After saying that, his ears went flat like airplane wings, his face flushed red. If the guard team or the Red Fox Clan ever found out, they’d pop their eyes out.
Who could imagine that someone as proud as he was would one day shamefully turn into his beast-form to amuse his Wife-Lord?
The Soothings provided by Soothers at the Soothing Bureau generally came in two types: shallow and deep. Shallow Soothing was performed on a Male’s beast body; its effect was relatively mild, lowering the Irritability Value by two or three points.
Deep Soothing required the Soother to enter the Male’s Mental Landscape and comb through it. This process consumed Mental Power and was fraught with danger—if the Irritability Value exceeded eighty percent, the Male had to be restrained with equipment, for fear he would excessively drain the Soother’s spirit!
Depending on the Soother’s Mental Level, it could lower the value by about ten points each time.
The most effective method of all was the mating bond—a deeper form of Soothing that existed only between a Wife-Lord and her Beast Husband.
Knowing he was coaxing her to play, Sui Ning nodded with a smile.
The next moment, Jun Lin transformed into his beast-form and settled onto the sofa beside her, nuzzling her hand with his nose, his big tail possessively curling around her waist.
Sui Ning could still keep her guard up against the man, but against a fox being this affectionate—who could resist an adorable ball of fluff? What’s more, he was her lawful Beast Husband.
Beast Husband in beast-form = the family pet!
Looking at the beautiful-furred red fox, Sui Ning couldn’t help running both hands into his fur. “Oh my, whose red fox is this? Why, it’s Ning-Ning’s!”
When she was little, she’d loved having a large plush toy on her bed—her beloved Abel. But when the apocalypse came, something that made people let their guard down so easily was the first thing she’d ruthlessly abandoned!
His fur was fluffy and soft, and he was the size of a golden retriever. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in it and nuzzling and nuzzling, unable to get enough of petting him no matter how she stroked.
As for Jun Lin, his whole fox body felt wonderful, along with an urge he could barely suppress—he really wanted to flip his little Wife-Lord over and bully her right back.
Instead, he relaxed completely and indulged her fox-petting, even rolling sideways to expose his belly, lazily half-closing his eyes, letting out low rumbling purrs in his throat.
Yielding to his beast-form’s instincts was a bit embarrassing, but watching his little Wife-Lord’s small face finally relax, her radiant smile was enough to drown him in delight!
After only ten-odd minutes of petting, Sui Ning pressed her forehead against the red fox’s, ignored the barrier he’d raised, and sent her Mental Power straight into his Mental Landscape.
That wave of coolness made Jun Lin’s eyes snap open. Afraid of hurting her, he helplessly gave up struggling and could only open his Mental Landscape fully to her, staying constantly alert so that if he completely lost control, he could sever the connection with her in time.
Jun Lin’s landscape was a parched loess plateau, devoid of a single trace of life. The sun in the sky burned fiercely, the air carried a scorching heat, and Astral Winds raged, whipping up sandstorms—tornado after tornado as if determined to peel the very ground away.
A red fox was buried head-first in its big tail, its fur dull and lusterless, its body covered in wounds slashed by the Astral Winds like a net. Beads of blood were swept away, carrying its life force with them—it was clearly on its last breath!
Sui Ning began to walk, and everywhere she stepped, it was as if life-giving spring rain fell, tender green sprouts emerging from the earth—lotuses blooming beneath her feet could hardly compare. Even the surrounding winds subsided their fury.
She pushed forward against the wind, step by difficult but determined step, until she reached the red fox. Sitting down on the ground, she gathered it into her arms and gently stroked it.
Sui Ning’s Mental Power was also laced with wood-element healing ability, which made her efforts twice as effective. The wounds visibly recovered before her eyes, and even the fox’s fur grew more vibrant, blazing like flame.
The red fox nuzzled comfortably against her chest again and again, letting out a few soft whimpers, affectionate and clingy.
The Astral Wind that had been raging earlier had eased considerably. Gone was its heaven-devouring, earth-destroying momentum, though it still swirled reluctantly, howling with dust and sand in a hollow show of force. The scorching air now carried a hint of evening coolness.
When Sui Ning felt her Mental Power nearly depleted, she rubbed the red fox’s head and withdrew from Jun Lin’s Mental Landscape!
Her body went weak, and she was immediately gathered into the arms of Jun Lin, who had instantly transformed back into human form.
“Jun Lin, what’s your Irritability Value now?” Sui Ning’s face was slightly pale, but her eyes sparkled as she asked with a light smile.
Jun Lin’s expression was complicated. “Eighty percent.” It had dropped a full twelve points—the lowest it had been in nearly three years.
Even though he had never received Soothing from a Soother, he knew very well that even an S-level Soother soothing him might not lower it by seven or eight points!
His body felt lighter than it ever had before, and the headache that had tormented him had mostly dissipated.
At this moment he was still floating on air, immersed in that unfamiliar yet incredibly comfortable afterglow…
Sui Ning nodded in satisfaction and leaned against his chest, pulling things out of her Optical Brain’s storage space while quietly giving him instructions:
“Jun Lin, my Mental Power Level is rather low. I drank some potions to boost Mental Power and barely managed to lower your Irritability Value a bit. Plus with the soothing agents you prepared, this mission shouldn’t be a problem.
These are the Healing Agents and Wind Element Energy Liquid I had someone trade for—take them all with you…”
Before she could finish, Jun Lin pulled her fiercely into his embrace.
“Suisui, back in the White Fox Clan, was this how you soothed the other males too?”
Which part?
Sui Ning was briefly stunned, then immediately understood. When the original owner’s Mental Power ran low, she would be fed Mental Power-boosting potions with considerable side effects, and no matter how dangerous a male’s condition was, she would perform Deep Soothing for them anyway.
Jun Lin didn’t actually want her answer. In a muffled voice tinged with heartache, he said:
“Suisui, you are my Wife-Lord. In our home, everything comes second to you.
From now on, you don’t have to force yourself to soothe me. When you’re not around, haven’t I still lived just fine?
I only hope you’ll spend more time with me. Now that the Red Fox Clan is beyond returning, you’re all I have…”
Mental Power was different from combat strength, and Beastmen’s lifespans also differed.
Awakened males could live three to five hundred years, while females had only half that lifespan. Yet many awakened females collapsed early in life from overdrawing their Mental Power…
He had finally found such a well-suited little Wife-Lord, so naturally he wanted to cherish her properly and couldn’t bear to see her suffer any longer.
Sui Ning knew he had misunderstood. For others, performing Deep Soothing on a male with a high Irritability Value was extremely dangerous.
But for her, it was one way to train her Mental Power and raise her level.
Sui Ning lowered her eyes slightly and said nothing about her Mental Power Level improving. She just obediently hummed in agreement.
Jun Lin’s Optical Brain kept vibrating, urging him to leave.
“Sui Sui, when I come back, let’s form a mating bond, okay?” He reluctantly let go of her, his hand tenderly caressing her cheek.
Sui Ning wasn’t a woman who knew nothing. On the contrary, back in the apocalypse, she had disguised herself as a tomboy, mixing among men. To appear masculine and lower others’ suspicions, she had acted even more manly than the men themselves.
She was all talk, though—zero practical experience—and she was especially curious about that sort of thing. She had secretly read plenty of novels to fill that gap in her knowledge.
Sui Ning stared back at him. To put it in flowery terms, the man before her was a male fox spirit. Their Mental Landscapes had established a connection, and from the bottom of her heart grew a thread of intimacy and attachment.
Steel herself, she grabbed his collar, yanked him close, closed her eyes, and kissed him.
He was about to return to his unit anyway—there was no time to do anything else. She might as well experience what a kiss felt like!