"......Then give me a kiss."
Upon hearing what Yan Zhao mumbled in her sleep, the little fox's ears turned hot. If it weren't for its understanding of Yan Zhao's personality, it would truly believe she was pretending to be asleep.
But Yan Zhao was just a simple-minded little fool, incapable of scheming or pretending to trick it.
Since she was dreaming anyway, would it be fine to ignore her?
With this thought, the little fox lay down in place.
Not long after, the little bell rang again.
The little fox leaned its pointed snout closer to Yan Zhao and gently nudged her cheek.
In her sleep, Yan Zhao seemed to sense something, and her eyelashes fluttered slightly.
Ding ding—
Suddenly, she rolled over, her arm reaching out to pull the little fox entirely into her embrace, half of it pinned beneath her body.
Yan Zhao held on too tightly, making it impossible for the little fox to move. If it tried to escape, the ringing of the bell would surely wake Yan Zhao, even if she hadn't been disturbed yet.
The last time it had slept like this in Yan Zhao's arms was over a year ago.
Unbeknownst to them, the fox, Snowball, had been apart from Yan Zhao for so long.
Ever since Yan Zhao began diligently training, she would meditate every night, and the habit of sleeping with the fox naturally fell by the wayside.
It seemed this situation wouldn't occur often, so it was best to just go with the flow.
Thinking this, the little fox carefully adjusted its sleeping position in Yan Zhao's arms and closed its eyes.
The familiar scent enveloped it, bringing a sense of nostalgia. Drowsiness came swiftly, and soon it dozed off.
When Yan Zhao finally awoke, sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating the head of the bed and dazzling her eyes.
Before even opening her eyes, she felt a soft, furry bundle in her arms. She realized she had fallen asleep at some point, and her little obedient fox had voluntarily jumped into her embrace to keep her company while she slept.
How could she have doubted that the little fox would leave her? Even after a whole year apart, the little creature still clung to her.
Yan Zhao felt touched and happy, lowering her head to give it a few kisses.
The little fox stirred awake, opening its eyes just a crack. A face rapidly approaching became clear from a blur, and then a wet, soft touch brushed against its nose.
"!"
The fox froze.
After kissing, Yan Zhao withdrew and sat up, hearing the bell jingle as she leaned down to give the little bell on the fox's leg a gentle poke.
"You look so good with that bell on," Yan Zhao praised, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she smiled.
The little fox snapped back to reality, flustered, averting its gaze and noticing the string of little bells.
So embarrassing.
It shyly shrank its legs, preventing Yan Zhao from poking at it again.
Yan Zhao clicked her tongue. "See, you're already protective. This is a gift from me, so what's wrong with touching it?"
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The fox was speechless, too lazy to argue with her. It twisted its body and leaped gracefully off the bed, finding a quiet spot to settle down.
Yan Zhao followed suit, feeling refreshed after a night of good sleep.
She quickly tidied herself up and left the inn, holding the fox as they headed toward the celestial alliance's stronghold.
With the disciples' conference approaching, the bustling scene at the Tai Xu Immortal Workshop was filled with people. Before even reaching the celestial alliance's base, she spotted a large crowd gathering outside the entrance.
Yan Zhao leaned closer and saw a big notice board at the entrance, reminding attendees of the conference to bring their celestial orders to register in the inner hall.
Most of the people outside were fellow disciples from various sects, some were seniors who had participated in the conference in previous years, while others hadn't qualified but had come to observe the event and gain experience.
Yan Zhao disliked crowded places, so she followed the sign's directions into the inner stronghold.
After just a few steps, a sudden burst of laughter echoed from ahead. Yan Zhao rounded the corner and saw five or six people blocking a narrow doorway, pushing and shoving each other while arguing loudly.
As she drew nearer, she could hear what they were fighting about.
Leading the crowd was a richly dressed young man, adorned with gold and jade, with several strings of high-quality spirit gems hanging from his waist, indicating great wealth.
"Do the people from the Fuyun Sect still have the face to attend the disciples' conference?" the young man sneered. "If I were you, I would find a place to hide for a lifetime and never dare to show my face like this."
Behind the young man, several cultivators of similar rank echoed his mockery, deriding the Fuyun Sect as nothing more than a bunch of street rats.
Since the corpse puppet incident during the opening of the Xuanhuang Secret Realm, the Fuyun Sect's reputation had taken a nosedive.
Although Sect Master Bu Donghou immediately distanced the sect from the incident, claiming he would strip the Dao Ling Immortal Lord of their position in the Fuyun Sect and expel them, it was still too late to salvage the sect's reputation.
Currently, the celestial alliance had yet to find definitive evidence linking other members of the Fuyun Sect to the corpse puppet scheme, so they hadn't canceled the qualifications of the Fuyun disciples to attend the conference. However, they turned a blind eye to the exclusion of Fuyun Sect members.
Given the current situation, the Fuyun Sect wouldn't send anyone to rally support for the participating disciples.
The celestial alliance had invited Bu Donghou as per usual, but whether he would attend remained uncertain.
Yan Zhao's gaze shifted to the young man's opposite side.
Blocked at the entrance was a short, slender girl.
Yan Zhao had never seen this girl before; her face was unfamiliar.
She didn't know much about the disciples of the Fuyun Sect; the only one she knew who would be attending the conference was Bi Lan.
This girl was being publicly humiliated by the young man and his group but didn't retort a single word.
Compared to these arrogant disciples of the celestial alliance before her, her frail figure appeared especially small and weak.
Yet, her expression remained calm throughout.
As the commotion quieted down, she finally spoke.
"Are you done barking?" She cast a faint glance at the leading troublemaker, her tone unruffled. "If you're done, step aside. Good dogs don't block the way."
