Chapter 215 – The Young Miss Su (1)
Shen Minyao sneaked into her room at the dormitory where she was staying, along with Li Fei'er and Mu Qing.
Because she shared the room with no one, it looked larger than the other rooms occupied by other students. Not only did it give the fox woman some privacy, but it also became her hiding place. She was so cooped up in here that others grew curious why she was not going home to the Shen family.
"Wow. Your place is really nice. It makes my room feel like a shoebox." Li Fei'er gave the room a quick glance, seeing several books neatly stacked in a small bookshelf to her left. She also saw a small dresser housing Shen Minyao's school uniforms and casual wear.
On her right, there was a bed with black and gray pillows and a comforter. A study table could be found next to it, where Li Fei'er saw a few notebooks and a laptop on top of it. Shen Minyao even had an ensuite bathroom connected to her room, so she wouldn't have to use the public one.
Well, it wasn't surprising. The Shen family could afford to give Shen Minyao such a room, anyway, Li Fei'er thought. She would have done the same thing if her home was far from their school.
"Go to bed and sleep. I supposed you already informed your father that you are here." She heard Shen Minyao say, the fox woman dropping her school bag at the stool at the corner. She then went to wash her hands and face in the bathroom.
"I already did before we arrived," Li Fei'er answered, knowing that Shen Minyao could hear her clearly, despite them being in different rooms.
She flopped on Shen Minyao's bed and immediately felt her sleepiness returning at full force. She intended to rest her eyes only for a moment, but she ended up snoozing on Shen Minyao's bed just as fast.
When the fox woman returned, she raised a slender brow upon seeing Li Fei'er sleeping on her bed. Moreover, Mu Qing had taken his usual spot next to her windowsill. She just tucked Li Fei'er and allowed Baiyu to sleep next to her under the blankets before she dimmed the light inside her room.
Being left with Mu Qing, Shen Minyao decided to do her nightly routine and ignored the grim reaper, who had been acting like her bodyguard-slash-captor that had been accompanying her for some time now. She just finished doing her skincare when his voice rang.
"Will you really tell Mr. Jiang what happened to your past life as a human?" Mu Qing's question came unexpectedly, taking Shen Minyao's attention away from her phone.
She lifted her gaze and cocked her head to one side. Why was everyone eager to know her past, anyway?
"Who knows. I'm not really sure what Jiang Chen wanted to know," she replied.
"Why did you end up possessing Su Daji's body, anyway?" Mu Qing asked.
The fox woman's lips curled into a slight smile as she looked at Mu Qing.
"Oh? I didn't know Lord Hell had been growing curious about my origin all this time." She grinned at him.
"I'm merely curious… because not many demons like you and Lord Qin can possess a human and live amongst them."
The fox woman remained silent. No matter how many centuries had passed, the scenes of how she met the young Su Daji were still clear in her memory.
The days when she and her older brother lived as fox spirits felt too long ago and were almost forgotten. She had been spending centuries in the wilderness by watching humans from afar… before she met the real Su Daji for the first time.
She was hunting that certain winter day. The snow on the ground had grown thick, while the humans were inside their dwellings, keeping themselves warm from the harsh weather outside. She had accidentally hurt herself when the young lady of the Su family came into her view.
Su Daji was only thirteen at that time, and her father was still governing the province that they had for ten years. Despite her young age, she already promised great beauty in the future. It was no wonder that years later, many men would fall under her charm without her knowing. She would even pique the attention of the prince invading their neighboring lands.
"Miss, it's a fox. Don't touch it!" The maidservant of the young woman said in a worried voice. They then tried to keep a distance from a white fox that had one of her paws caught in a trap, her wound dripping with blood.
"Nonsense." The young woman pulled her silk handkerchief and slowly reached the injured fox. "Whether it's a wild animal or not, it's injured and in need of help."
She then knelt down and extended a hand, but the fox bared her sharp fangs towards the girl. She was clearly in pain and yet agitated upon being faced with a young human.
"It's alright. I'm here to release you. You don't need to worry," Young Su Daji said with a gentle smile, her eyes bright as she looked at the white fox.
The white fox retracted her hostility and looked at the young girl with curiosity. She allowed the young girl to release her foot from the trap, watching as the girl easily dislodged the metal trap using a dagger she had in her hand.
The Su province had been on the defensive for years due to the invaders. It wasn't surprising to know that a girl her age was versed in these as if she had grown up on a battlefield.
"See. I would have released you earlier if only you'd calmed down sooner." Su Daji's voice was warm and gentle, in contrast to the harsh, frigid weather around them. She treated and wrapped the white fox's wound, even allowing the fox to stay in her private courtyard at the resthouse.
Even when the white fox had recovered, she remained by Su Daji's side. Some thought that Su Daji had taken her in as a pet, but the young woman never treated the fox as an animal nor as a pet. Su Daji would always be found talking to the wild white fox with respect as if it could understand what she was saying.
"What are you talking about? The white fox is an intelligent creature. You just assumed it doesn't understand, but it does." Su Daji smiled at her maidservants, while the fox stared at the full moon above the darkened sky.
The white fox had always been watching her, whether she was on the training grounds practicing her sword or relaxing on her courtyard, eating the best fruit of the season. The two had been inseparable since then.
At first, her maidservants were wary of the fox, as they deemed her dangerous for their young miss. However, there was one time that the white fox repaid the favor Su Daji had given her. She saved the girl from a group of bandits planning to abduct her to force her father to surrender.
This effectively changed others' views towards the white fox, letting them grow fonder of her than usual. They started to get used to the fox's presence next to Su Daji and viewed the fox as her guardian that protected her from harm.
As Su Daji grew up, it was usual to spot her with a white fox accompanying her anywhere she went. Sometimes, the white fox would disappear, leaving Su Daji's side. However, she would always come back before dawn.
"Did you meet your friends?" Su Daji would tease the white fox, leaving a plate of meat jerky for the fox. It remained untouched in her presence but would disappear in the middle of the night.
The fox would only huff and rest her muzzle on her front legs as she took a short nap, ignoring the young woman's question. It had been like this for a long time… until the invaders reached the border of the Su province, forcing Su Daji's adoptive brother, Jiang Mo, to leave to defend it with his troops.
The fox who had been watching Su Daji for years was aware that the young woman was in love with her brother, something that many humans would find taboo between them. From the looks of it, the young, dashing man was oblivious of the feelings his little sister harbored for him.
His departure had caused turbulence within the Su household and had put the by-then sixteen-year-old Su Daji in depression. She would sit alone in the training room of their estate, doing nothing but to stare at the inscription of their family name hanging up at the small altar.
"Miss, we have to prepare." One of her maidservants came with a worried expression on her face.. It wasn't a secret that the battle on the borders was fierce, and Jiang Mo would need a miracle to come back alive.
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