Volume One, Chapter Fourteen: The Little Black Rabbit

“Hey there, hey, look! There’s a rainbow in the sky, it’s so—” The little black rabbit was bounding along in high spirits when, all of a sudden, a tremendous crash erupted behind him. He glanced back just in time to see a fleshy ball barreling down like an unstoppable force. Terrified, he leaped up, twisting in midair with an abrupt turn, and shot forward into the sunshine like a streak of lightning.

But before he could even catch his breath, Yibing muttered an incantation and, with a wave of his hand, seized him from afar. The little black rabbit froze instantly in midair, instinctively kicking out in a frantic “rabbit kicks hawk” move—only to realize Yibing was still ten meters away, so his powerful hind legs only kicked at empty air. Sensing imminent danger, the little black rabbit stiffened all four legs, clamped his eyes shut, and let even his ears droop in defeat. Yibing was suddenly struck by a sense of déjà vu.

“Hey, wake up!” Yibing shook the little black rabbit vigorously. He really hoped he hadn’t squeezed it to death—otherwise, Hanyu would hate him even more. But the little black rabbit remained utterly motionless, eyes tightly closed, limp in Yibing’s hand. Regret gnawed at Yibing; he’d chased it all this way just to ask after Hanyu, only now realizing this wasn’t a rabbit from Banyue Mound at all!

“Could it really be dead?” Yibing shook it even harder, but still there was no response. He anxiously looked around—surely Hanyu wouldn’t find out, would she?

Turning back, he gazed at the little black rabbit for a long while. At last, he swallowed hard and sighed, “Alas… I only caught you to ask a few questions, but I forgot you can’t even speak. I’ve wronged you! Now I’ll bury you properly; may you be reborn as a human and not return as a beast. Wait, if I eat you, does that count as granting you release?”

“Release, my foot!” To his astonishment, the little black rabbit suddenly opened its eyes.

“Aha! You can talk!” Yibing exclaimed, delighted.

“Why is it you again?” The little black rabbit’s voice trembled.

“What?”

“What do you mean, what? It was you the day before yesterday!” The little black rabbit chattered its teeth in anger.

“Oh, right…” Yibing’s eyes lit up in realization—this was the same little black rabbit he’d caught and lost two days ago!

“Won’t you ever stop! There are so many rabbits out here, why do you always chase me?” The little black rabbit was thoroughly perplexed.

“How should I know? Must be because you’re black!” Yibing scratched his head.

“Black… I’m not the only black rabbit, you know!”

“Then it must be fate!”

“Fate, my foot! You wanted to eat me last time, and now—” The little black rabbit berated him anxiously.

“That was then! This time, I just want to ask you something.” Yibing unconsciously swallowed again.

“Hey! Why are you swallowing like that?” The little black rabbit tensed up immediately.

“My throat’s dry, really dry, don’t worry…” Yibing hurried to reassure him. “Have you seen a little white rabbit?”

“A white rabbit? There are tons of those!” The little black rabbit looked at him with disdain.

“No, no—a little white rabbit with a limp.”

The little black rabbit’s ears perked up, but then he frowned and shook his head.

“Really?”

“Really!”

“All right then…” Disappointed, Yibing set the little black rabbit down. The rabbit shot away in a flash, then stopped at a safe distance to size up the chubby youth before him. “Why are you looking for her?”

“She’s my friend. I haven’t seen her in days—I’m worried something happened to her.”

The little black rabbit’s eyes flicked back and forth. “Really?”

“Really! Anyway, I’d better go look for her.” Yibing turned to leave.

“…I’m not sure, but… Two days ago, I saw her hobbling that way. No idea if she was hurt or not…” the little black rabbit volunteered suddenly.

“Which way?” Yibing pounced, startling the rabbit into a leap aside.

“About twenty li from here, in a little grove. Next to the eleventh flower patch to the east!”

“Will you take me there, please?” Yibing pleaded, face full of urgency.

“Alright… alright…” The little black rabbit nodded quickly.

They dashed for more than ten li before the little black rabbit finally stopped and looked back to find Yibing still keeping pace, not even out of breath. Secretly impressed, the rabbit thought, “This fat guy can actually run so fast—no wonder he caught me!”

“Why did you stop?” Yibing, drenched in sweat, asked.

“Hey, don’t you need a break?” The little black rabbit craned his neck.

“…Sure, sure…” Yibing thought to himself, “Let this guy loose and he really goes wild!”

“Hey! Don’t get any ideas!” The little black rabbit seemed to read his mind.

“No, no… Let’s rest, here!” Yibing apologetically pulled a big white radish from his bundle. The little black rabbit’s eyes nearly popped out at the sight.

“…I don’t eat that stuff… Well, maybe just a little…” In a flash, the rabbit had clutched the radish to his chest. Before Yibing could even react, a third of it had vanished down the rabbit’s throat. His ravenous eating shocked Yibing—this little guy ate even more voraciously than he did.

“Hic… hic…” As Yibing was still processing the scene, the little black rabbit finished the radish and burped contentedly. “Let’s… hic… go… hic…”

Indeed, money makes the world go round. Energized, the little black rabbit took off again, Yibing close behind, covering another ten li or so in one go. Only when they burst into a little forest did the rabbit finally stop by a patch of flowers.

“This is it… the eleventh—wait… She was right here…” The little black rabbit looked around, but Hanyu was nowhere in sight, leaving him rather embarrassed.

“Hold on… Don’t be hasty…” The little black rabbit raised his front paws to the sky and muttered under his breath. In an instant, rabbits of every size and color bounded out from all directions, gathering around him. “Boss, boss, what are your orders?”

With a proud glance at Yibing, the little black rabbit nearly startled himself. So many rabbits made Yibing’s eyes glaze over, drool pooling at the corners of his mouth.

“Hey!” The little black rabbit quickly blocked Yibing’s view.

“Sorry! Sorry!” Yibing wiped his mouth in shame and retreated, thinking, “This little black rabbit really has some skills!”

“There’s a wounded white rabbit with a limp—anyone seen her?” With Yibing’s admiring gaze upon him, the little black rabbit’s ears stood even taller in pride.

“A white rabbit… No, haven’t seen one…”

“That chubby guy must be an idiot—look at him drooling…”

“I think I saw something two days ago…”

“Yeah, he’s definitely an idiot…”

“I saw a little black rabbit…”

“They said white rabbit, not black…”

“I saw something two days ago, too…”

Listening to the rabbits’ chatter, Yibing was utterly lost—he couldn’t understand a word. The little black rabbit, however, interrogated them left and right as if he understood everything perfectly; truly, people have their language, and rabbits have theirs. After much discussion, the little black rabbit, full of confidence, led Yibing back the way they’d come.

“Aren’t we going back?” Yibing couldn’t help but ask.

“We are! She must have gone the same way we came…”

“But we didn’t see her?”

“There was a fork in the road, wasn’t there?” the little black rabbit replied, full of disdain.

Reaching the fork, the rabbit darted up the northern path, Yibing following close behind. After another five li, another forest appeared.

“We’ll split up—you go left, I’ll go right. It’s faster that way.” Without waiting for a reply, the little black rabbit dove into the trees.

Yibing wandered about, pulling up grass, peering into flowers, but there was no sign of Hanyu. Just as disappointment began to set in, he spotted a white figure curled beneath a distant tree. Hurrying over, he found it was indeed Hanyu, huddled on the ground.

“Miss Yu? Miss Yu?” Yibing called anxiously, giving her a gentle shake.

Hanyu opened her eyes with effort. “…Don’t touch me…”

“Oh… Are you alright?” Yibing quickly withdrew his hand.

“…I’m fine. None of your business!” Hanyu struggled to sit up.

“You seem hurt. Maybe…” Yibing fished a golden pill from his pouch.

“What does it matter to you if I’m hurt? Cough, cough…” Hanyu coughed so hard her form seemed to blur. At this rate, she might revert to her true form at any moment.

“Here, take this…” Yibing hurriedly offered the pill.

“What is it?” Hanyu shrank away, wary.

“It’s medicine—it’ll heal your wounds!” Yibing was startled by her reaction.

“…Take it away, I won’t eat your pill. Who knows if it’s poisoned…” Hanyu pushed his hand aside.

“This is my master’s elixir—most people would never get a chance to try it!” Yibing said earnestly.

“I don’t want it! And I especially don’t want your master’s! That old witch made me seek revenge and ended up binding me instead—I can’t die, but I can’t leave either. I’d rather just let go than take her medicine!”

“Why can’t you leave?” Yibing was curious.

“You don’t know? If I get more than ten li away from you, the headache is unbearable!” Hanyu glared at him, eyes blazing.

“……” Yibing had never heard of this before.

“If you won’t eat it, I’ll recite a spell!” Yibing puffed up his cheeks.

“…Go ahead!” Hanyu taunted him.

“You—?” Yibing froze, unsure what to do. He knew Hanyu blamed him for her injured leg, but if she didn’t take the pill now, she might truly pass away. His round face twitched, then suddenly darkened, and Hanyu’s expression changed.

Sure enough, Yibing seized Hanyu’s chin. Were she not injured, he’d never have gotten so close, but now she could barely breathe, let alone resist.

Before Hanyu could utter a cry, Yibing popped the pill into her mouth and clamped her jaw shut, forcing her to swallow.

“Outrage! Scoundrel!” Hanyu shrieked, sending Yibing stumbling back in fright. At that moment, a black blur flew at him, crashing into his belly. Though bounced away, it hit him hard enough to make him stagger.

“Hey! What are you doing?” It was the little black rabbit, springing up from the ground.

“I don’t care if you harass people—but you’d better not mess with rabbits!” The little black rabbit glared, ready for a fight.

“I wasn’t—really—I was giving her medicine, healing her!” Yibing pleaded frantically.

“Scoundrel! Scoundrel!” Hanyu shouted, digging at her throat.

The little black rabbit was baffled, glancing from one to the other—neither seemed to be lying.

“You’re just—” Hanyu, breathless with anger, grabbed a stone but collapsed to the ground, reverting to her true form.

Both Yibing and the little black rabbit rushed over. Seeing Hanyu’s eyes closed, Yibing reached to check her breathing and found it calm and steady.

“She’s alright?” The little black rabbit glared at Yibing suspiciously.

“She’s fine—the pill must be working!” Yibing said as he unshouldered his bundle, stuck the remaining radishes in his belt, and wrapped Hanyu in his cloth.

“What are you doing? Is she really alright?” The little black rabbit blocked his way.

“She’s fine, don’t worry! She was badly hurt, so I tried to give her my master’s elixir, but she refused—so I had to force it down. Now she’s so weak, I need to keep her with me to care for her. If her condition worsens, I’ll have to seek my master’s help.” Knowing the little black rabbit’s concern, Yibing explained everything.

“…Understood.” The little black rabbit nodded and stepped aside.

“What’s your name?” Seeing the rabbit’s crestfallen face, Yibing paused to place a radish before him.

“…I don’t have a name…” The little black rabbit drooped his ears.

“Then I’ll call you Mofeng—Black as the Wind!” Yibing laughed.

“What?” The little black rabbit didn’t look pleased, but didn’t reject it either. Yibing said no more, turning away toward the edge of the woods.

“Thank you for your help!” Yibing suddenly stopped. “When I return, if you like, come with me to Banyue Mound! There are many of your kind there.”

When the little black rabbit said nothing, Yibing just smiled and strode away. “I’ll be back to find you, I promise!”

Carrying Hanyu, Yibing traveled slowly, not reaching the place where he’d parted from Fat Girl until midnight. Seeing that Hanyu still slept with eyes closed, he nestled against a tree, holding her in his arms as he drifted into sleep himself. Perhaps from hunger, his dreams were filled with flying vegetarian rabbit legs.

“Hey! That’s disgusting!” Hanyu had just opened her eyes to see Yibing’s drool about to drip on her. With a start, she rolled away and leapt to the ground.

“What is it? What is it?” Yibing jumped up, wiping his mouth and hurrying over to Hanyu, now returned to her human form.

“You… you’re disgusting!” Hanyu wanted to say, “It’s disgusting being held by you!” but was too embarrassed, so she just glared at his chin.

“Heh heh… I was dreaming about eating…” Yibing grinned sheepishly. Seeing Hanyu transformed again, the weight in his heart lifted.

“Hey! Are you going to help me up or not?” Hanyu tried and failed to stand, so she snapped at Yibing.

“Oh! Looks like my master’s elixir worked!” Yibing hurried to help her up.

“Worked, my foot! It’s my own healing doing all the work!” Hanyu pushed his hand away as soon as she was seated. Yibing pursed his lips and said nothing—he knew she was just being stubborn. As long as she recovered, she could say what she liked.

Hanyu shot him a glare, thinking, “I’d heard the old witch’s Xuanhuang Golden Elixir was powerful, but I never thought it would work so well! Not only is my wound lighter, but I even feel a boost in my cultivation. This wretched fatty—why does a grown man carry a woman’s elixir in his pocket?”

“…What is it?” Hanyu’s expression unsettled Yibing.

“What is it? I’m hungry!”

“Hungry? I’ve got radishes! Radishes!” Yibing quickly pulled a big white radish from his belt.

“Ugh… They’re all wilted…” Hanyu pouted. She’d long known Yibing put radishes on the windowsill every night for her, but stubbornly refused to acknowledge it.

“Just make do for now… When we get to Tianyi Town, I’ll buy fresh ones…” Yibing apologized, head bowed.

“Right, buy fresh ones. Do you even have money?” Hanyu picked the biggest radish and began to eat.

“I can… I can… borrow some from Fat Girl first…” Yibing’s face turned bright red.

“Fat Girl? Oh, the one who looks just like you… Ha ha…” Hanyu burst out laughing, her shoulders shaking with mirth.