"How sweet", Fen Baihu was leaning on a tree as Wu Long was passing the garden road between the mansion and Luo Mingyu's meditation spot, "Who knew that the God of Pleasure had such a soft side to him"
"Was my reputation so bleak? I thought there was more warmth in how I was perceived", Wu Long chuckled.
"Depends on who you ask, I suppose", Fen Baihu smiled, admitting there were plenty of favorable accounts of who he was, "But if my memory serves me well, most of the people belonging to the Major Powers - that I ever met anyways - always said that if you look too closely into the eyes of the God of Pleasure, you run the risk of crossing gazes with the God of Slaughter"
"How exaggerated", Wu Long made a wry laugh as he reached the point where she stood, and the Celestial Fox started to walk alongside him.
"Hmm, I wonder if that's so…", her eyes full of curiosity darted to the side, studying his profile, "it seems to me… that you want that to be an exaggeration"
Wu Long's feet stopped, and she stopped as well as he turned to her. Her expression was normal, but her tails that always swayed in a playful manner stopped and very subtly curled up at the ends. A light smile touched his lips, "As expected of a Celestial Fox, you are quite perceptive"
He wouldn't be honest if he denied that he was careful in what behavior he showed around his ladies.
He wasn't hiding any secrets or lying about who he was. But there was still a part of him long left behind, which he was conscious of, and that was still present within him.
"You don't have to fear retaliation from me though. I don't have a habit of lashing out my own problems on others just because you happen to notice them"
"Very mature of you", Fen Baihu's tails started swaying again, ignoring the remark about her reaction to his stopping.
"If I didn't mature at least to that point, after living as long as I did, it would be a tragedy, don't you think?", he chuckled at the dubious in his eyes praise while continuing to walk toward the mansion.
"Are you implying something?", her eyebrow went up as she turned a side-eye to him, proceeding to walk side by side.
"Haha, of course not. Besides humans and Mythical Beasts may have similarities, but we are different beings. It's silly to make comparisons for most things about us, behavior included", he shook his head while still smiling. But she felt sincerity in his tone, which put her at ease.
"I suppose the same goes for that World Spirit…", she sighed.
"Does she make you confused?", his smile became a bit more amused.
"A bit, perhaps… I don't know"
"You're not alone in that. In fact most of us don't know how to approach her", Wu Long nodded, since there were simply too many unanswered questions around the mysterious beauty, and her identity demanded caution from anyone around her.
Her very limited ability to communicate was also challenging, even for him, since he could only talk to her without really getting any signs that she understood.
"That Music Dao girl seems pretty comfortable with her though", Fen Baihu noted, and Wu Long's smile became warmer.
"That's one of the many charms of Cui'er", he chuckled, "besides, it seems Yuanfen also feels comfortable around her"
"Isn't she there for the music?", Fen Baihu rolled her eyes.
"Maybe, maybe not", he shrugged his shoulders with a lighthearted smile. He didn't mention that the Celestial Fox herself spent most of her time around the younger Gong sibling, even as that came to his mind.
"That aside, you didn't seek me out just to talk about how sweet I am, no?", Wu Long suddenly stopped, turning to the Mythical Beast just as they reached the mansion.
Fen Baihu stopped as well, turning to look back at him. This time, she was calm and confident when their gazes crossed, and a smile lifted the corners of Wu Long's mouth.
He stepped toward her, and her gaze followed him, looking at him at a sharper upward angle as he drew closer.
"You told me to approach you anytime I am ready", she spoke as her pink eyes subtly glowed. His smile became wider when he noticed that her gaze now started to resemble that of a beast looking at its prey.
"I was wondering what took you so long, as far as I could tell you weren't that hesitant about it from the start", he chuckled, "rather it was my concern that you should wait until you were more comfortable around me"
"I was waiting when the situation around you calmed down enough", she shrugged her shoulders, finding no need to hide her intentions, "you had your ladies to worry about and the outside matters as well"
"How thoughtful of you"
"Not really, I just didn't want your attention to be distracted", Fen Baihu's tone was light and confident.
"Haha, but even if you're ready, from where I stand it seems you are still not completely comfortable around me", his smile became a bit wider as he took another step and was now right in front of her.
Even if it was subtle, he could still detect hints of fear in the way she paused just before in their conversation.
"You said it yourself, we are different. It's normal for Spiritual Beasts among whom I was raised to be cautious of one's partner the first time of closeness, or rather, given the nature of our relationship, I suggest you abandon the thought of seeing me drop my caution any more than this", the Celestial Fox's tone as she answered contained a hint of pride, as well as a haughty note.
Wu Long's smile grew even wider, as he felt a challenge in those words, even though he understood she had no intention of issuing one "oh really?", he chuckled, "then I guess there is no meaning in delaying any longer"
She did not reply, only looking at him with a steady and confident gaze.
It was not like she didn't appreciate the time he gave her, it allowed her to more or less understand their new relationship, and more importantly, understand who Wu Long was.
She now knew what to expect from him. And even as she still was on guard, it was more or less safe to say that she acclimated to this situation as much as it was possible.
There was nothing more to discuss, so they simply moved toward a nearby bedroom.