Chapter 59: Tail Intertwined
The hot spring water was misty and shrouded in fog.
The surface of the hot spring water, floating with flower petals, rippled outwards, and the faint fragrance of flowers intertwined with the scent of sandalwood.
Sang Ying suddenly turned back into a human, catching him off guard. Afraid that he might not be holding her steady and she might fall into the water and drown, she hurriedly reached out and grabbed him.
The fox's tail behind him swayed helplessly in the water, creating ripples.
She gritted her teeth, "You did this on purpose!"
Xie Lingyu easily caught her, supporting her waist to steady her body, and skillfully pulled her into his arms.
He grabbed the fox's tail and pulled it between them, his fair fingers hooking around the tip of the tail and slowly wrapping it around.
He looked at her with his dark eyes and smiled, "Junior sister didn't even realize her spiritual energy was depleted, so why is she blaming me?"
Sang Ying held his shoulder, annoyed, "You should have plenty of spiritual energy after cultivation, how come the talisman is gone after only a short while? You must have done this."
Xie Lingyu placed his fingertips on her lower abdomen, touching the dantian area. "Junior sister, the fire spirit root in your body is currently fusing with the lightning spirit root. It's the time when you're consuming spiritual energy. The food I fed you last night was absorbed all in one night."
Sang Ying checked and it was indeed the case... So it wasn't him who was up to something.
She gave a soft snort, grabbed his hand and moved it away, "Don't you dare touch me, behave yourself."
Finding a comfortable position in his arms while soaking in the hot spring, the hot spring water soothed her sore muscles. Sang Ying leaned against him, lazily squinting her eyes.
Xie Lingyu looked down at her listless face and knew she was too tired, so she didn't do anything else, but just massaged her arms and waist.
He brought the pear soup from the side to her lips and said gently, "Drink some to soothe your throat."
Sang Ying was taking a small sip when she suddenly heard a clear voice in her ear, "Junior sister, if you feel unwell next time, tell me. Cry less; your voice is hoarse from crying."
During their practice, she always refused to speak, and wouldn't answer when asked how she felt. Because of this, he could never quite manage to control the situation and always ended up making her cry.
He only discovered the abrasions during both of these training sessions when he checked them midway through, and she didn't say anything.
Sang Ying's ears suddenly burned, and she snorted and turned her head away, "None of your business, I'll cry if I want to."
She wouldn't tell him that she wasn't feeling unwell; on the contrary, she was so comfortable that she couldn't help but cry.
The young man rested his chin against the crook of her neck, clinging to her affectionately. "Junior sister and I are already husband and wife. Isn't it reasonable for husband and wife to communicate with each other?"
Underwater, his dragon tail also wrapped around her, but this time the target was not her waist, but the fox tail that was swaying leisurely in the water.
The dragon's tail wrapped tightly around the fluffy fox's tail, like a snake, and the two tails were intertwined.
Even the fox ears on his head weren't spared. He cupped one of the pointed fox ears in his hand, gently rubbing it in his palm, and then slowly touched the earlobe with his fingertips, feeling the soft fur inside the earlobe tickle.
Although the ears and tail were conjured by a talisman, the touch was real. Sang Ying twitched her fox ears uncomfortably, "Don't touch my ears."
The young man released her hand, then leaned in to kiss her fox ears, coaxing her softly, "Baby, how about we conjure up ears next time we do our cultivation together?"
Sang Ying was so coaxed by his gentle tone that she didn't realize she had fallen for it and stammered, "...Okay."
A few seconds later, she suddenly realized what he meant, grabbed his dragon horn from his forehead and pulled it away, angrily saying, "You bad dragon, that's how you lied to me last night!"
He coaxed her into doing many shameful things, like kissing her a little longer, touching his dragon tail, and wrapping her legs around his waist.
But Sang Ying couldn't figure out how to conjure up a fox tail for a while. Then, as she was thinking, a sudden inspiration struck her.
She was human, while he was a demon. Demons are naturally inclined to be demons; it would be abnormal for them to like humans.
Sang Ying felt a chill in his heart. He had come to Minghua Mountain when he was young. Apart from Xiao Mi, who was a little female cat, she was the only female cultivator on the mountain. She was the only one he could be with, and there were no other options for him to develop feelings for.
But if he gets to know other demons later, will he find that he likes demons more?
Thinking of this, Sang Ying's mood immediately darkened. She pursed her lips, feeling awkward and irritated. "Then go find another fox demon."
After saying that, she got up from his arms with a cold face and got up to leave the hot spring.
Before she even emerged from the water, a long arm scooped her back up and pulled her against his chest, pushing him away.
Xie Lingyu pulled the person back into her arms and hugged her, not understanding how her thought process had led to other fox demons. "What are you talking about, Junior Sister? How could I possibly go looking for other female demons?"
Sang Ying bit her lip, her eyes lowered, and her voice was somewhat muffled: "Don't you like fox ears? Other fox demons are much prettier than the ones I conjure up."
Xie Lingyu was stunned for a moment, and finally realized what she was thinking. Her heart skipped a beat. Was she jealous because of this?
After thinking it through, he was not angry at her childish jealousy; instead, he felt an uncontrollable surge of joy.
She didn't like him, so in the years after their marriage she didn't care about these things at all. Even if other female cultivators gave him sword tassels in front of her, she would just glance at them and turn away.
Therefore, even though they are together now, have practiced meditation together, and have established the closest relationship, he will still feel insecure. He will suspect that she likes someone else, always want to be with her all the time, and have no sense of security.
But she's jealous about this now... Does that mean she's starting to care about him?
Xie Lingyu hugged her tightly, resting her chin in the crook of her neck, their warm breaths mingling together. "The fox ears are just an ornament, like a hairpin. What I like is you, Junior Sister."
Sang Ying tugged at her fingers and whispered, "You've never seen any other female demons, how do you know you don't like them?"
"Junior sister, have you forgotten that I lived in the Cloud Spirit Realm when I was young?"
Xie Lingyu couldn't contain her joy. She wrapped her tail around her waist and swayed, burying her head in her neck and rubbing against her neck. Her voice was low and almost murmured, clingy and morbid, "Junior Sister looks so cute when she's jealous. I like it. I really want to lock her up..."
Sang Ying only heard the first half of the sentence, her ears turned red, and she immediately retorted: "Nonsense, how could I be jealous?"
She raised her hand and pushed his head away, feigning disgust: "Xie Lingyu, if outsiders saw the dignified Qingyu Sword Lord and the Crown Prince of the Demon Realm looking like this, wouldn't you have no shame?"
The young man took the opportunity to grab her hand and kiss it affectionately, kissing every finger before letting her pull her hand away. Then he said slowly, "Can propriety and righteousness allow me to kiss my junior sister?"
Sang Ying: "..."
That shameless pervert!!
After playing around in the hot spring for a while, Sang Ying was exhausted and sleepy. She leaned against him, her eyes barely open. He took care of her, dried her off, changed her clothes, and carried her back to the room to sleep.
At first, she wasn't used to it, but after a while, she's gradually gotten used to sleeping with him.
She had a low body temperature and cold hands and feet, so he would take care of her and keep her warm, making the whole bed cozy.
She would occasionally play pranks on him, lifting her cold feet to step on his lower back and abdomen when he was just falling asleep. He wouldn't get angry at all; instead, he would lift her feet up and warm them against his stomach.
Although he always asked for payment, it was mostly all talk and no action; in the end, he would just kiss her and let her go to sleep.
She couldn't quite describe the feeling, but Sang Ying felt that they were becoming more and more like a married couple.
Sang Ying looked up and saw his fair neck and chest. His hand was tucking the blanket around her from behind. Sang Ying stared at him for a while, then nestled her face into his arms.
Although his personality is completely different from his seemingly gentle and bright appearance, he is twisted, dark, and morbid, always wanting to do some perverted things. He is also a lecherous dragon who always wants to drag her into cultivation, and once they start cultivating, it never ends. He is like a clingy person who wants to hold her every day. He appears to be innocent but is actually full of bad intentions and is always deceiving her...
But it seems she's... growing to like him more and more.
...
Sang Ying's possession of the Thunder Spirit Root was kept secret; apart from Xie Lingyu's parents, no one else knew.
After all, lightning spiritual roots are extremely rare in this world. If they are exposed to the public eye like this, it is hard to guarantee that no one will have any bad intentions.
The method to remove the lightning element was finally found. Yaochi and the Dragon Clan jointly developed a breathing technique. With the help of medicine, they could expel all the spiritual power in their bodies and bring out the lightning element mixed in with the spiritual power.
However, a human-demon body cannot function without spiritual energy. When emptying spiritual energy, it is necessary to introduce clean spiritual energy in order to truly solve the problem.
Therefore, the root of the problem is still how to remove the lightning element from the underground spiritual veins.
Sang Ying lowered her eyes in thought, muttering to herself, "This lightning element couldn't have appeared out of thin air, could it? It must have some source. Where did it come from..."
A piece of pastry was picked up, and a light voice landed above her head: "That's everywhere, whether it's raining, thundering, or cultivators undergoing tribulations."
Sang Ying turned her head and saw that it was Shen Ying.
She didn't see her at the last Three Realms meeting; only Elder Yaochi came. She thought she was ill.
Why are you here?
Xu Baishen, who arrived shortly after, said gently, "Fellow Daoist Shen contributed a lot to the development of the solution. Now that there are new drug transportation issues, we've come to ask you to come over and discuss them."
Sang Ying responded and got up to walk with them. On the way, she was still thinking, "The lightning element that makes rain and thunder can't be this powerful. The only possibility is that it comes from the tribulation lightning of heaven."
She frowned: "But cultivators' tribulations usually dissipate after they've been overcome, so how could they remain?"
Shen Ying munched on a snack: "Oh, don't worry about how it came about. Let's think about what level of tribulation lightning this lightning element is that can cause such a disaster."
Xu Bai pondered deeply: "It should at least be a tribulation lightning of the Integration Stage?"
Sang Ying felt something was off. She had absorbed some lightning element, and the feeling it gave her was somewhat familiar.
Upon arrival, they began discussing the transportation of the new drugs. Sang Ying was now very organized and meticulous in front of the many elders and sect leaders.
The elders present have all tried the methods to remove the lightning element. Now that his eyesight has been restored, he looked at the young girl's calm and decisive actions, without any hesitation, and stroked his beard.
It seems that it's time to change the leader of the Wuwen Sect.
After finishing their business, the elders dispersed.
Only the three of them remained. Shen Ying yawned lazily, "It's getting late, I'm going back to sleep." With that, she disappeared.
Xu Baishen was about to escort Sang Ying back when he glanced behind her and said, "Junior Sister Sang, I'm leaving too."
Sang Ying stopped Xu Baishen and asked with some doubt, "Senior Brother Xu, has the Grand Elder's health not recovered yet?"
Xu Baishen was taken aback: "Father and the elders used the breathing technique together, and now their bodies are fine."
Sang Ying blinked: "But I glanced at him during the meal, and his eyes seemed..."
Xu Baishen understood and replied gently, "My father had an eye ailment in his early years."
Sang Ying understood now, said goodbye to Xu Baishen, and watched his departing figure.
The higher a cultivator's cultivation level, the longer they live, but it is also very difficult for them to reproduce. The Grand Elder has lived for a thousand years, and his two children are not his biological children, but adopted orphans.
Two arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind, the young man resting his chin on her neck, his tone displeased, "Everyone's already gone, why are you still looking, junior sister?"
...jealous.
Sang Ying poked his cheek, "Xie Lingyu, everything's arranged here, we can leave tomorrow."
The initial stripping of lightning elements by the Heavenly Dao inspired them. Based on the breathing techniques, the Dragon Clan developed another method to strip and store the lightning elements from the spiritual veins, which gained unanimous approval from all humans and demons.
The Dragon Clan claims that this method requires Dragon Clan bloodline to activate, but in reality, it requires Thunder Spirit Root as a catalyst, so she will go to the cultivation world with the Dragon Clan.
After another busy day, Sang Ying was exhausted and didn't want to walk anymore. She asked him to carry her: "Xie Lingyu..."
The three words had barely left his lips when the young man had already knelt down in front of her with practiced ease.
Sang Ying couldn't help but smile slightly, but she gave a soft snort, "At least you have some sense."
She leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his broad back. It was warm and strong, and the familiar scent of sandalwood enveloped her. She relaxed involuntarily, pressing her face against his.
Under the quiet moonlight, the young man carried her home slowly, just like every time he had done so over the years.
Sang Ying lowered her eyes, her eyelashes trembled, her ear tips turned slightly red, and her eyes were moist.
Considering he's been relatively well-behaved lately.
...After this is over and she comes back, she might consider telling him that she likes him. That's not out of the question.
————————
This short story is almost finished, probably sometime this week _(:з」∠)_
The kiss with fox ears and a tail will be included in the epilogue after the main story ends. The epilogue will also include the two fox ears and play in different locations.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com