A Fox Spirit on the Bunk

I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.

When I looked again, the slender, delicate girl had not vanished; she was still curled up small on Guo Hao’s bunk.

It seemed she was cold because Yang Laoer had pulled back the blanket. Her tiny body trembled slightly, causing her to curl even tighter, looking utterly adorable.

Yang Laoer froze for a moment.

Then, he suddenly turned and grabbed my arm, shaking it wildly.

“Fourth Brother, what did you do to Guo Hao? How did you turn him into a girl too?” he demanded, still shaking me.

I hadn’t expected him to stew for so long only to blurt out such a question, nor had I anticipated being so unjustly accused. Caught in his grip, I was shaken senseless, swaying like a wilting flower.

Just as I felt the world spin and golden stars burst before my eyes, the rascal, for some unknown reason, suddenly let me go. He quickly retreated backward, seemingly intent on getting as far away from me as possible.

However, he was currently on the ladder between the bunks. This hasty retreat caused him to miss a step. In his panic, his supposedly peerless light-body technique must have flown to the ends of the earth, for he tumbled down with a `whoosh`.

He landed with a loud `thud` on the dormitory floor, making a resounding `clang`.

It was as if Brother Yang had fallen from the sky, though his backside certainly hit the ground first.

“You, you, Fourth Brother, you wouldn’t try to turn me into a girl too, would you…呜哇… I don’t want that… I don’t want to be…(BEEP)!” Without even getting a chance to scramble back to his feet, the rascal rubbed his backside and babbled incoherently.

I gritted my teeth fiercely on my bunk, forcing myself to suppress the dizziness from his shaking, lest I throw up. I had no energy to spare for his nonsense.

****

Meanwhile, with all the commotion and sound effects, Linghu Ruoxu was naturally roused from his sleep. I watched as he groggily sat up in bed, yawning widely as he asked, “What’s going on? Sounds like something crashed to the floor with a `clunk`? Could it be, Second Brother, that you dreamt you were being chased by Senior Kang Qiao from the girls’ dorm, tried a ‘Hawk Flips Over,’ and fell out of bed again? Ha…ah…” He continued to chuckle and yawn as he spoke.

“No, it’s Fourth Brother… Hey… Third Brother, hurry up and get ready to run! Before Fourth Brother turns you into a girl too!” Yang Laoer blurted out, speaking recklessly.

Still not fully awake, Linghu Ruoxu naturally didn’t take his words seriously. He probably hadn’t even clearly heard what nonsense Yang Laoer was spouting.

“Second Brother, are you really muddled from sleep or something? How could Fourth Brother, ah, ha, ha, ah…” Sure enough, Linghu Ruoxu mumbled his reply. He broke off mid-sentence with another long yawn.

As the three of us — one dizzy from shaking, one dazed from falling, and one half-asleep — were in utter chaos, the dormitory door suddenly creaked open from the outside. Guo Hao, clad in a vest and shorts, a towel draped over his neck, and a basin in his hand containing his toothbrush and toothpaste, walked in.

He looked as if he had just finished washing up. Before even fully entering, he saw the chaotic scene in the dorm and was utterly bewildered.

“What’s going on? What play are we putting on today? Second Brother, what’s wrong with you? Why are you sitting on the floor? Don’t tell me you dreamt you confessed to someone and got rejected, then fell out of bed while chasing after the girl?” Guo Hao asked, his face full of suspicion.

“Ah, Guo Hao, you’re back! Let me tell you, something terrible has happened! Fourth Brother used some demonic magic and turned you into a girl too…” Yang Laoer blurted out without thinking when he saw Guo Hao push open the door. However, just as he finished speaking, the utterly bewildered Guo Hao, I who was still trying to suppress my nausea, Linghu Ruoxu who was still half in dreamland, and even Yang Laoer himself, all fell silent.

Nothing is more terrifying than a sudden silence, or a sudden moment of foolishness from Second Brother… (BEEP)

“Second Brother, what on earth are you talking about? How could Fourth Brother turn me into a girl?” Finally, Guo Hao broke the silence, still quite confused.

“Guo…Guo Hao? You, how can you be here? Then who is that on your bed?” Yang Laoer asked, trembling as if he had seen some monstrous evil, pointing at Guo Hao.

“Me? Why can’t I be here? I just went to the washroom to wash my face and brush my teeth… What, what about ‘that on my bed’… Wait?” Guo Hao said blankly, then inexplicably cut himself off.

“It’s that girl on your bed, that little loli who isn’t wearing any clothes, you…” Yang Laoer said with a trembling voice.

At this, Guo Hao seemed truly bewildered.

“On my bed… What nonsense are you spouting? How could there be…”

Guo Hao’s words were again cut short by Yang Laoer.

“I’m not spouting nonsense, Fourth Brother saw it too. She’s still on your bed, that naked little… lo… li…”

As he spoke, he pointed towards Guo Hao’s bunk. Everyone’s gaze involuntarily converged on Guo Hao’s bunk following his words. It was precisely then that I clearly saw the delicate, white-haired girl nestled in Guo Hao’s blanket.

As if dreaming, she suddenly rolled over. A fluffy, sleek, pure white tail, without a single fleck of雜色, lifted as her movement unintentionally exposed her backside. It then fell back down, sweeping slightly in the air.

Her head, nestled among her white hair, also shifted angle due to the roll, revealing a pair of pointy, fluffy, trembling large ears that had previously been hidden by the blanket.

It was at this exact moment that Yang Laoer had just uttered the three words ‘little loli,’ hence his staggered speech.

Although the other three, due to their differing positions and angles, probably didn’t see it as clearly as I did, everyone, without exception, must have undoubtedly seen that large tail sweep through the air!

The atmosphere in the dorm once again fell silent. It was a silence so profound that a dropped pin would be audible, a silence of bated breath.

After a long moment, Linghu Ruoxu’s stunned voice broke the quiet. “Guo Hao, is there a big fox on your bed?”

Indeed, a fox! No, to be more precise, this small, adorable girl, still deeply asleep, was a fox spirit!