Zhu Xian: They've all been reborn

It was still dark inside the house.

Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a silvery glow on the floor. He could feel a heavy weight on his waist.

An arm was wrapped around him, and a leg was draped over him. Warm breath tickled the nape of his neck.

He froze, too afraid to move.

My mind is a jumbled mess. Little White, fox, nine-tailed celestial fox, Xuanhuo Altar, Xuanhuo Mirror... these words are buzzing around like flies.

As it spun, it fixed on a face. Silver hair, white clothes, an unbelievably beautiful face. And those eyes, curved like crescent moons, full of laughter.

He swallowed hard. His throat was dry and sore.

Slowly, slowly, he turned his head. The moonlight shone perfectly on her face; her skin was as white as jade, her eyelashes were long, casting a small shadow beneath her eyes. Her lips were slightly parted, her breathing even. She was fast asleep.

It's real. It's not a dream.

Jiang Xiaochuan's mind went blank again. He tried to move, attempting to pry her arm away. As soon as he moved, the arm tightened, pulling him closer to her.

"Xiao Chuan Chuan..." Xiao Bai mumbled, her voice slurred and sleepy, "Don't move..."

Jiang Xiaochuan: "..."

"Little Chuan Chuan?" What kind of weird nickname is that? He got goosebumps. He tried pushing her arm, but couldn't move it. He tried pushing her leg, but still couldn't move it.

She held him tightly, like an octopus, clinging to him. He could smell her scent, cool and refreshing, like frost on bamboo leaves, yet with an indescribable sweetness.

He took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and struggled with all his might—

They broke free.

Like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, he suddenly sprang up from the bed, rolled to the foot of the bed, curled up in a ball, and stared intently at Xiaobai.

Xiaobai was awakened by his movements. She opened her eyes, looking at him sleepily, her silver hair disheveled and scattered on the pillow. She yawned, propped herself up, and her loose clothes slipped down, revealing half of her shoulder.

Jiang Xiaochuan's eyes widened even more. He quickly turned his head, his face flushed red.

"You...you should put your clothes on!"

Xiao Bai looked down at herself, then at Jiang Xiaochuan, and smiled. She slowly straightened her clothes, tied her belt, then knelt on the bed, tilting her head to look at him.

"Why are you hiding so far away?" she said, her voice still languid from just waking up. "I'm not going to eat you."

"You...you...you..." Jiang Xiaochuan stammered, "Who exactly are you?"

"I already told you," Xiaobai moved forward, getting closer to him. "I'm Xiaobai. The fox you picked up. Also a nine-tailed celestial fox, Xiaobai."

"A nine-tailed celestial fox... how did it end up here?"

"I escaped," Xiaobai said, her tone as relaxed as if she were remarking on the nice weather. "The Xuanhuo Altar is stuffy and cold; it's boring to stay there. So I came out for a stroll, and happened to run into you, so I followed you."

Jiang Xiaochuan stared at her, trying to find any trace of lying on her face. But her expression was calm, and her eyes were clear; she didn't seem to be deceiving anyone.

"Then you...you've always...always been like this?" He pointed to her human form.

"No," Xiaobai shook her head. "Most of the time I'm a fox. Only at night, when you're asleep, do I turn back." She paused, then added, "to hold you while you sleep."

Jiang Xiaochuan's face turned even redder.

He remembered that for the past two years, he had been sleeping with Xiaobai every night. It was fluffy, soft, and very comfortable.

He thought it was just a fox, an ordinary fox. But...

"Why...why didn't you say so sooner?" His voice trembled.

"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Xiaobai raised an eyebrow. "If I had said so earlier, you would have been scared to death, like last night, fainting twice."

Jiang Xiaochuan: "..."

He had nothing to say. He did indeed faint twice last night. Once he hit himself, and once he was genuinely frightened into fainting.

"So now..." He swallowed hard, "what do you want to do?"

"Nothing." Xiaobai moved forward again, very close to him, so close that he could see his reflection in her pupils.

"I'll continue to follow you. You raised me for two and a half years, I have to repay your kindness."

"Repay a debt of gratitude?" Jiang Xiaochuan's mind was a little foggy. "How?"

"I'll repay you with my body," Xiaobai said matter-of-factly. "Isn't that how it's always written in storybooks? A scholar saves a fox, and the fox turns into a beautiful woman to repay his kindness."

Jiang Xiaochuan: "..."

He wanted to say, "I'm not a scholar, and you're not a beauty; you're a vixen." But he swallowed the words back.

He looked at Xiaobai, at her breathtakingly beautiful face, at the sly smile in her eyes, and suddenly felt that saying these words was wrong.

You might get beaten up.

"Um..." He shrank back, "Forget about repaying the debt. You...you can go. I don't need you to repay me."

"Leave?" Little White narrowed her eyes. "You're trying to kick me out?"

"It's not that I'm rushing you..." Jiang Xiaochuan quickly said, "It's... it's that you shouldn't be here in the first place. You are a nine-tailed celestial fox, you are... you are a great demon, you should go back to your place."

"I have nowhere to go," Xiaobai said, her voice lowering. "I can't go back to the Xuanhuo Altar. And I don't want to go anywhere else." She looked up at Jiang Xiaochuan, her eyes glistening with tears. "Xiaochuan, don't you want me anymore?"

Jiang Xiaochuan: "..."

He looked into Xiaobai's eyes, which were watery and misty. His remaining resolve crumbled instantly. But he still struggled, "It's not that I don't want to... it's... it's because of you, I..."

"What's wrong with me?" Xiaobai looked down at herself. "Do I look bad?"

"It's not that it doesn't look good..." Jiang Xiaochuan's face turned red again, "It's...it's that you're too...too..."

"Too what?" Xiaobai pressed, leaning forward again.

"That's...that's too much!" Jiang Xiaochuan stammered, then slumped back onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. "Ouch, my head hurts..."

Xiaobai smiled. She crawled over, lay on top of him, pulled his hands away, and looked into his eyes.

"Xiao Chuan Chuan," she called his name, her voice soft, "Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I really came to repay a debt of gratitude."

Jiang Xiaochuan looked at her, at those eyes so close to his own. They were so dark, so deep, like two wells. He suddenly felt a sense of familiarity with those eyes. It was as if… as if he had seen them somewhere before.

"We..." he began hesitantly, "have we met before?"

Xiaobai froze. She looked at Jiang Xiaochuan for a long time, then shook her head.

"No. This is the first time I've met you," she said softly, "but I feel like we're destined to meet. It's fate that you found me."

Jiang Xiaochuan fell silent. He felt Xiaobai was lying, but he couldn't offer any evidence. He looked into her eyes, trying to discern something, but he couldn't see anything. Only a smile, only cunning, only… a deep, unfathomable hint.

"You..." he began, as if trying to say something.

Xiao Bai suddenly leaned down and whispered in his ear, her warm breath brushing against his earlobe.

"Little Chuan Chuan," she whispered, her voice tinged with laughter, "Are you going to use me and then abandon me? I've touched you, hugged you, slept with you. Now you want to kick me out?"

Jiang Xiaochuan's mind went blank again.

Touch? Hug? Sleep?

He recalled that over the past two years, he had indeed petted Little White, held Little White, and even slept with it. But that was a fox! A fluffy fox! Not this vibrant and beautiful woman!

"That...that's a fox!" he struggled to say.

"I am also a fox," Xiaobai said, drawing circles on his chest with her finger. "I am a human now, but I am also a fox. What you touch is me, what you hug is me, what you sleep with is me."

Jiang Xiaochuan: "..."

He felt like his brain was about to explode. The amount of information was too much for him to process. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then opened them again.

"Can you... turn back into a fox?" he asked cautiously.

"Why?" Xiaobai tilted her head. "Isn't what I'm doing good?"

"It's not that it's bad..." Jiang Xiaochuan looked at the ceiling, "It's... it's that I need time to get used to it."

Xiaobai looked at him for a while, then smiled. She got off him, sat on the edge of the bed, and swung her legs.

"Okay," she said. "I can turn back into a fox. But you can't send me away."

"I'm not in a hurry," Jiang Xiaochuan quickly said.

"You can't abandon me."

"I want it! I want it!"

"You can't give me to someone else either."

"No, no, I won't give it to you."

"And you can't..." Xiaobai paused, her voice lowering, "...forget about me."

Jiang Xiaochuan was taken aback. He looked at Xiaobai, whose head was lowered and whose silver hair fell down, obscuring her face. He couldn't see her expression, but he could sense her emotions. She seemed... a little sad?

"No way," he said, his voice softening involuntarily. "You're Xiaobai, the Xiaobai I've raised for two and a half years. How could I forget?"

Little White looked up at him. Her eyes were bright, like they held stars.

"real?"

"real."

Xiaobai smiled. She smiled broadly, her eyes curving into crescent moons. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"It's settled then."

Jiang Xiaochuan froze. The spot on his face where he had been kissed felt like it was on fire, burning painfully hot.

He stared blankly at Xiaobai, at the sly smile on her face, and at the light gleaming in her eyes.

Then he saw that Xiaobai began to glow. The light was silvery-white, very soft, like moonlight. The light grew brighter and brighter, enveloping her entire body.

A few seconds later, the light faded. Sitting on the bed was a white fox with dark, bright eyes, tilting its head to look at him.

Jiang Xiaochuan looked at it for a long time, then reached out and hugged it. It was fluffy and soft, a very familiar feeling.

Little White rubbed against his palm, then found a comfortable position, lay down, and stopped moving.

Jiang Xiaochuan held it, and the initial panic and shock in his heart slowly subsided. But after the calm came a deeper confusion.

Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox. Mysterious Fire Mirror. Escape. Repaying a debt of gratitude. Starting a relationship only to abandon it in the end.

These words swirled in his mind, making him dizzy. He looked down at Little White in his arms; Little White had its eyes closed and was breathing evenly, as if it were asleep.

He gently stroked its head, but it didn't react.

"Little White," he whispered, "are you really a nine-tailed celestial fox?"

Xiao Bai opened her eyes, glanced at him, then closed them again. This was tantamount to acquiescence.

"So...how old are you?"

Xiaobai didn't react.

Why are you following me?

Xiaobai still didn't react.

"You..." Jiang Xiaochuan paused, "Is what you mean by repaying a debt of gratitude true?"

Xiao Bai suddenly looked up and bit his finger. It didn't hurt, but it was very sudden. Jiang Xiaochuan was startled and withdrew his hand.

"Don't ask so many questions," Xiaobai said, her voice ringing directly in his mind, clear and cold like frost on bamboo leaves. "Knowing too much won't do you any good."

Jiang Xiaochuan: "..."

He shut up. He held Xiaobai, lay down, and stared at the ceiling. His mind was still working, but slower. He remembered what Xiaobai had said—he had touched it, held it, and slept with it.

His face turned red again.

But as he became more and more popular, he suddenly thought of something.

Xiao Bai is a nine-tailed celestial fox. How powerful is a nine-tailed celestial fox? He didn't know. But it must be very powerful. At least more powerful than Lu Xueqi, more powerful than Tian Ling'er, more powerful than his master and mistress. Maybe... more powerful than the sect leader.

So, did he... latch onto a powerful figure?

The initial panic and shock he felt suddenly faded, replaced by a hint of...smugness?

Having a powerful figure, equivalent to the Taiqing Realm, to rely on... doesn't seem so unacceptable?

He looked down at the little white dog in his arms. The little white dog had its eyes closed, its tail swaying gently, and it was sleeping soundly.

He smiled and hugged it tighter.

Who cares? Let's just cling to their coattails first.

Outside the window, dawn is breaking. The east is tinged with the pale light of day, and the stars are fading one by one. A new day is about to begin.