He felt as if he had fallen into a huge embrace made of top-quality velvet and clouds—warm, soft, and carrying Ye Ying’s unique, intoxicating scent.
“Now…”
Ye Ying’s voice sounded right beside his ear.
“Hold me tight, little shrine maiden.”
“Use all your strength to purify me.”
“Let me see just how many secrets your sacred body still hides… secrets that enchant even the demons.”
Fan Zhuo no longer hesitated. He spread his arms wide and pulled Ye Ying, along with the Nine Tails that tightly wrapped around him, into his embrace.
Of course, for now, he only dared to hold her, not daring to go any further.
Otherwise, he’d be the one to explode first.
“Buzz—!”
Just as Fan Zhuo wrapped his arms around Ye Ying’s waist, nine massive streams of pure demonic power surged into his body simultaneously, like a dam breaking free and flooding his entire being!
In that instant, Fan Zhuo felt as if his soul had been thrown into a volcano erupting fiercely.
Fierce… burning…
An unprecedented, excruciating pain made his vision go black, nearly causing him to faint on the spot.
But he gritted his teeth and clung desperately to the last shred of consciousness, furiously circulating his divine power within to “digest” this overwhelming energy.
This was a critical breakthrough period for his power; he absolutely could not lose consciousness, or all of this would be for nothing!
At that moment, the light of the [Sacred Ring] shone to its utmost brilliance!
It was like a black hole running at overload, greedily devouring all the incoming demonic energy and converting it into the purest holy power, over and over again.
Fan Zhuo could feel his body being continuously broken down and remade by this overwhelming force.
His bones groaned in pain, his meridians snapped, and his blood boiled.
But after each reconstruction, his body became tougher and stronger than before.
It was the ultimate pain and pleasure, walking a razor’s edge.
“Mm… ah…”
Ye Ying’s body trembled violently in his embrace.
The source demonic power from her Nine Tails was being drawn out simultaneously, a pain far worse than before.
Yet on her face, there was not the slightest hint of regret.
She could feel the centuries-old resentment and malice accumulating within her being being washed away and purified bit by bit by Fan Zhuo’s warm yet domineering power.
More importantly… she clearly sensed the pain of the man behind her.
Though he was in agony, on the verge of losing consciousness, he never once loosened his grip on her.
He even managed to spare a faint but resilient thread of strength to feed back to her, repairing her damaged body.
This man… this little fellow…
Unconsciously, a crystal tear slipped down the corner of Ye Ying’s eye.
“Bang!”
Just as Fan Zhuo felt he was about to be completely swallowed by that overwhelming energy, the cell’s alloy door was violently thrown open again.
A small figure rushed in hurriedly—it was Mika, who had returned unexpectedly.
“Ye Ying! That guy named Lucien… huh?”
She stopped mid-sentence, her words stuck in her throat.
Because what she saw confused her completely.
In the center of the room, Ye Ying was sitting cross-legged, while her nine huge fox tails gathered into a massive, fluffy white fur ball, enveloping her entirely.
The fur ball pulsed rhythmically, gently rising and falling like it was breathing.
Mika blinked her emerald eyes, looking left and right, but couldn’t find Fan Zhuo anywhere.
She let out a sigh of relief, a knowing smile forming on her face as she put her hands on her hips and snorted.
“Trembling.”
“Hmph, so it’s just tail aerobics. I knew it. That guy Fan Zhuo might be bold, but he wouldn’t dare actually do anything to you.”
She muttered to herself, completely oblivious to the fact that inside that huge fur ball, Ye Ying’s delicate face was already flushed red enough to bleed.
At this moment, Fan Zhuo was entirely wrapped in her tails, pressed tightly against her.
The heat of his breath landed on the side of her neck in short bursts, making her body tremble involuntarily.
“Um… where’s that… perverted shrine maiden?” Mika looked around, asking.
“Who… who knows…”
Ye Ying’s muffled voice came from inside the tails, sounding a little breathless.
“Maybe… maybe he went to another cell… for some ‘treatment’…”
Mika tilted her head. “Ye Ying, why are you breathing so hard? Did something happen?”
“No… I’m exercising…”
As she spoke, the blush on her cheeks deepened, and a mist seemed to veil her amber eyes.
The secret thrill of secretly doing something forbidden right in front of someone else made this fox spirit, who had lived for centuries, feel an unprecedented mixture of nervousness and… excitement.
“Hmph, a dog can’t stop eating shit.”
Mika didn’t notice anything unusual and thought Ye Ying was just tired from exercising.
She grumbled before her expression turned serious.
“Listen, Ye Ying. That Lucien found no abnormalities in Area B. But…”
She paused, her tone grave.
“He’s decided to stay in Area C for a long-term observation.”
“That means I won’t be able to come to Area C for quite some time.” Mika took out a delicately crafted silver device, shaped like a pocket watch, and placed it on the tea table.
“Give this to Fan Zhuo. It’s a Shortwave Communicator used internally in Area A, encrypted at the highest level. It can bypass the prison’s signal jamming. Let him contact me if anything happens.”
“Mm… okay…” Ye Ying replied faintly.
“There’s more.” Mika’s voice suddenly turned cold.
“Tell that bastard shrine maiden of mine—if I catch him touching the White Rabbit again, doing anything beyond ‘maintenance’ or ‘inspection’…”
“Next time who comes for him won’t be me.”
“I’ll personally report to ‘that Lord’ and have the Warden give him a physical lesson he’ll never forget.”
After speaking, Mika glanced deeply at the still-pulsating huge fur ball, seeming a bit worried as she warned:
“Be careful too. Don’t let that guy take advantage of you.”
Without staying any longer, Mika turned and hurried away.
Only after her footsteps completely disappeared down the corridor did Ye Ying finally exhale in relief, her whole body relaxing.
Her nine fox tails, as if drained of energy, slowly unfurled.
Fan Zhuo, disheveled and drenched in sweat, rolled out from that warm and soft “fox tail blanket,” collapsing onto the tatami mat, panting heavily.
“Huff… huff… that was close just now…” Fan Zhuo said, still shaken.
“Yeah, really close.”
A teasing voice sounded above him lazily.
Fan Zhuo looked up to meet Ye Ying’s amber eyes, half smiling, half teasing.
She had somehow put on a loose, sheer kimono, propping her chin with one hand, looking down at him with a mischievous glint.
“I never knew our little shrine maiden had such a kink… I just found out…”
She raised a slender index finger and gently traced the red blush still lingering on her cheek.
“Look, you made me… this embarrassed.”
Fan Zhuo’s face flushed deeply as he quickly scrambled up, smoothing his rumpled uniform.