Married the Second Generation Fox Demon with a Baby in a Flash Marriage - Chapter 35

Hu Mengmeng thanked the clerk and ran out, returning to the villa as fast as her legs could carry her.

In the living room, Su Mingli was talking to Huo Zhilan, holding a small notebook and scribbling something down.

“Sister Huo, thank you so much. I’ll make sure to teach Mengmeng well. I’ll show her these notes later and make sure she memorizes everything,” Su Mingli said gratefully.

“You’re very thoughtful. If the two of them put in the effort to get along, things will naturally improve,” Huo Zhilan replied with a smile. Su Mingli had left a good impression on her; her warm, straightforward personality made it easy to get along with her.

While Hu Mengmeng might be a bit unreliable, her mother was solid. With a mother like this to guide her, the child probably wouldn’t turn out bad.

As they spoke, they heard the sound of the door and saw Hu Mengmeng burst in.

“Mengmeng, why are you so reckless? What’s all the running for!” Su Mingli scolded, seeing Hu Mengmeng panting for breath.

“Mom, it’s an emergency. Aunt Lan, I have a few things I need to ask you,” Hu Mengmeng said, trying to suppress her racing heart as she looked at Huo Zhilan.

“Of course. As long as it isn’t one of Xinyu’s private secrets, I can tell you,” Huo Zhilan said.

“Let’s talk in the study,” Hu Mengmeng suggested.

“Alright.” Huo Zhilan stood up.

“What is it that I can’t hear? Here, take this notebook. Read it thoroughly tonight—I’m testing you tomorrow!” Su Mingli huffed, though she didn’t force her way in, simply stuffing the notebook into Hu Mengmeng’s hands.

Hu Mengmeng nodded distractedly, took the notebook, and led Huo Zhilan to the study.

“Aunt Lan, have you ever seen a bell like this?” Once inside, Hu Mengmeng opened her palm to reveal the two bells.

“Oh, this? What a coincidence, I just saw these today. These are the Ye family’s contracting artifacts. There were three or four more in the box I brought over today. The patterns on them are the Ye family’s emblem. How do you have two? Did Xinyu give them to you?” Huo Zhilan asked.

“Yes… Aunt Lan, I want to ask: back in the day, did the Ye family have a house in the Fuxiang Mountain villa district in Taolin County? Did Sister Ye ever go there when she was a child?” Hu Mengmeng took a deep breath and continued her questioning.

“Fuxiang Mountain? The Ye family developed that area years ago, but they sold it all off; they didn’t keep a house. As for Xinyu going to Taolin County… I actually remember that. I was abroad handling company business at the time. Master Ye took Xinyu to Taolin County. He had business to attend to, so he left Xinyu at the villa under the care of a nanny and bodyguards. When he returned, he found Xinyu’s arm had been badly injured—bitten by a Gray Dog. The wound got infected, and she ran a fever for days. It took months of treatment to fully recover. If you look closely at her arm even now, you can see the scars. That’s why Xinyu never wears short sleeves; she always wears long sleeves. Sigh, why are you asking about this?”

“Thank you for telling me, Aunt Lan. I only just realized… the girl I met when I was little was Sister Ye.” Hu Mengmeng didn’t need to ask anything else. It was blindingly obvious.

Her eyes reddened, and she clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms.

Ye Xinyu was the “Big Sister” from her childhood!

The one who was so kind, so sweet, and so warm. The one who had liked her so much!

The Gray Dog—Hu Mengmeng knew it was a type of dog demon. She hadn’t realized that Ye Xinyu had been fighting a demon to protect her back then—a vicious, aggressive one at that. The price she paid was months of illness and a permanent scar.

Back then, Ye Xinyu was only six or seven years old.

“Little Fox, it doesn’t hurt at all. It was just a little puppy bite. I’m a big girl, see? I’m not even crying.” Hu Mengmeng remembered her smiling through the pain, dimples showing, as she tried to comfort her, completely ignoring the wound on her arm.

She had actually believed it didn’t hurt.

Demons were naturally hostile toward demon hunters, but Hu Mengmeng felt none of that toward the girl who had protected her. Ye Xinyu had chased away a demon when she was so small, bleeding while coaxing Hu Mengmeng not to cry.

As these childhood memories flooded back, Hu Mengmeng felt a profound sense of “finding what was lost.” She had spent years chasing the wrong person. Her feelings for Lin Yuanya had gone from adoration to disappointment and finally to total indifference, because the direction had been wrong from the start.

She had given her gratitude and affection to a stranger, while treating the actual person with distrust and causing her pain. She had even let her fall pregnant and suffer the hardships of gestation while picking petty fights with her.

She was truly the world’s biggest idiot!

“You met when you were little? No wonder Xinyu is a bit different with you,” Huo Zhilan mused. “She said she married you because you could help nurture the child. You think it was all for the child? Knowing her, if she truly had no good feelings for you or no trust at all, she wouldn’t have anything to do with you. Because of her family’s past, Grandpa Ye has a huge prejudice against demons, which influenced Xinyu too. In all these years, you are the first demon she’s been willing to associate with. Though, you are a special case.”

Huo Zhilan’s voice was low and steady. “I’ve watched her grow up; I love her like my own daughter. She used to be a child who smiled all the time. She looked so beautiful when she smiled, with those two little dimples. Her mother and I called her ‘Little Sweetheart.’ Ever since her mother disappeared and Master Ye became stricter with her, she’s been under immense pressure. Especially these past few years since her grandfather was injured. I haven’t seen her smile once. she grew into a cold personality, but she’s ‘cold on the outside, warm on the inside’—you saw that today when she saved your friend. I truly hope you can be more understanding and kind to her. Share some of her burdens.”

“Aunt Lan, don’t worry. I will. I definitely will,” Hu Mengmeng nodded.

Ye Xinyu was the girl from her childhood—Hu Mengmeng knew about the dimples. It was Lin Yuanya’s dimples that had confused her, and since Lin Yuanya never denied it and simply enjoyed Hu Mengmeng’s devotion, the misunderstanding had persisted for years.

Xinyu is different with me. Hu Mengmeng finally understood the weight of that thought. She recalled their previous encounters; Ye Xinyu never hesitated with her sword against other demons, but when facing Hu Mengmeng, she had been noticeably slower. Her blade had swerved.

It was that split second of hesitation that allowed Hu Mengmeng to use her charm. Maybe she had hesitated because she recognized her.

If Ye Xinyu had wanted to enslave her with a Master-Servant contract, it would have been easy with her artifacts and help. But she had respected Hu Mengmeng’s wishes instead.

Ye Xinyu had recognized her long ago, yet she hadn’t recognized Ye Xinyu. During the day, when asked about the bell, Hu Mengmeng had stupidly said she “threw it away” and “didn’t remember who gave it to her.” No wonder Ye Xinyu got angry. She cared about their past, and Hu Mengmeng’s words must have stung.

And because she was angry, she felt physically unwell and had to see a doctor. Then, regarding Tao Tao, Hu Mengmeng had interrogated her with zero trust.

Hu Mengmeng felt like such “scum” that she wanted to slap herself!

“It’s good that you understand. You have a long life ahead of you. It’s late; get some sleep,” Huo Zhilan said and left.

Hu Mengmeng emerged from the study and found Su Mingli waiting in the hallway.

“What were you talking about? So mysterious. And the bell? Give it here. Don’t go keeping it!” Su Mingli pulled her aside.

“Mom, I had the wrong person. I confirmed it with Aunt Lan. The sister who saved me wasn’t Lin Yuanya, it was Sister Ye. She got bitten by a dog saving me and spent months recovering. This bell belongs to her! How could I possibly throw it away?”

Su Mingli froze, then sighed with emotion. “It was Xinyu?! You silly girl, how could you mistake the person who saved your life! Xinyu is a wonderful child. Now that you know, you better treat her right!”

“I know, Mom,” Hu Mengmeng nodded solemnly.

“Remember to look at those notes. I asked Aunt Lan about Xinyu’s habits. She hasn’t eaten all day because she’s unwell. I’m going to make some appetizers for her so she has an appetite when she wakes up tomorrow.”

“Mom, wait for me. I’ll help.”

They went to the kitchen and made several snacks—some savory, some with spiritual fruit. Su Mingli couldn’t help but nag her daughter some more.

“Your fox mother was much more thoughtful than you. She’d slip out at midnight to find food so she wouldn’t wake me, and bring it back in the morning. I was moody back then because I had to drop out of university, and I had a bit of a temper. I’d hit and pinch her, and it hurt, but she never said a word…” Su Mingli trailed off, her eyes misty. “Anyway, just learn from her. You’re eighteen now. It’s time you learned how to cherish someone.”

Late that night, Su Mingli stayed in a guest room. Hu Mengmeng stayed up, checking on the comatose Tao Tao and practicing the bloodline sealing method from the silk cloth. It was incredibly smooth.

Before, she had used 90% of her energy just to suppress her bloodline. Now, she only needed 10%, and it was a self-sustaining loop. However, she noticed that energy refined through a fox bloodline was naturally “seductive” and “impure” for a human body. This was why Ye Xinyu found her touch so overwhelming.

Hu Mengmeng looked at the notebook Su Mingli had given her. It listed Ye Xinyu’s likes and habits:

She has a sweet tooth; she likes pastries and milk tea.

She used to wake up at 5:00 AM to exercise.

She drinks a glass of water every morning.

She loves floral scents.

She hates winter because she’s prone to feeling cold; her hands and feet are often ice-cold.

She liked pink as a child, but now wears exclusively black.

Her grandfather is allergic to fur, so they have no pets at home, but she runs a secret sanctuary for hundreds of stray cats and dogs.

Hu Mengmeng felt her heart swell. She remembered being a child and Ye Xinyu giving her strawberry cake.

“Little Fox, if you like it, I’ll give it to you every day.”

Hu Mengmeng realized now that she must have accidentally shown her ears and tail back then, which was why Ye Xinyu called her “Little Fox” and hid her away so her demon-hating grandfather wouldn’t find her.

She had no desire to sleep. She wanted to see Ye Xinyu. She went upstairs to her bedroom door, hesitating whether to knock. Just as she reached out, the door opened.

Ye Xinyu stood there in her silk pajamas, looking sleepy. She rubbed her eyes—a rare, vulnerable gesture—before her gaze sharpened into its usual cold distance.

“Is something wrong?” she asked, her voice raspy. She was thirsty and hungry.

“Sister… are you hungry? Or thirsty? Let me get you something,” Hu Mengmeng said, suddenly nervous.

“I can do it myself,” Ye Xinyu said, brushing past her. Hu Mengmeng followed her down the stairs. Watching her from behind, Hu Mengmeng felt a flush creep up her face. Seeing her as the girl from her childhood made everything about her seem infinitely more beautiful and endearing.

“Sister, I want to apologize again. I was ignorant about Tao Tao and I didn’t trust you. I’ve reflected on it. I’ll believe you from now on. And… about what I said during the day… I didn’t mean it. I remembered our past, but I had the wrong person. That other person disappointed me, so I said those mean things out of spite. I only found out today that you are that sister. I’m sorry I was so stupid then, and so stupid now.”

Ye Xinyu paused for a moment but kept walking. “The past is long forgotten. I don’t remember.”

Hu Mengmeng’s heart sank. She must still be angry. “I was only three or four, but I remember. You called me ‘Little Fox,’ I called you ‘Sister.’ I always remembered. It was just… I was a fool to mistake the person…”

They reached the kitchen. Hu Mengmeng pulled out the bells from under her collar. “Sister, look, I’m wearing the bell again. I found the one I lost by the pool too. I have both now. Didn’t you want me to be your contracted demon? I’ll do it. We can sign an Equality Contract.”

An Equality Contract would allow them to sense each other’s emotions and safety. It was her promise to Ye Xinyu.

“I’m no longer interested. Please move,” Ye Xinyu said coldly, looking for a glass.

Hu Mengmeng pouted but didn’t give up. “Mom and I made some snacks. You haven’t eaten all day, and the little one needs nutrition. If you don’t like these, I made others. I know my spiritual energy was ‘impure’ before, which made you uncomfortable. I’ve never really trained before. Can you teach me the Ye family’s cultivation method?”

Ye Xinyu paused while drinking water. “The Ye family’s cultivation contains ‘Righteous Qi’ (Hao Ran Zhi Qi). Your fox bloodline naturally contains ‘Baleful Qi’ (Sha Qi). If you try to practice our way in your human form and then release your fox bloodline, it would be equivalent to suicide.”

The Ye family’s energy was gold because of that Righteous Qi, which was why it suppressed demons—and why it made Ye Xinyu’s own belly hurt when she used it.

“Then what should I do? Can I not train at all? What about the impurities in my energy?”

“There are basic methods that only refine pure spiritual energy without adding the attribute of Righteous Qi. Pure energy works for both humans and demons,” Ye Xinyu explained.

“Then… can you teach me?”

“The outer disciples’ techniques can only be taught if you join the Ye Group. As for the inner sect’s cultivation… do you think it’s something I can just hand over?”

“Then how do I qualify?”

“You have to formally enter the sect and acknowledge a Master. It’s a serious ritual.”

“Then I’ll acknowledge you as my Master!” Hu Mengmeng blurted out. Master, Sister—it didn’t matter, as long as Ye Xinyu would talk to her.

“Entering the sect requires an oath. While not as heavy as a contract, it is binding for a cultivator. Are you sure you want to join the Ye family’s Sword Sect?” Ye Xinyu’s expression became very grave.

“I’m sure! I want to protect you, I want to protect our child, and I want to become strong!” Hu Mengmeng said earnestly.