Feng Jin unexpectedly met the little fox’s gaze.
That pair of emerald-like eyes shimmered faintly, reflecting into her own.
Feng Jin understood tacitly and said to Ah Ling, “Go find two sets of clean clothes for Miss Yan.”
Ah Ling felt relieved. Although she had started this farce, if she stayed any longer, Yan Zhao would truly drive her crazy.
Bi Lan came back to her senses and found that her fingernails had unknowingly dug into her palms, causing a faint, subtle pain.
After Ah Ling left, Feng Jin formed hand seals and cast a Dust-Cleansing Spell, removing the grime from Yan Zhao’s body and, incidentally, steam-drying the little fox’s damp fur.
Yan Zhao hugged the fox, her head lowered in silence.
Before long, Ah Ling returned with the clothes but felt the atmosphere was strange and hesitated to approach.
Receiving a meaningful look from Feng Jin, Ah Ling nervously stepped aside.
Feng Jin took the clothes from her and offered them to Yan Zhao. “Miss Yan, please take these two sets of clothes to wear for now. They might be too loose and ill-fitting. Later today, I’ll go down the mountain to find a tailor and have more made for you.”
Yan Zhao remained silent and didn’t reach out.
Feng Jin then reached out, retrieved Yan Zhao’s Universe Pouch, placed the folded clothes inside, and put the pouch back into Yan Zhao’s arms.
Yan Zhao lifted her head. Through the tangled hair, her eyes looked at Feng Jin.
Feng Jin didn’t avoid her gaze and said calmly, “In the future, if your clothes get dirty, just change them.”
Yan Zhao didn’t respond.
Her gaze lingered on Feng Jin’s face for a moment, then, without a word, she returned to her room.
The little fox showed unprecedented docility, staying quietly in Yan Zhao’s arms without making a fuss.
Yan Zhao closed the door and buried her face into the little fox’s fluffy neck.
The little fox’s fur was clean and fresh, and the clothes on her body were also brand new. The scent was indeed different from when they were dirty.
But…
“I don’t know the Dust-Cleansing Spell.”
Yan Zhao’s muffled voice filtered through the fox’s fur.
To cast the Dust-Cleansing Spell, one needed at least Foundation Establishment cultivation. She couldn’t learn it.
But her fox was a picky creature by nature. If things didn’t suit it, it would run off with someone else.
Ren Qingyue was surprised.
So Yan Zhao had this side to her, too.
The little fox swung its tail left and right.
Suddenly, it jumped out of Yan Zhao’s arms and reached the door with a light bound.
Yan Zhao watched as its little paws pushed open the wooden door, but it didn’t immediately leave. Instead, it crouched in the doorway and whined toward Yan Zhao.
Yan Zhao: “?”
She stood up and walked toward the door. The little fox then hopped over the threshold and led her outside the bandit stronghold.
Yan Zhao followed the little fox to the back mountain.
Behind the stronghold, beneath a gentle slope, there was a clear spring. The spring water gathered below into a small pool.
The little fox ran to the edge of the pool and leaped.
Its white, furry body, like a big snowball, hit the water with a splash.
Yan Zhao’s eyes widened in surprise.
She saw the soft fur slowly spread out in the middle of the pool, and then the little fox surfaced from the water.
It swam to the bank and tilted its head at Yan Zhao.
Yan Zhao suddenly understood. “So you wanted to bathe with me?”
The little fox: “…”
Inside the main tent on the other side of the stronghold, Feng Jin had called Ah Ling over for a scolding.
Her brows were tightly knitted, and she sighed repeatedly.
Ah Ling stood to the side, head drooping, left hand clasping her right, silent and sullen.
Feng Jin rapped the table to make her look up, her tone filled with reproach. “I told you long ago to rein in that reckless temper of yours, but you never listen!”
Ah Ling was defiant. All the pent-up frustration from the past two days erupted, and she actually talked back to Feng Jin directly. “What about my temper? You used to say you liked how lively I was, and now you find me annoying!”
Feng Jin hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from Ah Ling and was choked into silence for a moment.
When she spoke again, her tone softened slightly, and she said helplessly, “Do you know, yesterday Black Sky Tyrant…”
She stopped mid-sentence, hesitating whether to tell Ah Ling the truth.
“Black Sky Tyrant?” Ah Ling frowned. “What about Black Sky Tyrant?”
She had been captured and brought to this stronghold by Black Sky Tyrant the previous year.
Originally, Black Sky Tyrant had his eyes on the Village Chief’s daughter, but the chief of Zhuangan Village wanted his daughter to marry a rich man in town, so he secretly married her off, then feigned terminal illness and kidnapped Ah Ling instead, sending her up the mountain to appease Black Sky Tyrant.
Both her parents were dead, and she suffered cold looks and bullying in the village. At the tender age of thirteen or fourteen, before she had barely lived like a human being, this disaster struck her. She had originally wanted to dash her head against a wall and die, but unexpectedly, there was a way out.
It happened that Feng Jin was passing by the stronghold, saw Black Sky Tyrant committing atrocities and causing trouble with his men, and shot him dead with a single arrow.
Every time Ah Ling recalled her experiences from the first dozen or so years of her life, it felt like a great dream.
Since Feng Jin took over the stronghold, Ah Ling had stayed by her side. It was now the second year.
Feng Jin didn’t want to stir up Ah Ling’s bad memories, so she stopped there and only advised her, “If Miss Yan had been provoked by you today, you would’ve been in big trouble!”
Ah Ling didn’t grasp Feng Jin’s worry. The moment she heard the words “Miss Yan,” she bristled. “You’re just playing favorites! All you see is Miss Yan! Ever since Miss Yan came up the mountain, your eyes have been glued to her!”
Feng Jin was stunned, incredulous. “What are you talking about?”
Ah Ling thought she was just playing dumb and snorted. “Isn’t it true? Everyone in the stronghold is saying that you’ve taken a fancy to Miss Yan and that’s why you’re so attentive to her!”
This statement was so absurd that it took Feng Jin a long pause to react.
No wonder Black Sky Tyrant had said such things yesterday. It seemed there were still Black Sky Tyrant’s spies hidden in their stronghold!
Seeing Feng Jin dazed, Ah Ling felt a sour jealousy bubbling inside her and deliberately provoked her. “Why so silent? Cat got your tongue?”
Feng Jin laughed in extreme anger. “Listen to yourself! Does that sound proper?!”
Ah Ling lifted her eyes to look at her. Her eyes were red-rimmed, hiding a glimmer of tears, and she stiffened her neck to ask, “Isn’t it?!”
“What ‘is it’?” Feng Jin was equally furious, too exasperated to argue with her. She shook her sleeves forcefully. “This is utterly ridiculous! I think you all have way too much free time! From today on, training time is doubled!”
Ah Ling pouted, still looking unconvinced.
As she turned to go outside and pass on the orders, she suddenly looked back at the door. “Really not?”
“…” Feng Jin was speechless. “Get out!”
Ah Ling left the main tent, her steps light and brisk, as if a weight had been lifted.
Remembering what had happened this morning, she felt a little guilty and thought she had gone too far.
She wandered over to the guest courtyard and found that the door to Yan Zhao’s room was half-open, but no one was inside.
Where had that strange person run off to again?
Ah Ling knocked on the wooden door of the adjacent room. When the person inside came to answer, she asked, “Immortal Master Bi, do you know where Miss Yan went?”
Bi Lan was surprised. “Junior Sister Yan isn’t in her room?”
“No.” Ah Ling shook her head, pursing her lips. “I wanted to find her and apologize.”
Bi Lan sympathized with Ah Ling and proactively offered, “Let me help you look for her.”
She took out her compass and cast a divination. Before long, she determined the direction and said to Ah Ling, “Miss Ah Ling, please follow me.”
Ah Ling followed behind Bi Lan, leaving the stronghold. Seeing the direction Bi Lan was heading, she said in confusion, “This seems to be the way to the back mountain.”
Bi Lan wasn’t familiar with the stronghold’s layout, so she just said, “The divination shows that after Miss Yan left her room, she headed in this direction.”
After walking a few hundred more steps, they suddenly heard the sound of water.
They circled around a rock, and sure enough, the person they were looking for wasn’t far away.
Yan Zhao was lying barefoot on a large, flat rock by the riverbank, her head pillowed on the fluffy little fox, fast asleep.
Bi Lan and Ah Ling’s approach didn’t wake her.
The little fox, however, had heard their footsteps long ago. When the two of them drew near, its ears twitched, and it turned its head to glance back.
Bi Lan sat down beside Yan Zhao. Ah Ling muttered quietly, “Why is she sleeping again? All she does is eat and sleep.”
And after eating so much, she was still as thin as a bamboo pole.
Bi Lan lowered her voice to explain to Ah Ling, “Junior Sister Yan hasn’t established her foundation yet and hasn’t reached the Fasting stage.”
“I’ve heard elders in the sect say that Junior Sister Yan has innate deficiencies and her divine soul is incomplete. Her physical body’s meridians are blocked, so she can’t cultivate or meditate. She needs to sleep to rest her divine soul, which is also why she gets hungry much more easily than ordinary people.”
As she spoke, she reached out and hooked a strand of hair beside Yan Zhao’s ear. Within the hair gap, a crescent-moon-shaped ear was revealed, fair with hints of pink, the outer rim covered with fine, soft down.
Ah Ling hadn’t expected this reason and didn’t know how to respond for a moment.
The little fox turned its head to look at Bi Lan. Coincidentally, Bi Lan also looked over and met its gaze.
Bi Lan’s eyes curved. “I wonder where Junior Sister Yan picked up this little fox. It’s so fluffy and really cute.”
The little fox withdrew its gaze.
This newly accepted inner disciple seemed a little different from the other junior brothers and sisters.
Yan Zhao turned over in her deep sleep, her arms spreading out to the sides, the collar of her clothes loose and slack.
A butterfly flew close, fluttering its delicate wings as it circled Yan Zhao twice, then slowly drifted down to land right on her nose.
Bi Lan’s gaze followed the butterfly’s movement and finally settled on Yan Zhao’s face.
Her messy long hair had spread to either side, revealing half of a delicate, thin, and pretty little face.
On that small face, every feature was well-formed.
Her eyebrows, though thin, were naturally neat. Her curled, upturned lashes were as light as butterfly wings.
Her small, slightly upturned nose bridge was also placed in just the right position. Below it, her cherry lips were slightly pursed. Their shape was pleasing, but because Yan Zhao rarely smiled, they seemed cold and distant.
A curious thought suddenly occurred to Bi Lan.
She asked Ah Ling, “Miss Ah Ling, did you bring a comb?”
Ah Ling didn’t react at first, until Bi Lan repeated what she had just said.
Looking at the tangled mess of Yan Zhao’s hair, she suddenly understood Bi Lan’s meaning and pulled a small wooden comb from her own pouch.
Bi Lan saw the few small flowers carved on the surface of the wooden comb and asked, “This looks like something precious. Would you be willing to lend it to me for a moment?”
Her way of speaking was gentle and soft, which made Ah Ling feel somewhat embarrassed. “Go ahead and use it.”
Bi Lan smiled. “Thank you.”
About half an hour later, Yan Zhao woke up.
Her eyelashes fluttered softly, not yet open, when she felt the sunlight was a bit dazzling.
She felt that today’s sunlight was exceptionally bright.
Sensing people beside her, she pushed herself up and looked at the newcomers.
It was Ah Ling and Bi Lan.
Bi Lan was playing with a small wooden object in her hand, smiling as she looked at Yan Zhao’s face.
Ah Ling, on the other hand, covered her mouth, her expression full of shock.
The little fox was crouched in Yan Zhao’s arms, also looking up and staring at her continuously.
Yan Zhao frowned, expressing her confusion with her eyes.
Bi Lan asked Ah Ling again, “Do you have a mirror?”
“Yes!” This time, Ah Ling answered decisively.
She immediately took a palm-sized little mirror from her pouch and handed it to Bi Lan with both hands.
Bi Lan lifted the small mirror, facing it toward Yan Zhao.
In the limited circular view, an unfamiliar face was reflected.
Yan Zhao stared straight at the figure reflected in the mirror.
On that thin but delicate small face, her features were relaxed, her expression dazed, revealing a hint of surprise.
It took a while for Yan Zhao to realize that the person in the mirror was herself.
The messy hair that had previously blocked her vision had been carefully combed out by someone, as if a thick fog had been parted. Her field of vision was now open and clear, allowing her to see into the far distance.
Her hair had become neat and tidy, bound up in a simple style, with a ribbon tied at the end of her ponytail.
Even without anyone teaching her to distinguish beauty from ugliness, she could instinctively feel the difference.
This way… was more pleasing to the eye than before.
“How is it?” Bi Lan asked her. “Not bad, right?”
Yan Zhao didn’t speak.
She didn’t quite understand the meaning of doing this.
Just then, the little fox leaned in and nuzzled her face.
Yan Zhao hugged the fox, her hands sinking into the soft fur.
The little fox’s fluffy big tail swung happily left and right; it was clearly very pleased.
After a moment, Yan Zhao lowered her gaze and answered, rather reluctantly, “Mm.”
“It’s already this late.” Ah Ling looked back and saw cooking smoke rising from the direction of the stronghold. “It’s almost time for the meal at the stronghold.”
Bi Lan nodded. “Then let’s head back.”
Having said that, she was just about to call out to Yan Zhao when she turned her head and found the person in front of her had vanished into thin air.
Yan Zhao had already moved past her and jumped down from the rock.
She thought Yan Zhao would simply walk off without a word, as she often did before.
Unexpectedly, she suddenly stopped and turned back.
“Aren’t you coming?”
![Never Offend the White Moonlight [Quick Transmigration]](https://i3.wp.com/dobytranslations.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/qtt-1.png?resize=151,215 "Never Offend the White Moonlight [Quick Transmigration]")