Chapter One: Donning the Fox

"Hello, this is Zhou Hongxian!" As the ringtone of "Men Should Strive for Glory" played on his phone, Zhou Hongxian answered the call.

On the other end was a woman, her voice gentle and serene, carrying a hint of tranquility. "Hello, I'm Xia Yumeng. I've already arrived at Crescent Moon Café. Have you gotten here yet?"

Zhou Hongxian quickly glanced at his phone to check the time: 4:45 in the afternoon, exactly fifteen minutes before their agreed meeting at five. He hadn't expected this—unlike his previous blind dates, this woman had arrived early.

Nevertheless, wanting to leave a good impression, he apologized. "I'm sorry, Xia. There was a bit of traffic on the overpass just now. I didn't expect to keep you waiting! But don't worry, I'm almost there, just one more intersection to go!"

The woman on the phone gave a gentle laugh. "It's really no problem. Just drive carefully and be safe, okay?"

Hearing her warm words, the honest Zhou Hongxian felt a bit embarrassed and explained, "Actually, Xia, you misunderstood. I'm not driving—I haven't bought a car yet! Haha, I'm on the bus."

"Oh—" There was a slight pause on the other end, but then she smiled again. "That's completely fine. Just be careful crossing the street too!"

"Sure, thank you! I'll be there soon!" Zhou Hongxian ended the call cheerfully, thinking that not all girls nowadays are materialistic after all. His friends always claimed that women now wouldn't settle for a man without a car and a house, but perhaps they'd been too quick to generalize.

He was already standing at the crosswalk. In just eighteen more seconds, once the red light changed, he could turn and walk into the café across the street to meet his date—a sweet-voiced girl with dimples, whose gentle smile he had seen in the photo his aunt had shown him. The thought made his heart race with anticipation.

He silently counted in his heart: "Ten, nine, eight, seven—hey, ma'am, the light hasn't changed yet!"

"It's just a few seconds. My grandson's about to get out of school—I need to get to the kindergarten gate before he does!"

"Watch out for the truck!" Zhou Hongxian shouted in alarm, but saw the elderly woman had no time to react. In that instant, an impulse surged within him, compelling him to rush forward.

A deafening crash shattered the noisy street, plunging everything into sudden silence. An old woman sat trembling in the middle of the road, while a large truck came to a stop, leaving a long, ghastly streak of blood trailing from its wheels.

All the cars halted; drivers got out to look, and the pedestrians around them raised their phones to record the scene.

After what felt like an eternity of confusion, Zhou Hongxian opened his eyes again. But everything around him was overwhelmingly unfamiliar. This was not the steel-clad metropolis, not the bustling city streets he knew. Instead, he found himself surrounded by towering ancient trees, endless seas of forest, and precipitous mountains. In the distance, a high waterfall cascaded down.

From the base of the cliff, the waterfall looked as if it tumbled straight from the heavens—wild, roaring, untamed. Where it struck the pool below, thick mist rose, casting a magnificent rainbow over the land.

Stunned by the sight, Zhou Hongxian couldn't help but exclaim, "What a spectacular waterfall!" Then, as if recalling something, he murmured in confusion, "Where is this? Wasn't I on my way to a date? Wait, didn't I get hit by a car while trying to save someone? Am I dead? Then how did I end up here?"

A short distance away, someone made a surprised sound.

Zhou Hongxian looked toward the voice and saw, reclining on a boulder by the pool, a creature that looked like a dog but wasn't—a sleek, snow-white animal whose fur gleamed in the sunlight. Zhou Hongxian studied it for a moment, then exclaimed in astonishment, "What a huge Pomeranian!"

The creature, startled by Zhou Hongxian's voice, stared back with eyes almost human in their expression. Suddenly, it spoke in a deep, aged voice, like an elderly man, "Little fox, you can actually talk now?"

The bizarre scene frightened Zhou Hongxian. "Are—are you talking to me?"

"Who else?" The creature continued to gaze into Zhou Hongxian's eyes. "Even your eyes are like a human's. Amazing! Who would've thought that a young fox, not even a century old and without any cultivation, would suddenly awaken spiritual intelligence? Truly extraordinary!"

Zhou Hongxian had no idea what it was talking about, but as a grown man from the twenty-first century who loved science fiction and horror films, he was more startled than truly afraid. Once the shock faded, he began to calm down.

He said, "I'm not a fox, I'm a human! You, Pome—" Suddenly a realization flashed through his mind. This wasn't a Pomeranian at all. "Wait, you're the fox! How can you talk?"

The fox actually chuckled. "I am indeed a fox! But aren't you one too? Why don't you take a look at your reflection in the pool?"

Zhou Hongxian, filled with suspicion, leaned over the water. What he saw shocked him even more: the reflection was not a human face, but the sharp muzzle of a fox. At a glance, perhaps someone might mistake it for a Pomeranian, but unlike the white fox before him, his own fur was fiery red, like a flame, and behind him swayed a bright red tail—strange and striking.

Zhou Hongxian stared at his reflection for a long while. When he finally understood, he felt close to tears. "It seems I've transmigrated! But I don't want to transmigrate—I had a date, a girl I liked to meet, a wonderful life ahead! If I have to transmigrate, couldn't I at least be human? How am I supposed to star in Zootopia as a real fox now?"