What The Fox? (Completely Free!)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

MY NAME IS SI LING YUE but you can call me Selene. I'm half-human, half fox-spirit. They say my mother was a fox-spirit and that was why my father sold me off as a child. I was ten years old at the time and I grew up as a medicine woman on the mountains of Xuyi. I never knew my mother and I guess my father and the rest of his family were right to call me a fox demon. I've always felt the presence of my fox spirit inside me, that is until one day four years ago when I was captured by a group of bandits.

I suppose I am human now as I haven't been able to perform magic for years. I pledged my soul to this devilish man named Kujui who is the leader of the Ashe Mountain Bandits to escape some villagers. They have held me here for four long years. Today, Kujui, or Gōng Gong (grandpa eunuch) as I mockingly called him, came and told me he needed a favor.

"There's someone I want you to bring to me." Kujui stared at me with eyes that were as yellow as egg yolks. "There's a man that emperor has taken prisoner. His name is Alix Meng."

"Oh, is that all?" I asked as I brushed my long black hair with a ribcage that once belonged to a diminutive mogwai from the underworld. "A simple human man is worth the price of the soul of the most powerful huli jing that ever lived?"

"The most irritating fox demon that ever lived," the Kujui repeated as he walked around my quarters with his trousers rolled up to reveal his hairy goat-like legs. I wondered if his skin was always that scaly, and if his pants always hung so low, or if he was just eager to see me. "Now listen carefully, Selene, my little Tang Yuan, this boy is more than just a human. He's a werewolf. There is a rumor that he is destined to be the leader of all the wolves in the Mongli province. Seduce him, make him fall for you, and give me his soul. Your debt to me will be paid if you do this."

"Why do you have to call me Tang Yuan?" I snapped and kicked over an urn of pickled radish that I had been fermenting. I'm sure they tasted great, but at least the smell kept the demons away. "Have I not suffered enough this dirty underworld of yours? Must you torture me too?"

"And you can be free as soon as you bring me this werewolf. He doesn't know it yet, but he's the king of all kings, the leader of all warriors, the Alpha among canines." The devil approached me and stroked my black hair with one of his talons. "Then the Tang Yuan can go back to cursing villagers with the black plague."

"I was doing those villagers a favor!" I snapped. "They asked me to take away all their pain and their grief. They just wanted to be reunited with their deceased loved ones. So — I killed them."

"I like the way you think. You are clever," the Kujui said with a laugh. "You're not just a pair of beautiful rosy cheeks. When I first met you, I just want to take a big bite out of your cheeks like a fresh dumpling. I think once I release you from your servitude, you will miss me. You'll say where is my beloved, hunch-backed Gōng Gong who brings me fresh oranges despite my ingratitude."

I sighed and picked up my jade dagger. It was all I would need to bring with me to the Imperial City. This jade dagger was all that was left of my magical powers and I had to use it wisely. If I was going to make this puppy dog, Alix Meng fall in love with me, I would need all the help I could get.

~*~

The first thing I did was I disguised myself as a young girl.

Not just any young girl — a young girl with a fortune.

The Emperor's High General was a wealthy man. He had married one of the emperor's sisters and how he enjoyed the best house in the western province of the capital city. His youngest daughter, who was around eighteen, was always the rebellious type. I decided that two months after the autumn lantern festival, she would going to be stricken with a passionate love for the Seventh Prince, who was sent to guard the Northern Borders.