Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off

Wang Mulan’s heart ached. She began to weep openly, the tears falling like rain onto the baby’s fur. She stroked the small head with a shaking hand.

"My daughter," she whispered, her voice thick with sorrow.

"Remember... your mother will always love you. I will protect you even if it costs me my soul. They want you... I know they want your light. But as long as I am breathing, they will never snatch my baby. They will never use your beautiful soul for their filthy dark magic."

She looked up at the moon, falling to her knees. She begged the Beast God for strength. She begged for a miracle to save her child from the evil that was chasing them.

"Please," she sobbed. "Take me. Kill me. But save my daughter."

"Beast God...if you exist, please show mercy to my pitiful child..."

"She had done nothing wrong...to deserve such fate."

Suddenly, a silver glow descended from the sky. It enveloped the mother and child in a soft, warm light.

Wang Mulan felt a surge of energy, and she cried even harder, hugging the baby as she crouched on the ground. It was a temporary blessing, a shield against the darkness.

When the glow faded, Wang Mulan’s expression changed. It was no longer just fear; it was a final, tragic determination.

She began to kiss the baby’s forehead repeatedly. She kissed her cheeks, her tiny ears, and her paws.

"Remember, my child," she said, her voice a ghost of a whisper.

"Your father and I love you very much. We will always love you. No matter where you go, no matter what happens, you are our heart."

She was saying goodbye. Su Qinglan, trapped in the memory, felt a wave of agony so deep it felt like her chest was being ripped open.

The baby started to weep, though no sound came out. The trauma was so great the child couldn’t even scream.

"Baby, don’t worry. Everything will be fine," Wang Mulan said, though her eyes were filled with the shadow of death.

She bit her own finger, drawing a drop of bright red blood. With a shaking hand, she began to draw a complex, painful symbol on the child’s forehead.

It was a spell...a forbidden art to separate the soul from the body, leaving only a bit so the body will be forever alive, but it came with a terrible price of pain.

"Wahhuuu!"

"Wahhhh...hhh."

The small fox whimpered, its tiny body arching as the magic burned into its skin.

"Don’t cry, baby. The pain will be gone soon," Wang Mulan sobbed, her heart breaking into a million pieces. "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."

The baby shrieked in agony as the symbol glowed. The pain was unbearable, a searing heat that felt like it was branding the child’s very soul.

After a long, harrowing minute, the baby went quiet. It didn’t struggle anymore. It just lay there, limp and exhausted as if the soul had left its body.

Wang Mulan looked at her quiet baby and nearly lost her sanity. She cradled the cub one last time.

"When you come back to this world... when you wake up... nothing will be able to beat you. You will be the most powerful woman in this world. You will be free."

Suddenly, a blast of dark energy hit the clearing. Wang Mulan was thrown backward.

The baby rolled from her hands, tumbling across the rough ground. The tiny cub lay still among the sharp stones, its fur matted with dust.

A pair of bony hands reached down.

A man in a tattered black robe picked up the cub. He held the baby by the scruff of its neck, looking at it with a greedy, yellow-eyed stare.

"So, this is the child with the great destiny?" the man hissed, a cruel smile twisting his face.

"If I swallowed her destiny, I would become a god. But the Black Temple... they might want her for themselves. Should I absorb her myself, or give her to the masters?"

Wang Mulan was pinned to the ground by wisps of dark smoke. She watched as the man poked and prodded her child. She wanted to scream, to fly at him and tear his eyes out, but she was paralyzed.

The man grew bored and slapped the small fox cub hard across the face. "Is it dead? It’s not moving."

He sensed a faint, flickering heartbeat. He sneered. "Such a weak cub. If I throw her in the forest, she’ll die in seconds. She’s useless."

Wang Mulan felt a tiny spark of relief through her horror. The magic had worked. The child appeared weak because a part of her soul had already traveled to a different world...and until her soul reunited, they could never kill her, nor would they be able to suck her destiny.

The man dropped the cub back onto the stones and walked toward Wang Mulan. He raised a hand and slapped her across the face so hard her lip split open.

"Tell me, did you do something with the cub?" he demanded.

Wang Mulan spit blood at his feet, her eyes cold and defiant. "No...if I had the ability, I would have used it to run away..."

"Um...very well..." the man whispered as he pondered on her words.

She looked at her baby lying in the dirt one last time, a silent prayer on her lips. Live, my Lan’er. Please, just live.

The torture did not stop with a single slap.

Wang Mulan lay on the cold ground, her body pinned down by the oily, black wisps of smoke that felt like they were eating her skin alive.

Each breath she took was filled with the stench of decay.

Suddenly, another figure stepped out from the shadows. It was a woman with a face twisted by jealousy and malice. She walked over and dug her sharp nails deep into Wang Mulan’s shoulder, mocking her.

"You actually thought you could keep the position of Tribe Leader’s mate?" The woman hissed in an ugly, shrill tone. "Look at you now. Pathetic."