In the woodshed, Xiao Mo was playing tic-tac-toe with Tushan Jingci.

Although Tushan Jingci learned the game very quickly, no matter what, she was still only a five-year-old little girl. How could she possibly beat Xiao Mo?

After losing more than a dozen rounds in a row, her ears and tail drooped limply, and a faint watery sheen gathered at the corners of her eyes, as if she might burst into tears the very next moment.

Xiao Mo scratched his head. He felt that winning against her like this the whole time was not a good idea, so he eased up a little and let her win once.

"I won, I won!"

After finally beating Xiao Mo, Tushan Jingci clapped her fair little hands happily. The way she lit up with delight was unbearably adorable.

"Young Lady really is improving fast," Xiao Mo said with a smile. "Do you still want to keep playing?"

"Yes! Of course I do. Let's keep going."

Tushan Jingci nodded happily, kneeling on the ground as she continued playing with Xiao Mo in complete confidence.

After that, Xiao Mo won more and lost less, giving way every so often and letting her take a round or two. He coaxed the little fox-eared girl into one burst of laughter after another.

Outside the woodshed, Yueshi watched the interaction between her young lady and that human boy through the window.

Yueshi did not know how the young lady had come to know him. She had always been worried that this filthy human might accidentally touch the young lady's body.

But seeing how happy the young lady was, Yueshi could not bear to forcefully call her back.

And that human boy seemed to know his place fairly well. He obeyed the rules of the residence and deliberately kept a certain distance from the young lady.

Without realizing it, the two of them played until midnight.

Xiao Mo glanced at the sky beyond the window, then smiled at the little girl in front of him.

"Young Lady, it is getting late. You should go back and rest first."

"Hm?" The little girl, who had been having the time of her life, looked up at Xiao Mo and blinked. "Xiao Mo, do you not want to play with me anymore?"

Xiao Mo shook his head.

"It is not that I do not want to play with Young Lady. It is just that it really is too late. You need proper rest. If you sleep earlier, you will have the energy to keep playing tomorrow."

"But I am not sleepy," Tushan Jingci said, blinking.

"But Young Lady, I still have to burn firewood tomorrow. I need to rest early too," Xiao Mo said with a smile. "Otherwise Master Niu will scold me tomorrow."

"Then tomorrow I will have Sister Yueshi speak to Master Niu. You will not have to burn firewood anymore. You can just be in charge of playing with me," Tushan Jingci said innocently.

"Young Lady, I am human. I do not have the right to play with you. Madam would not allow it."

Xiao Mo still shook his head.

"All right..."

Tushan Jingci lowered her little head, but very soon she lifted it again and blinked at Xiao Mo.

"Then Xiao Mo, can I still come find you in the future?"

"If Young Lady wishes to come, then of course you can."

Xiao Mo nodded.

"Yay!"

Tushan Jingci jumped up happily.

"Then Xiao Mo, I am going back first. I will come find you again tomorrow night. And do not worry. I will definitely keep our matter secret. I will not let anyone else know."

"And even if Mother accidentally finds out one day, that is still fine. I will throw a fit on the ground, I will roll around, I will cry. Mother is very afraid of me crying. You are my friend. I definitely will not let you be punished."

"All right."

Seeing the little girl's innocent and adorable expression, Xiao Mo smiled as well.

"If it truly comes to that, then I will have to trouble Young Lady."

"It is no trouble. Leave it to me."

Tushan Jingci patted her little chest.

"Then I am going now. Go to sleep early too."

"Mm."

Xiao Mo answered, escorted Tushan Jingci out of the woodshed, and watched as she gradually walked away.

Every few steps, Tushan Jingci would turn around and wave her little hand at him.

Only after she had disappeared into the distance did Xiao Mo withdraw his gaze and close the woodshed door.

When Tushan Jingci returned to her little separate courtyard, she saw that Sister Yueshi was still lying in bed asleep, with no sign at all that she had noticed the young lady had gone out and come back.

"Hehe, Sister Yueshi is so silly."

Tushan Jingci stuck out her tongue mischievously at her maid and made a face before returning to her little bed to rest.

"Friend..."

Lying on the bed, Tushan Jingci hugged her big tail. The more she thought about it, the happier she became.

"I have a friend too."

Carrying that happy feeling with her, it did not take long before Tushan Jingci truly fell asleep.

When the night had grown deep and still, when the room had gone completely quiet and only the slow sound of the little girl's breathing remained, Yueshi got out of bed and walked to the bedside, looking down at the sleeping young lady.

"Should I go tell Madam?"

By the rules, it absolutely would not do for the young lady to be alone with a male creature, much less a human.

But...

Yueshi thought back to the way the young lady had looked a short while ago while playing tic-tac-toe with that human child in the woodshed, and a trace of reluctance rose in her heart.

It had been a very long time since she had seen the young lady this happy.

If she told Madam, then the young lady definitely would not be allowed to play with him again. That filthy human child might even end up in danger...

How heartbroken would the young lady be then?

"Forget it..."

In the end, Yueshi shook her head and let out a soft sigh.

"Let's not tell Madam for the time being..."

Logically speaking, nothing should happen.

That human boy was only five years old himself. He did not seem to harbor any bad intentions, and he looked honest enough.

Besides, she would keep a close eye on the young lady and never let him touch her.

One month.

Madam had said that once the young lady passed her sixth birthday, there would be no need to be this strict anymore.

It would be better to let him keep the young lady company a little longer.

One month from now, once the young lady passed her sixth birthday, she would be able to go study at the academy.

That human boy would naturally be forgotten little by little.

*****

Early the next morning, Tushan Jingci got up, washed, and then ran toward the kitchen courtyard full of energy.

"Greetings, Young Lady."

"Young Lady is up early today."

"Would Young Lady like some pastries?"

The big fellows in the kitchen courtyard were not surprised at all when they saw her. They all greeted her with grins.

After all, the young lady liked running all over the place, and sometimes she would come by the kitchen courtyard to take a look.

As long as they were careful and did not touch her, that was enough.

Only, they noticed that today the young lady stayed in the kitchen courtyard for quite a while, and she seemed to be looking for something.

Tushan Jingci wandered around and around the kitchen courtyard.

At last, the little girl found Xiao Mo, who was feeding firewood into the stove.

Xiao Mo kept stuffing the firewood beside him into the furnace, poking at the flames from time to time, then shoveling out some of the charcoal and ash that had burned down underneath.

The moment she found Xiao Mo, Tushan Jingci's eyes brightened, and she wanted to greet him.

But she was also afraid of exposing her relationship with Xiao Mo, so she could only hold herself back for the time being.

Taking advantage of the others all being busy, Tushan Jingci pretended to wander about casually and swished her tail as she walked toward Xiao Mo.

By the time Xiao Mo noticed Tushan Jingci, she was already standing at his side, those fox-charming eyes smiling at him.

"Greetings, Young Lady."

Xiao Mo gave a simple salute.

"Mm-hm."

Tushan Jingci nodded happily.

Just as Tushan Jingci was about to say a few more words to him, Xiao Mo pretended not to know her and went right back to tending the stove.

Seeing Xiao Mo ignore her, Tushan Jingci puffed out her cheeks, looking somewhat unhappy.

But when she turned her head, she saw Sister Yueshi watching her, and at once she understood why.

"Young Lady, the kitchen courtyard is lighting the stoves and preparing food right now. The smell of oil smoke is heavy. Let us go somewhere else first."

Not long after, Yueshi walked over and spoke to Tushan Jingci.

"Oh..."

Tushan Jingci lowered her little head.

She truly did not want to go anywhere else. She only wanted to stay with Xiao Mo a little longer.

But she also knew that she could not keep lingering in the kitchen courtyard. Otherwise, it would expose the fact that she and Xiao Mo were friends, and that would bring Xiao Mo a great deal of trouble.

So Tushan Jingci did not stubbornly stay behind. She obediently followed Sister Yueshi away.

After returning to her little courtyard, Tushan Jingci sat on a stone stool with both hands propping up her chin, staring blankly at the sky. Her little tail swayed back and forth as she waited for night to come.

For Tushan Jingci, this was the first time she had ever looked forward to nightfall so much.

Because when night came, she would be able to go find Xiao Mo and play with him again.

She waited and waited.

For the first time, Tushan Jingci felt that a single day was so unbearably long.

At last, night fell.

After dinner, Tushan Jingci bathed under the maids' care, then obediently climbed into bed and pulled the blanket over herself, as if she were about to go to sleep.

The other two maids were both stunned when they saw the young lady like this. They felt that she was being so well-behaved that she did not seem like herself at all.

Yueshi, who knew the reason, said nothing. She merely sent the other two maids off to do their own tasks.

Again, after the midpoint of the hour of Hai, Tushan Jingci came to the wooden door of the woodshed and reached out with her little hand to knock on it.

Xiao Mo opened the door and saw Tushan Jingci standing there prettily in the doorway.

"Xiao Mo, I came to play with you."

Xiao Mo said nothing. He only let Tushan Jingci into the woodshed and played chess games with her.

For Xiao Mo, this was also one of the very few moments of leisure in his entire day.

Without noticing it, half a month passed in a row.

Every day, Tushan Jingci came to find Xiao Mo and play.

At the beginning, Yueshi had been somewhat disgusted with this human boy and had remained extremely vigilant.

Whenever it seemed possible that the human boy might touch her young lady, Yueshi would appear at once and stop it.

But Yueshi gradually discovered that this human boy really was different.

When he faced her young lady, he did not show the fear the other servants had, nor did he carry the least trace of fawning flattery.

If anything, whenever the young lady came close to him, he would deliberately step back and open up a little distance.

And this human boy seemed to know quite a lot of games.

It was not only tic-tac-toe. After that there was five-in-a-row, and then hopscotch...

Sometimes, when Yueshi watched the two of them playing together, a fond smile would even appear on her face without her noticing.

It was as if she felt that the innocent friendship between children ought to be exactly like this, unrelated to status and unrelated to race.

But very quickly, Yueshi cast that improper thought out of her mind.

Humans were still only humans in the end, while the young lady possessed the noble bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox.

The difference between the two of them would always be that of master and servant.

This little boy, for now, was nothing more than a tool to relieve the young lady's boredom.

A few more days passed.

Tushan Jingci's sixth birthday was fast approaching.

The entire Tushan residence gradually grew busy.

Tall red lanterns and colored ribbons were hung throughout the residence, and more than a hundred invitations were sent out.

The people of Immortal Fox City were even more full of anticipation for the birthday of the Tushan residence's young lady.

After all, the birthday of the only daughter of the first family of Immortal Fox City would certainly be grand beyond compare.

Not to mention that the Tushan residence's young lady was also that elder's own granddaughter.

Rumor had it that on the day of the young lady's birthday, that elder would personally come to celebrate his granddaughter's birthday.

And if that elder came, how could the ruler of the Heavenly Demon Kingdom possibly refuse to give face?

It was said that the ruler of the Heavenly Demon Kingdom had already set out and was on the way to Immortal Fox City.

That alone was enough to show just how lively the birthday celebration for the young lady of the Tushan residence would be.

The servants of the Tushan residence were all the more eager and spirited in their daily work, taking pride in the matter and looking forward to seeing those legendary great figures with their own eyes.

But Xiao Mo had little interest in those great figures.

Every night, whenever he found a little spare time, Xiao Mo would sit alone and carve something.

Since she regarded him as her friend, then if a friend was celebrating a birthday, he ought to give her some kind of gift.

Of course, Xiao Mo had no idea whether she would like the gift he was making or not.

*****

On the night before Tushan Jingci's birthday, as usual, Tushan Jingci came to the kitchen courtyard to keep playing with Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo suggested that they go fish by the lake, and Tushan Jingci naturally agreed at once.

Not long after, the two of them arrived at the lakeside within the residence.

Xiao Mo used a tree branch to make Tushan Jingci a little fishing rod.

The two of them sat by the lake just like that, hanging a worm from the line and waiting for the fish to bite.

Tushan Jingci did not know whether this could really catch a fish or not.

But she felt that as long as she was playing with Xiao Mo, everything seemed fun no matter what they were doing.

And Xiao Mo had even said that if she caught a fish tonight, then he would give her a gift.

For the sake of that gift, the little fox-eared girl's eyes stayed fixed tightly on the surface of the water, and even the tail behind her seemed tense with concentration.

"But why are the fish still not biting?"

After two quarter hours had passed, Tushan Jingci puffed out her cheeks, feeling a little discouraged.

If this kept going, was her gift going to disappear?

Fish, fish, please hurry and bite.

At the same time, not far away, Yueshi lowered her eyes when she saw the backs of the young lady and that human boy.

In Yueshi's view, tonight was the last time the young lady and that little boy would meet.

In the future, the young lady would be able to leave the residence. She would have many friends among the demon race. As for him, being human, he no longer had the right to keep her company.

And just as Yueshi was watching the two children in the distance—

Suddenly, her expression changed.

"Young Lady, be careful!"

Yueshi shouted, her figure lunging forward at the same instant.

A streak of sword light tore across the night sky and shot straight toward Tushan Jingci's back.