Chapter 14: The Hu Fox

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In the chaotic darkness of night, among the ruins of a broken temple, a silver-haired girl with fox tails crouched amid the shattered bricks and debris, stuffing wilted vegetable leaves she had scavenged from a trash bag into her mouth. On the other side, Yu Sheng, who had died three times already, stood behind a crumbling wall, staring dumbfounded at her.

They faced each other quietly through the night, locked in a silent standoff. For a first meeting (discounting the earlier headbutt), this scene was something Yu Sheng knew he would never forget in his lifetime.

Then, he saw the fox-tailed girl’s golden-red eyes gradually widen, filled with a profound mixture of shock and delight—perhaps mingled with disbelief. She finally stood up, still clutching the handful of vegetable leaves. Suddenly, as if awakened from a daze, she raised her hand and pointed at Yu Sheng, her voice choking with emotion: “A human!? Ah, a human! You’re human?! You… who are you? Where did you come from…”

Yu Sheng had already rehearsed his opening lines, including how to introduce himself, how to inquire about her situation, and how to show that he bore no grudge about the earlier headbutt. Yet the moment she spoke, he was stunned, forgetting much of what he had prepared. Her reaction was unlike anything he had expected.

What did she mean by “You’re human”? Was it such a shock to her that he was a person? Had she never seen a human before, or had she been without human contact for so long? More importantly…

Whether it was an illusion or a misunderstanding, Yu Sheng felt as if this reaction was akin to seeing him for the very first time. But clearly, this girl had already seen him before, during his fight with that monster—though that meeting was peculiar: after she headbutted him, his overall appearance must have been quite different from now. Still, his face shouldn’t have changed much.

Even if she hadn’t carefully examined the scene after the headbutt, she should at least have some memory of the ghost beneath his head, not act as if she were meeting a complete stranger.

“We… have met before,” Yu Sheng said after holding back for a few seconds, “just now, outside in the open. You said you came to save me… Don’t you remember?”

The fox girl tilted her head, genuinely seeming confused by his words, but soon her attention shifted elsewhere. She pointed at the bag of kitchen waste on the ground; her eyes seemed to glow faintly in the night. “Is this… yours?”

Her speech was halting, as if she hadn’t spoken to anyone for a very long time, and each word required careful thought and recollection before she could utter it.

Yu Sheng’s voice was awkward. “Uh, yes…”

“Can I… eat it?” the fox girl blurted out quickly, still stumbling over her words. Then she clenched the handful of leaves tightly, as if struggling with a tremendous willpower to resist stuffing them into her mouth directly. Her lips moved as she chewed the food she had just eaten, then glanced at Yu Sheng again and asked quickly, “I… I’m hungry, I want to eat, sorry…”

Her hands trembled slightly, her tone urgent yet controlled, as if her willpower was restraining not just hunger but some more dangerous, nearly uncontrollable force.

Yu Sheng was briefly dazed. He thought he had seen faint shadows floating behind her, slowly spreading from afar like hunters lurking in the dark, waiting for their prey’s moment of weakness.

But the shadows vanished rapidly.

Yu Sheng stepped out from behind the broken wall. He had sensed something unusual about the girl (besides her tangled, disorderly tails). Still, he mustered his courage and approached her. “Those things aren’t edible. They’re…”

He felt unable to finish the sentence—because he had never experienced such starvation before.

Meanwhile, the girl slowly crouched down again, seemingly unable to wait for his answer, beginning to gather the scattered scraps of food from the ground.

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“Wait! I think I have something to eat!” At that moment, Yu Sheng suddenly called out loudly to the girl across from him. He seemed to have remembered something, speaking as he quickly rummaged through his jacket pockets.

Finally, he pulled out two small packaged buns and a palm-sized chocolate bar—his stash originally meant for a late-night snack.

Due to his work, he was accustomed to staying up late.

The fox girl watched Yu Sheng’s movements with a mixture of caution and confusion. Yu Sheng knelt before her, demonstrating how to tear open the bun’s packaging. As the plastic ripped, the aroma of the bread wafted out, and the girl’s eyes instantly brightened. Almost in a blur of motion, she grabbed Yu Sheng’s hand and shoved the bun into her mouth.

Yu Sheng barely reacted in time. The girl was not only fast but surprisingly strong. He nearly had to exert all his strength to pull his arm back before she bit off a finger. Still, his index finger was grazed by her sharp canine teeth, and blood quickly seeped out.

“Damn, how long have you been this hungry…” he muttered.

The girl seemed oblivious to the surroundings. She hurriedly stuffed the food into her mouth, as if trying to force it straight down her throat. Her cheeks puffed out with each chew and her eyes widened. Yu Sheng even feared she might choke, but she swallowed hard and then looked at the other bun.

“Slow down, catch your breath first. You’ll choke if you keep eating like that,” Yu Sheng blocked her and looked into her eyes seriously. “Got it? Understand?”

“I… understand…” the fox girl nodded hard, swallowing.

Only then did Yu Sheng hand her the second bun. He watched her clumsily tear the plastic wrap—her technique was poor but her strength impressive. She almost instantly tore the bag apart, then pulled the bun in half and shoved half into her mouth. But halfway through, she seemed to remember Yu Sheng’s advice or realize the value of the food. She hurriedly slowed down, tearing the bun into small pieces and eating them with careful restraint.

Her gaze frequently darted to the chocolate bar still in Yu Sheng’s hand.

“This is chocolate…” Yu Sheng began, preparing to offer it to her, but halfway through raising his hand, he hesitated, his expression turning odd.

He thought quickly for several seconds, then silently called out in his mind: “Aileen.”

The familiar voice of the in-picture doll erupted in his mind: “Yu Sheng! What happened just now? Why did you suddenly go silent? And why couldn’t I reach you when I called…”

“It’s complicated here. I’ll explain later. First, I need to ask you something…”

“Fine, ask,” Aileen’s tone sounded harsh but ultimately patient.

“Dogs can’t eat chocolate, right?” Yu Sheng asked, trying to sound serious as he glanced at the hopeful fox girl opposite him.

“…Right,” Aileen said, feeling the question was odd. “Chocolate is poisonous to dogs. But why are you asking this now? You’re trapped in some alien realm and still worrying about that…”

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Yu Sheng ignored her rambling. “Can foxes eat it?”

“Foxes probably can’t either… right?” Aileen hesitated. “They’re both canines, after all. Let me tell you, many human foods are poisonous to species other than humans. To put it bluntly, your diet looks like poison mixed with strong alkali, acid flowing down every meal, biochemical toxins coursing through, and rotting matter being devoured…”

Yu Sheng cut off the incessant chatter: “What about foxes that have cultivated to become spirits?”

Aileen was at a loss for words. “…What?”

It turned out even the most talkative chatterbox couldn’t handle such a bizarre topic shift.

“I mean, foxes that have taken human form—fox immortals, fox demons, you know?” Yu Sheng quickly explained in his mind as he noticed the fox girl was almost done with the bun and about to snatch the chocolate from his hand. “Are fox immortals still foxes? Are they more human or more fox? If they’re mostly fox, are fox immortals considered canines?”

Aileen: “…What exactly is happening over there?!”

“I have a starving fox here—white fur, red eyes, nine tails… maybe six or seven, they’re so tangled I can’t count. But I only have one chocolate left.”

Aileen was stunned but quickly accepted the premise and replied: “Nine tails? She can definitely handle it. If she didn’t have that much cultivation, why would she grow so many tails? Just to use as a propeller when swimming? Wait, what exactly is going on there? I thought this was an uninhabited alien realm. How did one just appear…”

Yu Sheng thought the first part sounded reasonable. Without responding to Aileen’s further chatter, he handed the chocolate to the girl, reminding her: “Here, but eat only a little bit at first. I’m worried it might be bad for you.”

“Thank… thank you!” The fox girl quickly took the chocolate, awkwardly unwrapped it, and carefully bit into it.

A look of surprise crossed her face, then she slightly squinted, as if immersed in immense bliss.

“That’s enough. There’s no more,” Yu Sheng shook his head, spreading his hands. “I don’t know if it’s enough to fill you up… uh, also, I don’t even know what to call you.”

“Thank you,” the fox girl said again, this time more solemnly. Now that she wasn’t so hungry, she looked into Yu Sheng’s eyes and raised a finger to herself, her expression serious. “Hu Li.”

“Huh?” Yu Sheng was momentarily taken aback.

“Hu Li,” the fox girl pointed at herself and slowly smiled, “I have a name!”