14 Chapter 14: The Fox Boy's Benevolence

The red light that had emerged from the locket formed into a five-tailed fox boy in front of the stupefied administrators and the frightened Lucy. His tails and ears were orange as before when Lucy first met him. His eyes were icy blue, and his long nails were dyed red, perfectly matching his red kimono robes and black silken trousers. He was barefoot like every other spirit. As expected, he wore the same type of a Yin-and-Yang golden-chained locket that Lucy had. It was truly the Bond Item he had given her. Out of his big and long sleeve, he took a red fan, swung it open, and covered his sly smile with it.

“Greetings, mortals.”

“It’s… It’s truly Lord Huli…” the chubby man muttered. He expected anyone but the tamer of Huli Yuehong to show up in their school! Was that vile fox even tamable?

“Is… Is it safe, Miss Caldwell?” the woman asked with a trembling voice, for she sensed she was being drawn to Lord Huli’s charming eyes. She knew this vile fox spirit’s powers had a double impact on females when he was in his Yang form – the current red fox form.

“Um…”

Lucy hesitated – what should she answer? Of course, it wasn’t safe – she could barely control him if at all! Sometimes he didn’t even vanish when she told him to disappear, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hold him from attacking these people if he desired so. But if she revealed she was unable to control him, she might not only be excluded from the Warrior Hosts’ group but expelled from the school altogether! It was indeed a tough situation.

“Oh, no need to fear me. I do not feast upon middle-aged meat.”

The fox boy gave bent his fan aside to give them a devilish grin. It gave shudders to all three administrators. The woman frowned and put a hand on her golden bracelet:

“Miss Caldwell, can you control your spirit, or not?”

This was a very straightforward question. This woman was even ready to release her spirit, so afraid she was of possible danger. Lucy didn’t know what to do anymore. Her eyes shimmered with worry and sorrow – what if they discovered her secret and expelled her?

The man with sunglasses furrowed his brow – was what he saw back in the train all a lie? Was this girl really unable to control this spirit? It seemed very likely, though – Huli Yuehong was an eternity old and was known to be a bloodthirsty beast that had no remorse upon humans. It was almost unbelievable that he would ever agree to become a human’s guardian.

Lucy felt a lump in her throat. She cast her eyes down. She was never able to lie. She should probably just tell the truth.

“I…”

Yuehong glanced down at her and noticed the tears in her eyes. He understood she was about to spew the whole truth, which both of them knew too well. He shut his fan and raised it in front of Lucy, giving her a sign to hush. Lucy looked up at him in wonder – what was he going to do?

“You are truly disrespecting me, lady and gentlemen!” Yuehong shot a piercing gaze at the administrators, “Why would I ever give my most precious belonging, the Yin-and-Yang necklace, to some wimp, if she was unable to control me? Of course, she is my hostess! By doubting her powers, I guess you doubt my wise decision, thus my wisdom? Is that what you’re implying?”

All the three administrators knew it was a bad idea to enrage Huli Yuehong – after all, he was not only called the ‘Celestial-Fox of Nine Heavens’, but ‘Blood Moon Fox’ too, and everyone could well realise what this name could mean.

“Oh, no, Lord Huli, don’t get us wrong!” the chubby man exclaimed, “We didn’t mean to insult you!”

“Mr. Sheffield’s right. We just got a little surprised to see you in our school,” the woman gave him an innocent smile. She put her hand off her bracelet in order not to irritate the fox spirit even more.

“Yeah, it was truly unexpected,” the man with sunglasses spoke up.

Yuehong noticed their fear, which brought a grin to his face. He swung his fan open and began fanning his face in a proud manner:

“Well, I shall forgive your mistake for today, only because you are going to be my precious little hostess’ teachers.”

“Not all of us. These two are administrators,” the man with sunglasses pointed on two of his companions, “I shall be Miss Caldwell’s teacher – the Warrior Spirit Host, Seiji Yamada.”

Lucy gasped – Seiji Yamada, the most famous and powerful of all Warrior Hosts, the one acknowledged as a genius?!

“Really? You are Seiji Yamada?”

“Yes, and I’d be honoured to teach a person who was able to tame the Celestial-Fox of Nine Heavens.”

“Oh my! It’s such an honour to be praised by you!”

“I’m glad we sorted out this matter. So, my hostess and I are free, I suppose?” Yuehong asked.

“Um… Of course, Lord Huli, Lucy Caldwell is already enrolled in the Warrior Spirit Hosts’ advanced class. You are free.” the woman smiled at them with quite some fear. “Tomorrow at nine o’clock the classes will begin. Miss Caldwell, you are assigned to the Warrior Hostesses’ dormitory, Room #1. It is on the third floor. Please take your belongings there immediately. Your bed is Number 9.”

“Okay. Thank you very much!” Lucy bowed to them, and then turned to Yuehong with much awe: “Will you come along, or go to your dwelling?”

“I don’t mind accompanying you for a while.” Yuehong gave her a kind smile.

“Alright.”

Thus, Lucy and her spirit walked out of the administrative office and headed upstairs. Other students in line stared at them in shock. None of them could ever imagine it was possible to tame man-eater tailed fox spirits. But Lucy didn’t pay attention to any of them. Instead, when she and Yuehong got to the third floor, away from the others’ eyes, she turned to him in fear:

“Wh… Why did you do this for me, Lord Huli?”

Yuehong’s smile vanished.

“You are not fit to be a fox spirit’s hostess if you cannot tell even the simplest lies.” He shut his fan and raised her chin with it. “Your pitiful view brought me nausea. Learn to stand up for yourself, or you’ll remain forever a worthless mortal, resembling a poor nose-twitching bunny.”

“I’m sorry…” Lucy sniffed. She was getting more and more afraid of this monster – finally, she saw some kindness from him and he was being rude again!

She felt a gentle touch on her head. She looked up at the spirit in wonder – he was caressing her.

“Remember – I hate being disrespected,” he said. “You seem to be a good girl. Trust in my strength. I will deceive anyone but you. If I had ever had intentions of deceiving you or letting you down, I would not have told you so openly that I was going to devour you, I’d just trick you into it. I am the king of tailed foxes, after all. Know that whatever happens, I’ll stand by your side. You don’t need to cry hot tears. That means you doubt my strength, so, don’t do it.”

He softly hit her on the head with his fan.

“Ouch!” Lucy laughed.

“Oh, and by the way – back when I told you I’d devour you after I helped you avenge your parents… I lied. I’d never become a guardian of my lunch. I was just teasing you.”

Yuehong cackled in a devilish manner, swung his fan, and vanished.

“W… Wait, what?!”

Lucy stretched her hand out to grab and stop him, but it was vain – he had already gone. She grew confused:

So, if he is indeed a trickster fox… which of his statements was true?

A tiny hope still embraced her heart, that this fox boy might actually be a gracious creature. After all, like Yanluo earlier said, he represented Natural Energy, Transformation, and balance. So, evil and kindness were equally present in his heart.

A grateful smile formed on her face:

Thank you, Huli Yuehong…