Su Xuan curled his lips into a faint smile. “Hmm? Aren’t you my Dao companion?”
Sang Dai: “…”
Sang Dai was silent.
After a moment, Sang Dai spoke again: “You’re the Beast King. It’s not like he can’t recognize you. Doesn’t he know whether you’re married?”
Su Xuan nodded. “He knows.”
Sang Dai sighed helplessly. “Exactly, he knows you’re not married—”
“But now, the four realms all know I have a wife. My wife even set off fireworks for me for an entire night.”
Sang Dai: “…What?”
Su Xuan curled his lips into a faint smile. “The fireworks you set off last night were so spectacular. The demons of our realm are naturally open and straightforward, unable to keep secrets. I’m afraid by now, the news has spread to the farthest corners of the Immortal Realm. The four realms should all know I have a wife.”
“My wife dotes on me a lot. She set off fireworks for me all night. Our relationship is wonderful, and I love her deeply.”
Lady Sang: “…”
She didn’t know if it was just her being overly sensitive, but Su Xuan’s words carried a clear teasing undertone, with mischief brimming in his eyes. The last sentence, spoken in a softer tone, sounded as if it had been whispered directly into her ear.
Su Xuan chuckled a few times, then stood up and said with a smile, “My lady, I have some matters to attend to. I’ll come back to keep you company tonight.”
He turned to leave, taking a few steps before suddenly turning back.
Lady Sang: “…What now?”
Su Xuan replied seriously, “Something important.”
He strode back, pinched Sang Dai’s cheek, and reluctantly withdrew his hand.
Without saying another word, he turned and left.
Decisive and straightforward.
Lady Sang: “……”
She touched the side of her face, which felt as hot as a furnace.
Sang Dai let out a long breath, feeling as if the heat on her face kept spreading, making it hard to breathe. Her whole body felt hot and restless.
She picked up her tea and drank several cups in one go, finally feeling the heat subside a little.
The box that Cui Shao had brought in was still sitting on the table, and in front of it was a cup of water—the cup that Su Xuan had just drunk from.
She had also drunk from it.
Sang Dai’s face turned red again, betraying her emotions.
He had even said he would come back to keep her company tonight. She knew he was deliberately teasing her, yet Sang Dai still felt a bit…
Embarrassed.
Closing her eyes briefly, Sang Dai drank an entire pot of water, but her mind remained restless. Finally, she stood up and walked toward the back mountain.
The Zhiyu Sword Spirit was now protected by Changmang. As Sang Dai advanced further in her cultivation, reaching the Grand Ascension stage, the sword spirit seemed to grow more vigorous as well, its glow shining even more brilliantly than before.
Sang Dai would very likely awaken it—she had to awaken it.
She arrived at the bamboo grove in the back mountain and sat cross-legged to meditate. Here, Su Xuan had specially placed a spiritual vein to power the barrier protecting the Beast Palace. The spiritual energy was abundant, making it an ideal place for cultivation.
Sang Dai closed her eyes, trying to calm herself and locate Zhiyu’s sword spirit within her Sea of Consciousness.
The broken sword hovered in the void, with spiritual energy wrapped around its blade.
She found Zhiyu’s sword spirit and carefully tried to awaken it, bit by bit, using the power of their contract—even if it was only a little.
Changmang floated nearby, protecting her.
The surroundings grew silent. Only the sword cultivator sat upright on a large stone, a broken sword before her, surrounded by faint blue ribbons of light. Her breath was calm and peaceful.
—
Night fell, and the sky glittered with countless stars.
Cui Shao was about to head down with a tray to bring up the evening meal when she happened to see Sang Dai returning from the back mountain.
“Madam.”
Sang Dai: “…Call me Miss Sang.”
Cui Shao instinctively replied, “Alright, Madam.”
Sang Dai: “…Never mind, go fetch the meal.”
She sat in the courtyard, looking toward the bathhouse next to the main hall. The lights were still on inside, and faint sounds of water could be heard. Someone must have been bathing.
The only people who could bathe in the main hall were her and Su Xuan.
When he said earlier that he’d return to keep her company tonight… had he really come back? Wasn’t he just teasing her?
Sang Dai’s face burned again.
A voice came from inside the room: “Cui Shao, bring my clothes and place them outside the screen. You don’t need to come in.”
Sang Dai: “…”
She looked around, but Cui Shao’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
Wasn’t she just getting the meal? Why hadn’t she returned yet?
Hearing no response, the fox inside grew impatient. “Cui Shao.”
Sang Dai gritted her teeth. He had said there was no need to come inside, and she just needed to leave the clothes by the screen.
Putting her sword aside, she stood up and carefully pushed open the bathhouse door.
Su Xuan had always lived an extravagant life. Even a simple bathhouse was vast and spacious. A thick, enormous screen divided the bathhouse into two parts: the outer section for changing clothes and the inner part holding a massive bathing pool—one Sang Dai had used many times before.
The bathhouse was filled with rising steam. Sang Dai’s face flushed from the heat as soon as she entered.
The fox behind the screen heard the sound but didn’t open his eyes, speaking calmly: “Leave it by the screen. You don’t need to come in.”
The person who entered gave no response and merely placed the clothes outside the screen silently. The quiet demeanor made Su Xuan frown.
Not even a single word?
Why was he paying such a high salary for this?
Su Xuan turned his head and caught sight of the hem of a skirt peeking out from beneath the screen.
The skirt trailed along the floor, layer upon layer of delicate gauze embroidered with intricate patterns.
He had personally commissioned this for her. Su Xuan remembered every piece of clothing Sang Dai owned.
Raising his brows, it seemed Cui Shao hadn’t come after all—his little sweetheart had come instead.
Seeing the sword cultivator hurriedly place the clothes down and attempt to slip away, Su Xuan inwardly laughed at her cowardice, though he spoke up to stop her.
“Stop right there.”
Sang Dai froze as if someone had grabbed the back of her neck, her entire body stiff and motionless.
“Oh, I don’t feel like moving. Bring my clothes over to me.”
Sang Dai: “!”
She clearly remembered that Su Xuan had always refused to let anyone enter while he was bathing. Clothes could only be left outside the screen, and no one was allowed to cross it under any circumstances.
This fox valued his privacy immensely. Even the sleeping chambers could only be cleaned at fixed times, and no one was allowed to enter without his summons.
Then what was he doing today…?
“Cui Shao? Are you tired of working here?”
Sang Dai clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.
She let out a low “Mm,” her voice so muffled it was unrecognizable.
Su Xuan, noticing her timid demeanor, wanted to laugh even more. Yet, he lazily continued to tease the sword cultivator.
“Come here.”
Sang Dai picked up the clothes and began to retreat step by step toward the screen.
Her figure came into view, and Su Xuan leaned against the edge of the bathing pool, propping his chin on one hand. The smile on his face was impossible to hide.
Not even turning her head—how much more cowardly could she look?
“Where are the clothes? I can’t seem to reach them.”
Sang Dai kept backing up slowly, her eyes tightly shut, afraid of seeing something she shouldn’t. Step by step, she shuffled backward.
Watching her retreat closer and closer, Su Xuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, and the lazy look in his eyes gradually faded.
Sang Dai finally estimated she was close enough. Carefully crouching down, she reached out her hands, fumbling toward the small table by the side of the bathing pool. Having bathed here many times before, she remembered that there was always a small table in this spot.
But what Sang Dai didn’t know was that the small table had just been pushed aside by a certain fox.
Watching her hands blindly groping around, Su Xuan’s smile completely vanished, leaving only the most primal desire—
A desire for her.
He stepped forward, and Sang Dai’s hand finally touched his face.
Sang Dai: “!”
The sensation beneath her palm was soft, warm, and covered with droplets of water. Sang Dai reacted quickly, immediately realizing what it was. She pulled her hand back in a panic and shot to her feet, ready to run.
Su Xuan’s hand caught her wrist. With only a slight effort, he grabbed the person he had been longing for. His intent had only been to stop her, but the edge of the pool was slippery. Sang Dai lost her footing, her body tilting backward into the water.
“Su Xuan!”
In her panic, she called out his name.
The spring water surged up from all directions. Sang Dai wasn’t choked by the water, but before she had time to register the feeling of the spring, someone had already grabbed her by the elbow and lifted her up.
Like picking up a child, he hoisted her out of the pool and sat her on the edge.
Sang Dai gasped for breath, her soaked clothes clinging to her body.
Su Xuan wiped the water off her face. His palms, calloused yet gentle, made her skin flush red even without exerting any force.
On closer inspection, that redness seemed more like it was caused by something else.
“You little fool,” Su Xuan said softly. Then, noticing the water on her face, he changed his tone and asked, “Did you choke?”
Sang Dai instinctively shook her head. “N-No…”
She finally got a clear look at the person before her. His silver hair flowed down his back, with a few strands hanging loosely in front, dripping water from the roots. Droplets clung to his long eyelashes. Though his face was expressionless, his gaze looked as though he wanted to devour her whole.
He was tall. Even with Sang Dai sitting on the edge of the pool, Su Xuan, standing in the water, was still slightly above her.
Her soaked skirt was in disarray. Su Xuan, without hesitation, parted her legs, wedging himself between them. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he tugged her closer to him. From this angle, it almost looked as though her legs were wrapped around his waist.
Sang Dai’s face felt like it was about to burn off. Her breathing quickened, and she averted her gaze. “I really didn’t do it on purpose! Cui Shao wasn’t here, so I only came to deliver your clothes!”
She tried to back away, but Su Xuan easily secured her waist with one hand, trapping her legs on either side of his body. Even the thought of standing up became impossible.
“Why are you running? You’re already here, so why not stay a little longer? Am I that frightening?”
Stay? Stay for what!
Sang Dai dared not look at him and turned her head to the side, eyes shut tight. “I…I’ll get you another set of clothes. Just let me go first!”
Su Xuan pulled her into his embrace, his voice laced with laughter. Seeing her like this only made him want to tease her more.
“I don’t want to let go. Miss Sang, can’t you show a little dedication? If we’re going to pretend to be a couple at Chunqiu Tower, we naturally need to practice beforehand.”
Sang Dai: “What? Practice what? Let me go!”
“Practice being a couple.” Su Xuan leaned closer, his voice teasing as it brushed against her ear. “Couples eat together, travel together, sleep together, and… take a bath together, like a pair of mandarin ducks.”
He lightly kissed the flushed tip of Sang Dai’s ear, so softly it was almost imperceptible.
But Sang Dai still felt it. Her face instantly turned crimson. “Su Xuan!”
The kiss on her ear startled her, her heart racing violently. Her eyes snapped open.
The hot spring water steamed, obscuring everything below his waist, but above the water, his broad chest and sharply defined abs were on full display.
Sang Dai shut her eyes again in a panic. “Su Xuan, why aren’t you wearing clothes!”
“Miss Sang, what kind of question is that? Do you bathe with your clothes on?”
“You—! Then put something on!”
“But you dropped my clothes into the pool. They’re all wet now—how am I supposed to wear them?”
Sang Dai opened her eyes again and smacked him hard. “This is all your fault!”
Su Xuan’s shoulder immediately reddened.
He covered his shoulder, frowning with a hiss. “Ow, it hurts. You pulled at my old injury.”
Sang Dai panicked and leaned closer to check on him. “Did I hit your old wound? Where does it hurt? Let me see!”
Since she willingly leaned into his arms, the fox naturally accepted the opportunity. His arms wrapped around Sang Dai’s back, pulling her further into his embrace.
Their faces were so close that if either of them leaned in just a little, they would kiss.
Sang Dai could clearly smell the faint, refreshing scent of grass and wood on Su Xuan.
Su Xuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his voice hoarse. “Sang Dai, look at me.”
She instinctively lifted her gaze and met his glassy, luminous eyes.
At such close range, she could see the water droplets hanging on his long, distinct lashes, the faint shimmering patterns within his pupils, and the reflection of her flushed face.
Su Xuan leaned closer, asking softly, “Sang Dai, am I good-looking?”
Sang Dai’s throat was dry, and she couldn’t find her voice.
Su Xuan asked again, “Am I good-looking?”
Was he good-looking?
Of course he was.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan’s beauty was renowned across the Four Realms. Su Xuan stood out even among them, his face overwhelmingly handsome, every feature sculpted to perfection, as though personally favored by the Heavens.
She had always known her rival was good-looking. Even after not seeing him for over a decade, his face remained vividly etched in her memory.
“Sang Dai, answer me.”
“…Good-looking.”
“Do you like this face?”
Su Xuan guided her hand to his cheek, half-forcing, half-coaxing her as he led her fingers to trace his features.
Her hand brushed over his well-defined brows, his dark, lash-fringed eyes, his straight nose. When she reached his lips, she felt the heat of his breath against her fingertips.
“If you like it, I’ll give it to you, alright?”
Sang Dai blinked, her breathing trembling. “Give… give it to me?”
Su Xuan pulled her waist, lifting her into the pool with him. Sang Dai found herself pressed against the edge of the spring, the hard stone tiles behind her and Su Xuan’s burning body in front of her.
“I’ll give it to you another way. Only you can touch me, however you like. Is that alright?”
“Su Xuan…”
“Chunqiu Tower requires a married couple to enter.” Su Xuan leaned in closer, locking his intense gaze on her, his voice low and husky. “How about we stop pretending? Let’s not fake being a couple.”
“Then… what would we be?”
“A real couple.”
Sang Dai unconsciously tightened her grip on his arm. “Su Xuan…”
Su Xuan’s fingers brushed against her lower lip, lingering as he gently traced its softness. His gaze darkened as he fixated on her lips.
“Dai Dai, my mating season is approaching. This year, I don’t want to hold back.”