Chai Xiaomi finally stopped messing with him.
Instead, she sighed and sluggishly leaned back against his chest, pressing the side of her face against it, listening to the rapid heartbeat thumping heavily in his chest cavity.
"I just couldn't sleep and wanted to talk to you."
Wu Li took quite a while to steady his breathing before raising his hand and gently covering the crown of her head.
His palm slowly stroked down her soft, long hair.
Over and over again.
Her thoughts were never hard to guess.
She wore her emotions on her sleeve, simple and straightforward.
On the way back from the Ouyang residence, she had been constantly asking him about fox spirits, like how long they needed to cultivate to take human form, or why they needed to absorb life essence. The questions came one after another.
Looking at her tireless posture, it was as if she couldn't wait to dig up the ancestral origins of all fox spirits.
By the end of her questioning, he really couldn't answer anymore, since he wasn't a fox spirit himself.
Yet she threw out a remark: "Lili, you're so charming, you definitely must have a bit of fox spirit genes in you."
Wu Li: "?"
He really couldn't tell if that was a compliment or an insult.
In any case, he knew without needing to think.
Right now, her mind was entirely occupied by that red fox.
He suddenly felt a bit of displeasure and lifted her chin.
"If you don't figure out the matter with that fox spirit, are you going to keep thinking about her?"
"Of course," Chai Xiaomi said listlessly. "Hongxiao is my friend, she often roasts rabbit meat for me and Big Fat Snake to eat. How can I ignore my friend when she is going through pain?"
"And I always have this feeling that she seems to have a deep relationship with Xiaoman, but Xiaoman looks like she doesn't know her at all." This was the thing that puzzled her the most.
Wu Li raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Since you want to know so much, then I will take you to see."
"See?" Chai Xiaomi paused, "See how?"
Before she finished speaking, Wu Li had already picked her up and sat up from the chaise longue.
"Come with me to the outskirts to find that fox. A demon core can retain all memories; as long as we enter it, we can glimpse past events."
He set her down steadily on the edge of the bed, lit the candle inside the shade, and turned to get a dress from the bedside cabinet.
"Get dressed first."
Chai Xiaomi looked down and couldn't help but curve the corners of her lips. He had deliberately chosen the same color palette; he really understood her fashion style.
The detail-oriented side of her was deeply touched.
"But I'm tired, I don't have the energy to dress," she murmured sweetly, refusing to take the clothes.
Once a person clearly knows they are being well-loved, they become keen on casually throwing a little tantrum for no reason.
Wu Li didn't say anything. Like handling a delicate doll, he skillfully began dressing her.
When he did things seriously, his expression was always exceptionally focused.
It was the same now as he dressed her; she didn't even have to lift a hand, he would support it for her.
She even deliberately swayed back and forth to create some difficulty for him.
Instead of getting angry, he coaxed her softly.
"Be good, don't sway around."
"Mimi, listen to me just a little bit, okay?"
After she shook the knots loose time and again, he had no choice but to issue an ultimatum: "I'll count to three. Move again, and I'll use a Gu."
She instantly became well-behaved; she didn't want to be immobilized.
Chai Xiaomi felt like a spoiled little emperor.
No matter how much her parents spoiled her at home, they never went this far. If her parents saw her acting this lazy and exploiting someone else, they would hundred percent scold her severely.
She couldn't help but raise her eyes slightly to examine him.
Wu Li's eyelashes were long and dense, making his eyes always look very deep.
At this moment, his half-lowered long lashes cast a shadow, covering his crystalline eyes.
Her gaze moved down inch by inch.
A straight nose bridge, slightly pursed lip lines, and the clothes she had intentionally pulled open earlier. His lean and strong upper body hid beneath the slightly open collar, faintly visible as he moved to dress her, carrying a sort of half-hidden allure.
It was damn tempting.
Amidst her wild thoughts, she was fully dressed.
It was only when they got outside that Chai Xiaomi realized a thick fog had risen again tonight.
The moist white expanse rolled in from all directions, silently swallowing the silhouettes near and far.
Wu Li leaped into the night sky. Fine water droplets hung in the air, moistening clothes upon contact, and even breathing carried a cool, damp chill.
He flew sideways, using his body to shield her, afraid the person in his arms would get damp from the thick fog.
Chai Xiaomi peeked out a pair of bright black eyes from his embrace.
From high up, the perspective was exceptionally broad. She inadvertently caught sight of a soft yellow halo blooming in the middle of an empty street alley. It was a lantern, held by an vaguely discernible figure.
The light couldn't pierce the fog beyond three feet.
The blurred figure looked like a woman with a graceful posture, walking neither fast nor slow, as if she wasn't in a hurry.
It was as if she was taking a leisurely stroll in her own courtyard.
Just as she was watching, the figure suddenly paused.
As if sensing something, the person abruptly looked up through the layers of thick fog. The entire silhouette was still blurry, yet Chai Xiaomi clearly saw those slender eyes.
They were exactly the same as the statue on the cruise ship that night!
She shrank back in fright.
After calming down for a few seconds, she asked:
"Lili, do you know the Goddess of Santu?"
"Yeah, I've heard of her."
"I just... think I saw her."
In such heavy fog, even silhouettes were blurred, yet those eyes were seen so clearly, as if locking onto her at a glance.
Chai Xiaomi recalled that the gaze seemed to carry a leisurely, faint smile.
Wu Li turned his head to look down at the area below. It was late at night, and with the fog, the streets were empty without a trace of anyone.
Looking at the quail-like little head in his arms, the corners of his lips slowly curled up: "Don't be afraid. It's just an evil god. Gods are all built up by people's willpower."
"If you believe in it, it exists; if you don't believe, it's nothing but fleeting clouds."
Wu Li's voice fluttered in the wind, pleasant to the ear.
Chai Xiaomi instantly stopped being afraid. She peeked out again to look down, but the place was empty. Where was there any evil god?
"Lili, then do you believe in gods?"
She suddenly became a little curious. Where would this arrogant and conceited boy pin his hopes?
Based on her understanding of him, he definitely wouldn't believe.
He had said he only believed in himself.
Now he also believed in her, but on the condition that she had to kiss him first.
As her thoughts spun wildly, she saw him lower his head, unexpectedly meeting her dazed eyes.
The smile on the boy's lips was so bright it seemed to melt away all the surrounding fog.
He said softly:
"I love a god."
Chai Xiaomi blinked, her brain unable to process it.
She blankly let out an "Ah?"
It was the first time she had heard of Wu Li having something he loved that wasn't food, clothing, or daily use items, but actually a god.
It was as if she had opened the door to a new world, her curiosity gushing out:
"Are you referring to the gods worshipped in Miaojiang? I read in books before that Miaojiang has the Great Ancestor God, Nuo Ancestor God, Dragon Ancestor, Feishan God, and the like."
"Do you love all gods, or do you have a particular favorite?"
"I actually have a particular favorite immortal, it's the God of Wealth, hehehe."
Through the sound of the wind faintly came a low, chuckling:
"Idiot..."
