’s eyes lit up. That’s it? That was way too easy!
Even if its master hadn’t said all that, it would’ve followed those rules anyway.

Grinning widely, it replied loudly, “Master, I understand! Don’t worry—I’ll definitely behave and listen to everything you say!”

Qingzhu, watching from the side, looked at the little fox with a face full of admiration—

Qingzhu looked at An Xiyan with admiration and couldn’t help blurting out, “Miss, you’re amazing! Even a red-tailed fire fox chased after you to become your spiritual beast. Who knows what other shocking things you’ll show us in the future?”

An Xiyan pretended to be mysterious and wise as she patted Qingzhu’s shoulder. “Little brother Qingzhu, everything must follow its course. What’s meant to be will always come.”

Qingzhu: “……” Miss is so calm and composed… What now? He admired her even more.

But in her heart, An Xiyan was secretly complaining: What a joke. Running into such a dumb little fox is already the biggest stroke of dumb luck in the world.

Back in the apocalypse, she was always unlucky. It’s probably a once-in-a-lifetime event to come across something this good again.

An Xiyan retracted the vine whip binding the red-tailed fire fox. Then, moving swiftly, she packed up everything they had set out, storing it back into her space.

After scanning the surroundings to confirm that nothing had been left behind, she finally turned toward Meng Guangping and his family of three.

“It’s getting late. Let’s hurry and travel for another two hours. After that, we’ll find a safe place to rest for the night.”

“Yes, Miss!” Meng Guangping and Qingzhu’s father and son duo immediately responded loudly.

“Let’s go, little thing. We’re leaving this place now.” An Xiyan waved at the red-tailed fire fox, who was obediently sitting on the ground.

“Yes, Master, I’m coming!” the red-tailed fire fox replied cheerfully, bouncing up onto its feet. With a graceful leap, it landed squarely on An Xiyan’s shoulder.

Soon, the carriage began to move again, slowly rolling away and leaving the forest behind.

At that moment, on a giant tree overlooking the road, three red-tailed fire foxes stood silently, their eyes following the receding carriage.

“Fox King, are we really just going to watch the young master leave like this? What if he ends up in the hands of the wrong person?”
One of them—a large and strong red-tailed fire fox—asked worriedly.

Standing in the middle, the Fox King’s eyes sparkled with wisdom, though there was a hint of sorrow in them.

He replied calmly, “There’s no need to interfere. He has his own path to walk. Besides, from what I’ve seen, that girl is not someone with a cruel or wicked heart.”

“But what if…” The muscular red-tailed fox wanted to argue further, but—

Before he could finish, the Fox King interrupted firmly, “Enough. I’ve made my decision. Nothing will change it.”

“Besides, that girl is the one destined to be my son’s master. Perhaps, with her by his side, Jiji may finally break the curse—that none of our kind can live past the age of ten.”

“Hahaha…”
Another red-tailed fire fox, clearly older, began to laugh. Its aged voice sounded slowly, “There’s no mistake, no mistake at all.”

The Fox King frowned and turned to the elderly fox. “Elder, what do you mean by that?”

The old red-tailed fire fox chuckled gently. “There’s no need for you all to worry. As long as Little Jiji stays close to that girl, he’ll be safe and sound. What’s dangerous will turn into blessings.”

“There will be some minor hardships along the way, but with that girl around, none of it will be a real problem. In fact, it’ll help temper Little Jiji’s mind and smooth out his rough edges.”

The other two red-tailed fire foxes visibly relaxed after hearing this. After all, the Elder was their clan’s diviner—practically a prophet.

If the Elder said something, it almost always came true. Even if they didn’t trust themselves, they would never doubt the Elder’s words.

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Inside the carriage, An Xixuan was hugging the red-tailed fire fox tightly, stroking its fur with affection sparkling in his eyes.

He lifted his little face and looked up at An Xiyan. “Sister, what’s the fox’s name? We can’t keep calling it ‘little fox’ forever, can we?”

An Xiyan’s bright eyes flickered slightly as she looked down at the red-tailed fire fox. “Little thing, do you have a name?”

The red-tailed fire fox twitched its ears and grinned happily. “Yes, Master! I do have a name—my royal father gave it to me.”

“What is it?” An Xiyan asked, a bit disappointed—there goes her chance to name it herself.

“Little Jiji!”

The red-tailed fire fox beamed. “My royal father hoped I would live a long and peaceful life, so he gave me this name.”

“Little Jiji?”
An Xiyan’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. Little Jiji? King Jiji? From Boonie Bears?

That name was something else. She had to give credit to the fox’s father—what a wildly popular-sounding name.

If it were her, she would’ve gone with something like Little Red, Little Flame, or Tiny Paws. She never would’ve come up with Little Jiji.

An Xixuan shouted with joy, “Sister! The fox’s name is Little Jiji?”

An Xiyan, her expression a bit awkward, nodded. “Yes… it said its name is Little Jiji.”

An Xixuan couldn’t stop praising, “That name is so nice! And super cute too!”

After thinking for a moment, he added, “Then from now on, I’ll call myself Little Xuanxuan, so it matches with Little Jiji!”

An Xiyan: Uh… absolutely not!

She could feel goosebumps crawling all over her skin.