Chapter 2: The Puzzle (13)
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“Knock, knock, knock…”
The knocking wasn’t loud, but it was relentless.
This made the male character, who initially hoped to play dead, finally get up with a sigh of resignation.
He motivated himself, thinking, even if it’s a weird creature, as long as it’s in the manor, that guy wouldn’t dare to misbehave.
After some serious pep talk with himself, he slowly opened the door.
As expected, the creature he’d seen at noon was smiling right in front of him.
“What do you want in the middle of the night?” The male character’s voice trembled uncontrollably.
He quickly noticed his unease and coughed lightly, trying to keep it cool in front of the old man.
The old man looked around,
Lanterns hung down the corridor, their flickering candlelight dancing in the dark, making the shadows shift, so the male character couldn’t see the old man’s face clearly.
“Do you remember your name?” the old man asked.
“Of course! My name is Lin… Lin…”
Suddenly, he blanked on his own name. How utterly unscientific!
Instead, the nicknames given to him by the other little animals were swirling in his head, reminding him they called him Big Tail because of his lovely tail.
He never thought twice about it and accepted the nickname with glee.
“Right! My name is Big Tail,” the male character finally admitted.
The old man handed him a carefully polished copper mirror. “Take a look at what you look like now.”
The male character instinctively took the mirror and looked inside…
Thunder struck in his mind, “Boom! Boom!”—he nearly stumbled and fell.
“Who is this? Who the heck is this?!”
Reflected in the copper mirror was clearly a furry little creature, somewhat resembling a chibi big bad wolf, with a big, fluffy golden tail sticking out behind it.
The old man sighed, “That’s you! Didn’t you know?”
The male character shook his head vigorously.
“This… this is impossible… this absolutely can’t be me… I… how am I looking like this?!”
This sudden shock scattered his thoughts like confetti.
Only now did he realize he hadn’t seen a mirror the whole time he’d been in the manor.
No, no, this can’t be right!
With a bang, he threw open the door and raced into the bedroom.
At that moment, Luo Ying, lying in bed, had just woken up. Rubbing her eyes, she sleepily said, “What’s going on in the middle of the night, making all this racket?”
The male character was completely dumbfounded because the one speaking to him was an exquisite fox.
Had he lost his mind, or had the world gone mad?
He distinctly remembered that for the past few days, they had been inseparable, and now she had turned into a fox, when did that happen?!
“Big Tail, what are you looking at? Is something wrong?”
“You called me what?”
“Big Tail, isn’t that your name?”
“No, no, think again!”
“Can’t think of anything… you’re just Big Tail.”
“Red Lips, you silly creature!”
Wait… how come he called a fox “Red Lips” so smoothly?
No, she seemed to have another name, definitely not “Red Lips.”
In that moment of mental chaos, it felt as if a drill had been applied to his temples, and it shattered all previous understanding.
Just then, as the male character was on the floor in confusion,
a multitude of footsteps echoed from outside the door.
“Quick, catch that strange creature!”
Stumbling toward the window, the male character saw that the old man had already disappeared, but the Squirrel Butler, along with a group of little animals, was searching the manor with torches.
Seeing the male character’s grim look, the Squirrel Butler asked, “Big Tail, did that creature bother you?”
The male character instinctively wanted to nod but rationality made him maintain his calm.
“No, I came out because I heard your voices.”
The Squirrel Butler said seriously, “You must never engage with strange creatures without the master’s permission.”
“Right, Butler.”
The Squirrel Butler and the others continued their search for the creature.
Outside the courtyard, tall shadows intermittently blocked the moonlight spilling over the manor.
As the male character observed these familiar sights, it suddenly struck him for the first time—why was he even here?
Why had he only just realized his appearance after looking at the copper mirror?
Hadn’t he thought about this before?
“Red Lips… no…”
With great effort, the male character finally extracted the name “Luo Ying” from his mind and called it out.
However, the fox had no reaction to the name Luo Ying at all.
“Who’s Luo Ying? Is she another woman?”
The male character nodded, “Yes!”
The fox seemed deeply disturbed, jumping up from the bed, delivering a swift slap to his face.
“Tell me where she is! How dare you sneak around with another woman behind my back?”
The male character took the slap firmly, fur flying through the air, the absurdity of the scene was almost terrifying.
In the next moment, the male character made an incomprehensible decision.
Right now, he needed to take the fox and leave the manor immediately.
The firelight in the garden gradually faded, and he had no idea if the Squirrel Butler found the strange creature in the end.
But that creature had thrown him into a whirl of confusion with just two sentences, making him feel that his current life was so surreal.
He distinctly remembered he had no tail.
Now, not only did he have a fluffy tail, but even his name had been replaced by “Big Tail.”
Ha! If he stayed here any longer, come morning, the memories associated with this confusion would probably vanish without a trace.
He’d revert to a blissfully ignorant life.
This… was terrifying.
“Red Lips, I’ll take you to find Luo Ying, okay?”
The fox furiously stomped her foot on his forehead, “Fine! I want to see what kind of woman this is who dares to flirt with my husband!”
Once the Squirrel Butler and others left the garden, the male character carefully led the fox to the wall.
At this moment, the fox seemed to have forgotten all her training, and besides being somewhat nimble, could hardly handle a sword at all.
Staring at the dark blade hanging at her waist, she looked stunned, “What’s this?”
“When we see the mistress, you’ll need to vent your frustrations, right? That sword is what I prepared for you.”
“Hmph, at least you have a bit of conscience.”
The two climbed over the wall, one after the other.
But just as they landed, even the slow-witted little fox felt a flicker of fear, clutching the male character’s arm tightly.
The massive shadows that had been wandering outside suddenly seemed to smell something delicious and turned their heads in synchronization towards them.
The male character gulped, suddenly realizing that climbing out at this moment might not have been the most mature decision.
