Chapter Text
A heavy breathing with a wheeze escapes from her lips, turning into clouds of steam in the air, burning eyes turn to the demon standing in front of her. Her body shakes with exertion, staying upright becomes more difficult, her left hand clutching the fan that appeared in her hands, her right hand supporting the weakened hanfu belt. My eyes frantically assess the surroundings, noticing familiar faces in amazement. Suddenly relief swept over the fox, the last tail freed from its confinement and the body that had previously served to hold the bone demon free.
"At last," a woman's hoarse voice cut through the silence.
"After centuries of confinement, I found freedom, bound to the bones, driving me mad I, thank you gege, for such a beautiful gift." Bowing her head before the tall demon in the guise of a bull, Huli Jing looked around at her sworn brother's family. But suddenly she brought herself sharply close to the princess's Iron Fan's ear, who recoiled in shock.
"That whisper is maddening, don't let your husband plunge into the abyss of madness." glinting a mocking glance, the fox wagged her tails, moving away from her place of confinement. Wrapped in illusion, she slipped into the scent of the nearest cluster of souls. Leaving the puzzled princess and her son behind, the fox grinned sadly. She'd already seen all she was supposed to, the madness in the gege eyes fueled by the lady bone's whisper in her ear. Hmm, her little brother has never been known for his analytical mind, to say nothing of his stubbornness, in fact, at times he was as stubborn as sheep demons, you wouldn't even say bull. She snorted contemptuously and walked out of the alleyway she'd found herself in, startling the few passersby. The demon frowned at her surroundings; perhaps the world had definitely changed in her absence. The woman paused sharply, smelling a fragrance pleasing to the nose, she moved her nose to where the scent was coming from and looked around at the space at the same time. Fanciful houses of glass were not in any comparison with the beautiful palaces of a passed epoch, the city surrounding it was too noisy for a fox's ears, and people were still flitting and hurrying somewhere. Heh, something definitely doesn't change in cities with centuries gone by, like rushing cityzens, simmering in their broth of human problems. Stopping in front of the door, from where the attractive aroma emanated, Huli Jing pushed the door. Once inside, she looked around the room, the cook behind the counter, frowning at her guest.
***
"Phew, that's the last one," a satisfactory nod marked the end of a hard work shift. It was out of sight today, as if the stomachs of all the inhabitants of Megapolis had requested noodles specifically from the pig chef at one point. Yun wouldn't even mind them all. Pigsy's noodles really do taste delicious! There is nothing like food prepared with the love of a master who knew his craft. She was still just learning, but she hoped that someday she would achieve the same exquisite skill in cooking as her immediate supervisor.
" Yun, would you like to take a break?" came Tang's blissfully peaceful voice, to which he received a couple of rude words about lazy people that would fly right off the job, from Pigsy's side. Idyll. No sooner had the last thought left my mind than Mei and MK, cackling merrily, flew in the door. Each of them was proving something to the other, not about to give in. Since MK had earned the staff of the Monkey King, they rarely had such quiet days in their lives as this one. It was worth seizing the moment while they had the chance, and enjoying the routine and the usual amusing bickering of friends. As by the law of meanness, the calm of the day was suddenly shattered by a sudden visitor. A very unusual one, by the way. Yun got nervous for some reason and tried to wipe off the flour stain left on her cheek after cooking. Such a woman should have been greeted with nothing less than full dress. In spite of her rather shabby appearance, the lady held herself proudly and directly, as if she had just come off the pictures of the stories about the Great Monkey King. All present were even silent, only the measured tapping of the kitchen knife could be heard on the host's part.
"Welcome, Mistress," Yun smiled crookedly, bowing habitually, as if she had been jammed like a wind-up toy.
***
He was not enjoying it, let's be honest, he wasn't enjoying it at all. The strange demon fox was eating six bowls of seafood noodles in his place, and at least he paid for it, unlike Tang. He looked at the coins under the counter, which the fox said were a mixture of gold and copper, tied together with a thick red string. That slacker almost choked on his noodles when he saw them, perhaps that could mean something, lucky he had time to put them out of his reach.
"Master, another plate," the lady informed him loudly, placing the empty dishes against the slide she already had beside her.
"Got it, Hey Yun, take a portion to the visitor." Adding the last of the spices to the already cooked dish, the pig set the plate down to serve, watching as the child diligently placed the dish on the tray and cautiously approached the woman. Though she certainly looked more relaxed than when she first entered the noodle shop. Her tails, which had been menacingly trotting, were resting on the seats, and the fox was no longer scowling menacingly, but smiling benignly. However, it was not his business, his business to make noodles. And perhaps fill Tang's cup, for he looked more tired today. But he would watch out of the corner of his eye to keep the pest fox's tails off Yun, he knew that foxy nature. I think he's met huli Jing before, or hasn't he? The memory has become increasingly irrelevant with age.
***
"Wow, even Tang doesn't gobble up as many noodles as this fox," Mei quietly admired and rubbed her forehead.
"Maybe she has a bottomless stomach. Like the ghost in that cartoon." The girl grunted quietly into her palm and received a reciprocal smile from her friend, who pictured that in color. The comrades were whispering in the far corner of the hall, keeping their eyes on the strange guest, managing to draw Yun into their quiet conversation as well. The aforementioned Yun must have been the most impressed by the sight of the fox demon, because she followed him almost without blinking, even answering her friends' words out of place, which is not her style at all. The girl's consciousness was awakened by Pigsy's thunderous shouting, which only a dead man couldn't raise. And that wasn't a fact.
"Run!" - Yun burst out, straightening her newly washed apron on the way, and deftly placed the cooked dish on the tray. A couple of steps almost at a hopping pace, and a new batch of steaming noodles stood in front of the fox. Could she really hold that many? -
"Excuse me, uh, uh," Yun wanted to ask the inquiring question of her inquiring mind as politely as possible, but the diligent attempt was interrupted by an enthusiastic sigh from Tang's side. He only did that when he remembered something important. Now his burning eyes were directed toward his visitor. Perhaps the two of them had the same thought in their heads...
"She is a disciple of the fox demon Yan Yu, who the Great Monk Sanzeng and his apprentices imprisoned along with Lady Bone Demon!" muttered Tang in the same breath, sparks of interest shining in his eyes.
"Hmm?" wiggling her tea bowl lazily, Yan turned her gaze to the energetic monk and laughed. Apparently not understanding the reason for the laughter, everyone looked at the fox in bewilderment. After catching her breath, she placed the glass on the table, and smiled slyly.
"Silly little human, I am Jiu Wei Hu of the Jade Lakes, also known as Yan Yu." stretching out the last character of her name, she gave her pose a dramatic coloring. A silence fell over the noodle room, but not for long; definitely everyone there at the moment had different feelings, from wariness to admiration. Yan opened one eye to gauge the effect, and she grunted happily. Suddenly there were three young boys with stars in their eyes beside her, vigorously asking different questions. But the woman was interested in a certain child. Raising her palm to invoke silence and waiting for it, she asked as gently as she could.
"I didn't know my tribe's blood still walked in people, child, say your name." A finger poked at the squeaky Yun, who, after all attention was turned to her, clenched her palms nervously.
"I, my name is Yun, Mistress Fox," the girl shuddered with velvety laughter and leaned forward to let her bangs cover her clenched eyes, but suddenly she felt another's hand on her head, patting her soothingly.
"Well, really, even my boys never called me Mistress, just Yan." Squinting as if at a good joke she continued.
"But for you dear, so be it Laoshi-Yan."
Yun was absolutely bewildered by the fox's words. Teacher? Why would she receive such an honor? She would have liked to object, but the greed for attention that had awakened deep in her soul prevented her from opening her mouth.
"Laoshi Yan? Ha! I've heard of your kind! And how you eat people." Pigsy protested angrily, clutching the ladle tighter in his hands.
"What if you picked our Yun just for dessert? Huh?! Nobody knows that. She hasn't closed her shift yet, I won't let her in!" It was very embarrassing to hear such words of concern from her supervisor, even if they were spoken very rudely. Still, Pigsy had long ago become like a father to Yun, because the native didn't even care about his daughter. Yun didn't want to have a fight over her, from which she quickly waved her hands in protest.
"No, no! I'm sure Madam.... That Laoshi-Yan is not up to any such thing! So you don't have to worry about anything, really!" the girl smiled and looked at her friends for support. Mei and MK immediately nodded like chumps, confirming Yun's words.
"Okay, I'll believe that, but..." the pig didn't have time to finish. He was unceremoniously interrupted by an incomprehensible Tang.
"But how so?! If Jiu Wei Hu is here, how did she get out?! Sun Wukong and his companions did their best to capture her along with the demon!" Tang suddenly mumbled, showing his fanatical nature toward the Monkey King, causing Pigsy to inhale heavily.
"Well, that's something to check with Sun Wukong, isn't it, MK? You're his disciple, aren't you?" suggested Mei and tapped his friend on the shoulder with his fist.
"Maybe we should ask what happened to Laoshi Yan. She's here, after all, and the Monkey King is on Flower-Fruit Mountain right now." Yun suggested and shifted her gaze to her newly minted teacher. After surveying the interested crowd, the fox wagged her tails in displeasure. It felt good to feel them after they had served as chains for centuries, stretched in painful tension. Shrugging at the annoying whisper, she hummed at the question raised.
"I'm lucky my negligent gege got hooked on an old box, nothing more." Yan hid a contented smile of incomprehension behind her cup of tea. Watching with interest as her new acquaintances digested the information she had received, she delved deeper into studying the girl's aura. It was really interesting. After so many centuries it was not really clear which sister's blood was in the child. But there was some speculation. Perhaps Dajie Rui Ling, who had given her heart to a traveling artist and shared her tails with her younger siblings, had marked the girl's bloodline. What did the demon call her... Yun? Distracted from her musings, she listened to the heated discussion of the company. She didn't want to stay any longer, the possibility of finally returning home after so many years of confinement stirred her weary bones. Covering herself in illusions and placing coins for extra portions on the counter, she pulled a jade pendant from her sleeve. If she was wrong and there wasn't a drop of magic in the girl, it wasn't a great loss. But if there was, magic would prompt Yun to seek out her mentor, and the trinket would lead her to the fox. Putting the artifact on the table next to the girl, Yan gave the noodle shop a parting glance and went home.