A Bird Egg Fell from the Sky

Chapter 34: A Bird Egg Fell from the Sky

Although Zi Bofeng cared a great deal about the White Fox, he couldn't bring himself to favor Little Fox over a human life.

Zi Bofeng met the fox's gaze. Its eyes were black as two drops of ink, yet full of life. Fear and despair, hope and pleading shone in them—almost as if it were human.

Zi Bofeng furrowed his brow, still undecided, when Uncle Zhuzi came running back, shouting all the way.

"Uncle Zhuzi, who hurt you?" Little Stone cried in alarm when he saw Uncle Zhuzi's forehead was a bloody mess. But Uncle Zhuzi had no time to answer. He wiped beneath the handcart and pulled out a hunting bow.

It was the bow Uncle Zhuzi carried around all day. Its unvarnished wood had turned pale yellow from sweat and grown smooth as jade from constant handling. He strung it, raised it, and mimed drawing it toward the sky, then shook his head. "Not enough. This bow can't reach..."

"Uncle Zhuzi, what are you trying to shoot? What did the doctor say?" Zi Bofeng hurriedly asked. Uncle Zhuzi was a good man in every way, except that whenever something happened, he lost his head. Put kindly, he was all fire and urgency; put less kindly, he never got to the point.

Uncle Zhuzi shook his head repeatedly, unstrung the bow, and shoved it back beneath the handcart. Then he grabbed the cage behind him. "I'll butcher it, sell the pelt, and get myself a good bow!"

"Don't kill it!" Little Stone cried in a panic. "It's so pitiful!"

"It's just a white-furred beast. What's pitiful about that?" Uncle Zhuzi started to open the cage. "Once your second grandma gets better, I'll catch you a wolf cub."

"Brother..." Little Stone played his trump card and pleaded with Zi Bofeng.

Looking at Little Stone's tear-bright eyes, then at the Little Fox's lively gaze, full of hope and pleading, Zi Bofeng couldn't help feeling reluctant. All things in the world had a spirit, and this white fox was especially spirited—a creature blessed by heaven and earth. To kill it for its pelt would be a terrible waste.

"Uncle Zhuzi, don't rush to kill the fox," Zi Bofeng said. "It's so clever and adorable. Maybe some wealthy merchant's daughter or an official's young lady would like to keep it as a pet. It's still so small, so even if you took its pelt, you might not get much for it. Why not look for a good bow first, and ask around to see if any young lady wants a little white fox for a pet? You can decide whether to kill it afterward."

"Right... If I kill it and can't get a good price, I won't be able to afford a good bow..." Uncle Zhuzi slapped his thigh. "Bofeng, so you can say something sensible after all..." He turned and ran off again.

Watching the ever-rushing Uncle Zhuzi, Zi Bofeng could only roll his eyes. What did he mean, "after all"? He always said sensible things!

Little Stone was grinning as he teased the fox in its cage. Zi Bofeng said helplessly, "Careful, it might bite you!"

"It won't. It's so well-behaved." Little Stone giggled and poked the fox's ear with one finger. The fox seemed to know Little Stone had saved its life. It leaned its head against him, nuzzling him affectionately. Seeing no danger, Zi Bofeng left them alone. As long as the Little Fox stayed alive, that was good enough.

He glanced toward the direction Uncle Zhuzi had gone, still puzzled. Uncle Zhuzi had clearly gone to find a doctor. Why had he come back looking for a good bow? Was he planning to hunt something? But his bow was already the strongest in Lower Yan Village. If even that one wasn't good enough, what kind of bow did he need? Why couldn't Uncle Zhuzi explain before running off? Zi Bofeng could have helped think of something. Honestly, that Uncle Zhuzi...

Zi Bofeng picked up the waterskin hanging beside the handcart and shook it. It was completely empty. "Little Stone, keep an eye on your second grandma and the fox. I'll be right back."

"Mm." Little Stone answered absentmindedly and kept teasing the Little Fox. It stretched out its pink tongue and gently licked his finger, making him laugh.

Little Stone furtively looked around. Brother Bofeng wasn't there, and nobody else would see. He quietly opened the cage door and reached inside. The Little Fox trembled as Little Stone lifted it into his arms.

The Little Fox rested its head on Little Stone's shoulder. Its soft fur made him giggle, while it gently licked his neck, leaving streaks of white across the dirt.

"Little one, you shouldn't take the fox out. Be careful it doesn't run away," said a man passing by. He shook his head at Little Stone holding the fox. "A fox isn't a cat or dog. It might bite you."

"It won't." Little Stone lifted the fox in his hands. "Isn't that right?"

The Little Fox looked at him with its two clear, dewy eyes, full of life. Little Stone fell more and more in love with it. He settled it on his lap and gently stroked its sleek, silky fur.

Little Stone didn't notice the Little Fox's lively eyes darting about. Not far from the road stood a small, bald hill shaped like a steamed bun. A sheer cliff rose proudly from its summit, while a dense forest covered its southern slope.

The fox quietly flexed its limbs and swished its tail, getting ready. Its muscles tensed, poised to spring. Then it stretched out one forepaw and scratched the back of Little Stone's hand.

"Ow!" Little Stone jerked his hand back. In the blink of an eye, the Little Fox twisted free of his embrace. As soon as it hit the ground, it shot off, all four legs moving like the wind, and streaked toward the southern side of the hill.

"Ah, Little Fox! Don't run!" Little Stone cried in alarm and took off after it, shouting at the top of his lungs. He even forgot about his second grandma.

When Zi Bofeng returned, this was the scene that greeted him.

Zi Bofeng was alarmed. The fox was Uncle Zhuzi's payment for saving his mother's life. If it got away, Uncle Zhuzi would hate him even more.

He did feel sorry for the spirited fox, but compared with a human life, one fox didn't matter much.

Little Stone had been running wild since he was small. The fox had been cooped up in its cage for a long time and was weak in the legs, so it couldn't run very fast. In the first few strides, Little Stone actually got ahead of it.

The Little Fox had no choice but to turn and run back. Zi Bofeng was already closing in, so it flicked its tail and raced up the hillside.

The two brothers shouted and chased after it up the slope.

But the fox ran like the wind over the hillside. No matter how hard they chased, it only got farther away.

"Little Fox, come back! I'll give you something tasty!" Little Stone shouted, trying to lure it back.

But what was good food compared with freedom?

You never knew what you had until you lost it. The Little Fox hadn't forgotten that it had fallen into a trap for the sake of a little food. It wasn't about to repeat the same mistake.

It resolutely and without hesitation left Little Stone behind.

"Keer!" A hawk's cry suddenly rang through the sky. A huge shadow rose from the sheer cliff at the hilltop—a giant hawk, nearly five feet long, swooping toward the Little Fox.

"Bad hawk! Nasty hawk!" Little Stone yelled, hopping anxiously. Zi Bofeng was getting worried too. If the Little Fox got away, he could always pay for it himself. He had a fair amount of silver on him. But if it escaped only to become the giant hawk's meal, wouldn't that mean losing the fox and getting nothing in return?

How fast was the giant hawk? It plunged through the sky and reached the Little Fox in an instant. Little Stone immediately forgot that the fox had just scratched him. He cried out and somehow produced a slingshot, firing a pebble at the hawk.

But it was already too late. The hawk's talons—three of them, like the legendary three-legged crow, each black and gleaming as if forged from refined steel, their tips shining like snow-bright blades—had already seized the Little Fox. If the fox could speak, it surely would have shouted, "If only I'd known, why did I run away?"

Or perhaps it would have cried, "I'm done for!"

Alas, it couldn't speak. It only let out a shriek as the giant hawk snatched it off the ground, and it looked certain to become the hawk's meal.

Zi Bofeng raised his brows, snatched the slingshot and pebble from Little Stone, and traced the character for "swift" in the air with his hand—

Just then, a flash streaked past less than ten feet in front of Zi Bofeng. Its dazzling light came with a gust of wind that nearly sliced his cheek open!

Then the earth rocked and the mountains split. The cliff where the giant hawk had perched erupted with a thunderous boom!

Rocks flew everywhere. One struck the giant hawk's wing. It let out a mournful cry, released its talons, and spiraled down.

The Little Fox was too frightened to do anything but flee. The moment it hit the ground, it rolled over and sprang up, then bolted away on all fours. Zi Bofeng and Little Stone stood completely dumbstruck. Little Stone's mouth hung wide enough to swallow a whole egg as they watched the cliff tumble down the mountain less than fifteen feet away, rumbling with terrifying force.

Smack! An egg of some kind hit Little Stone on the head and burst. He yelped, thinking his head had split open, and hurriedly clutched it with both hands. Another egg came flying down from the sky, slid along his raised arm and into his comically oversized sleeve, and caught at his waist.

Little Stone stood there in a daze for a long while before turning around and staring blankly at Zi Bofeng. He no longer knew whether to be frightened—or frightened. At last, he pulled an egg from his clothes, stared at it for a long moment, then asked in a trembling voice, "Brother, if I tell Uncle Zhuzi the Little Fox turned into an egg... will he eat me?"

Zi Bofeng always prided himself on staying calm, but even he couldn't settle down now. In that instant, there had been far too many astonishing things to choose from. In the end, his attention settled on that streak of light.

"What was that flash just now?" The flames burning on the green Porcelain Shard spinning above his forehead slowly died down. Zi Bofeng looked toward where the streak of light had come from. It had long since vanished, leaving only Meng City, sitting squarely in place, ancient and lonely.