1. Sorry, Didn't Mean to Bump into You, Sir!

 

It was crucial for a rabbit to find the nearest hole in the ground and stash himself there safely. So many predators in the wilds. Boars, bears, wolves, owls, leopards... foxes. Ah yes, the foxes.

Unlike the other animals He Lian needed to guard against, foxes were small. They might even be able to crawl into the same holes as the ones he'd pick for himself. How should he address this issue?

Plus, he wasn't sure there were any holes around that a bunny could just move in willy-nilly. Shouldn't each hole have its own inhabitant already?

He stopped under a small fallen tree covered with moss and twitched his nose, thinking.

A bunny like him, even if he found a good hole, he wouldn't be able to fight off the previous hole owner! He wouldn't be able to chase them away. Wouldn't be able to threaten them.

Was it wise to even look for one?

For sure, he knew foxes could dig their own holes in the ground. With a critical eye, he looked at his own meager paws. They much more resembled fluffy balls than what most animals had.

"Ah, dammit," he spat to himself, examining them left and right. He even had to tumble onto his back to properly study both his front and hind paws.

Where were the talons? The claws? The muscles that would show how well he could kick and punch?

What he saw before him was too embarrassing to even think of using for anything other than cute, pathetic hopping about. And probably with very low speeds. The only way he'd survive in this place would be if he found other creatures like himself. And many of then, so he could blend in and hide among them.

Using them as meat shields if needed for when the predators came for them.

Such creatures were, of course, other bunnies.

His salvation lay in latching himself onto another bunny and taking everything from that bunny: food, shelter, opportunity to cultivate. It might sound a bit cruel and immoral, but He Lian was a demonic cultivator.

Nothing he wasn't familiar with even if he felt slightly sad to bully other bunnies for his own selfish gain. 

Yet still, his ears sagged down dejectedly as he crept from under the log and continued on his way to searching the forest floor. Once a demonic cultivator, always a demonic cultivator, it seemed. Even as a bunny. Must be fate.

Setting his nose onto catching any scents his bunny nature responded to positively, he headed down the hill slope when...

...!

An astringent, dangerous scent hit him.

And too closely to react and get out of the way! The hill slope was just too abrupt and He Lian couldn't stop tumbling downhill even if he wanted!

With full speed, he rolled into some terrible animal's legs and only screeched to a halt there.

His head was dizzy after the tumble and his eyes couldn't see well.

But his animal nose didn't lie. Danger, danger! it screamed through his head as he tried to retrieve his balance and take a good look at his surroundings.

Then, he did.

White fur, silvery shimmer, the air of coolness and elegance of these thin, tall legs.

Above He Lian, stood a fox.

An actual fox! White, and slender. Its triangular head tilted to the side, its huge amber eyes watching He Lian with a mixture of sadness and relief.

...was this it?

He Lian's death?

He Lian stared at the fox's muzzle with no-doubt sharp teeth, dangerously close to his trembling, fluffy belly. Even running was out of the question since He Lian had ended up on his back in front of the fox, all his paws up, his tummy open for any attack the fox could consider.

He wanted to weep.

To find the end of his life so soon! And so pathetically!

The fox's eyes narrowed, and He Lian squeaked, trying to turn over and sprint away.

With the last bits of his sanity, he wanted to summon his actual cultivation image. Maybe his stately human figure would scare this stupid predator away?

But when he tried, he saw something very disconcerting.

Out of the fox's silvery form, came out a whiff of spiritual energy that instantly solidified into a...

...into a...

Another cultivator?? In an animal form??

And so close to He Lian?

He Lian canceled his plans to manifest his own cultivator's image. No way would he expose himself in front of another Daoist!

Especially since this one was dressed in such... disgustingly white clothes hemmed with gold...

So, a righteous Sect cultivator, He Lian thought with derision. Immediately, he stopped trying to run away. Not because he trusted someone as aggravating as a righteous Sect cultivator, of course. But only because he knew they would never harm any animals. He didn't need to worry about that one bit.

Maybe this cultivator would even take care of him, ha.

Those annoying animal-loving sissies.

But as the cultivator's form gained features and coalesced from thin mist into something much more resembling an actual person, He Lian's relaxed thoughts started thrashing again.

...

No!

No way! Why did this cultivator's image look so familiar to him???

"It's all well, bunny," Yu Xiling's voice soothed from within the spiritual mist.

...HUH? Yu Xiling?! That bastard? His was the most horrible voice in the world, ah!

The last one He Lian had ever wanted to hear!

"I'm not going to hurt you." Yu Xiling's body solidified fully, and he turned his head left and right as though trying to determine where he was and if there were any other animals nearby. He looked at the bunny once again. "Where is your family, little cutie? You seem lost. Although, so am I. You are the first creature I met in these woods."

He Lian gaped, his small bunny heart nearly stopping in his chest.

Painfully, he swallowed.

Both Yu Xiling and his fox body cocked their head to the other side, amused.

"Still scared," Yu Xiling said. "Too bad. I need you, bunny. You probably know these woods better than me and I need help going around. I really, really want to find someone. And fast."

...

Who?

Find who?!

...m-me?! Yu Xiling, you wretch! Are you mad, to have followed me through that Dark Water Spring???

Have you nothing better to do with your life???

He Lian wanted to jump to his feet and run away as fast as his pathetic bunny feet allowed him, but a powerful, yet gentle white paw landed onto his back, pinning him down to the ground.

"Sorry, bunny," Yu Xiling said. "I need you too much to let you go. But the good thing? I won't hurt you and will even protect you from the predators. I'll look after you. I promise. Now come on."

He Lian felt the fur at the back of his neck being bitten lightly, then lifted up like a kitten carried by their mom in her mouth.

The fox's mouth was stuffed with He Lian's fur now, yet unfortunately Yu Xiling's mouth was quite free to speak more. This annoying voice He Lian despised so much -- why did he have to hear it?

"Where is the nearest body of water, I wonder? I bet he's going to go there first," Yu Xiling mused out-loud. "I'll catch him there in no time."

Catch me?

Pfff-hah!

Oh, shut up, He Lian thought and congratulated himself for not being as predictable as Yu Xiling apparently thought him to be.

But his glee was cut short. Because he realized that the only reason he wasn't going to be caught by Yu Xiling at the nearest body of water was because...

He already was in Yu Xiling's mouth, ah!

Yet at the same time... Yu Xiling clearly had no idea, didn't he?