Nouvelle d'horreur Azure Heart

Chapitre 18

The fox thought for a moment, "Being a fairy was the happiest time..."

The demons remained silent.

Yinming sat down on the ground. "I used to think that maintaining the status quo was best. If we didn't choose, we could live like this forever... But maybe I'm just waiting for an opportunity that forces me to choose. What about you, Fox?"

The fox clutched the chestnut to its chest and remained silent for a moment. Faced with an unavoidable choice… should it choose the longing that had bound it for a thousand years, or the tenderness that had warmed it for a fleeting moment? Suddenly, it stood up and ran away quickly.

"What does this mean?" Blackfish asked, its eyes wide with confusion.

Yin Ming smiled. "Don't you think that sometimes, hesitation means that you've already made up your mind, but you're just afraid to do it?"

"I don't understand!" The blackfish and the carp shook their heads at the same time.

"It's best not to understand..." Yin Ming said with a smile.

"Hmph, stop spouting nonsense here!" the river shrimp scoffed.

"I'm not talking nonsense," Yin Ming said innocently. "One day, we'll all have to make a choice..."

"I don't care, as long as I have red bean buns and gossip, that's fine," the carp said earnestly.

"I don't care, as long as I'm with Koi," Black Fish said earnestly.

"I'm going to become an immortal, and then go to the ocean!" the river shrimp said seriously.

"I am an immortal, so as long as I can run, that's fine," Qi Ji said seriously.

The catfish surfaced, sighed, and said, "I'm too old for that, it's fine if I don't choose..."

Yin Ming smiled quietly, "That's why I feel so good about knowing you all..."

At that moment, the river shrimp suddenly saw something profound in that smile. In an instant, it felt an urge to ask. What was he choosing? Why was he choosing...?

The catfish's voice still rang out, "Hehe, it's really nice to know each other, I used to..."

"Old Catfish! Don't change the subject!!!"

= =#

...

Just as the fox reached the mountain, a sun shower began. The raindrops glistened in the sunlight, bathing the entire world in a hazy glow.

The Taoist temple remained unchanged, just as it had been a thousand years ago when it first looked up at it. It glanced at the barrier at the entrance, took a detour, transformed into a little fox, and slipped through the dog hole in the wall. It had never truly walked through this Taoist temple; the only place it recognized was the kitchen.

It darted into the kitchen, grabbed a bag of food without even looking, and then dashed out the door. Instantly, all the wind chimes in the temple rang. The sound echoed through the damp mountain forest.

It suddenly felt very happy, and carrying the bag of food, it leaped and darted among the glistening trees. Until, that familiar voice shouted sharply, "Stop!"

It stopped, obediently turned around, and looked at the boy who was soaked by the rain.

"Give it back to me." Tingcong stretched out her hand, avoiding its gaze, and said.

The fox took out the piece of icy jade. "How about I trade this for it?"

Ting Cong paused slightly, then frowned. "I already told you, that's very expensive..."

The fox put down the food and jade, looked at him, and said, "Then, let's change to something else."

“We don’t have anything that valuable in our temple.”

"If..." The fox looked at the stone, which was inexplicably precious, and hesitated before speaking, "If you find a beautiful place with clear waters and lush mountains, and I come here every day to steal food, would this jade be enough?"

Ting Cong suddenly wasn't sure what he had heard. He stared blankly at the fox in front of him, which was gradually transforming into a young girl.

"...I've decided to become human," the fox said slowly. "So, I might not have enough magic to escape. If I steal it, will you not report it to the authorities?"

"Foolish. How could there be government offices in a place like that..." Ting Cong laughed, the scene before him becoming somewhat hazy in the autumn rain. He spoke, helplessly.

“Yes…” the fox blinked, “There are no government offices in places like that…”

“So, even if you don’t use this jade, it doesn’t matter if you come to steal it every day.” Ting Cong walked over, her voice still warm.

At that moment, the fox didn't know whether to laugh or cry. If becoming an immortal would make it forget such feelings, then it would only choose to be human.

Ting Cong held out his hand, "Give me back my things."

The fox immediately picked up the food from the ground and placed it in his palm.

"Anything else?"

The fox thought for a moment, "Didn't you say you didn't need jade?"

Ting Cong frowned. "Yes, stealing food is fine. I'm asking you for the money you owed for the chestnuts!"

The fox frowned. "Didn't you return it to me yourself?!"

Ting Cong took a step closer, "Can't you back out now?"

The fox stepped closer, "How can this be!"

Tingcong blushed and avoided its eyes, "Give it to me..."

The fox gritted its teeth, picked up the stone, transformed into its fox form, and darted into the forest.

"You!" Ting Cong gritted his teeth. "You stop right there!!! You damned fox! Give me back my things!"

The fox, carrying the jade in its mouth, ran while shouting, "No way!"

Ting Cong took out a talisman from his pocket and threw it over, saying, "I told you to stop right there!"

The fox nimbly dodged the rain, the autumn rain pattering coolly on its skin, yet its chest remained warm. Suddenly, it understood: it had waited thousands of years, just to be told that in a beautiful, secluded place, someone would be waiting for it…

That day, the sound of wind chimes from the Taoist temple echoed throughout the entire mountain, spreading layer by layer with the autumn rain...

...

Chapter Twenty-Seven

That day, just as dawn broke, the fox, looking refreshed and invigorated, announced: "Comrades, I'm going to become a human! Please give me a round of applause!"

The demons immediately began flapping their fins, claws, and pincers...

"Hmm..." The fox nodded contentedly. "I'm leaving now. The next time you see me, I'll be a human..."

"Where are you going?" the crab asked.

"I'll return to where I started cultivating and pass away in human form." The fox stroked its furry paws and sighed, "I won't see you again, little paws. I'll miss you!"

"We'll miss you too, little paws," the demons sighed.

The fox brandished its sharp claws, "Let me show you my beautiful and wild claws one last time!"

“Hmm, this is the legendary ‘Bright Claws’…” the catfish said.

"I've only ever heard of 'Bright Sword' and 'Bright Armor'..." the blackfish and the carp said in unison.

The fox glanced at them, still cheerfully saying, "Hehe... everyone wait for my good news... bye-bye..." With that, it skipped away, running and jumping.

"Why do you think the fox decided to become human so quickly?" the crab asked curiously.

"Clearly, it has finally given up on Master Ji You," the river shrimp nodded.

"That's so strange. She always said she liked him, so why did she give up like this?" Chi asked blankly.

"Liking things is complicated. Sometimes, what you think you like isn't actually what you like the most; what you think you hate is actually what you care about the most..." The carp sighed, speaking in a profound and enigmatic way.

The blackfish explained from the side, "Don't worry, everyone, it's not crazy. It just got into studying these things after being dumped by the koi girl. It's alright, it's alright..."

So the demons ignored the carp.

"The ones you hate the most, you care about the most?" The crab suddenly realized something. "So, actually, the shrimp likes Brother Yinming?"

The river shrimp immediately fell from the rocks at the edge of the pond into the water. "You damned crab, don't talk nonsense!!!" it poked its head out, furious.

The crab shrank to one side and closed its mouth.

"Speaking of which, why do you hate Yin Ming, Shrimp? He's a really nice guy," Chi blurted out, oblivious to the danger.

The demons all agreed. "Yes, yes. There has to be a reason, right?"

"Do you need a reason to hate someone?" The shrimp climbed back onto the rock.

"Don't you need it?"

Do you need it?

"Don't you need it?"

Do you need it?

...

"We were just discussing it, why take it so seriously?" the demons said helplessly, adding, "Isn't it necessary?"

The river shrimp rolled its eyes and thought about it carefully. Indeed, why did it dislike Yin Ming? He clearly brought it food, bought it the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and was very nice to it. Why was it like this?

Just as I was thinking about it, the person involved arrived.

He always thought he looked dashing on horseback, with an indescribable air of dominance. River Shrimp thought to himself, trying to shake off this horrible idea.

"Good morning." Yin Ming dismounted and greeted him with a smile.

"Young Master Yinming, you're here early today," Catfish greeted him.

"Hmm." Yin Ming smiled and took out a paper package. "Red bean bun?"

The blackfish and carp instantly transformed into humans and rushed ashore, grabbing the paper package.

Not to be outdone, the crab pounced on it too.

The dragon didn't know why it pounced, but it still pounced.

The catfish strolled over slowly, watching with a smile.

River Shrimp glanced at everyone but remained silent.

"Hey, eat up... After we finish eating, let's go to the pond next door to listen to the gossip..." the carp said as it ate.

"Oh~" the blackfish responded as it ate.

"I need to eat quickly, class is about to start," Crab mumbled, stuffing a bun into his mouth.

"I...I'll go find the dragon earlier today," Chi said after thinking for a moment, holding a steamed bun.

"Yes, I'm going to pay a visit to Panlong today," the catfish nodded. Then, it said to Qiji, "Do you want to go and take a look?"

Qiji blinked and nodded.