Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 41

Ming Ying could control her limbs, but she couldn’t stop her stomach from growling.

In human terms, her routine was quite regular, she basically ate three meals a day right on schedule, never missing a single one. Today, it had been far too long since her usual breakfast time, and she was so hungry she curled up, clutching her stomach tightly, trying her best not to let Fu Anyu hear.

Fu Anyu had always been a light sleeper, and having her nap frequently disturbed by the little fox had left her wide awake, though she was too lazy to move.

But after lying there for a long while, she opened her eyes to find Ming Ying still curled up beside her, neither having transformed back into a fox nor making any other movements. Her face was full of grievance, and her stomach was growling enthusiastically. Fu Anyu couldn’t help but sigh and reached out to place a hand on the fox’s shoulder. “Why don’t you transform back?”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to change back.” Ming Ying’s voice was choked with tears.

“I can’t go downstairs for now,” Fu Anyu said calmly. “Are you planning to starve all day?”

She could go without food, but it seemed the little fox couldn’t.

With tears in her eyes, Ming Ying asked, “Can’t Xiao Du bring the food up here?”

“I refuse,” Fu Anyu replied without hesitation. “Unless you transform back into a fox.”

Truthfully, she didn’t mind, but the little fox was only wearing a nightgown now. No matter how much she trusted Du Yunxin, she couldn’t let her come up and see the little fox in this state.

She heard the fox let out a soft whimper, then watched as Ming Ying curled up even tighter, her four tails drooping listlessly.

“Are you so weak right now because, you gave me your spiritual power?” After a long silence, Ming Ying asked.

“To be precise, you took most of my spiritual power,” Fu Anyu replied with her eyes closed. “It’s been too long since I’ve experienced a state of spiritual depletion. I need to rest and adjust.”

It was as if someone who had been healthy for years suddenly caught a severe cold. Even if their body recovered quickly, it would still take some time.

“I’m sorry…” Ming Ying blushed, lowering her head again and again as she stammered out an explanation. “I… I saw a large cocoon in my dream, and it was emitting incredibly rich spiritual energy. As soon as I touched the energy, it… it just flowed into my body on its own…”

The thought that the “large cocoon” in her dream was actually Fu Anyu made Ming Ying wish she could dig a hole and bury herself. Still, she explained the truth in detail: “Then, in my excitement, I actively absorbed that spiritual energy. I absorbed it for a long, long time, but who knew, the large cocoon suddenly turned into…”

Gurgle!

A loud stomach growl interrupted Ming Ying’s words.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t control this!!” Ming Ying apologized in a hushed voice, utterly distraught.

“You transformed into human form because you absorbed a large amount of my spiritual power. Now you’ve overcome the difficulty of transforming,” Fu Anyu decided to persuade her to change back. “So, even if you struggle to transform again after reverting, there’s no need to worry.”

“But that would waste your time!” Ming Ying said. “You even took time off from your meetings today because of me.”

“The meetings on the first day aren’t very important,” Fu Anyu cut her off. “Hurry up and transform.”

After repeated reassurances, Ming Ying finally dared to transform back into a fox.

Fu Anyu’s orange nightgown, as she revealed her true form, wrapped around her entirely. From the outside, the gown bulged into the shape of a misshapen large orange.

Ming Ying crawled out of the nightgown, thought for a few seconds, and then began chanting the transformation spell again.

Fu Anyu hadn’t expected her to attempt transforming into human form immediately. By the time she thought to stop her, it was already too late. She could only watch as the fox transformed into a fox spirit without any clothing, the four tails behind her puffing up significantly with the transformation, relaxing and spreading out freely before her.

In that instant, Fu Anyu instinctively reached out her hand, but before touching the tails, she curled her fingers and quietly withdrew it.

Confirming she could still transform into human form, Ming Ying smiled brightly and turned back into a fox, asking Fu Anyu, “Can Xiao Du bring breakfast up now?”

When Du Yunxin pushed open the bedroom door with breakfast, she saw Fu Anyu already sitting up in bed, though her complexion still didn’t look great. Worried, she couldn’t help but ask, “President Fu, should I call a doctor for you?”

“I’m fine. I just need to rest for half a day,” Fu Anyu shook her head.

Knowing that Fu Anyu understood her own physical condition best, Du Yunxin didn’t press further. She swiftly set up the bedside computer desk, ladling out the thickly cooked century egg and lean meat porridge from the thermal container.

Ming Ying watched eagerly for breakfast. As soon as her bowl of porridge was placed in front of her, she couldn’t resist the heat and lowered her head to gulp it down.

“I’ll go do the housework then. Call me again after you and Ming Ying finish eating,” Du Yunxin said after setting out the breakfast. Carrying the empty thermal container, she left, closing the door behind her without lingering for even a second. The moment she stepped out, she hurried downstairs and began jumping excitedly in the living room.

While in Fu Anyu’s bedroom, she had pretended to be calm, but inside, she was screaming like a groundhog:

“President Fu actually allowed the little fox to lie on her bed! Rounding it up means!”

Du Yunxin’s mind was filled with indescribable scenes, completely unaware that the little fox had grown an extra tail.

No sooner had Du Yunxin left than Ming Ying transformed into human form, hastily pulling on a nightgown and grabbing a rolled pancake to stuff whole into her mouth, happily squinting her eyes.

“You’ll get mouth ulcers if you burn your mouth,” Fu Anyu couldn’t help but remind her.

“I can finally use my hands to eat things!” Ming Ying replied with her cheeks puffed out, her words unclear.

Fu Anyu chuckled softly. As she scooped up porridge to drink, she noticed Ming Ying struggling to hold the bowl with one hand, so she handed her own spoon over. “Use this.”

“But how will you drink yours?” Ming Ying asked, only realizing the issue after taking the spoon. The next second, an involuntary image of Fu Anyu lowering her head to lap up the porridge popped into her mind.

Startled, she immediately returned the spoon. “You use it! I’ll change back later to drink!”

Fu Anyu gave her a puzzled look, unsure what schemes were brewing in the little fox’s mind.

As Fu Anyu slowly sipped her porridge, Ming Ying knelt by the computer desk. After asking for Fu Anyu’s preferences, she devoured all the food she had her eyes on. Then, she turned back into a fox and lapped up the porridge clean before transforming back into human form. Covering her mouth, she let out a burp, though her eyes still showed dissatisfaction.

“I don’t think I’m full yet?” she said, confused. “Strange, my appetite wasn’t this big before.”

“After a demon’s first transformation into human form, their appetite does increase for a while. It’ll gradually return to normal later,” Fu Anyu explained, having looked up the relevant information beforehand. “I don’t have much of an appetite today. You can keep eating.”

“Does a lack of spiritual power affect your appetite?” Ming Ying looked at her suspiciously, but was intimidated by her firm gaze. Realizing that Fu Anyu was intentionally trying to reassure her so she would eat more, she reluctantly picked up the grilled sausage she had originally planned to save for her. “Alright, I’ll eat it.”

Fu Anyu slowly sipped her porridge, occasionally taking a bite of her red bean bun, all while watching Ming Ying finish every last bit of the pastries, vegetables, and meat on the plate.

Ming Ying had never eaten a meal so reluctantly before. Staring at the empty plates and bowls, she worried that Fu Anyu would go hungry.

After breakfast, while Ming Ying was washing her hands, Fu Anyu placed an order for some essential clothing that would arrive later that day.

She didn’t know Ming Ying’s exact measurements, so she made an estimate based on how her own nightgown fit Ming Ying. She planned to take proper measurements once she regained some strength.

Ming Ying really wanted to move around the house in her human form, but with almost no clothes to wear, she couldn’t go anywhere except Fu Anyu’s bedroom and bathroom. It felt even more restrictive than when she was in her fox form.

So, when she returned from washing her hands and heard that Fu Anyu had already bought her new clothes, she couldn’t help but wag her tail excitedly.

Fu Anyu had to remind her, “The new clothes will need to be washed once they arrive. The earliest you can wear them is tomorrow afternoon.”

“That’s fine,” Ming Ying said, taking it in stride. “After all, I still have to go to the meeting with you. Oh, and do I need to visit the Management Bureau again? That young lady mentioned that after transforming into human form, I have to register once more.”

“Not for now,” Fu Anyu shook her head. “You transformed too quickly. The Management Bureau might grow suspicious. We should wait at least ten days to half a month before going.”

“Right,” Ming Ying agreed. She sat down beside Fu Anyu, touching the spirit-control device on her wrist and the bow Fu Anyu had tied with the bandage. Then she picked up her long hair to examine it, unable to hold back a laugh.

As a human, she could better integrate into the human world! She could choose different styles of clothes, try out various hairstyles, and even sit on the swing in the backyard.

“How many tails do you actually have?” Fu Anyu suddenly asked, interrupting her reverie. “I heard from Xiao Du that you told her you’d grow more tails in the future.”

Ming Ying’s smile froze. She turned to see Fu Anyu looking at her four tails, pursed her lips, and hesitated over whether to answer.

She knew she couldn’t keep it from Fu Anyu forever. As long as she continued cultivating in the human world and accumulated more spiritual power, her tails would eventually multiply to nine.

Nine-tailed fox spirits were exceptionally rare. Even with just four tails, the spiritual power she required had already weakened Fu Anyu to this extent. If the day ever came when all nine tails appeared, even with the help of the spirit-control device, it might not be able to contain her full power.

“Multi-tailed demons either inherit it as a racial trait or cultivate to grow more tails for storing spiritual energy,” Fu Anyu continued when she didn’t answer. “But you, you can grow new tails just by absorbing large amounts of spiritual power. That’s a racial inheritance, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Ming Ying admitted softly.

“Do you still not want to tell me the truth?” Fu Anyu pressed.

Ming Ying fell silent again, clutching the hem of her skirt. Her resolve was already wavering.

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” she said, moving closer to Fu Anyu and meeting her eyes earnestly. “It’s that I don’t dare.”

The brief experience of being hunted by malevolent demons had left her with lingering psychological scars.

“You can so easily take away my spiritual power, what else would you dare not do?” Fu Anyu retorted.

Ming Ying froze for a moment, instinctively averted her gaze, and showed a guilty expression.

Indeed, she had nearly drained Fu Anyu’s spiritual power just from having a dream. If fear stemmed from Fu Anyu’s strength, then she truly had no reason to be afraid anymore.

“Then… then I’ll tell you now, sister.” With her worries resolved, Ming Ying agreed softly, her cheeks involuntarily flushing red.