The Young Man (2)

Xue Yao opened her jaw wide, letting her teeth show, but before she clamped down at the man's wrist, she hesitated a bit.

If the young man didn't help her remove the twig impaled through her leg, she had no idea how she was going to do so herself. Besides, nothing was to say that she would lose more blood than she already had if she pulled the twig out herself, and the low amount of spiritual energy left within her meant that her recovery speed was slowed down as well.

Despite the fact that it was degrading to let a mortal help her, she thought that it was already degrading enough to be trapped in her small-fox form. Perhaps she should just let him help, and then sap a few years of spiritual energy from him, and then move on to her next victim.

Right.

That was a smart idea.

So, Xue Yao stopped struggling, focusing her energy on conveying the amount of despise she had for the young man daring to touch an immortal's body with her stare.

The young man seemed satisfied with that, tearing another strip of cloth off from his sleeve and wrapping it around her wound tightly while avoiding the twig, explaining as he did so, "This is just a temporary fix, so I'll have to take you home and wrap it up better, alright?"

Take her home? Take her home?

Xue Yao never agreed to that!

She thought that it was just going to be a one-time thing with no strings attached. She thought that he could just help her with what she needed help with and let her go run around to find her next victim. This was not part of the deal.

She began to struggle again, but the young man didn't take any note of that and simply held her closer to him as he began to set forward again.

…

Xue Yao was now resting resentfully on a pile of blankets that she arranged for herself. Her left leg was too painful, causing her to limp every time she moved, so soon enough, she gave up and chose to lie down.

Once the young man brought her to his "home", a disappointing looking hut with bamboo walls and straw ceilings located on stilts over a pond, he began to operate on her wound, pulling the twig out and stopping the bleeding. That was an overly painful experience, since despite being an immortal, Xue Yao had a low pain tolerance, and the sensation of a twig leaving her leg was just too sharp and uncomfortable.

And as if that wasn't bad enough, the young man decided that she was too "dirty" and needed a bath as well, despite the fact that she was sure that her fur was perfectly clean. He practically gave her an ice water bath that added on to her misery, leaving her to be in the state she was now: burying herself within a pile of blankets to attempt to hide herself from the world.

The only positive thing she gained out of the entire experience was that now, the twig was out of her leg, and her wound was applied with medicine to stop the bleeding. After applying the medicine, the young man also wrapped her leg with a thick layer of bandages.

Xue Yao kept her head covered with her paws until she heard a rustling noise, causing her to look up to see that it was the young man, kneeling down on the floor in front of her to get eye-level with the spot she was at now.

"Puppy," he began, "are you mad at me for giving you a bath?"

Xue Yao raised the corner of her mouth, flashing a bit of white teeth at him. 'Of course I'm mad at you. I was clean. Perfectly clean. Immortals like us don't get covered with the dirt and grime of the mortal world, so we don't need to be cleaned.'

The young man couldn't hear her speak, but he gained enough of an idea after seeing her expression. He looked downwards, as if deep in thought, until a sudden idea struck him.

"Puppy!" He raised his eyebrows. "You must be hungry! Is that the reason for why you're upset?"

'Hungry? I'm not hungry. I am upset because you poured ice cold water on me, not because I'm hungry, you idiotic human!'

"That must be the case… I knew that you were hungry… what do you eat, puppy? What did they feed you from where you came from?" He looked at her with a curious gaze.

'They fed me Peaches of Immortality that sapped away all my spiritual energy. That's what they fed me.' Xue Yao was filled with resentment once more at the thought.

"Well, puppy, you're lucky that you're here!"

'Lucky? How is this lucky? Back in the Celestial Heavens, I had everything I ever wanted. It's rather obvious that a mortal like you will never understand the splendor of that.'

The young man continued on with his carefree grin, clearly not being able to hear a single thing going on her head. "I just so happen to be an excellent chef! Wait a second, alright, puppy?"

Xue Yao was certain that whatever "excellence" he had in cooking surely couldn't be any better than what the Celestial Heavens provided. Besides, eating was an unnecessary action for immortals. They only chose to consume food as a form of enjoyment, and not necessity. So, hunger was an unknown feeling to her.

She was certain that if she could properly communicate with the young man, she would tell him that, except it didn't seem like any communication was possible with him when he wouldn't understand her actions or thoughts.

Giving a deep sigh, Xue Yao watched with wary as the young man left the small room. She was still very unconvinced that this was a worthy expenditure.