Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“What do you need, Zhang-ge?”
Xiao Dan swallowed hard and forced his smile back on his lips. It was better to know Huli’s mind ahead of time rather than stewing in worry alone. “I was thinking about your tails.”
Huli sat up a little straighter and fanned his eight tails behind him like a peacock trying to attract a mate. They were all very similar, with shades of orange along the tails and the tips were colored white. A few had streaks of black here and there that matched his feet. He looked like a normal red fox in all aspects except for the fact that he was twice the size of one. His tails were also longer and fluffier than the average fox.
“They are the best, most beautiful tails you’ve ever seen, right?”
“They really are. I can’t imagine any huli jing in the world has better tails than you.” At his praise, Huli tilted his chin higher and even puffed up his chest. His huli jing was ridiculous, and it only made Xiao Dan love him more.
“But I know you were very frustrated to lose one of your tails, leaving you with just eight,” Xiao Dan continued.
All the tails slumped and Huli’s triangular ears flattened. “Stupid, evil Min,” he muttered under his breath. “Death was still too good for her.”
Xiao Dan wasn’t sure he disagreed with Huli on that point, but this wasn’t what he wanted to discuss. “I was wondering if you planned to resume your cultivation as soon as we returned to China so you could regain your missing tail.”
The fox’s ears instantly straightened, and his furry brow wrinkled as if Xiao Dan’s words confused him. He hadn’t meant to surprise Huli with his thoughts.
“I bring it up because I know how important it was to you to gain all nine tails. I want you to know that I support you.”
Huli’s head tilted to the side. “Do you want me to leave to cultivate for a ninth tail?”
Crap. He was beginning to wish Huli would shift into his human form. His expressions and moods were so much easier to read on a human face. When he was being sly and sneaky, he couldn’t hide it as well as he could in fox form.
“No, I don’t want you to leave, but it would be selfish of me to ask you to stay and keep you from your dream to be a jiuweihu. You’ve also made it clear that you can cultivate faster away from Luoyang. I want you to know that I support you no matter what you decide.”
A knot formed in Xiao Dan’s throat. These were all the right words to say to support his fox boyfriend, but his heart and brain were both screaming at him to take them back. He needed to demand that Huli stay at his side and not leave him behind for another hundred years. But he couldn’t. It wasn’t right.
Huli lowered his head to stare at the ground, seeming to think about Xiao Dan’s words. The vampire bit his tongue to keep from throwing more fuel on this disastrous fire. Huli needed space and time to think.
Except he didn’t.
Huli shifted into his human form and stepped right up to Xiao Dan, resting one of his hands on his mate’s chest. “Do I need to have all nine tails for you to love me?”
Xiao Dan choked on the air he sucked in on a harsh gasp. “No! Of course not! I love you just as much now as I did when you had nine tails.”
“So, you think I’m still worthy of you, even though I only have eight tails?”
“Yes. My Huli is very much worthy of me. Not because of your beautiful tails, but because of what’s in your heart. You’re a good man and a good fox. That’s what matters to me.”
Huli leaned into him. The hand resting over his heart slid upward to hook around the nape of Xiao Dan’s neck. “Then there is no reason for Huli to leave his Zhang-ge.”
“What? Really? Are you sure?”
Xiao Dan cursed himself as soon as the questions jumped from his tongue. Why couldn’t he keep his mouth shut?
“Yes.” Huli lifted on the tips of his toes and pulled Xiao Dan closer so he could steal a soft kiss. “Why would I want to leave? If you love me as I am, I’m not leaving.”
“But your dream of becoming a jiuweihu?”
“I was one once, and that is enough. Besides, Huli is still powerful with eight tails. Scarier than most vampires outside the Zhang clan.” Huli rested his other hand on Xiao Dan’s chest and started to trace random designs. “Besides, if Huli gets in trouble, Gege will still come save him, right?”
Xiao Dan cackled as he wrapped his arms behind Huli’s waist, pulling him in tight so he could plunder his silly mouth with a long, deep kiss.