UCTOOT CH140.2: Extra

Clutching the quilt with both hands, Shi Shu stammered, “Xie-xiong, th-then I’ll sleep first…”

To avoid the awkwardness of close physical contact with another man, Shi Shu squeezed his eyes shut.

He seemed to catch the faint whisper of a breath near his ear.

Traveling far from home in an unfamiliar place, thoroughly shaken by the night’s fright, Shi Shu curled into a ball with a fluttering heart, taking a good long while before finally drifting off.

Perhaps unsettled in spirit, Shi Shu slipped into a dream, dreaming of a similar dilapidated hut. Dead of winter, swirling sleet and snow, an unprecedented blizzard engulfing the deep mountains, gusts of wild snow blinding the eyes. A young Shi Shu, barely in his early teens, came sprinting down the mountain toward home, cradling an injured, pure black fox in his arms.

The black fox bore a gaping wound, blood congealed, flesh torn raw. The moment Shi Shu carried it inside, he hastened to kindle the stove fire to warm it.

Entering the room, Father Shi stared: “Where did you pick that up? A fox, no less?”

Father Shi stepped closer: “Oho, look at those claws! Let go of it right now! What if it lashes out and rips your throat open to drink your blood? Drop it!”

Shi Shu: “It’s hurt, it doesn’t have the strength to hurt me.”

Father Shi: “Throw it out, throw it out! Get rid of it this instant! I’ve never seen a black fox before, and in a blizzard like this, its appearance smells of trouble.”

Shi Shu wrapped his arms fiercely around the fox’s neck: “I won’t throw it out! I won’t! I found it!”

Father Shi’s head throbbed. Seeing it, Bo Mo was startled as well: “Where did this child pick that up?”

Shi Shu: “I went out to play and saw something at the center of the blizzard, so I ran after it. Who knew it was an injured fox inside?”

The more Father Shi listened, the more alarmed he grew. Snatching up a broom: “Throw it out right now! Believe me, I’ll whip your backside!”

Shi Shu burst into tears with a loud “Wah!”, clinging to the fox without letting go: “I won’t throw it out, I won’t!”

Outside, the blizzard raged. Shi Shu huddled by the bronze brazier with the frozen black fox, bawling his eyes out. As the fox’s stiff body thawed and softened, thick drops of blood spattered onto the floor with a foul, coppery reek. Father Shi snatched the beast and hurled it outside, but Shi Shu dashed out into the snow and carried it right back in.

“…You little brat!”

Bo Mo sighed, “Enough, enough. Blood is dripping everywhere; let’s see if it can even be saved. Having it die in the house brings bad luck.”

Frowning, Father Shi grumbled, “Go to the head of the village and find Uncle Li yourself. He raises pigs year-round—ask him how to treat beasts!”

Wiping his tears, Shi Shu tucked the black fox into his coat, cradling it like an infant, and dashed out into the raging snowstorm.

Bo Mo called after him, “Ai, he’s just a child…”

“Let him go himself! Let him understand that everything in this world comes with a price.” Father Shi stepped back inside.

Shi Shu sprinted all the way to Uncle Li’s house, begging for medicinal herbs and promising to herd cattle for a month come spring. Only then did Uncle Li chew up some bitter leaves and spit the mash onto the black fox’s wound.

Tears glistening in his eyes, Shi Shu watched the fox twitch its paws, opening listless eyes to glare at them, hissing at Uncle Li with bared fangs.

Uncle Li raised a hand, and Shi Shu hastily shielded the fox’s head: “Don’t hit it!”

Clicking his tongue, Uncle Li shoved another handful of herbs at him: “Only you kids are so foolish, picking up a wild beast like a precious treasure. Never thinking of the stench, or the exhausting effort and care it takes to keep it alive.”

Shi Shu didn’t want to argue, merely cradling the fox close: “Thank you, Uncle Li. I’m going home.”

“Remember, herd my cattle come spring!”

Shi Shu ran home, cradling the fox. A pair of dark-gold pupils stared up at him. When they reached the crossroads, the fox leaped from his arms, attempting to bolt, but after barely two strides it collapsed, swallowed by the snow. Shi Shu hurried over: “Why are you running?”

Lifting it back into his arms, he tucked it inside his coat until he returned home.

Bo Mo was waiting by the square dining table: “Our household doesn’t keep animals. If you truly wish to keep it, you must be obedient. Every passage from the Four Books and Five Classics I assign each day must be memorized, understood?”

Shi Shu: “If I memorize them, I can keep it?”

Bo Mo said, “Indeed. If you cannot, Mother will not permit you to keep it—indulging in trifles saps one’s ambition.”

Shi Shu: “I will definitely memorize them!”

Father Shi opened his mouth to protest, but Bo Mo held him back: “Forget it, he’s the only child in the house. Let him have his amusement.”

Father Shi could only keep a stern face: “Put it down, go wash your hands, and eat dinner.”

Shi Shu placed the black fox into a bamboo basket padded with his own clothes, setting it by the hearth to warm. Sitting at the table, he saved the morsels his parents ladled into his bowl, cupping them in his palm and bringing them to the basket.

“Eat, eat, this is meat.”

Crouching down like a little dumpling, Shi Shu held the meat to the fox’s snout: “Eat some.”

The dark-gold eyes fixed upon him.

“Is it too big?” Shi Shu shredded the meat into thin strips: “Will you eat it like this?”

Injured and ill-tempered, the fox took a good deal of coaxing before finally deigning to nibble a cold bite, until Shi Shu fed it bite by bite to fullness, even slipping it a small ball of rice.

While Shi Shu fed it, Father Shi barred the doors: “Snow has sealed the mountains! Nothing to do this winter but stay cooped up inside!”

And so, that winter, Shi Shu devoted himself to nursing the injured black fox he had rescued, changing its dressings daily, binding its broken leg, feeding it food and water. For the first few nights, Shi Shu kept it in the basket beside the brazier, letting the dying embers warm it. But the coals burned out by midnight, leaving the fox curled into a shivering knot in the freezing dark, nearly stiff with cold.

Burrowed in Shi Shu’s clothes, when Shi Shu went to lift it, it seemed irritated and hopped away from his feet.

Shi Shu thought, Oh dear, what should I do? So he sneakily carried it into bed, tucking the fox into his embrace atop the toasty warm brick kang, covering its head with the quilt.

The next morning, before his parents rose, he hastily returned it to the basket. Still healing and prone to heavy sleep, the fox was often jarred awake by the chill upon being moved back.

After a few times, he was inevitably caught. Bo Mo scolded, “Do not let the fox onto your bed! Foxes carry a foul musk!”

Shi Shu hugged it, sniffing repeatedly: “There’s no smell at all!”

“Even so, it cannot sleep in your bed.”

Clutching the black fox, Shi Shu sobbed: “What if… what if it freezes to death?” Tears fell onto the dark pelt, and the fox licked at the damp fur.

Helpless, his parents relented: “Do as you please. Mother won’t lay eyes on that bed of yours for the rest of the winter.”

At last, Shi Shu could openly sleep with it in bed, tucking it into his chest at night—toasty, fluffy, and soft. Shi Shu held its paws to sniff several times: “Truly not stinky…” then nuzzled into its belly, taking a deep breath.

Shi Shu noticed a black branded mark near the fox’s nether regions. Examining it closely: “Is this a wound?”

He reached out to pick at it.

The black fox extended a claw to kick him, but grazing his warm forehead, it sheathed its sharp claws, growing irritable under his poking. Happily tending his fox, Shi Shu slept with it at night, set it on the table during meals, and carried it in his robes while memorizing texts and characters in his spare time.

Strangely enough, Shi Shu was normally restless and averse to studying, yet to keep his parents from taking the fox away, he studied with fierce diligence, memorizing chapters upon chapters, until his parents turned a blind eye.

As for the black fox, it paid no heed to anyone else, merely curling into a ball on Shi Shu’s lap each day to sleep and recuperate, remarkably quiet.

Occasionally, it would dart here and there, leading Shi Shu on playful chases.

His parents could not help noticing: “Is Xiao Shu teasing the fox, or is the fox teasing Xiao Shu? I really can’t tell.”

In the blink of an eye, spring arrived. True to his word, Shi Shu herded cattle for Uncle Li every day. In the lush pastures, Shi Shu held the tether, sitting amid blooming wildflowers reciting his texts, while the black fox lay beside him or strolled around, fully restored to health.

Yet the fox did not depart; it stayed by Shi Shu’s side.

Before long, the whole village knew that Shi Shu kept an extraordinary black fox that accompanied him wherever he went.

The peaceful days did not last. For a period, chickens in the village were repeatedly killed in the night, and rumors gradually spread that Shi Shu’s fox was to blame. Shi Shu didn’t believe it, nor did his family, but villagers continually arrived at their courtyard dangling dead poultry to complain.

Knowing the fox was innocent, Shi Shu stopped taking it out, fastening a collar around its neck to tether it in the courtyard. A few days passed and more chickens turned up dead, yet despite such clear proof, the villagers refused to be persuaded.

Shi Shu attended classes at the village school. Returning one day, he found several neighborhood children hurling stones at the fox in the yard. The black fox bared razor-sharp fangs, scaring the children into howling sobs as they bolted home. Moments later, adults arrived armed with cudgels and staves.

With the family at their wits’ end, Shi Shu hugged it tightly, but the fox wriggled free, leaping clear over the wattle fence. Pausing on the hillside, it glanced back at him.

Understanding it was leaving, Shi Shu cried out, “Don’t go!”

With a few swift bounds, the black fox vanished into the trees. Before long, it returned with a weasel larger than itself clamped in its jaws, tossing the bloody carcass before the crowd. It looked back at Shi Shu one last time, turned, and disappeared forever into the spring woods.

Whenever he dreamed of this, Shi Shu felt like crying. He had searched the hills everywhere for the black fox, but found nothing. He wept for days, until his parents adopted a little mongrel puppy named Laifu to console him.

Dreaming of that fox once again, the sorrow in the dream was overwhelming—adults shouting in the yard, running up the slope in tears. Moisture welled at the corners of his eyes.

Chuu… A soft, wet licking sound stirred, as if something were gently licking the tears from his eyes.

Barely had that dream ended when the next one took hold.

Inside a cramped wardrobe, footsteps drew nearer and nearer to the doors, cold drafts clinging sinisterly to his back. His heart seized, terrified to draw breath, holding it until he was on the verge of suffocating.

Beside him was that other person hidden in the wardrobe.

A scalding hand cupped his chin. Just as Shi Shu was about to black out from holding his breath, his lips were suddenly captured.

In the dream, Shi Shu let out a bewildered “Mmh?”

As he was kissed by this man named Xie Wuchi, Shi Shu’s breathing miraculously eased, a stream of cool, soothing air breathed directly into his lungs. Yet his lips and tongue were swept into a stirring, lapping dance inside his mouth, charged with an unfamiliar, heavy sensuality.

In the dream, Shi Shu saw clearly the features of this stranger named Xie Wuchi—pitch-black brows, detached eyes, and the slick contact between their mouths. Cold sweat broke across his skin, yet in the narrow confines of the wardrobe, he could only let his face be cradled as the kiss deepened with mounting hunger.

Shi Shu struggled in his dream: “Let go of me, let go…”

Prying at the man’s wrist, yet daring not make a sound, he remembered only feverish sweat, taut fingertips, his strength hopelessly outmatched, his jaw clamped as he was kissed into wordless submission…

And surging alongside it was an intoxicating, dizzying haze across his youthful frame that was no longer unfamiliar…

“Ah!” Shi Shu snapped his eyes open, bright morning sunlight piercing his vision.

“Daylight? It’s morning already?!”

Turning his head, it felt like waking from a trance. The noble gentleman, Xie Wuchi, stood by the table, drawing his embroidered black robes closed. A brief glimpse of the lean, dark contours of his shoulders and neck flashed by. Shi Shu’s Adam’s apple bobbed hard, staring at him with a fair, flustered face: “Y-You… Xie-xiong, you’re awake?”

Xie Wuchi turned, his expression serene: “Awake. The hour is early; are we taking to the road?”

The instant Shi Shu looked at him, scenes from his dream rushed back. His vision swam; he practically wanted to punch himself in the face.

Shi Shu, oh Shi Shu! You’re losing your mind… The man simply shared a bed with you, and you went and had a wet dream about him?!

And he’s a man!

A tall, handsome, undeniably masculine man! Of all the things you could dream about doing with him, you dreamed of tongue-kissing him!

Scrambling out of bed with burning ears, Shi Shu sputtered: “Let’s go, let’s go, time to hit the road! Slept in by accident. We’ve got dozens of li to cover today to find an inn—no more sleeping in creepy abandoned temples! Last night was way too horrifying! Move, move, move…”

Xie Wuchi nodded, following behind him. Stepping outside, Xin Bin was stoking firewood to boil water in the courtyard. Passing by, Xie Wuchi filled Shi Shu’s canteen: “River water brings sickness. You should drink boiled water.”

Taking it, their fingertips brushed again, and Shi Shu yanked his hand back with barely concealed haste: “Right… Xie-xiong, thank you so much.”

Watching him, Xie Wuchi smiled faintly and offered a warm meat pastry: “Here, today’s breakfast.”

Embarrassed, Shi Shu said, “Really, no need. My mother baked flatbreads for me.”

“No matter, eat. I bought plenty, and we can purchase more when passing through town today.”

Pondering how to decline, catching sight of Xie Wuchi’s face immediately summoned the dream from the night before, sending his heart racing and heat rushing to his cheeks: “I… I, you… Xie-xiong, you treat people far too well…”

Xin Bin chimed in: “Our master’s estates run massive businesses; a couple of meat pastries are mere drops in the ocean. If you consider our master a friend, accept it.”

Shi Shu: “If you consider me a friend, don’t spoil me like this. I’m afraid that if I get used to living the good life alongside Xie-xiong, once our paths diverge in a couple of days, I won’t be able to adjust to being on my own again.”

Seeing his earnest refusal, Xie Wuchi’s brow twitched with a fleeting chill. Before Shi Shu could notice, his expression had smoothed back into placid tranquility: “Shi-didi is truly a man of letters, unyielding in character. I admire that greatly.”

After eating, as they prepared to depart the abandoned temple, Shi Shu suddenly noticed: “Huh? Didn’t a whole caravan of merchants arrive last night? Where did they all go?”

Xin Bin shot a sly glance at Xie Wuchi: “Young Master Shi woke late; those merchants departed early at the crack of dawn!”

Shi Shu’s cheeks burned, unable to argue: “I see. Let’s get going then.”

Xin Bin grabbed his book basket, humming as he strode ahead. Shi Shu called out an “Hey!” trying to take it back, trotting after him through the graveyard: “Xie-xiong, no need to trouble yourself!”

Xie Wuchi walked last. His boots tread through the mud, yet remained spotless without a speck of grime. His eyes turned freezing. Turning back, the wooden doors slammed shut with a heavy clatter. On the bed, only a few wisps of black fox fur drifted gently to the ground.

In the main hall on the other side, the hanging corpse’s hands were impaled to the walls with iron spikes, black blood dripping down. Wisps of malevolent black miasma swirled around the crossbeams, shrieking in shrill agony: “Give me back my life!” “I hate you… I hate you so much…” “I loathe you to death!” “I’ll kill you!” “Let me go!” “…I will reincarnate to find him…”

In an instant, the entire temple dissolved into charred, collapsed ruins covered in flaking soot, crows wheeling and squawking overhead.

It was nothing more than an overgrown graveyard—where was the temple they had sheltered in last night?

Xie Wuchi brought a slender finger to his lips and blew softly. Fuuu… The agonizing shrieks of the vengeful ghost dissipated into nothingness.

Averting his gaze, his boots stepped across blood-soaked pulp and bone without gathering a grain of dust, strolling leisurely after Shi Shu.

Ahead, Shi Shu was hollering after Xin Bin: “Xiong, no need to trouble you! I can carry my own luggage!”

Xin Bin sprinted a hundred paces ahead: “Young Master Shi, I’m a servant—if I don’t work, my conscience can’t take it!”

Shi Shu truly couldn’t keep up. He mused that burying his nose in books had ruined the running prowess he once excelled at as a child. Rounding the ridge, he had no choice but to turn back. Xie Wuchi’s hem brushed through the tall grass, mere yards away, drawing steadily closer.

Shi Shu remarked suspiciously, “Yesterday, when that farmer told me to stay in the temple, he never mentioned it was haunted.”

As Shi Shu glanced to the left, Xie Wuchi gave a subtle flick of his finger, causing a bleached skeleton in the field to the right to vanish into thin air. Shi Shu saw nothing.

Xie Wuchi said flatly, “Perhaps he was old and senile.”

“Could be. Makes sense.”

Shi Shu’s mood brightened. Skipping along the mountain trail, he quickly caught himself, remembering to act with decorum: “Hey, the weather isn’t very hot today; we can cover a lot more ground.”

“Very well. It suits our shared journey.”

And so Shi Shu traveled alongside Xie Wuchi. Bathed in the warm sun, he gradually pushed the dream aside, chatting casually as they walked.

Xie Wuchi: “At eighteen, so young—how could your parents feel at ease letting you travel so far alone without anyone to look after you? Don’t they know how many penniless scholars are ensnared by fox spirits and wild ghosts?”

Shi Shu said, “Couldn’t be helped; I have to take the exam. But I have a cousin surnamed Du in the provincial capital. Once I arrive, I’ll stay at his place, then head back after the exams.”

Xie Wuchi: “A cousin surnamed Du.”

Unsuspecting, Shi Shu said, “This is my first time traveling far from home. The academy where I study is in the county seat, barely dozens of li away. Heading to the provincial exam this time is the furthest I’ve ever walked.”

Xie Wuchi let out what sounded like a faint chuckle: “Truly remarkable.”

“…”

This gentleman surnamed Xie looked proud, aloof, and unapproachable, yet his words toward him were remarkably gentle. Shi Shu couldn’t shake a curious feeling. Sneaking a glance at him inevitably brought the dream to mind, making him scratch his soft hair in embarrassment.

For lunch, an inn tavern stood by the roadside. Shi Shu ordered two simple vegetable dishes, while Master Xie ordered heaps of beef and chicken, setting them in the center to share. Flustered and self-conscious, Shi Shu tried to demur, but Master Xie merely told him to make himself at home, spooning meat into his bowl.

Walking another several dozen li that afternoon, Shi Shu was not only bone-tired, but developed a blister on his foot, limping along. Fortunately, a gentle breeze blew continuously, keeping the harsh summer heat at bay.

Tonight, they managed to find an inn. Upon entering to inquire, the innkeeper said, “Only one guest room left, plus a woodshed.”

Shi Shu: “I’ll take the woodshed.”

Xin Bin: “If Young Master Shi takes the woodshed, where do I sleep? Is a servant like me supposed to share a room with my master?”

Shi Shu: “Well…” Though Xie Wuchi was gentle toward him, Shi Shu could clearly tell that Master Xie maintained rigid class distinctions with servants, never giving them a pleasant face.

Without another word, Xin Bin headed off to sleep in the woodshed on his own. The dream from the previous night flashed in Shi Shu’s mind—tangling tongues inside the wardrobe. Steeling himself, Shi Shu said, “Xie-xiong, I’m troubling you to share a bed with me again tonight.”

Xie Wuchi smiled: “It is no trouble. When traveling far from home, one should not be constrained by trivial formalities.”

Shi Shu could only step inside. The room was clean but cramped, the bed barely wide enough for two, with hardly enough floor space to stand. With a blister on his foot, soaking in a basin of water, he planned to find a needle to lance it.

By the dim glow of the oil lamp, Shi Shu inspected the blister on his heel. Sitting by the bedside, Xie Wuchi offered, “Do you need my assistance?”

Shi Shu: “No, no, no, not at all.”

Xie Wuchi: “It is fine. The lamp is dim and you cannot see clearly; let me take a look for you.”

Shi Shu’s face flushed scarlet to the tips of his ears: “No, really, no need—”

Xie Wuchi: “If you lance the blister early and let the wound rest, we can turn in earlier for tomorrow’s journey. Do not treat me like a stranger.”

As he spoke, his hand dipped into the water, taking hold of Shi Shu’s foot and gently clasping it.

“Where is it?” he asked softly.

Shi Shu felt as if ants were crawling all over his skin: “On the heel, right here—” pointing in frantic haste.

The sole of his foot tickled; the man’s hand was burning hot, steady, and firm. The moment his leg was held, Shi Shu went rigid. He felt a light prick, the heat around his ankle flaring even hotter.

Xie Wuchi: “Done.”

Shi Shu scrambled to dump the water, drawing fresh water for him to wash his hands: “Xie-xiong, th-this… I’ve troubled you far too much.”

Xie Wuchi merely offered a faint smile. After washing his hands, he had Shi Shu climb into bed first, taking the outer edge for himself.

The scorching warmth of his palm lingered around Shi Shu’s ankle, refusing to fade. That night, Shi Shu slept with an unsettled heart, instinctively curling toward the inner wall. Rising the next morning, he saw Xin Bin leading a horse toward the inn.

Shi Shu asked, “Huh? Where did this horse come from…?”

Xie Wuchi said, “You have a blister on your foot, likely from hurrying too fast these past few days. A friend of mine happened to deliver a horse; ride it for a stretch so you can rest.”