Chapter 5: The Unsettling Truth of Xiao Xixi

Feeling a pair of delicate, soft hands gently stroking its small head. Recalling Su Mei’s words from moments ago, ‘Why don’t we just call you Xiao Xixi?,’ Xiao Xi was utterly dismayed in that instant.

For it suddenly remembered that in the original novel, the junior sister named Xiao Xixi was apparently also named by Su Mei due to its characteristic ‘xixi-xixi’ fox cries.

‘Xiao Xixi’—wasn’t that supposed to be the name of the villainous plush-ball girl? And for him, a male cannon fodder (Qing Zhou) who was doomed to an early demise, wouldn’t that name be far too effeminate?

‘Xixi’? It was even a reduplicative word, which made Xiao Xi, who had once been a boy, feel a surge of shame just hearing it.

At this thought, Xiao Xi hastily erected one of its fluffy, snow-white fox tails, pointing it straight upwards. It silently conveyed its displeasure with the name to Su Mei, who held it in her arms.

After all, it hadn’t yet transformed into human form, and relying solely on ‘xixi-xixi’ cries certainly wouldn’t facilitate communication!

However, it had to be said, Xiao Xi’s bristling appearance quite vividly expressed its stance.

****

At this moment, Gu Yao, as a Beast Tamer, was naturally much more sensitive to the movements of ‘little foxes’ due to her long interactions with demonic beasts. Seeing Xiao Xi’s intense resistance, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Xiao Xixi, I think it’s quite nice. Look, you’re a little female fox, and it’s a reduplicative word. How sweet it sounds!~”

Hearing Gu Yao emphasize its gender once again, Xiao Xi, who had heard many remarks about its gender today, felt a fleeting flicker of insecurity in this moment.

After all, the current world was an unscientific cultivation realm, and the three individuals before it all possessed unscientific cultivation abilities.

Since transmigrating to this world, Xiao Xi, as a spiritual fox imbued with spiritual energy, hadn’t actually examined its own body in too much detail.

The reasons for this were numerous. Firstly, in the month since transmigrating into the book, Xiao Xi had been quite busy.

It had been busy preparing to ‘heal Su Mei’ and also accompanying its older brother, Xiao Changgu, in cultivation.

The more significant reason, however, was that throughout this month, Xiao Xi rarely had the opportunity to be alone as a ‘fox’. Even when gathering herbs in advance to heal Su Mei, Xiao Changgu, worried about it, had accompanied it.

Furthermore, Xiao Xi itself was a fluffy, densely furred snow fox. To ascertain its own gender, it would have to resort to the ultimate move of Shiro, the pet from the anime *Crayon Shin-chan*—scratching its little ‘down there’.

But as a former adult with a sense of shame, Xiao Xi, frankly, was utterly mortified at the thought of performing such an embarrassing act.

Upon hearing this, some might argue that, no matter what, it could at least confirm its gender by using the restroom! Here, one must mention a peculiar setting of this world.

As a demonic beast, all nutrients absorbed by Xiao Xi in this world would ultimately converge within its ‘demonic core’. In truth, Xiao Xi quite agreed with this particular setting.

After all, this world lacked ‘toilet paper,’ and the number of demonic beasts in the forest was quite substantial.

Without this setting, if one were to ponder it, the protagonist Ye Chen walking through a forest inhabited by ‘demonic beasts’—stepping in bear droppings with his left foot, and dog feces with his right—emmmmmm, it just wouldn’t quite fit the ethereal aesthetic of a cultivation environment.

Thus, up until now, Xiao Xi had always relied on its knowledge of the original novel and the passage of time to conclude that it was Qing Zhou, the minor cannon fodder villain serving beside Xiao Changgu.

However, hearing Elder Gu Yao’s words now, a faint unease truly stirred within its heart. ‘No way, could I really have become that plush-ball villain?’

‘But that’s not right,’ Xiao Xi recalled. ‘Weren’t all the options in that pirated app just cannon fodder villains?’

One must remember, Xiao Xixi was a ‘villain’ in the original novel who nearly killed the protagonist. This wasn’t right at all.

‘And, and, the most crucial point is, he, Xiao Xi, was a boy before. How could a boy turn into a female fox?’

‘This is far, far… too wrong!!!’

****

As tumultuous waves churned within Xiao Xi’s mind, Su Mei gazed at the little fox in her arms, stunned into silence and no longer making its characteristic ‘xixi’ cries. She found herself greatly amused.

In truth, through the past few snippets of interaction, she had vaguely noticed something. This little fellow, whenever it heard itself referred to as female, would react with significant agitation, its fur bristling.

And upon hearing her junior sister Gu Yao’s confident words just now, it had taken on the appearance of a fox utterly devastated. ‘Could it be that this little fox has always believed itself to be a male fox?’

At this thought, Elder Su Mei’s beautiful red lips curved into a gentle arc. Her deep, peach-blossom eyes narrowed slightly, and combined with the faint black tear mole beneath her left eye, and the soft rise and fall of her chest from suppressed laughter, the smile appeared incredibly alluring.

However, remembering that her disciple was also present, and wishing to maintain her dignified image as a master, Su Mei quickly reined in her smile.

She gently turned her slender, swan-like neck towards her junior sister, Gu Yao, and after returning the ring to her, softly said, “Junior Sister Gu, I’ll trouble you to help my little disciple transform.”

Gu Yao heard her senior sister Su Mei’s words and looked at the returned ring. Although she felt a slight disappointment at the failure of their ‘py transaction’, the thought of witnessing a ‘spirit demon’ transform lifted her spirits somewhat.

Soon, her left hand began to form seals rapidly, her delicate white fingers continuously shifting, while she softly murmured an abstruse incantation.

At this moment, Xiao Xi was still deep in shock, too preoccupied to notice anything else. Had it seen the complex sequence of Gu Yao’s hand seals, it would undoubtedly have complained, ‘Isn’t this *Naruto*?’

As Gu Yao’s left hand flew and her mouth chanted, in the next second, a faint, ethereal red thread emerged from her left hand.

This ethereal red thread, after swaying in the air for a while, seemed to have found its target and swiftly moved to entwine a fluffy, snow-white tail.

Xiao Xi, deep in thought about its gender, felt a faint warmth emanating from its tail. When it instinctively looked back, it found its fox tail already wrapped round and round by an ethereal red thread.

And most importantly, this red thread now seemed unsatisfied with just its large tail. It began to coil further and further, spiraling towards the base of the tail.

Witnessing this bizarre scene, Xiao Xi, having read countless tentacle comics, couldn’t help but resist. It instinctively tried to push off Su Mei’s body with its little legs and leap away, attempting to evade the eerie, intangible red rope that was coiling around it like a ‘tentacle monster’.

However, just as it exerted force to jump down, it was caught by a pair of slender white arms and a flat chest. Bai Luozhu looked at the restless little fox, still kicking its legs in her embrace, and after a moment’s thought, she soothingly said,

“Little Xixi, don’t be afraid. This is helping you transform; there’s no danger.”

Xiao Xi turned its fox head, looking at the indecent ethereal red thread that was getting closer and closer to the base of its tail. If it could speak at this moment, it would truly want to complain, ‘Is this transformation technique even proper?’

And just as Xiao Xi watched in growing despair as the red thread slowly climbed higher, intending to advance towards its unmentionable parts, to its surprise, in the very next second, Xiao Xi felt a surge of heat throughout its body.

Immediately after, a burst of white mist rose from Purple Haze Peak. Simultaneously, within this white mist, a petite figure slowly began to emerge….