Seven Cubs, Seven Fathers, Zero Days Off

Chapter 224: Chapter 222: He Was Willing to Be Beaten by Her

He’d pulled a stunt like this, so who was supposed to stay faithful to him?

Was she supposed to just ignore a man like Huang Ziyue—cold on the outside but gentle within, who doted on her completely? A handsome man with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs, who waited on her hand and foot all day?

Was she supposed to sleep alone for Bai Chaosi, uphold some archaic wifely duty, and suffer so much she wanted to die?

Any day she waited to sleep with him would be an insult to Huang Ziyue’s handsome face and perfect body!

Honestly, she couldn’t understand what Bai Chaosi was so jealous about. What right did he have to be this furious?

Besides, hadn’t he brought all of this on himself?

If he had just stayed by her side, would they be in this situation now?

As Bai Chaosi heard her words, his eyes grew utterly red-rimmed...

He clutched his chest, frozen in place as the color drained from his face, leaving it ashen.

Only the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth stood out in stark, jarring contrast.

He stood there, gazing at Shen Yue, each of her rebukes and questions a blow that made his chest ache to the point of suffocation. Even breathing felt like a knife dragging across his throat.

’In that moment, he knew. He couldn’t do it...

’He had thought that by making this choice, he could accept any outcome. He could accept Shen Yue’s cold shoulder and their brief separation.

’He thought he could suppress and conceal his love for her, treat her like a stranger for the sake of his plan, and just keep her locked away in his heart.

’But that was, in the end, just wishful thinking.

’He couldn’t. He just couldn’t do it...

’He was completely unable to control his love for Shen Yue, a love that bordered on obsessive madness.

’His possessiveness and longing for her were carved into his very bones, far beyond his own control.

’His gaze followed her involuntarily.

’Her every move was magnified in his eyes, no matter where she was, how far away, or whose side she stood by.

’To him, she had never left his sight for a single second.

’Even during those days when he was on the verge of death, plunged into endless darkness, she was all he could think about.

’Her every expression, her lovely silhouette—they were his only salvation during those days of being tortured and skinned by the townsfolk.

’They were the silent prayer that fueled his will to live, to endure the long wait.

’Thankfully, in that endless darkness, her call had finally reached him...

’Her cry, her voice thick with tears, had reached him. She’d said, ”Fox, I forbid you to die.”

’The moment he heard her voice that day...

’He knew she had found him. She hadn’t abandoned him... She had come to save him.

’So, she did feel heartache for him. She did cry for him...

’And in that moment, the weight in his heart finally lifted...

’Thank the Beast God, she was safe. She was alright. The man in black hadn’t hurt her.

’Just knowing she was safe and sound was enough for him to be at peace.

’And so, he could finally let go and sink into slumber.

’He had thought he was dying, but at least he could die with his heart at ease, never to see her again.

’But when he woke again, he looked at his fully recovered body and his spiritual power, which had grown by leaps and bounds...

’He knew she was the one who had saved him.

’Because in all the world, no one else possessed such miraculous abilities.

’So he couldn’t wait to see her.

’That night, he snuck into her room. Seeing her in a deep sleep, exhausted from healing him, made his heart ache.

’He stayed by her side, just watching her quietly for a long, long time.

’It was as if he could never get his fill of looking at her. He held her, kissed her, and even shifted into his original form to crawl under her covers, curling up in her arms to sleep beside her.

’He did it just to soothe the ache of longing that had tormented him between life and death.

’But of all the rotten luck, just as he was falling asleep in her arms, the Blood Summons of the White Fox Clan awakened in his mind.

’He received instructions from the Blood Summons and learned that the Blood Seal Array, which the White Fox Clan of Snow Ridge had guarded for a millennium, had actually manifested.

’And there truly was a so-called Bloodbound One.

’He had thought the Blood Summons was just a Fox Clan legend.

’He never expected it to be real.

’Following the instructions from the Blood Summons, he discovered that the person was none other than Xiao Ya.

’The very same Xiao Ya who had carried him all the way to Li City, the one who was so full of schemes and manipulation.

’Xiao Ya was the key to activating the White Fox Clan’s Blood Seal Array.

’So, he’d had no choice. He had to fake amnesia and leave while Shen Yue was still unconscious. He knew it would break her heart.

’But the blood mark was the curse that had trapped the White Fox Clan for a thousand years. It was the suffering of a hundred generations of the Nine-tailed White Fox clan, and it was also his responsibility.

’Moreover, it was tied to an ancient and mysterious legend.

’He had to do it.

’To understand the secrets of the Blood Summons, he had to get close to Xiao Ya, learn her true identity, and uncover the mysteries surrounding her.

’He needed to find the way to open the Blood Seal Array through her, and then bring her back to Snow Ridge.

’That was why he had to resist the urge to reunite with Shen Yue and instead focus on earning Xiao Ya’s trust.

’He feigned amnesia and returned to where Xiao Ya was staying.

’Just as he’d expected, she was furious. The moment she woke up, she found them and gave him a brutal beating.

’He knew she wasn’t one to take things lying down; she always got her revenge on the spot.

’And he was happy to let her beat him.

’As long as it let her vent her frustration, she could hit him as much as she wanted. In fact, it made him happy.

’At least he knew it meant she cared about him.

’As for those cruel words he’d said—that Xiao Ya was the love of his life—it was all a lie...

’The only one he loved was her. It could only ever be her.

’He had thought he could perform his role perfectly and stick to the plan...

’But he had underestimated his love for Shen Yue.

’He simply couldn’t stand to watch another man hold Shen Yue in his arms.

’He couldn’t pretend he didn’t care.

’So, that day, when he returned to his rooms bruised and battered from her beating, the memory of the sorrow in her eyes was like a knife twisting in his heart.

’Every second apart from her was agony.

’That’s why, after learning that Shen Yue and Huang Ziyue had been invited to the City Lord Mansion, he had taken the initiative to request an invitation for himself.

’He just wanted to be near her. Even if she was angry with him, even if they couldn’t speak, just being able to watch her from a distance would have been enough.

’But at the banquet yesterday, he was the first to sense that something was wrong...

’There was a presence behind him, faint and elusive, appearing and disappearing as if deliberately trying to get his attention.

’He worried that the presence belonged to someone who meant to harm Shen Yue.

’So, when the presence vanished for a moment, he followed its last known direction out of the main hall, determined to see who was skulking in the shadows.

’But halfway through his pursuit, he realized the entire hall was collapsing, the sound of screams reaching him.

’Countless hidden weapons were flying toward the hall.

’In that instant, his heart leaped into his throat.

’He scrambled back to the hall like a madman, realizing at the same time that he had fallen for a trap!

’Someone had deliberately lured him away to create an opening to attack the main hall.

’He was trembling with fear, terrified that something had happened to Shen Yue.

’So the moment he got back to the hall, he didn’t even spare Xiao Ya a glance. He casually shattered a pillar that was about to crush her and then instinctively rushed to Shen Yue’s side.

’It was an uncontrollable worry, an instinctive love...

’The moment he saw her standing there, unharmed, he realized he’d forgotten he was supposed to be faking amnesia...

’His panic and worry were obvious, and Shen Yue had seen it all. He knew he’d been exposed...

’He was furious with himself. He couldn’t even keep up the act for a single day before his cover was blown.

’But what could he do? He simply couldn’t control his love and concern for her.

’If something had really happened to her, what meaning would his life have?

’So when he saw her about to walk into danger to treat those two children, he had stopped her without a shred of hesitation or disguise.

’In that moment, all he cared about was her safety. All he wanted was to protect her.’