I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 50

Qi Yan searched online to see if foxes had natural predators. The answers were varied, with no single authoritative consensus. However, one animal appeared in every answer: the wolf.

Recalling the faint loathing Bai Qing had shown toward Wushuang in the script, Qi Yan realized, “Are foxes and wolves natural enemies?”

Bai Qing no longer shifted back to her fox form. She remained leaning back languidly, casually playing with her long hair. “Not quite natural enemies, but it is true that a fox cannot easily defeat those wolves. However, that applies to animals; it is different for us demons.”

After cultivating into a demon, the strength hierarchy of the animal kingdom no longer applied absolutely. As long as one was powerful enough, crushing a former natural enemy was no great feat. A ruler of the demon race like Bai Qing should not feel anything at all when facing an ordinary wolf demon.

Yet, she had shown actual disgust toward Wushuang in the script, which Qi Yan found very concerning. Although Bai Qing’s expression hadn’t been obvious, someone who didn’t know her wouldn’t have noticed at all, but Qi Yan knew her well enough to see through any minor abnormality.

“You loathe Wushuang so much; could it be that you recognize the wolf demon beside him?” Qi Yan wondered if it was a former enemy that Bai Qing still remembered.

To her surprise, Bai Qing shook her head. “I do not know him. But the scent on him displeases me; being near it makes me irritable.”

Qi Yan scratched her head, puzzled. “Why is that? You don’t even know him, so what scent of his makes you irritable?”

Bai Qing leaned further into the soft cushions and said with narrowed eyes, “Let me put it another way. That wolf demon carries the scent of a certain demon I do know.”

“An enemy of yours?” “No. A friend. That friend of mine just happens to be a wolf demon as well.”

That simple sentence left Qi Yan stunned. She processed it for a long while but still didn’t understand what it implied. She had a vague, unpleasant suspicion and instinctively looked at Bai Qing, but she couldn’t read much from the fox’s expression. Sensing Qi Yan’s searching gaze, Bai Qing closed her eyes, appearing to refuse to speak any further.

Qi Yan knew she likely wouldn’t get an answer now. She didn’t press the matter, but instead shifted closer to Bai Qing, her body lightly leaning against her. Feeling the source of warmth leaning in, Bai Qing gave a soft “Mhm” and asked languidly, “What are you trying to do now?”

“I’m hungry. I’m asking what you want to eat.”

It was an unexpected answer. Bai Qing thought she would continue to ask about the wolf demon, but she hadn’t; the girl had skipped the topic entirely. Bai Qing opened her eyes and turned her head to look at her. “You aren’t curious about the wolf demon anymore?”

Qi Yan was honest. “I am. But I feel like you don’t want to talk about it, so I won’t ask for now. When the time is right, or when you feel like talking, we can talk about it then. It won’t be too late.”

The girl’s maturity was somewhat unexpected. Bai Qing stared at her fixedly, until Qi Yan began to feel self-conscious.

“When you see that man again in the future, you must be even more careful.” Bai Qing reached out and toyed with a lock of Qi Yan’s long hair. “Neither that man nor the demon beside him are anything good.”

Forgetting to be shy about her hair being played with, Qi Yan grabbed Bai Qing’s fingers and said seriously, “We both need to be careful. I keep feeling like they might be coming for you!”

“For me?” Bai Qing raised an eyebrow, falling into silent, deep thought.

Qi Yan moved closer to her, the distance between them narrowing further until their faint fragrances intertwined. Bai Qing glanced at her, adjusted her posture to face her, and narrowed the distance again. Qi Yan smelled of sweet, fresh body wash. She didn’t wear perfume, but she always carried this clean, crisp scent that Bai Qing, who was in close contact with her daily, found very pleasing, even a bit addictive. Bai Qing turned to face her, and Qi Yan habitually leaned against her shoulder. In any case, they had shared many moments of physical intimacy in the scripts; it was almost becoming muscle memory.

“I drew you from a beginner’s script slip. We both know you were sealed, but in the eyes of the script’s rules, you’re just one ‘Gold’ item among its countless slips.” Qi Yan poked the back of Bai Qing’s hand. “Sister Miao said that items can be stolen. The hostility between players is magnified to the extreme by the script’s rules.”

This was the blatant malice of the script. Its rules never restricted competition between players; in fact, it used various loopholes to amplify such competition, catalyzing mutual slaughter among players. Competition between players didn’t just affect the ratio of points gained for clearing a script; one could even directly steal or snatch others’ items. This was practically an open invitation for players to turn on each other.

Someone kind-hearted like Qi Yan rarely had such crooked thoughts, but someone like Wushuang was different; he had no bottom line. In truth, it was understandable; in this life-or-death script world, everyone wanted to survive, and one couldn’t really blame others for being unscrupulous.

“Taking me for an item, did he attack you because he wanted to snatch this ‘item’?” Bai Qing’s gaze grew cold, a flash of murderous intent appearing in her eyes.

Qi Yan remained calmer, continuing to think through the problem. She kept poking Bai Qing’s hand. “What benefit would there be in stealing you? If he has a contract with that wolf demon, he should understand that special ‘items’ like you possess your own emotions. Even if he steals you, if you refuse to sign a contract with him, it’s useless.”

Bai Qing narrowed her eyes and gave a cold snort. “Perhaps his goal was never to make me serve him.”

Qi Yan shuddered and looked up at her. “Do you know what his goal might be?”

This time, Bai Qing didn’t speak. She leaned back against the cushions in silence, her brow furrowed deeply, looking to be in a very foul mood. Qi Yan leaned against her for a while, eventually suppressing her curiosity. She reached out to gently smooth Bai Qing’s brow and said softly, “Don’t be unhappy. Anyway, we just need to be more careful. I’m actually hungry now, so I’m going to make something. If you don’t have any objections, I’ll just use whatever ingredients we have and make something casual.”

Bai Qing knew she was being considerate, seeing that she didn’t want to talk and choosing not to press. The irritability in her heart was smoothed over significantly. Bai Qing instinctively hooked Qi Yan’s finger and said to her with half-closed eyes, “I want to eat meat.”

This fox was a total carnivore. Knowing her love for meat, Qi Yan smiled. “Alright, got it.”

With that, she got up to cook. Before leaving the bed, she playfully tickled Bai Qing’s palm. Bai Qing still leaned on the bed to rest, giving her only a languid, sidelong glance. That look was special; it carried a hint of both reproach and allure that made Qi Yan’s heart throb violently. She actually fled the bedroom in a panic.

The resting fox had no idea what kind of impact that one glance had caused; she simply continued to rest. Qi Yan jogged into the kitchen, closed the door, and pressed a hand over her racing heart. This is going to be the death of me. That old fox was truly a “fox spirit”; any casual glance of hers could steal a person’s soul.

“Who knows how many people she accidentally charmed during those thousand years,” Qi Yan muttered as she opened the refrigerator. “I hope she hasn’t unknowingly racked up a mountain of romantic debts. That would be a disaster; how many people would be watching her?”

Qi Yan began to worry based on her own imagination. What should I do with a fox spirit in the house who has countless romantic debts? The key issue was that this fox spirit was her wife in name. Unlike at the very beginning, Qi Yan could now calmly face the fact that Bai Qing was her wife, though she still emphasized the “in name” part. After all, they indeed had no emotional foundation; they were forcibly thrown together by the script. Qi Yan always kept this in mind. Yet, human emotions are the most unpredictable things. One cannot even control one’s own heart; habit and dependency quietly arise and take root in one’s life, and by the time one fully realizes it, they are impossible to shake off.

The most anticipated moment after leaving a script was the settlement when the [Intro] appeared. This time was no different. The [Intro] delivered Qi Yan’s point rewards from the script and left without much explanation.

Qi Yan’s performance in this script had been very good. The settlement rewards included the completion of a key task, awarding 50 points for clearing the Freeman’s Carnival amusement park. Completion of the main task awarded 100 points for understanding the pain of the BOSS, Qiu Ran. Finding and passing through the Eye of the World awarded 100 points. For failing to defeat the Heart of the World, Qiu Ran, she received no points but was given a special item, the painting “Carnival,” as a gift from her. This item was created by the BOSS of the “Carnival” script, Qiu Ran. It can trigger the “Protection of BOSS Qiu Ran and Yanyan.” This effect can only be triggered once and will disappear after use. Players are advised to use it with caution. The player’s performance rating for this script was S. Rewards included three script slips and one silk pouch.

After the [Intro] left, Qi Yan opened the silk pouch while cooking. Silk pouches are only given to players with a performance rating of B or higher. Opening them yields “Emotion Fragments” dropped by the script. Only by collecting all seven types of fragments, Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Fear, Love, Hate, and Desire, can one completely leave the script world. She had also obtained a silk pouch from the Mount Zhong Ritual script but forgot to open it. She opened both now to see what emotion fragments they held.

Upon opening the two pouches, two emotion fragments dropped out. The fragments flashed with a kaleidoscope of colors before settling, finally condensing into two teardrop-shaped objects made of an unknown material. Qi Yan weighed the two fragments in her hand. They were surprisingly heavy, feeling solid in her palm. The fragments were engraved with different characters. Qi Yan looked at them and gave a satisfied smile; they were two different emotions: Anger and Sorrow.

Thinking back, it made sense. She had entered two scripts in a row with main stories that were very negative and suffocating. After putting the fragments back into her warehouse, Qi Yan felt a bit puzzled. Are there really stories in these scripts that can drop Joy and Love? She was skeptical.

Just as the meal was ready and served, Bai Qing walked into the kitchen as if she had timed it perfectly, sitting down at the table to wait for the meal. Qi Yan served her the braised ribs and said with a smile, “You certainly know how to time your arrival.”

Bai Qing looked indifferent on the surface, but her eyes never moved from the meat. She restrained herself, sitting there without picking up her chopsticks, waiting for Qi Yan to finish serving everything before eating together. Qi Yan found it funny how she was clearly craving it but still maintained her composure, so she teased her about putting on airs at home.

To her surprise, Bai Qing said, “I simply wanted to eat with you. Isn’t it better for two people to be together? It feels more like a family.”

Qi Yan froze, her chopsticks pausing midway to her mouth as she stared at Bai Qing.

“I used to observe that humans were like this; they liked family members gathering together for a meal, making it lively and very warm.” Bai Qing looked at her dazed expression and tilted her head. “I thought you liked it this way as well.”

“I, I’m okay with it,” Qi Yan was embarrassed by the direct gaze and lowered her head to poke at the rice in her bowl.

Bai Qing took a bite of a rib and continued to observe the girl’s expression. She felt that the girl seemed a bit awkward, her face flushing red, wondering what she was overthinking again. Both of them ate quickly. Entering a script was extremely energy-consuming. Although injuries would heal after leaving, those were only physical; spiritual power and essence had to be restored bit by bit. So, even though the time in the real world hadn’t changed much, the consumption in the script was real. Both were starving.

After the meal, Qi Yan went to wash the dishes and tidy up the kitchen. She told Bai Qing to go back to the bedroom and wait, but to her surprise, the fox followed her and stood by the sink.

“?” Qi Yan’s mind was filled with a large question mark. She looked at her strangely. “What are you doing?”

“I am helping you.” “What?” Qi Yan was stunned. She asked again in disbelief, “What are you going to do?” Bai Qing looked at her fixedly and repeated, “Help you. Wash dishes. Tidy up.”

Qi Yan felt as if she had been struck by lightning, frozen in place. Seeing her like this, Bai Qing slowly knit her brows. She reached up and began to roll up the wide sleeves of her robe, one bit at a time. Then, without waiting for Qi Yan to speak, she reached for the dishes in the sink.

Qi Yan gasped and quickly grabbed her hand. “Wait, let me do it!” Bai Qing frowned at her, her gaze showing a hint of displeasure. “Why will you not let me do it?” “It’s just washing dishes. It doesn’t matter who does it. You’ll get your clothes dirty.”

Bai Qing’s stubbornness was piqued. No matter how Qi Yan tried to move her, she wouldn’t budge. When she truly committed to something, who could easily push her aside? “As you said, it’s just washing dishes. It doesn’t matter who does it. So why can it not be me?” “…”

Qi Yan was speechless. She scratched her hair and said, “You’re a Demon King. You’ve lived for a thousand years and probably never done this kind of work. It’s not right to make you work when you’ve come to my house.” “Are you treating me as an outsider?” “Tsk, it’s not about being an outsider. It’s just that, sigh, you already work so hard protecting me in the scripts! I can handle small chores like housework at home by myself!”

Bai Qing continued to stare at her, refusing to back down. She even gave a light laugh and said, “Perhaps I could cast a spell to wash these dishes clean.”

Qi Yan believed that. She nodded. “I don’t doubt your ability for a second, but I just feel it’s unnecessary. Using a spell just to wash dishes would make me, a perfectly healthy human, look both lazy and useless. No, why are you suddenly so stubborn about this? Do you find housework novel because you’ve never done it?”

Bai Qing looked down at the sink, then back at Qi Yan’s face. She hesitated for a long while before speaking. “I simply wanted to be with you. I used to see those humans, no, including demons who had families as well. Everyone worked together as a family. Those demons, they clearly only needed to cast a spell to solve these so-called chores, yet they were all willing to do them by hand and looked very satisfied. I used to think it was all a bother, but now, I simply feel that being with you, there is no harm in trying.”

She pointed to the used pots, bowls, and pans in the sink and said seriously, “We are together. No matter how you look at it, we are a ‘wife and wife’ bound by a spiritual contract. How should a normal couple or family live together? I also, wish to experience it a bit. With you.”

Qi Yan was even more dazed by this string of words, standing there at a loss. Bai Qing had suddenly said so much, and every word was about their relationship, reminding her that they were formally bound by a spiritual contract, a contract regarded in the demon race as a lifelong commitment. They were a couple, and even if she had never faced it head-on, this relationship was a settled fact, at least for now.

Furthermore, Bai Qing had already begun to try and bridge the gap between them, taking the initiative to experience this “wife and wife” relationship that was also very foreign to her. Qi Yan couldn’t quite describe her current feelings, only that her heart was beating more and more irregularly.

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