章 12: Night Hunt (1)
"It's not your fault, Yao'er." Cheng Lifan would never understand why her husband could treat his own daughter like this. It wasn't Shen Minyao's fault that his first wife had abandoned them anyway.
"Next time, don't be so impulsive, Yao'er. If Shen Qing tries to seek you out next time, you should inform me at once."
The fear she felt after she heard that Shen Minyao got lost at the Qingqiu Mountain was almost unbearable. She wanted to confront Shen Qing about what that woman had done to her stepdaughter, but seeing the latter in tears only made the situation worse for her. At least, Shen Minyao's complexion and mental state were good. Cheng Lifan only sighed in relief.
"I'll listen to you from now on, Mama. I won't let Brother Yin and Qing Jie bully me again," the fox woman responded.
"That's right. It's good that you know. Our Yao'er shouldn't let anyone bully her," Cheng Lifan agreed. It was enough for her that Shen Minyao would grow sensible of how people treated her. Cheng Lifan then turned to look at Fu Xiyan.
"Yanyan, can you please take the things I brought with us? I made some lotus congee for Yao'er."
Fu Xiyan moved at once, bringing the things her mistress asked from her. She then took out the toiletries from the other bag Cheng Lifan brought with her while Shen Minyao went to the small bathroom connected to her hospital room to wash up before eating.
When the fox woman came back, she looked at the small thermos that held the congee and a plate of sliced apples on the table. She ate slowly, allowing herself to get used to this mundane habit of the humans. It wasn't like she hadn't done this in her past life, but she was never fond of eating human foods except for meat.
While she ate, Cheng Lifan opened up all the windows within the room, allowing several scents to overwhelm the fox woman. Shen Minyao momentarily paused as her nose picked up some familiar scents and other presences she thought she wouldn't encounter in this era.
The stench of death and blood was so strong it almost made the fox woman salivate. Her eyes turned amber with slit pupils, her fangs growing longer in her mouth. She was so tempted to jump out of the window and feed on the life energy swarming around the place.
Even the overwhelming despair and fear of the sick patients reached her. No wonder many creatures of the dark were dwelling in this place. The hospital was the perfect place to feed on vulnerable humans, slurping their negative life forces until they succumbed to death.
Ah, this would be hard. For a fox spirit who had been sealed for centuries, the scent was like a banquet she needed to be indulged on. Her hunger became prominent that not even these human foods would be able to satiate it.
"Miss, are you okay? Isn't it to your liking?"
Fu Xiyan's voice was enough for the fox woman to break from her trance. She blinked, and the color of her eyes returned to normal while her fangs retracted.
"It's good," Shen Minyao replied. The congee in her mouth was too sweet for her liking. Perhaps it was because the Shen Minyao in the past was known to have a sweet tooth, something that the fox woman abhorred.
"Yanyan, do you know what happened to the man who found me in the mountain? I want to thank him for saving me," she asked her personal attendant. She almost forgot about Zhao Yichen.
If she hadn't sensed the presence of those lowly creatures, shamelessly making the hospital a feeding ground; she might have completely forgotten about her contractor who held her fox's orb.
As for her contractor, she was sure that Zhao Yichen was also in the same hospital she was in.
"Oh… that…" Fu Xiyan was visibly confused and didn't know how to answer her. Of all people, she couldn't understand why her miss met a person from the Zhao family.
Cheng Lifan sat next to the fox woman and took her hand.
"Yao'er, do you know the man who saved you? Have you met him in the past?" she asked in a curious tone.
Shen Minyao shook her head.
"No, Mama. I'm sure that I haven't met him until that day. I wasn't even sure what he was doing in that place since he didn't look like he was hiking like me and Qing Jie…"—which was true. The fox woman had never seen her contractor meeting her host in Shen Minyao's memories.
"I see." Cheng Lifan's face had conflicting emotions on it that made the fox woman wonder what was going on.
Did something bad happen to her contractor? No, that couldn't be. If he was in danger, she would be able to sense it. Also, Xiao Bai and Yu Yan wouldn't let him succumb to death easily. Those two know how important it was to keep Zhao Yichen alive. If her contractor were to die, her life would be put in danger.
"Yao'er, that man… I heard that, from the outside, he looked okay, but his internal organs were severely damaged. The doctors had no choice but to put him in a medically induced coma, so he could heal without suffering from the pain." Cheng Lifan explained, which the fox woman easily understood. "So if you want to thank him, we have to wait until he regains his consciousness, but I'm sure his family wouldn't mind if you visit him once in a while."
Her fox's orb wasn't strong enough to heal her contractor fully, but it was able to heal the gunshot that almost took his life that fateful night. Still, this meant that she could not leave her contractor on his own, given that dark creatures lurked around.
"Thank you, Mama. I'll make sure to pay him a visit soon." Shen Minyao smiled.
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