translator: baumkuchen

He slept very comfortably. The fluffy tails were firmly wrapped around Lu Qingjiu's body, making him feel like he was sleeping on a warm, soft cloud. His illness seemed to have been cured, and his heavy body began to become light.

However, this comfortable feeling didn't last very long. Pain awoke Lu Qingjiu from his dreams. He opened his eyes in a daze. He felt someone lying on his body, the heavy weight making him unable to get up.

And from his neck came the feeling of being stabbed by a sharp object, making Lu Qingjiu snap awake. He realised, there was someone burying their face into his shoulder, and was biting his neck—— Without a doubt, this was Bai Yuehu.

"Yuehu…" Lu Qingjiu's desire for survival made him force out his voice. He placed his hands on Bai Yuehu's shoulders, wanting to push him off his body. But the gap between humans and non-humans appeared in extreme saturation at this time. He used up all the strength in his body, but Bai Yuehu didn't move an inch.

"Ah!" He felt teeth pierce the skin of his neck. Bright red blood dripped onto the pillow. Lu Qingjiu cried out in pain, saying, "Bai Yuehu—— Stop——"

Upon hearing Lu Qingjiu's voice, Bai Yuehu's movements stilled. He raised his head slightly, looking towards the Lu Qingjiu below his body.

Lu Qingjiu could now see Bai Yuehu's face. Even though his expression was peaceful, exactly the same as usual, but his lips were stained with bright red blood, giving him a strange charm. He called out to him, "Qingjiu."

As Lu Qingjiu heaved a few ragged breaths, he asked, "Bai Yuehu, are you hungry?"

Bai Yuehu said, "I'm not hungry."

Lu Qingjiu swallowed. He said, "If you're not hungry, what did you bite me for?"

"Are you scared?" Bai Yuehu suddenly asked. His hand touched the bite wound on Lu Qingjiu's neck. He scooped up some blood with his index finger, then placed it into his mouth and slowly sucked. Following that, the corners of his mouth hooked up in a smile, as if extremely satisfied. "Just as delicious as I imagined."

Lu Qingjiu forced himself to calm down. He asked, "You're… planning on eating me?"

Bai Yuehu replied, "What do you think?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I think, you're not going to eat me."

Bai Yuehu didn't speak, and just gazed at Lu Qingjiu quietly, as if trying to judge something.

"If you were going to eat me, you would definitely swallow me whole, why wake me up from pain?" Lu Qingjiu asked, "Right?"

Bai Yuehu was silent for a long time. Just as cold sweat began to drip down Lu Qingjiu's back, he nodded and said, "Yes."

Lu Qingjiu let out the breath he'd been holding.

But just as Lu Qingjiu relaxed, Bai Yuehu bent down once more, moving close to Lu Qingjiu's neck. Then, he began to meticulously lick the blood that had flowed down off of Lu Qingjiu's neck. This meticulous att.i.tude of his made Lu Qingjiu think of how he treated precious food… Not willing to let even a single bit go to waste.

Lu Qingjiu could only lay down on the bed and let Bai Yuehu do as he wished, not daring to make a move in fear of stimulating him. What had happened just now, had let him confirm that Bai Yuehu truly wanted to eat him, skin and bone alike, the type where he couldn't bear to waste a single bit.

After an unknown period of time, just as Lu Qingjiu was even beginning to think that he was about to fall asleep, Bai Yuehu's movements finally stopped.

He got up and carefully observed the mark he had left on Lu Qingjiu neck. He c.o.c.ked his head to the side and asked, "Are you going to fear me now?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "I won't."

"Why not?" Bai Yuehu asked, "I want to eat you."

Lu Qingjiu smiled and said, "You just want to, it's not like you have."

Bai Yuehu replied, "You're really not afraid of me?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Well… Not very."

Bai Yuehu observed Lu Qingjiu's expression. Only after confirming that the person before him wasn't lying, did he completely get off of Lu Qingjiu's body. It was then that Lu Qingjiu clearly recognised, that there seemed to be some life-threatening danger hidden in the question he'd just asked. If he really began to fear Bai Yuehu because of this incident, avoiding meeting his gaze, perhaps in the next moment, this inhumanly beautiful man before him would turn into his original form and swallow him whole.

Bai Yuehu didn't like people being afraid of him. He also didn't need to live with someone who was afraid of him.

Fortunately, Lu Qingjiu, as he'd showed, wasn't very afraid of Bai Yuehu, so he'd been lucky enough to get through this with his life.

Bai Yuehu had gotten off of Lu Qingjiu's body, but those nine fluffy tails were still wrapped around Lu Qingjiu. Lu Qingjiu reached out and touched the wound on the side of his neck, finding a bite mark without any incident.

Lu Qingjiu thought of something. His expression became serious.

Bai Yuehu asked, "What are you thinking about?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "That… Foxes are canines, right?"

Bai Yuehu replied, "En?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "Since I've been bitten by a canine, do I need to get a rabies shot?"

Bai Yuehu, "…"

"But it seems like you bit me in your human form." Lu Qingjiu became a little confused. "Then in the end was I bitten by a human, or was I bitten by a fox?"

The two stared at each other, not speaking for a long time.

In the end, it was Lu Qingjiu who gave up first, saying that there would probably be no problems, even asking Bai Yuehu if he had bitten someone else before.

"No," Bai Yuehu expressed, firm, "I've never bitten anyone."

Just as Lu Qingjiu was going to let out a smile, he heard him unfeelingly add on a line, "I've always swallowed them whole."

Lu Qingjiu asked, wronged, "Then why did you bite me?"

Bai Yuehu said, "You looked too delicious, it would have been a bit of a pity just swallowing you whole."

Lu Qingjiu, "…"

Bai Yuehu said, "Who knew that after just getting a little taste, you woke up."

Lu Qingjiu, "…" Why does your tone sound so regretful, if I hadn't woken up, would my life have really just ended today?! It seemed like there was some truth in what Pang Ziqi had said. Wild beasts didn't have any logic…

Lu Qingjiu said weakly, "Then what do you think of the taste?"

Bai Yuehu said, "Delicious." 

For a moment, Lu Qingjiu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He hadn't thought that Bai Yuehu would have learned this slang. 

For the remaining half of the night, Lu Qingjiu didn't dare to sleep too deeply. However, it seemed like Bai Yuehu already had no plans on eating him. At dawn, Yin Xun hurried over from his home despite the wind and the snow. When he saw the whole and hale Lu Qingjiu, he let out a big sigh of relief.

Lu Qingjiu got Bai Yuehu to leave the room, asking him to get him a basin of hot water, then told Yin Xun about everything that had happened that night.

Yin Xun looked at the bite mark on the side of Lu Qingjiu's neck and said, trembling with fear, "f.u.c.k, weren't you scared?"

Lu Qingjiu said, "…Maybe I was muddled from the fever, but I wasn't particularly afraid."

Yin Xun said, "That's too terrifying. If it were me, I might have peed on the spot." To bite someone's neck was like biting their lifeline. As long as Bai Yuehu increased his strength even  in the slightest, his weak neck would let out a crack, and just like that, it would neatly snap into two. It was fortunate that Lu Qingjiu could be so calm.

Lu Qingjiu replied, "What are you scared about? Aren't you made of water?"

Yin Xun, "Even though my body is made of water, my heart is as crystal clear and fragile as gla.s.s."

Lu Qingjiu made a gagging expression. Yin Xin continued to disgust Lu Qingjiu with a shy smile.

After gagging, Lu Qingjiu said, "But speaking of, it's because he likes me that he wants to eat me?"

Yin Xun said, "Yep."

Lu Qingjiu felt like that logic wasn't quite right. He asked, doubtful, "Then since he didn't eat me, does that show that he actually doesn't like me all that much?"

Yin Xun thought for a moment. "I think it's that he likes you too much, that he didn't eat you." Actually, he could really understand Bai Yuehu's mindset. Usually, it was still okay, but once Lu Qingjiu fell ill, he gave people a sense of vulnerability, making it so they couldn't help but think that humans were so easy to lose, and losing them would end up making them feel sad, so they would be better off just placing them into their stomach in advance, that way, they would never have to worry about being separated ever again. However, what Yin Xun had never expected was that, even though Bai Yuehu had taken a bite, he had actually controlled his hunger and left Lu Qingjiu a path to survival. When he'd come over today, he'd truly been terrified of seeing only Bai Yuehu left in the room, and an empty bed…

Lu Qingjiu felt like he couldn't understand this group of non-humans. But it didn't matter if he couldn't understand them, as long as he was still alive it was fine.

On his end, Bai Yuehu had gotten the warm water and come back. In the room, Lu Qingjiu used the hot water to wash his face, but still felt like his entire body felt stick, and wanted to go take a shower.

"You still want to shower?" Yin Xun said, "I'm worried that you'll have a relapse afterwards." Just now, he'd taken Lu Qingjiu's temperature, and found that he had recovered, going back to a normal temperature. But currently, it was too cold, and Lu Qingjiu's health wasn't very good.

"Then what?" Lu Qingjiu said, "I can't just keep on being dirty."

"It should be fine if you just wipe yourself down with hot water. This room is so warm, you should be fine even if you strip," Yin Xun said.

"Alright." Lu Qingjiu didn't try to force it. He didn't dare fall ill again. He would have to suffer from sickness, and on top of that, there would be a greedy fox spirit watching him like prey from the side. This time, he'd just given him a bite mark. Next time, if he didn't wake up, who knew if he would be able to open his eyes ever again…

Lu Qingjiu then simply wiped himself down in the room, mainly to wipe the sweat off his body. As he wiped and wiped, he suddenly thought of something. "Right, where's the little fox kit?" He remembered that he went to sleep yesterday, it was still by his side, but after he woke up, it was gone. Could Bai Yuehu have…

In the face of Lu Qingjiu's stare, Bai Yuehu frowned. "What are you looking at me for, it has so little meat, I'm not interested in it."

Lu Qingjiu said in a small voice, "I actually don't have a lot of meat on me either."

Yin Xun nodded together with Lu Qingjiu. "Right, right, see, Lu Qingjiu's practically all bones."

Bai Yuehu said, "It's okay, you still have room for development."

Lu Qingjiu, "…" Thank you for your consideration, but I'd rather not have it.

Bai Yuehu said, "It's sleeping together with the two pigs outside, it's perfectly fine."

Only then did Lu Qingjiu let out a sigh of relief. Actually, he'd also felt that Bai Yuehu probably wouldn't have eaten the little fox kit, after all, they were both of the same race— maybe. However, it seemed like Yin Xun had long since known what exactly Bai Yuehu was, but Lu Qingjiu couldn't find it in him to ask. After all, Bai Yuehu was reluctant to eat him because he liked his cooking, and Yin Xun clearly wasn't as lucky.

The worst part was that if Bai Yuehu ate half of Yin Xun, Yin Xun would be able to grow back the next day. He was simply the best self-replenis.h.i.+ng food source.

The author has something to say:

Bai Yuehu: This Lu Qingjiu is sick.

Lu Qingjiu: I can still be saved—

Bai Yuehu: No need, let's eat him.

Lu Qingjiu: Ah ah ah ah ah!!!