Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 60

Malevolent ghosts are different from evil spirits. Evil spirits, once captured, need to be handed over to the Spirit Management Bureau and go through a series of procedures. However, malevolent ghosts have lost their sanity and only know how to haunt and harm people. Once captured, the rule is generally to exorcise them on the spot.

Fu Anyu summoned a spray bottle from her green jade gourd and sprayed it on the malevolent ghost lying motionless on the ground.

After the ghost’s form became visible and the vines and thorns completely dissipated into wood spiritual energy, replaced by her water spiritual energy chains, she took a photo of the scene with her phone, uploaded it to the mission request form, and added the text: “Mission completed. Completed by Fu Anyu and Chen Yanxue. Beginning exorcism now.”

She did not include Ming Ying’s name. The little fox had only recently registered with the Management Bureau, and in their records, she was still temporarily classified as a non-human-formed spirit.

If the higher-ups found out that Ming Ying had assisted in the battle, the Management Bureau would surely come looking.

Ming Ying couldn’t understand the complexities of this era’s spirit hunters. While Fu Anyu dealt with the malevolent ghost, she stood by and watched.

This snake spirit malevolent ghost had a half-human, half-snake form. Its hollow eyes stared fixedly at Ming Ying, its broken mouth opening and closing as if trying to say something. But aside from hissing, it never uttered a single word.

Ming Ying grew somewhat frightened under its gaze and quickly moved behind Fu Anyu. Still, she couldn’t help but glance at it and ask, “Does it still have consciousness?”

“She has become a malevolent ghost, retaining only her survival instincts. There’s no saving her,” Fu Anyu shook her head, frowning as she looked at the old mansion. “The barrier around this old mansion was likely set up by other spirit hunters to suppress her, but she ended up using it to protect herself. If it hadn’t been exposed that someone died near here, her situation might have remained hidden.”

Chen Yanxue also snorted coldly. “Those people are still the same as ever. Do they really think that in times of peace, they don’t need to put in any effort?”

“That’s the general trend. Responsible spirit hunters like Abbot Hu are already rare,” Fu Anyu said, then turned to Ming Ying. “Do you dislike missions like this?”

“Ah? Me?” Ming Ying, exhausted and drowsy, was caught off guard by the question. After a moment’s pause, she shook her head and replied, “I’m fine with it. I just worry about you, all of you. After all, evil spirits are hard to deal with, and I’m afraid you might get hurt.”

“Tonight, it was a spirit that had turned into a malevolent ghost. There was no choice but to eliminate it,” Fu Anyu reminded her. “But in this era, ghosts are extremely rare. Most of the time, we face spirits, living spirits.”

Ming Ying was taken aback, as if she understood why Fu Anyu was suddenly telling her this. Still, she shook her head and said seriously, “I think those who do wrong should be punished. Besides, you humans also have professions specifically for punishing criminals, right?”

“In that case, if you’re willing, you can come along whenever I go out for ‘overtime’ work,” Fu Anyu said. “You can help, or you can do nothing and just stay in the car, watching us carry out the mission and waiting for our return.”

Ming Ying obediently agreed.

When it came to exorcism, Chen Yanxue was more professional than Fu Anyu. After Fu Anyu gave her a signal and stepped back with Ming Ying, Chen Yanxue stepped forward. Holding a sword in one hand and a talisman in the other, she pierced the center of the talisman with the sword, pointed it at the malevolent ghost, and flames ignited from the talisman at the sword’s tip, engulfing the ghost.

As the ghost let out its dying hisses, she began chanting scriptures.

Fu Anyu sealed Ming Ying’s hearing once more, her gaze fixed on the vengeful spirit on the ground. Should anything unexpected occur, she could rush to support Chen Yanxue at a moment’s notice.

Ming Ying returned to a state where she could only hear Fu Anyu’s voice. This time, she detected weariness in Fu Anyu’s breathing. Gently tugging at Fu Anyu’s sleeve, she whispered, “Once Xiao Chen finishes burning the vengeful spirit, can we go home?”

“Yes,” Fu Anyu replied.

Reassured, Ming Ying rested her left hand on Fu Anyu’s arm, slowly wrapping it around her. “I’m tired,” she pleaded softly. “Can I lean on you for a while?”

Fu Anyu stroked her head. Though her eyes remained on Chen Yanxue, she drew the little fox into her embrace, allowing her to rest against her.

In the profound silence, with only the sound of her beloved’s breathing, the atmosphere was overwhelmingly soporific. Ming Ying closed her eyes and rested for a while before drowsiness washed over her, her consciousness growing increasingly hazy.

She had never expended so much spiritual power at once, nor had she ever focused so intently on spellcasting. Even when pursued by malevolent demons in the past, she had merely channeled all her spiritual energy into her legs to flee.

Fu Anyu soon felt the weight against her chest increase. Glancing down, she saw the little fox curled against her, breathing softly with closed eyes. Her tail was gradually slipping out from beneath her loose athletic wear, clearly, she had fallen asleep.

Just then, Chen Yanxue successfully subdued the vengeful spirit, gathering the residual resentment into her peach wood sword before sheathing it. As she approached, she glanced at Ming Ying in surprise and murmured, “How can she still sleep? She was terrified when we first arrived.”

“Let’s head back early too,” Fu Anyu said, then scooped up the little fox, who had begun murmuring in her sleep, and carried her toward their car.

Chen Yanxue: “Alright.”

Why did she get the feeling that President Fu was already quite practiced at carrying the fox demon?

It must be an illusion.

…

Ming Ying had a strange dream.

In this dream, Fu Anyu was absent. Instead, there was a woman with a human upper body and a serpent’s tail.

The woman wore a cheongsam and had styled her hair into an elegant serpent-shaped bun. Humming a tune, she carried a watering can and tended to the flowers outside.

As Ming Ying drew closer, she noticed the house beside the woman bore a striking resemblance to the old mansion they had visited earlier. Instinctively, she approached the main door, studying it carefully. Just as a thought crossed her mind, the door suddenly swung open from the inside, startling her.

A woman in a plain white floral cheongsam stepped out, her demeanor radiating righteousness. Ming Ying noticed she carried a handbag and wore delicate high heels. Smiling warmly, she walked toward the serpent woman.

“Darling, I’m heading out,” the woman said, reaching out to smooth the serpent woman’s slightly disheveled hair. Then, she gently cupped her chin, and as the serpent woman’s lips parted slightly, she leaned in without hesitation and kissed her.

Caught off guard, Ming Ying covered her mouth in shock, her eyes wide with disbelief before her cheeks flushed with heat.

Suddenly, she understood. The serpent woman was likely the snake demon vengeful spirit they had subdued earlier that night. As for the other woman, given the term of endearment, she must have been her lover or wife.

The serpent woman blushed at the kiss, responding clumsily. When they reluctantly parted, she plucked a vibrant red rose in full bloom and tucked it into the woman’s hair.

“Oh my! You’re picking roses without gloves again!” the woman exclaimed, quickly taking her hand and pulling out a clean handkerchief to carefully wipe away the blood from the rose thorn pricks. She gently blew on her palm and said, “Hold it for a moment. I have to go now; the coachman is waiting for me.”

Ming Ying and the snake woman watched together as the woman walked away and got into a rickshaw at the gate.

Just as Ming Ying was admiring the deep bond between the human and the snake, the scene suddenly shifted. Under a continuous drizzle, a massive brocade snake went mad, crushing everything in the flower field with its body. The roses that had once been tenderly cared for were now all broken, their delicate blossoms ground into the mud by the snake’s body, left in tatters.

Ming Ying was stunned by the sight and instinctively wanted to step forward to stop it. But the snake suddenly halted its movements, its upper body transforming back into human form. Mumming syllables that were both unintelligible and indistinct to Ming Ying, it reached out toward the remaining cluster of roses.

One by one, it plucked the roses, paying no heed to the sharp thorns piercing its hands and drawing blood.

Soon, it had gathered a full bouquet of roses, clutching them tightly to its chest as it slithered toward the house.

Ming Ying followed it inside, only to find the floor stained with blood. A woman lay quietly in a pool of blood, a bloody hole in her forehead, her eyes wide open in death.

It was the very woman who had kissed the snake woman earlier!

Ming Ying noticed that the woman’s clothes and skirt were torn and tattered, as if someone had violently ripped them. There were also signs of struggle on the woman, and her skirt was stained red with blood.

The snake woman slithered to the side of the woman’s corpse, placing all the roses in her arms around the body, arranging them meticulously in a circle. Then, it took out a clean handkerchief, wiped the blood from its own palms, leaned down, and gently closed the woman’s eyes.

With its massive serpent body, it coiled around the woman, sitting her upright, and then rested its head quietly on her shoulder, embracing her and affectionately nuzzling its head against her chin.

Just then, a group of people dressed in black clothes and hats burst through the door, raising dark, tubular objects toward them.

It was at this moment that Ming Ying jolted awake, feeling a tightness in her chest. As soon as she opened her mouth to breathe in fresh air, she began coughing uncontrollably.

She woke in complete darkness, but after only a few coughs, she heard the sound of a light switching on. Immediately, a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her, gently patting her back.

“What’s wrong?” Fu Anyu asked as she patted her back. “Let me get you a glass of water.”

Just as she was about to get out of bed, Ming Ying quickly grabbed her, waving her hands repeatedly. She soon stopped coughing, took a deep breath, and said in a muffled voice, “I dreamed of that snake demon vengeful ghost.”

Fu Anyu wasn’t particularly surprised, as thoughts by day often turn into dreams by night. Moreover, the little fox was especially afraid of that vengeful ghost, so she comforted her, “Don’t be afraid. The vengeful ghost has already been laid to rest. You’ll never see her again.”

You’ll never see her again.

These words struck a chord in Ming Ying’s heart, especially since she had just dreamed of the snake woman’s heart-wrenching separation from her lover. Her nose tingled, and tears suddenly fell.

“I didn’t dream of the vengeful ghost coming for me,” she shook her head, looking at Fu Anyu and explaining through sobs, “I just… just saw a very, very sad past, the vengeful ghost’s past.”

While the memory was still fresh, she recounted the contents of her dream to Fu Anyu, crying as she spoke, until she was eventually choked with tears and unable to continue.

She only knew that the woman had died, but Fu Anyu deduced from the details how the woman had died. She clenched her fist, and her gaze turned cold.

“Ming Ying, we have already performed rites for her and sent her to reunite with her lover, fulfilling their wish to be together.”

But when she spoke to the little fox, her eyes and voice softened once more.