Volume 1, Chapter 42 – Longing

Did the little fox demon not want to see her anymore?

Yes, that night, the little fox demon had already said it decisively. She didn’t want to see Song Shiyuan again.

So she had moved out at night, under cover of darkness.

The color gradually drained from Song Shiyuan’s face.

“Then… do you know where she moved to?”

The fox demon shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“However, the fox demons in this Fox Palace cannot leave without Her Majesty’s permission.”

“Her Majesty has recently entered secluded cultivation again. Who knows how long it will last this time.”

Having said this, the fox demon went back to her own business, clearly not intending to speak with Song Shiyuan anymore.

Song Shiyuan breathed a sigh of relief.

The Fox Monarch had entered secluded cultivation again. This wasn’t anything unusual. In Song Shiyuan’s impression, her own master was similarly in secluded cultivation most of the time.

The time she could see her master was not much.

It seemed that for these Eighth Realm powerhouses, being in secluded cultivation for a year or so without seeing anyone should be the norm. For Song Shiyuan, this was good news.

This way, the little fox demon should still be inside the Fox Palace.

Song Shiyuan still had a chance to find her.

“But…”

Song Shiyuan touched the metal collar around her neck.

The Fox Palace was so large, and because of the restrictions from the female consort collar, the area she could move around in was limited. Could she really still see the little fox demon?

The little fox demon knew the range where she could move. If the little fox demon truly intended to avoid her, she could completely hide beyond Song Shiyuan’s range of movement.

Thinking of this, Song Shiyuan felt a sense of powerlessness rising within her.

“Even so…”

“Even so…”

“At the very least… let me see that she’s safe and sound.”

Rеаⅾ οո ΚαtReaⅾiոgСαfе

Song Shiyuan left the courtyard.

But she didn’t know where to go.

…

On the fourth day after her confinement was lifted, Song Shiyuan wandered aimlessly within the area she could move, searching.

Along the way, she encountered many fox demons.

And among them, there was no familiar figure.

These fox demon maids living in the Fox Palace all had cultivation that wasn’t too high.

In this Fox Palace, they lived like ordinary people, doing leisurely work without pressure or worries, living peaceful lives without dispute or care.

When they saw Song Shiyuan, they seemed very curious that a human female sword cultivator would appear in the Fox Palace.

After seeing the female consort collar around Song Shiyuan’s neck, they showed expressions of understanding.

Song Shiyuan asked these fox demons about the little fox demon’s whereabouts.

But she still came up empty-handed.

The little fox demon seemed to have disappeared from this Fox Palace overnight.

Where would she go?

Could she have… truly left the Fox Palace?

Song Shiyuan felt a hollow space open up in her heart.

…

The fifth day after her confinement was lifted.

Song Shiyuan couldn’t even remember how many days it had been since she was captured and brought to the Fox Palace.

She still hadn’t been able to find any trace of the little fox demon.

Nor had she obtained any intelligence about that sword cultivator surnamed “Song.”

Song Shiyuan felt lost.

Her elder brother Song Shixuan’s whereabouts remained unknown even now.

Rеaⅾ оո КаtRеadіոgCαfе

Her martial brothers and sisters also. She didn’t know if they could ever see the light of day again.

Song Shiyuan felt like a mayfly trapped in a whirlpool.

Unable to find a way out, unable to find direction, unable to find a goal.

Confused, lost.

The hollow space in her heart grew even larger.

…

The tenth day after her confinement was lifted.

The days in the Fox Palace were very peaceful. No need to cultivate, no need for morning practice sessions.

There were also no stern-faced teaching elders fiercely pointing and criticizing her.

Song Shiyuan felt as if she had become like the fox demons in this Fox Palace, one of their ordinary members.

She had nearly become familiar with the entire surrounding area.

When she went out now, fox demons who recognized her would greet her. It was just like ordinary neighbors.

Although the relationship between fox demons and sword cultivators had always been complex, with countless grievances accumulated over tens of thousands of years that were difficult to clarify.

But at this moment, in this place, Song Shiyuan didn’t feel those strange gazes from these fox demons.

They seemed to truly treat Song Shiyuan as just an ordinary neighbor, not caring about the distinction between human and demon, without wariness or prejudice.

This kind of life reminded Song Shiyuan of the past, before she had joined Lingxiao Sword Sect.

When she was still a mortal, that ordinary yet peaceful life.

But the more she experienced this ordinariness and tranquility, the larger the hollow space in her heart grew.

The bittersweet feeling in her heart hadn’t been slowly smoothed over with the passage of time.

Instead, it seemed to ferment, growing more and more intense.

Song Shiyuan stood in the Fox Palace, looking at these magnificent pavilions and courtyards, yet the turbulent emotions in her heart grew ever more intense.

“I want to see her so much…”

Not to apologize, not because of guilt.

Rеαⅾ οո KatRеαdіnɡСαfe

Those emotions, as time passed and Song Shiyuan calmed down, had all been suppressed by her.

Only the thought of wanting to see the little fox demon grew increasingly intense.

As if possessed, Song Shiyuan circled around the Fox Palace, round after round.

Without realizing it, she arrived at a garden with a gurgling stream.

This wasn’t where she had first encountered the little fox demon, but it was where they had exchanged names and formally met.

“Ming Zhaoxi…”

Song Shiyuan murmured the name.

“Ming Zhaoxi…”

“Where exactly are you… Ming Zhaoxi…”

Song Shiyuan walked to the water’s edge and looked at the clear, gurgling stream.

Her eyes were vacant.

She seemed to return to that day when the little fox demon sat by the stream, using those slender, tender little hands to diligently wash clothes for those three malicious fox demons.

Song Shiyuan walked forward a few steps.

She sat on the rock where the little fox demon had sat.

Watching the ripples on the water’s surface, listening to the unceasing gurgling sound of water.

“Ming Zhaoxi… I really…”

Song Shiyuan spoke softly to herself, a bitter feeling surging up from her throat.

Making her voice lose its tone and scatter its meaning.

Becoming choked up.

Becoming unclear.

The sourness spread from her throat to her eyes, becoming tears.

Slowly releasing.

Like weeping, like complaining.

Rеad οn KatRеαԁіոgCαfe

“I really… want to see you again so much…”

“I want to hear your voice again so much…”

I want to smell your pheromone scent again so much…

I want to… hold you again so much…

“If I could do it over again, I would definitely call your name properly…”

The woman wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes and sat listlessly by the water.

Loneliness completely enveloped her.

This day, Song Shiyuan didn’t go back.

She just sat there by the water, staring blankly through the night.

Why go back? Even if she slept in bed and fell into dreams at night, she couldn’t see that little fox demon.

Couldn’t see… Ming Zhaoxi.

…

On the other side.

Lu Zhuxin took in all of Song Shiyuan’s actions and expressions.

She rested her chin on her hand, eyes crinkling at the corners, revealing a satisfied smile.

The timing was about right.

[Host, why do you insist on using this name?]

“What’s wrong?” Lu Zhuxin said. “I think this name is quite nice. Don’t you like it?”

[In the dead of night, a woman in white clothes sitting by the water, crying and calling out the name of a person who doesn’t exist.

Don’t you think this scene looks very eerie?]

The System voiced its dissatisfaction.

“Oh, so you’re afraid of ghosts?” Lu Zhuxin said.