Chapter 44

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Fox and the rest of his party came back by carriage.

After they had slaughtered three rabbits and consumed the sweet and sour

meat with relish, Fox ordered them to walk to the foot of the mountain so

they could go into the village there and see if they could find a horse

carriage for their return.

The ones who actually made the walk were Jackal and Lynx. They went to where

Fox and Tang Cheng Cheng were so that they could take them down the mountain

tracks.

Although it would take a lot more time to go back this way, Fox thought to

himself that since he had been missing for quite a number of days anyway, it

wouldn't matter much if he went back two or more days later.

"We don't need to fly this time?" Tang Cheng Cheng asked curiously.

"You will end up screaming like a tortured cat or chicken if we fly again.

Not to mention you’ll definitely grasp my neck so tightly like you want to

strangle me then and there."

"Oh." Tang Cheng Cheng exclaimed in realization, "Young master cares about

me and knows that I'm afraid of heights."

"..." Fox smacked her at the back of her head twice in shyness and

frustration. "Your mother, who is the one caring about you now?!"

Tang Cheng Cheng pouted, "I don't have a mother who cares about me at

all...my mother had passed away a long time ago."

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward and heavy.

"Master, I'll carry you." Jackal broke the awkward silence as he stood to

the side in a dignified servile manner.

Fox nodded his head.

Jackal turned back into his real form and transformed into a size of a dog.

He had beautiful pale golden fur covering the expanse of his body and a pair

of big alert ears that perked upwards. His phoenix eyes held those

otherworldly apricot pupil that had a black ring circling around the edges,

while his calm manner exuded his dignified aura.

"Oh my God, you are so cute." Tang Cheng Cheng covered her mouth in

surprise, "I thought you were going to be very big, but I didn't expect you

to be so small."

Jackal's eyes shot straight to pierce her like swords, revealing his

murderous intention as he took offense to her words.

"You shouldn't imply that men are 'small' in any way." Fox patted Tang Cheng

Cheng's shoulder. "It's like you can't say that a woman is flat at

certain places."

"Huh?" Tang Cheng Cheng tilted her head sideways in her puzzlement because

she couldn't understand his words at all.

"My turn!" Lynx also changed back to her real body.

Lynx actually surprised her because she was almost the same size as Jackal.

She had a body of sleek golden fur while strategic dark brown spots covered

her from head to toe. She looked so gorgeous in her original form.

"Your fur is so beautiful." Tang Cheng Cheng stroked her back gently, "It

feels so soft."

After saying that, she buried her entire face in Lynx's fur, "It's so soft

and smells good too."

Her palm sized face repeatedly rubbed back and forth, savoring the soft

plushness of her exquisite coat.

"Meow." Lynx mewled out proudly.

Jackal in turn looked back towards Fox’s direction, and then spoke with his

eyes- [Is this person's head okay?]

Fox only narrowed his eyes in reply—[Don't ask too much, you might get

scared of the answer.]

"I can still grow bigger."

Lynx suddenly lowered her head and growled lowly. Her waist arched while her

fur stood up on its end, and she now looked as if she was really angry. This

rapid change of demeanor startled Tang Cheng Cheng.

Lynx’s body grew rapidly to the size of a pony in no time at all.

Jackal also followed her initiative and grew bigger. He was about to carry a

relatively tall Fox so he had to enlarge his body until he became the size

of a full-grown horse.

They... really are demons!

She finally witnessed first hand on how they were able to change their form

freely with their powers and she could feel her excitement rising from

within. One moment they could just appear as if they were ordinary humans,

then they could turn into jackals and cats in the next second. It filled her

with wonderment that they could even control their body size anytime they

wanted to do so. At that very moment, Tang Cheng Cheng finally felt the

reality of being face to face with demons sinking in, and the demon fox in

front of her was their big boss.

"Let's go down the mountain now." Fox lightly leaped to Jackal’s back, and

Jackal moved swiftly once he had fully settled down, disappearing into the

distance without bothering to even wait up for Tang Cheng Cheng.

"Wait for me!" She had never even ridden a horse before so she could only

grab on to the mane on Lynx’s back before clumsily hoisting herself up in an

embarrassing manner.

"Hold on to me tightly!" Lynx turned her head back to remind Tang Cheng

Cheng.

"Alright!"

Tang Cheng Cheng circled her arms upon Lynx’s neck, and Lynx's strong limbs

sprung forward, chasing after the smell that Jackal had left behind.

She ran as if she was soaring, leaping high on the uneven terrains one

second then sprinting gracefully across the flatter plains in the next. If

Tang Cheng Cheng had never experienced being in Fox’s arms when he was

flying across the sky, she would have even fainted a long time ago.

Although she was not dizzy, she still felt a little discomfort in her

abdomen. She felt as if someone had turned everything into a mess inside her

stomach. The rabbit meat she had just consumed churned up precariously at

the entrance of her throat.

Lynx had finally caught up to Jackal.

She had to endure... endure... endure...

She can't do it anymore!

Vomiting noises "Belch…"

She turned her head to the side so that she could aim the half digested

projectile on the ground. She never expected Lynx to jump at that very

moment, causing the foul vomit to splash down on Jackal's head.

Jackal froze in his shock all of a sudden as his head now was blanketed with

the warm vileness.

"Wah ha ha ha ha… ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…" Lynx pointed one paw forward and

laughed heartily at Jackal. "You are so smelly, so smelly, so smelly!"

"You dratted women!" Jackal yelled angrily.

Fox who was sitting on Jackal's back was of course not spared by the mishap.

Both their faces were now scrunched up into extremely ugly expressions.

"I'm so sorry!" Tang Cheng Cheng could only apologize sincerely to them,

"I... it’s my first time riding a horse...no… a lynx, dizzy... my stomach is

uncomfortable..."

Her stomach was still churning heavily.

Fox closed his eyes and breathed in a deep breath before letting it go, he

repeated that deep breath once more and anyone could see how he was trying

to hold back his anger then.

"Let’s go to the stream and wash ourselves."

Fortunately, they were travelling along the path beside the stream and had

not journeyed on the original mountain trails that the humans usually took.

Since Tang Cheng Cheng now felt dizzy because of the "cat" ride, they ended

up walking down the mountain slowly. This caused their journey to be delayed

for two more days before they finally arrived at the Li's manor in a snail’s

pace.

They had been gone for far too long that the eldest lady in the Li household

was so ill that she had almost fell into the irreversible shadows to report

her soul to King Yan Luo of the underworld[2]. The "fake Li

Hai Jiao", who had been missing for the past seven days, finally appeared at

the main gates of the Li family's manor with a pale gaunt face and it was

obvious to everyone around him that he had lost a significant amount of

weight too.

Translation corner:

[1] In case everyone is wondering what a real jackal looks like

ref: https://www.livescience.com/57654-jackal-facts.html

and this is what a Lynx/bobcat looks like

ref:

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/2/28/spain-saving-lynx

Although reservation efforts have been made, the Iberian Lynx is still

considered endangered, so I decided to share this picture and its link to

raise awareness instead.

[2] King Yan Luo - almost reporting to King Yan Luo means that she almost

died. A soul will only meet King Yan Luo when they have officially passed

away. He is present in the East Asian Buddhist/Taoist mythology. You can

learn more about this mythological being here on his

wiki page