Chapter 64: The Vixen Keeps a Pretty Husband at Home (12)

Su Tang pinched Song Qing's arm, and then patted it again. "Not bad, young man, keep it up."

Song Qing bit his lip and smiled shyly. "Okay," he replied softly.

Resting her chin in one hand while hugging her knees with the other, Su Tang swayed slightly as she looked at him. "If I ever run into danger in the future, you must protect me well, you know?"

Hearing this, Song Qing nodded repeatedly. "I definitely will."

After finishing the fire, Song Qing helped Su Tang by pouring all the hot water into the large wooden barrel.

Su Tang instructed him to boil some more. "Wash up yourself later too."

His face flushing slightly, Song Qing nodded. "All right."

Walking toward the room, just as she was about to close the door, Su Tang raised an eyebrow at Song Qing, who was honestly tending to the fire. "Don't peek, okay~?"

Song Qing's face flushed a deep crimson. "I would never do such a thing!!!"

"Oh?" Su Tang let out a soft murmur, her tone dripping with teasing. "I don't believe you."

Without waiting for his reply, she shut the door right in front of him.

Once the door was closed, Su Tang chuckled quietly to herself before slowly undressing to begin her bath.

Outside, Song Qing's face remained flushed.

He sat there with a stiff posture, tending to the fire while feeling a bit of vexation in his heart.

Although he knew Su Tang was only joking, he also knew he was not that kind of person.

After a short while, Song Qing raised his head to look toward the room.

It was pitch black outside now, and with a candle lit inside, the silhouette of anyone moving around would be cast upon the door.

After merely glancing at it, Song Qing quickly averted his gaze.

For right at that moment, Su Tang was slowly shedding her garments.

Condemning himself in his heart, Song Qing raised his left hand and struck his own cheek with a hard slap.

Just a moment ago he had said he wouldn't look—why couldn't he just control himself?

Dropping his head in low spirits, he stared at the dirt on the ground and let out a long sigh. Was it really as Su Tang had said?

Was he truly that kind of person? If Su Tang found out, she would surely be disappointed in him, wouldn't she?

Though the two had only known each other for a little over a week, nearly half a month, Su Tang had unconsciously carved out an important place in his heart.

Ever since his master was murdered and his mother driven to her death, Su Tang was the very first person to breach the walls of Song Qing's heart.

Especially that day, when Su Tang had looked at him with such a pitiful expression, it felt as though his heart had skipped a beat, aching for her beyond measure.

Having gone without a bath for a long time, Su Tang soaked in the wooden barrel for quite a while, only emerging at a leisurely pace when the water had grown nearly lukewarm.

Though the weather was stiflingly hot and lingering a bit longer would have been fine, she stepped out anyway, realizing she had already been in there for ages.

At the same time, however, a worry began to form in her mind.

Everything in ancient times was generally fine; as a fox spirit, Su Tang naturally loved places with good environments and fresh air, of which ancient times had plenty.

The only drawback was that winter in the ancient era would likely be terribly difficult to survive.

With April fast approaching, the weather outside was beginning to warm up.

Su Tang decided to use the months leading up to winter to save up a good sum of money, striving to get through the cold season in warmth and comfort.

She dried her hair with a large towel and secretly used her magic to dry it thoroughly before stepping out.

The moment she opened the door, her gaze naturally locked onto Song Qing first.

Hearing the door open, Song Qing merely cast a faint glance out of the corner of his eye, then continued to stare expressionlessly and intently at the fire before him.

"You didn't peek, did you?" Su Tang walked over to his side, intentionally teasing him.

Song Qing did not answer, though the tips of his ears began to turn red.

Taken aback, Su Tang widened her eyes slightly.

Given Song Qing's straightforward and upright character, if he hadn't peeked, he would have immediately refuted and explained himself.

Yet here he sat, completely motionless in silent acquiescence.

And at the same time!! The tips of his ears had actually turned red.

In that instant, understanding dawned on Su Tang. "Did you... peek at me?"

She asked hesitantly, yet her tone carried a hint of certainty.

Song Qing finally stirred, turning his head to look at her.

His lips parted slightly, a struggle playing in his eyes. He moved his mouth as if to speak, but ultimately pressed his lips together and remained silent.

Su Tang looked at him with a beaming smile. Bending down slightly to say something to him, she caught sight of a reddish mark on the right side of his face.

In the flickering light of the stove fire, she could faintly make out the imprint of a hand across his cheek.

"What happened here?" Su Tang pressed her hand against his cheek, suppressing her shock as she asked, "Did you hit yourself?"

Song Qing nodded, his eyes darting away to avoid meeting her gaze.

"Why on earth did you hit yourself?" she asked, frowning slightly.

At this, the head he had slightly raised dropped once more. Filled with shame, he muttered, "Because I peeked."

"Really? What did you see?" Su Tang truly hadn't expected him to actually peek.

Her words earlier had merely been teasing banter.

Furthermore, she never imagined that even if he had peeked, he would honestly confess to it himself.

And on top of that, the boy had actually slapped himself across the face.

Song Qing bit his lip, ground his teeth, and finally blurted out, "A shadow."

"What?" Su Tang leaned closer to him, because his voice was so quiet and he spoke so fast that she genuinely hadn't heard clearly.

"A shadow," this time, Song Qing let out a breath and spoke up louder.

"Huh? What? Say that again." She had heard him clearly this time, but found it hard to believe.

"I said, I peeked at your shadow," Song Qing stated clearly, word by word.

And this time, Su Tang heard every single syllable loud and clear.

Straightening up, she stood before him, feeling a mixture of bewilderment and utter speechlessness. "Where were you peeking from?"

"I, I was sitting right here," he confessed honestly.

Su Tang: "…………..."

She was momentarily struck dumb, not knowing what to say.

"You mean you were sitting right here, and then looked over there, and caught a glimpse of my shadow?" Su Tang pointed first at Song Qing's spot, then toward the door.

"And you consider that peeking??!l" she asked with utter astonishment.

Blushing fiercely, Song Qing nodded. He couldn't understand why, since he had already confessed to peeking, Su Tang kept asking over and over and repeating it all again??

This made it even harder for him to lift his head.

Su Tang's lips twitched while her expression contorted for a fleeting second as she desperately fought back her laughter.