Chapter 113 - Dao of Conflict Resolution (Patreon)

[Table of Contents]

"Maid, prepare his cushion before departing," declared Nyanya, her chin held aloft in a regal display.

"By your will, m'lady," Su Yafeng threw the cushion on the floor like through a ball. It bounced and skipped and landed upside down.

"Sit," Su Nanya snapped her finger, then pointed her index at Yung and the cushion.

Yung turned the thing right side up and sat on it without complaint. It was poofy.

He looked at Su Nanya.

Su Nanya stare back.

She sat perched on the edge of her queen’s bed with her long legs in those black hakama, freely dangling over the side, toes barely grazing the floor. The mattress dipped slightly beneath her, showcasing how fluffy it was in this era of non-industrial yet magical production.

Her hands were resting on her knees, gaze fixed on Yung’s own, waiting for the boy to say something. Anything.

Yung guessed that if he kept this silence, Nyanya’s facade would break and she would wail.

"Why…" He started, looking up from his position on the floor towards her beautiful being.

"Why?" Nanya’s breathing accelerated.

"Why are you wearing clothes?" Yung had to ask.

Last time they were in such a position, Nanya had explained qi to him and granted him the Foxfire Creek Heart Sutra. At that time, Yung wasn’t her boyfriend. Yet still he could see everything without even peeking.

But now that he was her boyfriend, he couldn’t see anything.

How is that fair?

"S-Should we… Should we take it off?" Nyanya looked at Su Yafeng, unsure.

"M’lady! You mustn't let this rogue control the flow of the conversation—"

"Why are you still lingering here?" Nanya seemed to just notice. "Have we not commanded your departure?"

Su Yafeng clicked her tongue. She went away with a gust of azure wind, leaving behind a, "You are going to regret this!"

The remaining wind in the room whistled.

And as even that whistle died down, what was left was a palpable silence, hanging in the air as if to mock the foolish teen and dimwitted vixen.

The once confident posture of the regal vixen on the bed now seemed slightly strained, her legs kept changing postures as if to find a comfortable position.

Yung, sitting on the cushion, shifted his butt uncomfortably too, fidgeting with his hands without a word spoken.

Yung couldn’t deny it.

It was awkward as hell! And more awkwardness crept in slowly, like an unwelcome guest.

Their eyes darted around, avoiding prolonged contact with each other, and a tension settled in the space between them that seemed suffocating.

Their mouths would move, but then they would stop. As if searching for something to say, but neither could find the right words.

Finally, having enough, Yung coughed, stuttering, "T-The weather’s quite nice, innit?"

"Oh, yes, oh my," Nanya said, "Indeed that is so. Would it not be nice to have some roasted pink tea on the terrace, our lovely gentleman?"

"B-But can you make tea? Su Yafeng left," Yung asked.

"…we regret it," Nanya replied.

There was a playful twinkle in their eyes. Yung grinned. Nanya hid her face with a fan.

Soon, both of them were laughing.

"Cease it! Such behaviour is wholly unbecoming of a gentleman," Nanya said.

“And a lady!”

“We are permitted to giggle, for we are who grants permission.”

"I-I—" Yung felt the chill leave his body, replaced with a comfortable warmth, "I would like if the lady would sit here then." He patted his lap, "We shall find tea elsewhere, in due course."

Nanya bounced up like a rubber ball, then falling like a feather, gently plopped on Yung’s lap with her pretty butt. Her arms cradled his neck, her legs reaching up as if she was a trans-atlantic model in a photoshoot.

"We missed youuuuuuuu so much waaaaaaaa!" The floodgates lasted three seconds before breaking. The vixen wailed.

Damn, didn’t expect that. Yung was flabbergasted.

"There, there," He patted her head.

"Kisses."

"There, there. Chuu!" He kissed her forehead.

Nanya blew her tears and snot on Yung's shirt. Then used magic to clean it.

She removed her face from Yung's chest, then looked at him, pouting.

"We are unsure if we should stick our oh so lovely lips out for you to kiss a hundred times, kiss until they are red," She said, licking them like licking a cherry.

Yung gulped.

"But we must not make the same folly." Nanya rubbed her cheek on Yung's. "Come now, let us hear your grievances. We, such a magnanimous princess, shall not exile you to the forests for avoiding us."

Yung stopped to think. He organised his words. Another silence settled in, but this time, it wasn't awkward. Nanya drew shapes on Yung's chest with her fingers, pressing all the soft parts of her body against where Yung was most sensitive.

She wasn't trying to rile him up. This was just her, seductive by merely living and breathing.

"I really appreciate all that you do for me," Yung said. "You let me be who I am in this world that forces people to be heartless. Because of you, I can keep my heart, and give it to you…"

"But?" Nanya asked.

"But, this time, it hurt me," Yung said. He looked straight into Nanya’s eyes. Those golden irises glimmered like gold sand on a crystal beach.

Nanya, she was scared. She could not handle criticism well.

"When I let the Youjin Clan and Free Sparrow Gang join us in the delve, I thought… I thought you were all-powerful like you claimed. And in the end, you really were all-powerful!"

Nanya squirmed in Yung's embrace. But Yung continued, "So why did you let them die first?… No, I know why you did that. You wanted me to wake up. To deduce your secrets with that white fox and the entity. To see the true appearance of both the world and you."

Nanya held her breath.

"But I feel… I feel like, that was in bad taste," Yung had to say it, even though he knew it would devastate Nanya. "People who care for each other do not scheme against the other like that. People who care for each other, don't burn each other."

"We did no such thing!" Nanya said. She growled in Yung's embrace and pushed him away.

Yung fell off the cushion, and when he looked up, Nanya was gone.

There was a low whimper coming from under the bed, and Yung could see two glowing eyes glaring at him.

He missed the sudden loss of warmth.

This is necessary. I have to say this.

Yung took a deep breath.

"Nanya, I want to be honest with you. I never want to lie to you. You, I knew my words were not proper when I told Ziyou Maque that you would protect Chun and Ling because before that, you did say during the delve that you would not lift a paw to help them. But I thought you were bantering with me, I thought it was our usual flirting. Your tone was so playful, and you even licked my face in your giant vixen body after that!"

"T-That was our physique acting without our permission. You shan't take it as gospel! And you forget to mention that we would have done away with them for daring to defy our commands but we were gracious enough to spare their worthless little commoner lives. Yet you! You!!!"

"I…" Yung said, "I will try my damnedest to be more explicit from now on. I won’t ever take anything you say, and you yourself for granted. I realised I have been doing that. That I don’t appreciate all that you do for me, getting too nonchalant without working hard myself. Nanya, you've been mothering me, and it was so comfortable that I find myself never wanting to leave that comfort zone."

"Oh, so it is our fault now?" There was something cold in Nanya's voice.

"No!" Yung realised he messed up. "I didn't say that. You were just protecting me, and I love you for that—"

The bed rocked. Nanya hit her head.

"What?" Yung asked.

"…eeek."

Yung shook his head, clearing the distracting thoughts. "Nanya, I love you. I really really do. And I want to have a relationship where I can be totally, utterly, completely honest with you, whether we are being implicit or explicit. But… from now, how am I supposed to differentiate between banter and seriousness? We aren’t on the same ground when we communicate. When you say things… even reading your emotions, I have no idea what you mean and do. I feel so alienated from you." Yung said, there was a slight hint of grievance in his voice.

It was natural for there to be differences. Yung was from the 21st century; Nanya was supposed to be a concubine to some heroic feudal prince.

The way they flirted was different. Right now, it was Nanya trying to be Yung's ideal girlfriend after sneaking peeks at his daydreams.

It wasn't hard, with her naturally seductive mannerisms and the air of amorous mischief.

But what happened in the cave had broken Yung's illusion. Was it mischief or malice?

Yung mourned, as if they had lost something precious.

After they had left the cave, despite Nanya's hardest attempts at being intimate, her usual affection and adorable skinship, Yung could not take it at face value anymore.

Was she flirting with him because she liked him?

Or was it because she had some nefarious agenda?

It felt awkward. And scary. And unsettling.

And Yung hated himself for thinking like that. Because at the end of the day, everyone wasalive. Yung had seen Nanya's secret laid bare. They had pushed back the void cultists. Yung learned something valuable about his lineage.

...but it left a nasty taste in his mouth. The conclusion was unpleasant. It felt bitter, so Yung couldn’t kiss Nanya's lips.

Yung straightened his back, then bowed until his head reached the ground. "I'm sorry."

"W-What?!" Nanya bumped against the bottom of the bed again. Cautiously, she crawled out.

She was still a yao now, but Yung couldn’t see her because his eyes were closed, forehead touching the ground.

"Y-You, shall not apologise! What is your purpose? Please, we don’t need your patheti—no, we mean. What do you—"

Nanya panicked.

"I am sorry. For taking you for granted. For being a lazy bastard who turned a blind eye to the cruelty of the world, and not appreciating how hard you worked to shield me from such cruelty. It was because I was so lazy that you had to take such drastic measures to open my eyes forcefully. From now on, I will try my best to be more mindful of your efforts. Nanya, will you not accept my apology?"

"H-Hmph! A-As long as you know, oh servant in the wrong. You may raise your head," Nanya said.

Yung did.

Nanya cushioned herself on Yung's lap again.

"You are forgiven," Her Empathic Link radiated happiness. "Oh, we had been worried for a breath. My foolish boyfriend so wise and dark, must you scare us so? But now that you admit your wrongs, all is well. Shall we prepare a bath now? Shall we consumma—"

"Nanya," Yung said, tracing a finger on her lips.

"W-What?" Nanya stuttered.

"I want you to apologise too."

"What?" There was no stuttering. Her voice monotone.

"What you did was for my good. I understand," Yung said. He had to force the words out. But if he didn't, this event would set a dangerous precedent. "But it hurt me. I realised… that you are willing to make me go through emotional suffering to prove a point. And that hurt me even more. How am I supposed to trust what you do from now on?”

The air stilled, then chilled. All sound from outside was blocked by a malicious force pressing down on Yung’s psyche.

But he continued, “Without you, Nanya, I would be unsafe, true. And I trust you with my life. I always will. But I can’t trust you with my heart… But I desperately want to regain the trust! In our banter, what we had before, the innocence I miss."

Nanya didn't utter a single word. She didn't even struggle out of his embrace.

"Nanya," Yung said. The feelings Nanya sent through her Empathic Link were loud and clear. "I want you to apologise."

For many minutes, the vixen remained utterly motionless, even her breathing had stopped.

Then her shoulders slumped.

"You are like him," she said with a fatigued voice, "You wish to manipulate us to admit we are wrong."

Yung's eyes widened.

"Perhaps… it wasn’t meant to be." Nanya stood up. Her Empathic Link read utter disappointment. "We tire of this. Leave our presence."

Yung exhaled. It was worth a shot. But alas.

He stood up, then turned to leave the room.

But before he could walk out the door, he heard a whooshing sound.

Yung turned around instinctively.

And a pillow hit his face so hard that his defensive bangle activated.

"What the—!?" He cried.

"Were we wrong!?" Nanya screeched so hard the building shook, and the weather changed from sunny to cloudy.

The pillow slid of Yung’s barrier, and the world before him turned upside down.