In the vast, empty palace, a faint sound drifted through the air. I quietly opened my eyes.
Someone had arrived.
The silly woman was sleeping drowsily. Her little face was flushed, her lips slightly pouted, soft pink and glistening…
Instinctively, I scooted away and curled myself tighter. Last time, she’d soaked a huge patch of my fur with her drool. I had no desire to experience that again…
As soon as the warmth disappeared, she unconsciously followed after me, clutching my tail and grabbing my fur.
I was considering whether I should bite her a little to establish my authority when a white-haired man appeared. Without a word, he picked her up and laid down on the other side of the bed, closing his eyes to rest.
Sensing new warmth, the silly woman wrapped herself around him with both hands and feet. The man revealed a satisfied smile.
In the latter half of the night, I sprang up energetically and glanced at the moon outside the window.
The moon looks completely different to us beasts than it does to humans. I truly don’t understand how they can see sadness in something that makes our blood boil like this.
The ancient, wild blood of fox and wolf surged through my body.
I parted my jaws slightly.
My fangs longed for pulsing veins and resilient flesh.
My throat yearned for sweet, fresh blood.
My claws and body craved tearing and destruction…
Beasts move without a sound.
Lowering my head, I approached the man’s throat.
He calmly opened his eyes.
Golden pupils glanced coldly at me as I stared at his neck. A faint, mocking smile appeared on his lips. A terrifying killing intent radiated from him, making my fur stand on end.
This man was extremely dangerous.
In front of the silly woman, he was completely different—restraining half his temper, seven parts of his cruelty, nine parts of his killing intent.
This must be the real him.
In the beast world, the strong earn absolute obedience.
I respectfully lowered my head and retreated.
I wandered through the empty palace.
Cold moonlight spilled across the floor. It was chilly, yet it made every strand of my fur bristle with excitement.
At night, there were no guards or servants in the silly woman’s palace—obviously to prevent my animal instincts from acting up.
Which made me feel suffocated.
A low growl rumbled in my throat. My claws slowly extended.
I wanted to hunt.
To watch prey struggle beneath my paws.
Their terrified eyes.
Fragile wounds.
Beautiful blood.
A shadow flashed in the darkness.
Delighted, I slipped into the shadows.
Here it was—one of those creatures humans called assassins.
My lovely prey.
He was unprepared, clutching his bleeding shoulder and stumbling backward.
I circled him gracefully.
In his eyes, I saw my glowing green pupils.
And his fear.
A beautiful night.
An evil moonlight.
My anticipated hunt.
At dawn, that powerful white-haired man passed by me and quietly ordered his subordinates to remove the assassin’s remains for inspection.
Before leaving, he glanced at me and said slowly:
“Wash off the smell of blood before you go to her.”
I narrowed my eyes.
Like you always do?
The sun rose.
After shaking off the water, I climbed onto the palace rooftop to bask in the sunlight.
The wind from afar carried the scent of blood and iron—the smell of a battlefield.
No matter the species, males are naturally warlike.
The eagle called Yasha circled above the palace twice, screeching sharply before flying toward the battlefield.
Probably delivering intelligence again.
I watched it disappear and imagined grabbing it midair and eating it…
No.
If I ate it, the intelligence wouldn’t get through. The white-haired man would rage. And the silly woman would cry and nag me for ages.
Better not.
The palace grounds held no scent of the horse called Yedao.
He must be on the battlefield.
A fierce one.
I’m no match for him yet—but once I’m fully grown, who knows?
Don’t die too soon…
“Shaozhi! Shaozhi!”
The silly woman was calling me.
I rolled over and ignored her.
“Shaozhi” didn’t sound very imposing. I had protested before.
She’d listed a bunch of names for me to choose from.
But in the end…
I decided Shaozhi wasn’t bad after all.
(Minmin, what kind of names were those anyway…)
“Shaozhi! If you don’t come out, I’ll expose your peeing everywhere!”
…
Miss Minmin, animals pee everywhere…
And besides, you’re shouting so loudly that everyone already—
I sighed and slowly got up.
I sprawled lazily on the carpet in a comfortable pose.
The silly woman sat beside me, carefully brushing my fur while chatting with the maid Nana.
(I’m not exaggerating, Shaozhi—your measure words are really lacking.)
I remembered Nana because when I was little, I once tried to eat her.
I had just knocked her down and was about to bite her throat when the silly woman caught me.
She cried and lectured me for an entire day.
She rambled about how humans rule all things because they have kindness, how demons and beasts lack kindness, how with kindness even demons could become “demon-humans,” and wolves could become werewolves…
#%￥#￥%…
I glared at her fiercely, grinding my teeth, wondering if I should just bite her to death.
Instead, she rushed over, hugged my neck, and excitedly said:
“You want to be good, don’t you? You want to be kind, right? You’re definitely trying to be good! Even though you can’t talk, I know it! You must want to be good!”
“Eh? Shaozhi, why are you twitching?”
…
After that, I gave up the idea of killing in front of her.
After dinner, she went for a walk with me outside the palace.
While patrolling my territory, I chased away two clueless stray dogs.
Then suddenly—
The rhythm of the bells on her ankles changed!
I rushed over like a whirlwind.
The man holding her was…
The white-haired man’s elder brother.
Many assassins shared his scent.
This man was dangerous and sinister.
He noticed me and retreated several steps.
Multiple hidden presences appeared—his guards.
I stood calmly in front of the silly woman, ready to attack.
Then came their confrontation.
Minmin calmly countered his threats with a story about a fox and a wolf.
Everyone was stunned.
She smiled faintly.
“Second Young Master, what do you think this story means?”
…
“It means never oppose the rule-maker.
Power decides truth.
You think you have evidence?
Power decides what’s real.
Who has public support?
Who holds life and death in their hands?
Think carefully.”
“Goodbye.”
In that moment, I realized:
Maybe the silly woman wasn’t just naïvely kind.
Her aura was almost like a ruthless beast.
It nearly made me submit.
Nearly.
Because moments like that were rare.
Most of the time, she was like this:
With fruit slices on her face, scratching my back.
“You’re hopeless… but this feels good… a little higher…”
“Shaozhi, you’ve gotten fat!”
“I didn’t sneak food.”
“Do you have a girlfriend yet?”
(Claws out.)
“…Okay, forget it.”
“You’re still a minor anyway…”
“I want a tiny fluffball I can hug…”
No way. Even if I have kids, I won’t let you ruin them.
“Lately, he doesn’t sleep with me…”
“He comes every day.”
“I’m afraid of the cold…”
Bad feeling.
Time to escape—
“Be my pillow!!”
Flying tackle.
Octopus grip.
Sigh…
I should be a cruel, lonely, majestic wolf.
But…
Looking up at the moon that stirs every beast’s blood,
Then down at the silly woman clinging to me in her sleep…
Why can’t I do anything about her?
…
Ah.
She’s drooling again.
My fur…
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