Li Xiang's eyes narrowed. Without a wasted movement, he relied on the instinct of Autumn Wind Stirs Not, Cicada Senses First and drifted right like a leaf in the wind.
Bang.
The blurred figure brushed past his nose and struck the dark-red stone platform behind him.
Li Xiang turned and looked at the figure that had missed him.
"What is that?"
At the sight of the creature lying on its back, Li Xiang raised an eyebrow.
It was round as a ball, just like a tuft of warm yellow fluff.
Its body was plump and squat, with no trace of a neck. Its head flowed straight into its torso, and its short, thick limbs looked like sections of fat lotus root. When it landed, there had been no heavy crash. Instead, it had bounced twice on the stone slabs like a soft ball of sticky rice.
The strangest thing about it was its face.
It had no eyes, no nose, no features at all—only a huge mouth split nearly to where its ears should have been.
Its lips were a sickly scarlet. They gaped open now, revealing a pink mouth lined with rows of tiny sawtooth fangs.
It looked as though it was forever caught in a silent snarl, yet paired with that round body, it gave off no hint of ferocity. It was so absurdly cute that Li Xiang hardly knew whether to laugh.
Two pairs of long ears, thin as cicada wings, grew from either side of its round head. A mysterious glimmer edged them, and the slightest sway made them flutter as lightly as butterfly wings.
Right now, though, they drooped limply beside its head. It seemed to have taken a hard tumble and looked thoroughly aggrieved.
A short, fluffy tail trailed behind it, wagging clumsily through