Talulah, I'm still a child.

In Alina and Talulah's eyes, Mei Xue hadn't actually done nothing. He was asleep, yes, sleeping quite soundly. But just as Talulah was about to put him on the bed and cover him with a blanket, the little fox suddenly opened his eyes and affectionately rubbed against his sister's palm.

But no one noticed the faint black lines that flashed across the little fox's clean hand, and his leftmost tail seemed to have a mind of its own.

Chapter 18 The Quite Clever Little Fox

It was another beautiful morning. Talulah had already gotten up and gone to work, while Mei Xue was still sleeping soundly in bed. She had been studying a lot lately and was a little tired. At her age, she needed enough sleep, since the little fox didn't have to go to work or school and didn't have any exams.

"Well……"

Mei Xue yawned lazily, shaking his fluffy fox ears. He felt a little cold without Talulah. His left tail draped over him perfectly, helping to ward off the chill. He hugged the tail to his chest and rubbed against it, sleeping soundly.

"Brother Meixue, are you awake yet?"

Ino knocked gently on the door but received no response. He had come to invite Mei Xue to play together. Last time they played mahjong together, Mei Xue had beaten them all. The kids were determined to get revenge, at least to make Mei Xue lose once.

However, perhaps because she was in such a hurry when she left, Talulah didn't close the door properly. Ino knocked twice and the door opened. The small room contained only some unimportant items. Mei Xue's personal belongings were completely hidden away, as he had stuffed them all into his tail.

However, Ino's gaze was completely drawn to Mei Xue, who was lying on the bed. She was an adorable white fur ball, curled up in a ball with her fluffy tail. Ino carefully approached and then poked Mei Xue's face. As expected, it was very bouncy. The little fox, whose sweet dream was disturbed, frowned slightly, then hugged her tail and shrank back.

Mei Xue's brother is so cute!

Ino couldn't resist reaching out and poking it again, then gently pinching Mei Xue's ear. It was soft and warm, but this action made the little fox open his eyes. Still half asleep, he was a bit dazed and instinctively hugged Ino, then rubbed his face against him, making some strange noises.

"Guru Guru~"

The innocent young boy Li Boli had never seen anything like this before. Ino felt a rush of blood to his head, blushed, pushed Mei Xue away, and ran out.

The little fox, who had been pushed onto the bed, yawned, rubbed his eyes, and became a little more awake.

"Hmm... It's already morning. I think I dreamed about Ino just now."

With her arms outstretched and waist extended, Mei Xue took out a comb and tidied her somewhat messy tail. Then, as usual, she got up to wash up. She had been a bit sleepy these days, but she was in good spirits after waking up and wagged her tail more energetically.

"It seems like there's nothing to do today."

The little fox thought for a moment and realized that he seemed to have a blank period today, with nothing to do. The food in the warehouse was enough to last for several months. Alina and the others were all very busy today, so the little fox was completely free. But where could he spend his abundant energy? He couldn't possibly play mahjong with Ino and the others all day long, that would be too boring, they never won.

You should try to explore your own abilities; the way you're using them is a complete waste of talent.

The sudden sound in his mind startled the little fox. He hugged his tail, which was bristling with fear, and looked around. He remembered the ghost stories that Alina had made up to prevent him from running around at night, and wondered if he had encountered something unclean.

[Get out of here! Who's the unclean one? I'm your mother!]

These words startled the little fox. Perhaps realizing that his statement was indeed somewhat inappropriate, the voice quickly corrected him.

[No, that doesn't quite work. I'm still single... Hmm, you're hugging too tight, loosen your grip a bit.]

"Holding you too tight?" This thought made the little fox subconsciously look at the tail in his arms. As if sensing his gaze, the snow-white tail swayed slightly, but this was not the little fox's own intention. A sentence instantly popped into his mind.

"Its tail has come to life!"

[Get out of here! What do you mean by "becoming a spirit"? Hurry up and take me out of your tail! It's pitch black in there, I can't see anything!]

The startled little fox tried to calm itself down, then looked at its tail with suspicion. It was indeed its tail, and it could still be used, but it seemed to have its own ideas. Mei Xue reached inside and touched it, and indeed felt a thin, smooth, and slightly cold object. After taking it out, she realized it was the little snake that she had stuffed into its tail last night.

After it was taken out, Mei Xue clearly felt that the tail obeyed her commands again, even though these tails usually acted automatically.

Can you talk?

The little fox held the black snake in its palm. Although snakes don't have facial expressions, Mei Xue could clearly sense that it seemed angry and a little depressed, which made the little fox worry that it might be bitten.

【Won't】

"But I clearly heard..."

I'm communicating with you on a deeper level, not just talking.

"That's amazing. You can talk without opening your mouth. That means you won't choke when you're eating and chatting with people."

Wagging its tail gently, Mei Xue admired this ability. As everyone knows, the little fox is very greedy. If it could, it could gnaw on apples all day long. However, it's not good to talk properly when it's eating. On the one hand, it's impolite, and on the other hand, it's also very uncomfortable to choke.

[He's actually more concerned about this; what a fool he is.]

"You're talking nonsense, Mei Xue isn't stupid!"

The little fox twitched his ears, looking unhappy. Alina and Talulah had both said that he was very smart and could learn anything quickly; he was not stupid at all.

[Tch, if I left you alone in Longmen, you'd probably get lost in less than two hours.]

"No, Meixue will ask for directions."

Seeing the little fox's confident demeanor, a hint of amusement flashed in the black snake's eyes. It climbed up Mei Xue's shoulder and wrapped its arms around the little fox's neck as if it could easily snap it, but the black snake did not have that ability.

Aren't you afraid of being caught and eaten again?

When the word "eat" was mentioned, the black snake clearly felt Mei Xue's body tremble. It was obvious that the little fox was still a little scared, especially about the word "eat." It climbed up Mei Xue's hand to his shoulder, and its long tail gently hooked around the little fox's neck.

[See, you're still scared, huh? You won't admit it. If it weren't for Talulah, Frostnova, and Borokkasti back in Lungmen, who could protect you?]

The black snake couldn't help but coax Mei Xue, and the little fox thought what it said made a lot of sense. However, Talulah had said that she would ask Sister Chen to help take care of her.

"Oh, you mean that little girl? No way, how could a senior superintendent possibly have that much energy to focus on you? At most, he'd just shove you into some random boarding school."

Smelling the gardenia scent emanating from the little fox, the black snake continued its deceptive scheme. Of course, it wasn't going to offer the little fox any life guidance; instead, it was trying to mold the fox into another black snake. As the sorcerer Koschich left in Talulah's mind, even though it didn't know why it possessed a personality, it couldn't forget its mission. Since it couldn't handle Talulah, it could at least take down this little fox. In some ways, Mei Xue was far superior to Talulah.

"But...if that's the case..."

In that case, I'll still be there.

Black Snake interrupted Mei Xue, then returned to the table and stared at the little fox.

"you?"

Yes, I've become a part of you now, clinging to your tail and inseparable. If you're in danger, I can't run away either, so I'll help you.

Seeing that the black snake in front of her seemed friendly, Mei Xue thought for a moment, then picked it up and put it back into her tail.

[Wait a minute, what are you doing? I really... Ouch! Stop shaking me!]

The little fox vigorously swung its tail several times to make sure the black snake inside was still. Then, it proudly picked up the apple and took a bite. It wasn't stupid; its sister Alina had told it that these strange creatures liked to say nice things to fool children, and it wasn't going to fall for that.

Although everyone thinks the little fox is cute and adorable, he is actually quite clever when it matters.

Chapter 19 I really want to marry the little fox!

Mei Xue didn't tell anyone about the snake hidden in its tail, not even Talulah. The little fox could sense that the black snake meant him no harm; it didn't intend to eat him or hurt him. It was just rather talkative and liked to say a lot of things the little fox couldn't understand.

"That's why I'm telling you, you have to believe me. Look, I'm Talulah's foster mother, and you're her brother. How could I possibly harm you?"

"Red Center".

"Three."

Completely ignoring the black snake's words, the little fox wagged its big tail and drew a one-of-a-kind tile. Sister Talulah said that Koschche was a bad person and that nothing he said could be trusted, so the little fox decided to ignore him and play cards instead.

"Two of bamboo".

"Like a jack!"

It uttered some strange phrases. When the little fox played mahjong, it would occasionally add a "meow" at the end of its sentences. This usually meant it was about to win. The Yeti team members who were playing mahjong with it tried to suppress the urge to be charmed by its cuteness while helplessly accepting their defeat.

"A quadruple celebration!"

Hugging its tail and rubbing against itself, the little fox looked delighted. The members of the Yeti team looked at each other and finally had no choice but to accept the 0/10 score. The little fox was practically a god of war at the mahjong table.

"Ah, as expected, you still can't beat Mei Xue. Has our cute little fox never lost before?"

"No, Mei Xue lost to Sister Talulah three times, Sister Froststar twice, and Sister Alina once."

"Is Frostnova really that powerful?"

"Well……"

Recalling the experience of the four of them playing mahjong together that night, the little fox quickly shook its head. In fact, apart from Alina, the mahjong skills of the other two were not worth mentioning at all. However, the little fox dared not win against them at all, otherwise its tail would be plucked.

See? Talulah doesn't even want to be with you anymore. That's just the kind of person she is—she uses people and then abandons them.

The little fox, who was collecting the mahjong tiles, frowned upon hearing this. The black snake thought his words had worked and was about to continue when Mei Xue let out a soft snort, and her tail started spinning like a windmill, shaking the black snake inside. The little fox couldn't stand hearing others speak ill of her sister.

"Thank you, brothers and sisters. I'm going to find my sisters now."

Watching the little fox happily wag its tail and leave (Black Snake: I'm not happy!), the Yeti team members were on the verge of tears. They had agreed that if they won a game, they could touch each other's tails all day, but all three of them hadn't won a single game all morning.

"It feels like touching a fox's ears."

"I really want to pet that big tail."

"I really want to marry the little fox."

"..."

The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Yang Gao and Sally couldn't help but look at Niels, who had just uttered that outrageous remark. However, after thinking about the little fox's adorable appearance, the two nodded in unison and expressed the same sentiment.

"It's like he married a little fox."

What did you say?

"Sigh, it's nothing, I just wanted to..."

Niels raised his head, intending to repeat his earlier remarks, when he met Frostnova's scrutinizing gaze. The Yeti princess was looking her subordinate up and down. She had originally heard that the little fox was playing mahjong here, so she planned to win a game and then pat his tail, but she didn't expect to hear such an extraordinary thing as soon as she arrived.

What are you thinking about?

"I don't want to think about it anymore! Wait a minute, sister, calm down, sister! I was wrong!"

With a scream echoing through the camp, the little fox leisurely returned to the house he shared with Talulah. Talulah had already returned earlier, eating her meal while reviewing the plan she had drafted that day. Upon hearing the door open, she put the plan away and waved to the little fox at the door.

"Meixue, come and have dinner with us."

"elder sister!"

The little fox wagged its tail happily, making the black snake inside feel like it was going to die. This solidified her belief that she could only coax this little fox and never make it angry.

Did you go out and play with everyone today?

"Yeah, I played mahjong with Brother Yang Gao and the others, and I won every time."

"Wow, that's amazing! As expected of Meixue from our family. Open your mouth!"

Talu stretched out her hand and rubbed the little fox's head. She remembered that when the little fox took out a mahjong set from its tail, everyone was stunned. They all thought that Mei Xue could only take out food from its tail, but they didn't expect that it could not only use its tail as a suitcase, but also take out other things.

"Ah~"

The little fox opened his mouth, and Talulah took out something that looked like a stone from her pocket and put it in his mouth. The strange sweetness stimulated Mei Xue's tongue. He was a little curious about what was in his mouth. It was very sweet, even sweeter than an apple, but it was too small and didn't feel like enough.