Chapter 461: Let Us Not Tell the Lady for Now
Chapter 461: Let Us Not Tell the Lady for Now
In the firewood room, Xiao Mo sat with Tushan Jingci playing tic-tac-toe.Although Tushan Jingci had picked up the game very quickly, she was still only a five-year-old little girl, and there was simply no way she could beat Xiao Mo.
After losing more than ten rounds in a row, Tushan Jingci's ears and tail drooped without energy, and a faint mist of moisture gathered at the corners of her eyes, as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
Xiao Mo scratched his head, feeling that it was not right to keep winning against her like this, and so he deliberately held back and let her win a round.
"I won, I won!"
After finally beating Xiao Mo, Tushan Jingci clapped her soft, pale little hands with delight. The happiness on her face was utterly adorable.
"The Young Miss is improving very quickly." Xiao Mo said with a smile. "Does the Young Miss wish to keep playing?"
"Yes! Of course I do! Let us continue!" Tushan Jingci gave a cheerful nod, knelt on the floor in a sitting position, and continued playing against Xiao Mo with full confidence.
After that, Xiao Mo won more than he lost, deliberately letting her win a round here and there, keeping the fox-eared little girl in a state of happy delight.
Standing outside the firewood room, Yueshi watched through the window at the Young Miss and the little human boy interacting.
Yueshi did not know how the Young Miss had come to know him. She had been consistently worried that this grubby human boy might accidentally make contact with the Young Miss's body but seeing how happy the Young Miss looked, Yueshi could not bring herself to forcibly call her back.
Moreover, this little human boy seemed to have quite a good sense of propriety. He followed the residence's rules carefully and deliberately kept a certain distance between himself and the Young Miss.
Without them fully realizing it, the two played until midnight.
Xiao Mo glanced at the sky through the window, then smiled at the little girl before him. "Young Miss, the hour is not early. You should go back and rest."
"Hmm?" The little girl, who had been thoroughly absorbed in playing, looked up at Xiao Mo with blinking eyes. "Xiao Mo, do you not want to play with me anymore?"
Xiao Mo shook his head. "It is not that I do not want to play with the Young Miss. It is simply that it is truly very late. Young Miss must get proper rest. Sleep early and you will have more energy to keep playing tomorrow."
"But I am not sleepy." Tushan Jingci said with a blink.
"But Young Miss, I still need to tend the fire tomorrow. I need to rest early too." Xiao Mo said with a smile. "Otherwise Master Niu will scold me."
"Then tomorrow I will have Elder Sister Yueshi tell Master Niu that you do not need to tend the fire anymore, and that looking after me is your job instead." Tushan Jingci said with pure innocence.
"Young Miss, as a human, I do not have the standing to keep the Young Miss company. The Lady would not permit it." Xiao Mo still shook his head.
"All right..." Tushan Jingci lowered her small head, but quickly looked up again, blinking at Xiao Mo. "Then Xiao Mo, can I still come and find you to play in the future?"
"As long as the Young Miss wishes to come, of course she can." Xiao Mo gave a nod.
"Yay!"
Tushan Jingci jumped to her feet with delight.
"Then Xiao Mo, I am going back for now. Tomorrow night I will come and find you to play again. And do not worry. Everything between the two of us, I will absolutely keep secret. I will not let anyone know."
"If Mother ever happens to find out one day by accident, it will be fine. I will just throw myself on the ground and make a fuss and cry, and my mother is most afraid of me crying. You are my friend, and I will absolutely make sure you are never punished for it!"
"All right." Seeing the little girl's innocent and adorable manner, Xiao Mo smiled. "If that day truly comes, then I will be in the Young Miss's hands."
"No trouble at all. Just leave it to me." Tushan Jingci patted her small chest. "Then I am going. Sleep early."
"Mm."
Xiao Mo replied, then walked Tushan Jingci out of the firewood room and watched her gradually walk away.
Every few steps, Tushan Jingci would turn around and wave her small hand at Xiao Mo. Only when she disappeared into the distance did Xiao Mo pull his gaze back and close the firewood room door.
When Tushan Jingci returned to her small side courtyard, she found that Elder Sister Yueshi was still sleeping in the bed, and had not noticed at all that she had gone out.
"Heh heh heh. Elder Sister Yueshi is such a simple soul."
Tushan Jingci stuck her tongue out playfully at the maidservant Yueshi and made a funny face, then went back to her own small bed to rest.
"Friends..."
Lying in bed, Tushan Jingci hugged her great tail to her chest, and the more she thought about it, the happier her heart felt.
"I have a friend now!"
With that happy feeling in her chest, before long Tushan Jingci truly fell asleep.
When the night deepened into complete stillness and the only sound was the little girl's gentle breathing, Yueshi got out of bed, walked to the bedside, and looked at the sleeping Young Miss.
"Should I go and tell the Lady?"
By the rules, the Young Miss spending time alone with any male creature was absolutely not permitted, let alone one who was human.
And yet...
Yueshi recalled the sight of the Young Miss playing tic-tac-toe with that little human boy in the firewood room, and how happy the Young Miss had looked. Her heart could not bear the thought of putting an end to it.
It had been a very long time since she had seen the Young Miss this happy.
If she went and told the Lady, the Young Miss would certainly not be allowed to play with him anymore. And that grubby little human boy might even be in danger...
How heartbroken would the Young Miss be then?
"Never mind..." In the end, Yueshi shook her head and let out a quiet sigh. "Let us not tell the Lady for now..."
Realistically speaking, nothing should go wrong...
That little human boy was only five years old. He had no ill intentions, and seemed well-behaved and honest.
Besides, she would keep a close eye on the Young Miss to make sure he did not touch her.
One month.
The Lady had said that once the Young Miss passed her sixth birthday, things need not be so strict.
It was better to let him keep the Young Miss company for a little while longer.
After the Young Miss's sixth birthday one month from now, she could start attending school.
That little human boy would naturally be gradually forgotten.
The following morning, Tushan Jingci got up early, washed up, and then ran full of energy toward the kitchen courtyard.
"Greetings, Young Miss."
"You are here early today, Young Miss."
"Would the Young Miss like some pastries?"
The rough-and-tumble fellows of the kitchen courtyard, seeing the Young Miss arrive, were not particularly surprised, and all greeted her with cheerful smiles.
After all, the Young Miss enjoyed running about everywhere, and would sometimes come to the kitchen courtyard to have a look around.
They just needed to be careful not to make contact with the Young Miss.
Though they did notice that the Young Miss was staying in the kitchen courtyard for a particularly long time today, and that she seemed to be looking for something.
Tushan Jingci wandered back and forth through the kitchen courtyard.
At last, the little girl found Xiao Mo, who was tending the fire and adding wood to the stoves.
Xiao Mo was steadily feeding wood into the stove, from time to time poking the fire, then scooping out some of the charcoal and ash from below.
After finding Xiao Mo, Tushan Jingci's eyes lit up, and she wanted to go and say hello but Tushan Jingci was also worried about exposing her friendship with Xiao Mo, and so could only hold herself back for now.
Taking advantage of the fact that everyone else was busy, Tushan Jingci pretended to be wandering casually and drifted toward Xiao Mo with her tail swaying behind her.
By the time Xiao Mo noticed Tushan Jingci, she was already standing right beside him, those fox eyes of hers curved into a smiling squint as she looked at him.
"This servant greets the Young Miss." Xiao Mo gave a simple bow.
"Mm mm." Tushan Jingci gave a happy nod.
Just as Tushan Jingci was about to say a few more words to Xiao Mo, Xiao Mo pretended not to know her and went back to tending the stove as though nothing had happened.
Seeing Xiao Mo seemingly ignore her, Tushan Jingci puffed out her cheeks and her expression carried a trace of unhappiness but when she turned her head, Tushan Jingci saw that Elder Sister Yueshi was watching her, and understood the reason at once.
"Young Miss, the kitchen courtyard is cooking and the smoke from the oil is heavy. Let us go somewhere else first."
Before long, Yueshi walked over and spoke to Tushan Jingci.
"Oh no..."
Tushan Jingci lowered her small head.
She did not really want to go anywhere else. She only wanted to stay near Xiao Mo a little longer but she also understood that she could not keep lingering in the kitchen courtyard, or it would expose the fact that she and Xiao Mo were friends and bring a great deal of trouble down on Xiao Mo.
And so Tushan Jingci did not put up a fight, and followed Elder Sister Yueshi away obediently.
After returning to her own small courtyard, Tushan Jingci sat on a stone bench, propped her chin in both hands, and stared blankly up at the sky, her small tail swaying back and forth, looking forward to the evening.
For Tushan Jingci, this was the first time she had ever looked forward so eagerly to nightfall.
Because when evening came, she could go and find Xiao Mo to play again.
She waited, and waited.
For the first time in her life, Tushan Jingci felt that a single day was so terribly, terribly long.
Finally, darkness fell.
After finishing dinner, Tushan Jingci bathed with the help of her maidservants, then climbed obediently into bed, pulled her blanket over herself, and was seemingly ready to sleep.
The other two maidservants looked at the Young Miss in astonishment, both feeling that the Young Miss seemed oddly, unusually well-behaved today.
Yueshi, who knew the reason, said nothing, and simply had the other two maidservants go about their own tasks.
Past the midpoint of the hour of hai, just as before, Tushan Jingci arrived at the wooden door of the firewood room and knocked with her small hand.
Xiao Mo opened the door, and there was Tushan Jingci standing prettily at the entrance, saying cheerfully, "Xiao Mo, I have come to play with you!"
Xiao Mo said nothing in particular, simply let Tushan Jingci into the firewood room and sat with her playing games.
For Xiao Mo, this was one of the rare moments of leisure in the whole day.
Without them realizing it, half a month had passed in this way.
Tushan Jingci came to find Xiao Mo every single day.
In the beginning, Yueshi had harbored a degree of distaste toward this little human boy, and maintained a high level of vigilance at all times.
The moment there was any possibility of this little human boy making contact with the Young Miss, Yueshi would appear at once to intervene but Yueshi came to realize that this little human boy was genuinely different.
When he was with the Young Miss, he showed neither the fear that other servants displayed, nor any trace of flattery or fawning.
In fact, whenever the Young Miss came close to him, he would deliberately create a certain distance between them.
Moreover, this little human boy seemed to have a remarkable variety of ideas.
He had not only come up with tic-tac-toe, but later introduced something called five-in-a-row, and then something called hopscotch.
Even Yueshi, watching the two children play together, could not help but feel a warmth rise in her chest.
As though the pure, innocent friendship between children was always meant to be like this, with nothing to do with status, and nothing to do with race but very quickly, Yueshi dismissed those unacceptable thoughts from her mind.
Humans were still only humans, and the Young Miss was of the noble Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox bloodline.
Between them, the distinction of master and servant would never change.
The little boy, for now, was nothing more than a temporary source of entertainment for the Young Miss.
More days passed.
Tushan Jingci's sixth birthday was drawing near.
The entire Mount Tu residence gradually grew busier.
High red lanterns and colorful ribbons were hung throughout the residence, and over a hundred invitations were sent out.
The residents of Immortal Fox City were filled with eager anticipation for the birthday of this Young Miss of the Mount Tu residence.
After all, the birthday celebration of the only daughter of Immortal Fox City's foremost family was certain to be an extraordinarily grand affair.
Not to mention that the Young Miss of the Mount Tu residence was also the beloved granddaughter of that elder.
Word had it that on the day of the Mount Tu Young Miss's birthday, that elder would come in person to celebrate with his granddaughter.
And with that elder present, how could the ruler of the Celestial Demon Kingdom not show proper respect?
It was heard that the ruler of the Celestial Demon Kingdom had already set out and was on the road to Immortal Fox City.
This gave some sense of just how grand and lively the birthday celebration of the Mount Tu Young Miss was going to be.
The servants of the Mount Tu residence felt a shared sense of honor and pride, threw themselves into their work with even greater enthusiasm than usual, and looked forward eagerly to the chance to catch a glimpse of those legendary great figures but Xiao Mo had little interest in those great figures.
Every evening, whenever he had a free moment, Xiao Mo would sit alone carving something.
Since she considered him a friend, and a friend's birthday was coming, he had to give a gift of some kind.
Of course, Xiao Mo had no idea whether she would like what he was making.
On the evening before Tushan Jingci's birthday, just as on every other night, Tushan Jingci came to the kitchen courtyard and found Xiao Mo to play with.
Xiao Mo suggested going to the lake to fish, and Tushan Jingci immediately agreed.
Before long, the two of them arrived at the lakeside within the residence grounds.
Xiao Mo used a branch to make a small fishing rod for Tushan Jingci.
The two of them sat side by side at the lakeside, threaded a worm onto the line, and sat waiting for a fish to bite.
Tushan Jingci was not entirely sure whether this method could actually catch any fish but she felt that as long as she was playing with Xiao Mo, whatever they were doing seemed like fun.
Besides, Xiao Mo had said that if she caught a fish tonight, he would give her a gift.
For the sake of the gift, the fox-eared little girl fixed her eyes intently on the surface of the water, and even her tail behind her seemed to pull taut with concentration.
"But why has the fish not taken the bait yet?"
Two quarters of an hour had passed, and Tushan Jingci puffed out her cheeks, growing a little discouraged.
At this rate, was her gift going to disappear on her?
Fish, fish, please take the bait already.
At the same time, not far away, Yueshi watched the silhouettes of the Young Miss and the little human boy, and quietly lowered her eyes.
In Yueshi's view, tonight was the last time the Young Miss and this little boy would see each other.
In the future, once the Young Miss was free to leave the residence, she would have many demon friends. And he, as a human, would no longer have any standing to accompany the Young Miss and just as Yueshi was keeping a careful eye on the two children's every movement,
Yueshi's mind suddenly went rigid.
"Young Miss, be careful!"
Yueshi cried out, her figure simultaneously shooting forward.
A beam of sword light tore through the night sky, aimed directly at Tushan Jingci's back.
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