Hu Xiaoyu stopped walking, watching as his spiritual energy seemed startled, rushing back toward him like it was fleeing.
He could have, if he wished, made it repeat the mocking words he had heard earlier:"Unappreciative," "Unworthy," "Annoying!" But he didn't.
The manager noticed Hu Xiaoyu had stopped and walked back a couple of steps.
"Young Master Hu, what's wrong? Mr. Yu's VIP room is just ahead, two more rooms down."
Hu Xiaoyu's voice came cold and curt from the phone:
"I'm not looking for him."
The manager froze, his brow furrowing.
"…I see."
The tall, masked boy stood before him. All the manager could see were his eyes — usually warm and inviting, but now… he looked somewhat downcast.
Worried that the young man might be upset, the manager started to ask again.
Then, those piercing fox eyes, bright green with an almost ethereal glow, locked onto him. Hu Xiaoyu whispered softly:
"You've never seen me before."
Without hesitation, he used his spiritual energy to hypnotize the manager and then turned on his heel, leaving without a word.
Inside the VIP room, Shi Jingyang and Ren Zhifan exchanged glances before looking at Yu Tan.
Ren Zhifan hesitated. "Yu Ge, you…"
Before he could finish, Yu Tan suddenly stood up.
He wasn't sure why, but instinctively, he opened the suite door. In the long hallway, the only person standing there was the stunned manager, frozen in place.
Yu Tan frowned, striding over to him. "What are you doing here?"
The manager snapped back to reality, his eyes refocusing.
"Mr. Yu… is there anything you need?"
He remembered resting in the office. How had he ended up on the third floor? Maybe he'd sleepwalked...?
Yu Tan felt a wave of confusion. He waved the manager off, a little annoyed.
Standing still, Yu Tan felt an inexplicable discomfort. He reached into his collar and pulled out the jade pendant hanging from his neck.
Softly, he murmured, "Earlier… was that you heating up?"
He felt ridiculous for asking that.
With a sigh, he shoved the jade back into his clothes.
If that little fool ever came back, he'd be sure to ask him about this jade. If it was truly… this piece of junk, it would be better off given to some beggar on the street.
Leaving Nightfall, Hu Xiaoyu walked down the sidewalk with no real destination.
He wasn't going back to Yu Tan. Not now.
At first, he had thought Yu Tan's bad temper was just something that would pass after their first few encounters. But now, he realized just how Yu Tan saw him.
He had trusted Yu Tan completely. But tonight, that trust had shattered.
He was just a toy.
A toy Yu Tan didn't even bother to mention in front of his friends.
A toy who, tonight, had learned his true place.
His memory as a nine-tailed fox was far too sharp. Hu Xiaoyu would never forget the words Yu Tan had said to him tonight.
He was a fox. And foxes live long. But this? This was unbearable.
He didn't know how long he'd been walking, but eventually, his phone rang.
It was A-Jiu.
Hu Xiaoyu looked at the screen and declined the call. He looked up at the moon.
It was a thin crescent, pale and small, pitiful.
The human world wasn't worth anything, he thought with distaste.
If he were still in the fox clan, even the crescent moon would be bright and beautiful.
A-Jiu sent a text: Where are you?
Hu Xiaoyu stood on the side of the road for a while, typed a response, deleted it, and then replied:
"Just kidding, I'm in the capital. You didn't tell Yu Tan, did you? Hahaha."
He looked at the "hahaha" and felt a little embarrassed. He wasn't used to lying, but now… now he had to.
A-Jiu replied with a string of "..."
Hu Xiaoyu stared at the dots for a moment. His emotions mirrored the emptiness in those dots.
Some sadness, some confusion. Yu Tan had become so terrible, he thought.
Hu Xiaoyu didn't know how long he'd been walking when someone called his name.
The low growl of a car's engine followed behind him, drawing closer.
A voice from the car, half-doubtful:
"Hu Xiaoyu?"
He turned. "Brother Liu?"
Liang Liu stopped the car by the side of the road. "It really is you. What… how come you're here?"
He had just watchedThe Light of Heritage last night, partly because of Li Yu's participation. After Li Yu left, he watched the rest of the livestream and had felt a flutter in his chest.
But that flutter turned into regret and melancholy. He had been planning to take a drive outside to clear his mind.
He never expected to run into the person he'd been thinking about all along, now looking like a lost little animal.
Had he and Yu Tan had a falling out?
Hu Xiaoyu didn't mention Yu Tan. The private rooms in Nightfall were soundproof, and if it weren't for his spiritual energy moving so quickly, he probably would never have known…
Liang Liu was a gentleman. He noticed the troubled look on Hu Xiaoyu's face and asked once, but didn't push further.
He hid his admiration well, his tone warm and polite. "Xiaoyu, get in. It's too late, and it's unsafe out here. Plus, it's hard to catch a cab."
Hu Xiaoyu shook his head. "Thank you, Brother Liu, but I want to walk by myself."
He was a fox. If anyone tried to bully him, he'd beat them up and probably feel better.
Liang Liu, seeing the boy's subtle sadness, shook his head. He sighed. "Fine. But it might rain soon. I can't leave you out here. Let me take you somewhere to stay, and then I'll leave. How about that?"
It was a white lie, but Liang Liu couldn't bear to see Hu Xiaoyu wandering alone in the streets.
For a brief moment, Hu Xiaoyu felt uneasy.
He always checked the weather, but he hadn't had time to check the forecast since arriving in the capital. He hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Alright… Thank you, Brother Liu. You can drop me at any nearby hotel."
Rain and lightning were likely on the way, and it was better to be in a place with rooms.
If it really started to thunder, though Yu Tan was so annoying, Hu Xiaoyu puffed his cheeks. He could handle it.
Liang Liu drove him to a five-star hotel.
He had originally planned to escort Hu Xiaoyu upstairs, but seeing how much the boy wanted to be alone, he watched as Hu Xiaoyu entered the elevator and decided not to push it.
At the front desk, two girls exchanged excited glances after seeing Hu Xiaoyu and Liang Liu leave together.
The shorter-haired girl almost spun around in place. "When we checked in, the ID said 'Hu Xiaoyu' — it really was him! He has such a tiny face. He's even whiter than on the show, and his lashes are soooo long. He looked at me, and I almost fainted!"
The long-haired girl nodded eagerly. "Yeah, yeah. And that guy who brought him in — so tall and handsome. He looked familiar too…"
They exchanged a look, and the long-haired one asked, "Do you think… they might be…"
The shorter-haired girl clasped her hands, her voice trembling with excitement. "They might not be together yet, but it looks like it's going to happen. And that guy's look at Xiaoyu? He's so into him!"