Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 39

After trimming her nails, Ming Ying returned to her little nest to continue reading the rules, while Fu Anyu finished packing and wiped the fox down before taking her pajamas to wash up.

Just before stepping into the bathroom, she suddenly paused and deliberately asked, “Do you still want to watch tonight, little sister?”

Ming Ying had been growing drowsy while reading Demon Race Living Guidelines, but upon hearing this, her sleepiness vanished instantly. Her ears perked up as she blurted out, “W-watch what?”

As soon as she asked, she immediately understood Fu Anyu’s meaning. Folding her ears back, she murmured softly, “No more? Once was enough. I just wanted to overcome my shyness…”

Fu Anyu curled the corner of her lips but didn’t tease her further, closing the door to bathe.

Listening to the sound of running water from the bathroom, Ming Ying buried her face in the belly of her Shiba Inu plushie in embarrassment.

As her face grew warm, that dizzy, dazed feeling surged up again, making her heart race.

Ming Ying felt that she might have always been a shameless fox at heart, but had been restrained by clan rules at home, never having the chance to explore her true nature.

Many things in the human world, she adapted to quite quickly, whether it was clothing and appearance or customs and habits. If she could take human form now, she might even wear those clothes she once deemed shameless and follow local customs to experience a romance.

She wasn’t an ascetic immortal or a bodhisattva, just a demon who had been indulging in pleasure since she could remember. Once freed from the constraints of clan rules, she would do all the things she had only dared to imagine before.

But, what did it mean to blush and feel her heart race just from thinking about Fu Anyu bathing?

Though Ming Ying couldn’t figure it out, she didn’t want to dwell on it.

Sooner or later, she would return to the demon realm and bid farewell to Fu Anyu and the others. A flower that could never bear fruit might as well not bloom at all, lest it leave behind too many regrets.

Having reasoned this through, she brought her medicated paw to her nose and took a deep breath.

The smell of the medicated oil was pungent, and just one whiff was enough to clear her mind of all those messy thoughts.

Ming Ying suddenly felt a little grateful that she had burned her paw. In a way, it was a blessing in disguise, after all, she had relied on the medicated oil to clear her head several times now.

When Fu Anyu came out, she saw the fox still engrossed in the tablet, showing no signs of abnormality, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

“It’s time to change your dressing,” she said, placing her clothes aside and taking out fresh bandages and gauze soaked in medicated oil from the small medical kit.

Ming Ying quickly scrambled up and crouched obediently, extending her injured paw as Fu Anyu approached and sat down.

As Fu Anyu unwrapped the old bandage, Ming Ying’s gaze unconsciously drifted to her hands.

Perhaps because she often practiced cultivation, Fu Anyu kept her nails short and unpolished, with thin calluses and slightly rough skin, clearly the hands of a martial artist.

Yet Ming Ying found herself mesmerized by those dexterous, rough hands. Even when the cool, medicated gauze was applied to her burn and the pungent smell filled the air, she showed no sign of discomfort.

It was Fu Anyu who grew concerned and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Huh?” Ming Ying snapped out of her daze, meeting her gaze blankly, unsure what she meant.

Fu Anyu gently squeezed the fox’s paw and asked, “Have you gotten used to the smell of the medicated oil?”

It wasn’t exactly a habit, but Ming Ying had indeed become less resistant to the medicated oil. The various physical reactions she initially had when smelling it had completely disappeared as she used it to refresh and clear her mind.

Still, Ming Ying nodded and quickly added, “But I still can’t stand particularly strong scents. Getting used to the medicated oil be, only because I’ve had to keep it wrapped around me recently and couldn’t get away from it.”

If she had to describe it, her situation was more like forced adaptation.

Fu Anyu thought for a moment and reminded her, “In that case, it’s best if you stay in the hotel while I’m in meetings.”

Ming Ying had learned from Du Yunxin that Fu Anyu was very busy with work and had to meet many people during meetings. Taking her along to a meeting was already quite a stretch. Still, she wanted to hear Fu Anyu’s own thoughts, so she asked, “Why?”

“Many of the people attending the meetings wear perfume,” Fu Anyu’s reply took her by surprise. “The cedar-scented diffuser you smelled before is one of the lightest fragrances. However, I have no idea what scents the other attendees might be wearing.”

Ming Ying suddenly understood, Fu Anyu was worried she might be overwhelmed by strong perfume scents.

“That’s one reason,” Fu Anyu continued. “Secondly, the meeting covers many fields. You’re not only a yao but also an outsider with an unclear identity. Even if I wanted to bring you into the meeting venue, the management wouldn’t allow it.”

“That’s fine, I’ll just wait for you at the hotel,” Ming Ying quickly said. “The hotel feels just like home, and I have my tablet. I won’t be bored staying alone!”

Fu Anyu smiled and nodded. She unwrapped the bandage, carefully winding it around Ming Ying’s paw one loop at a time. When she reached the end, she cut the bandage down the middle and tied it into a small, neat bow.

Ming Ying lifted her paw to examine it and noticed the yellowish-brown medicated oil had seeped through again. She sighed in frustration, “Oh no, if I sleep at the hotel, the oil is definitely going to stain their sheets…”

“If you’re really worried, you can keep it wrapped during the day and take it off when you sleep,” Fu Anyu suggested. “You’re a yao, so your wounds heal quickly. A few hours less won’t make much difference.”

Ming Ying gave a doubtful “Oh” and studied Fu Anyu’s expression for a moment before suddenly asking, “Have you been scalded before too?”

It had just occurred to her that Fu Anyu seemed quite experienced with burns. Within seconds of her getting scalded, before she, as a fox, could even react, Fu Anyu had scooped her up, rushed her to the bathroom, held her paw under the running cold water, and called Xiao Du to buy medicine.

“Yes,” Fu Anyu didn’t seem inclined to hide it. “But with enough spiritual energy reserves, the healing time shortens significantly. Your burn isn’t very large, so there’s no need to worry too much.”

Ming Ying almost asked if someone had bought medicine for her back then, if someone had bandaged her wounds, after all, changing bandages seemed quite tricky, something that would be troublesome to do alone.

But she felt such a question would be too intrusive. Showing concern shouldn’t cross that line. She opened her mouth but ended up saying nothing, obediently replying, “I understand.” Then she nuzzled Fu Anyu’s arm gently and said softly, “Thank you, Jiejie.”

Fu Anyu still had medicinal oil on her hands. Faced with the clingy little fox, she couldn’t pet her for the moment and could only say with a smile, “This is the first time I’ve realized that you’re such a sticky little thing.”

This comment made Ming Ying feel a bit embarrassed, but in order to hear Fu Anyu’s gentle voice, she shamelessly said, “I only cling to those I’m close to.”

She hadn’t forgotten how resistant and temperamental she had been when she first met Fu Anyu, yet she had no choice but to yield to Fu Anyu’s strength and endure being a well-behaved fox.

To be honest, she had never imagined there would come a day when she would actively cling to Fu Anyu. Yet that day had arrived, and she had accepted it without resistance.

Seeing the little fox’s fawning demeanor clearly, Fu Anyu curled her lips into a smile, stood up, and went to dispose of the medical waste and wash her hands.

“We’ll leave at eight tomorrow morning, so we need to sleep early tonight,” she reminded Ming Ying when she returned.

Ming Ying had originally wanted to watch a bit more of Inuyasha with her, but upon hearing this, she felt a little disappointed. However, the thought of being able to visit the neighboring city the next morning and see different scenery automatically lifted her mood.

She was an easy-to-please fox. The slight disappointment of not being able to watch the anime vanished completely the moment Fu Anyu carried her to the bed.

“T-tonight, there’s no need for that, right?!” Ming Ying hadn’t expected Fu Anyu to take the initiative to hold her in her arms. Startled, she twisted and struggled. “I’ll disturb your sleep. You have a meeting tomorrow, I…”

“If we don’t try it, how will I know if you really won’t move around when you’re close to me?” Fu Anyu countered.

Ming Ying couldn’t utter a single word of rebuttal. She realized that whenever Fu Anyu spoke in long sentences, it was either to explain things to her or… unintentionally flirt with her?

Ming Ying had learned the word “flirt” from the protagonists of those yuri novels. She never expected that applying it to Fu Anyu would feel so fitting.

In any case, it was Fu Anyu who would suffer. After all, without the Shiba Inu pillow, the medicinal oil seeping from Ming Ying’s paws would end up smeared all over her. Since Fu Anyu wanted to give it a try, Ming Ying gave up struggling and relaxed her limbs, letting herself be held.

After adjusting their sleeping positions, Fu Anyu turned off the light.

Ming Ying had never been this close to Fu Anyu before. With the lights off, the pitch-black room was filled only with the sound of their breathing.

Fu Anyu’s warm breath carried a faint scent of jasmine tea, likely from the toothpaste she used.

Since arriving in the human world, Ming Ying had never tried such novel things. Smelling the faint fragrance, she added another item to her to-do list after transforming into human form, she wanted to know what it felt like to have toothpaste in her mouth. Would it be like drinking floral tea or eating candy?

Held by Fu Anyu, she didn’t dare move a muscle. The only movement she could make was a gentle sway of her tail, though she worried that if she wagged it too enthusiastically, Fu Anyu might grab it and rub it, just like in every nightmare.

Even though she was now willing to actively snuggle up to Fu Anyu, her tail was absolutely off-limits. The sensation of having her tail rubbed was something she never wanted to experience again after accidentally trying it once.

And, her mother had told her more than once that only her husband could rub her tail.

This was her bottom line. No matter the reason, if anyone touched her tail, she would lose her temper.

Surrounded by the faint scents of jasmine and pine, Ming Ying drifted into a deep sleep.

Her swaying tails gradually quieted down, two of them drooping limply onto the bedsheet, while the remaining, more mischievous tail took advantage of Ming Ying’s deep slumber to loosely coil around Fu Anyu’s arm.

Fu Anyu glanced at the snow-white fox tail wrapped around her arm but did not touch it. Instead, she closed her eyes and rested on her own.

After an unknown amount of time, she suddenly opened her eyes and discovered that her spiritual energy was being drawn by the tail coiled around her arm. However, it wasn’t flowing into the spirit-control device on Ming Ying’s body but was instead gathering behind Ming Ying, gradually taking the shape of a tail.

Fu Anyu immediately raised her fingers to stop it, but upon seeing the little fox in her arms sleeping soundly, seemingly unaware of the anomaly in her body, she paused in thought before lowering her hand again, quietly observing the situation of the newly forming tail.

She could sense a dense flow of spiritual energy circulating within Ming Ying’s body.

Fu Anyu was greatly astonished. As she watched a bright yet gentle white glow gradually envelops Ming Ying’s body, wrapping the entire fox in light, a sudden thought arose in her mind.

Could it be the little fox is about to take human form?