Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 61

Although it was already two in the morning, Ming Ying had cried and had a nightmare, leaving her wide awake.

Fu Anyu held the little fox in her arms, letting her lean against her as she cried.

“Sister, do you also have dreams like this when you exorcise evil spirits?” Ming Ying asked once her emotions had settled slightly.

“When I first started taking on missions, I used to have nightmares,” Fu Anyu nodded. “But they were different from the dream you described. Mine were purely nightmares, like dreaming that the evil spirits I sent to the Monster Management Bureau had escaped and were wreaking havoc at home, or that the vengeful ghosts I killed had come back to life, or that I was fighting evil spirits all over again in my dreams.”

She paused. “But your dream seems less like a nightmare and more like a visitation dream.”

“A visitation dream?” Ming Ying was taken aback, quickly recalling how the snake demon vengeful ghost had stared at her for a long time before being exorcised, its mouth opening and closing as if it had something to say. But because it had become a vengeful ghost, it couldn’t utter a word. “But why would it visit me in a dream? Her lover died long ago. Judging by the clothing, that woman must have died at least two hundred years ago.”

“No, visitation dreams from vengeful ghosts don’t necessarily have a reason,” Fu Anyu shook her head. “Perhaps it was just her lingering obsession affecting you, allowing you to glimpse her past through your dream.”

“What you saw in your dream was likely the very obsession that kept her lingering in this world for two hundred years,” she continued to explain to Ming Ying. “If the deceased suffered injustice before death, they retain a very strong obsession. Their souls then refuse to enter the cycle of reincarnation, turning into resentment and eventually losing their sanity, existing only through their obsession. That’s how vengeful ghosts come to be.”

Ming Ying hummed softly in response, then remembered something and asked, “Then, could that woman have already been reincarnated? Maybe the vengeful ghost visited me in a dream hoping I would find her reincarnation?”

Fu Anyu fell silent for a moment. “You might have watched too much Inuyasha. There’s no research to prove the feasibility of reincarnation yet. According to ancient texts, all souls must drink Meng Po’s soup before reincarnating, forgetting all memories of their current life. Even if reincarnation does exist, that woman wouldn’t remember the snake demon she loved in her previous life.”

The light that had just sparked in Ming Ying’s eyes dimmed again, and she leaned against Fu Anyu, sulking.

“Sleep, it’s late,” Fu Anyu said, stroking the fox’s ears.

“I can’t sleep anymore,” Ming Ying snuggled closer into her embrace. “That dream was so scary, there was blood everywhere.”

Fear made her cling tightly to Fu Anyu, wanting only to be closer to her. But she didn’t notice at all that Fu Anyu’s expression had grown somewhat unnatural.

Fu Anyu only knew that holding the little fox would make her less prone to nightmares, but she had no experience in coaxing a fox to sleep. Usually, she would turn off the lights, hold the fox in her arms, and the little fox would fall asleep on her own.

After a moment of thought, she picked up the tablet on the bedside table, searched for a lighthearted and healing romance anime she remembered, and played the first episode for Ming Ying to watch. “Then watch this first to relax.”

Ming Ying lifted her head from her embrace and took the tablet to watch.

Somehow, when she discovered that the female lead was an ordinary human and the male lead was a great white fox demon, Ming Ying couldn’t help but think of herself and Fu Anyu.

Except, she was nowhere near as powerful as the great demon named “Tomoe.” Most of the time, it was Fu Anyu protecting her, not the other way around.

After fleeing the pursuit of evil demons and arriving in the human world, Ming Ying had regretted more than once her laziness back at home.

Whether it was Inuyasha or the anime she was currently watching, Kamisama Kiss, the demon characters were mostly powerful and capable of protecting their human lovers well. Their feelings would also grow stronger through repeated acts of protection and being protected.

But what about her and Fu Anyu? She was being protected by Fu Anyu, gradually developing a reliance on her, and even secretly considering her as the one she loved.

However, as Xiao Du had said before, feelings are a two-way street. If it was just her one-sided crush, while Fu Anyu saw her only as a little sister the entire time, this relationship was destined to go nowhere.

At this thought, Ming Ying suddenly lost interest in watching the anime. Her mind returned to the question she had been pondering all day: how should she interact with Fu Anyu to satisfy herself without causing Fu Anyu to dislike her?

Noticing that the little fox in her arms was nodding off repeatedly and her fingers holding the tablet were gradually loosening, Fu Anyu called softly, “Ming Ying?”

The little fox did not respond.

Fu Anyu took away the tablet, helped her lie down, lowered the air conditioner temperature, and tucked her in before turning off the light.

Ming Ying didn’t know when she had fallen asleep. In her dreams, she felt increasingly cold and couldn’t help but search for a source of warmth.

Soon, she found a warm arm, and then caught the familiar scent of jasmine. Before her muddled mind could think further, her body instinctively moved closer, hugging both the person and the arm tightly.

A hand gently stroked her head, then soon moved to her back, patting her softly as if soothing a child to sleep.

Ming Ying fell into a deep slumber. When she woke up the next morning, she found herself alone in bed again. Fu Anyu and her laptop bag were gone, she must have gone to work.

Ming Ying curled up in bed and sneezed, vaguely remembering that the air conditioner had felt unusually cold the night before, so cold that she had snuggled into Fu Anyu’s embrace. But when she picked up the air conditioner remote to check, the displayed temperature hadn’t changed.

“Was it just my imagination?” she muttered to herself, sitting up to get dressed before heading downstairs for breakfast.

As for the question of how to interact, Ming Ying thought about it for three whole days without coming to any conclusion.

During this time, Fu Anyu hadn’t been “working overtime” and would come home punctually every noon and evening to have meals with her. With nothing to do at home, Ming Ying resumed gathering spiritual energy as her daily practice. After meals, she would gather energy, and when tired, she would hold her tablet to watch anime or read books, all while pondering the troubling issue of their relationship.

People and demons online all said that questions like “how to fall in love” were best discussed with someone trustworthy and close, such as a sister or roommate who lived together day and night.

However, among those around her, one person directly avoided all topics of love, while the other had gotten together with someone too easily. Either she couldn’t ask, or there was no reference value.

She had no choice but to treat anime and yuri novels as her introductory guides to love. She noted down the methods the protagonists used to grow closer, made slight adjustments based on her own situation, and applied them to herself.

As a result, when Fu Anyu returned home these past couple of days, she always felt as though the little fox had been replaced by someone else.

The little fox would either tie on an apron and cook alongside Du Yunxin, only to produce “dark cuisine” barely distinguishable from charcoal; or she would wear the kimono Du Yunxin used for cosplay, with clusters of flames floating around her, hands tucked into the wide sleeves. The moment the door opened, one could see the fox swaying her four tails, her smile radiant under the firelight as she greeted, “Hey, you’re back?”

For the first time, Fu Anyu felt she really shouldn’t have let the little fox watch those animations, otherwise, how could she have imitated them so perfectly?

But she never criticized the little fox for it. Instead, she sought out more lighthearted and cheerful animations for her to watch. Every day when she went to work, she found herself looking forward to returning home just a little more.

She hoped to always see the little fox smiling, leaving all her worries behind.

Time flew by, and soon it was the sweltering heat of August.

Ming Ying persisted in gathering spiritual energy every day, finally healing the burn on her right hand ahead of schedule.

When Fu Anyu took her to Dr. He went for a check-up, and the doctor incredulously shone a flashlight over Ming Ying’s hand again and again, confirming that it truly no longer needed bandaging. She asked in an exaggerated tone, “How astonishing! Is this the power of a great demon?”

In front of outsiders, Ming Ying habitually remained silent, and Fu Anyu had no desire to engage with the topic. She simply said, “I have a meeting to attend. Can we leave now?”

“Go ahead, she’s fine now,” Dr. He said, though her gaze lingered on Fu Anyu with reluctance. She added, “You really care about this little one, huh? Does Hu Xiuliu know about this?”

“He knows,” Fu Anyu replied, taking Ming Ying’s hand and standing up to leave. Suddenly remembering something, she turned back to ask Dr. He, “Has he been discharged from the hospital yet?”

“He was discharged a while ago,” Dr. He said, interlacing her fingers and resting her chin on them, giving Fu Anyu a teasing smile. “What, as his nominal fiancée, you didn’t even know that?” “The term ‘fiancée’ made Ming Ying’s ears perk up, and her gaze toward Dr. He instantly filled with anger.

She didn’t believe Dr. He was unaware that Fu Anyu disliked discussing romantic topics.

Fu Anyu’s expression darkened immediately. “He Che.”

“Alright, alright, I was just joking!” Seeing the cold, sharp look in Fu Anyu’s eyes, like an icy blade ready to slice her apart, Dr. He quickly backtracked. “Actually, he was discharged yesterday evening. Probably pushed all the way back to his temple by that black cat of his. You know he has no family.”

“She did that on purpose!” Ming Ying fumed as soon as the car left the hospital grounds. “Sister, let’s switch hospitals next time! She’s always speaking with that sarcastic tone, and the way she looks at you is… is…”

Too angry to find the right words, she paused for a moment before continuing, “It’s like a sly fox spirit with ill intentions!”

Chen Yanxue, who was driving, pressed her lips together to suppress a laugh.

Fu Anyu also smiled faintly but didn’t respond to the comment. Instead, she instructed Chen Yanxue, “Head to Zhuqing Taoist Temple.”

Not getting the reaction she expected, Ming Ying was taken aback. She touched her right hand, which still held the faint sensation of the bandages, and wondered why Fu Anyu would trust someone as frivolous as Dr. He.

But then it occurred to her that the two of them might have built trust during a “classmate period” she knew nothing about. The discomfort stirring inside her gradually subsided.

Perhaps Fu Anyu held information that could sanction Dr. He, or maybe Dr. He was just like that by nature, sarcastic with everyone.

She tried to convince herself.

However, Fu Anyu’s silence still angered Ming Ying. On the way to Zhuqing Taoist Temple, she kept her gaze fixed out the window.

It wasn’t until Fu Anyu called her name, “Ming Ying.”

“What is it?” Ming Ying was still sulking, stubbornly refusing to turn around. “I’m listening.”

“It’s very hot today. After we get home, do you want to take a bath together?” Fu Anyu asked.

After asking, she saw the little fox’s ears slowly flush crimson, then heard her mumble, “Yes.”