Chapter 06

Mom, how about... we give up on this talent point?

After Raiden Shogun confidently announced the name she had pondered for a long time, the scene fell into a brief silence that made Raiden Shogun feel as if time had stopped. It was not until Baal cleared her throat and broke the silence.

Raiden Shogun: "Hmm... there's improvement."

Yingjian: "?" Auntie Shogun, are you serious?

"But... there's a slight imperfection." Raiden Shogun raised her hand and made a small gesture. "For example, you could try changing it..."

"I really like it."

Before Raiden Shogun could finish her sentence, she heard the clear voice of the young man.

"This is the name bestowed upon me by Lady Baal, a name she carefully thought of for a long time... I am honored and happy." The young man spoke sincerely, his expression and tone showing no trace of falsehood or difficulty.

"To become the creation of Lady Baal, I am already luckier than most beings." The young man slightly lowered his head and smiled shyly. "'Bestowal of Name' is a gift I never thought I would receive since my self-birth. It is the grace given to me by Lady Baal. I will remember this and not disappoint Lady Baal's expectations."

Yingjian: "But..."

"And, my birth itself was tied to Your Highness, wasn't it?" Hearing the heartfelt voice of the white fox that had been watching him in her arms, the young man's voice softened. "It is because of you that I was able to have my own name so quickly, right?"

After a moment's thought, Yingjian realized that the young man was referring to the incident where she bit her mother's sleeve.

"Is that considered?" she wondered.

"Of course it is."

Yingjian used to think that making such a hasty decision about a name was not good, but when faced with the young man's determined gaze, she understood something.

"For the creator to earnestly give a name, and for the puppet to feel joy and satisfaction with having a name"—that is enough for the two of them. Auntie Shogun and her were merely outsiders in this scenario.

"Very well, then starting today, you shall live as 'Raiden Sango' in your human form." Raiden Shogun did not insist any further and smiled. "Don't disappoint the expectations of 'Lady Baal.'"

"Yes!" The young man, or rather Raiden Sango, looked at the seated Ming Shen and his purple eyes seemed to be filled with sparkling starlight. "I will not dishonor General's reputation."

As they spoke, Raiden Yaksha looked at Yingjian.

Feeling his gaze, the little fox tilted her head.

"He will be with you from now on." Raiden Yaksha turned his head slightly and looked away. "As long as I'm here, there will be no partings for the puppet."

Yingjian didn't understand why Raiden Yaksha suddenly said these words, but the Archon connected to her soul naturally knew the unspoken words within her.

The threat of death was already of little concern to the puppet. Moreover, as long as the creator was present, the puppet would have no fear of death and naturally there would be no partings. At this moment, Yingjian perhaps thought of someone, Raiden Shogun speculated.

Perhaps it was the Yashiro Commission, or perhaps it was a colleague who had died due to their limited lifespan—who knows?

"In this world, there are many partings, and each departure signifies the beginning of a new journey." Raiden Yaksha raised his hand and touched the little fox's fluffy head. "Before you make up your mind to embark on a new journey, we will be with you all the way, for a long, long time."

"...A new journey?" When she heard the word "partings," Yingjian's mind flashed with the face of Chou Chou. For a moment, her eyes were slightly dazed.

It seemed... that when she woke up, she was already wearing a hair accessory on her head.

Yingjian sighed and lifted her head, allowing Raiden Yaksha to stroke her.

"Yes, I remember."

"The divine will not deceive."

*

Time passed like an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, it was winter with heavy snowfall.

At first, it was just light snow, but as the weather grew colder, a thick layer of snow accumulated overnight. Even stepping on it would almost bury one's knees.

In the past, when she was in the Shogunate, it often took more than a day's journey to reach their destination during missions, and setting up camp midway was an inevitable occurrence. To prevent thieves or ghosts from attacking during the night, even if someone was on guard duty, others would subconsciously be more vigilant. Over time, they would wake up at the slightest movement.

Ever since she transformed into a little fox, she rarely used her breathing technique. However, her sensitivity as a yokai allowed her to be very alert to the sounds around her. Whenever there was any noise outside, she would wake up.

The doll always woke up earlier than her. According to him, dolls didn't need to sleep, they only rested in order to be more like humans. Normally, after Yae Miko heard the noise and woke up, she would open her eyes, glance at the bright white sky, and quickly return to her dreams feeling at peace.

But these past few days, something was clearly not right.

She guessed that he was afraid of something unexpected happening, so recently, Raiden Shogun had been staying with her. Every time she heard him getting up, it was still pitch black outside. When she woke up again, she would find the doll still in the courtyard. As for what happened in between, the dazed infant completely had no clue, completely absorbed in the warmth of her blanket.

Once again, she was awakened in the early morning by the young man's restrained and light movements. Until he walked out barefoot through the sliding door, Yae Miko stretched lazily and lifted her eyelids to take a glance at the bed, almost falling back into slumber. But when she thought of what she was supposed to do, she suddenly snapped awake. In three or five bounds, she leaped onto the windowsill and looked outside at the still dim sky.

"It's snowing?"

Yae Miko had gone to bed early last night and had no idea when it started. Although the visibility was poor, it was not difficult to see that the ground was already covered in thick snow. Yae Miko leaned against the windowsill and watched the snowflakes floating outside, as well as the young man clearing the snow in the courtyard.

The young man wore a simple hat. After he finished clearing the snow in front of the door, he set the broom aside, adjusted his hat, and left.

"Hmm?"

"What is he going out to do?"

Yae Miko flicked her tail, unable to figure it out. She had originally planned to go out and play in the snow, but when she saw Raiden Shogun leave, her still groggy mind began to ponder.

"Is he going out to buy snacks?"

"He doesn't need to go so early."

"Since he rarely wakes up this early, I should go and meet the doll later."

Yae Miko couldn't figure it out, and as she continued to think, her mind stopped contemplating and she curled up into a ball and returned to her dreams.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already bright outside. Yae Miko was still half-asleep, but in the blink of an eye, she jumped up.

"What was she saying earlier...?"

Yae Miko looked at the time with a guilty conscience and realized that it wasn't the usual time for Raiden Shogun to return. She let out a sigh of relief, feeling guilty no more.

"She also woke up quite early this time!"

If the Yae Miko from a few months ago heard this, she would definitely scold her for being lazy. But now, Yae Miko had a full understanding of her role as a slacker, so she confidently pushed open the door and walked out.

A gust of cold air blew over, and before her eyes was a snow scene as pure and enchanting as a fairyland.

She had never stopped in any beautiful scenery before, even the common snow scenes were only seen as red splashes that were very dazzling. So even though she had experienced fifteen years of life, she couldn't help but take a step forward and tentatively step on the snow. And then she discovered--

For a fluffy little fox with paw pads and fur, the cold winter was simply heaven!

With no one else around, Yae Miko happily frolicked in the snow without any psychological barriers. After a while, when she was tired and panting, she simply lay down lazily and basked in the newly risen sun. Just then, footsteps came from outside the door, and Yae Miko's ears perked up.

"Frequency, sound, weight..."

"It's the doll!"

Yae Miko originally wanted to go and greet him directly, but as soon as her leg moved forward, it stopped.

"She left her hair accessory in the room, she's not wearing it. In that case..."

Yae Miko retracted her foot and turned her head, diving into the snowdrift.

After Raiden Shogun entered the room, he took off his simple hat and hung it to the side. Then he walked straight to Yae Miko's door, and with a curved finger, he knocked on the door.

"Lady Yae, it's time to wake up." The young man's voice was crisp and gentle. "I'll prepare breakfast for you. Is there anything you want to eat?"

Yae Miko instinctively wanted to wag her tail, but the snow was hindering her, and she couldn't move it.

"Lady?" Normally, at this time, Yae Miko would respond herself, but this time she didn't. Fortunately, he had seen this before.

"Are you being lazy again..." Raiden Shogun sounded somewhat helpless. "Then, how about having bird egg skewers for breakfast?"

Still no response, so Raiden decided to give up naturally. He turned around and prepared to go to the kitchen. As he walked in the hallway, he suddenly noticed clear paw prints on the snow. He couldn't help but look in the direction they extended. Suddenly, a white furball pounced on him and he stumbled, ending up sitting on the ground.

"Ying... Yingjian?... Haha, it tickles, stop it."

The fluffy little fox licked his face in his arms. His chest was warm, his back was cold, and the tickling sensation made Raiden laugh.

"Alright, alright... Why are you up so early today?"

Grabbing the front legs of the fox, the young man regained control and adjusted his posture to kneel on the ground, holding the fox's soft face with both hands.

The fox suddenly shook off the snow on its body, then snuggled into the young man's arms to keep warm after feeling the cold temperature on his hands.

"Hmm?"

Raiden finally noticed that Yingjian's hair accessory was missing, realizing why there was no response. So he picked Yingjian up after standing up and walked towards the house.

After placing Yingjian on the table, Raiden went to the pillow and picked up the hair accessory, putting it near Yingjian's ear.

"Alright." The young man smiled, "So, can I make bird egg shao?"

'Okay~'

"Then I'll come in a while."

After Raiden closed the door and left, Yingjian crawled back into the warmth of the kotatsu.

Ever since Raiden came to her side almost a month ago, the power of the yaksha in her body would occasionally act up at first. Fortunately, the young man took great care of her and there were no major issues. As time passed, after a month of rest, Yingjian clearly felt that her body had improved a lot and she was healthy and enjoyed her meals.

Carefully thinking about it... it seemed that it was after her condition improved that the little doll started to wake up early and go out.

As Yingjian thought about it, she began to doze off again. It was not surprising, anyone would feel sleepy lying in the kotatsu in the middle of winter.

Besides, there was no chance to sleep so comfortably and peacefully during the Taisho era. Embracing the principle of timely enjoyment, Yingjian made up for all the sleep she had missed in her previous life during this month.

'After all, I'm still a patient, and what help can a little fox offer to an adult?'

Every time she felt drowsy, Yingjian would comfort herself with these words and then naturally enter dreamland.

This time was no exception.

'When it's time to eat, the little doll will definitely wake her up.'

And indeed, just as she imagined, when she heard footsteps outside the door, Yingjian slowly woke up and instinctively prepared to stretch and yawn.

"I'm so hungry..."

As Yingjian rubbed her eyes, her movements suddenly froze.

"...?"

Yingjian stiffened and put her hand down from rubbing her eyes, looking at the ten fingers that belonged to a human, which she controlled with her will. She blinked and slowly pulled the blanket back over her head.

'Oh my, it must be a dream.'

'But this dream feels so real hahaha...'

"Your Highness, breakfast is ready, I'm coming in..."

"Wait, wait, don't come in yet!!"