Chapter 59: Tails Entwined

The hot spring was veiled in mist, steam curling in the air.

Petals floated on the water’s surface, ripples spreading in layers as the delicate floral scent intertwined with the fragrance of white sandalwood.

Sang Ying suddenly transformed back into her human form, caught off guard. Fearing he might not hold her steady and she would fall into the water and drown, she hastily reached out to cling to him.

Behind her, the fox tail swayed helplessly in the water, stirring up ripples.

She gritted her teeth, “You did that on purpose!”

Xie Lingyu caught her effortlessly, his hand supporting the small of her back to steady her, skillfully pulling her into his embrace.

He grasped the fox tail and drew it between them, his pale fingers leisurely winding around the tip.

His dark, lacquer-like eyes gazed at her as he smiled, “Junior Sister didn’t notice her spiritual power was depleted—how can you blame me for that?”

Sang Ying leaned on his shoulder, annoyed. “After cultivation, spiritual power should be abundant. How could it run out after just a short use of a spiritual talisman? You must have played some trick.”

Xie Lingyu’s fingertip rested on her lower abdomen, tapping the area of her dantian. “The fire spirit root in Junior Sister’s body is merging with the thunder spiritual root, which consumes spiritual power. What I fed you last night was fully absorbed overnight.”

Sang Ying checked and found it was indeed true… So it really wasn’t his doing.

She let out a soft hum and moved his hand away. “No touching. Behave.”

Finding a comfortable position in his arms to soak in the hot spring, the warm water soothing her sore muscles, Sang Ying leaned against his chest, lazily narrowing her eyes.

Xie Lingyu looked down at her weary little face, knowing she was too exhausted, and refrained from doing anything more, simply massaging her arms and waist.

He brought the snow pear soup from the side and held it to her lips, his voice gentle. “Drink a little to soothe your throat.”

As Sang Ying took small sips, she suddenly heard his clear voice whisper by her ear, “Next time, if you’re uncomfortable, tell me. Cry less—your voice is already hoarse.”

During cultivation, she often refused to speak, never answering when he asked how she felt. Because of this, he could never quite gauge the limits, often making her cry.

In these two sessions of cultivation, it was only when he took the initiative to check midway that he discovered the chafing—she never mentioned it.

Sang Ying’s ears flushed hot, and she snorted, turning her head away. “None of your business. I’ll cry if I want to.”

She would never tell him that she wasn’t uncomfortable—rather, it was because it felt too good that she couldn’t help but shed tears.

The young man rested his chin against the crook of her neck, holding her close. “Junior Sister and I are already husband and wife. Isn’t it reasonable for spouses to communicate with each other?”

Beneath the water, his dragon tail coiled around her again, but this time its target wasn’t her waist—it was the fox tail swaying leisurely in the water.

The dragon tail wrapped around the fluffy fox tail, coiling tightly like a snake, the two tails entwining together.

The fox ears atop her head weren’t spared either. His hand cupped one pointed fox ear, enclosing it in his palm and gently rubbing it, then his thumb traced the edge of the ear, slowly moving inward. The layer of fine fur inside the ear canal tickled.

Though the ears and tail were created by a spiritual talisman, the sensation was real. Sang Ying shivered, her fox ear twitching uncomfortably. “Don’t touch my ears.”

The young man released his hand, then leaned in to kiss her fox ear, coaxing in a low voice, “Baby, next time during dual cultivation, transform the ears, okay?”

Sang Ying was coaxed by his gentle tone and inadvertently fell for it, mumbling in response, “…Alright.”

A few seconds later, she suddenly realized what had happened, grabbed the dragon horns on his forehead and pushed them aside, speaking indignantly, “You deceitful dragon, you tricked me just like this last night!”

Things like “just one more kiss,” “touch my dragon tail,” “wrap your legs around my waist”… In short, he coaxed her into doing many embarrassing things.

But the matter of conjuring a fox tail was something Sang Ying hadn’t quite figured out yet. As she pondered, a sudden flash of insight struck her.

She was human, while he was a demon. Demons were naturally inclined toward other demons—liking humans was the exception.

A chill suddenly ran through Sang Ying’s heart. He had come to Minghua Mountain at a young age, and aside from Xiao Mi, a little female cat, she was the only female cultivator on the mountain. He had only ever been around her, with no other budding romantic options.

But what if, in the future, he met other demons? Would he realize he preferred demons instead?

At this thought, Sang Ying’s mood instantly darkened. She pursed her lips, feeling both awkward and irritable. “Then go find another fox demon.”

After saying this, her face cold, she rose from his embrace and prepared to leave the hot spring.

Before she could step out of the water, a long arm pulled her back, and she found herself leaning against his chest once more. Sang Ying pushed against him.

Xie Lingyu pulled her back into his embrace, unable to understand how her train of thought had led to other fox demons. “What are you talking about, Shimei? How could I possibly go looking for other female demons?”

Sang Ying bit her lip, her eyes downcast, her voice somewhat muffled. “Don’t you like fox ears? Other fox demons are much prettier than the ones I conjure.”

Xie Lingyu was taken aback for a moment before finally understanding what she was thinking. His heart skipped a beat—was she jealous because of this?

Once he realized, far from being angry at her childish jealousy, he felt an uncontrollable surge of joy.

She didn’t like him, so in the years after their marriage, she had never cared about such things. Even when other female cultivators gave him sword tassels right in front of her, she would just glance indifferently and walk away.

Thus, even though they were together now, had practiced Dual Cultivation, and had established the most intimate of relationships, he still felt insecure. He would worry that she liked someone else, always wanting to cling to her every moment, lacking any sense of security.

But now she was jealous because of this… Did it mean she was starting to care about him?

Xie Lingyu tightened his embrace, resting his chin in the crook of her neck, his warm breath forming a mist. “Fox ears are just an accessory, like a hairpin. What I like is you, Shimei.”

Sang Ying tugged at her fingers, whispering, “You’ve never seen other female demons. How do you know you wouldn’t like them?”

“Shimei, have you forgotten that I lived in the Yun Ling Realm when I was young?”

Xie Lingyu could hardly contain his joy. His tail wrapped around her waist and swayed gently as he buried his head in the crook of her neck, his voice low, almost a whisper, obsessive and pathological. “Shimei looks so adorable when she’s jealous. I love it. I really want to lock Shimei away…”

Sang Ying only heard the first half of his words, her ears turning red as she immediately retorted, “Nonsense! How could I possibly be jealous?”

She raised her hand to push his head away, pretending to be disgusted. “Xie Lingyu, if outsiders saw the dignified Qingyu Sword Lord and Crown Prince of the Demon Realm acting like this, wouldn’t you be ashamed?”

The young man took advantage of the moment to grab her hand, kissing it lingeringly, covering every finger before finally releasing her so she could withdraw her hand. Then, unhurriedly, he spoke, “Can propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame let me kiss my junior sister?”

Sang Ying: “…”

This shameless, lustful dragon!!

After their playful antics in the hot spring, Sang Ying grew tired, so drowsy she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Leaning against his chest, she let him dry her off, change her clothes, and carry her back to the room to sleep.

At first, she wasn’t used to it, but over time, she gradually grew accustomed to the feeling of sleeping beside him.

Her body temperature was low, and her hands and feet were often cold, so he would take care of her, warming her up until the entire bed was cozy and snug.

Occasionally, she would even playfully misbehave, lifting her icy feet to press against his waist and abdomen just as they were about to sleep. Yet, he never got angry. Instead, he would scoop up her feet and warm them against his stomach.

Although he always demanded repayment, most of the time it was all bark and no bite—in the end, he would just kiss her and let her sleep.

It was hard to describe exactly what she felt, but Sang Ying thought they were becoming more and more like a married couple.

Sang Ying looked up, taking in his fair neck and chest as his hands tucked the quilt behind her. She watched for a moment before nestling her face against his chest.

Although his personality was nothing like his outwardly refined and elegant appearance—twisted, dark, and pathological, always wanting to do perverse things, a lustful dragon constantly trying to drag her into Dual Cultivation, endlessly obsessed with cultivation, clingy like a sticky child who wanted to hold her every day, seemingly innocent on the surface but full of deceit, always coaxing and tricking her…

Yet, it seemed… she was growing fonder of him.

…

The matter of Sang Ying possessing a thunder spiritual root was kept secret. Aside from Xie Lingyu’s parents, no one else knew.

After all, thunder spiritual roots were exceptionally rare in the world. If such a thing were exposed to the public, there was no guarantee that someone wouldn’t harbor malicious intentions.

A method to cleanse the thunder element had finally been found. Yaochi and the dragon clan jointly developed a breathing and exhaling technique. With the aid of medicine, all the Spiritual Power within the body could be expelled, carrying the thunder element mixed within it out as well.

However, the bodies of humans and demons could not function without Spiritual Power. While expelling the Spiritual Power, clean Spiritual Power needed to be introduced to truly resolve the issue.

Thus, the root of the problem remained: how to cleanse the thunder element from the spiritual veins beneath the earth.

Sang Ying lowered her gaze in thought, muttering softly, “This thunder element couldn’t have appeared out of thin air. There must be a source. Where did it come from…”

A piece of pastry was picked up from the plate before her, and a light, cheerful voice sounded above her head, “It’s everywhere—rain and thunder, cultivators undergoing Heavenly Tribulation, and so on.”

Sang Ying turned to see Shen Ying.

She hadn’t seen her at the last Three Realms meeting—only the Yaochi elder had attended—so she had assumed Shen Ying had fallen ill.

“Why are you here?”

Xu Baishen, who arrived shortly after, said gently, “Shen Ying contributed greatly to developing the solution. There’s a new issue with medicine transportation, so we came to call you over for discussion.”

Sang Ying acknowledged and stood up to follow them, still pondering along the way. “The thunder element from rain and lightning couldn’t possibly be this potent. The only likely source is the tribulation thunder from Heavenly Tribulations.”

She furrowed her brows. “But the Heavenly Tribulations of cultivators dissipate once they’re overcome. How could they leave anything behind?”

Shen Ying nibbled on a small pastry, “Never mind how it got here for now. Instead, think about what level of tribulation thunder could cause such a large-scale disaster with this thunder element.”

Xu Baishen pondered, “At least Unity Stage-level tribulation thunder, right?”

But Sang Ying felt it wasn’t quite like that. She had absorbed some of the thunder element, and it felt strangely familiar to her.

Upon arriving at their destination, they began discussing the transportation of the new medicine. Sang Ying was now well-organized, handling matters with precision and without hesitation even in front of numerous elders and sect leaders.

The elders present had already tried various methods to clear the thunder element. Now, with their vision restored, they watched this young woman handle affairs calmly and decisively, without any delay, stroking their beards thoughtfully.

It seemed the leadership of the Wu Wen Sect was due for a change.

After finishing their business, the elders dispersed one by one.

Only the three of them remained. Shen Ying lazily yawned, “It’s getting late. I should head back to sleep.” With that, she vanished without a trace.

Xu Baishen was about to escort Sang Ying back when he glanced behind her and changed his words, “Junior Sister Sang, I’ll be leaving too.”

Sang Ying stopped Xu Baishen, asking with some confusion, “Senior Brother Xu, has the Grand Elder’s health not recovered?”

Xu Baishen was taken aback, “My father and the elders practiced the breathing and exhaling technique together, and he is fine now.”

Sang Ying blinked, “But during the meeting, I noticed his eyes seemed…”

Xu Baishen understood and replied gently, “My father has had eye problems since his early years.”

Sang Ying now understood. She bid farewell to Xu Baishen and watched his retreating figure.

The higher a cultivator’s cultivation base, the longer they live, but it also becomes harder for them to have children. The Grand Elder had lived for a thousand years, and his children were not his biological offspring but adopted orphans.

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around her from behind. The young man rested his chin on her shoulder, his tone displeased, “They’ve already left, yet you’re still watching, Junior Sister?”

…Such a jealous soul.

Sang Ying poked his cheek, “Xie Lingyu, I’ve made all the arrangements. We can set off tomorrow.”

The way the Heavenly Dao initially stripped away the thunder element had inspired them. The dragon clan, based on the breathing and exhaling technique, developed another method to extract the thunder element from spiritual veins and store it, gaining unanimous approval from both humans and demons.

The dragon clan publicly claimed that this method required dragon bloodline to activate, but in reality, it needed a thunder spiritual root as a catalyst. That was why she would accompany the dragon clan to the Cultivation World.

After another busy day, Sang Ying was exhausted and didn’t feel like walking. She opened her mouth to ask him to carry her, “Xie Lingyu…”

As soon as the three words left her lips, the young man had already crouched down familiarly in front of her.

Sang Ying couldn’t help but curve her eyes into a smile, though she huffed lightly, “At least you’re somewhat perceptive.”

She leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting against his broad, sturdy back. Warm and strong, the familiar scent of White Sandalwood enveloped her, and she relaxed involuntarily, pressing her cheek against him.

Under the quiet moonlight, the young man carried her home at a leisurely pace, just as he had done countless times over the years.

Sang Ying lowered her eyes, her lashes trembling slightly, the tips of her ears tinged with red, and her gaze moist.

Considering how well-behaved he had been lately…

…Once this was over and they returned, perhaps she could consider telling him she liked him. It wouldn’t be such a bad idea.