Budding Marigold — XIV

[Bonus chapter 4]

Li Xinyuan's strong reaction to his words drew a few slow blinks from the nine-tailed fox spirit. For a few seconds Hu Lijing blankly stared down at him, watching as the surgeon emerged from the water, thoroughly drenched.

As if he finally processed his master's startled question, Hu Lijing muttered to himself, his tone filled with inquiry. "Did I perhaps perceive it incorrectly?" The look on his face was of a man lost in fog, wandering around aimlessly.

Li Xinyuan spat out the water filling his mouth as he sucked in a sharp breath, pushing his hair back, he carded his fingers through the raven locks, ears twitching when he heard the fox spirit's question.