Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 45

Ming Ying used her own parents as an example, hoping to reassure Fu Anyu that she could safely use this spirit-gathering array.

But as soon as she finished speaking, she noticed Fu Anyu’s brows furrow slightly. Instantly, Ming Ying realized she had unintentionally brought up the topic of parents again, undoubtedly stirring painful memories for Fu Anyu. She quickly pulled Fu Anyu closer, forcibly changing the subject: “Anyway, sister, give it a try!”

The little fox had no experience in steering conversations away from sensitive topics. After speaking, she immediately closed her eyes, assumed a meditative posture, and reminded Fu Anyu, “I’m all ready now.”

Soon, she sensed Fu Anyu’s aura drawing near, indicating that Fu Anyu had taken a seat on the large spirit-gathering array in front of her.

Ming Ying breathed a sigh of relief, forming hand seals and gathering spiritual energy at her fingertips, ready at any moment to sense Fu Anyu’s spiritual power.

A few seconds later, Fu Anyu began gathering spiritual energy. From the moment she heard Ming Ying explain the spirit-gathering array until now, she had remained silent, not uttering another word.

Ming Ying didn’t need to enter deep meditation, she only needed to closely observe the state of Fu Anyu’s spiritual energy circulation. But since Fu Anyu hadn’t spoken at all, Ming Ying couldn’t help but feel unsettled.

In her view, Fu Anyu was likely upset. She worried whether gathering spiritual energy in such a state might lead to undesirable consequences.

Ming Ying began to regret her earlier words. When explaining the array, she should have stuck to the key points, just like the instructional guides on spellcasting. Why had she gone off on a tangent and mentioned her own parents? It had been completely unnecessary.

What if this affected Fu Anyu’s mindset and caused her to lose control while gathering spiritual energy? What would she do then?

Ming Ying was terrified by the consequences she imagined. But now that Fu Anyu had already begun gathering spiritual energy, and the ambient spiritual energy around them remained stable, she couldn’t abruptly interrupt the process. She had no choice but to push aside these distracting thoughts and focus on guarding Fu Anyu.

Thanks to the two unique spirit-gathering arrays, Ming Ying could clearly observe the path of spiritual energy as it entered Fu Anyu’s body and flowed through her meridians.

She noticed that Fu Anyu’s method of consolidating spiritual energy was quite different from her own. Ming Ying tended to rush spiritual energy to where it was needed, storing any excess directly in her dantian as usable spiritual power.

In contrast, Fu Anyu would first guide the spiritual energy through less critical meridians, circulating it once before dispersing it to the main meridians and the smaller branches near various organs. Only then would she guide all the energy into her dantian, solidifying it into spiritual power.

Although this method took slightly longer, it utilized spiritual energy far more efficiently. During the early and middle stages of circulation, impure energy was directly absorbed by the organs it passed through, eliminating the need for an additional purification step. As a result, the spiritual energy that finally entered the dantian was much more refined.

This was the first time Ming Ying had witnessed such a method of consolidating spiritual energy, and she couldn’t help but feel tempted to try it herself. But as soon as the thought arose, she quickly suppressed it.

What was she thinking? She needed to focus on guarding her sister!

Quietly committing this insight to memory, Ming Ying decided that once the spirit-gathering session concluded smoothly, she would first apologize to Fu Anyu and then sincerely seek guidance. As long as her attitude was respectful enough, Fu Anyu would probably be willing to share her knowledge, right?

An hour later, Fu Anyu showed no signs of stopping her spirit-gathering, but Ming Ying was already growing hungry.

After transforming into human form, she needed to consume large amounts of food for a period of time, and her body digested it quickly. But since Fu Anyu hadn’t stopped, she didn’t dare to leave, afraid that something might happen to Fu Anyu if she stepped away.

Those in a meditative state generally wouldn’t perceive external disturbances unless necessary, so Ming Ying didn’t need to worry about her stomach growling disturbing Fu Anyu.

She wasn’t very good at enduring hunger. After holding out for a short while, she felt unbearably hungry and couldn’t help but glance at the phone Fu Anyu had left on the table. She extended her spiritual power to bring the phone over, intending to send a message to Xiao Du and ask her to bring some food upstairs.

Unexpectedly, Fu Anyu’s phone screen was locked, requiring a password and her fingerprint to unlock it.

After reading the text on the screen prompting for a password and fingerprint, Ming Ying instinctively felt she shouldn’t tamper with Fu Anyu’s phone without permission. She quickly wrapped it in her spiritual power and was about to return it to the table when a message suddenly popped up.

[Hu Xiuliu: Made plans with He Che. Meet at the Spring Slumber Café at 7 p.m. the day after tomorrow. Your new little friend can come too_(:з」∠)_]

When she saw the sender’s name, Ming Ying’s heart skipped a beat.

She remembered this person, the “sack man” she had encountered in the elevator when they went to the Management Bureau. According to Fu Anyu, if she ever ran into him on the street, he would ask her, “What color sack do you like?”

She also recalled that when Hu Xiuliu left the elevator, he had indeed mentioned inviting Fu Anyu and Dr. He for coffee next time.

He Che was Dr. He’s full name. She hadn’t expected Hu Xiuliu to arrange their next meeting so quickly.

Ming Ying stared at the last sentence for a while, feeling a bit nervous.

Would Fu Anyu really take her along? It was just a meeting between classmates, why would the sack man want her, an outsider and a demon, to join them? Surely, he wasn’t planning to stuff her into a sack and take her home to raise her right under Fu Anyu’s nose?

And what did that strange string of symbols at the end mean?

Though her mind was racing, Ming Ying quickly used her spiritual power to return the phone to its original position.

Her thoughts, however, had already drifted far away.

Hu Xiuliu’s message had inadvertently eased her tension. After calming down, Ming Ying thought of a new way to call Xiao Du.

The “inverted bowl” she had used when she first arrived was still in Fu Anyu’s bedroom. Now that she knew its human-world name was the “serving bell,” she extended her spiritual power to bring it to her side and pressed it firmly.

Du Yunxin soon pushed the door open and entered. Seeing both Fu Anyu and Ming Ying sitting cross-legged on the floor, with Fu Anyu’s eyes closed and a serious expression on her face, she felt as though a breeze was swirling around the room even though the windows were shut. The scene resembled a healing session from a fantasy drama.

Judging by the situation, it seemed the little fox couldn’t move an inch.

Not daring to disturb Fu Anyu, Du Yunxin tiptoed over to Ming Ying and crouched beside her, whispering into the fox’s ear, “Are you hungry? What would you like to eat?”

“Anything is fine, but I need a larger portion,” Ming Ying replied softly. “I’m forced to eat more right now.”

The word “forced” made Du Yunxin pause. She glanced at Fu Anyu in surprise, her mind involuntarily conjuring up all sorts of indescribable scenes, and quickly agreed.

After leaving the bedroom, she walked toward the kitchen with a knowing, almost motherly smile.

She didn’t keep Ming Ying waiting long. Ten minutes later, she returned with a large bowl of cold noodles.

“This is the quickest thing to make,” Du Yunxin said, handing Ming Ying a pair of chopsticks and placing a small dish of chili oil beside the bowl. “This chili sauce is incredibly fragrant, but it’s also extremely spicy. If you find the noodles too bland, just add a tiny bit of the sauce. Whatever you do, don’t dip too much at once!”

After quietly giving her instructions, Du Yunxin left the bedroom again.

Ming Ying devoured the cold noodles while keeping a close watch on Fu Anyu’s condition.

She felt confident doing this because she remembered how her father had once guarded her mother during her cultivation. Back then, when she had gone to her mother’s chamber to deliver something, she saw her father sitting beside her mother with a plate next to him, holding half a roasted chicken leg as he ate and watched over her. When he noticed Ming Ying, he even asked if she wanted some.

For now, Fu Anyu’s condition seemed stable, with no signs of the qi deviation Ming Ying had worried about.

Feeling slightly reassured, Ming Ying’s focus shifted back to the noodles, and they seemed to taste even better.

She decided to try the chili sauce Du Yunxin had recommended. After dipping just, a tiny bit into the noodles and taking a bite, her entire mouth went numb. She quickly swallowed the noodles and panted, blowing air in and out with her mouth open.

It was way too spicy! She vaguely remembered how, during their meals together, Du Yunxin would add spoonful after spoonful of the sauce to her rice, calling it a “rice companion.” Ming Ying couldn’t understand how Xiao Du could eat so much spice without even flinching!

Five minutes later, just as Fu Anyu regained her senses and prepared to end her meditation, she caught a whiff of an invigorating, spicy aroma.

She opened her eyes and saw Ming Ying sitting upright on the small spirit-gathering array but leaning toward a huge mixing bowl placed at the edge of the array. In her hands were a pair of chopsticks, with which she was picking up noodles and shredded cucumber from the bowl and putting them into her mouth. Then, she dipped the chopsticks lightly into the chili oil dish, brushed them over her lips, licked them, and only then began to chew.

Ming Ying was starting to get used to the spiciness, but she still didn’t dare to eat too much. Just as she was enjoying the tingling sensation of the chili dancing on her tongue, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Fu Anyu had shifted her posture.

She instinctively turned her head and met Fu Anyu’s gaze. Relieved and overjoyed to see her safe and sound, Ming Ying remembered the decision she had made earlier. Before she could apologize, the bowl of cold noodles and the chopsticks in her hand were unceremoniously snatched away by a pair of hands.

“No spicy food while you’re recovering from a burn,” Fu Anyu said sternly. She then picked up the chopsticks and began sifting through the noodles in the bowl, picking out every strand and vegetable shred that had touched the chili sauce and tossing them into the trash.

“But I only had a little.” Ming Ying protested, watching regretfully as the food was wasted.

“Even a little of Xiao Du’s hometown chili sauce is off-limits,” Fu Anyu reminded her firmly. After discarding the “contaminated” food, she wiped the chopsticks clean with a tissue and returned them to Ming Ying. Then, she took the chili oil dish and left the bedroom to have her own lunch.

As Ming Ying resumed eating the cold noodles, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had lost something very important.

She finished the remaining noodles in a few quick bites, patted her still-flat stomach, and reluctantly carried the empty bowl downstairs to search for more food.

But as soon as she entered the dining room, she caught a familiar scent of chili. Following the aroma, she saw that Fu Anyu’s bowl of rice noodles was glaringly red, the spicy, enticing, yet terrifying smell was emanating directly from it.

Ming Ying swallowed hard and instinctively rushed to the table, blurting out, “You’re in poor health, you should avoid spicy food!”

“I wasn’t scalded,” Fu Anyu retorted, shielding her bowl as she glanced at Ming Ying’s bandaged hand.

Ming Ying: “…”

“We’re not the same,” Fu Anyu added, before deliberately slurping a large mouthful of noodles right in front of her.

Ming Ying: “…”

Whimper!