Chapter 9: Shame
Yun Yingzhi felt his entire rabbit self was about to fall apart. This was the first time he realized that the Crown Prince—rumored by everyone in the Empire to be cold, heartless, bloodthirsty, and devoid of emotion—was actually a “fluff-con” in private. He could even distinguish a rabbit’s gender and would sniff a rabbit’s belly!
If Yun Yingzhi had been thinking about revealing his true identity before, then now…
He didn’t dare say anything.
The little white rabbit sniffed and pulled a “pouty little brat” rabbit face. Now, he could only let Elvis treat him like a real rabbit cub and toy with him at will.
Elvis stroked the rabbit in his arms and carried it toward the dormitory area.
They encountered many students on the way. Due to Elvis’s ruthless reputation, almost no student dared to approach; they all avoided him from a distance.
Yun Yingzhi thought: this Elvis, who made crowds scatter in fear, actually had students who were happy he would participate in a mixer.
Wait, relatively speaking, he seemed to have quite a bit of courage himself. After hearing that Elvis was joining the mixer, he had actually planned to participate too.
Thanks to his excellent hearing, Yun Yingzhi heard students whispering:
“Did you guys see that?”
“His Highness is actually holding a little white rabbit.”
“How unexpected. His Highness Elvis actually likes little rabbits.”
“Our School Flower’s Second Form is a little white rabbit. Because of him, quite a few students in our academy are raising them.”
“True. If you can’t get the School Flower, you have to have a substitute!”
Suddenly, Yun Yingzhi heard this: “I’ve never heard of His Highness liking cute pets before.”
“Do you think it’s possible that the one His Highness is holding is the actual Senior Yingzhi?”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
His rabbit face froze.
What made him even more distraught was that, following those words, Elvis stopped in his tracks. He lifted Yun Yingzhi up with both hands and held him in front of his face.
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelid jumped, his entire body still in a state of bristling fur.
Elvis’s violet eyes narrowed slightly. He said, “…Are you Yun Yingzhi?”
Yun Yingzhi made a sound almost reflexively: “Da da da!” He wanted to show that he really was a cute pet. He didn’t know how to bark or meow; he was just a real rabbit cub.
Elvis: “…Is that how a rabbit sounds?”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
How does a rabbit sound?
Yun Yingzhi disliked his Second Form, so he naturally never paid attention to rabbits as pets. In his memory, he had never even seen a rabbit make a sound.
After a moment of silence, Yun Yingzhi tentatively continued to call out: “Wu wu…?” Is that it?
An imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Elvis’s lips. “Hm?”
Yun Yingzhi: “…Yi yi…?”
Elvis: “Heh.”
Yun Yingzhi continued to bristle. He completely misunderstood the meaning of Elvis’s “heh,” but that didn’t stop him from trying to continue pretending to be a real rabbit. “Si si…?” If he had known, he would have done some homework—at least to know how a real rabbit cried out.
Elvis placed the rabbit back against his chest and continued to speak in a voice like crushed ice: “Truly a rabbit with a very unique cry.”
Yun Yingzhi let out a sigh of relief.
He felt that ever since he woke up today, his luck had been absolutely abysmal.
Thinking about it, Yun Yingzhi didn’t want to stay in contact with Elvis in this form. He took advantage of a slight loosening of Elvis’s grip to perform a precise spring, leaping down from his arms.
Almost in the next moment, a wall of lightning snakes—one meter wide, three meters high, and three meters long—appeared directly in front of the little rabbit. If he were to charge head-first into that wall, he would likely become a lightning-charred little black rabbit.
Yun Yingzhi braked his little rabbit feet just in time.
His rabbit body went rigid. His ink-black gem eyes looked to the left—another wall of lightning stood in that direction.
The little rabbit’s tiny body shook. He wobbled for a bit before stubbornly stabilizing his fragile frame. Forcing himself to stay calm, he looked to the right—yet another lightning wall rose up.
The rabbit was shocked. He could hear the sizzle of the current in his ears, signaling the terrifying power of the electricity.
Currently, Yun Yingzhi the rabbit had encountered three walls of lightning. The only way out was behind him.
It was broad daylight, but a shadow completely enveloped him from behind, blocking out the bright November sun.
Yun Yingzhi could clearly feel his heart beating at an extremely fast rate. He turned around, his rabbit face looking in horror at Elvis, who completely loomed over him.
With his sharp hearing, he heard some students whispering nearby.
“Look, look! His Highness is bullying the little bunny!”
“Hahaha, as expected of a rabbit raised by His Highness? That little bunny’s expression is so spirited!”
“It was just wobbling its tiny body. That’s too funny, hahaha…”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
He felt that those students watching from the shadows were a bit cruel.
Elvis looked down from above at the little white rabbit, which was completely covered by his shadow and seemed to be shivering.
Yun Yingzhi: “…Ji ji?”
Elvis’s voice was like frost and snow: “Little thing, why aren’t you running anymore?”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
His rabbit face thought very seriously. Did Elvis mean for him to walk through the only path not surrounded by lightning arcs?
Yun Yingzhi tentatively moved his short legs. Walking in a “same-side” gait (pacing), he carefully moved to the side, bypassing Elvis.
Yun Yingzhi felt the warmth of the sun in the cold wind once again.
In the shadows, more people watching this scene burst into laughter. One of them said, “Look! That little rabbit is so scared it forgot how to walk. It’s doing a same-side gait! That’s way too cute!”
“Dammit! That’s illegally cute!”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
He felt like spitting blood.
Yun Yingzhi carefully looked up at Elvis, but he was too short. Coupled with the close distance, he couldn’t see anything.
The rabbit blinked its large eyes. After a thought, he figured Elvis had probably tacitly allowed him to run away. So, he prepared to dash forward—
However, before he could run very far, another lightning arc wall—one meter wide and three meters high—appeared in front of him.
Yun Yingzhi’s fur bristled again; his mental state was about to collapse.
The sound of lightning arcs was on all four sides. The little rabbit spun in a circle on the spot. Unless he could perform a precise jump three meters into the air, it would be hard for him to escape unscathed.
So, the current situation was…
One: tell Elvis he wasn’t a real rabbit, but Yun Yingzhi.
Two: continue to thicken his skin and pretend to be an ignorant, real little rabbit.
He thought about it. If it were before, it might have been fine, but now countless eyes were watching from the shadows. It was impossible to tell Elvis his true identity right after he had just done a same-side gait walk. That would be…
Too embarrassing.
Elvis’s cold voice reached Yun Yingzhi’s ears again: “Little rabbit, why aren’t you running? Do you need me to give you a hand?”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
Give a hand? How?
By tossing him into the lightning arcs?
Yun Yingzhi’s eyelids twitched wildly. Blinking his black-gem eyes, he tentatively moved his two little feet.
Then, everyone saw this scene:
The crowd felt the rabbit’s performance was very “spirited.”
Despite looking utterly unwilling, the little rabbit still moved its feet. Its soft, white body pressed against Elvis’s foot, and its two little paws hugged one of his calves.
An imperceptible curve appeared at the corner of Elvis’s lips.
Yun Yingzhi looked at the lightning arcs, hesitated, and while hugging Elvis’s calf, tentatively began to climb up.
Elvis didn’t brush the rabbit away, but he didn’t pick up the rabbit that was struggling to climb either.
Thanks to his excellent hearing, Yun Yingzhi heard a student exclaim privately, “Wow, so rabbits can actually climb that high?”
Yun Yingzhi thought: he didn’t know if a normal rabbit could climb high, but he was currently very worried that Elvis would toss his weak self into the lightning. More than that, he was afraid of exposing his true identity in public. That would be a true social death!
Another student said, “Look! That little rabbit is climbing so smoothly and steadily. It’s already hanging onto His Highness’s abs!”
“Aaah! Let me become that rabbit! I want to touch His Highness’s abs too!”
“Little bunny, go a bit lower! Quick! Hang onto His Highness’s waistband!”
Hearing this shameless remark, the entire rabbit was momentarily stunned. The little paws gripping Elvis’s clothes loosened for a split second. The rabbit began to fall. He snapped out of it, and to avoid a crash-landing, his four paws scrambled and clawed frantically. He finally managed to stabilize his tiny body.
He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but Yun Yingzhi felt something was wrong.
Soon, he realized it. Something was indeed wrong.
The students who had been talking in the shadows suddenly went silent.
From above, His Highness Elvis’s cold voice reached Yun Yingzhi’s ears: “…Come up.”
Yun Yingzhi: “…?”
A giant question mark slowly formed in his mind.
Was Elvis saying that to him? It couldn’t be, right?
How could a normal rabbit understand human speech?
To avoid exposing his true identity, shouldn’t he pretend he couldn’t understand?
Yun Yingzhi’s four paws gripped Elvis tightly. He decided not to move for the time being.
Then…
Yun Yingzhi heard a student say, “Truly a sight to behold. What a rogue little rabbit!”
“Earlier, I suspected this rabbit might be Yun Yingzhi. Now I’m certain—how could such a lecherous little rabbit be our School Flower Yingzhi?”
Yun Yingzhi: “…”
He blinked his ink-black pupils, his body trembling. He had finally realized what “indescribable” thing he had just done.
His mind understood, but his body was still in a state of violent shock. He felt his entire rabbit self was about to become a cooked dish.
Yun Yingzhi thought: he had to change positions right now, this instant. However, his tiny frame was currently frozen in a state of extreme shock, and he didn’t know how to move.
Elvis’s voice reached him again: “…Do you like it here that much?”
Yun Yingzhi felt like he was in a giant steamer; he was truly about to be cooked.
Finally, his body moved.
All four paws let go at the same time, and his entire small body plummeted…
Yun Yingzhi thought: QAQ even falling straight down was better than publicly “hooligan-ing” His Highness Elvis under everyone’s gaze.
He was numb. He felt that today was truly miserable.
Just when Yun Yingzhi thought he would hit the ground, His Highness Elvis reached out and scooped him up, holding the rabbit once again.
Yun Yingzhi froze. His 30cm tiny body was now nestled in Elvis’s arms.
Yun Yingzhi’s ears twitched.
QAQ He thought: life is actually…
Very short.
If you just endure it, it’ll be over soon.
He wondered if he could buy a spaceship ticket to another galaxy.
He wondered if he even had the money for a spaceship ticket.
Translator’s Note:
- Fluff-con: Slang for someone who is obsessed with soft, fluffy things.
- Social Death (社死): A popular Chinese term for a moment so embarrassing that you feel like your “social life” has died.
- Same-side gait (同手同脚): Walking with the arm and leg on the same side moving together. It’s a common sign of being extremely nervous or “malfunctioning” in Chinese media.
- Lecherous/Rogue Rabbit: The students think the rabbit is intentionally clinging to Elvis’s “sensitive” areas. Poor Zhizhi!
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