Utterly unkillable, completely indestructible.
Even those vines that fed on the Four Sufferings seemed to obey him.
Sang Dai frowned deeply. “This is all just speculation. Until we meet him, all we can do is guess his identity.”
“But why is Shi Yao connected to him?” Sang Dai recalled another detail. “Shi Yao has been frail since childhood. Sang Wenzhou and Madam Shi have always doted on her. She grew up in the Sword Sect—how could she have any connection with the man in black?”
After all, the man in black was tied to the Heavenly Dao. If Shi Yao was connected to him, she was likely also tied to the Heavenly Dao.
Sang Dai still couldn’t figure it out. Shi Yao seemed to want to kill her, but the man in black…
He was far more complicated.
Su Xuan kissed her forehead. “Some things will have to wait until Immortal Lord Ying Heng remembers. Dai Dai, back then at the Heroes Conference, Wu Hanshu didn’t speak of what happened. Why Immortal Lord Ying Heng became involved in the Guixu incident is still unknown. Let’s head to Divine Healer Valley first and find Nangong Zhu.”
Sang Dai nodded. “Alright.”
Su Xuan ran his hand through her hair. It wasn’t hard to tell when the sword cultivator was in a bad mood—especially for someone like Su Xuan, who knew her so well.
It was his fault. He’d woken her up tonight, bringing these thoughts back to her mind.
The hand patting her back vanished, and the person holding her transformed into a small fox.
Sang Dai’s attention was immediately drawn to it, and she instinctively looked over.
The little fox was about half her size. A fully grown nine-tailed fox could freely change the size of its true form. In the past, the little fox had often shrunk to the size of a cub, allowing her to pet it to her heart’s content. But tonight, it had grown much larger than usual.
The little fox used its paw to lift the quilt and proactively burrowed into her arms, resting its head against her cheek.
It licked her face. “Do you want to hug me?”
Sang Dai’s heart melted completely.
“Yes!”
She immediately extended her arms to embrace the little fox. Su Xuan leaned into her hold, lying on her chest and lazily licking her face and chin.
The nine-tailed fox’s fur was fluffy, its silver coat smooth and soft, combined with its naturally high body temperature, making it warm and comforting to the touch. Sang Dai kissed the divine mark on the little fox’s forehead.
Su Xuan squinted his eyes, a contented purring sound rumbling from his throat.
Sang Dai asked softly, “How does it feel?”
“Comfortable.”
Encouraged, Sang Dai sat up and placed Su Xuan’s fox head on her lap. The proud and aloof nine-tailed fox, who usually ignored everyone else, lay lazily on her knees with closed eyes, letting her touch him however she pleased.
The sword cultivator’s mischievous hands ran from his head all the way to the tip of his tail. When she touched the base of his tail, he visibly flinched.
Oblivious, Sang Dai continued smiling, her playful side emerging as she tied two of Su Xuan’s tails into a knot.
The little fox opened his eyes and glanced back at her.
Sang Dai immediately released his tails and offered an awkward smile. “I was just tying them for fun!”
The little fox’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “Having fun?”
“Yes! I really like your true form.”
“Do you really like it?”
Sang Dai nodded decisively. “I really do!”
The little fox’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Hmm, during a nine-tailed fox’s mating season, the true form can also be used.”
At first, Sang Dai didn’t understand. “What?”
Su Xuan lowered his voice and licked the back of her hand. “A nine-tailed fox’s true form can adjust its size freely. I can transform into a size that won’t hurt you, and it’ll feel very good, my dear.” (TL: SU XUAN, WHAT??)
Sang Dai: “…”
She suddenly understood.
The little fox held her fingers in its mouth and licked them one by one, lovingly kissing all ten. “Dai Dai, do you prefer my true form or my human form? Both are fine.”
Sang Dai slapped his fox head. “Neither!”
“That won’t do. You have to pick one.”
The little fox rested its head on her lap, its paw tugging lightly at her sash, which ended up brushing against her lower abdomen. “So, what do you like? My darling, you can sit on top.”
Sang Dai grabbed the nearby quilt and wrapped the little fox tightly in it. “Go to sleep already!”
Su Xuan poked his fox head out of the quilt, smiling brightly at Sang Dai, whose face was flushed red.
She retreated to the inner side of the main bed. Since the quilt was now wrapped around Su Xuan, Sang Dai didn’t cover herself with one.
The fox used his paw to lift the quilt and transformed back into his human form. However, his nine tails remained, curling around Sang Dai’s waist and spreading over her like a thin blanket.
In a teasing tone, he asked, “My darling, why are you so shy? Is there anything about me you haven’t seen?”
Sang Dai grabbed the tip of one of his tails and covered her face with it. “Don’t call me that.”
Su Xuan wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed the back of her neck. “Dai Dai, my dear.”
“Don’t call me that either!”
“My sweetheart.”
“You… could you shut up?!”
“My lady.” He propped himself up slightly, one arm supporting her head, as he leaned down to kiss her cheek. “My wife, my darling, my treasure. What would you like me to call you?”
Sang Dai pushed at his face. “Just call me Dai Dai, can’t you?”
“I’ll call you that in front of others, but when it’s just the two of us, I’ll use something else. We’re about to get married—it’s time to change what I call you.”
Sang Dai covered his mouth with her hand. “I don’t want to hear it. Just call me Dai Dai.”
Su Xuan’s eyes curved in amusement as he saw the shyness in hers.
Her earlier sorrow had dissipated. Su Xuan couldn’t bear to see her upset, but he always had ways to coax her back into a better mood.
The little fox cupped the back of her head and leaned in to kiss the back of her hand. “My darling, may I kiss you for a bit?”
Sang Dai asked softly, “Aren’t we going to sleep?”
“Just for a quarter of an hour.”
“You really want to kiss me?”
“I do.”
She slowly lowered her hand, closed her eyes, and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“…Just for a quarter of an hour.”
“Understood, my lady.”
The little fox kissed her, and Sang Dai responded by parting her lips to return his kiss.
She held onto his neck, her hands unconsciously clasping together. Later, as she grew weaker, he pulled her hands down and interlaced their fingers.
This time, the little fox behaved himself. When he said a quarter of an hour, he meant it—nothing more, nothing less.
He sat up, pulling the sword cultivator into his lap, her head resting against his shoulder.
The little fox gently patted her shoulder and asked softly, “Still can’t breathe properly?”
Sang Dai turned her face away. “…You always get so aggressive when you’re kissing.”
She muttered under her breath as if scolding him, but the sword cultivator wasn’t good at actually being angry.
Su Xuan kissed the back of her head and said, “My fault. Please forgive me this time, my darling.”
“If I forgive you this time, there will be a next time.”
Sang Dai mumbled softly as she held him, feeling the little fox’s warm body temperature through his thin inner garment.
Her restless heart seemed to suddenly calm down.
When everyone else relied on Sang Dai, sought her protection, and treated her as a strong figure, only Su Xuan held her gently, coaxing her as if she were a child.
Sang Dai turned her head to look at his face. Even though she had just been facing away from him, he had been watching her the entire time.
The sword cultivator reached out to touch his brow, her fingertips brushing lightly against his long lashes.
“Su Xuan.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
Su Xuan kissed her rosy lips. With their noses touching, he said softly, “Dai Dai, you never need to thank me.”
Her saving his life had long bound him to her. Without Sang Dai appearing in that underground cave, Su Xuan would have been dead long ago.
Su Xuan nuzzled her cheek. “My darling, can we kiss a bit more?”
“Okay.”
Sang Dai cupped his face and kissed him willingly. The little fox obediently parted his lips, letting the sword cultivator take the lead.
Midway, he opened his eyes and saw the sword cultivator kissing him gently with her eyes closed, her pearly teeth lightly nibbling on his lower lip as their fluids mingled.
So adorable.
His Dai Dai.
—
When Sang Dai and Su Xuan went to pick up Ying Heng, he was already waiting at the entrance of the Liu residence.
Chunying had informed Ying Heng that his disciple had arrived.
Ying Heng smiled and said, “Dai Dai, you’re here?”
Sang Dai stepped forward to support his arm. “Yes, Master. We’ve thought it over and decided we must bring you personally to Divine Healer Valley. Let Young Master Nangong take a look at you.”
Ying Heng nodded. “Alright. Thank you for your efforts, Dai Dai, and Beast King.”
The mustard seed boat was already prepared. After Sang Dai and Ying Heng boarded, Liu Lixue approached Su Xuan’s side.
They all understood clearly: Nangong Zhu would immediately recognize Ying Heng’s identity. A single pulse reading would reveal that his Heaven-grade spiritual root had been extracted—Ying Heng’s identity would be undeniable.
Liu Lixue said, “If Nangong Zhu refuses to help the Immortal Lord…”
Su Xuan’s face was emotionless. “Then I’ll beat him until he agrees.”
Liu Lixue opened his fan and shook his head. “You’d better show some patience. After all, we’re asking him for a favor.”
Su Xuan, of course, wouldn’t actually resort to violence against Nangong Zhu. Most likely, he’d offer a spiritual vein in exchange for Nangong Zhu’s assistance.
The little fox tossed out a line: “Keep watch over the Beast Hall. We’ll return tonight.”
“Understood.”
The mustard seed boat slowly headed off into the distance. Divine Healer Valley wasn’t far from here; with teleportation, it was only an hour away. By mustard seed boat, they would arrive in half an hour.
Su Xuan disembarked first, with Sang Dai helping Ying Heng down behind him.
Ying Heng protested with a helpless smile. “Dai Dai, your master can walk by himself.”
“I’ll feel more at ease if I support you.”
Ying Heng was blind. On previous occasions, when descending the mountain under Chunying’s guidance, he had fallen into ravines several times. Ever since Sang Dai learned of this, she wouldn’t let him walk on his own.
The gates of Divine Healer Valley were tightly shut. Outsiders were forbidden entry here, but Su Xuan had previously been able to enter when Sang Dai was gravely injured.
Su Xuan assured them he had a way, so Sang Dai and Ying Heng waited a short distance away.
The little fox swaggered up to the gates and politely knocked.
No one answered.
He knocked for quite some time, but there was still no response.
Ying Heng couldn’t hear and quietly asked Sang Dai, “Dai Dai, is Divine Healer Valley refusing us entry?”
Sang Dai used spiritual transmission to reply, “It’s fine, Master. Su Xuan has a way—”
Before she could finish, she saw the little fox summon a Hellfire orb with a flick of his wrist. The massive ball of flames hovered ominously in the air.
The little fox said coldly, “Nangong Zhu, if you don’t come out, I’ll burn down your Divine Healer Valley. Don’t think you’ll keep a single one of those herb gardens you’ve planted.”