Two soft fox ears twitched under her fingers. She blinked at the sensation, then smiled despite herself. "Oh, wow... if I had a mirror, I’d totally fall in love with myself."
Then her eyes suddenly fell on something, and she hurriedly ran over there; it was really water in a big stone bowl.
Su Qinglan looked at her reflection in the smooth surface of the water. The fox’s ears twitched adorably, and her long, soft tail swayed behind her like a dancer’s ribbon.
Her lips curved slowly. "Wow..." she whispered. "Am I... becoming a real fox?"
The longer she stared, the more she felt it... that sly, dangerous kind of charm bubbling inside her. Her movements felt light, graceful, and playful. Her smile turned naturally mischievous.
"Why do I feel like I could seduce even the greatest beastman alive?" She muttered, tilting her head and batting her lashes at her own reflection. "Tsk, I’d probably fall in love with myself first!"
She laughed softly and struck another pose, head tilted, one hand on her waist, tail lifted elegantly behind her. "Hehe~ so this is what being a vixen feels like..."
Right then, a rustling sound echoed from the cave’s entrance.
Su Qinglan turned just as Xuan Long stepped inside, carrying huge prey in one hand ... something that looked like a deer, except it had horns.
But the moment his eyes landed on her, her tousled hair, her twitching fox ears, that swaying tail, and the alluring pose she had unknowingly frozen in... he stopped dead in his tracks.
For the first time since his awakening, Xuan Long’s expression changed.
His emerald eyes widened slightly, and his entire body went stiff. Even the tip of his tail froze mid-motion.
His heart gave a hard, dangerous thump.
... His female was posing.
Looking at him.
Her tail up. Her scent was sweet and heady.
She wanted to mate.
Xuan Long’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, his chest tightening. "So... she truly desires me..." he thought in disbelief. "So desperate that she cannot wait for me to return."
Meanwhile, Su Qinglan blinked at him, completely unaware of what was going on inside his ancient mind filled with garbage.
"...Why is he staring at me like that?" she thought, blinking. "Wait. Why does he look like he’s about to pounce?!"
Xuan Long stood there for a long moment, his eyes fixed on the female in front of him.
His chest rose and fell slowly, his throat bobbing once, twice. So many emotions ran through him...heat, confusion, desire, and something dangerously close to fear. He had never felt this way before.
His claws tightened slightly on the prey in his hand. He took a deep breath, forcing his tail to relax.
"No," he told himself firmly. "Feed her first. Females must be full and warm. Only then will they be happy."
That was one of the ancient rules among beasts.
And if females weren’t happy... they got angry. They shouted. They ignored them. Sometimes, they even abandoned their males.
Xuan Long’s heart clenched at that thought. He couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t want to be abandoned on the very first day of mating.
After all, he was from the snake clan. Snakes had it the worst among beastmen when it came to winning the favor of females. They are the most despised ones.
He was already lucky his female didn’t scream or run when she saw him. She even approached him, touched him, and said he is so good.
"She must like my looks," he thought proudly, his lips curling slightly. "Yes... she must find me good-looking."
Feeling satisfied with that conclusion, he dragged the prey inside the cave. With a heavy thud, he dropped it right in front of her.
Su Qinglan blinked at the sight of the huge beast.
Xuan Long straightened, looking serious as ever. "What do you like to eat?" he asked in that low, steady voice.
Before she could even open her mouth, he bent down, grabbed one leg of the prey, and with one swift motion...crack!...ripped it clean off.
Blood splattered onto the stone floor.
He turned to her, holding the dripping leg in his clawed hand, as if proudly offering a freshly cooked meal. "Here," he said simply.
Su Qinglan froze. Her face went pale.
She looked at the bloody leg... then at him.
Then back at the leg.
The thick metallic smell hit her nose.
Her stomach twisted.
And before she could stop herself... Huhh!
She emptied the contents of her stomach violently, her whole body convulsing with the sheer force of the retching.
The smell of the raw blood, which normally wouldn’t bother her, was a thousand times worse now, because just the thought of eating that made her stomach twist.
She was not eating that raw, bloody leg.
Xuan Long was completely stunned. He instantly dropped the bloody limb, his emerald eyes widened with shock. He slithered the short distance towards her and said with panic.
"What happened to you? Are you sick?" he asked in a terrified voice. "Are you going to see the Beast God?!"
Su Qinglan was too busy choking to answer. Her eyes watered, and her face turned red from the effort.
She waved her hand weakly, trying to tell him to back off, but he only leaned closer with a worried expression.
Tears streamed down her face as she turned her head toward him and glared, eyes puffed and furious.
Her voice came out hoarse between gasps, "Who is going to see the Beast God!"
Xuan Long blinked.
He tilted his head slightly, looking completely lost.
"...Then why are you crying?"
Su Qinglan groaned, clutching her stomach. "Because you tried to feed me raw, bloody meat, that’s why!"
Xuan Long looked at the bloody leg on the ground again, then back at her pale face.
He blinked once.
"Oh," he said simply.
Then, after a moment’s pause, he added seriously, "So... you don’t like it raw."
"But that’s how we ate it. Or... do you not like meat? Aren’t you from the fox clan? They like eating meat," he said with a tilt of his head. He couldn’t understand where he had gone wrong for the female to give him that kind of look.
Su Qinglan wanted to throw something at him.