Chapter 17: The Girl with Fox Eyes

Zhao Rong's heart was filled with surprise.

Isn't this the...effeminate scholar?

Although some time had passed, Zhao Rong remembered him vividly because on that day, the scholar's swaying gait had sent shivers down his spine.

At the moment, the person inside the room had not yet noticed Zhao Rong.

He seemed to have just gotten up, wearing only a white undergarment, his black hair casually tied with a red silk band, sitting by the window engrossed in a book, smiling.

From this unique perspective outside the window, Zhao Rong could see his side profile and upper body.

Hey, something's not right.

Zhao Rong's gaze moved downward.

He glanced at his neck.

Then at his slightly protruding chest.

Ah, I see.

That day in the bookstore, it was only a brief meeting, and he hadn't thought in this direction...

The next moment, a cool breeze came through.

It seemed as if someone realized that there was something blocking the wind and light outside the window.

The "White-faced Scholar" reluctantly moved his gaze away from the book, the corners of his mouth still slightly raised, as he turned to look outside the window.

"Ah~ A ghost~"

"Ouch!"

"Thud!!"

The sudden emergence of a head above the window frightened her, causing her to kick out with her legs and fall backwards, chair and all, sending the book in her hands soaring into the air.

Zhao Rong instinctively reached out and caught the book.

He cleared his throat, not expecting her reaction to be so intense.

Peering down below, he realized he could no longer see the person from this angle.

But not much later,

a small head slowly peeked above the window sill.

Her disheveled hair, the silk band askew on her head, a strand of black hair sticking to the corner of her lips, her long lashes fluttering with fright.

She was looking up at Zhao Rong with timid eyes,

like a small animal venturing out of its cave for the first time.

Their eyes met.

Zhao Rong now realized, upon closer observation, that she had a pair of captivating fox-like eyes.

Large eyes, the inner corners pointing downward, the outer corners pointing upward, the long ends of her eyes slightly upturned, long eyelashes, fluttering seductively.

"Cough cough, good morning."

"Hmm?"

"Well, it's such a coincidence, haha, to find you living right next to me."

"Mm-hmm?"

"Actually, there's nothing much, I just wanted to say hello..."

"Mm!"

Realizing that the figure outside the window wasn't a ghost, she didn't wait for Zhao Rong to finish speaking; the next second, the window was slammed shut with a "bang", followed by the "click" of a lock from inside.

Zhao Rong recoiled his head in fright, nearly falling off the boat.

At the moment, his upper body was outside the window, one hand holding a book, the other gripping the window sill, his face still bearing the awkward smile from moments ago...

Zhao Rong withdrew back into the window and rubbed his nose with a wry smile.

Thinking of the White-faced Scholar, no, the fox-eyed girl,

Thinking of the frustrated look on the fox-eyed girl's face as she closed the window, Zhao Rong felt a bit remorseful.

He had been playful without consideration, and now, upon reflection, realized his actions were indeed excessive.

It was wrong to invade someone's privacy to begin with, and to upset her so early in the morning...

Zhao Rong hesitated over whether to go next door to apologize, but before he could ponder further, a series of forceful knocks came from outside the door.

Zhao Rong had a guess and opened the door.

As expected, it was the fox-eyed girl from next door, but this moment she had reverted to the scholar's attire of their first meeting, now wearing men's coiffure, a red silk jacket outside, and a white-collared inner shirt.

Her face was tense, and after a glance at Zhao Rong who opened the door, she lowered her gaze and extended a pale small hand.

"Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm."

"What are you saying?"

"Hmm-hmm-hmm-hmm!"

"..."

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in Zhao Rong's mind.

"You want the book back?"

"Mm-hmm!"

Lady, can we communicate normally for once?

Zhao Rong handed over the book he had been holding since the incident.

In the midst of it, he glanced at the cover of the book.

The Peach Blossom Fan?

On the cover was a drawing of a wall: inside was a woman with a lily bun hairstyle, and outside was a disheveled scholar holding a round fan.

Zhao Rong's lips curved into a smile.

The girl with fox-like eyes hurriedly reached out to grab the book.

But in the next moment, the book in front of her vanished suddenly.

She widened her eyes, lifted her beautifully shaped head slightly, parted her lips, and realized that the troublemaker in front of her had withdrawn his hand.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Zhao Rong. And you?"

"Huh?"

Zhao Rong shook the book in his hand.

"Mmm-hmm."

Zhao Rong turned around, preparing to go back into the room.

"Su Dahuang!"

Her voice was soft and tender, yet carried a "ferocious" tone.

Zhao Rong raised his eyebrows.

What a perfunctory name.

However, he decided not to tease her any longer, turned back around, and handed the book to her again.

The girl with fox-like eyes was on guard, her hands quickly "snatched" back her book, and after inspecting the pages, her brows lifted, and her eyes became more spirited as she smiled, with her slender fox-like eyes twinkling even more.

Thinking that her name had scared the troublemaker in front of her, she looked at Zhao Rong smugly and then ran off with the book in her arms, her steps light.

Zhao Rong watched the girl's petite figure with an involuntary grin.

He truly felt apologetic, but why did he feel such an urge to "bully" her upon seeing her act that way?

Could this be the so-called "easy target" physique?

Zhao Rong, with hands clasped behind his back, returned to the room, muttering to himself.

"Su Dahuang? What a domineering name! My sincerest apologies."

…

In the northern part of Wangque Continent under the Great Li Dynasty, Yinping County, above a particular territorial space.

A floating mountain was splitting the sea of clouds, "slowly" moving along.

This floating mountain was one of the thirteen ferryboats of Weiwei Mountain within Wangque Continent, the largest among them, and it was also the largest intra-continent ferryboat on Wangque Continent's mountains.

The name of the boat was Fuyou, which was said to be purchased by Weiwei Mountain from some enormous force in the West Fu Yao Continent.

It is said that just transporting it from West Fu Yao Continent back to Wangque Continent cost Weiwei Mountain an incalculable number of Spirit Stones.

But the Fuyou did not disappoint Weiwei Mountain, as even though the ticket prices were ten times higher than those of an ordinary ferry, they remained highly sought after on the mountains of Wangque Continent.

At this moment, halfway up the Fuyou,

A round-faced girl with twin buns walked along a secluded path, carrying a three-tiered food container.

Soon, she arrived at a quiet courtyard and was just about to knock when the door was already being opened from the inside.

"Qian'er, you finally arrived. If you'd been any later, your Uncle Li Bai here would have starved to death."

The person opening the door was a swordsman with a disheveled beard and a playful grin, currently rubbing his hands together, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the food container held by the girl.

Seeing him open the door, Qian'er's pretty face cooled slightly, she ignored him, and went straight to another person in the front yard.

That was a tall, elderly man.

"Uncle Kun, I brought you the cold tofu and soybean sauce that you like,"

Qian'er said while removing several dishes and fresh rice from the top tier of the food container, arranging them on the table in front of the elder.

Uncle Kun smiled and nodded his head.

"Ahem, Qian'er, what about Uncle Li Bai's?"

The swordsman leaned over the table, looking hopefully at Qian'er.

The round-faced girl, upon hearing this, reached into the first tier of the food container, took out the remaining lone bowl, and "thumped" it on the table.

Li Bai's eyelid twitched as he looked at the tough-as-nails plain steamed buns in the bowl, hoping against hope.

"Ah, that's... Qian'er, didn't you say you'd bring some plum wine for Uncle Li Bai a few days ago?"

"Hmph, it got spilled."

Qian'er forcefully closed the food container, shattering Li Bai's last fantasy, then stood up and went inside the house to find her miss.

Uncle Kun quietly continued eating, pretending to have seen nothing.

Li Bai was left dumbfounded.

In the morning, he had casually reported to the miss about giving Zhao Rong half a jug of Huangling Forget-Worries Liquor on his wedding night.

The little maid was present at the time, but he did not pay much heed.

Moreover, he had repeatedly explained the general effects of that liquor afterward, reiterating that his intention of giving the wine was to persuade Zhao Rong to stay.

But the lad took it all wrong and insisted on leaving, beyond Li Bai's control.

What Li Bai had never expected was that the miss, who seemed most likely to be angry, did not show any anger; at least he did not see any. After he finished his explanation, the miss just paused and then lightly nodded her head.

Yet Qian'er, who should not have seen it as a big issue, reacted strongly.

She thought that if it wasn't for that jug of liquor, Brother Rong'er might not have left...

Afterward, Qian'er ignored him all morning, and now, even at lunch, he had only two plain steamed buns, let alone the plum wine he had been longing for and was promised a few days earlier.

Li Bai felt as if the days without liquor were pure darkness, even worse than when he had broken his Lifebound Flying Sword.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

"To hell with Zhao Rong!"