translator: baumkuchen 

At this moment, Yin Xun finally understood that, from the very beginning, he and Lu Qingjiu hadn't been talking about the same thing. Looking at the unreadable expression on Bai Yuehu's face, Yin Xun simply wanted to leave Lu Qingjiu behind and slip away by himself.  Lu Qingjiu still didn't understand why Yin Xun's expression looked so pained, he was still asking, "What did you say? What confession? Who's confessing?"

Pained, Yin Xun put his face in his palms, his expression reading "I can't bear to look directly at you".

Next to them, Bai Yuehu quietly sat there and watched the two interact. When his gaze fell upon Lu Qingjiu, his black pupils gleamed slightly.

Yin Xun refused to say anything else, so Lu Qingjiu thought he was just spazzing out like usual, and thus didn't pay him any more mind, instead turning to look at Bai Yuehu. He wanted to deal with the matter of the tails as soon as possible, to make clear the reason behind Bai Yuehu's tails falling off. Whether it was like Su Yan had said, that Bai Yuehu's life was coming to an end, or if there was some other reason.

"Yuehu, is what Su Yan said true?" Lu Qingjiu asked, "He said that only foxes who are reaching the end of their lifespans will have their tails fall off."

Bai Yuehu was silent for a moment. He said, "Most foxes are like this."

Lu Qingjiu, "Ah?"

Bai Yuehu said, "But I'm a special type of fox."

Lu Qingjiu, "…"

Bai Yuehu said, "So you don't need to worry about me dying."

Hearing this, Lu Qingjiu was indeed a lot more at ease. He asked, "Really?"

Bai Yuehu nodded. 

Lu Qingjiu said, "Then that's good." He laughed, then, in what seemed to be an offhand remark, said, "I almost thought that these tails weren't yours."

Bai Yuehu, "…"

Yin Xun, "…"

After Lu Qingjiu said this, Bai Yuehu gave Yin Xun an expressionless look. Yin Xun forced a smile on his face. That smile basically looked even worse than if he was crying. Following Bai Yuehu, Lu Qingjiu also glanced over at Yin Xun. "Yin Xun, Bai Yuehu's not going to die, what are you crying about?"

Yin Xun thought to himself, of course Bai Yuehu wasn't going to die, the one who was going to die was clearly himself. Of course, he didn't dare to say this, just forcing himself to pull up the corners of his mouth in a fake smile that couldn't look any faker if he tried. "Ha ha, ha ha, of course I'm happy for Bai Yuehu!"

Lu Qingjiu "oh"-ed. Finally, he summed up the matter, "So Bai Yuehu is actually a special type of fox, so him losing his tails is fine?"

Yin Xun painfully nodded. Bai Yuehu let out an indifferent "en".

"Then you guys can go play, I'll be going to the kitchen to cook now." Lu Qingjiu stood up, efficiently putting an end to the topic, and turned and went into the kitchen.

Yin Xun originally wanted to follow him, but Bai Yuehu shot him a look, silently telling him to stay behind. Even though Yin Xun was afraid, he could only cry on the inside as he sat back down on the stool, panic stricken.

Lu Qingjiu's figure disappeared out the door to the living room, leaving Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun just looking at each other.

"You know what to say, right?" Bai Yuehu spoke.

"I know I know," Yin Xun said firmly, "Bai-dage, I absolutely won't expose you!" —Just look at your crisis this time, wasn't it because you used cheap counterfeit tails of inferior quality!

Bai Yuehu said, "En. Go, then."

Yin Xun stood up and hurried into the kitchen, not daring to spend even another second alone with Bai Yuehu.

In the kitchen, Lu Qingjiu's head was lowered as he picked vegetables. Upon hearing the sound of Yin Xun's footsteps approaching, he didn't turn around. After quietly walking over to Lu Qingjiu, Yin Xun was just planning on asking him what he was planning on cooking when he heard Lu Qingjiu, his head still lowered, ask very calmly, "What is Bai Yuehu?"

Yin Xun, "…"

Lu Qingjiu continued, "He's not a fox, right?" He hadn't seen Bai Yuehu original form before, so he had no way of telling what he was from that, but he just didn't understand why Bai Yuehu kept concealing his ident.i.ty. Was his original form very special?

A layer of gooseb.u.mps formed on Yin Xun's back from Lu Qingjiu's question. He could even feel Bai Yuehu's gaze piercing through the wall and into him. In the event that he gave him the wrong answer, today's lunch would probably be his last meal.

In the end, under the threat of immense power, Yin Xun, a helpless, pitiful and weak mountain G.o.d, ended up betraying his good friend and the pitiful remains of his conscience. He said, "Bai Yuehu is a fox."

Lu Qingjiu turned to look at Yin Xun.

Yin Xun pretended to be calm. "What are you looking at me for?"

Lu Qingjiu, "Oh… Even though curiosity isn't a good thing, I really am very curious."

Yin Xun, "…"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this." He felt like Bai Yuehu indeed wasn't a fox, but he truly didn't understand why Bai Yuehu's original form was such a taboo to him, as if if he let someone else know, something terrible would happen. However, since Bai Yuehu was this unwilling to confess, then he was simply too lazy to ask further. As long as he knew that Bai Yuehu's life wasn't in danger, everything was fine. Besides, now that Bai Yuehu and his tails had separated, wouldn't he be able to happily hug the tails to sleep on his own, and not have to squeeze into the same bed with Bai Yuehu? Thinking about it like this, Lu Qingjiu even felt the slight urge to laugh.

Seeing the unreadable look on his face, Yin Xun thought that he was upset, and began nagging, "Jiu-er, there are some things that you'll be happier not knowing!"

Lu Qingjiu, "Is he some kind of insect or some other creepy-crawly?"

Yin Xun shook his head minutely. "Of course not, he's a fox, a fox."

Lu Qingjiu, "Why a fox?"

Yin Xun said, "Who wouldn't like a soft, fluffy fox?" Especially when talking about superficial humans.

Lu Qingjiu actually found this quite reasonable. Even though he didn't want to admit it, when he'd seen Bai Yuehu's big fluffy tails in the beginning, he had indeed felt very happy on the inside, even a little excited. The allure of those nine fluffy tails was truly too strong…

Lu Qingjiu said, "Alright, let's have scrambled eggs with green peppers for lunch."

Yin Xun, "…" Aren't you changing topics a little too fast.

Bai Yuehu had originally thought that Lu Qingjiu would continue to raise doubts about his ident.i.ty, but who knew that after this, Lu Qingjiu didn't bring it up even once, as if he hadn't noticed anything at all. But there was one thing that made Bai Yuehu a little discontented, it was that Lu Qingjiu treated his tails much more warmly than he did him…

At night when he slept, Lu Qingjiu would happily cuddle his tails as he curled up under his quilt, rubbing his face against them, rubbing and rubbing until he fell asleep.

When he had lost his tails, Bai Yuehu had simultaneously lost his right to sleep in the Kang together with Lu Qingjiu, and was urged into sleeping in the guest room next door— After all, he didn't have any problems with the cold.

After a few days like this, Lu Qingjiu was still lost in the village of softness, unable to extricate himself. But one day, while he was still deep asleep, Bai Yuehu walked into his room and stared at the sleeping Lu Qingjiu, his expression unreadable.

The next morning, Lu Qingjiu woke up in an empty bed. Feeling like something was missing, he reached out and felt around, only to come to the horrified realisations that his tails… ah, no, it should be Bai Yuehu's tails, had gone missing.

"Yuehu, Yuehu," Still in his pajamas and slippers Lu Qingjiu, having lost those big tails, rushed into Bai Yuehu's room, calling out, "There's a huge problem!"

Bai Yuehu said, "What's wrong?"

"Your tails have gone missing!" Lu Qingjiu said, "I clearly had them in my arms when I fell asleep last night, but when I got up this morning, your tails were gone!"

Bai Yuehu, "Gone?"

"They're really gone," Lu Qingjiu said anxiously, "I searched the whole room, but I couldn't find them."

"Don't worry," Bai Yuehu comforted Lu Qingjiu, "Come spring, I'll have new tails again."

Lu Qingjiu, "…Hah?"

Bai Yuehu, "Just wait a while."

Lu Qingjiu's eyes widened. From Bai Yuehu's tone, he found that he really wasn't joking. "You can grow new ones?"

Bai Yuehu, "Of course."

Lu Qingjiu was simply stunned. This was his first time hearing that foxes could regrow their tails after they fell off. Could it be that Bai Yuehu's real form wasn't a fox, but a big lizard? But hadn't Yin Xun said that Bai Yuehu wasn't a creepy-crawly…

After losing the tails, it was as if Lu Qingjiu had lost his soul. And what was even worse was that the little fox had been brought back home bby Su Yan, so in this short winter, he had lost his two most precious soul-soothing treasures.

Lu Qingjiu was. .h.i.t really hard by this.

That afternoon, Bai Yuehu and Yin Xun had the rare meal of instant noodles for lunch.

Yin Xun stared at the instant noodle cup in front of him. Picking up some noodles with a fork and slurping them down, he asked quietly, "What did you do?"

Bai Yuehu, "…"

Yin Xun said, "When Jiu-er's in a bad mood, we have to eat instant noodles."

Bai Yuehu hesitated a little. "I took the tails back, and told him they'd only come back in spring."

Yin Xun, "Why?"

Even without justice on his side, Bai Yuehu was still confident in his convictions, "He spends all day hugging those tails."

Yin Xun was stunned. "If he can't hug those tails, what is he supposed to do, hug you?"

Bai Yuehu, "I'm not against that."

Yin Xun, "…" But Lu Qingjiu is! Of course, he didn't dare to say that. He took a sip of soup to help himself calm down a little, and keep himself from saying something he wouldn't be able to take back. He thought for a moment, then said, "How about this, why don't you get out a pair of ears, and let Lu Qingjiu touch them for a while to satisfy his urges. He really likes fluffy things, you know this…"

Bai Yuehu frowned.

Yin Xun, "Otherwise, he might cut his finger in a daze when cooking!"

These words finally moved Bai Yuehu. He nodded, agreeing to Yin Xun's suggestion.

So, that night, Lu Qingjiu, who had spent all day in low spirits, saw Bai Yuehu suddenly sit down in front of him with a serious expression on his face. Lu Qingjiu was given a shock by his expression. Just as he was about to ask him what had happened, he heard Bai Yuehu said, "Even though my tails are gone, you can still make do with my ears." —After all, the ears couldn't fall off.

As his words fell, two fluffy ears popped up on his head. They were pure white and fluffy, and even shook once lightly, sending Lu Qingjiu into a daze from looking at them. He said, "Can, can I touch them?"

Bai Yuehu, "You can."

As soon as he said that, Lu Qingjiu reached out his hands, one right, one left, and firmly grabbed onto the two ears. Those ears were warm, feeling both soft and warm when he squeezed them, like two hand warmers.

"So… so soft," Lu Qingjiu said, "Bai Yuehu, you're too cute." Who cared what Bai Yuehu was, as long as he could grow ears and tails, he would forever be the most beautiful fox spirit in his heart. If Yin Xun were to know what Lu Qingjiu was thinking, he could probably harshly scold Lu Qingjiu, this superficial human.

Bai Yuehu calmly accepted Lu Qingjiu's praise. He said, "Sleep."

Lu Qingjiu nodded blissfully.

Finally, with Yin Xun's suggestion, Bai Yuehu successfully returned to Lu Qingjiu's bed. Even though the price he had to pay was revealing his ears for Bai Yuehu to pinch, this couldn't be considered much of a price, Bai Yuehu didn't care at all.

baum: it's hard being Yin Xun.