Stepping out of the mouse hole, Yevenko glanced around from his tiny perspective.
Gloomy green lights filled this place, illuminating eerie umbrella-shaped towers rising high, linked together by countless iron chains or directly nailed into sheer cliff faces.
A cold, ominous aura permeated the air, heavy enough to suffocate.
The Shackling Prison...?
This name immediately popped into Yevenko's mind.
Simultaneously, he spotted Moze and Jiaoqiu nearby, seemingly engaged in serious discussion.
An enormous question mark promptly crashed onto Yevenko's head, making him shrink back slightly in confusion.
He scratched his head helplessly.
A mouse like me really can't grasp the situation.
Weren't Moze and Jiaoqiu supposed to be at the Luofu for the Xingtian Martial Ceremony? Why were they here now?
Not to mention, Moze and Jiaoqiu were Feixiao's shadow guard and medical officer. If these two had arrived, didn't it imply Feixiao himself was also here?
How did this happen...?
Suddenly, realization dawned upon Yevenko. He swiftly turned to Jerry, who was frantically running around, peeking into various mouse holes in search of food.
It must've been Jerry who caused this butterfly effect.
Indeed, if there were an extraordinary mouse running rampant aboard his Xianzhou, even someone as calm as Jing Yuan wouldn't sleep peacefully. He'd definitely report upwards, summoning a general for assistance.
Moreover, the Shackling Prison on Luofu housed the warleader of the Borisin people—Hoolay—who originally was slated to be transferred to the Yaoqing flagship in canon.
Given such chaos, perhaps Feixiao had even volunteered himself rather than waiting for an official summons.
But...what did all that have to do with a hungry little mouse like him?
"Guuuuu—"
A prolonged growl echoed from Yevenko's stomach, reverberating faintly in the Shackling Prison. He smacked his lips.
For some reason, ever since transforming into Tuffy, he got hungry far more easily.
Nearby, Jiaoqiu's fox ears suddenly twitched. His perpetually narrowed eyes widened, revealing sharp, glittering golden pupils fixed precisely on Yevenko's direction.
"A mouse…?"
He murmured softly.
Moze heard this faint whisper and turned to ask, "Did you say something?"
Jiaoqiu hesitated. The mouse he saw was greyish-white and smaller, definitely not the infamous one from the Divine Foresight agency.
But...
Given the unique nature of the Shackling Prison, even a single mouse appearing here implied something significant.
Could it be that Luofu had more than just one such absurd creature? Perhaps even a second... or third one?
Who could endure this!?
Deciding it'd only cause unnecessary trouble if he mentioned it, Jiaoqiu instead casually redirected the topic.
"It's nothing. I was just surprised that Luofu's Shackling Prison was submerged underwater."
…
…
Jerry was utterly dedicated to helping Yevenko.
He finally found a mouse hole leading to food, eagerly grabbed Yevenko's tiny paw, and navigated the winding tunnels until they arrived at an office within the Shackling Prison.
Jerry first peeked through a makeshift periscope. Scattered documents were strewn across several desks, but one table was piled high with delicious food.
Next to the table, a young girl with long emerald-green hair and fox ears lay slumped over, sleeping soundly. She appeared to have drifted off while savoring the food's aroma, her slightly open mouth dripping saliva onto the desk.
Jerry quickly returned to the mouse hole entrance. To ensure Yevenko behaved, he placed a finger over his mouth in a stern "Shh!" gesture.
Then, holding Yevenko's paw, he tiptoed forward.
However, while Jerry carefully tiptoed, Yevenko just walked normally. Once outside the mouse hole, Yevenko's eyes locked onto the delicious food spread across the table.
His hunger nearly overcame all self-control.
His eyes turned instantly into roast chickens, springing comically from their sockets.
Yevenko switched from a leisurely stroll into a brisk sprint.
Alarmed, Jerry lunged to grab him, but Yevenko zoomed past too quickly, leaving Jerry to grasp empty air.
Jerry dashed ahead again, swiftly produced a large butterfly net, and held it firmly in front of Yevenko.
Yevenko promptly crashed straight into the net, stretching it elastically until his body broke apart neatly along the net's threads, reassembled effortlessly once he'd passed through the netting.
Jerry, flustered, tossed the net aside and lunged again.
This time, he grabbed hold of Yevenko's diaper from behind, stretching it out significantly. But Yevenko's rapid pace caused Jerry's face to repeatedly slam comically into the ground.
Finally, resigned, Jerry let himself flop face-down, propping his head in one paw, maintaining a bored expression as Yevenko dragged him along.
Soon, they reached the feast.
Seeing the countless delicacies, Yevenko immediately lost all restraint and dashed forward.
Cookies—he took three quick bites.
An apple—he swallowed whole in one bite, momentarily ballooning into a round mouse-ball before instantly reverting to his normal form.
A roast chicken—yes, he must taste this!
Arriving before the succulent roasted chicken, Yevenko opened his mouth wide, initiating a vacuum-like suction.
Instantly, the meat peeled away from the bones, rearranging itself neatly beside the empty skeleton, reforming into a fully intact roast chicken. It danced rhythmically, stepping toward Yevenko with a graceful spin.
Yevenko promptly grabbed its outstretched wing, and mouse and chicken danced an elegant waltz together. As the dance concluded, Yevenko spun rapidly in place, stopped gracefully, then pointed meaningfully at his open mouth.
The roast chicken politely bowed, then leapt neatly into Yevenko's waiting mouth.
Smacking his lips contentedly, Yevenko nodded in satisfaction.
Still, he wasn't quite full.
Just then, the noisy eating hadn't disturbed the sleeping girl—but it did wake her "foxtail."
A bluish-green fox tail rose from behind her, seeing Yevenko's ravenous feasting. It promptly jabbed her head sharply, shouting,
"You little brat! Wake up! If you sleep any longer, these mice will devour the entire welcoming feast prepared for the Yaoqing envoy!!"
Startled awake by her tail's scolding, the young girl bolted upright like a frightened animal. Clutching a broken white banner, she nervously retreated a few steps, trembling softly.
"M-mice...? Where are the mice…?"
Her foxtail disconnected itself impatiently, manifesting as a fiery blue-green foxlike-cat head hovering beside her.
"Right there, on the table! You're even afraid of mice, yet you still can't see them?"
"Hurry up and chase them away before you get scolded!"
"Y-yes...exorcise...banish evil spirits…" she murmured softly, nervously waving her banner.
But Yevenko hopped off the table, scampered swiftly up her arm, and immediately took three quick bites from the banner's pole, leaving clear tooth-marks. The pole snapped cleanly in two, interrupting her spellcasting.
"Kyaaaaaa!!!!"
Seeing the little mouse perched atop her hand, chewing through her banner, she shrieked, dropped the broken banner, and fled into a corner, raising her white flag in surrender.
Thrown into the air during her panic, Yevenko casually flipped his diaper inside-out, using it as a parachute, floating leisurely back onto the table.
Watching this pathetic scene, the tail scoffed disdainfully.
"What a useless girl. Fine, I'll handle this myself."
Yet the girl whispered nervously from the corner,
"Mr. Tail...I've heard rumors about strange mice appearing on Luofu... Be careful...!"
The tail snorted arrogantly.
"No matter how strange, can they surpass the illogical existence of us Yaoshi? Watch me scare them to death!"
The tail drifted near Yevenko and Jerry, gently tapping their shoulders.
As they turned around, the tail abruptly transformed into a gigantic, fearsome blue-green wolf, roaring powerfully in their faces:
"Raaaaawr—!"
Both Yevenko's and Jerry's cheese dropped onto the table with a soft plop. Eyes rolling back comically, they collapsed, feigning unconsciousness.
Turning proudly back toward the girl, the tail laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! You see? Easy as pie!"
But she just trembled more violently, pointing in terror at the table.
Confused, the tail turned back—and saw the ghostly, bluish souls of Yevenko and Jerry rising ominously, their faces morphing into monstrous tiger and lion heads, roaring thunderously toward him.
"RAAAAAWR—!!!"
A blast of ghostly wind blew fiercely. Terrified, the tail's entire body aged rapidly, fur whitening as it collapsed back into its original form.
"Mr. Tail!!" the girl cried, rushing over.
Floating bewilderedly above its own unconscious body, the tail muttered weakly, "Impossible…since when did Yaoshi have souls…?"
Upon seeing Yevenko's ghostly lion-head again, it fainted instantly back into its physical body.
Now awake but pretending otherwise, the tail silently vowed never to provoke these bizarre mice again.