Hu Xiaoman is a fox spirit. Born from the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, she has no parents and wanders the world in innocent confusion, until a girl named Hu Yan takes her home.
Hu Yan had just lost her family. She carried the little ball of scarlet fur home in her arms. The following year, Xiaoman took human form and stood before her big sister, looking up at her. Hu Yan crouched down and tidied her messy red hair. She did not ask, “What are you?” She only said, “You need to go to school.”
From then on, Xiaoman had a jasmine-flower hair clip to hide her ears. She went to kindergarten, then elementary school, and lived just like any other ten-year-old: with friends, homework, and the steady thump of her sister chopping vegetables in the kitchen.
There was only one difference. She could transmigrate through time.
The first time was four years ago. She appeared in a village from long ago, where a girl named Qingning took her home. When she returned more than ten days later, her sister was still cooking in the kitchen, as if no time had passed at all. The second time was now. On her way to a friend's house, the world shifted, and she found herself in Lanxi Town. She stayed for two months, learned healing and medicine, and brought back a packet of honeysuckle and a pair of eyes that could see more than before.
After that, her trips through time grew more frequent, like a string being plucked again and again. She could not tell whether this ability was stabilizing or spiraling out of control. But one thing was certain: with every journey, she met different people. Qingning, Xuanli, Laojun. Some taught her, some kept her company, and some answered her questions.
This is the story of Xiaoman, the red fox. It is about her traveling back and forth along the river of time, and slowly putting down roots of her own wherever she lands.
Very warm and healing 😳