Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home

Surprise

Supper ended after Su Chan had calmed down from her emotional breakdown . Yundong had finished his meal anyway, and Su Chan had lost her appetite . Bye-bye cheap monk .

They moved to the living room after Yundong cleared the table with Qi Kinesis . Su Chan had watched the whole display with subdued wonder . She had seen Master perform it countless times . But still . This was Yundong, someone who, just a few months back, knew close to nothing about Cultivation .

Now he was performing Qi Kinesis like a master .

Wow .

Su Chan would be performing cartwheels in the air right now if she wasn’t feeling so down .

"Beloved?"

Yundong looked up from the phone box and smiled . "Hmm?"

"Who are you calling?"

Yundong had been staring at the phone box for the past five minutes . He wasn’t calling anyone on it though . He just pressed a few buttons and then went back to staring at the screen .

"I was just texting Zi Yuan . " He smiled . "She told me to let her know as soon as I found you . "

"Texting?" Su Chan watched Yundong put the phone box away . "Oh . Is that the thing when you press a few buttons and then Chinese characters appear on the screen?"

It was like writing a note or a letter by clicking a few buttons .

Yundong reached over and pinched Su Chan’s cheek . Normally, Su Chan would avoid his hands and then make a face at him . But tonight, she let him .

"Yes, princess . " He sounded very amused . "That’s what texting means . "

Su Chan didn’t share his amusement though . "Um... Yundong... Is... Is Zi Yuan zhenren . . . I mean, is she coming over...?"

Yundong shook his head . "No . She’s in Tiannan City at the moment . Recovering . " Yundong glanced down at the phone box again . "She asked us to meet her once we get back . " Yundong looked towards Su Chan . "She has a few questions for you . "

Her alarm must have shown on her face because Yundong quickly began to explain himself .

"Don’t worry, she’s on our side . " Their eyes locked for a moment . "She’s going to help you get your master back . " Yundong stared at her earnestly . "We’re all gonna help . Even Ruan Hongling . "

Warmth bloomed inside Su Chan’s chest . "Mm . "

There had indeed been occasions where Su Chan had wondered about the exact nature of the relationship between Zi Yuan and Master . Of course, she wasn’t surprised that they knew each other . After all, the great prodigy Ao Wushuang and Zi Yuan zhenren of the Linggong Sect were both Cultivators of considerable fame . But no, this had nothing to do with fame . Su Chan had the impression that they didn’t just know each other by name, that they were more to each other than just passing acquaintances . It was like Master and Zi Yuan zhenren respected each other, like they shared some kind of bond .

Whatever that bond was, Su Chan was certain that it had to do with Wang Yuanshan zhenren, the former leader of the Linggong Sect . For as long as she could remember, Su Chan had never seen Master flustered . And yet Master lost all her composure the moment Mo Ahshi mentioned Wang Yuanshan’s name . That was how Mo Ahshi had managed to get the drop on Master .

"Chan’er?"

Su Chan looked up from her lap . "Hmm?"

"Are you alright?" Yundong patted her head . "You zoned out a little . "

"I’m alright, beloved," she said, leaning into his touch .

Yundong hummed . "I’m glad . "

Su Chan cleared her throat . "Recovering . You said Zi Yuan zhenren was recovering . Did she get hurt?"

Yundong suddenly turned away, but not before Su Chan caught a glimpse of the guilty look on his face .

Su Chan frowned . What was that about?

"Yundong?"

Yundong cleared his throat . "Yeah... She got hurt during the—" Yundong paused as though he had just remembered something .

Su Chan waited patiently for him to continue .

Moments later, Yundong sighed . "It’s a long story . "

Su Chan reached over and tugged his sleeve repeatedly . "Tell me . Tell me . "

Yundong smiled and pinched her butt again . Yup . Definitely a new hobby .

At least she didn’t squeak this time, but that probably had more to do with exhaustion than her non-existent self-restraint .

Yundong’s smile fell away, and he suddenly turned his body so that he was facing her fully . "I’ll tell you everything . But I need you to know something first . "

Something in his tone drew Su Chan’s eyes to his face . Yundong’s expression was gentle but determined .

"Your master is alive . "

Su Chan nearly leaped off her stool . "W- What?" She grabbed Yundong’s hands . "A- Are you sure, Yundong?"

A tiny smile played on Yundong’s lips . "Yes . "

Su Chan could feel a load being lifted from her entire existence . "S- She’s... alive?"

Yundong nodded . "This intel came from Zi Yuan . "

Su Chan stared at her beloved, stunned .

Yundong smiled . "Like I said, she’s on our side . "

This time, Su Chan did leap out of her stool . She ran around the table until she was standing beside Yundong, and then tugged his hand insistently . "But the school... I mean, the assault! The—"

Yundong cut her off by pulling her onto his lap .

"Slow down, Chan’er . " Yundong’s chest vibrated against her back when he chuckled . "I’ll tell you everything from the beginning . "

***

"I survived my divine punishment yesterday . " Yundong’s chest rumbled against her back when he spoke . She had decided to remain on Yundong’s lap instead of returning to her seat .

Right . Yundong’s lap versus a chair . As if it was even a choice to begin with .

"Well . Technically, it was the day before yesterday," Yundong continued, "since it’s past midnight now . "

"Oh . "

What had she been doing when Yundong was out there facing the Heavenly Thunder? Hmm . Most likely she was on her way back to the corn-door after another day of wandering Dongwu City . Or worst, she was busy dishing out verbal abuse to that annoying stalker .

Something did strike her as weird though . When she was out wandering the city, she had watched the sky every opportunity she got . So how come she never noticed the arrival of Yundong’s divine punishment? Was she asleep when it arrived? Probably . She usually just collapsed into bad after returning to the corn-door .

"I was in pretty bad shape after I survived . I think I went straight to bed . " Yundong paused as though he was trying to recall something . "When I woke up the next morning, I received a paper crane from Zi Yuan . She’s the one who informed me about the Great Six’s assault on the Fox Zen School . " There was a pause . "She told me that you and your master were missing, and then asked me to head to Mount Tianlong immediately to rescue you . "

Su Chan turned her head around to stare at her beloved over her shoulder .

Yundong smiled as though he had already anticipated her disbelief . "She was on our side from the start . "

"W- Was she there?" Su Chan blurted out . "Was she...?" Su Chan winced . "Was she part of the assault?"

"She was asked to be part of the assault . But she wasn’t part of the assault . Not really . " Yundong held her gaze for a moment . "She was there at Mount Tianlong though . "

Su Chan’s mind spun . "She was... She was spying on the Great Six, wasn’t she? She was secretly feeding you information . "

Yundong nodded . "That’s right . She even ordered Ruan Hongling to look all over the mountain for you . "

"I wasn’t even in the mountain," Su Chan mumbled .

Yundong chuckled . "None of us knew that at the time . "

"But..." Su Chan shot him a quizzical look . "How did you know where to find me?"

"I—" Yundong’s brows were pinched together, and something flickered inside his eyes . Something that looked like sadness and fear . The look was gone before Su Chan could make anything out of it . Yundong cleared his throat, and the next thing she knew, he was smiling again . "Let me finish the story first . "

"Oh . "

"The assault had already begun when I got there . " Yundong sighed . "It was terrible, Chan’er . There were hundreds of them . "

Su Chan sat in Yundong’s lap quietly, letting the gravity of his words sink in . She didn’t feel much fondness for the Fox Zen School, but it was still quite sobering to learn about the destruction of her place of origin .

"It was Yan Fang . " Yundong had uttered those words softly, but the effect they had on Su Chan was profound . "She’s the mastermind of this whole scheme . "

"Y- Yan Fang?"

Yundong nodded . "Have you met her before?"

Su Chan shook her head . "I know her by name only . She’s the Zhengyi School’s Eventide Reaper . "

Yundong’s lips pulled into a tight line . "So I’ve been told . "

"But I thought... Mo Ahshi..." So she’d been right all along . The Mo Ahshi she saw the other day was an impostor .

"Mo Ahshi is dead . " Yundong paused as though he was trying to gauge her reaction . "According to Zi Yuan, Yan Fang visited the Fox Zen School nine years ago to look for your master . "

Su Chan nodded . She already knew about this . She overheard the brief exchange between Master and Zi Yuan zhenren the night Yundong killed Hé Shao . So this treachery had been going on for so long .

"She must’ve infiltrated the school during her visit," Yundong said .

And then hid in plain sight by posing as Mo Ahshi for over nine years? Eluding even Grandmaster Liu Ye? What an impressive feat .

"I don’t know how though . " Yundong shook his head . "Not even Zi Yuan knows the details . "

"I think she killed the real Mo Ahshi and then took over Mo Ahshi’s body with her Yin Spirit . " That was the only explanation Su Chan could think of .

"And you would be correct . " Yundong paused . "Well, except for one thing . She did it with her Yang Spirit, not Yin Spirit . "

Or Yang Spirit . Whatever .

"So Yan Fang currently has Master," Su Chan snarled . "She’s the one holding Master hostage . "

"Yes . " Yundong’s voice was firm . "But we have the upper hand now . We’re no longer in the dark . We already know that Yan Fang is the one behind the whole scheme . She, on the other hand, probably has no idea that we know . " Yundong smirked . "We also have two allies who knew the enemy very well . "

Su Chan nodded .

Zi Yuan jiějie and Ruan Hongling would know how to track down Yan Fang . After that, they would all go and rescue Master .

Please hang on, Master...

Su Chan exhaled lengthily, letting her anger fade . "I guess the school is gone then?" There was no way the Fox Zen School could survive an assault of that scale without Master there to defend it .

"Nope . The Fox Zen School is fine . "

Su Chan turned around in Yundong’s lap until they were facing each other . She was hyperaware of the fact that she was currently straddling Yundong’s lap, of how intimate the position was, but she didn’t care .

"But they had an army," Su Chan said, finally voicing out her disbelief .

Yundong smirked . "I fought hard . " He shrugged .

"Y- You fought off an entire army of powerful Cultivators?"

Just how strong was Yundong now?

"I had help . " Yundong smiled . "Zi Yuan . Ruan Hongling . And the Fan of Seven Treasures . " Yundong paused in thought . "Technically, I didn’t take on the whole army . " Yundong smiled again . "I only fought a few of them . Oh, and also their commander, Zhang Tianhé . "

"Y- You defeated the Jade Zhenren?!" Su Chan openly gaped at her beloved . "The wielder of the Sword of Seven Stars?"

Yundong shrugged . "Zi Yuan had some pretty helpful tips . "

Something flickered inside Yundong’s eyes . She knew then that there was something else that he wasn’t telling her .

Su Chan cleared her throat . "Were there... Were there many casualties? On our side, I mean . "

"There are casualties . " Yundong had a worried look in his eyes . "But not many . As far as I can tell anyway . "

"Who?" Su Chan held her breath . "Who died?"

The worried look in Yundong’s eyes was replaced by a look of sadness . His hands rose until they rested on top of her shoulders .

"Grandmaster Liu Ye . And your shībó Ye Yu . "

Su Chan’s heart sank . Grandmaster Liu Ye, the kind old man who gave her the paper crane, was gone .

"There’s something else, Chan’er . "

Something in Yundong’s tone made Su Chan look up . Yundong’s eyes were burning with intensity .

"W- What is it, beloved?" Su Chan stammered . "Y- You’re scaring me . "

"I’m the new Head of the Fox Zen School . "