Page 34 of Two Thousand Promises

1272 CE

Luoyang, near Zhang manor

Huli paced the orchard, tails flicking behind him. This was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.

After everything he’d gone through already…

The pain. The heartbreak and worry that came with spending so many years away from Xiao Dan.

All of that, and he still couldn’t shift into a human. It wasn’t fair. He had five tails now. The same number of tails Min possessed when she appeared before him as a human. Why couldn’t he do this?

He was just as smart as she was. Just as strong. He’d even gotten his fifth tails six whole months earlier than she had.

Why couldn’t he do this?

He stopped pacing between the barren plum trees and tensed every muscle in his body. He grunted and pushed, trying to forcemagic throughout his frame, demanding it change into a human. It didn’t matter if he became a man or a woman. That part could be changed later. He’d make himself into something Xiao Dan could love.

“Huli? Is that you?” Xiao Dan’s voice rang out across the orchard.

The fox released the breath he was holding and relaxed again. He collapsed onto the ground, flattening himself into a fox rug.

He couldn’t do it.

Maybe he shouldn’t have been so hasty to part ways with Min. Once he’d learned all her cultivation tricks, he’d left her behind, confident that he could figure out the human shifting bit on his own.

Wrong.

“Huli?”

“I’m here,” he said, lifting one of his orange tails so Xiao Dan could easily see him over the mounds of snow that had fallen earlier in the day.

Xiao Dan’s crunching footsteps grew louder as he approached. Huli had returned to Luoyang three nights ago and had been toying with the idea of staying for a full year or even more before continuing with his training. Five tails were nice, but they weren’t nine. He wanted to be a true jiuweihu.

Unfortunately, with his shifting failure, it was clear that he wasn’t ready to take a lengthy break yet.

“Are you okay?” Xiao Dan kneeled in the snow beside him and lightly touched the top of his head. The gentle stroking helped to soothe away some of his frustration, but he didn’t want to be soothed. He wanted to be human.

“I’m okay,” he mumbled.

“No, you’re not. My happy, silly fox would be in my lap, licking my face and begging for cuddles. What’s wrong?” XiaoDan scratched him behind one ear and Huli jerked away to leap to his feet.

“I don’t want to be your happy, silly fox,” he snapped.

He paced away from Xiao Dan, his tails whipping behind him. The air crackled with magic, which usually made him happy, but this time, it only pissed him off. All this magic and he couldn’t change into a human.

“Forgive me, Huli. I…didn’t realize,” Xiao Dan whispered. Huli turned to find the vampire’s head was low and his shoulders were drooping. Did he think Huli meant…

“No!” Huli rushed to Xiao Dan’s side, bumped his head into the vampire’s chest, and attempted to climb into his lap. “Huli will always be Xiao Dan’s fox.” When Xiao Dan still didn’t move, Huli wrapped all five of his tails around the vampire, cocooning them as best he could. “Always your fox.”

“But you said…”

Huli heaved a sigh and pressed his face into Xiao Dan’s neck. “I want to bemorethan a fox.”

“You are. You’re a magnificent huli jing with five glorious tails. That’s amazing. You have so much to be proud of.”

Huli closed his eyes and swallowed against the lump that had formed in his throat. Xiao Dan always had such kind, supportive words for him. He didn’t deserve this human’s sweet devotion.

“But with five tails, I should be able to shift into a human.”

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