They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 21

Chapter 21: The Repetition

A plate of Dongpo Pork was served. Leng Licí sniffed it, didn’t eat a single bite, and evaluated: “Too greasy.”

A plate of Crab Roe Lion’s Head was served. Leng Licí took a bite, put it down, and evaluated: “Fishy.”

Several other dishes were served in succession, but not a single one received Leng Licí’s approval.

Yun Qingwu clicked his tongue in wonder, helped himself to a few bites of the dishes, and asked curiously: “Little Flame, what exactly do you like to eat? How about you just tell me the answer directly?”

Leng Licí glanced at Yun Qingwu. He came to watch a spectacle but didn’t expect this person to be so persistent.

“Nothing.”

This was the truth.

“Tsk, how can it be nothing? You just haven’t found it yet.” Yun Qingwu put down his chopsticks and went back to the stove: “You wait.”

After that, several more dishes with different flavors were served.

This time, Leng Licí showed some respect, at least willing to taste each dish once.

Hmm?

A clear sweetness spread on his tongue. Leng Licí’s chewing speed slowed slightly.

He looked down at the plate of candied lotus root slices he had just eaten and took another bite.

Bite after bite, the plate was empty before he knew it.

Yun Qingwu smiled contentedly, resting his face on his right hand as he looked at Leng Licí: “So, Little Flame, you actually have a sweet tooth.”

“Nonsense.”

Leng Licí turned his head, jumped off the table, and refused to admit it.

Yun Qingwu didn’t care, saying to himself: “Then I’ll make more for you in the future.”

The future?

The slight sweetness on his tongue faded. Leng Licí’s eyes narrowed. If Yun Qingwu’s memory wasn’t restored soon, what future was there?

His brief restoration to human form last time was because he entered Yun Qingwu’s Sea of Consciousness…

Tonight, he needed to try again.

For dinner, Yun Qingwu prepared a customized meal based on the results from noon. The man and the fox ate in relative harmony. After the meal, he deliberately teased Leng Licí, inviting: “Do you want to continue sleeping with me tonight?”

As he said this, he tensed his body, ready to dodge the massive slap that might come.

“Fine.”

Huh?

Not only was there no massive slap, but he agreed?

Yun Qingwu was quite pleasantly surprised.

This surprise reached a small peak when the warm fox voluntarily nestled on his chest.

“Little Flame, you’re so well-behaved, it’s almost unsettling.” He took the opportunity to rub the red fox fur and chuckled softly a few times.

And successfully received a massive slap awarded by a tail.

Leng Licí entered Yun Qingwu’s Sea of Consciousness again. The Sea of Consciousness showed no significant change compared to last time. The sleeping white-furred beast still lay quietly on the peak.

He took a few steps, and his demonic consciousness transformed into his original fox form, leaping a few steps to the side of the Bai Ze.

Last time, time was too short. Today, he had enough time to carry out the great task of awakening.

The eight-tailed fox’s body size suddenly grew, comparable to that of the Bai Ze. The fox retreated a few steps, took a deep breath, and then rapidly charged at the Bai Ze, instantly knocking it off the cliff.

Yun Qingwu frowned slightly, sleeping extremely restlessly. He felt himself continuously falling, unable to find anything to anchor himself to, no matter how hard he tried.

During the descent, he vaguely saw the red-haired man, presumably Little Flame again. They breathed close to each other, bodies intertwined, temperatures entangled, intimately close.

Suddenly, he was in a bedroom, seeing the red-haired man tidying the bed, looking unusually domestic.

There seemed to be a baby crying in the room?

He wanted to step forward and look more closely. A dull bell sound rang out from far to near, echoing in his ears. The scene began to twist and blur, finally plunging into darkness. He opened his eyes. The darkness receded, and what met his eyes was the familiar wooden carved ceiling.

A dream again?

He slowly blinked, subconsciously wanting to cover his eyes with his hand, but found his hand was firmly pinned down by a heavy object, unable to be withdrawn.

He looked down. Yun Qingwu’s eyes widened, his thoughts growing more chaotic.

The red-haired man from his dream was now lying in his arms, occupying Little Flame’s spot.

He reached out and poked the man’s cheek.

The touch was warm.

It was real!

The poked person’s eyelashes fluttered. He snapped his eyes open and sat up, looking at his hands.

Leng Licí’s eyes brightened. It works!

“Little Flame?” Yun Qingwu tentatively called out.

Leng Licí glanced at Yun Qingwu.

It seems this fellow still hasn’t recovered his memory.

He flipped over, got off the bed, walked to the chair next to it, and sat cross-legged to meditate.

Yun Qingwu stared blankly at the meditating person. In the dream, he never clearly saw the person’s face, only subconsciously feeling that the person should be a beauty.

Now that he saw the true face, he couldn’t help but sigh at how precise his intuition was.

This red-haired beauty was indeed Little Flame.

So…

Why did he enter his dream?

Those indescribable, ambiguous feelings resurfaced in his mind. He looked at Leng Licí, his consciousness sinking into chaos again, and he vaguely drifted back to sleep.

Leng Licí closed his eyes, attempting to gather spiritual power in his dantian. But no matter how he tried, his spiritual power couldn’t reach its peak, only barely half of what it originally was.

He angrily raised his palm and slammed it towards the nearby tea table.

The bell outside the window rang again.

The power that should have shattered the tea table suddenly dissipated, leaving only a black fox paw on the table.

Leng Licí looked down, wishing he could grind his teeth to dust.

He had changed back again!

The outline of the half-lotus on his ear blurred slightly. Leng Licí looked at the still-sleeping person on the bed with a complex expression. Only the last half-day remained until the end of the Seven Luminaries period. Once noon today passed, their temporary cohabitation contract would completely expire. At that time, he would no longer be able to enter the other party’s Sea of Consciousness.

If only the time could be longer…

Leng Licí leaped back onto the bed, decisively burrowing into Yun Qingwu’s arms, re-entering the Sea of Consciousness, and lying down on the spot.

Regardless of whether Yun Qingwu could recover his memory for now, he needed his human form and spiritual power to act better.

“Your Majesty, it’s time to wash up.” A gentle knock came at the door, followed by A-Ge’s voice.

Yun Qingwu groaned a few times, struggling to open his eyes. He needed to attend the court meeting today.

As his memory gradually returned, he immediately looked at the wooden chair beside the bed, only to see it empty.

A bit heavy.

He looked down at his chest. Lying on his chest was still the red and black fox, looking exactly as it did before sleep.

?

He blinked a few times, feeling somewhat confused.

Was the part about Little Flame turning into a red-haired beauty a dream?

The dreams of the past two nights flashed back in his mind. He looked in shock at the fox, whose eyelids fluttered, about to open its eyes. Could he really have improper thoughts about a fox?

Even if it was a divine beast, it was still a fox!

Leng Licí was pushed out of the Sea of Consciousness and lazily stretched his body.

Hmm?

He looked at his overly familiar paws.

Why is he still a fox?

Why is he still a fox!

“What are you staring at?” Sensing the gaze that had been fixed on him since just now, Leng Licí’s already unhappy mood became even more irritated. His eight tails flared out with a bang in an act of defiance.

“Little Flame, why… did you turn back into a fox?” Yun Qingwu tried to sort out his thoughts and tentatively asked.

“What’s it to you?”

Leng Licí’s tone was cold. He turned around, leaped down, and walked out of the room.

Yun Qingwu looked at the figure, which had become overly familiar these past few days, wiped his face, and chuckled softly: “He really is fickle.”

Then he couldn’t help but wonder again: Was it a dream or reality?

As he thought, he suddenly stopped, his ear tips flushing red.

…

Leng Licí did not return to his room but left the palace directly.

The streets were bustling and decorated with lanterns, still basking in the afterglow of the Sacrificial Ze Festival. He walked openly among the crowds.

Gaze fell upon him from time to time, but no one dared to intrude.

Since Bai Ze’s mind wouldn’t be fixed anytime soon, he couldn’t just sit back and wait. Since this place was a part of memory, he might be able to find some clues.

It was just that the ubiquitous Bai Ze statues were truly annoying.

“A-Niang, A-Niang, do you think the great god Bai Ze will like the pastries I made?”

“He will. Let’s walk faster, and try to offer the pastries to the great god Bai Ze sooner.”

The conversation between a mother and daughter reached his ears. Leng Licí noticed that many people in the crowd were holding incense and food, and their destination was the corner ahead.

Presumably, that was the Bai Ze temple.

With this thought, Leng Licí grew somewhat interested and walked towards that spot.

The front of the temple was teeming with people, all with fervent piety written in their eyes. Leng Licí passed through the crowd and entered the inner hall. What met his eyes was a Bai Ze divine statue, three chi tall. The statue gleamed with golden light, and the details were vivid, showing the creator’s diligence and worship in every aspect.

Hmph. Truly… too much of an eyesore.

A burst of gasps erupted. A red shadow flashed in everyone’s eyes. Before they could see clearly, the solemn and imposing statue shifted an inch with a boom, and cracks spread across the golden body, as if it would shatter the next second.

The sudden change briefly paused the thoughts of everyone present for a few seconds. When they recovered, they saw a fiery red fox standing on the high platform, looking down at them. Its eight red and black tails spread out arrogantly, looking exactly like it should be the deity worshipped in this temple.

“Where did this fox come from?” Someone spoke first.

Another person picked up a broom nearby and waved it at Leng Licí: “Go away, go away! This is no place for you to play!”

Leng Licí casually curled his tail, and the dirty broom immediately flew away from his face and made intimate contact with the ground.

He retracted his hind legs and sat down, looking down contemptuously: “Instead of praying to a god here, you should pray more to yourselves. It is ridiculous to hope that a god will empathize with you just by offering some incense and fruit.”

The noisy temple fell silent.

Just as Leng Licí thought they would become angry out of shame, the person who rushed to the front, who was holding the broom earlier, moved closer again, his eyes full of novelty: “Hey, this fox can talk!”

“It’s a spirit fox!”

“Spirit fox, say a few more words!”

The quiet atmosphere once again broke into chatter. The initial dissatisfaction vanished completely.

Leng Licí’s expression darkened. He said coldly: “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid? Why should we be afraid? Since the great god Bai Ze allows you to appear here, you surely won’t harm us.”

“That’s right, that’s right. We’ve been living here for…” The woman speaking paused for a moment, then waved her hand: “Ah, I can’t remember how many years, but in the memory of all my generations, we’ve never had evil demons here! This is all thanks to the protection of the great god Bai Ze!”

“Exactly!”

Leng Licí looked at the people below, who were completely defenseless. Icy coldness condensed in his eyes, forming frost on the blade.

Utterly foolish.

Perhaps he should teach these people what reality is.

Sharp claws surged with murderous intent.

“Hey, I remember! Isn’t that His Majesty’s spirit fox?” Someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.