Chapter 2
The little fox’s head was still buzzing. All nine of its tails drooped down, and its triangular ears were flattened as well, but none of that could hide the aggrieved whimpering coming from the cub. Its amber eyes guiltily flicked toward the person who had picked it up.
Butler Ji looked at it with a smile that did not reach his eyes. Behind the thin-rimmed glasses, his long, narrow eyes were slightly curved, but there was a trace of dangerous anger in them.
The little fox pinned its ears back even more tightly. Knowing it had done something wrong, it let out a tentative little “ying,” trying to act cute in hopes of earning a lighter sentence.
Though Uncle Ji was the family butler, he was also Grandfather’s trusted aide. He had grown up alongside their father and was no different from a real uncle to them.
He had watched all of them grow up from childhood.
In the past, whenever they made mistakes, all they had to do was shift back into the juvenile beast form of their spirit body and whine and act spoiled for a bit, and they could usually get away with it.
But this time, that trick did not work.
Butler Ji directly tossed the little fox to one of his subordinates, telling him to take it back to the cage and chain it up. Then he bent down and picked up the little cub whose face was still streaked with tears.
Tang Rong was no longer crying.
His little face had already been grimy to begin with, and with tears smeared all over it, it looked even dirtier now.
To him, tears were only an uncontrollable physical reaction brought on by fright and pain. As an orphan, tears had never been a weapon. On the garbage planet, no one would ever give him anything just because he cried.
The only reason he had cried just now was because the little fox had chased him and made him trip. The fox’s paw had already brushed against his calf through his clothes. The memory of nearly suffocating to death two days ago after touching a puppy filled Tang Rong with panic, and tears fell instinctively.
The system had also been scared half to death.
It had originally been watching cartoons with its host quite happily, when out of nowhere a white fluffy thing suddenly came darting out and lunged straight at him.
Fortunately, it had reacted quickly enough to remind its host to dodge.
And fortunately, the butler had arrived in time and had not let the little fox touch its host.
If he had another allergic reaction, it was not sure whether the medical technology in this world would be able to save him, and it did not dare take that risk lightly.
Besides, it was better not to let anyone know that the host was allergic to fluffy creatures. It feared that someone with ill intent might use that weakness against him on purpose.
Though Tang Rong was young, he was clever and sharp enough to understand that.
Back on the garbage planet, there had been a bad child who accidentally discovered that he was allergic to animal fur. After that, he would deliberately throw kittens and puppies at him from time to time just to watch him suffer and fall sick for amusement.
Later, that bad child was bitten by a stray dog with rabies and died not long after.
The reason Tang Rong had refused to bathe or change clothes was also because of this.
Although the system had saved his life after the allergic reaction from touching that puppy, many of the little red spots left on his body from the allergy had not fully faded yet.
He did not want anyone else to see them.
He did not want anyone to know the secret that he was allergic.
Seeing that Tang Rong did not resist being held, the butler tried speaking gently. “Would you like Uncle to take you to wash your face?”
Tang Rong was very dirty, and because the butler had been carrying him, his uniform had also been smeared with quite a bit of grime.
Tang Rong hesitated for a moment, then obediently nodded.
The butler immediately carried him into the bathroom connected to the room.
Although little Tang Rong still refused to change out of his clothes or take a bath, the fact that he was willing to wash his face was already a huge step forward.
Today he could wash his face; tomorrow maybe he could wash his feet; the day after tomorrow perhaps he would finally be willing to bathe and put on clean new clothes.
The butler wet a small towel with warm water, gently brushed the hair away from the side of his face, and carefully wiped his little face clean.
It was a thin but beautiful little face.
The garbage planet was cold all year round and received very little sunlight, which made the skin there especially pale.
His light green eyes had been inherited from Madam. Among all the children, he was the only one with that eye color.
Once they returned to the capital planet, if Sir saw him, he would surely be overcome with emotion again.
The butler sighed softly to himself.
If all went smoothly, they still had one week left before reaching the capital planet.
He had no idea what Sir’s condition was like now.
There had still been no reply to his messages, which most likely meant he was still in the middle of a spiritual power rampage.
Afraid the information might be intercepted and the young master’s whereabouts leaked, he had not dared mention the young master in any of his communications with the capital planet, no matter how small the chance. He had merely disguised this journey as an ordinary trade transport.
Once his little face had been cleaned, Tang Rong felt much fresher and more comfortable. All the bad feelings left behind by being chased by the fox had completely disappeared.
This time, he did not let the butler carry him. Instead, he walked out of the bathroom on his own and went back into the room.
The cartoon was still playing, and by pure coincidence, there was a white fox cub in it singing. It even sounded pretty nice—it was the cartoon’s theme song.
This made Tang Rong think of the little fox that had chased him earlier.
Although the little fox had given him a rather unpleasant experience, one thing could not be denied—it was very beautiful. Its cry was adorable too, and it had so, so many fluffy tails. He had never seen a small animal with that many tails before.
Even though he was allergic, that did not stop Tang Rong from especially loving fluffy little animals.
Even his name had been given to him by a gentle old grandmother. After discovering that he loved fluffy little animals but was allergic to animal fur, she had even sewn him a soft cloth doll, which became his A-Bei-Bei.
Grandma had no family and very little money. She could barely feed herself, yet she still tried her best to raise him.
Sadly, she passed away when he was only a little over two years old. The cloth doll was later stolen by bad children, and he became a truly lonely orphan.
Seeing Tang Rong standing there blankly, staring at the white little fox in the cartoon, the butler suddenly had an idea and suggested, “Young Master, would you like to go take a look at that fox? It’s already been ‘tied up,’ so it won’t chase you again.”
After all, the little fox was Tang Rong’s third brother. Their very first meeting had frightened his younger brother into tears, so no matter what, he had to try and salvage his image in his brother’s heart.
Tang Rong clenched his little hands, unable to resist the temptation, and nodded his little head once again.
The system did not stop him either.
As long as he only kept his distance and looked, it should be fine.
Its host was still just a little cub, and he loved fluffy small animals so much. Constantly forbidding him from doing everything was not a good thing either.
As long as it did not endanger his life, it would be okay.
The butler immediately brought him to the room where the little fox was being kept.
The large cage that had originally been there was still in the room, but it was clearly far too big for the little fox. It was so big that it no longer served any restraining purpose at all, and the fox could easily slip out through the gaps in the bars.
Runes imbued with the healing master’s spiritual power had been carved onto the cage. They were meant to suppress and soothe spirit forms in a rampaging state. Once a spirit form had been successfully calmed, it could freely return to its juvenile form, and the cage would no longer continue restricting it.
—That was also why it had managed to slip out of the cage and run into the room where Tang Rong was.
Still, something felt strange…
It had only been three hours, yet Third Young Master had already calmed down from his rampage and reverted to his juvenile form.
By his usual speed, even three days would have counted as fast.
Could it be that while Third Young Master had been traveling among the star systems recently, something had happened to him?
But at the moment, the most important matter was still the young master. There would be time to ask Third Young Master about it later.
Suppressing the doubt in his heart, the butler pointed at the little fox chained up in the distance and said to Tang Rong, “Don’t be afraid. It’s already tied up. It’s actually… very well-behaved.”
Runes had also been carved into the chain, enough to restrain spirit-form rampages. Third Young Master had recovered far too quickly this time, and since something seemed off, he was worried about an accident damaging the ship, so it was better to take precautions in advance.
As for the fox’s true identity, the butler did not plan to tell Tang Rong yet.
First, because they had only just brought Tang Rong back. From their meeting until now, Tang Rong had barely communicated with them at all. He was still very shy, very young, and his understanding of the world was still shallow. He most likely did not even know what a spirit form was. Things had to be done step by step; giving him too much information right now would not be good.
Second, because compared to humans, a little cub would obviously find it easier to accept fluffy little animals. Perhaps the little fox could help him lower his guard a little, be less nervous, and adapt better to the new environment.
Third, because Third Young Master’s current physical condition was still unknown. He was only letting Tang Rong come take a look to improve his impression of the fox-form Third Young Master, not planning to let them interact too much. If it suddenly went berserk and frightened Tang Rong again, that would be bad.
The attendants all knew the fox’s identity and did not dare be careless. Although they had bound it with a chain, they had still thoughtfully brought over a soft nest cushion for it to lie on.
The fox, knowing it was in the wrong, obediently lay on top of the cushion with all nine tails tucked in, curiously observing the little cub in the distance.
He knew the cub’s identity—his younger brother who had been lost for many years.
After regaining his senses, he had smelled a pleasant scent. It was the sort of smell that could not be easily described in words, but he remembered having smelled something similar on their mother before. Following that scent, he had come to that room and found a younger brother with exactly the same eye color as their mother.
The reason he had chased him just now was simply because that was how the siblings had always played with each other growing up. It was one of their ways of bonding, and he had instinctively used it on his little brother.
He had not expected to scare him into tears.
…What a timid little thing.
So skinny, and such a filthy little grub too. And what exactly was he wearing? Why had Uncle Ji not bathed him and changed him into clean clothes? It was downright pitiful to look at.
Tang Rong half-hid behind the butler, carefully looking toward the little fox chained up in the distance.
The little fox was looking at him too.
When their eyes met, the nine tails behind it gently swayed once, soft as clouds, making one’s hands itch to touch them.
The fluffy system was drooling with envy too. A top-grade nine-tailed fox like this would definitely earn a lot of points with just one touch.
What a pity—its host was allergic.
It had already looked through all the information on the people related to its host in this world and had guessed that this nine-tailed fox was the host’s third brother.
But it did not directly tell the host that.
The host was still too young. Having lived alone on a backward garbage planet, he knew almost nothing about this world. And it was not some kind of early childhood education system. It was afraid that even if it painstakingly explained everything to the host in detail, the host would not understand.
In the few days since they had bonded, communication between it and the host had actually been full of difficulties. The host was simply too young; there were many things it said that he just could not understand. Several times, it had felt like explaining things was about to throw its code into disorder—this practically counted as workplace injury.
It would tell him later, after they reached the capital planet and an early education teacher had explained spiritual power and spirit forms to him.
Anyway, for now, all it needed to do was make sure the host did not touch any of those fluffy creatures and did not have an allergic reaction.
Tang Rong quietly observed the little fox for a long time.
The small animals on the garbage planet were almost all dull gray and dusty. Their fur was never very clean, and whenever they saw people, they would run away very quickly. Only when a tiny, skinny cub like Tang Rong approached would they lower their guard just a little.
Tang Rong occasionally could not help wanting to touch them. A child only a few years old did not have very strong self-control, after all. But most of the time, he still forced himself to endure it because allergies were very unpleasant.
This was the first time Tang Rong had ever seen such a clean little animal, with fur as white as snow.
In Tang Rong’s understanding, little animals only had one tail. But this one had so, so many—he carefully counted them, and there were nine in total. It looked as though it had stepped right out of a cartoon, unreal somehow.
Seeing that Tang Rong still did not dare come closer even after such a long time, the little fox began to get restless.
Suddenly, it rolled over on the soft cushion, lifted a hind leg to scratch at its ear, revealing its pink paw pads. Then it raised its nine tails behind it and swayed them, staring fixedly at Tang Rong behind the butler.
It was doing its best to prove that it meant no harm, trying to lure the little cub into coming closer.
However, the effect was minimal.
Tang Rong still had absolutely no intention of approaching it and stayed far away.
Just as the little fox was about to give up, it suddenly heard a tiny voice ask, “Can it sing too?”
The cub’s voice was soft and sweet. His pronunciation was not especially clear, but hearing it was enough to melt anyone’s heart.
Especially for the butler standing closest to him, who lowered his head in disbelief to look at the cub by his side.
The young master had actually… spoken?!
Not only the butler and the little fox, but the other attendants nearby were drawn by that small voice as well, all turning to look warmly at the little one who had just spoken.
Every single person’s first thought was—so he can talk!
Which made sense. A four-year-old being able to speak was not strange at all. It would have been stranger if he could not.
The butler instinctively glanced at the fox in the distance. Under the watch of those amber eyes, he slowly nodded and said to the little cub, “It can.”
That fox: “…?”
Do you hear yourself right now?!
Leaving aside whether he personally could sing or not, in beast spirit form there was no way to speak human language. How exactly was a fox supposed to sing???
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