Basking in Sunlight Again

Basking in Sunlight Again

"So we're setting off again?"

After listening to Xia Fan's account, Li shrugged.

"It really is a little sooner than expected, but this way, we can deal with the Bureau of Military Affairs earlier."

"Fine, then. I'll go pack my things."

"Wait," Xia Fan called after her. "Lying in the carriage pretending to be 'luggage' all the time is stuffy and boring. How about becoming my 'junior fellow disciple' and traveling with me?"

Li gave a slight start and turned back in disbelief. "You want me to travel with you in broad daylight? Under everyone's watchful eyes?"

"You don't want to hide for the rest of your life, do you?" Xia Fan said as if it were only natural. "Even if being with me is for the sake of taking revenge on the Bureau of Military Affairs, that price is still too high."

"Do you know that if someone finds out—"

"Then you definitely won't be able to become a Sorcery Art practitioner, and they might even investigate why a Fox Demon is a fellow disciple," he picked up where she left off. "So just don't let anyone find out. I remember you said Yao don't have anything like demonic aura, right?"

"Of course not!" Li crossed her arms. "I don't know where you got such a bizarre idea. Do you think that because animals have a rank body odor, Yao must have some similar scent? Unless circumstances are urgent, we wash ourselves regularly too. Don't make it sound as though only humans care about cleanliness!"

After saying that, she tugged open her collar and lowered her head to sniff. "If you don't believe me, come smell for yourself."

"No, I believe you," Xia Fan said decisively. "Thinking about it carefully, your tail can be hidden beneath your robes, or tied up and wrapped around your waist. The biggest flaw is only the ears on your head. When traveling, it's perfectly normal for women to wear capes and cover themselves with black veils. It wouldn't actually be easy to see through it."

Of course, another key point was that the Fox Demon did not need to fool everyone on her own. With him covering for her, ordinary people would not dare question a Sorcery Art practitioner's judgment.

Li fell silent for a moment.

"If you think that isn't safe enough, there's an even simpler method—you can turn into a fox, can't you?"

Compared to outward features, Xia Fan felt this was the greatest difference between humans and Yao. When he had secretly brought Li onto the carriage without the driver noticing, this was precisely the trick he had used. According to Li herself, she could not only turn into an ordinary fox, but also transform into a gigantic one, gaining several levels in both strength and speed. It was just that both forms consumed qi and could not be maintained as normal states.

Such a drastic change in size was difficult to explain with the common sense he knew, so for now, he could only attribute it to the wonders of qi.

"And then?"

"Then we disguise you a little. Dye your fur yellow, paint dark circles around your eyes—you'd probably look more or less like a dog. You wouldn't be able to speak, but at least you wouldn't have to stay cooped up in the carriage—" Xia Fan abruptly stopped, sensing an exceedingly dangerous gleam in her eyes.

"Let's go with the first method," Li finally said after a moment. "If you think it will work."

Half an hour later, two carriages stopped before Yingsong Inn.

"Brother Xia, I'm here!" Seeing Xia Fan emerge, Wei Wushuang hurriedly waved. "Do you need help carrying the luggage or—"

Yet halfway through, his shout cut off abruptly.

A tall woman stepped out from behind Xia Fan. She wore a veiled hat of black gauze, obscuring her face beneath it, but from her exposed pointed chin and the faint glimpse of red lips, one could already sense her exceptional beauty.

Wei Wushuang stared at the woman for a while, both surprised and curious, before turning to Xia Fan. "Brother Xia, this is...?"

"Let me introduce her. She's a new disciple my master has taken in, named Li." Xia Fan spread his hands. "And this is Wei Wushuang, an examinee from the same cohort as me. Our appointed posts are in the same city too."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." Li extended her slender, fair hand, lifted the black veil before her, and dipped her head slightly.

In that instant, Wei Wushuang saw a pair of eyes as deep as the night sky.

He instinctively looked away, stepped back, and cupped his hands in salute. "Y-you... it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss..."

Xia Fan nearly laughed out loud. This guy had been so smooth and familiar when trying to build a connection with him, yet before the Fox Demon, he was this clumsy.

"Ahem. My master's intention was for me to take her out to broaden her horizons, and teach her some Sorcery Arts along the way," he casually made up an excuse. "When she takes the Scholar Examination in three years, she won't be completely lacking in confidence. In short... Li will be going with me to Jinxia City this time."

"So that's how it is." Wei Wushuang immediately voiced his approval. "She can already sense qi?"

"Mm. Junior Sister only entered the sect a few years after I did."

"Why have I never heard Brother Xia mention her before?"

"You never told me how many relatives you have either."

"Uh, I was being presumptuous. But the name Li... it's so unique. Does she have only a given name and no family name?"

"Ah, like me, she came from wandering folk and doesn't know who her parents are. This name might even be something she came up with herself... Oh, right, she has a withdrawn temperament and likes peace and quiet. Unless necessary, remember not to mention her in front of outsiders..."

The two men's voices gradually lowered, seeming to drift farther and farther away—or rather, Li's attention was no longer on their conversation.

Facing the sun overhead, she gently closed her eyes.

The sunlight of late summer remained fierce. Li could feel the heat and faint prickling pain against her skin.

Yet that prickling did not make her uncomfortable. Instead, it brought an indescribable sense of comfort.

How long had it been since she last walked beneath the sun?

Li could not remember the exact days.

Because it had been far too long.

Ever since she decided to save her master, she had devoted most of her energy to the night. If she wished to leave the outskirts and come into contact with humans, she had to act with caution, avoiding every possibility of exposing her tracks. The night was her best cover, but it had also made her nearly forget what it felt like to stand beneath the sun.

For one fleeting instant, Li seemed to return to the moment her consciousness had first come into being.

Back then, what she loved most was lying beside her master and listening as her master talked to herself—the sunlight warming her back and the rustling of wind through the bamboo forest were the dominant hues of her memories.

"It's time to set off."

Xia Fan's voice pulled her back from her reverie.

Li pressed her lips together and boarded the carriage.

She knew he had no need to do this at all—what he needed was information from within the Bureau of Military Affairs and knowledge of Sorcery Arts. In exchange, he would help investigate her master's whereabouts. Letting her move about in broad daylight would not increase any benefit, and would instead bring a measure of risk.

Yet he had done it anyway, and for the inexplicable reason that he "didn't want her hiding in the carriage, stuffy and bored again."

He truly was impossible to understand.

It was precisely this incomprehensibility that made Li realize her own thoughts had begun to loosen.

The rules established by the Bureau of Military Affairs could never be shaken by anyone.

But this man's way of doing things and utterly different train of thought... perhaps they truly could bring a sliver of change.

Before he was ground to death by those rules.

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