Chapter 2: The Ever-Changing Magic Garment
Hua Ji slowly made his way back to the hotel.
Although in China Hua Ji was just a third-rate minor celebrity, his popularity as fleeting as foam on the waves, as a little fox who had lived for two hundred years, he himself was quite wealthy. For this vacation, he had chosen a fairly decent Hilton hotel. As soon as he entered the hotel grounds, he saw party girls and handsome men out having fun everywhere.
Hua Ji was in a sorry state, a stark contrast to these people. But he was handsome, and with his calm, unhurried demeanor, no one could tell he was embarrassed about being so disheveled. So even though he walked into the hotel lobby dripping wet, the attendant beside him hesitated for a moment but still didn’t step forward to… chase him away? No, no—they would thoughtfully offer him a bathrobe.
Hua Ji was utterly exhausted. Once he reached his room, he collapsed directly onto the sofa and said helplessly, “You can come down now, right?”
On his head the entire time had been a transparent, limp, soft thing that claimed to have had consciousness since the Earth first formed, had lived for countless years, and had recently been awakened by the slowly changing ocean… a jellyfish.
Yes, Great Jellyfish is used to its true form and isn’t used to walking around in human form.
The jellyfish didn’t move at all. It remained draped over Hua Ji’s head, bright specks of light flickering across its transparent bell. Its countless eyes looked this way and that: “The houses humans live in are getting more and more bizarrely shaped.”
Hua Ji said lazily, “Oh? I wonder when the great Shuimu last saw a human dwelling?”
The jellyfish hesitated for a moment: “…More than three thousand six hundred full moons?”
“Oh, so you’re out of touch with the times.” Hua Ji sneered. “Over three thousand six hundred full moons? That’s more than three hundred years? The stars shift, the seasons turn—how many springs and autumns have passed!”
When he said this, he even used Chinese, stretching out the last two words “springs and autumns” with a thick theatrical drawl.
Shuimu said, “I once attended the celebration of Kangxi’s sixtieth birthday. I even have a Kangxi Tongbao coin from that year in my collection!”
Shuimu’s Beijing accent was crisp and perfectly enunciated, and Hua Ji was instantly rendered speechless.
He did a quick calculation on his fingers, and sure enough, three hundred years ago was exactly the Kangxi era.
Hua Ji sighed and composed himself. “Thank you for your help today, Senior. May I ask if there is anything you need?”
The jellyfish did not explain. It asked, “That little bat mentioned a Mercenary Alliance. What is that?”
“A place that can resolve any dispute—and also a place that starts new ones.” Hua Ji shrugged. “That little bat was just carrying out a mission. He and I have no personal grudge.”
The jellyfish said, “Oh, I didn’t bite him to death in one go. What a pity. Staying by your side, I should get another chance to bite him.”
Hua Ji silently lit a candle for that little bat.
His face lit up with joy: “So you’re planning to follow me for now?” No matter what, this big jellyfish was terrifyingly powerful!
The jellyfish was not stupid: “Yes, but I never asked you for a toll fee.”
“…What’s a toll?”
The jellyfish wriggled its tentacles: “In the past, whenever ships passed by at sea, I collected a toll.”
Hua Ji blurted out: “Isn’t that just protection money?”
The jellyfish learned very quickly: “Yes, I am your protector. You don’t pay protection money, but you must take responsibility for all my actions. Yes, that’s exactly it!”
“……” Hua Ji let out a deep sigh. He suddenly felt that this jellyfish… was truly smart—smarter than him, a fox!
He couldn’t help but ask, “Are all the monsters in the ocean like you?”
The jellyfish spoke, its voice flat, yet Hua Ji had an eerie feeling of being looked down upon. “Every four of my eyes are handled by one brain. How many brains do you think I have?”
Its bell membrane turned back to a milky white. Hua Ji instinctively looked up and was instantly blinded by countless white lights flashing across his fox eyes.
Hua Ji… fine, he didn’t want to say anything anymore.
After resting for a while, Hua Ji got up and went to the bathroom to take a bath: “I’m going to take a shower, so you…?”
The jellyfish finally moved off Hua Ji’s head. Its numerous tentacles had become eight—long, standing upright at the same height as a person. The bottom two tentacles walked like human legs, while the side tentacles occasionally brushed against the surrounding walls and objects, seemingly very curious.
Seeing the jellyfish observing its surroundings, Hua Ji simply stripped naked and climbed into the bathtub. Feeling the soothing warmth of the water, Hua Ji let out a comfortable groan, the exhaustion from fleeing instantly vanishing without a trace.
The jellyfish watched the brand-new bathing equipment curiously from the side. After observing for a while, it tentatively extended its tentacles into the bathtub, found the water temperature slightly too hot, and withdrew them again. Beside it was a rack, and on the rack sat a stack of bath towels and three bathrobes.
The jellyfish tilted its head. It touched the fluffy texture on top, thinking to itself that always lying on the fox’s head wouldn’t do—it would be safer to transform into clothing and wear itself on the body instead.
At this thought, the jellyfish’s body began to change. Its milky-white body turned a creamy yellow, and the smooth, delicate outer membrane gradually developed wrinkles. It had actually transformed into a robe identical to the bathrobe.
While mentally noting the bodily form it took when transformed into a robe, it pondered going to look at the little fox’s other clothes as well.
Just then, a sudden knock came at the door.
Hua Ji was startled. In his haste, he got up and casually threw on a bathrobe.
When he opened the door, he saw his manager accompanied by a beauty in a bright red evening gown.
The beauty stared blankly at Hua Ji. After a long moment, she turned to the manager beside her with a stiff, humorless smile and said, “This invitation is far too spicy. I always thought you people were more reserved.”
The beauty turned and walked away.
The agent hurriedly rushed forward, trying his best to apologize to the woman. Hua Ji looked bewildered. He lowered his head, and his face turned deathly pale.
At some point, the robe on his body had actually turned transparent!!!!
His fair, tender skin, so smooth it seemed water could be squeezed from it, was exposed. The two pinkish buds on his chest stood perked, and even his little brother below hung damp and limp, with smooth little red hairs on it…
Yes, Hua Ji is a red fox!
“No—!!!”
“I can’t believe you screwed it up!!!”
The agent’s surname is Yan, and she is a butterfly spirit.
“Do you know who that was? The female lead of Paramount’s next film that’s about to start shooting!! Have a nice chat with her, give her a sweet night, and she can recommend you to the director! Even if you only appear on screen for five minutes, you’ll have Hollywood credentials, do you understand?!”
“With those credentials, you could compete for major domestic productions, but you actually screwed it up! Everything is ruined! I went to great lengths to lure her over and you screwed it up!!”
Yan Hudie ranted at Hua Ji for a full two hours.
Hua Ji sat limply on the sofa, not saying a word.
It was not until two in the morning that Yan Hudie finally finished venting her anger.
Hua Ji silently glanced at Yan Hudie, then abruptly took out a robe from the wardrobe beside him.
“To express my apology, I’m giving you a brocade robe privately customized by the Cong family shop, a centuries-old brand that I just got my hands on from back home.” He turned his face away. “I remember we’re about the same size?”
Yan Hudie had already vented part of the anger in her belly. Now, seeing that Hua Ji had a good attitude in admitting his mistake, she gave a cold snort and carefully took it.
The shopkeeper of the Cong Family Tailor Shop is an old bee who has cultivated for a thousand years. This senior’s craftsmanship is absolutely beyond reproach—you can’t buy it even with money. Every year, all kinds of spirits and monsters across the country, and even those cultivators, go to him to order clothes. It’s said that the queue number has already reached next year.
Yan Hudie looked at the blue-and-green brocade robe before her, and a faint smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
Hua Ji’s expression was also subtle. “Give it a try?” After a pause, he added, “You can wear it against your skin. There’s a formation carved inside the robe that absorbs spiritual power!”
Yan Hudie wasted no time in stripping off all her clothes and changing into the brocade robe.
But when he looked at the mirror…
“Ahhhhh—!!!”
WTF?
What did he see? Why was he naked?
In the mirror, Yan Hudie was completely naked, revealing equally fair and delicate skin.
Hua Ji sneered, his words carrying a pointed meaning: “Tsk, not even as big as mine.” After a pause, he added: “Oh, yours is rainbow-colored fur down there. That’s something I can’t compete with.”
Yan Hudie: “…”
Author’s Note: One of the wonderful uses of a jellyfish—clothes that can change color and style at any time!