Volume 3 Chapter 257
by Need_More_SleepVolume 3 + Chapter 257: That, That, That
Xia Yi listened to Yue Liu’s explanation.
“Is it that kind of thing?”
“Of course. What I hate most is owing you a favor. Don’t forget what our relationship is!”
Yue Liu emphasized:
“You and I are destined to be lifelong entangled rivals!”
Xia Yi herself couldn’t quite understand why the little fox was so fixated on her.
Although she always liked to say things like dragons and foxes are enemies…
But the dragon clan didn’t seem to care much about the fox clan.
At least she hadn’t heard Xia Lulu mention the fox clan much — she simply didn’t care.
Could it be that she was still unwilling to accept having been defeated by Xia Yi before?
That must be it.
“Mm hm, fine — I’ll accept that for now!” Xia Yi nodded.
“What do you mean ‘for now’? It has always been like that. Could we possibly develop into any other kind of relationship? Hmph!”
The little fox turned her face away.
Then, as if searching for something, she rummaged for a moment and produced a map.
“Here, take it.”
“What is this…”
Xia Yi took it and saw it was a map of the human world.
Several spots were marked and circled in red, very conspicuous.
One of those spots was very close to here.
“Go straight to this place,” the little fox pointed at the nearest mark, “when you arrive there, members of our fox clan will come to pick you up. I’ve cast an illusion on you — use my identity my kin will secretly escort you back to our fox homeland.”
“Through this water route?”
“Yes. My kin are there. Have them take you away — that will avoid searches in the human world.”
The little fox patiently explained to Xia Yi:
“After leaving the human world, find an excuse for my kin to make landfall, then jump ship and leave. Afterwards, leave this note.”
Yue Liu produced another slip of paper.
On it were Yue Liu’s notes roughly it said she suddenly wanted to go out and play, let her kin return to the homeland on their own, don’t worry about her — she’d come back after she’d had enough fun.
“Although I cast the illusion for you, over time there’s a good chance my kin might detect it. That would cause trouble for both you and me. So once you leave the human world, find an excuse to disembark. Anyway, as long as you leave the Rhine Kingdom, you should be able to get back to the dragon world on your own, right?” Yue Liu finished explaining.
Xia Yi was surprised — the little fox had thought this through so thoroughly, even planning how to send her away.
“So fox radish really cares about me after all!”
Fox radish flushed instantly, steam seeming to rise from her head, her ears drooping.
“I do not! This is… this is… I told you, it’s repayment for the favor before! This way, the next time I meet you I can give my all without resentment, use my full strength to crush you!”
Xia Yi wondered how important that money she’d given the little fox could really be.
She’d said the fox clan prized pride and wouldn’t accept help from dragons?
Maybe that was the case.
“Wait and see, my rival. Next time we meet, it will be absolute hostility! Whether due to our fate or the conflict between foxes and dragons, there will be a battle!”
“So the fight will be next time…”
“Exactly!”
The little fox hastily flipped up her pink sidehair and struck a handsome pose to hide her blushing.
“From the start I decided I would fight my rival. Between us, one must win and one must lose… The victor rules, the loser eats dust! The loser will be crushed beneath!”
Xia Yi felt the little fox’s fighting spirit. “Fine, I definitely won’t lose!”
“All right, go quickly, travel under cover of night you should arrive soon.”
“Mm, then—see you next time, fox radish~”
After parting with Yue Liu, Xia Yi headed toward the spot marked on the map.
But the little fox followed, looking a bit awkward.
“…”
“Seems like… you have something else to say?” Xia Yi asked.
“Are you really just going to leave like that?” The little fox seemed to be waiting for Xia Yi to say something.
Xia Yi was puzzled, stood there thinking for a while, and still didn’t get what the other meant.
The little fox held out her hand and whispered, “G-give me…!”
“Give you what?”
“That thing!”
“That thing?”
“Yes, that thing!!” The little fox found it hard to say, embarrassed to speak directly, “that-that-that-that!”
“That-that-that?” Xia Yi was baffled.
“Are you doing this on purpose?!” The little fox looked like she was about to lose it.
But Xia Yi still couldn’t understand.
Finally, she gave up and shouted out, “The bedsheet!! My — that bedsheet!”
“Oh!!”
Xia Yi realized. It was the bedsheet the little fox had once drawn on the map with — the famous work by Meowing Fox.
“I left it in our dormitory, tucked away in —” Xia Yi leaned close to the little fox’s ear and whispered where exactly.
“Is it hidden there? No, I must hurry back and destroy it!!”
Saying that, the little fox ran off — surely back to Laurel Academy to deal with that bedsheet that affected her dignity as fox clan princess.
“Then I should hurry and find fox radish’s kin too.”
…
…
Xia Yi arrived at the rendezvous Yue Liu had marked — a human city by the river.
It happened to be dawn when she arrived the city was gray and there were few people.
After a while, a voice asked, “Are you Her Highness the Princess?”
Xia Yi turned and saw an adult woman wearing a straw hat.
By appearance she looked human, but she was probably using an illusion.
She was one of Yue Liu’s kin.
“Yes,” Xia Yi said, “let’s go. It’s time to return home.”
“…”
The woman in the straw hat looked at Xia Yi suspicion flashed across her gaze.
Huh? That’s odd. According to fox radish’s description, the illusion should hold for a while before her kin might detect it.
Now, in the other’s eyes, Xia Yi should be completely the image of the Nine-Tailed Fox princess.
(Yue Liu personally cast the illusion — there shouldn’t be a flaw.)
So why did this woman still doubt her? Could it be…?
Xia Yi seemed to realize something. Her mouth curved into a smile she leapt onto a mooring post, turned slightly, and lifted a hand to cup her cheek as if one eye were aching.
“What’s the matter, my compatriot? Why do you hesitate instead of swiftly ferrying me to the other shore of paradise, like a lost, wavering spirit?”
Hearing that, the straw-hatted woman immediately smiled, the suspicion melting away as she adopted fox-clan etiquette: “Indeed—you are our Princess!”