Chapter 38
So dark… so stuffy…
Amidst the dizzying disorientation, Ning Zhixia felt like he had fallen into a dark cave, stumbling towards the faint light he had finally found.
However, a falling sound seemed to jolt him awake, and he looked up to see several magnified faces suddenly approaching…
Oh my! Oh my! Ning Zhixia trembled as if struck by lightning, quickly spinning around, and frantically waving his small hands as he ran—
Qu Banqing was at a loss: “Hey, hey, don’t run, you’ll fall!”
“Waaah!” —Help!
Just then, Ning Zhixia tripped over his long, silky white robe, and like a small ball of dough, landed in a slightly cold palm.
He shook his head, adjusted the oversized hood covering his face, and as he was still dizzy, he felt himself being lifted by two fingers, like a toy in a claw machine, and gently placed in front of the mirror on the workstation.
What, what’s this?!
Ning Zhixia stared at the mirror, his eyes wide, his expression frozen.
His reflection was no bigger than his palm, a white robe and hood covering a translucent, bewildered little face, the bottom of the robe swaying emptily, two peanut-sized blue flames circling and dancing around him.
Ning Zhixia looked at his reflection, carefully lifted his robe, and looked down. His lower body was indeed a wisp of smoke, like a ghost, with a small hook at the end.
His eyes welled up, and the miniature ghost version of Ning Zhixia buried his face in his hands, sobbing, his tiny body trembling.
“Wuwuwu…”
—Year 2xxx, summer, 7:28 pm, I’m dead, wuwuwu…
The centaurs instantly became nervous, their hooves tapping the floor restlessly.
“Don’t cry, little one, it’s just a small problem…”
Qu Banqing soothed him softly, then nudged the centaurs with his elbow, glaring at them, his voice strained, “Hurry up and undo your spell…”
Right, it was just a spell, the centaurs must have a way to undo it!
Ning Zhixia stopped crying and looked at the towering centaurs, then quickly covered his eyes again, peeking through his fingers after a few seconds.
After finally adjusting, he fidgeted with his robe, whimpering expectantly—
Hurry up, hurry up, change me back!
Unexpectedly, the arrogant red-haired pony said nervously, “I, I don’t know how…”
What?!
Like a bolt from the blue, the little ghost froze on the table, then started waving his tiny fists and yelling at Harpas, the flames circling him growing from peanut-sized to walnut-sized!
“You can’t even undo your own spell? You idiots!”
Qu Banqing, acting as the ghost’s mouthpiece, glared at them and condemned them fiercely. “Tell me! What are we going to do now?!”
“We… we…”
The centaurs paced anxiously. They were used to causing mischief, not fixing it, and after exchanging glances, they all took a step back, leaving Harpas standing there alone.
Harpas was stunned: “Brothers?”
Hecate smiled and subtly nudged the culprit towards Audrow with his hoof, a truly ruthless act of betrayal.
Unfortunately, a small ice sculpture pony could only act as an air conditioner, not solve the problem!
Ning Zhixia slumped onto the table in despair, and amidst the centaurs’ comforting whispers, looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes trembling like tiny poached eggs, tears falling as he finally burst into tears—
He wasn’t even 178cm anymore! He was 17.8cm!
Seeing the little ghost crying so sadly, fiercely hitting the centaurs’ extended fingers, Qu Banqing looked at Audrow.
Audrow was sitting on a stool by the workstation, his chin resting on his hand, observing the tiny figure, his expression unusually calm.
Qu Banqing said, his voice strained, “Audrow, can you undo the spell?”
The centaurs stopped kicking Harpas, and Ning Zhixia abruptly looked up, his watery eyes fixed on Audrow.
“Come.”
Audrow uttered a single word softly, his palm upturned.
“Wuwuwu…” Reliable Xiao Ao!
Ning Zhixia didn’t hesitate, floating towards his palm like he had seen his savior.
However, being newly airborne, he wasn’t very skilled, and even with a distance of less than half a meter, he wobbled like a drunkard, landing awkwardly in Audrow’s slightly cupped hand.
A cold finger pushed aside the flickering flames and touched the hooded little head.
So cold!
Ning Zhixia flinched and pushed the finger away with his tiny hand.
“Just checking, don’t be afraid.” Audrow lowered his long eyelashes and casually adjusted the white robe with his finger, letting Ning Zhixia twirl around his fingertip like dancing.
“Eee!” —Are you done checking? Can I change back now?
Ning Zhixia floated up, eagerly rubbing his hands.
“This isn’t a centaur spell, it’s a transformation spell from some witch in another plane…”
Audrow paused for a moment, then said, his gaze calmly sweeping over the troublesome centaurs, his eyes narrowing slightly, “Now it’s a prank gone wrong.”
Ning Zhixia didn’t understand, but he still crossed his arms and glared at Harpas: “Hmph!” Bad pony!
Everyone’s gaze fell on Harpas, his back stiffening. He raised his hands in surrender and admitted, “Okay, I snuck into our Lord’s library, I saw this spell in an ancient scroll…”
As soon as he finished speaking, he was subjected to another round of kicks and punches from his brothers. Sneaking into the library, showing off, huh?!
Amidst the sound of the beating, Qu Banqing frowned and asked, “Then what should we do? Do we have to find that witch to undo it?”
Ning Zhixia also looked over: “Wuwuwu!” What to do!
“I’m not good at magic…”
Audrow tilted his head, his brow slightly furrowed, and after a moment of thought, he said, “Since it was cast by a centaur, it can be broken with the Lord of the Barrenlands’ blood, it follows the rules of their plane.”
The centaurs’ scalps tingled. They knew Audrow wasn’t lying, and their heads started to ache in anticipation.
But this was their fault, and they had to take responsibility. Hecate pondered for a moment, then lay down with a thud.
He tried to meet the tiny figure’s gaze and said softly, “Our Lord is away quelling a rebellion, it will take a few days for him to return…”
“So you’ll have to stay like this for a few days.” Audrow casually added.
A few days! So long!
Ning Zhixia zoomed towards Harpas like a small cannonball, his tiny hands flailing as he slapped the red-haired pony’s nose repeatedly!
He still had hundreds of press-on nail orders to fulfill, with customers waiting, how could Qu Banqing and Popokula manage without him?
If he insisted on working… he would be picking up rhinestones instead of bricks, painting nails like painting walls!
“Gurgle, eee, wuwuwu…”
The more Ning Zhixia thought about it, the more panicked he became, scolding the bad pony, spinning around anxiously, and rolling on the table, looking like he was about to have a meltdown.
Qu Banqing blocked the edge of the table with his hand, unable to understand what his friend was trying to say, and turned to ask Audrow, “What is he saying? Can you understand him?”
Ning Zhixia lay on the table weakly, letting the two flames circle him like stars, then rolled over, out of sight, out of mind.
A finger reached out and poked his butt.
“Ouch!” —What are you doing?!
Ning Zhixia rubbed his butt and looked over, suspecting Audrow was teasing him.
Audrow’s lips curled into a smile, his eyelashes lowering to hide the amusement in his light-colored eyes.
He moved his finger and tucked it inside the hood, rubbing against the little ghost’s cheek, and replied slowly, “Too bad, I can’t understand him either.”
Qu Banqing sighed: “This is troublesome, we can’t understand what Meow Meow is trying to say…”
Ning Zhixia’s resistance softened, letting Audrow’s finger stroke his head. It felt quite comfortable, after all.
Having found a solution, the centaurs didn’t delay any longer, placing a few gems in front of Ning Zhixia as an apology.
Ning Zhixia crossed his arms and snorted: “Hmph!” —Now leave!
The centaurs lowered their heads apologetically, rushed out of the house, and eagerly trotted off to find their Lord for some blood.
Because of his smaller size, the impact of the gems was amplified. After the centaurs left, Ning Zhixia wobbled around the gems, breathed on the facets, and excitedly polished them with his robe.
“Gurgle…” Big gems! Big gems!
Qu Banqing, who had been planning to comfort him, saw him fully recovered, hugging and kissing the gems.
He clicked his tongue and went to get materials to make him a small bed.
Audrow’s empty cookie tin was the perfect choice. After washing and drying it, he padded it with foam. There were still some leftover materials from the bunny dolls he had made for the fox cubs, so he used the scraps of fabric and cotton to sew a miniature bedding set.
Ning Zhixia floated obediently beside him, occasionally making “hmm” sounds and holding up small notes he had painstakingly written, expressing his aesthetic opinions.
—More cotton for the pillow!
—No lace!
—The bedsheet and blanket should be the same color!
Qu Banqing glanced at them and refused coldly: “No, not enough fabric.”
Ning Zhixia stared at the patchwork floral bedsheet for two seconds, then dramatically threw the notes away and rolled around on the floor like a spoiled child.
—I want it, I want it!
Qu Banqing said angrily, “Brat, you’re only going to be like this for a few days, why so many demands?”
Ning Zhixia stopped moving, staring at him, his little face hidden under the hood, looking incredibly pitiful.
“Fine, fine, I’ll change it.” Qu Banqing relented, cutting a piece of new fabric, hoping the fox cubs would like… short-eared bunnies.
Audrow seemed interested in the bed-making process, watching quietly, occasionally touching Ning Zhixia’s face with a strand of his hair, his thoughts unknown.
After the bed was finished, they had to discuss how to handle the customers’ appointments for the next few days.
Ning Zhixia had Audrow hold up his phone, typed on the screen, and showed Qu Banqing his plan.
One option was to send in the desired designs and have them made into press-on nails at a 20% discount, the other was to reschedule the appointment and offer a 50% compensation.
“Sounds good, I’ll call them.” Qu Banqing nodded and started making calls.
Ning Zhixia floated beside him, tilting his head to listen.
Although the customers were a little disappointed, they understood that it wasn’t a deliberate cancellation and that solutions were offered, so they chose their preferred option and canceled their appointments.
Ning Zhixia breathed a sigh of relief and floated back to the workstation, picking up a flat-tipped gel polish brush.
The base coat for the “Candy Crush” press-on nails didn’t require any special techniques. After finishing a few nails, Ning Zhixia had adapted to the new method of applying gel polish, humming as he worked like a painter.
Qu Banqing, watching the inspiring scene, said with a complicated expression, “Should I take over?”
Ning Zhixia shook his head, determined to do as much as he could, a good worker bee never oppressing other worker bees!
Qu Banqing couldn’t help but interject, “You were just thinking about replicating Popo’s ruthless capitalist scheme.”
Ning Zhixia froze, then, remembering his current form, his eyes welled up—
Such swift karma!
With a heavy heart, Ning Zhixia worked for a long time when a soft voice suddenly sounded nearby.
“Time for bed.”
Audrow leaned against the screen and beckoned to him.
“Hmm!” —Okay!
Ning Zhixia put down his brush, had Qu Banqing put the nail display into the UV lamp, put his hands on his hips, and like a hardworking emperor, surveyed his nail empire for a few seconds before obediently floating towards Audrow’s palm.
Audrow, carrying the miniature ghost Meow Meow in one hand and his bed in the other, went upstairs to the bedroom.
The down pillow was moved aside, and Ning Zhixia tugged on Audrow’s hand, pointing at the beautiful scale under the pillow.
Audrow chuckled, placed the cookie tin bed on the nightstand, and tucked the scale between the foam mattress and the tin as a headboard.
Ning Zhixia, looking at the upgraded bed, eagerly lifted the blanket and burrowed inside, then poked his little head out after a few seconds.
The two miniature blue flames floated to either side, acting as bedside lamps.
Audrow poked the small lump under the blanket and asked, “Not taking off your cloak?”
“Wuwuwu,” I can’t take it off.
Ning Zhixia shook his head. It seemed the white cloak was standard ghost attire, and if he took it off, only his translucent body would remain, which looked strange, so he refused.
Audrow didn’t ask further, lifted a corner of the blanket, and tucked him in again.
“Good night.” Audrow gently patted him with his fingertip.
Ning Zhixia yawned, his eyes closing: “Mmm!” Good night, Xiao Ao!
It turned out that even ghosts needed sleep. Ning Zhixia, as usual, woke up from his sweet dreams when the pothos by his bed gently brushed his cheek with a leaf.
He stretched and, taking advantage of his ability to float, drifted out the window and down to the living room, where he saw the kittens grooming each other.
They looked curiously at the tiny figure, then approached with their tails raised.
Ning Zhixia nervously prepared to flee, but a few pink noses sniffed him, and they meowed affectionately.
Seemingly recognizing their owner’s scent but confused by his transformation into a flying creature, Fatty Orange blinked its round green eyes and reached out a paw towards him.
Whoa, close call!
Ning Zhixia quickly floated away, heading to the kitchen to seek refuge with Qu Banqing. The pursuing kittens were each bopped on the head by Qu Banqing.
“Stay here, don’t float around!” Qu Banqing pinched his little cloak and placed him on the coffee table.
Ning Zhixia nodded obediently, holding up a finger: “Okay.”
Not long after, the door to the storage room opened. Audrow, as he came out, glanced at the living room and paused.
Ning Zhixia was comfortably nestled on Fatty Orange’s belly, holding a miniature sandwich and taking large bites, each one leaving a crescent-shaped mark, eating with gusto.
Eating this kind of Western food was the most convenient for him now. Qu Banqing had made a club sandwich and cut the middle part for him.
Ning Zhixia, seeing Audrow, waved his sandwich: “Eee?”
—Want some?
Audrow shook his head and sat down, not touching his usual sashimi, instead toying with Fatty Orange’s tail, his chin resting on his hand, as if waiting for something.
Ning Zhixia finished his sandwich, his eyes closing in satisfaction, and patted the crumbs off his robe.
“Want to come to the Bureau with me?”
A deep, gentle voice sounded above him, and Ning Zhixia blinked, meeting a pair of amused, light-colored eyes.
Ning Zhixia paused, about to point at the unfinished nail tips on the workstation.
Audrow, as if knowing what he was going to say, added slowly, “You can bring the materials, no one will disturb you there, and no one will see you.”
Ning Zhixia hesitated, slightly tempted.
“Coming?” Audrow pointed at the pocket on his shirt.
“Mmm!” Coming!
Ning Zhixia nodded and happily floated towards him.
“The enhanced UV lamp from the centaurs, gel polishes, paper and pens, nail tips…”
Knowing that he was going to the Bureau, Qu Banqing thought for a moment and decided it was a good idea.
After all, there were many cats at home, and it wouldn’t be convenient with his customers coming over, so he packed the toolbox and handed it to Audrow.
“Meow Meow, don’t float around there!” Although he wasn’t worried about his safety, Qu Banqing still couldn’t help but remind him.
“Mmm!” Got it!
Before Audrow turned to leave with the toolbox, Ning Zhixia poked his head out of the pocket and waved goodbye to his friend.
Qu Banqing watched the two of them leave, like they were going on a picnic, his expression complicated.
“A father worries when his son travels far…” he paused, then corrected himself, “A friend worries.”
Ning Zhixia, clinging to the edge of the pocket, was gently pushed back inside by a finger.
As if hearing his friend’s words, his tiny body shook with silent laughter.
Audrow paused, looked down at his chest, and felt a novel sensation, a long-forgotten vibration deep within…
