Nine Tails - Chapter 2

Back at the party, my eyes kept following Fu Junsheng of their own accord.

At some point he’d put away his ears and tail. I could still almost feel that softness against my palm.

A moment ago he’d been playing coy with me. Now he was holding a wineglass and pretending to be a perfect gentleman.

I took a resentful sip of fruit wine. My roommate Xiaohui had just finished dancing and came over. “What are you looking at?”

“Oh! Fu Junsheng.”

“You know him?”

Xiaohui had apparently drunk enough to disable her thinking functions. She rolled her eyes upward for quite some time before answering. “I know who he is. He doesn’t know me.”

“But I know his friend! I’ll introduce you!” She waved and started shouting. One lone fox stood no chance of stopping her.

“Tang Chao! Over here! I’ve got a girl for you to meet!”

She was so loud that the person she’d called wasn’t the only one who looked over. Fu Junsheng’s gaze landed on me too.

The man who came over was clearly very drunk. Yet the moment he saw my ears and tail, his eyes began to clear.

A terrible premonition stirred inside me. I instinctively tried to escape, only to find my way blocked.

Tang Chao was still answering Xiaohui’s instructions. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

Two large hands settled on my shoulders. “Come on, little lady. I’ll take you home.”

“…Thanks.”

The Halloween party was really a mixer for students from University A and University B.

They’d chosen the teaching building closest to University A’s main gate so everyone could find it easily.

Inside, Tang Chao had played the considerate big brother. Once we were outside and away from other people, he turned swaggering and roguish.

He sat on the edge of a flower bed, one leg crossed over the other, keeping hold of the metal chain on my crossbody bag. “A little fox spirit?”

I pretended to be calm while panicking inside. “I’m… LinaBell.”

Sorry, LinaBell. I’d burn you some incense when I got home.

I hadn’t dared make a move since he’d first slung an arm over my shoulder.

Tang Chao carried a heavy aura of slaughter, unmistakable in the descendant of a spirit hunter.

I’d wanted to stay and enjoy the party, but I’d followed him obediently all the same.

What kind of supernatural freak show was this party?

All I wanted was to get into graduate school and maybe find a boyfriend. Was that so wrong?

Tang Chao really had drunk a lot. He studied my ears and repeated, “LinaBell?”

“The really popular Disney character.” Watching his face and body for any reaction, I inched backward, planning to teleport home the second I reached a safe distance.

One step. Two. Three. Four…

I hadn’t made it more than a few meters when the back of my head bumped into someone’s chest.

“Stop scaring her.”

Fu Junsheng.

Tang Chao rubbed his chin and watched us with interest. “You foxes really do love an education.”

Ignoring him, Fu Junsheng fell into step beside me. “Where do you live? I’ll take you home.”

The instinctive suppression a spirit hunter’s bloodline exerted on me was making my whole body miserable. Anyone who could get me out of its range was a good person as far as I was concerned.

Only when I got into the taxi did I finally relax. I slumped in the back seat and listened to Fu Junsheng and the driver hold forth on the situation between a certain pair of countries.

When we stopped outside my apartment complex, I got out ahead of him and leaned down to the window. “You don’t need to walk me up. I’ll be home in two minutes.”

His hand paused on the door. He didn’t insist. Instead, he lowered the window all the way and rested both hands on its edge as he looked at me. “Message me when you’re inside.”

The moment I got through my door, I kicked off my shoes, collapsed onto the couch, and sent him a message.

His reply came quickly. Just two words.

“Lights on.”

I flicked a finger through the air. The lights came on. Then I realized something wasn’t quite right.

Sure enough, there he was downstairs, standing straight beneath a streetlamp, looking down at his phone.

Mine vibrated a moment later. He’d been messaging me.

Get some rest, he’d written.

Suddenly, I regretted not touching his tail.