Touching Porcelain Again
Ignoring the two childish ghosts arguing, Lu Congxing slowly climbed onto the dining table and curled up to groom himself.
Even though he was slender in human form, every time he transformed into an animal, he looked like a fluffy, round ball.
Yingying lay on a chair, wide-eyed, watching him carefully lick his bright red tail. If you ignored its terrifying face, the scene from behind looked just like a sweet moment between a little girl and her fox.
Unfortunately, the view from the front was more like a horror story.
After grooming his tail, Lu Congxing tried to clean his big ears, but they were out of reach—so he had to resort to washing them the way a kitten washes its face.
Only after thoroughly cleaning himself from head to toe did that restless, animal instinct finally settle down.
“Master, when will you turn back?” Yingying asked.
Lu Congxing thought for a moment. “Yip yip.”
The moment he opened his mouth, only soft babyish sounds came out.
Frustrated, he shut his mouth again.
Thankfully, the master-familiar contract could translate for the puppet ghost. Realization dawned on Yingying: “Oh! You need to absorb that Bai Ze’s spiritual energy to recover faster, right? I’ll go catch him for you right now!”
Watching him gear up like he was about to fight, Lu Congxing felt a little concerned.
Could it be that this ghost wasn’t just missing memories… but also missing some brain cells?
How had it already forgotten getting flattened by He Zhouyan?
The mirror ghost reappeared just in time in the reflection of a nearby vase, sneering, “You? You’re not even enough to get stuck in Bai Ze’s teeth.”
Fuming, Yingying still managed to calm himself.
“Then you say it! What should we do?” he snapped, puffing himself up. Ever since signing a contract with Lu Congxing, he had gotten noticeably bolder with the mirror ghost.
The mirror ghost’s expression stayed cold. He was already holding a grudge—after all, he had once asked Lu Congxing if he could become his puppet ghost too, but had been rejected. Yet this random malevolent ghost had easily signed a contract with him.
He couldn’t understand what he was lacking compared to that fool. The only real difference was that he couldn’t leave the mirror or move around freely.
Since he couldn’t win with strength, he had to win with brains.
The mirror ghost cleared his throat and beckoned lazily, “Come here.”
So Lu Congxing watched as his two more or less domesticated ghosts huddled together, whispering conspiratorially for a long time.
He gave a satisfied smile—looked like the two of them had finally learned to get along.
The kindergarten leader Lu Congxing was very pleased.
And then Yingying picked him up.
Still clinging to a small mirror—who knew where it had come from—the mirror ghost had moved inside it.
Yingying looked excited. “Master! I figured out how to help you absorb that Bai Ze’s spiritual energy!”
Before the little fox in his arms could react, Yingying had already bolted out the door.
It was late at night and the streets were mostly empty, but Yingying still chose to take the stairs.
Lu Congxing, who had fully embraced the go-with-the-flow lifestyle, nestled in his arms and asked curiously, “Why aren’t we taking the elevator?”
Even if they did run into someone, no one could see Yingying—or the stuff a ghost was carrying.
Yingying paused. “We malevolent ghosts can’t take elevators. They always break when we do.”
Suddenly, a lot of horror stories involving elevators started to make sense…
Lu Congxing gave a sympathetic “Hmm” in response.
By the time Yingying’s stubby legs got them down to the first floor, several minutes had passed. There he stood at the entrance of the complex, holding Lu Congxing and letting the wind blow through them dramatically.
Lu Congxing had a bad feeling. “You’re not planning to take me straight to He Zhouyan, are you?”
Yingying looked completely unfazed. As a ghost, it was highly sensitive to Bai Ze’s divine presence. Patting the fox’s ears, it said excitedly, “I can feel it—that Bai Ze is almost here!”
Lu Congxing: …Yeah, I can feel it too.
It was impossible to ignore, because Yingying’s legs were shaking like crazy.
Despite being terrified of Bai Ze, it still came down here for him. Lu Congxing was mildly touched—for about a second—before he started wriggling to get away.
“Yip yip yip!” I can’t face him! No wait—you can’t face him!
Yingying blinked. “Why not? I’ll just pretend to be a little girl and hand you over to him. An ancient divine beast like him wouldn’t be able to refuse!”
That only made Lu Congxing struggle harder.
“Yip yip yip!” Who in their right mind would believe you’re a little girl?!
What kind of “little girl” had a face full of ghostly energy, hollow black eye sockets, and a creepy jagged smile?
He yelped in his soft baby fox voice and slapped Yingying’s face twice with his fluffy tail in protest.
But it was more like a gentle pat than an actual slap—his fur was way too soft to be intimidating.
And so, when He Zhouyan stepped into the complex, the first thing he saw was a ghost… bullying a baby fox.
He paused for a moment, then started walking toward them.
He wasn’t usually the meddling type, but when he saw those big, watery eyes on the little fox, he just… couldn’t help himself.
As a Bai Ze, his divine aura was instinctively terrifying to all malevolent ghosts. Yingying froze, gave a violent shudder, and—completely spineless—dropped the fox and ran away before He Zhouyan even got close.
Lu Congxing: …
He had fully expected that idiot Yingyingto get recognized, and then he would be exposed too. But apparently, He Zhouyan hadn’t made the connection at all—hadn’t realized that Yingying was the same “little girl” from the illusion.
Or maybe… he’d never cared enough to remember in the first place.
He Zhouyan stared at the little fox at his feet—a small, fluffy bundle that looked completely stunned, as if it had been frightened senseless.
Well, this was the normal reaction animals should have when they saw him. The hedgehog and puppy he’d met earlier had been exceptions.
He was already used to this sort of thing. Lifting a foot, he was about to step around it and move on.
Lu Congxing watched the man’s retreating back and suddenly had a revelation.
So what if he was touching porcelain? It’s not like it’s the first time anyway!
“Yip yip!”
And just like that, a ball of red fluff clung to the back of He Zhouyan’s leg.
He raised an eyebrow. “Touching porcelain, huh?”
Lu Congxing blinked innocently. “Yip yip?”
What are you talking about? This little fox doesn’t understand. This little fox would never have bad intentions.
Triple denial.
He Zhouyan reached down and picked up the little fox clinging to his leg. With one large hand, he lifted it into the air.
He gently weighed it in his palm—it was so light, like holding a cloud, almost as if it had no weight at all.
Thinking of the little hedgehog that had mysteriously vanished after showing up at his house, He Zhouyan’s eyes grew sharp with suspicion.
But his hand still held the fox gently.
Lu Congxing easily wriggled out of his grip and climbed up his arm, settling onto his shoulder and flicking his big fluffy tail like he owned the place.
Like he’d done it a hundred times.
He Zhouyan concealed the doubt in his eyes and casually strolled toward home.
Perched on his shoulder, Lu Congxing secretly took a few deep breaths of spiritual energy.
After spending so much time near He Zhouyan this morning, he just needed to top off a little more to fully stabilize his energy.
As soon as the elevator doors were about to close, he seized the moment and leapt off in a flash, slipping through the narrow gap like some kind of non-Newtonian fluid.
The whole thing took two seconds.
By the time He Zhouyan realized what had happened, the soft, warm weight on his shoulder was already gone.
He lowered his gaze in silence, turning the small bell he wore. Even though it was just for a brief moment, when he saw the little fox leap away, his heart tightened inexplicably.
But he didn’t chase after it. He simply let the blaze of red vanish from sight.
. . . . .
When Lu Congxing got home, he had already returned to human form. He glanced at his neighbor’s door.
That was where his guardian demon lived—someone who had just returned from the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. And just moments ago, he’d been cuddling on that same person’s shoulder, sneakily absorbing their energy.
At the thought, he quickly averted his gaze, opened his door, and pulled out Yingying from where he was hiding.
The mirror ghost had been staying in the little mirror hanging around Yingying’s neck, but sensing danger, it vanished on the spot—leaving poor Yingying standing there, dazed and confused.
Yingying’s two round, doodle-like eyes had turned into ovals, and suspicious black liquid was leaking out, disguised as tears.
“Ying ying ying, it was all the mirror ghost’s terrible idea! He told me to disguise myself as a little girl and deliver the little fox to Bai Ze! Master, you have to believe I’m innocent!”
But the explanation didn’t work. Lu Congxing, expressionless, summoned a small flame and gave it a good beating, nearly turning it back into a lump of black slime.
It was finally rescued by the diligent panda alarm clock, who showed up right on time to supervise the cub’s bedtime.
Since he had already slept during the day, Lu Congxing lay in bed and pulled out his phone.
There were a lot of messages from various demon, all asking the same thing—about Bai Ze.
Hu Jiujiu: [Wuwuwu, Xing Cub! Did Bai Ze really become your guardian?]
Feng Huang1: [Cub! If Bai Ze ever bullies you, you have to tell us!]
Tian Ma2: [Cub, is Bai Ze scary? Don’t worry—I won’t give up submitting a guardianship application to the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs!]
There were so many similar messages, even Di Jiang had sent several.
Lu Congxing carefully replied to each one:
[I wasn’t threatened, scared, or bullied.]
[Mr. He is an auspicious beast, and he’s very kind to me.]
As he was replying, he noticed one message that stood out from the rest:
Gu: [Do you have time lately?]
He didn’t expect Gu Hanyin to message him first.
Lu Congxing blinked and replied: [What’s up?]
The reply came instantly.
Gu: [Little charlatan, why did you take so long to respond? Don’t tell me you were off doing something dangerous?]
Even though he had already accepted Lu Congxing in his heart, he still liked calling him “little charlatan.”
Lu Congxing slowly typed back: [Too many messages, didn’t see yours.]
This time, Gu Hanyin paused for a few seconds before cutting straight to the point.
[A friend of mine from the same film crew has been having constant nightmares. I wanted to ask if you could take a look.]
[When?]
[The day after tomorrow.]
Nightmares could be caused by all sorts of things—not necessarily something supernatural.
Still, there was no harm in checking it out.
Lu Congxing agreed easily.
Author’s Note:
Lately, the all-knowing Lord Bai Ze has been very puzzled—why has his affinity with animals suddenly improved so much?
- 凤凰 (Fèng Huáng) Phoenix is one of the most important totems of the Chinese nation. According to the “Classic of Mountains and Seas”, the shape of the Phoenix is like an ordinary chicken, with colorful feathers all over the body.
↩︎ - 天马 (Tiān Mǎ) The Pegasus is an image in ancient Chinese mythology, possessing divine powers and the ability to fly. According to the “Classic of Mountains and Seas: Northern Mountains”, the Pegasus was born on the Macheng Mountain. It looks like a white dog with a black head and will fly when it sees a person.
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