The Wolf That Sought Its Own Demise

Once upon a time, in an ancient land, there was a forest. On the west side of the forest, there was a small wooden house.

Aged vines wound their way into the cracks of the walls, enveloping the house.

Inside the house, a large pot was suspended above a fire. Witch Annie's daily routine consisted of standing on a simple but sturdy step, laboriously stirring the magical potion in the pot with a wooden stick as thick as three fingers.

The clay pot bubbled and churned. Annie released the wooden stick, shook her aching hand, picked up the magic book from the table, and turned to the page marked with a golden ginkgo leaf. She carefully read the ingredients for the "Waking the Dead" potion: "One whisker from a three-month-old cockroach, one inch of soil where a sheep has slept, half a rotting leaf, the first dewdrop from a red rose, a strong male..."

"A strong male," Annie muttered to herself, her snow-white tail devoid of any impurities twitched impatiently.

"Bang, bang," a knock sounded from outside.

Annie frowned. Should she go to the market and buy one? The knocking continued, preventing her from concentrating.

Annie put down the book and wondered what qualified as a strong male. She remembered the pig that came to buy a potion yesterday, so fat that he couldn't even fit through the door. And there was the elephant she saw at the market a few days ago, half the size of her house. They were indeed strong, but she didn't have a pot large enough to hold them.

As Annie pondered, she opened the door and was greeted by a broad chest. She slowly looked up, her eyes scanning the male's prominent Adam's apple, chiseled jawline, high nose bridge, and finally meeting a pair of oppressive, faintly glowing green eyes.

This was a wolf - tall, handsome, and even through his clothes she could feel the immense power contained in his muscles. He came just in time.

Suppressing her urge to knock him out with a hammer, Annie flashed an even brighter smile than usual.

"Welcome to the Rabbit Witch's Cottage! How may I serve you?" Annie ushered him in, pushing the magic book on the living room table to a corner. "Hurry, hurry, come and sit here. Today the magpies were chirping outside the window early in the morning, announcing good news. It turns out I have a distinguished guest!"

Arthur glanced around the cluttered, dimly lit room, lit only by a few orange lanterns hanging on the walls, casting a faint glow on the overly enthusiastic rabbit's face.

The little rabbit pointed to the rows of potions on her shelves. "You've come to the right place! I can make any potion you need. I have everything here. This one is for 'Hair Growth,' and guaranteed to work in three days—even bald eagles say it's great! This one is the 'Beauty Potion,' Miss Crow used it and now has seven husbands! And this one is the 'You Can Never Leave Me' potion. With it, your beloved animal will never be able to say 'I want to leave you'..."

"I want a potion to suppress my mating season urges," Arthur interrupted her endless introduction, tossing a small, bulging bag of gold coins onto the table with a crisp sound. "This is your payment."

Not many animals were as straightforward when buying potions. Most would haggle with Annie for a lower price. Annie hummed, pretending to weigh the not-so-light bag of gold coins. "A suppressant potion? I'll get it for you right away!"

Annie hummed a cheerful song and resolutely walked past the potion for suppressing estrus. She picked up a dusty bottle of black potion, quickly tore off the skull label on it, and stuffed it into her narrow sleeve. She strode back and handed it to Arthur, laughing, "This potion needs to be used in combination with my spell. You can drink it now."

Arthur didn't take it. "The suppressant potion you sold to the stupid pig yesterday wasn't like this. What, are you trying to sell me a fake?"

Annie: "..."

Annie quickly explained, "This is the latest potion I've developed, and it's more effective than the ones I sold before."

Arthur had a keener sense than other creatures, and he could clearly see the small movements of this rabbit. He snorted coldly, "So what did you stuff into your sleeve?"

Annie was silent, realizing that the wolf was quite sharp.

The atmosphere was awkward for a moment. Annie's outstretched hand remained hanging in the air, not retracting. In order to prove her innocence, she bravely stared back at Arthur, her large eyes, full of jade-like luster, flickering under the pressure of his imposing presence. Her hand, which had been as straight as a ruler, gradually bent like it had no bones. Annie blinked and said weakly, "Maybe I took the wrong potion..."

"Then go and change it," Arthur's patience was running thin, and his expression clearly showed his impatience.

Annie said even more weakly, "I sold the last bottle yesterday. I need to make more, which will take some time." Of course, this was a lie. Annie was plotting to find another opportunity to get this male into her pot.

Seeing the rabbit still playing dumb, Arthur suddenly grabbed Annie's soft cheek and pulled her face in front of him. He playfully shook the small face in his hand, "Deliver it to Maple House within three days, and don't play any tricks. Otherwise, this bag of gold coins will be for your tomb, got it?"

Annie felt her face was crushed by this stupid dog. She was trapped between his big palms and couldn't even nod. She could only curse him in her heart while struggling to move her already deformed, pouty lips, "I got it."

Arthur left without saying anything more.

Annie rubbed her sore face, which now had deep finger marks, and became even more determined to get him into her pot.

Late at night, when all was quiet except for the rustling of leaves in the wind, Annie sat at her small desk, writing feverishly. She wrote and paused, sometimes deep in thought, sometimes with a flash of inspiration. Finally, she put down her pen, jumped up from her chair, and raised her notebook, exclaiming confidently, "I will definitely succeed!"

The next afternoon, Annie admired her beauty in the mirror for a while. The finger marks on her face had disappeared after applying the potion, and her skin was as smooth as before. She put on a fresh white camellia flower crown adorned with blood-red pyracantha berries, patted her fluffy hair, and twirled in front of the mirror, the lace-trimmed skirt swaying with her movements.

All was going smoothly, and Annie sent herself a little blessing.

It was an ordinary, dull afternoon.

Beasts in Estrus were terrifying, irritable, and full of unquenchable desires. Arthur had already gone out to fight in the morning, but his opponent had no resistance and could only beg for mercy, which bored him.

The sunset outside the window was as unchanging as ever. Gradually, he heard faint footsteps and turned his gaze to the door. Arthur got up just in time to open it, and there stood a rabbit dressed up in a fancy outfit, her hand still hanging in the air as she was about to knock. He watched as the rabbit tried to maintain her composure, adjusting her flower crown and revealing her signature smile, "Good afternoon!"

"Did you bring the medicine?"

"Um... not yet. You see, if I'm not mistaken, you're in heat now, right? Living alone like this is just too dangerous! So, I came to check on you."

Arthur sneered, "So instead of making the medicine, you came here to talk nonsense." He went straight into the house after saying that.

Annie remained on high alert. If someone could be heartless enough to beat such a cute girl like her, she couldn't resist. However, she was quick on her feet. Just now, when Arthur made a move, her hair stood on end.

Nonsense? How could it be nonsense? Annie silently defended herself in her heart. She stood at the doorway, observing her surroundings, and it seemed there were no ambushes. "It's not that I didn't try hard to make the potion. I had completed most of it last night, but then a mouse, oh, it fell into the pot!"

Arthur turned around, and his expression was theatrical. He pretended to be angry, put his hands on his hips, puffed up his cheeks, and complained about the mouse in a strange, sweet tone.

Annie slightly lifted her skirt and stepped over the threshold. Seeing Arthur look over, she quickly withdrew her probing tiptoes.

He pulled the corner of his mouth and continued along with Annie's words, "So, what should we do?"

Annie glanced at Arthur, gauged his expression for a moment, and felt that she should be safe. She lightly coughed and said, "Look, your house is so remote. And, oh my goodness! It's so cold at night, how can you sleep with such a thin blanket? You'll get sick!"

Arthur stared at her as she let out a sigh and looked troubled. "How about this? You come and stay at my place for a few days. My house is spacious, and you can keep an eye on the progress of the potion. What do you think?"

Annie waited for a while, but Arthur didn't respond. He just stared at her gloomily. She emphasized loudly, "I've always been a kind-hearted rabbit. I've invited other animals to be guests before. And I'm so weak, what could I possibly do to you?" As she spoke, she even pouted, looking somewhat wronged.

The sunset outside the window set the sky ablaze, and the evening glow enveloped the girl's slender body. Her fluffy, cloud-like long hair shone with a golden luster under the sunlight. Her lips were redder than the berries on a flower crown, and her skin was more delicate than a camellia. Her expression was so vivid as she stood in the doorway, framed like a painting.

Arthur couldn't help but have some strange thoughts, so he showed a malicious smile, "Fine, let's go."

Annie didn't expect things to go so smoothly, fearing he might change his mind, "You don't need to bring anything; I've prepared everything for you! Let's go."

Along the way, Annie hummed songs, occasionally looking back at him and making conversation. Arthur followed her leisurely, and the rabbit's fist-sized tail swung in front of his eyes.

When they arrived home, it was already late. The place they had just visited yesterday looked completely different today. The house was clean and tidy, with everything in order, and even the orange light seemed brighter. Annie thoughtfully arranged a spacious guest room for Arthur and said, "Goodnight."

When Annie closed Arthur's door and returned to her own nest, the first thing she did was put a big checkmark behind the first line in her notebook.

In the morning, the chicken alarm clock crowed in her ear, and Annie woke up quickly. The tuft of hair on her head bounced up and down, and she tied her fluffy, exploding hair with a hairband.

After washing up, she prepared breakfast. The sound of washing vegetables, chopping, and crackling firewood filled the air. In no time, three plates of dishes and two sets of neatly arranged bowls and chopsticks were placed on the table.

She knocked on Arthur's door and gently said, "Mr. Wolf, are you awake? It's time for breakfast." After knocking, she held her breath and listened for a while, but there was no response. Annie knocked again, "Sir?" Still no reply. Annie glanced at the time; it was getting late. She cleared her throat and banged on the door, "It's breakfast time! It's breakfast time!"

There was still no response.

Heh, fine. You're going to eat this breakfast whether you want to or not. Annie took a few steps back, preparing to jump and kick the door, but her collar was suddenly grabbed from behind. Annie was suspended in the air for a moment, nearly choking on her collar. Instinctively, she flapped her limbs like a rabbit.

Arthur patted the head of his indignant rabbit, "Couldn't you just open the door and check if I'm there or not?" He sat down at the dining table without waiting for Annie and began to eat.

Annie felt as if her head would be broken by his patting; his strength seemed to be a deliberate act of revenge! She cursed inwardly and saw that the dog-like creature had nearly finished her food in just a few bites. She had no choice but to swallow her anger and save her empty stomach first.

As she got closer, Annie noticed a smell of sweat on the wolf. She hadn't heard him leave earlier in the morning, so she couldn't help but ask, "Where did you go so early?"

"Fight." Simple and clear.

Annie: "..."

Annie usually wouldn't comment on other people's hobbies, unless she couldn't help it. Humph, going for a fight early in the morning, is such silly dog behavior.

After finishing her meal, Annie cleaned up the tableware herself, not bothering the silly dog.

Later, Annie put on her coat to avoid getting her dress dirty with potion, and used a carrot hairpin to secure her hair. She tilted her head left and right, making sure everything was fine, then smiled at her reflection in the mirror. After thinking for a moment, she also smiled at the silly dog in the mirror.

The silly dog stood a few steps behind her, watching with a mocking expression that turned into a seven-point smirk when he met Annie's smile.

Annie secretly rolled her eyes, picked up her small stick, and went to the potion room. She stirred the potion in the pot and noticed the silly dog following her. Confused, she asked, "Aren't you going to fight anymore?"

"Nope," Arthur sat down across from her.

Annie ignored him and continued to stir the potion. Magic spread through the air as it rose, filling the room. The next ingredient for the potion was less than five meters away from her. As she thought about the potion's appearance when it was finished, she felt even more motivated, as if she had endless energy in her hands, and her stirring speed increased.