Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 31

Ming Ying obediently retracted her two tails into spiritual energy and stored them within the spirit-control device.

The collision of spiritual energy caused the bell on the spirit-control device to ring softly without any wind, emitting a crisp sound.

“Actually, you’re the first outsider to share a bed with me,” Ming Ying said quietly, fiddling with the bell on her bracelet, sensing that Fu Anyu wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon.

“Should I feel honored, then?” Fu Anyu asked deliberately.

“No, no! That’s not what I meant!” Ming Ying hurriedly explained. “I just wanted to say that I have no experience in this. If I don’t sleep well, you… you must wake me up in time. Don’t just endure it.”

She paused for a moment. “And don’t secretly use spiritual energy to tie me up either. Waking up like that in the morning is really frightening.”

“Alright,” Fu Anyu agreed without hesitation.

The moonlight was dim tonight, and after the lights went out, the room was plunged into darkness. Ming Ying couldn’t see Fu Anyu’s face, and even though she heard her agreement, she still felt a bit uneasy.

“Are you really not going to work tomorrow?” Ming Ying asked.

“No,” Fu Anyu replied. “I’ll be resting at home until I leave for the neighboring city.”

“That’s good,” Ming Ying said, stroking her bracelet and inexplicably letting out a sigh of relief.

Unlike the last time they shared a bed, this time Ming Ying remained tense throughout. Just as she felt herself about to fall asleep, she would jolt awake, check the distance between herself and Fu Anyu, and then shift a little closer to the edge of the bed.

She was truly afraid that, once she fell into a deep sleep, she would end up clinging to Fu Anyu like last time. Moreover, her injured paw was still bandaged, and if she accidentally got medicine on Fu Anyu’s clothes, it would only cause trouble.

After tossing and turning like this for who knows how long, Ming Ying finally drifted into a fitful sleep.

But she slept lightly, and the moment she felt her body touch something, she immediately woke up and opened her eyes.

By the faint light in the room, she saw that her uninjured front paw was resting on Fu Anyu’s shoulder, her trimmed claws nearly grazing Fu Anyu’s skin.

Yet Fu Anyu remained fast asleep, undisturbed by her touch.

Even so, Ming Ying quickly moved away.

Seeing that Fu Anyu was sleeping soundly and didn’t seem to be frowning, Ming Ying assumed she wouldn’t need her company tonight and decided to return to the guest room. That way, Fu Anyu could get a full night’s rest, and she herself could finally relax.

She quietly slipped out from under the covers, releasing a bit of spiritual energy to guide her way and prevent herself from stumbling off the bed and startling Fu Anyu. Once she reached the edge, she used her spiritual energy to lower herself gently to the floor.

Standing safely on the ground, Ming Ying breathed a sigh of relief, lifted her injured paw, and tiptoed toward the door.

But just as she reached the doorway, Fu Anyu’s voice sounded from behind her: “Come back.”

Startled by her sudden awakening, Ming Ying shivered, lost her balance, and fell to the floor.

The bedside lamp flicked on instantly. Fu Anyu rolled out of bed, hurried over to Ming Ying in a few strides, and scooped her up into her arms.

“Where are you trying to go in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?” Fu Anyu’s voice was slightly hoarse, as if she were only half-awake.

“I wasn’t going anywhere! I just wanted to go back to the guest room to rest!” Ming Ying retracted her paws, noticing Fu Anyu squinting at her with a look of disbelief, and quickly explained, “I was afraid I’d disturb your sleep…”

“You’re not disturbing me,” Fu Anyu said with a frown, then gently stroked the fox tail draped over her abdomen.

Just that one stroke made Ming Ying tremble all over, nearly leaping out of her arms on the spot. But this time, when her tail was touched, she said nothing, silently allowing Fu Anyu to carry her back.

She knew Fu Anyu had been on leave at home before the meeting and could finally get a good night’s sleep tonight. She wanted to let her rest well without waking up frequently because of her. However, Fu Anyu didn’t seem to share the same thought.

Sitting back on the bed, Fu Anyu placed the fox beside her and released spiritual energy to wrap around its limbs.

Ming Ying knew at once that she was going to tie her up again and hurriedly reminded her, “You promised not to tie me up! How can you go back on your word?!”

Fu Anyu paused her movements, as if snapping back to reality, then dispersed the spiritual energy, closed her eyes, and turned off the light.

The bedroom returned to darkness. Ming Ying, still a bit frightened, curled up in a corner of the quilt. Thinking there was no way to escape, she braced herself and decided to sleep. She closed her eyes, relaxed her body and mind, and thought of nothing, as if entering a meditative state.

It was only after entering this state that Ming Ying realized she could use spirit gathering meditation to control her sleeping posture. After all, she had never moved around restlessly while gathering spiritual energy.

Once she made up her mind, she began gathering spiritual energy. This time, just to make use of the meditative state, she slowed down the absorption of spiritual energy as much as possible and reduced her breathing rate to the minimum.

After that, her consciousness became completely immersed in gathering spiritual energy. Everything around her faded away like a receding tide, leaving only the sensation of spiritual energy flowing through her meridians in utter silence.

Ming Ying had always been afraid of being left alone in such quietness, but she soon remembered this was for Fu Anyu to have a peaceful sleep. Slowly, her fear subsided, replaced instead by a sense of relief. She felt she had finally found a good way to manage her sleeping posture and wouldn’t cause Fu Anyu any trouble tonight.

But just half an hour into her meditation, she heard Fu Anyu calling her name, each call more urgent than the last.

Ming Ying had to end her meditation and opened her eyes in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

She noticed the bedside lamp had been turned on again. Fu Anyu was sitting beside her, one hand near her nose as if checking her breathing. Seeing her awake, Fu Anyu naturally withdrew her hand.

Ming Ying was stunned for a moment before instinctively asking, “You didn’t think I was…”

Before she could say “dead,” Fu Anyu cut her off. “Can’t sleep?”

“A little…” Ming Ying admitted reluctantly.

Fu Anyu didn’t press for details, simply saying, “Wait here,” before getting out of bed and leaving the room.

Ming Ying looked bewildered at the open door, unsure what she was doing. Based on her experience, the only ways to deal with insomnia were incense or medication.

At this thought, Ming Ying grew anxious. Afraid that Fu Anyu might be preparing sleeping medicine for her, she quickly jumped off the bed and ran after her, calling out, “Just draw a sleep talisman for me! I don’t want to take.”

Before she could finish, she saw Fu Anyu emerge from the guest room holding a very large stuffed dog.

“Using sleep talismans too often is bad for your health,” Fu Anyu said, turning off the guest room light and carrying the stuffed dog back. “So is taking medicine.”

Walking over to Ming Ying, she bent down once more to scoop up the fox and placed both her and the stuffed dog on the bed.

“You have poor sleeping posture, perhaps due to a lack of security,” Fu Anyu explained. “Try holding this Shiba Inu while you sleep.”

Ming Ying looked at the Shiba Inu that had been placed by the bedside. The dog was grinning foolishly back at her.

“Is this… a pillow?” Ming Ying recalled something similar mentioned in the novel she had been reading earlier that day.

Seeing Fu Anyu nod, she glanced at her injured paw and worriedly reminded her, “But the medicated oil on my hand might seep out.”

“It’s not afraid of getting dirty,” Fu Anyu said.

Reassured, Ming Ying hugged the pillow. The fluffy Shiba Inu was incredibly soft. When she poked it with her paw, the “skin” would sink in but quickly bounce back to its original shape.

This time, when Fu Anyu turned off the lights, Ming Ying felt much more at ease. She even wrapped her tail around the Shiba Inu without hesitation, burying almost her entire fox form into the plush dog’s embrace.

As she drifted peacefully into sleep, Ming Ying thought to herself, Now I don’t have to worry about anything.

Yet, when she woke up the next morning, she found that not only had she moved away from the Shiba Inu, but she had also curled up right beside Fu Anyu’s pillow. Lifting her head, she was met with Fu Anyu’s sleeping face.

Panicked, she quickly inspected her surroundings with her burnt paw, making sure she hadn’t stained the pillow, bedding, or Fu Anyu’s clothes with the medicated oil. Relieved, she scurried back near the Shiba Inu, pretending nothing had happened.

Although Fu Anyu had said before bed that the Shiba Inu pillow wasn’t afraid of getting dirty, after just one night, Ming Ying could already smell the faint scent of medicated oil wafting from it, it seemed the pillow had already absorbed the fragrance.

She had no idea what she had done to the pillow during the night.

Rubbing against the Shiba Inu’s plump paw, Ming Ying found herself unable to fall back asleep. Fortunately, she had noticed in time; otherwise, she might have ended up sprawled over Fu Anyu like the first time, waking her up.

Why am I so drawn to Fu Anyu? she wondered. It’s not like there’s nothing else to hold now.

Fu Anyu was still asleep, so Ming Ying pulled the tablet from the bedside table to check the time. Seeing it was still early, she hopped off the bed, found the spirit-gathering array Fu Anyu had drawn for her earlier, and began her daily spiritual cultivation.

She released all her tails, spreading them out on the floor, and made slight adjustments to the array so that the attracted spiritual energy could flow directly into her tails, speeding up the process of solidifying it into spiritual power.

She continued gathering energy until she felt hungry. Ending her meditative state, she opened her eyes to see that it was almost 9:30. Getting up to call Fu Anyu for breakfast, she found the bed empty, the blankets were neatly folded, and the Shiba Inu pillow she had pushed to the edge had been placed back beside the pillow.

“Fu Anyu?” Ming Ying called out as she ran from the room.

“I’m here,” Fu Anyu’s voice came from downstairs. “Stay where you are. Don’t move.”

Ming Ying obediently crouched by the door and waited.

Fu Anyu had changed into comfortable loungewear. When she came to carry Ming Ying downstairs for breakfast, the light gauze at her sleeves occasionally brushed against Ming Ying’s ears, making them itch and twitch uncontrollably.

“After breakfast, we’re going to the hospital,” Fu Anyu said as she set Ming Ying in her seat and began serving her porridge. “To be safe, don’t use your spiritual form. I’ll feed you.”

Though Ming Ying felt a bit embarrassed to be fed, she was also afraid of losing control of her spiritual form and hurting herself again. So, she obediently opened her mouth, slowly eating breakfast with Fu Anyu’s help.

On a clear morning, the sunlight was exceptionally bright. When Ming Ying stepped outside, the glare made her squint, and she instinctively shrank closer to Fu Anyu’s embrace.

Fu Anyu casually shielded her from the sun, walked a few steps to the car, opened the door, and got in, instructing Chen Yanxue to drive to He’s Hospital.

Seeing that Fu Anyu had followed the doctor’s advice and brought the patient in on the very next day, Dr. He was delighted and greeted her warmly, “Bringing your little fox again?”

Ming Ying, nestled in Fu Anyu’s arms, pursed her lips, feeling that the word “again” was quite telling.