Before he knew it, two months had passed.

During those two months,

every day when Xiao Mo opened his eyes, he was hauling firewood and tending the flames.

As for the three tasks the Book of a Hundred Lives had mentioned, Xiao Mo did not have the slightest clue where to begin.

After all, at his current age, with no strength to even truss a chicken, just as Master Niu had said, the moment he walked out of the Tushan residence, he might be turned into baby greens in a pot. How could he talk about anything else?

Xiao Mo felt that, for now, the only thing he could do was first nurse his body back to health in the Tushan residence and simply go on living.

And in the Tushan residence, although Xiao Mo worked himself to death every day, he really was able to eat his fill.

In this demon-race world, where people were worth less than dogs, being able to eat one’s fill every day was indeed a luxury for most ordinary humans.

After being fed for two months, Xiao Mo had put on quite a bit of flesh, and his strength had also grown a great deal compared to before.

At night, when he slept, although it was somewhat cold living in the woodshed, the bed was laid on top of a pile of firewood, and the blanket was fairly warm as well.

Moreover, that Master Niu was actually not bad, as far as bulls went. He had hinted to Xiao Mo that if he was too cold, he could light a fire himself with the wood.

He would turn a blind eye to it.

Aside from working every day, whenever Xiao Mo had any free time, he would also sit together with some of the demons in the kitchen courtyard and listen to them chat.

Other than hearing crude talk and scraps of gossip like, “That cat demon Dongfeng is really soft in all the right places. If you got to enjoy her, she could snap your waist with one thrust,” “That dairy-cow demon that came to the residence recently has two mountains on her chest. One look and it makes you hungry,” and “Master Niu passed by Steward Xiong’s courtyard and stole two of Madam Xiong’s bellybands,”

Xiao Mo also pieced together a rough understanding of the place he was in from those scattered fragments.

The city he was in was called Immortal Fox City.

Immortal Fox City belonged to the Heavenly Demon Kingdom.

But compared to the other cities of the Heavenly Demon Kingdom, Immortal Fox City was rather special.

Although the Heavenly Demon Kingdom would send a great demon over to govern it, in reality, the true master of Immortal Fox City had never been that great demon of the Jade Pith Realm.

It was Madam Tushan of the Tushan residence.

As long as Madam Tushan did not nod, there was nothing the City Lord of Immortal Fox City could do.

But Madam Tushan kept a low profile, was refined and reasonable, and generally did not interfere in the city’s affairs. Both the Heavenly Demon Kingdom and the successive City Lords of Immortal Fox City treated Madam Tushan with great respect and did not dare act recklessly.

Madam Tushan had a daughter, the eldest young lady of the Tushan residence.

If Xiao Mo’s guess was correct, then there was a very high chance she was the little girl he had run into before.

This young lady was playful by nature and often liked to run around the courtyards.

When Xiao Mo had been warned that “if you see the Young Lady, you cannot touch even a single hair on her head,” at first he had thought it was because his status as a human was too lowly.

But it turned out that every male creature in the entire compound had to be careful.

As long as it was male, it could not touch even a single hair on the Young Lady’s head.

As for the reason, no one knew.

Another half month passed.

That evening, after bustling about all day as usual, Xiao Mo took a cold bath in the courtyard, then returned to the woodshed to rest.

Because summer had already arrived, and because Xiao Mo’s body had gradually grown stronger, he no longer needed to light a fire to keep warm.

Xiao Mo looked at the stars outside the window and listened to the cicadas chirping in the courtyard. Having labored for an entire day, he quickly fell asleep.

But just as Xiao Mo was sleeping soundly, the door to the woodshed in the kitchen courtyard was quietly opened a crack.

A cute little head poked in through the gap.

The fox-eared young lady looked left and right. She saw a child about her own age lying on the pile of firewood.

But after hesitating for a moment, the little girl still sneaked into the woodshed and closed the door.

“Young Lady...”

“Where are you, Young Lady...”

“Young Lady, it is getting late. Please stop playing and come out...”

“Young Lady...”

Before long, calling voices drifted into the woodshed where Xiao Mo lived.

Disturbed awake by the noise, Xiao Mo drowsily opened his eyes.

Just as Xiao Mo was still wondering what was going on,

he turned his head and saw a dainty little girl hiding beneath the high stack of piled-up firewood.

Under the moonlight, the fox-eared young lady’s bright, watery eyes reflected the clear silver glow.

A snow-white fox tail poked out from beneath the little girl’s skirt and swayed gently in the air.

When she saw the little boy in the room wake up, the young lady looked somewhat nervous.

But once she clearly saw Xiao Mo’s face and realized she had met him before, she suddenly relaxed, and her eyes began to shine.

CLANG.

Before Xiao Mo could say a single word to the fox-eared young lady, the door was pushed open.

The fox-eared young lady immediately lowered her head, hugged her knees tightly, wrapped her tail around her own body, and used the innate divine ability of a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox to conceal her aura.

“Human brat, have you seen the Young Lady? Or heard any movement?” Master Niu said, panting.

Xiao Mo’s gaze quietly flicked toward the corner to the side.

He saw the “little furball” poke out a tiny head and shake it hard.

“No, Master Niu,” Xiao Mo answered. “I heard people outside calling for the Young Lady the whole time. Did something happen?”

“It is not really that something happened. The Young Lady just ran off to who knows where to play again.” Master Niu sighed, sounding rather helpless. “You stay right here and watch this place. Do not sleep tonight. If there is any movement, tell me immediately. Understood?”

After saying that, Master Niu did not even wait for Xiao Mo to answer before continuing to run ahead.

Once Master Niu had gone far away, Xiao Mo closed the woodshed door and walked up to the fox-eared young lady.

The fox-eared young lady released herself from her curled-up “little furball” state, let out a long breath of relief, patted her little chest, then looked at the little boy in front of her and said with a smile,

“I... I remember you. You are that human servant from before. Your name is... Xiao... Xiao...”

“Xiao Mo. Xiao from mugwort, Mo from ink,” Xiao Mo replied with a smile.

“Yes, yes, your name is Xiao Mo.” The fox-eared young lady nodded quickly. The little tail behind her swayed back and forth in the air, as though it were greeting Xiao Mo. “Xiao Mo, thank you for not turning me in.”

“Young Lady, you flatter me.” Xiao Mo shook his head. “But it is already so late. Young Lady, this is...?”

“Hmph!” The fox-eared young lady put both hands on her hips and lifted her little chin, looking somewhat angry. “Mother never lets me leave the residence to play. Tonight, I am going to sneak out just once!”

“Oh right, do you want to sneak out with me? I heard outside is really fun!” the fox-eared young lady asked happily.

“Young Lady, I will pass. I still have to get up early tomorrow to haul firewood, tend the flames, and cook,” Xiao Mo declined politely.

In Xiao Mo’s view, there was no way this fox-eared young lady would actually be able to sneak out.

If she were discovered, at worst Madam Tushan would only scold her a few times.

But if he ran off with her, he was afraid he would lose his life.

“All right...” The fox-eared young lady lowered her little head somewhat dejectedly, but very quickly she perked up again. “Then, Xiao Mo, I am going out of the residence to play. When I come back, I will tell you about some fun things outside!”

“All right, Young Lady...” Xiao Mo said with a smile.

“I am leaving!”

The fox-eared young lady happily ran out of the woodshed.

But not long after, the fox-eared young lady ran back again.

“Young Lady?” Xiao Mo asked in confusion.

“I forgot. I forgot to tell you my name.”

The little girl was slightly out of breath, and her fox ears twitched upward.

“My name is Tushan Jingci.”

“Tushan.”

“Jingci.”

“You have to remember it, all right?”