Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Xu Hao eyes Lei Yue nervously, scared of what she might say to him once she learns he has brought home no food. He also keeps the side of his face with the tail-shaped red mark facing away from her, to not get teased too much by her.

  “So tell me, where is our dinner? You stayed out all day, even coming home past dark, so you better have a great haul.” Lei Yue says expectantly, looking at him intensely. Noticing he is trying to hide something, she squints her eyes suspiciously and stands up, walking towards him. “Why are you standing the way you are? Are you hiding something? You did not get hurt, did you?” she asks nervously.

  “No, no, I am fine, thank you for your concern.” He shifts his body as she approaches. “You do not need to worry about my health, I am in peak condition.”

  Not believing a word he says, “Show me your other side, now.” she demands, not asking. As hard as Lei Yue is on Xu Hao, it is out of love. Ever since her family took him in several years prior, they have grown close to each other, akin to brother and sister. After her parents died at the hands of Shadow Demon Sect cultivators a year after he moved in, she considers him the only family she has left.

  “It's really nothing, I promise you.” Xu Hao backs up until he is against the wall, now with no pce to run. All the while, Han Xi watches this going down from the bottom of the stairs.

  ‘One minute she is yelling at him, the next, he is practically pinned against the wall. I really can't tell what is going on here.’ Han Xi continues to watch the scene unfold in front of her, trying to make heads or tails of what is going on. Seemingly forgetting that she is the reason Xu Hao is hiding his face.

  Sick of him hiding the other side of his body, she forcefully moves him facing the opposite direction. Despite her best efforts, he turns the side of his face with the tail mark away from her as a st ditch attempt at concealing his embarrassing mark. As he turns his head, she grabs it and forcefully inspects the other side, only to find a mark on his cheek.

  Piecing the shape of the mark and the sound she heard earlier together, she looks at the little fox cub, dumbfounded that something so hirious happened.

  “All of this is because you got spped in the face by a fox cub’s tail? HAHAHAHA serves you right!” Mocking Xu Hao for letting himself get beaten up by a tiny fox cub, she breaks out into intense ughter. Xu Hao blushes in embarrassment as she teases him relentlessly. “She doesn't even have any intelligence and yet you were bested by a wild animal, you're so impressive~.”

  Angered by her comment, Han Xi lets out an angry, but adorable bark at her, then growling softly. ‘Tease him all you want, but calling me unintelligent is uncalled-for!’

  Lei Yue stops ughing for a moment as she hears Han Xi bark at her angrily, and then stares at her for a moment. Not thinking too much of the timing, she starts to ugh again. “Ahahaha that fox is so funny, it almost sounded like it was mad at what I said.”

  But that fox was, in fact, mad at what she said. Han Xi turns her head to the side and scoffs, acting wronged. This action does not go unnoticed this time, as Lei Yue’s jaw drops to the floor, finally realizing what is going on.

  “Hey, is it just me, or did that fox not only get angry at my words, but scoff at me as well.” Dumbstruck, she looks to Xu Hao for an expnation.

  “As I was eventually going to expin, she somehow is highly intelligent, and she is only an animal grade fox. As far as I'm aware, this situation is nearly unprecedented.” Xu Hao says, now looking at Han Xi. He walks over to her and picks her up, bringing her to Lei Yue.

  “Her name is Han Xi. I found her in the forest today when she was trying to steal a rabbit from one of my traps. I uh, ended up giving her my catches today… I'm sorry, I have come home with no food.” Xu Hao looks away, ashamed that he has nothing to offer for food today.

  Nearly everyone in this vilge must hunt for their own food, as everyone lives in poverty. This is a vilge full of humans with little to no cultivation potential. As a result, resources here are naturally slim. To make matters worse, the Shadow Demon Sect, which is just a bit north of the vilge, routinely comes here and forces an unreasonable tax on its residents, without providing anything in return. This tax is further worsened by the fact that there are so few exports coming from the vilge, meaning little money coming in. Most often, family members who are more gifted cultivators send spirit stones back to the vilge to support their retives.

  “Seriously?! You couldn't even save a little food for us? What am I going to do with you?” Lei Yue walks back towards the table and colpses in the chair, feeling exhausted. “We will need to find food early tomorrow morning. Please be sure you're ready.

  Meanwhile, Han Xi can be seen with a guilty frown on her face, still in Xu Hao's arms. ‘Those rabbits he gave me were truly that important to them? If I had known, I would have refused…’

  Thinking if there is anything she can do for them, she suddenly comes up with an idea. ‘I still have 4 pieces of system meat. It feels like it would be a big waste of resources, but he helped me to his own detriment. I can't let that go unrewarded.’ She hops out of his arms and walks into another room, out of view. Wasting no time, she takes 2 pieces of her system meat out of her inventory and they both fall into the ground. She then picks one up one at a time using her fangs and brings them both into the other room. The reason she did this in such a roundabout way, is so that they do not see her reach into her system inventory.

  Han Xi looks up at both of them, trying to get their attention. “Kyaa kyaa~” Noticing the fox cub trying to get their attention, they both look down to see what she wants, only to drop their jaws in shock. “Is that meat!?” they both ask in unison.

  Han Xi nods her head and pushes the meat towards them with her nose. She then sits down and watches expectantly.

  “Where did you get this? You didn't steal this, did you?” Xu Hao says, concerned she may have done something bad. Han Xi shakes her head no, looking slightly irritated, and pushes the meat towards them again.

  Realizing there's no way Han Xi could have stolen the meat, he stops to think for a moment. ‘She was with me the entire time since we returned from the forest, so there was no opportunity for her to steal it from someone… Where did she get this?’ Thinking about it for a few more moments, he realizes there's no point in worrying about it, since he can’t come up with a reasonable expnation for this mystery meat. It’s not like he can ask Han Xi herself, since she still can not talk until she gains a human form.

  “Just promise me you didn't get this through nefarious means, okay?” Xu Hao sighs, already mentally worn down from this fox cub. Never before has he seen such a strange creature.

  Han Xi nods her head and sits next to the meat, starting to become impatient. ‘Listen, I'm doing something nice for you and sacrificing my precious meat. Stop gawking and cook it already!’ What Han Xi is actually worried about is someone figuring out she has her system, so she is hoping they will just accept and eat it.

  Snapping out of her disbelief, Lei Yue walks over to and picks up both pieces of meat on the floor. She washes the meat off in the kitchen and then begins to cook them. The aroma of high-quality meat fills the entire house, causing poor Han Xi to salivate. ‘If I wasn't already so full from earlier, I might have considered having her cook one for me too. I need both of them as my personal chefs, no matter the cost!’

  Lei Yue brings both servings of meat to the table and sits down across Xu Hao. Curious to see if anything happens to them, Han Xi jumps onto a chair next to Xu Hao. This does not help her see Lei Yue at all, as Han Xi is so small, she can't see over the table. She tries to jump onto the table so she can see both of them. Noticing her struggle, Xu Hao giggles and reaches for her small body, picking her up and pcing her on his shoulder. “You want to see everyone, right? Don’t stand on the table. I'll let you stay on my shoulder, however.”

  ‘W-why is he putting me on his shoulder, is he not sane?! He is getting way too comfortable with me for someone who just met me today! Also, wouldn’t it be really uncomfortable trying to eat with a fox cub on your shoulder? Well, whatever, I shall cim a tax of sorts as his punishment for being too familiar.’ She smirks deviously, as she devises an evil scheme to get him back.

  Xu Hao, feeling a bit off-put by Han Xi’s facial expression, looks at her nervously, feeling like she will do something mean to him. After observing her stay still and behave on his shoulder, he decides it must be his imagination and looks down at the meat in front of them. The meat is cooked perfectly medium rare and cut into small chunks, ying in its own aromatic and savory juices.

  “This looks really delicious, thanks to both of you!” Xu Hao says before they both pickup their chopsticks to eat. Xu Hao picks up a single chunk of meat with his chopsticks, some of its juices dripping off as he applies pressure. His eyes brighten as he brings the meat towards his mouth, anticipation for its taste building up inside of him. Right as he brings it up to his mouth, Han Xi on his shoulder quickly nabs it from between his chopsticks and jumps down, running away to the other side of the room, hiding behind a doorway.

  ‘Serves you right for putting me on your shoulder without permission!’ As she chews the meat in her mouth, tears start to form in the corners of her eyes. ‘Never in my life, have I tasted something so life-changing and amazing… System better give me more of this meat ter!’

  [EXP gained!]

  Noticing her system message, Han Xi appears puzzled for a moment before shrugging it off. ‘I guess I can still earn XP from eating the meat even if I don't eat the whole thing. I wonder if this can be abused somehow.’

  Xu Hao looks back at Han Xi with a shocked and wronged expression, pouting from the unfair reacquisition of his dinner. “If you wanted a bite, you could have asked, you know!” As he yells at Han Xi, Lei Yue puts a chunk of the meat in her mouth, her eyes jolting open from the taste. “Xu Hao, try this immediately. I have never had something so delicious in my whole life!” Not wasting any time, she goes back for another chunk, and another.

  Xu Hao looks back at his pte and picks another chunk of meat up, bringing it to his mouth, and begins chewing on it. “Han Xi, what the heck is this meat?! It's so good!!” Xu Hao also wastes no time in having another chunk, and yet another, both of them had finished their dinner.

  “Thank you, Miss Han Xi, that was absolutely delicious meat. I don’t know where you got that from, but if you even come across more of it, please share it with us!” Xu Hao looks back at Han Xi with a grateful smile.

  ‘Yeah right, I hope you enjoyed it! Because unless System gives me a lot more, you won't be seeing another piece any time soon!’ Despite her thoughts, she still gives Xu Hao a friendly smile and nods. She doesn't have to give him more meat, but if he thinks he can get some more, maybe he will try to appease her by cooking for her.

  “I think it's best we rest for now. You have an early morning tomorrow, remember~.” Lei Yue says, giving Xu Hao a murderous gre, making him remember his failure to bring home food today. “Y-yeah, you are correct. Maybe we should rest.” Xu Hao replies nervously, easily giving in to her pressuring.

  “Miss Han Xi, please feel free to sleep here for tonight.” Xu Hao makes a makeshift bed by putting a pelt on top of cloth they have around the house and pced it in the corner of the kitchen area. “It's not much, but it's what we can offer at this time. I hope you are able to sleep well on it.”

  ‘This is way better than sleeping on the ground in my den! Perhaps these humans are not all that bad. They are treating me like a queen, as they should.’ She nods happily and wags her tail, walking over to the bed and ying down on it comfortably.

  Later that night, while Han Xi is trying to sleep, she hears screaming coming from Xu Hao’s room, waking her up and causing her fur to stand on end. Shortly after, both Xu Hao and Lei Yue come bursting out of their room. Expecting a battle, Han Xi quickly stands up and prepares herself to face their assaints. But to her complete shock, something completely different happens.

  “I-ITS BROKEN!” Xu Hao says with tears in his eyes and a pale face.

  “WHAT is broken?!” Lei Yue replies, ready to help defend the house with her life.

  “M-My… you know.” Xu Hao looks away embarrassed, trying to keep a straight face but completely failing to do so. “Seemingly, out of nowhere, I felt a jolt of energy rush through my body and I felt so much stronger. But…” Completely ashamed, he looked down at his pants, and then away, avoiding making eye contact with anyone in the room.

  Lei Yue reached back and spped Xu Hao’s face so hard, he fell onto the floor. He looked back up at her with a deeply wronged expression, tears falling down his cheeks. “You are a fucking pervert, you know that!?” Lei Yue says as she walks back into her room and sms her door.

  Xu Hao looks over at Han Xi hoping she would back him up. Instead, Han Xi shook her head and decided to go back to sleep. ‘I’m really not sure what's going on, but it seems like he did something pervy. You're going to be called Little Perv from now on, since you are such a perv.’ she thinks to herself as she drifts back to sleep, ignoring Xu Hao.

  AnDwHaT5