At first, hearing a familiar voice in a daze, Lu Sheng thought she was dreaming.
But she quickly realized it wasn’t a dream.
The unmistakable scent of burning incense, the warmth of their bodies pressed together, and the lingering touch of his kisses on her skin—all of it was so real.
A man’s deep voice echoed beside her ear, accompanied by warm breaths that sent a tingling warmth rising to her earlobes.
"Why are you... here?"
Lu Sheng opened her eyes to meet the man’s deep, affectionate gaze, and instinctively asked.
"After I returned to Jiang City, I’ve been handling work. Once I settled everything over there, I came."
Li Muchen spoke as he kissed the girl’s slightly warm earlobe. "Lan Yu sent me the address and had a servant bring me to this room. You were sleeping soundly and didn’t hear me come in."
Seeing her lover and being held so tightly in his embrace, a sense of security overwhelmed her completely.
Her first instinct was, of course, joy.
But as she thought back to the sulking mood she had before falling asleep, Lu Sheng couldn’t help but put on a cold face and push him away to create some distance.
"Then why didn’t you tell me in advance?" she said, turning her head away in a rare sulky tone. "And why didn’t you reply to my message before I went to sleep?"
This was the first time he had seen the girl acting so irritable. Li Muchen found her adorable yet felt a pang of guilt.
For once, he shamelessly leaned closer again, wrapping Lu Sheng tightly in his embrace.
"I didn’t ignore your message. My phone just happened to run out of battery at that moment. As soon as I charged it and saw your message, I responded right away."
"It’s just that you must’ve already fallen asleep by then, so you didn’t see it."
As he spoke, Li Muchen reached over to retrieve Lu Sheng’s phone, which had been placed on silent and left by her bedside table in a fit of her earlier sulking.
Lu Sheng’s phone unlock password was the date of their first encounter—an important day that Li Muchen remembered clearly.
He unlocked her phone and opened their WeChat chat log, showing the screen to the girl in front of him.
Only then did Lu Sheng see that, about twenty minutes after she had sent her message before falling asleep, Li Muchen had responded with several messages.
[Are you asleep, baby?]
[I’m sorry, baby, my phone died earlier and I didn’t see your message. It’s all my fault. Please don’t be mad at me.]
[Chen An showed me the livestream of you at the Shi Family’s event. I finished my work and am heading to Beijing now. I should arrive around two or three in the morning.]
[Are you asleep? If so, sleep well for now. When you open your eyes again, you’ll already be in my arms.]
[I love you, baby. I love you.]
"See? I really didn’t ignore you."
As Lu Sheng stared at the screen, Li Muchen repeated himself, his eyes showing a hint of aggrieved innocence, like a wronged dog.
"...Mm." Seeing this, Lu Sheng let out a muffled sound of acknowledgment. She finally reached out, wrapping her arms around the man’s slender waist in a returning hug.
What he said was true.
Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, she was indeed in his arms.
"Let me see where you got burned." Remembering the livestream, Li Muchen’s expression turned serious as he reached to turn on the floor lamp next to the bed.
The soft, warm light of the lamp instantly filled the room.
Li Muchen saw that there was a faint reddish mark on Lu Sheng’s collarbone. Her pale skin made the light red color stand out prominently.
Seeing the burn mark, the man’s eyes filled with pain, nearly overflowing. He gently stroked the spot with the calloused pad of his finger, his tone sharp with anger: "It was that Shi Yuwei, wasn’t it?"
Lu Sheng’s gaze cooled. "She wanted to gain popularity before the program started and was afraid I’d steal her spotlight."
"So she used Soul Power to deliberately knock over the porridge, trying to embarrass me and use the situation to highlight her own elegance and grace."
"She was sure I wouldn’t expose her use of Soul Power and assumed I’d suffer in silence. But fortunately, I reacted quickly and worked with that servant to turn the situation against her."
"However, I suspect that after suffering such a public loss during today’s livestream, she won’t let things go so easily. She’ll definitely find a way to redeem herself."
Li Muchen frowned as he looked at the girl in his arms. "Can’t we just tell the Demon Hunter about Shi Yuwei? Let the Demon Hunter deal with her?"
"You and she are in a sisterly relationship now, and you’ll have to deal with her in the future no matter what. Even if I’m by your side, I worry she’ll try something underhanded to harm you."
"No," Lu Sheng shook her head. "If I tell You Yi that the Red Fox is here, once the Red Fox realizes she’s being tracked, she’ll definitely expose my true identity to You Yi as a form of retaliation."
"But it doesn’t matter. Originally, because of the deal I made with her, I intended for us to stay out of each other’s way."
"But today, she was the one who provoked me first and broke our agreement. So she’ll have to face the consequences."
"...That Qingmang TV show. Do you really want to participate?" Li Muchen asked.
"Yes," Lu Sheng replied. "Before, I didn’t know Shi Yuwei’s true identity, so it didn’t matter. But now that I know she’s the Red Fox, it’s clear she wants to use the show to gain human admiration and boost her Soul Power. I can’t let her succeed."
"When the Red Fox’s Soul Power was at its peak, she even carried out a horrific slaughter at an orphanage. I won’t give her another chance to commit evil."
"Alright," Li Muchen responded, nodding with a promise. "If you’re going to participate in that show, I’ll go with you."
Hearing this, Lu Sheng lifted her head to look at Li Muchen with a hint of confusion: "...Go with me?"
Li Muchen explained, "That new Qingmang TV program is a massive production with a huge budget deficit."
"This afternoon, I had Chen An invest 20 million in the show. So now, I’m their biggest backer behind the scenes. I’ll also be involved on-site, overseeing the program’s planning and execution."
Li Muchen lowered his head, gently brushing the girl’s eyebrows with his fingertips. With a serious expression, he said, "By staying by your side and watching over you, I’ll feel more at ease."