Rong Ye was practically vibrating with excitement as he carried Su Qinglan to the upper floor.
The moment he set her feet down, he didn’t even look at the bed. Instead, he marched over to the opening in the floor that led to the downstairs area.
"If that snake can do it, so can I!" he muttered to himself. He grabbed a massive, heavy log that was kept nearby and shoved it over the hole with a loud thud.
He wanted to make sure those three "spies" downstairs couldn’t see or hear anything clearly. He wanted them to stay down there and suffer in silence while he finally had his moment.
Once the hole was sealed, Rong Ye turned back around, his eyes shining with triumph. But the moment he saw Su Qinglan, his breath hitched.
Su Qinglan was sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes slightly dazed and her face a bright, beautiful shade of pink.
Because she was wet, the towel he had wrapped around her was starting to slip. A large patch of creamy skin above her chest was exposed, glistening in the dim light of the room.
To Rong Ye, his Lan Lan didn’t look like a human or a witch doctor right now; she looked like a bewitching fox spirit who was teasing him. His mind started racing like a herd of wild horse beastmen.
On the other hand, Su Qinglan didn’t know where to look. She tried to keep her gaze on the floor, but it was impossible.
Rong Ye was standing right in front of her, completely naked and not bothering to hide a single thing. He was so proud and unbothered that he looked like a king standing in his palace.
Her eyes accidentally twinkled as she looked at him. Why does even ’that’ part of him look so noble? she wondered, her face flushing even darker. Is he using some kind of Fox Tribe skincare on it? Why does it look so... healthy and beautiful?
Rong Ye was completely oblivious to where her eyes were wandering. He was too busy being a "good husband." He grabbed a dry cloth and started fussing over her, leaning down right in front of her face to dry her damp hair.
"Lan Lan, we have to get you dry," he said earnestly, rubbing her hair with the cloth. "If you get a cold, those three downstairs will never let me hear the end of it."
Because he was leaning so close, "that thing" of his was dangling right at eye level, swinging slightly as he moved his arms to dry her hair.
Su Qinglan felt like her head was going to explode from the heat. Ahem! Rong Ye! she thought frantically. Could you please cover yourself first? This is very distracting! How am I supposed to look at your face when your ’pride’ is literally nodding at me?
But Rong Ye just kept scrubbing her hair, acting as if he were the most innocent beastman in the world. He was so focused on "taking care" of her that he didn’t realize he was currently putting Su Qinglan through the most embarrassing test of her life.
"There, almost dry," he murmured, leaning even closer until his chest was almost touching her nose. "Are you feeling warmer now, Lan Lan? Why is your face so red? Do you have a fever?"
Rong Ye was trying his absolute best to be the perfect, gentlemanly husband.
He had heard the other females in the tribe talk about how "rough" and "hurried" wolf and tiger beastmen could be, and he wanted to prove that a fox was different. He wanted to be sophisticated. He wanted to win her heart with his gentleness before winning the rest of her.
"Don’t worry, Lan Lan," he said, his voice deep and steady. "I won’t rush you. I know you’ve had a stressful day with those stinky lions. Just sit back and let your husband pamper you."
He began to dry her body with the softest fur cloth he could find. Even though he was being incredibly clumsy...accidentally tickling her ribs or tangling the cloth in her wet hair.
He maintained a very "cool" and calm expression. He moved with slow, deliberate grace, acting as if he weren’t bothered by her nakedness at all.
However, Rong Ye wasn’t as cool as he thought he was. He didn’t realize that his fluffy fox ears had popped out of his head and were twitching wildly with pure happiness. Every time his hand brushed against her skin, his ears would do a little dance.
Su Qinglan sat there, her heart pounding against her ribs. To Rong Ye, he was being a "careful husband," but to Su Qinglan, this was pure torture.
Every time he leaned in to dry her arms or her back, his "noble" parts were swinging right in front of her eyes. His slow, careful movements felt like a deliberate seduction.
She felt a strange, wild urge bubbling up inside her. Her face was so hot she felt like she could cook an egg on her cheeks. She looked at his distracting "noble pride" and then at his smooth skin, and a very naughty thought popped into her head: I really want to bite him.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Su Qinglan’s own beast instincts reacted to her hidden desire.
POP!
Suddenly, a pair of delicate, fluffy fox ears sprouted from the top of Su Qinglan’s head, and a short, beautiful fox tail burst out from under the towel, swishing back and forth with excitement.
Rong Ye froze. He was holding the drying cloth mid-air, his jaw dropping open. He stared at her twitching ears and her waving tail, his eyes wide with shock.
"Lan Lan?" he gasped, his face turning a shade of red that matched his own fur. "Your... your tail... it’s out!"
In the beast world, a female’s tail and ears only appeared when she was feeling extremely anxious or extremely "interested" in her mate.
Su Qinglan realized what had happened and let out a squeak of pure embarrassment, trying to cover her ears with her hands. "I... I didn’t... it’s just the heat! It’s too hot in here!"