Chapter 561 - 460: Don’t You Ever Change
Chapter 561: Chapter 460: Don’t You Ever Change
「Nightfall.」
In an exquisite courtyard filled with all sorts of flowers and plants.
Tushan Jing Ci, who was grounded and meant to be reflecting on her misdeeds, was in her room, sitting on a meditation cushion.
She held a picture book, her body leaning forward, slumped over the low table as she listlessly flipped through the pages.
The little girl’s snow-white fox tail drooped on the floor behind her, looking completely listless.
"Sooo boring..."
"Sooo boring..."
Tushan Jing Ci yawned, set down the picture book, and her tail began to sweep back and forth across the floor like a broom.
"I hate being grounded the most. Being grounded is no fun at all..."
As she spoke, the little girl with fox ears rolled over and lay on the floor. She hugged her big, white fox tail to her chest, looking like a little snowball as she rolled around and around on the ground.
As she rolled and rolled.
Tushan Jing Ci’s mind couldn’t help but drift to the little boy she had met last night named Xiao Mo.
’Everyone else in the estate sees me and keeps their distance. They’re respectful but also scared of me... they don’t dare play with me...’
’But that little boy, the one who’s about my age, he’s different.’
’Not only is he handsome, but he also doesn’t seem to be afraid of me.’
’Maybe... maybe he’s not like the others. Maybe he’d actually be willing to play with me?’
As she thought and thought.
Tushan Jing Ci’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she immediately sat up from the floor.
’That’s it! It’s fine as long as I don’t leave the estate grounds, right?’
’It should be okay if I go find him to play, right?’
Tushan Jing Ci thought.
Having decided on her new goal, Tushan Jing Ci took off her little socks, immediately climbed into bed, and called out to the Maid waiting at her side, "Sister Yue Shi, I’m a little sleepy. I’m going to bed now. You should get some rest early, too."
"Yes, Young Miss."
Yue Shi couldn’t help but smile to herself.
’The Young Miss is going to bed this early? She must be planning to cause some mischief again.’
’But since the Madam already said to turn a blind eye, I’ll just pretend I don’t know anything.’
After the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, Tushan Jing Ci was lying motionless in bed, her chest rising and falling steadily, as if she were truly asleep.
Seeing that the Young Miss was "asleep," Yue Shi also changed out of her dress and went to sleep in the outer room.
Sometime after ten, Tushan Jing Ci’s eyes fluttered open, her big, sparkling eyes darting stealthily from side to side.
Tushan Jing Ci tiptoed out of bed and walked out of the inner chamber.
Glancing at the soundly sleeping Sister Yue Shi in the outer room, Tushan Jing Ci covered her mouth and giggled. ’I really am so smart,’ she thought. ’I completely fooled Sister Yue Shi.’
"I’m going out to play, Sister Yue Shi."
The little girl whispered, then walked out of the room triumphantly.
After Tushan Jing Ci left, Yue Shi gently shook her head and followed after her Young Miss.
In the courtyard, Tushan Jing Ci skipped along happily, her little feet breaking the soft moonlight on the ground as she ran forward, her little tail bobbing up and down.
’Isn’t that the way to the kitchen courtyard?’
Following behind Tushan Jing Ci, Yue Shi frowned, wondering to herself what the Young Miss was going there to do.
Before long, Tushan Jing Ci arrived in front of a woodshed.
Tushan Jing Ci looked left and right, and once she was sure no one was around, she reached out and knocked on the door.
Inside the woodshed, Xiao Mo, who had been woken by the knocking, rubbed his eyes, climbed down from a pile of firewood, and opened the wooden door.
The moment the door opened, moonlight streamed through the doorway, falling upon the little girl’s silvery-white hair and fluffy tail.
The bright glow illuminated the hem of the fox-eared girl’s dress. Her big, sparkling eyes, reflecting the serene moonlight, blinked.
At this moment, she was like a sprite beneath the moon.
"Young Miss? What are you doing here?" Xiao Mo asked in surprise.
"It’s me, it’s me," Tushan Jing Ci said, nodding happily.
"Are you trying to run away from the estate again?" Xiao Mo asked.
"Of course not," Tushan Jing Ci pouted. "I came to play with you tonight."
"Play with me?" A hint of hesitation appeared on Xiao Mo’s face.
"What’s wrong?" Seeing Xiao Mo’s seemingly troubled expression, Tushan Jing Ci’s happy mood faltered, and even her wagging tail drooped. "You don’t want to play with me?"
"Of course not. It’s just... is it really okay for you to be out this late, Young Miss? I’m afraid you’ll get punished again," Xiao Mo explained.
"Don’t worry, it’ll be fine! Even though I haven’t started on the Path of Cultivation, I can still use a bit of my Fox Race’s Lifebound Divine Abilities. Sister Yue Shi is a little dense; she’ll never find out I snuck away. I’ll just play for a bit and then head back. It’ll definitely be okay. I’ve done this lots of times before."
Tushan Jing Ci waved her little hand, her expression as cute and confident as ever.
"But, Young Miss... I’m from the Human Race..." Xiao Mo said, resigned.
"Is there a difference between the Human Race and the Demon Race?" Tushan Jing Ci tilted her head slightly. "Don’t you look the same as me? You just don’t have a tail, that’s all. It’s okay, I don’t mind that you don’t have a tail."
"Alright then." Hearing the little girl’s words, Xiao Mo chuckled and stepped aside. "Please come in, Young Miss."
"Mhm."
Tushan Jing Ci walked into the woodshed.
"I wonder what you would like to play, Young Miss?" Xiao Mo asked.
"Eh? That’s right, what should we play?" Tushan Jing Ci bit her finger, her fox ears twitching. "Xiao Mo, what do you usually play?"
"After I finish my work in the kitchen courtyard, I usually just go back to my room to rest, or listen to Master Niu and the others chat. There’s not much to play," Xiao Mo replied.
"Ah... then... then what do we do...? What’s fun to play?" Tushan Jing Ci lowered her little head, appearing to think very hard.
"Oh, I’ve got it!" The fox-eared girl’s tail suddenly perked up. She said happily, "How about this, Xiao Mo? You can tell me about the stuff Master Niu and the others chat about!"
"Well..." Xiao Mo looked troubled.
’The main reason was that Master Niu and those other crude men only told off-color jokes—things like "a milk cow’s chest," "a Cat Demon’s waist," and "a hippo’s butt." How could he possibly repeat that kind of talk to her?’
"Or... how about I play tic-tac-toe with you, Young Miss?" Xiao Mo suddenly suggested.
"Okay, okay! As long as someone plays with me, I’m happy. But Xiao Mo, what’s tic-tac-toe?" Tushan Jing Ci asked curiously.
"For tic-tac-toe, you just draw a grid. You can draw circles, and I’ll draw crosses. Like this..."
Xiao Mo picked up two twigs, handed one to Tushan Jing Ci, then squatted down and drew a grid on the ground, showing her how to play.
"That looks like fun! Let’s play this."
The rules were very simple, so Tushan Jing Ci understood right away.
"Okay." Xiao Mo smiled and nodded, then drew a new grid. "You can go first, Young Miss."
"Mhm."
Tushan Jing Ci nodded her head and was about to make her mark.
"Wait!"
Suddenly, as if she’d thought of something, the little girl looked up at Xiao Mo.
"What is it, Young Miss?" Xiao Mo asked.
"Xiao Mo, since we’re playing a game together now, does that mean we’re friends?" Tushan Jing Ci asked expectantly.
Xiao Mo smiled gently. "If the Young Miss is willing, then of course I can be your friend."
"Really? You’re the one who said it!"
Tushan Jing Ci’s beautiful fox eyes curved into crescents.
"Then from now on, you’re my friend for life."
"And that can never, ever change~"