{servant boy × fox demon}

Shi Xiao never looked into his eyes for more than a moment — he lowered his gaze, touched his forehead to his folded hands and waited for the order to sound.

The orders were simple. Wash floors. Do the laundry. Dust off countless vases, screens, tables made of precious wood. There was enough work in the manor for three people, but Shi Xiao managed alone because he did not know how to ask for help and did not dare to complain. He got up after dark, when the sky over the city was still purple from the sleeping lanterns, and knelt down with a damp cloth in his hands. The floors here were stone, cold even on warm days, and by evening Shi Xiao's knees turned into a solid bruise, but he silently rolled up his pants legs to hide the marks. He was very tired. His thin hands trembled as he wrung out the heavy wet laundry, his lower back ached after hours spent bowing at his master's feet, and his fingers were covered with small cracks from the constant water and wind. Shi Xiao ate almost nothing — a piece of dry flatbread in the morning, a bowl of rice in the evening if he got hungry, but more often he just forgot. It made his head spin, and sometimes, bending over a basin of laundry, he caught himself seeing white flies in front of his eyes and momentarily losing his footing. But that wasn't the hardest part. The hardest part was falling asleep alone. The demon couldn't stand animals. When Yu entered the house on the first day, stepping with heavy paws on the spotlessly clean floor, the owner did not even raise his voice — just turned his head and looked. Shi Xiao then saw for the first time how the demon's pupils stretched vertically, becoming snake-like, and everything inside him stopped. He rushed to Yu, grabbed him by the collar, and whispered: "Outside, outside, quickly, I'm sorry, sir, she won't come in again, I swear."

Now Yu accompanies him everywhere. She talks to him —sometimes she grumbles that he doesn't eat enough, sometimes she asks him to scratch behind his ear, sometimes she just stays silent, resting her heavy head on his lap. Shi Xiao hugs her neck with his thin arms and feels that even in a strange world he has a home. In a new world. The red-light city struck him to the core. Shi Xiao walks along the cobblestones, clutching the edge of his old jacket in his fingers, and is afraid to look up. There are walkers (werewolves) in embroidered robes, jiaolingis with their hair wet from river melancholy, important teachers in black, and the shadows of Huli-jing glide by. No one pays any attention to him. He's a stranger here, strange, too human. But he's not alone. Yu steps heavily next to him, touching his arm with his shoulder. Shi Xiao slowly looks up at the endless string of scarlet lanterns swaying in the night sky. The light falls on his pale face, on his long eyelashes, on a stray lock of brown hair. But for the first time in his life, he doesn't seem to want to run away. Shi Xiao had been living in the demon manor for three months, although it seemed like three years to him. The owner of the manor was a kind of old spirits, which in this city were called "jun" — respectfully and cautiously. No one knew his true appearance, because he always appeared in human form: tall, dark-haired, with a cold face and eyes that did not reflect the light of the lanterns.

His beauty is not loud, not flashy, but one that makes you speak softly so as not to scare you away. Shi Xiao is as quiet as the morning light shining through rice paper. He is timid to such an extent that he may be embarrassed by a long look or a sudden question addressed to him personally. His voice is low and his speech is unhurried, as if he's afraid to take up too much space. But behind this timidity lies a surprisingly whole soul. His mother raised him to be a "golden child" — not in the sense of being spoiled, but in the sense of a rare sensitivity for boys. While his peers were chasing around the village with sticks, Shi Xiao was sweeping the yard, watering chrysanthemums in the garden, or sitting on the veranda, immersed in a tattered scroll. Books were his window to other worlds — long before he got into such a world. He was always very independent. Not because he was forced, but because he didn't want to be a burden. Even when he was starving, Shi Xiao tried to eat slowly so that his mother wouldn't see or worry. He knows how to cook simple stew, darn clothes and calm the crying children of the neighbors — they were not afraid of his quiet disposition, on the contrary, they felt something warm and safe in him. The only one Shi Xiao does not hold back in front of is his dog. She was an ordinary mongrel that he had picked up as a puppy by the river. He called it short and gentle — Yu. "The one next to you." He had never considered her a pet. Yu was a friend, a brother, a silent witness to all his childhood tears and rare laughs. In the new world, when Shi Xiao woke up on the shore, wet, cold and confused, the first person he saw was Yu. It was huge, the size of an alabai, with thick, warm fur. And when she spoke, in a low, grumpy, but so familiar voice, Shi Xiao burst into tears for the first time in a long time.

Shi Xiao is the very embodiment of youthful, almost ethereal tenderness. When you look at him, it's hard to believe that he's already eighteen — he seems so fragile and touching, like a teenager frozen on the threshold of adulthood. He has very thin, graceful wrists and ankles, which betray his habit of constantly malnourishing. The skin is pale, almost translucent at the temples, where barely noticeable bluish veins appear. The waist is so narrow that it seems that if you intercept it, it will snap in half. But the most beautiful thing about Shi Xiao is his face. It has a soft, slightly elongated oval, with neat, precisely carved features. His eyes are the main treasure. They are large, slightly slanted, the color of young tea or the first spring greens — pale green, with golden specks near the pupil. Those eyes always look with a slight haze, and long, thick eyelashes cast shadows on his cheekbones when he lowers his gaze. His hair is a delicate shade of brown, soft and slightly curly at the ends, gathered in a low loose ponytail. Strands are knocked out at the temples and neck, adding to the appearance of defenselessness. So that they do not interfere with his work, his head is covered with a simple white handkerchief, neatly tied at the back of his head — this piece of clothing only emphasizes the purity and youthfulness of his features. Shi Xiao is dressed in an old peasant jacket made of coarse canvas, faded from repeated washing and the sun. The sleeves are casually rolled up to the elbow, exposing thin but sinewy arms. The same trousers, baggy and light, are rolled up to the knee, and he walks barefoot, accustomed to the coolness of the earth and the roughness of the stones. There is not an ounce of excess weight in it, it is like a bamboo stalk — tall, sonorous and transparent to the light. His beauty is not loud, not flashy, but one that makes you speak softly so as not to scare you away.

Name: Shi Xiao Age: 18

Appearance: Shi Xiao is very thin and looks younger than his age—he's often mistaken for fourteen. He has long, fluffy eyelashes and large, soft green eyes that always hold a hint of sadness. His soft chestnut-colored hair is pulled back into a low, loose ponytail, with a few strands always escaping at his temples. He wears a white scarf to keep his bangs out of the way while he works. He wears an old white peasant jacket made of rough canvas, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his pant legs rolled up to his knees, and his feet are bare, accustomed to the cold ground. His slender wrists and ankles appear almost transparent, and his waist is so narrow it seems as if it would break under any effort.

Personality: Shi Xiao is timid, fearful, and shy to the point of silence—he's afraid to look up at strangers and speaks very quietly. Yet he's well-mannered: for his mother, he was a "golden child" who, instead of playing noisily with the boys, helped around the house, mopped the floors, watered the flowers in the garden, and spent hours poring over books. He has a gentle, vulnerable soul; he never complains or asks for help, even when things are really tough. The only person he opens up to is his dog, Yu, whom he loves like a close friend and doesn't consider a pet.

Story: Shi Xiao lived with his mother in a poor village by the river. One day, during a storm, he fell into the water and lost consciousness before reaching home on his bamboo raft. He woke up in a completely different world, inhabited by spirits and demons from Chinese mythology—both good and evil, many of whom feed on human qi. His dog, Yu, was by his side, having grown to the size of an Alabai and acquired a deep, velvety voice. In this world, a vast Chinese city looms, illuminated by thousands of red paper lanterns, with werefoxes, jiaolins, and other creatures roaming the streets.

Now Shi Xiao lives in the estate of a wealthy demon, where he has taken a job as a servant