Chapter 31: Innocently Alluring

Wen Ye wasn’t picky about living conditions at all. He was a young master in a mansion, and he was still like a young master in a rural courtyard… just one down on his luck.

The lantern hanging under the eaves swayed in the wind, its warm light rippling outwards.

He sat ramrod straight on a small stool by the entrance to the wing room, half his body in light, half in shadow. The lingering light brushed his face, making his features as beautiful as a painting.

Except the owner of this painting was currently washing his feet, his toes rubbing back and forth lightly, which reminded me of his tail wagging back and forth.

“What are you laughing at? Aren’t you going to clean up? You reek, it’s disgusting,” he said, arms crossed, eyes half-closed in disdain.

I pursed my lips and picked up the thermos: “How would I dare clean up before serving you properly? Do you want more hot water?”

“No need.”

I quickly washed my face, brushed my teeth, cleaned up, and changed into my pajamas. Suddenly, I remembered that the bed in my room was an old-fashioned carved bed, the kind with curtains.

Confined and surrounded by thin gauze on three sides, I immediately felt a blush creeping up my face, and my heart started to race.

The furniture in my room had all been purchased by Great-Granny years ago. Some pieces were even older than me, all made of heavy, dark red sandalwood.

I used to be afraid of this old furniture, feeling like it exuded a musty smell. But after it was re-polished and waxed, it was as good as new. After living with it for a long time, I started to appreciate the history and time these pieces held.

To the left of the entrance in the east wing was a carved lattice window. Since there wasn’t a door, I’d placed a folding screen there, behind which was the bed. Under the lattice window was a small dressing table with only a few bottles of face cream on it.

Next to the bed was a side table, with a wardrobe and a chaise lounge on the right-hand side of the entrance.

There was only a thin summer blanket and a pillow on the bed. Great-Granny had already gone to sleep, and I was too embarrassed to go to her room to get a blanket.

After hesitating for a while, I took two pieces of clothing from the wardrobe, rolled one up into a makeshift pillow, and used the other as a blanket.

Anyway, it would be dawn in a few hours; I could make do for a couple hours.

“Why aren’t you using a blanket?” Wen Ye asked, the bed dipping beside me.

Speaking inside the carved bed made the sounds particularly clear and intimate, his voice seeming to travel right across my scalp.

Facing inwards, with my back to him, I forced myself to ignore this damnably romantic atmosphere.

“You use it, I’m fine. It’s not cold anyway.”

Not cold, but actually a little hot. I was even sweating on my forehead.

This was torture.

Half a minute, a minute… there was no movement on the bed, only soft breathing.

Huh? Was he asleep? He wasn’t even being polite!

Never mind, his EQ was low anyway; I shouldn’t bother with a little animal. Sleep, sleep.

After closing my eyes for another two minutes, I suddenly opened them. This guy really wasn’t going to be polite with me!

I gently turned my head and almost jumped in fright – Wen Ye was sitting cross-legged, stroking his chin, frowning as he looked at me, as if deep in thought.

“Why aren’t you sleeping? What are you looking at me for!” I said in a fluster, sitting up and leaning back.

He lightly raised his eyelids: “Aren’t you also awake? You sleep with the pillow and blanket, I don’t need them.”

“No need,” I politely refused.

After a long silence, Wen Ye called me seriously: “Le Xiaomai…”

“Hmm?”

“The wound on your neck hasn’t been treated yet.”

I touched it, and it was a little painful. The water had touched it when I was washing my face, and the scab had cracked open a bit.

“I’ll go get some iodine and ointment.”

I was about to get out of bed, passing him, but Wen Ye gently grabbed my arm.

“No need to bother.”

I looked at him warily: “What… what do you want?”

He pursed his lips, looking at my neck with a hungry gaze: “I’ll help you heal your wound. How about letting me have a taste of your blood?”

I angrily pulled my hand back, covered my neck, and glared at him: “Wen Ye! You’re a cultivating fox! You… you dare to drink my blood! Are you a demon!”

I knew it! He really wanted to suck my blood! He was finally showing his fox tail!

He looked at me earnestly and explained: “No, I only have half a spiritual pearl in my body. If the lightning tribulation comes and I haven’t found the other half, I want to know if my soul will scatter.”

“If your blood doesn’t restrain me now, I’ll have some certainty.”

My anger subsided slightly: “Then what if it does restrain you? Will it hurt you?”

“If it restrains me, then I definitely won’t be able to survive the lightning tribulation, and I can only resign myself to fate,” he said calmly.

My chest tightened; it turned out I had misunderstood him.

Of course, I hoped my blood wouldn’t work against him, and that he could pass the lightning tribulation smoothly, but letting him suck my neck was a bit…

“Wait for me.”

I jumped out of bed, took a simple medicine box from the drawer of the dressing table, treated the wound, and then took a sterilized needle and jumped back onto the bed, sitting cross-legged facing Wen Ye.

I gritted my teeth and pricked the index finger of my left hand, and a bead of blood slowly formed.

“Try it then.”

“If it restrains you, what will it feel like? Is it life-threatening?”

He looked at the bead of blood on my finger and swallowed hard, like he was waiting for his college entrance exam results, both nervous and expectant.

“I’ll feel a burning sensation all over my body, but a little blood won’t be a big problem.”

I stretched out my finger, turned my head away, and closed my eyes, partly because I didn’t dare to look at the result, and partly because I didn’t dare to look at him…

After a long while, hot breath landed on my palm, and then my index finger was wetted and enveloped by a warm, moist tongue. How strange…

It felt like countless ants were crawling.

Crawling up my fingertips and into my heart.

He smacked his lips, unable to hide his excitement: “It’s okay, really okay!”

I met his bright, sparkling eyes, covered my face, which was about to burst into flames, and quickly turned to face the inside and lay down. Sleep!

This guy was really innocently alluring, damn it!

“Le Xiaomai, thank you,” he said, a little excited, throwing the blanket and pillow to me in one go.

This time, I didn’t stand on ceremony with him, covered my face with the blanket, and slept soundly until two in the afternoon.

When I woke up, I didn’t know where Wen Ye had gone. I scratched my messy hair, yawned, and got up to tidy up.

Great-Granny was sitting on the rocking chair under the eaves, smoking and basking in the sun. Seeing me get up, a mischievous smile tugged at the corner of her mouth: “Dating a little fox demon, be careful he doesn’t suck away all your life essence.”

Seeing her normal complexion and relaxed demeanor, it seemed that her soul leaving her body last night hadn’t had much of an impact on her. I suspected she did this often.

This old woman was truly full of secrets.

“He’s not a fox demon, he’s a fox beast! He’s about to ascend to become an immortal!” I retorted, going to the kitchen in the west wing to find something to eat.

“Besides, he didn’t suck away my essence. Haven’t you noticed I’m getting more and more beautiful!”

“He’s just fooling a silly girl like you who doesn’t know anything. Humans and demons are different paths. Even if he becomes an immortal, so what? No matter how beautiful you become, you’re still far from being as good as your mother…”

I scooped a bowl of Eight Treasure Porridge and ate it with a few bites of pickled vegetables, sitting on the corridor, eating and humming back at her: “He just saved you yesterday, Granny, do you have any conscience? Which eye saw us dating?”

“Don’t compare me to that slutty mother of mine. If you like her so much, let her take care of you in your old age and send you off when you die.”

She squinted at me: “Sleeping in the same bed and kissing hands, if that’s not dating, what is?”

I almost choked on my mouthful of food: “You spied on us! You’re so old and you’ve learned to eavesdrop! You’re disrespecting your elders… you, you, you…”

I was both angry, annoyed, and embarrassed, and my face flushed red.

“Ni Chang was worried about that little fox, afraid you’d suffer,” she squinted and chuckled. “But it turns out he doesn’t like you, and is using you as a tool, and you, silly girl, have fallen for him.”

“What nonsense are you talking about! When did I fall for him! I, I didn’t!” I stubbornly refused to admit it, my face turning red enough to drip blood.

“Hmph, all bark and no bite, not even a tenth as good as your mother,” she tapped her pipe, disdainfully.

“Yes, yes, yes, I’m not as good as her. She doesn’t waste a word, just takes off her pants and gets straight to it, sleeps with them and then pats her butt and leaves. How can I compare!” I said sarcastically, sitting on the veranda, swinging my legs.

Suddenly, I felt a chill on my calf, climbing up my leg, and the hairs on my body stood on end.

Great-Granny sneered: “Say another bad word about your mother, and Ni Chang will bite.”

I, I, I…

“Le Xiaomai, what are you doing?”

Wen Ye, save me!