Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home

Reunion

Their embrace came to an end when Su Chan’s stomach let out a long growl of protest . And Su Chan would have a few choice words for that accursed organ of hers if it hadn’t just caused Yundong to laugh .

God . She missed Yundong’s laugh .

She missed Yundong . Period .

Yundong pressed their foreheads together . "Looks like my princess cheap monk is hungry . "

Su Chan blushed . "A- A little?" Lies . She was famished .

Yundong smirked . "I bet your stomach disagrees . "

Out of fear that her cheeks would suddenly burst into flames, Su Chan buried her face into the warmth of Yundong’s chest . "I... I ran out of money . "

Yundong kept stroking her hair without saying anything .

Su Chan suddenly pulled away and raised three fingers . "But I was thrifty!"

Yundong just looked back at her with amusement . And the words just kept pouring out of Su Chan’s lips . "I knew I didn’t have Hello Keedee with me, so I spent my pocket money carefully . I- I- I even..." Su Chan lowered her hand and let her voice dropped into a mumble . "I even divvied up the coins..."

She did more than that though . Drinking water to stave off her hunger . Making sure that she wouldn’t pass by any Mac Doo Nurls shops in all her routes . She even considered catching fish in the river, for Heavens’ sake . She wondered how long it would take before she finally gave in and let that annoying stalker buy her a meal .

Yundong cupped her cheeks with both hands . "Don’t worry, okay? I’m here now . " Yundong smiled . "I’ll make sure you never starve again . "

Su Chan gripped the hands on her cheeks and held on tight . He was here . Yundong was here . She couldn’t believe that he was really here .

"Yundong..."

"Yes?"

"Have you... um...?" Su Chan pointed at the sky .

Yundong smiled . "Yes . "

Relief coursed through Su Chan, and she threw her arms around his neck . "You did it, Yundong... You really did it . " She hugged him tighter and felt the firm pressure of Yundong’s hands on her waist . "I’m so glad..."

"I had help . "

The word "help" set off a dozen of alarm bells in Su Chan . She ended their embrace and met Yundong’s confused eyes . She had to tell him about Master .

"Yundong... I... Master... She—"

Yundong suddenly pressed a finger to her lips . His eyes looked dead serious .

"Not here," he said in a low voice .

Yundong removed his finger after Su Chan nodded .

"Where have you been staying?" he asked .

"Master has a corn-door house in this area," Su Chan answered, trying everything to tamp down her anxiety .

Yundong’s eyes just now . It was like he knew something . Had he heard about what happened to Master already?

Yundong glanced around a few times .

"Yundong?"

Yundong flashed her a smile . "Let’s go," he said, moving forward to take her hand .

"Oh . " Su Chan blinked a few times . "Where to?"

Yundong looked at her strangely . "To your Master’s place . " He smiled again . "So that I can feed that noisy stomach of yours . "

Su Chan blushed . She thought he was taking them back to Tiannan City . They could fly back pretty quickly if they wanted to .

Su Chan squeaked when her feet suddenly left the ground . They were levitating . Her gaze snapped towards Yundong, who was grinning back at her . She shouldn’t even be surprised, really . If he managed to survive the Heavenly Thunder, then he would’ve reached, at the very least, the advance stages of the Shentong phase by now .

Yundong flew them upwards until they both landed on the granite bridge .

Su Chan stole a glance at Yundong . He was still glancing around as though he was looking for something in their surroundings .

Something about him felt different .

Appearance-wise he was still the same, of course: handsome; fit; a bright and sunny expression .

It was the way he carried himself that felt different . He seemed much calmer and less volatile than she remembered . He also seemed more serious and less playful . Before Master separated them temporarily, Yundong was the very definition of a chaotic power source, like a tempest, or a typhoon . But now, he was like the ocean—calm, yet still possessing the same capacity for power .

Was this the result of his survival of the Heavenly Thunder?

Yundong suddenly closed his eyes . There was a focused look on his face, like he was listening hard for something .

Su Chan waited for him to open his eyes before she did something she hadn’t done for a long, long time: tug his sleeve .

Yundong’s smiling eyes slid to her face, and for a moment, Su Chan actually forgot what she wanted to say .

"U- Um... Eryue?"

Yundong sighed, then nodded . "Just wanted to make sure that we aren’t being followed . "

Calm . Careful . Controlled .

This was the new Yundong .

To be honest, she kind of liked this version of him . Though she kind of missed his playful side too .

"Shall we go?" Yundong asked .

Su Chan beamed . "Mm!"

They stared at each other for a moment . Yundong didn’t move, and neither did she .

Of course, her traitorous stomach had to interrupt their little moment by growling so loudly that she was pretty sure the whole Dongwu City could hear it .

Yundong burst into laughter . And Su Chan found herself openly staring at him, captivated by the fact that he was here, alive and well .

Yundong stopped laughing and cleared his throat . "You’re gonna have to lead the way, you know?"

Su Chan blinked away the remnants of her daze . "Hmm?"

Yundong caressed the side of her cheek . "I don’t know the way to your master’s place . "

"O- Okay..."

"Alright . " Yundong’s smile broadened . "Let’s go . "

"P- Piggy, piggy," Su Chan blurted out .

Yundong stopped mid-stride and turned his head around to look at her . He looked far too amused for Su Chan’s ability to suppress her blush .

"You want me to give you a piggyback ride?"

Su Chan peeked up at him from under her lashes . Was that okay? Was that too presumptuous?

She nodded meekly, then turned away to hide her blush .

There was shuffling of feet .

"Hop on, milady . "

Su Chan glanced down and saw Yundong kneeling in front of her with his back facing her .

When Su Chan didn’t move right away, Yundong looked over his shoulder and grinned . "Well? What are you waiting for?" He nudged her calf with his hand . "Hop on . "

She did, by throwing her entire weight onto his back .

Yundong yelped . "Hey, hey, hey... Easy, princess . Easy..."

Su Chan giggled . She knew he was just joking; there was no way her measly weight could hurt his Jindan-enhanced body . Plus, she had probably lost a decent amount of weight due to the frugal lifestyle that she had recently adopted .

"Ready to go?" Yundong asked .

Instead of answering, Su Chan kicked her foot on Yundong’s butt the same way she would when riding a horse .

Yundong chuckled and started walking .

Su Chan pointed with her finger to indicate the right direction to Master’s corn-door, then lay her cheek against Yundong’s shoulders . She was so tired, and Yundong’s body felt so warm .

"Chan’er..."

"Mm?"

"Let’s not part with each other again, okay?"

A tear slid down Su Chan’s cheek . She bit her lip to stifle a sob, then quickly turned away to prevent her tear from wetting Yundong’s neck .

"Mm . " Su Chan nodded even though she knew that Yundong couldn’t see her . "I won’t let you go . I won’t . "