Chapter 6

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Chapter 6: Bathing

Cancan felt very clever. She grew up on Shu Mountain where the air was full of immortality, she absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, and she even ate the immortal fruit. With such knowledge of seizing the immortal fruit, who would dare to call her stupid? Cancan thought Hua Qing was bad, couldn’t stand seeing others doing well, couldn’t stand seeing others being smarter than him! Or maybe… Cancan blinked her big eyes and thought to herself, mostly, is it because Hua Qing saw her having the same face as Xian Yue?

Sometimes having a celebrity face is quite painful.

Nevertheless, Cancan decided to hold onto Hua Qing’s thigh tight. Their neighbor, the Wild Wolf Brother, once said, whether being a human or a monster, you must be especially crafty and good at clinging onto thighs.

Now, as the local leader, the Shu Mountain Sect Master was naturally the biggest thigh to cling onto!

Cancan suddenly climbed onto Hua Qing’s thigh, catching him off guard and causing him to stumble. He collected himself and lifted her by the neck, saying, "Once you transform into a human, you should look like a human."

Cancan had just transformed into a human and was not yet used to her limbs. She eagerly asked, "How should a human look?" with humility.

Hua Qing paused for a moment and then said, "It’s up to you!"

Cancan was startled for a moment, tilted her head, and thought. It seemed even he didn’t know, right? Cancan’s eyes wandered, and she noticed the strange stone again. A sudden realization struck her, and she asked, "Could this broken stone be the so-called Three Lives Stone?"

Three Lives Stone, you can see three different lives there. But when you look at it just now, it clearly doesn’t seem like a past life! Cancan scratched her head, feeling confused, but decided not to approach it hastily. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but she felt that the immortal in front of her wasn’t very easy to get along with.

Well, that’s how it is. He may not be easy to get along with, but he’s harmless!

This is Cancan’s conclusion about him.

"You can follow me, but we must set some rules." Hua Qing suddenly spoke.

Cancan quickly nodded.

"You must listen, behave yourself, and study hard." Hua Qing didn’t know why he decided to take her along, but he clearly stated his requirements. Cancan patted her chest, promising she could do it. She was so clever, there was no reason she couldn’t. Hua Qing gave her a stern look and led her away from the underworld.

Cancan thought it was great to follow the immortal, to be able to come to the underworld. Otherwise, as a little demon, she wouldn’t have had this opportunity. But Cancan regretted deeply, why did she forget? She should have gone to sneak a peek at the Book of Life and Death! She needed to know when she would die, right? Cancan felt like she had missed out.

Sometimes she smiled brightly, sometimes she pouted and furrowed her brows. Hua Qing was really watching her closely. Xian Yue was a gentle and delicate woman, even though she later turned to dark magic, she was only ruthless in an exceptional way. But this person in front of him… with the same face, had a completely different nature. Hua Qing made a mental note, even though Three Lives Stone had told him that Cancan was not Xian Yue, with such a similar face, he couldn’t help but worry. He wasn’t someone who would harm innocent people, but if there was doubt in his heart, he had to find out the truth. The best way was to keep Cancan close to him, since she wanted to follow him, he wouldn’t refuse.

"Would you like to be my apprentice?" Thinking about this, Cancan quickly asked, a good background was crucial. If Hua Qing took her as his apprentice, she would be considered well-trained. Great!

Hua Qing said calmly, "I don’t take on apprentices."

Cancan pouted and said, "I’m a good monster, and good monsters can be taken as apprentices, right?"

Hua Qing looked straight ahead and said, "If you want to leave, go ahead!"

By this time, they were already on land. If Cancan wanted to leave, she could, but Hua Qing knew she wouldn’t. Cancan had just transformed into a human form and was confused about everything. Deep down, she was afraid. Despite her tough attitude, the louder she talked, the more scared she actually was. With him around, things were generally better.

Sure enough, even though Cancan was angry and silent, Hua Qing walked ahead while Cancan wrapped herself in a cloak and followed behind. It was unclear how long they had been walking, but she muttered, "He didn’t even give me a title."

Hua Qing tripped for a moment but luckily didn’t fall. Without looking back, he quickened his pace. As they neared the marketplace, he stopped in his tracks.

Cancan sneakily followed behind him and asked, "What’s wrong?"

Hua Qing instructed, "Wait for me here."

Cancan was shocked and said, "Are you going to abandon me? Please, don’t! I’ll behave, I won’t complain anymore. I’m a good fox, I’ve never even eaten a chicken! Sob, sob, sob!" Cancan clung tightly to Hua Qing’s arm, refusing to let go.

Hua Qing made a move, but Cancan didn’t understand what was happening. She was stopped by Hua Qing and he said, "Wait for me!"

She couldn’t walk around in such a silly cloak. Hua Qing quickly came back with a set of clothes. But when he reached a certain point, he stopped. Cancan was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, looking pitiful. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, as if she was a poor little thing abandoned by someone.

Hua Qing was silent for a moment and asked, "What are you doing?" Having been a fairy for a long time, he had forgotten what tears were like. Cancan stopped crying and hurried to his side. She wiped her tears and snot on Hua Qing, who silently avoided her. Cancan scolded, "How could you leave me behind, how could you!"

Hua Qing handed the clothes to Cancan and said, "Go change! Your robe is not convenient."

Cancan gasped in surprise and stared at Hua Qing. Then she looked at the clothes. Biting her lip, she asked in a dazed manner, "Are these really for me?" Her tone was full of disbelief. This was her first new piece of clothing, ever!

Cancan wanted to take the clothes, but felt dirty all over and hesitated. She blushed, lowered her head, rubbed her hands together, and rubbed her feet against each other, unable to take the clothes.

Hua Qing said, "Go and change."

Cancan muttered softly. Hua Qing asked, "What?" and looked at her. "What?"

This time, Cancan’s voice finally raised slightly. With a crimson face, she whispered, "Um… the clothes are too clean!"

Hua Qing looked at Cancan, who was indeed dirty, with patches of dirt on her face, tangled hair, and a wrinkled coat, looking very pitiful, but indeed dirty!

"It will stain the clothes!" Cancan suddenly looked up and said seriously, "I will stain the clothes like this. This…is great." She reached out to touch it, then pulled back, her dark eyes filled with joy. "This is my first piece of clothing!"

Hua Qing looked at her, silent.

Cancan gathered up courage, "Should I take a bath?" Little Fox Cancan, who never liked being clean, felt for the first time that being dirty was inappropriate. She scratched her head. "I need to clean up properly before wearing this new outfit."

Hua Qing still didn’t move, just watching her like that.

Cancan asked cautiously, "No, cannot?"

Hua Qing, "Of course, you can." Hua Qing took Cancan into the city like this, a man with outstanding temperament in white clothes, and a dirty little girl walking together, attracting the attention of onlookers. They came to a place, Hua Qing stopped and told Cancan, "Go inside."

Cancan was a bit confused and asked, "Why?" Cancan had just transformed into a human and didn’t understand many things. Hua Qing explained, "To take a bath."

Cancan wondered, "A bath? Don’t we go to the river for that? Where are you taking me?"

Hua Qing said seriously, "Your hair is all tangled up. Come in and take a good bath for now. I’ll wait for you at the door."

Cancan shook her head, too scared to enter this unfamiliar place. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Then come in with me."

At that moment, Hua Qing suddenly felt like a mother hen, and Cancan was a little chick. A chick that knew nothing and needed care. After some thought, he said in a cold voice, "If you want to go in, then go in. Stop making a fuss."

Cancan pouted and complained, "You are a big bad guy. I know you want to trick me into going in and then sneak away. I can see through your act. Hmph, I’m so clever, how could you deceive me! Bad person!"

Hua Qing coldly looked at Cancan without saying much. Cancan felt uneasy under his gaze and mumbled, "I don’t want to go in by myself, it’s quite scary here!" At last, she spoke the truth.

Hua Qing let out a barely audible sigh. Cancan was a very timid fox. She had lived on Shu Mountain for many years and hardly ever went anywhere else. So, this place was extremely unfamiliar and scary to her, representing the unknown.

"Do you want me to throw you in?"

Cancan suddenly kneeled on the ground and directly hugged Hua Qing’s thigh, rubbing her dirty face against his pants leg forcefully. "I won’t go in to bathe here."

Their actions attracted the attention of the crowd. Hua Qing was speechless and said in a low voice, "Get up." There was already a strong anger in his tone. He couldn’t understand why Cancan, this little monster, could make him so angry easily. After careful thought, he hadn’t been angry for hundreds of years. Was it because he never encountered a fool like her before?

Cancan’s dirty face rubbed against Hua Qing’s white clothes. She sneakily thought to herself, "You left me behind, now I’ll make your clothes dirty."

Hua Qing couldn’t understand Cancan’s thoughts and just looked up at the sky speechless. Finally, he grabbed Cancan by her collar and quickly left. Cancan, feeling guilty, said, "Are you planning to turn me into a fur coat?"

Hua Qing almost ditched her. With a sneer, he said, "At least you know your place, thinking you could become a fur coat."

Cancan quickly nodded, "It’s not that I don’t like being clean, it’s just that being dirty might make people avoid hunting me. If I were clean and white, I might have been someone’s coat already. No way!" She felt very clever.

Hua Qing fell silent, but soon they arrived at the riverbank. Watching the stream flow, Cancan finally realized, "Oh, you brought me here to bathe. You should have just told me, I wouldn’t have struggled so much. I’m a beautiful young lady, you know. In the future, I’ll be a royal concubine."

Hua Qing chuckled, "You think you can be a royal concubine?"

Cancan proudly said, "Who are you to look down on me! One of our relatives is living in the palace, heard they can eat chickens as they please, living a rich life!"

Hua Qing gave her a disdainful look, "Are you really that naive?" Irritated by his scornful eyes, Cancan rolled on the ground, "I’m not stupid, I’m not!"

Hua Qing kicked her, and Cancan tumbled into the water.

Without saying anything, Hua Qing turned away.

Cancan was sitting in the water, feeling a bit strange about the way humans bathed. She decided to take off her cloak, saw a small fish swimming by, quickly caught it, and put it in her mouth. Oh my, it still tasted like meat. This made Cancan remember the little green frog she had spit out yesterday, and it made her feel sad.

Despite the sadness, catching the fish made Cancan happy. She hummed a tune while bathing, feeling very good. Hua Qing sat on the ground with his back against a big tree. Leaning against the trunk, he listened to Cancan’s voice in silence, his eyes calm and peaceful.

"Hua Qing, Hua Qing, celestial Hua Qing, come over and wash my back," Cantin called out.

Hua Qing frowned slightly, "Men and women should wash themselves separately."

Cancan thought Hua Qing was being a bit overly sensitive. What men and women, one was a celestial being and the other a little demon, wasn’t that beyond human differences? However, she didn’t dare argue loudly with Hua Qing, in case he would dislike her. If Hua Qing didn’t want her, the next step for her would be to wander around. After all, she couldn’t stay at Shu Mountain forever.

Thinking of this, Cancan encouraged herself, "Hu Cancan, you can do it!"

Although Hua Qing didn’t turn around, he could hear everything that was being said. His ears twitched slightly, and he lowered his head.

"Hu Cancan, you can do it!" Cancan encouraged herself again, then continued humming while washing. After some time, she heard the sound of water splashing on the lake surface, as if someone had emerged from the water.

Hua Qing stood up, thinking Cancan had finished washing, but just then, he heard Cancan shouting, "Hua Qing, come help me, this clothes… sniff, sniff, I can’t figure out how to put it on!"

Hua Qing, "…"

"Hua Qing, Hua Qing…" the shouting continued.

Hua Qing vowed not to distribute any more fruits, some stupid carryings-on were catching on, only making people angry, yes! He felt colder all over, slowly turned around…