A clear breeze blew, stirring ripples across the pond.
A white figure darted nimbly across the lake's surface. Despite its portly frame, it moved with remarkable agility.
Every now and then, pieces of water caltrop skin were tossed from the lake, landing with soft thuds in the soil.
"Ah, truly worthy of the master's planting—crisp and refreshing! Before the others discover this spot, this old man must eat a few more." The words were punctuated by crisp, chewy sounds.
Suddenly, an urgent, tearful cry approached from a distance.
"Alchemist Ji! Alchemist Ji, something terrible! Hongjiao is severely injured! Please go see him quickly—he's coughing up blood, so much blood!"
The white cat lifted its head and saw a small, fiery red figure standing by the spirit pond.
There was no need to guess—it was the pet of his disciple's pet.
Truly, they took after their owner.
Back then, Wu Li had used his own blood to raise Hongjiao. Now this foolish serpent had not only taken in a little fox but had also given it all the cultivation power he'd earned from slaying demons, helping it hasten its transformation.
Wu Li had left the Clear Bright Terrace months ago, venturing alone to search for the missing Xiaomi. Since then, there had been no news of him.
No news was the best news.
Driven by his affection for his disciple, the white cat scrambled out of the pond the moment it heard about Hongjiao's trouble.
It had to look after the snake and the hawk left by its disciple, or else face the boy's wrath when he returned to settle accounts.
"Hurry! Lead this old man there at once!" the white cat called as it ran behind the little fox. "Didn't I send him to Qixia Town to subdue a few wolf demons that kept stealing livestock from the villagers? A few mere wolf demons—can a mighty flood dragon like him not handle them?"
"I don't know..." the little fox whimpered, crying. "When he came back, he was fine. We talked for a bit, and then suddenly he started spitting out blood in torrents... It's all my fault. When Hongjiao transformed into his beast form to fight those wolf demons, they ganged up on him. I got distracted and fell off his back. He saved me, so they bit him a few times... Boohoo, it's all because of me."
Inside the room, large patches of crimson liquid soaked the floor.
Lying on the bed, Hongjiao had reverted to human form, though his dragon horns still jutted from his head. A few scarlet scales on his arms glowed faintly.
The long red ribbon that bound his hair had come loose, half still tangled in his dark locks, the other half drooping limply over the edge of the couch, swaying listlessly.
At the sight of the white cat, he called out weakly, "Master's Teacher..."
The little fox immediately hopped onto the pillow, stretched out its tiny paw to wipe the blood from his lips. It didn't care that its white fur was now stained red—its dewy eyes held only concern. "Hongjiao, are you all right?"
The white cat sniffed the air, then walked with unerringly straight steps to the large bloodstain.
A flicker of sharp insight passed through its feline eyes.
It lowered its head close, then darted out its tongue and gave the spot a quick lick.
The little fox froze, startled. "Alchemist Ji?"
The white cat lifted its head and met Hongjiao's gaze. The latter was frantically winking and blinking, his eyelids practically flapping off.
"...Gah." The white cat was left speechless.
Where would a beast learn such pitiful tactics? That wasn't blood on the floor—it was mulberry juice! Only this silly little fox would be so easily fooled.
And it had disrupted the white cat's caltrop picking, making it rush all the way here for nothing.
Its whiskers twitched, and it produced a fly whisk with a flourish: "This old man's assessment is that there's no hope left. Just wait to die."
With that, it strode off.
Behind it, the little fox stood frozen for a long moment, unable to process what had just happened.
"Hongxiao... little fox..."
At Hongjiao's call, it snapped back to reality. Great teardrops burst forth like a broken dam, thudding heavily onto the bedside. "Hongjiao, you can't die! Even if Alchemist Ji can't help, I'll find a way to save you!"
Hongjiao mustered the strength to prop himself up on his elbow and patted the little fox's head, his voice as feeble as if it might break at any moment. "What you just said... when I was fighting the wolf demons, you got distracted... because you thought of someone?"
The little fox blinked its moist eyes in confusion, tilting its head as it pondered. "I don't really know why. But when I saw those wolves surrounding you, a scene suddenly flashed through my mind—black stones surrounding a single white stone. Then, a blurry figure appeared, a man, and he seemed to be calling me... Xiao... Xiao..."
"Xiao!" Hongjiao quickly interjected, a glimmer flashing in his eyes. "It's Xiao! Back when we were husband and wife, that's what I called you. Can't believe you forgot."
"Cold-hearted, truly cold-hearted—this kind of heartlessness isn't about loud fights..." Before he could finish, a few drops of crimson seeped from the corner of his mouth, dripping down his chin onto the pillow.
"Please stop talking." The little fox wept uncontrollably, its paw frantically wiping his blood but only smearing it further. It was when they'd talked about this earlier that he had started spitting blood, and now he was doing it again—it must be because he was angry that she had forgotten their past.
Clearly, she must never bring it up again!
The little fox bit its lip, swallowing all the questions that surged to her tongue. She simply nodded desperately. "Alright, alright. Xiao, it's Xiao. I remember, I remember everything. Please stop coughing up blood, I beg you."
Hongjiao closed his eyes weakly. "That's more like it. Don't get it wrong next time. That's how my two masters used to call each other—their names doubled up: Li Li, Mi Mi, such beautiful sounds."
As he said this, he opened his eyes again.
His fine lashes flickered twice before freezing, and then his eyes went red.
"I miss them so much," he murmured, his voice bitter and aggrieved as if it held a sour plum. "I don't know if I'll ever see them again in this life. Those two heartless masters—they tossed their good snake aside so carelessly. They'll regret it one day."
After a moment's silence, he turned his head and looked at the fiery red figure on the pillow, a bitter smile creeping across his lips. "At least I have you to keep me company. Otherwise, I'd be nothing but a lonely snake. Thank you, Xiao."
The little fox fell into thought.
Alchemist Ji said Hongjiao didn't have long to live. If Hongjiao couldn't hold on, would he never see the people he longed for again?
A few days later, the little fox suddenly vanished.
Hongjiao searched the entire Sword Sect but found no trace of that small, fiery red shadow.
The Clear Bright Terrace was divided into the Sword Sect, the Medicine Sect, and the Mystic Sect, each on separate peaks. Having learned that Hongxiao's last known location was in the Medicine Sect, he immediately transformed back into his flood dragon form and soared through the sky toward it.
When a massive beast stuck its head through the door, Su Yun was taken off guard, and her feather fan nearly transformed into a weapon to strike. Upon realizing it was Hongjiao, she let out a relieved sigh and glared at it in exasperation.
"How insolent! The Medicine Sect is a sacred place of the immortals—how dare you come barging in like this?"
Truly, whatever was raised by that young man had no manners at all!
With a smooth shift, Hongjiao shed his beast form amid swirling white mist, becoming a handsome young youth. But his eyes, usually so lively, were now filled only with frantic desperation. "I'm looking for my little fox. Have you seen it? Someone told me it was spotted in the Medicine Sect's Alchemy Hall."
“Oh, you mean that little fox named Hongxiao,” Su Yun said, suddenly understanding.
That fox had been allowed to stay at Jingming Terrace by Senior Uncle Ji for several months now, and everyone had come to know it.
“Here, it’s inside there,” Su Yun said casually, pointing with her feather fan toward the alchemy furnace.
Through the hollow gaps around the furnace, the glow of true essence flames flickered and roared, burning fiercely.
Hongjiao froze for a moment.
His gaze slowly shifted from Su Yun’s carefree face to the furnace’s flames.
“...What do you mean by that?”
His voice suddenly turned very soft, soft like a string stretched to its breaking point. The crimson in his pupils spread, and a beastly menace surged up from the depths of his eyes.
“Are you saying—” he spoke slowly, each word trembling with disbelief, “—you refined it into a pill?”
“Mm-hmm, it chose that itself,” Su Yun shrugged, her tone light. “Weren’t you about to die? So it came to ask me if I had any life-prolonging pills. I told it that if it wanted to save your life, it could trade one life for another—turn itself into a pill to exchange for yours.”
She tilted her head and glanced at the furnace, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly: “It jumped in without a second thought. That fox was just foolish—who’s to blame?”
Hongjiao’s pupils contracted sharply.
“Lies! You tricked it!” Hongjiao roared in fury. If there really were a pill that could trade one life for another, then back then, his master would have jumped into the furnace himself instead of going through all that trouble to piece the Phantom Rainbow Stone back together.
“I’ll kill you—”
His skin split open inch by inch, crimson scales surging out from beneath. Fangs elongated, horns pierced through his forehead, and his form twisted violently between human and serpent, his murderous aura rising like a tangible haze. “I’ll kill you!”
Just as he was about to fully transform into a dragon-python—
A crisp voice sounded from behind him.
“Hongjiao?”
Hongjiao’s entire body trembled.
That overwhelming surge of violence seemed to have its throat seized by an invisible hand, freezing in an instant.
He turned around slowly, dazedly, blankly.
Behind him, the woman in red robes had captivating eyes, her head tilted as she looked at him.
“You’re not dead?” He rushed over in three quick steps and pulled her into his arms, his arms wrapping around her tightly. “I thought you were dead. I thought I’d never get to eat roasted rabbit with you again!”
His voice was muffled against her shoulder, the end of his words breaking into sobs.
Hongxiao was squeezed so tightly she could barely breathe, a swirl of confusion in her mind: this man had been lying in bed only a few days ago, looking like he had just a breath left—how was he suddenly so strong?
She just reached out and gently rubbed his back: “I came to ask this sister if she had any pill that could save you, but there’s nothing here that can bring someone back from the brink. She said, since I was about to take human form, she kindly gave me a pill to speed up the transformation.”
“I wanted to become human so I could take better care of you. Every time you coughed up blood, I could clean it up for you right away.”
“I was still trying to figure out other ways. If it really meant trading my life for yours, I would be willing. You have to live on, until the day your master returns.”
“I lied to you these past few days! The coughing up blood and the weakness—it was all an act. I just wanted you to care about me a little,” Hongjiao lowered his head in shame, his voice growing quieter with each word. He had simply seen how frantic Xiaomi got whenever their master was hurt, and out of a whim, he tried it himself. He hadn’t expected it to work so well.
“And besides, you’re my little fox. Only I get to decide if you die. Otherwise, all the cultivation I’ve painstakingly saved for you would have been for nothing. If you let my hard work go to waste, this snake here is going to be very upset.”
The young man pouted, tear tracks still glistening at the corners of his eyes.
Hongxiao stared at that shimmer. For some reason, her heart burned.
She asked softly, “Do you want to eat roasted rabbit now? I have hands now.”
Hongjiao wiped away his tear tracks, and suddenly his lips curved up, his smile brightening: “Yes, yes! Let’s go catch some rabbits!”
Su Yun leaned by the doorway, chin resting on her feather fan, watching the two figures run off hand in hand. She couldn’t help mumbling, “What’s with all these starry-eyed fools showing up lately? Isn’t cultivation good enough? All this fuss about love and romance—sigh.”
From the eaves above, a white cat’s tail suddenly dangled down, its tip swaying lazily.
“Child, when you’ve sailed through all the storms, you’ll understand: a pure heart untouched by deception is the rarest treasure.”
The white cat yawned listlessly.
Su Yun looked up: “Senior Uncle Ji, my master’s been looking for you these past few days. She wants to ask: where did all those water caltrops in that pond go?”
“Oh dear!” The white cat jolted upright, its tail bristling. “Don’t you dare tell her this old man ever set foot in the Medicine Sect! If she finds out, she won’t just be asking—she’ll want to wring my neck! If she learns they all ended up in my belly, she’ll definitely force me to spit them out!”
Before the words even faded, a white streak zipped away out of sight.
Su Yun chuckled.
She once heard her master say that she and Senior Uncle Ji had been fighting over snacks since childhood. Across all of Jingming Terrace, besides Senior Uncle Ji, only her master still hadn’t ascended to immortality among their peers.
Senior Uncle Ji was held back by a damaged spirit pill, but her master—she was only one step away.
Su Yun had once asked her master why.
At the time, her master just smiled, gazing toward the distant layered mountains, and slowly said: “Because up there, there’s no one to fight over water caltrops with me.”
