Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“What are you doing down here?”
The child blinked his dazzling blue eyes, then shook his head frantically. “I don’t know…” Not only was he gorgeous, his voice was also especially mellow and sweet, pleasing to her ears.
Zhe Huo retracted her whip and continued, “In that case, let me ask: Who else has been here?”
The child’s long lashes fluttered for a moment as he composed his thoughts, and answered, “There was a very tall man, chasing after some creature. He ran off.”
Seeing the fright in the child’s eyes, Zhe Huo unconsciously reached out and patted his head. She decided not to trouble him any further. Since someone was really one step ahead of her in this hunt, she had to hurry and catch up.
However, as she coiled her whip to catch hold of the opening overhead, something behind her caught it instead, and held it fast. Zhe Huo turned around with a frown, and found the child’s tail tangled up tightly with her whip. “Take me with you,” he chirped.
Zhe Huo didn’t find this cute at all. “Let go!” she snarled.
The boy stared up at her with mournful eyes. She couldn’t endure that gaze, so she attempted to reason with him instead. “I can bring you out from here, but after that, you’re on your own.”
He shook his head. “I want to come with you.”
Zhe Huo glared at him sharply. “Do you know what I am?”
He watched her in bewildered silence.
Zhe Huo hoisted the boy up into the air, gathering his robes up into a bundle around him. She regarded him severely, and hissed, “I’m a demon hunter.” If not because this little fox demon was so adorable, so pitiful, and so wretched as to not be worth her attention… he would just become another one of her victims.
That woke him up. Tears brimmed upon those breath-takingly azure eyes.
Zhe Huo took advantage of the moment to pinch that smooth, tender cheek of his. Then, with a victorious little laugh, she retrieved her whip and turned to leave.
To her surprise, this time the child latched onto her leg with his paws. His eyes were red and raw, tears falling like raindrops out of a clear blue sky. “Lots of bad guys want to eat me. Even my parents lost their lives protecting me from them,” he choked through his tears. “You’re the only one who hasn’t tried to eat me. Please let me come with you. I’ll be a good boy. I won’t give you any trouble.”
Zhe Huo hadn’t imagined that such a young child could already have faced such horrible ordeals. She didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth of why she hadn’t harmed him herself. Nevertheless, she had to say something now. “How about this, kid? Once I’m through with my business here, I’ll send you back to the spirit world. This is the mortal realm—of course it would be dangerous for a tiny little thing like you, here.”
This only made the child start to tremble even more. Shaking his head frantically and dribbling from the nose, he sobbed, “I don’t want to go back! My parents were driven out from there!”
Ah, what a tragedy! Zhe Huo felt her heart giving way—but how would she explain this to her master, when she returned to Lavender Mountain? It was a real headache; and yet she didn’t know how to turn away this poor child. After a fair bit of internal conflict, she declared, “I don’t look after anyone for free—especially a sniveling little pup like you.”
The child’s eyes flickered for a moment. Then, with all the strength of will he could muster, he replied, “I’ll do anything. I can earn my keep.”
Taken aback, Zhe Huo asked, “Are you sure?”
The boy nodded resolutely.