The air was humid and rain started to pour shortly thereafter.
Mu ZhenYu lied in bed and stretched his left arm out flat so the little fox could use it as a pillow. The fox, curled up in his arm, was sound asleep.
Suddenly, a lightning tore through the sky. Mu ZhenYu opened up his eyes and reached out to cover up the ears of the little fox. He was a little too late. The roar of the thunder came. It was deafeningly loud as though it had struck the window.
Mu ZhenYu's chest tightened. He looked down at the fox and, luckily, it didn't wake up.
Mu ZhenYu frowned – it had always been fearful of lightning.
Tis a thunderous night and the wind was roaring outside of the window. A few giant trees outside where blown hard that they were curved. Along with the street light, the shadow of the trees waved back and forth nonstop in the room and looking very ghostly. Mu ZhenYu took a look outside of the window and wanted to go and pull the curtains shut. The moment that he pulled his hand out from the fox's little head, it woke immediately.
The little fox sat up in bed. Its dark black and bright eyes looked straight at him. It looked exactly the same as the first day that Mu ZhenYu had saw it. Looking straight at him, it looked like it was waiting for him, or rushing him. But it refused to lay back down.
Mu ZhenYu wasn't sure if it was his imagination. He felt that the little fox was giving him the I-am-not-sleeping-till-you-come-back look. He quickly walked over to the window, pulled the curtain shut, walked back over, pulled his blanket over himself, and offered up his arm once again.
The fox sniffed his arm, found a comfortable angle, plopped its little head done on top of it again and started snoring not long after.
Mu ZhenYu scratched behind its ear and, after a while, curved his lips upward.
"You won't wake up to the thunder but you refused to sleep when I am out of the bed? Have you already gotten so used to sleeping with me that your fear for the thunder had been cured?" Mu ZhenYu had no idea whether it could hear him or not or whether it could understand him or not. He wasn't sure if he was talking to her or to himself, "Did you… lose your ability and won't be able to resume your human form ever again?"
The little fox snored steady and did not move at all.
Mu ZhenYu also closed his eyes. "Truth was, I've figured long time ago that you had a lot to do with the fox. I had considered the possibility that you are the fox. That was such an absurd thought yet it seemed to explain everything. I was very torn about it. Toward the end, I just assumed that the fox was also you and slowly gotten used to it and finally over it.
The little fox was sleeping and ignored him. He just treated it as though it was Xu WanZhi. "After that, once I have confirmed that you are the fox and the fox is you, many things started to make sense. Including that one night when I saw you walking inside the hotel room with Mu XiYuan but you had disappeared when I arrived. I finally figured out how you were able to get away from under my nose. You were no longer the original Xu WanZhi. You had never wronged me. I might have figured that out but I didn't want to say anything about it. WanWan, I trust you and I hope that you will trust me too. I am willing to wait. Wait until the day that you will tell me the truth voluntarily. No matter how absurd it is, I am willing to accept it."
By the time he got here, his eyes felt warm. "Never would I have imagined that you'd tell it to me in such an intense way. WanWan, never would I have imagined that you will be willing to exchange for my life with yours. In looking back to that day, my hair will still stand up on the back of my neck. WanWan, even though you can't talk anymore, I will be more than happy to support you for life regardless of whether you are a fox or Xu WanZhi."
As he talked, he got sleepier and sleepier. Rolling over, he pulled the little fox into his arms and fell asleep.
He didn't know how much time had passed but the rain had finally stopped. The air had finally quieted down and the moon came back out from behind the rain cloud.
Clear water droplets rolled down on the window and the turning the light into circles of light.
Lying in bed, all Mu ZhenYu dreamed about was her.
He had no idea how long he had been sleeping but he suddenly felt a cold touch on his forehead. Then, it moved passed his brows, eyes, nose, and to his lips. It seemed like it was another pair of lips.
Mu ZhenYu was still half asleep. He waved his hand and felt something jade-like like delicate skin of a young girl.
He opened up his eyes all of a sudden.
And the girl was smiling at him.
"WanWan…" He rolled her under him and checked her lips over and over again. "You finally changed back, hmm? I dare you to try to turn back into the little fox and not talk to me again!"
Xu WanZhi nodded, then shook her head, "I can't change back anymore."
Mu ZhenYu stopped his movement and looked at her deeply, "How come?"
"I lost my fox tail." She pouted and her big, limpid eyes were filled with unjust. "And I've lost all of my cultivation. I'll need another 500 years to return to my original level of cultivation."
"What about now?"
"I used my very last bit to change back into a human. I can't be my little fox anymore!" She burst into tears. "This was all your fault! I've kissed you so forcefully early but my cultivation did not increase at all! In the past every time I kissed you, my cultivation level would go up some!"
Mu ZhenYu wasn't sure whether he should laugh or be angry.
So she only kissed him for her cultivation?
Nevertheless, his heart ached as her tears drenching his sleeve – she had lost her ability to turn back into a fox forever because of him.
Mu ZhenYu hugged her tightly. "Don't be afraid, WanWan. I will be here for you. If you can't turn back into a fox, we can be humans together."
She cried for quite a while. When she was tired from crying, her eyes and her little nose were both red. With her little hand on his chest, she pushed him further from her and sniffled. "How's your injuries? Do they still hurt?"
Mu ZhenYu felt his heart crumbling.
He held her little hand in his and kissed her fingertips nonstop. "I was not injured. Nothing is hurting."
She started crying again. "You are lying to me!"
Xu WanZhi cried all night long and Mu ZhenYu hugged her the entire night.
He wouldn't let her get away from him again.
After cooping up at home for a few days and had a case of coconuts, Xu WanZhi finally recovered from the sadness of losing her tail and gave Xiao Yuan a call to let her know that she was safe.
When Xiao Yuan saw the call from her, she immediately put her hands together and prayed – please don't be bad news. Please don't be bad news.
She was very worried that it was Mu ZhenYu calling her to tell her that something bad had happened to Xu WanZhi.
Nevertheless, when she picked up the phone, it was Xu WanZhi on the other end of the call. Her voice was sweet and seemingly even livelier than it used to be. "Xiao Yuan, I am fine now! Contact Jiang XingChen quickly. I want the female lead roles in Plainness!"
She couldn't be her little fox anymore and her unlimited life as a demon was a thing of the past. She had at most another 80 years left. She needed to treasure every minute of it!
Hearing her words, tears streamed down of Xiao Yuan. "Alright, alright. Even if it was the Oscar little gold man that you want, I will try to get it for you!"
It was only after she had gotten in touch with Jiang XingChen when Xu WanZhi found out that Plainness was not delayed because of issues with filming location, but that Mu ZhenYu had been pressuring Jiang XingChen from the capital end and forcing him to hold out for Xu WanZhi.
On the opening ceremony of Plainness, all the reporters came after catching wind that Xu WanZhi had already recovered and joined the filming crew. The venue was filled with people and there were still two long lines outside of the venue of those who came to see her.
None of the reporters who was able to get hold of the microphone cared about the move Plainnessbut all of them asked Xu WanZhi about details of the day of the incident and her current condition.
Xu WanZhi couldn't possibly explain about her turning into a fox. With all the pressing questions from the media, Xu WanZhi even wondered for a split second what Mu ZhenYu had said to the police back then.
But then again, he was Mu ZhenYu.
She had thought of him as a ruthless and heartless villain at the very beginning. Now, he was but a man who'd shield her from everything unpleasant.
Xu WanZhi suddenly got a great idea. Holding the microphone, she said pitifully, "It was so awful at the time that I can't recall exactly what had happened. I only remember being held by my fiancé and there was nothing to be afraid of as long as I am in his arms."
Her words touched everyone who heard them. All the reported cried their emotional tears – what kind of fairy-tale romance was that?!
Then, someone else asked, "Does that mean your big day will be coming soon?"
"Yes, soon." Xu WanZhi nodded.
After a little while, the topic turned to her little fox. Everybody was very concerned about what had happened to her fox. They haven't seen the smiling little fox on Weibo for a while now.
As more and more people asked about the fox, Xu WanZhi even thought that these people were all sent by the stupid fox-fan Jiang YueXian. Tears rolled down her cheeks again. "My little fox had died…"
All of the sudden, the entire venue quieted down.
The host took over the microphone. "Let's have a moment of silence for the little fox."
When Jiang YueXian heard the news, he cried for six months straight. From that point forward, he could never stop every time he had a crying scene.
After Plainness's opening ceremony was over, Xu WanZhi felt a sigh of relief and left through a concealed side door of the hotel lobby. She had just walked out of the door when she was pulled into the stairway by a large hand.
Mu ZhenYu curved his lips and smiled; his eyes filled with tenderness. "WanWan, I heard that you can't wait to marry me?"
Xu WanZhi was stunned. "I thought you are at your office. When did you get here?"
He held onto her chin and pressed his lips against hers. "Perhaps when you were thinking about marrying me?"
These few events occupied the most trending list for almost an entire month. The entire entertainment circle was talking about Xu WanZhi's, her wedding with Mu ZhenYu, and that her little fox had passed away.
The entire month that Xu WanZhi was with the filming team, Mu ZhenYu delegated his work to those who worked for him and stayed in the hotel outside of the filming location day after day. All of the fans who came to check on their star could see the two of them holding hands when they went out to eat and would shriek nonstop like groundhogs. In addition, Xu WanZhi also received life foxes almost every day.
She'd unwrap the package unhappily, looked at the foxes filled with jealousy, and told Xiao Yuan, "Send them all back where they came from!"
Mu ZhenYu smiled so much that his eyes couldn't even be seen, "None of them is as cute as mine."
Xu WanZhi blushed and stopped complaining.
On the closing day of Plainness, Mu ZhenYu, unlike his unusual low-key self, went over to the filming location as a special guest and announced their wedding date.
The last question from a media was, "Is there anything else you want to tell your couple fans?"*
Mu ZhenYu looked over at Xu WanZhi tenderly. "Please don't send us any more little foxes." He picked up Xu WanZhi's hand and said, "This one is all I will ever need."
Very few people attended their wedding.
Xu WanZhi didn't like crowds so she didn't invite any extra people.
She knew that he was the only one that she needed.
Walking down the aisle in her snow white wedding gown, she knew that Mu ZhenYu was waiting for her on the other end of the flowery path.