Mistyear Island
This island lay off the coast, barely three kilometers across. Once utterly unremarkable among the countless small islands nearby, it had remained uninhabited for lack of resources. But not long ago, with Zeng Nianzhen's arrival, the little island had gradually begun to stir with life.
At the center of the island, several rows of houses had gone up. Though crude, they offered shelter from wind and rain. Inside one of them, Zeng Nianzhen nestled close to A Xiu. She raised her head to look at him, her gaze as gentle as water.
"Must you leave?" she asked.
The candle in the room was almost spent. Though reluctant to part, Zeng Nianzhen said earnestly, "You have pledged yourself to me, and I feel deeply ashamed. But I have already pledged this body to my country."
"But rest assured. When I return, I will marry you."
A Xiu gazed tenderly at him and was about to speak. Zeng Nianzhen knew she would never stop him. Instead, she would pack his clothes and watch him depart.
"A Xiu!" An apology rose to Zeng Nianzhen's lips. Suddenly, the lovely face in his arms twisted into a ferocious grimace, and a slap came swinging at him.
"Ah!" Feeling a smack on his face and a scratch across his neck, Zeng Nianzhen jolted awake from a sweet dream that had abruptly become a nightmare. Only then did he realize he was still sleeping in the wooden house on the island and had just awakened from his afternoon nap. Beside the bed, a fox stood upright, staring at him in displeasure.
The slap on his face and the scratch across his neck had both been Little Fox's doing.
Knowing that Little Fox was his lord's pet and no ordinary creature, Zeng Nianzhen could hardly lose