The aftermath

The following afternoon, Wen Ning arrived early at Gong Kai's place.

He unlocked the door with the key and sat down on the sofa.

At the usual time, Hu Jiumei appeared at Gong Kai's home right on schedule.

"Wen Ning?"

Hu Jiumei looked a little surprised to see him.

"Why are you here again today?"

"I came to talk to you about something."

Wen Ning pointed to the chair opposite him, motioning for Hu Jiumei to sit down.

"Hold off on the cleaning for a moment."

Hu Jiumei hesitated, then sat down in the chair.

Wen Ning got straight to the point and told her what he had learned from the group chat yesterday.

He told her about the Three Realms Intermarriage Regulations, how relationships between humans and demons had long been legal in the Heavenly Court, and how they could become a legally married couple simply by registering with the Marriage Bureau.

As he spoke, he noticed her expression change from surprise to happiness.

"Legal?"

She repeated the word very softly, as though she could hardly believe it.

"Legal."

Wen Ning nodded.

"You wouldn't be breaking heavenly law, and nobody would seal you away. Leifeng Pagoda, Fahai—all of that is ancient history.

"There are only two requirements now: both parties must consent, and the demon must be able to contain their demonic aura so it doesn't harm anyone."

Hu Jiumei lowered her head. A long while passed before she looked up again. Her eyes were slightly red, but she was smiling.

"I always thought..."

Her voice was a little hoarse.

"I always thought coming to see him would hurt him. If the Heavenly Court found out, I'd drag him into trouble. That's why I never dared let him see me. Every day, I snuck around like a thief."

Wen Ning watched her without interrupting, waiting for her to compose herself.

After a while, Hu Jiumei gently dabbed the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, took a deep breath, and sat up straight again. Her eyes were much brighter now.

"Don't get carried away celebrating."

Wen Ning leaned back and pointed a finger at her.

"We still haven't solved the main problem. You can't contain your demonic aura yet. When I stood next to you yesterday, the Thunder Arts inside me kept stirring. In your current state, one hour a day is the limit. If you spend too much time around Gong Kai, his health will suffer."

Hu Jiumei nodded, her expression still serious. As long as being together with a human didn't violate heavenly law, there would eventually be a way to solve the problem of her demonic aura.

"I know. Containing my demonic aura isn't something I can learn overnight. But I cultivate faster than most of my kind. Give me a few more years, and I'm sure I'll be able to keep it from affecting him."

"Good."

Wen Ning stood up, took Gong Kai's house key out of his pocket, and gave it a swing.

"I'll be reporting to the Heavenly Court for work soon. Once I start, I'll help you file the registration paperwork. Your demonic aura doesn't have to meet the requirements for that. We can register you first, then complete the marriage formalities once your cultivation is high enough."

Hu Jiumei looked at him as though she had a great deal to say, but in the end, she said only two words, with utter sincerity.

"Thank you."

Wen Ning wasn't used to being thanked so solemnly. He waved her back into her seat.

Then he explained what he planned to do next.

He wouldn't tell Gong Kai everything. After all, Gong Kai was just an ordinary mortal.

Suddenly telling him that the person cleaning his home every day was a fox spirit would be far too much for him to take in.

He would tell Gong Kai that the matter had been resolved and nothing strange would happen again.

"Once you can keep your demonic aura under control..."

Wen Ning looked at Hu Jiumei.

"I'll find a chance to introduce you properly. After you finish cleaning today, stop coming here. We'll deal with the rest later."

Hu Jiumei listened quietly until Wen Ning finished, then gave a small nod.

"All right. I'll wait."

With that, Hu Jiumei picked up the pace of her cleaning and left as soon as she was done. Before leaving, she even bowed to Wen Ning.

"Thank you. I won't come back until I can contain my demonic aura."

That evening, Wen Ning invited Gong Kai over to his shop.

By the time Gong Kai arrived after work, Wen Ning had already ordered takeout: several braised dishes and a case of beer.

Gong Kai came in, sat down, and immediately took a swig of beer. Then he glanced toward the door and lowered his voice.

"Wen, what exactly happened yesterday? Did you really go over there? What did you see?"

Wen Ning picked up a slice of braised beef with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

"I went. And I saw it. It's dealt with, and nothing strange will happen in your place again. Just live there as usual and stop scaring yourself."

Gong Kai stared at him and waited, but after saying that, Wen Ning simply bent his head and started eating.

He showed absolutely no intention of elaborating. Gong Kai was so impatient that he slapped his chopsticks down on the table.

"Wait, that's it? What was it? How did you deal with it? Can you give me the whole story?"

"With some things..."

Wen Ning pointed his chopsticks at Gong Kai, his expression perfectly serious.

"The less you know, the better you sleep. You're an ordinary guy. What do you need to know all that for? Anyway, I've sorted it out. You can live there without worrying."

Gong Kai opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, his expression shifting back and forth between curiosity and frustration.

"Why do you sound like some mysterious hermit now? All cryptic and mystical."

Wen Ning smiled and let that pass.

He lowered his head and took a sip of beer, then suddenly adopted a casual tone, as though something had just occurred to him.

"By the way, Gong, did you ever rescue a little animal back in your hometown when you were a kid?"

Gong Kai paused with his chopsticks in midair and looked up at him, a little surprised.

"How did you know? Did I tell you about that? I rescued a fox when I was little. I think it had been caught in a trap or something. I took it home and looked after it for more than two weeks.

"Then my dad found out, gave me a beating, and made me release it."

He scratched his head, seemingly thinking back to it.

"That fox had really soft fur, all orange-yellow. I even gave it a name."

"Little Red."

Gong Kai's eyes went wide.

"How did you know?"

"You said it in your sleep."

"Back in college, you'd keep mumbling 'Little Red, Little Red' in the middle of the night. I thought you were dreaming about some first love. Turns out it was a fox."

Gong Kai chuckled sheepishly and rubbed his head.

"You know, I still think about that fox sometimes. I wonder what happened to it, how it got on in the mountains."

He picked up some food and chewed a couple of times, then suddenly looked up at Wen Ning again. "Why are you asking about this out of nowhere?"

Wen Ning set down his chopsticks, picked up the beer on the table, and took a sip, looking at Gong Kai's face full of questions.

He had shared a room with Gong Kai for all four years of college. He had even thrown out the bastard's socks when they started growing mushrooms.

He had slipped him cheat sheets for makeup exams after he failed classes, and dragged him back to the dorm after he got dumped and drank until he threw up. The guy really did have some luck, to have something like this happen to him.

"Nothing."

Wen Ning put down his glass, his tone casual.

"I just think good people get their reward. Wait and see. Something good might come your way someday."

Gong Kai studied him curiously for a long time, then finally gave up asking. He drained the remaining beer in his glass in one go, wiped his mouth, and stood up.

"All right. You said it's sorted, and I trust you. I've still got more than half a year left on the lease. It'd be a waste not to stay there."

He walked to the door, then turned back, hesitating.

"Wen, thanks. I don't know what you actually did, but thanks."

Wen Ning waved at him without saying anything.

After Gong Kai left, Wen Ning stopped drinking too.

He imagined the day Hu Jiumei finally learned to contain her demonic aura, when she could make a grand entrance. Ha, that'll be fun.