The Little Fox Spirit Doesn't Want to Carry a Cub - Chapter 16

Night had completely fallen. The fire in the cave was burning brightly, the wood crackling and popping, masking a few sounds of ragged, hurried breathing.

Jiang Shen lay on the straw bed, his arm raised to cover his eyes, his chest rising and falling sharply.

Before coming to Mount Changming, he had rarely done such things himself. He considered himself someone with few carnal desires; to him, such intense pleasure—which was so easy to become addicted to—represented a kind of danger.

Since arriving at Mount Changming, the little fox had constantly made him take medicine. Occasionally, the fox couldn’t absorb all of the Yang energy, and many times Jiang Shen had to manually alleviate the effects.

But he only realized today that doing it himself and having someone else handle it felt completely different.

The little fox could be said to have zero experience in this area. At first, he only knew how to gently rub or squeeze, forcing Jiang Shen to teach him personally. When verbal instructions failed, Jiang Shen had to hold the fox’s hand and guide him.

Jiang Shen loved the little fox’s hands—those slender fingers with pink tips that emitted a faint glow when casting spells, so beautiful it was hard to look away. Those same hands, when performing other tasks, were equally pleasing to the eye.

The little fox had a small frame, and his hands were small too; Jiang Shen could fully enclose one within his own. But they were so soft, feeling almost boneless to the touch, and Jiang Shen didn’t dare to squeeze too hard.

The little fox was a fast learner. Before long, he had even learned to extrapolate, playing around with different variations. This gave Jiang Shen further reason to believe that the fox demon tribe truly possessed an innate talent for certain matters that required no teacher.

As Jiang Shen’s breathing gradually steadied, a rustling sound echoed—the little fox had jumped down to the floor.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Shen’s voice was light and hoarse, carrying a trace of laziness.

Li Ruan, on the other hand, was full of energy and seemed quite happy. “I need to refine the essence you gave me. There was so much today, thank you.”

Jiang Shen: “…”

How could there not be a lot? The little fox had stayed so close while doing it that in the end, it had all ended up on his face. Usually, the little fox would absorb the essence to help Jiang Shen calm down; he was clearly experiencing this kind of situation for the first time, standing dazed for a moment.

Then, he hooked his finger, licked it, and ate it all up.

That scene had nearly caused Jiang Shen to lose his humanity once again.

Jiang Shen’s ears burned slightly, but Li Ruan ignored him, sitting cross-legged on the ground to enter a meditative state.

The scene looked a bit peculiar.

For the first time, Jiang Shen felt like he was truly just a “furnace” captured by a demon and brought back to a cave for essence—used and then discarded without the slightest lingering attachment.

What is this situation?

As the night grew deeper, the untended fire slowly dimmed. Jiang Shen tossed and turned on the bed, unable to sleep. Looking over, Li Ruan still maintained the same posture, sitting motionless with his tail resting steadily on the ground, appearing as though he would sit like that until dawn.

Li Ruan was like a different fox when he was practicing. Usually, he was quite playful; whether Jiang Shen was telling him stories or they were out foraging, he was easily distracted. He often spent more time playing than doing anything productive.

But when he practiced, it was different. He looked focused, as if even the sky falling wouldn’t disturb him.

Jiang Shen exhaled silently, got up, and added more wood to the fire. The flames rose, the flickering light dancing across the little fox’s face, making his features appear even more vivid.

Jiang Shen stared at him steadily.

The little fox’s attitude toward him was actually the correct one. They were from two different worlds. Once the little fox’s cultivation recovered a bit more and the situation in the capital stabilized, Jiang Shen would have to return to being the Crown Prince. Their encounter in this cold winter at Mount Changming should have been the only intersection of their lives.

Therefore, the fewer ties between them, the better.

That’s how it should have been.

But…

Jiang Shen became lost in thought. He was still clutching the thin stick he used to stir the fire; after holding it too long, the flames traveled up the stick and burned him. Jiang Shen abruptly let go, his fingertip turning red from the heat.

But it wasn’t just his hand. His face and his heart were both burning hot.

Jiang Shen pressed his hand to his chest; his heart was beating vibrously and violently. He didn’t know if the demon race possessed such a mortal heart, or if it would ever beat for another.

But… he seemed to have fallen. Fallen completely and utterly.

The next day, Jiang Shen woke up very late.

Perhaps because he had finally understood some things, or rather, finally dared to face his own heart honestly, Jiang Shen felt a sense of lightness. He managed to get his first good sleep in a long time.

Then, the moment he opened his eyes, he was startled by the head resting beside him.

Li Ruan tilted his head and smiled at him. “Good morning.”

Jiang Shen: “…”

The little fox’s smile was beautiful; Jiang Shen had never seen anyone with a more beautiful smile. But in this context, he only felt his heart go numb.

Jiang Shen asked, “What time is it? Why aren’t you practicing?”

Li Ruan continued to smile. “I’m waiting for you.”

The smile was very suspicious.

Jiang Shen asked tentatively, “Do… do you have something to say?”

Li Ruan blinked. “No, just waiting for you.”

As if to prove he had no ill intentions, he pulled Jiang Shen into a sitting position and asked with concern, “How does your body feel today? Any discomfort? Do you have a fever? Do you feel tired?”

It was a total over-performance. Jiang Shen had no idea what kind of mischief he was plotting.

Jiang Shen’s brow furrowed slightly as he followed the fox’s lead and nodded. “I’m fine, no discomfort.”

Li Ruan asked, “Can we go again?”

Jiang Shen choked. “…What?”

“Just like last night.” Li Ruan glanced toward Jiang Shen’s lower half, then back to his face, his eyes shining. “Give me some more to eat, okay?”

Jiang Shen: “…”

The little fox demon naturally had no “bad” intentions. He had simply discovered after a night of refining that the essence obtained through last night’s method was a hundred times stronger than what he usually absorbed.

One night of practice had advanced him more than the previous month combined. Li Ruan felt a pang of regret. It had been over two months since Jiang Shen moved into his cave; what had he been doing all that time? Why did he only discover such a great method yesterday?

It was such a waste of time.

But fortunately, discovering it now wasn’t too late.

Li Ruan tugged at Jiang Shen’s arm, his voice softening as if he were acting spoiled. “Give me a little more. The sooner I recover my cultivation, the sooner I can help you find that secret letter, right?”

Jiang Shen remained silent. In truth, it wasn’t impossible, because according to last night’s experience, the little fox had made him feel very comfortable.

But if things continued to develop this way, it definitely wouldn’t work.

The little fox was only close to him now to obtain essence for his cultivation. Once his cultivation was fully restored, Jiang Shen’s purpose would be gone. Given the current situation, the little fox would likely stop paying him any mind.

That simply wouldn’t do.

Jiang Shen thought for a moment and put on a troubled look. “But that thing isn’t available every day. You ate it all last night.”

“Ah?” Li Ruan was shocked. “There was so little? Then when will there be more?”

“At least…” Jiang Shen pondered. “At least seven days.”

Li Ruan counted on his fingers. “That’s way too long. Is there a way to make it faster? Like taking medicine?”

“No,” Jiang Shen said without blinking. “Medicine makes it even slower.”

Li Ruan thought about it; that seemed true. Jiang Shen had been taking medicine for a while, yet last night was the first time that situation had occurred. Maybe it really was the medicine’s fault.

He became dejected, even his pointed fox ears drooping. “Then remember not to take any more medicine from now on. Save it up, and save up a lot.”

Jiang Shen: “…Fine.”

He decisively stopped talking about this with Li Ruan, glancing at the sky outside. “The weather is nice today. Since you aren’t practicing, do you want to accompany me for a walk?”

Since his fall from the cliff, this was the first time Jiang Shen had stepped out of the valley. When he first arrived at Mount Changming, it was under the cover of night, and afterward, he had been trapped at the bottom of the canyon. He had never had the chance to see the full view of the mountain.

If the little fox hadn’t helped heal his leg yesterday, he wouldn’t have been able to leave the valley.

Jiang Shen stood at a mountain peak with his hands behind his back. The distant mountains were clear and layered, a vast expanse of white as far as the eye could see. Looking through the layers of peaks, he could faintly see a corner of a city in the distance.

That was the direction of the capital.

A rustling sound came from behind him, followed by the slight movement of shadows and a dusting of fine snow falling over Jiang Shen’s head. He turned back, but the youth was gone. A voice came from above: “I’m up here.”

The youth was sitting on a tree branch, his bright red robes hanging down. He still wore no shoes, swinging his feet leisurely.

“If you want to go down the mountain, you go by that path.” Li Ruan pointed a finger. “Before you came, I used to wait for people there.”

Jiang Shen looked in the direction he pointed, but only gave it a single glance before looking back. He asked, “You healed my injury and showed me the way down the mountain—aren’t you afraid I’ll abandon you and run away?”

He only said it to tease him, but to his surprise, Li Ruan asked seriously, “Do you want to leave?”

Jiang Shen looked up at him and didn’t answer.

Li Ruan said, “A-Xue told me that mortals are mostly self-interested. He told me not to heal your injury or let you leave the valley, otherwise you might abandon me and run away.”

“But I felt that wasn’t very good.”

His tail wagged in rhythm with his body, his eyes appearing as though they held crystalline frost. “Asking for help should be a matter of mutual consent. If you really are unwilling to dual cultivate and want to leave, I shouldn’t stop you, right?”

If anyone else had said this, Jiang Shen would have assumed they were testing him. But he knew his little fox didn’t have such devious thoughts; this was truly what he felt.

If he said he wanted to leave right now, this silly fox likely wouldn’t stop him.

Jiang Shen smiled and said, “I’m not ‘unwilling’.”

Li Ruan blinked. Jiang Shen took half a step back and opened his arms. “Come down.”

Li Ruan leaped from the branch. He used the breeze to shed some momentum as he fell, allowing Jiang Shen to catch him steadily.

Li Ruan hooked his arms around Jiang Shen’s neck, feeling the man take two steps forward to pin him against the tree. The impact caused more snowflakes to fall over their hair and bodies.

“What are you doing…” Li Ruan looked at Jiang Shen.

The man stared at him with a gaze that was very gentle yet tinged with a bit of helplessness.

“You.” Jiang Shen pinched the fox’s bright red nose and asked, “You keep talking about dual cultivating—do you even know what ‘dual cultivation’ means?”

“Of course I know,” Li Ruan said. “It’s just two people practicing together. I’ve already memorized the cultivation techniques and incantations.”

Jiang Shen: “And the process?”

“The process…” Li Ruan hesitated, then admitted truthfully, “A-Xue said the process isn’t easy to learn. He told me to just remember the techniques and then cooperate with the other person. He said you mortals have an innate talent for this and everyone knows how to do it.”

At this point, he seemed to realize something and asked, “You’ve been refusing to dual cultivate—it couldn’t be because you actually don’t know how, right?”

Jiang Shen: “…”

This silly fox.

Jiang Shen said patiently, “My previous refusal… wasn’t for that reason.”

Li Ruan gave an “oh,” appearing slightly relieved, and asked, “Then what was the reason?”

They had been out for a while. The mountain wind was strong, turning Li Ruan’s cheeks a rosy pink, making him look particularly adorable.

Jiang Shen remained silent for a long time. He looked down at the person in his arms, and only after a long while did he say softly, “In the mortal world, if people do not truly love one another, they cannot do this kind of thing.”

Li Ruan tilted his head, seemingly not understanding the concept. “Then how do we ‘truly love’ each other?”

“I want to know that, too.”

He twined a strand of the little fox’s hair around his finger, feeling a bit helpless and finding it a bit funny. “I want to know what I should do to make you, this silly fox… like me just a little bit more.”