Jiu Baiyun forcibly suppressed the inappropriate flutter in his heart.
His brow twitched uncontrollably as he tried to make his expression stern.
He took a deep breath and looked at the “Palace Master” who was tilting her head with pure confusion, then explained in a steady but firm tone:
“This… is considered my private area. You can’t just touch it.”
Although he tried to show a stern expression, as soon as the words left his mouth, he couldn’t help feeling embarrassed.
The “Palace Master” still clinging to his leg heard this.
On her delicate, doll-like face, the pure confusion deepened.
She actually lowered her little head, letting her silver-gray hair fall, as if seriously pondering the meaning of Jiu Baiyun’s words.
Her index finger, pressed against her lips, unconsciously traced her lower lip, and her long eyelashes cast a small shadow under her eyes.
Seeing this, Jiu Baiyun’s heart relaxed, and he almost let out a long sigh.
It seemed that although this Palace Master was terrifyingly powerful, she was… quite reasonable?
At least his tense nerves relaxed a bit.
This reason seemed to have temporarily convinced her. Communication!
He was glad he used the “private area” excuse.
As long as his tail wasn’t touched, what was a little embarrassment?
The flock of Mountain Sparrows hanging in midair remained deathly still, like a frozen black cloud.
The Silent Feather Guard in front, with their three pairs of light gray eyes still lowered, maintained a respectful silence like statues covered in gray feathers.
Just as Jiu Baiyun thought the crisis was temporarily over and was considering how to gracefully get rid of this “accessory” clinging to his leg—
That lowered little head suddenly lifted.
It wasn’t fast, but it carried a focus that made Jiu Baiyun’s heart stop.
Those pure, utterly clear light gray pupils stared straight at him again.
All previous confusion had vanished.
Then, a look of sudden realization emerged, clear and bright, even carrying a hint of strange, pure delight.
Then, that delicate, jade-like little mouth opened slightly.
An ethereal, childish voice, with a clarity that pierced the silence, sweetly called out:
“Wife!”
Jiu Baiyun’s expression instantly cracked, leaving only incredulous bewilderment.
He wondered if his ears had been damaged by the earlier “chirping,” or if the intense pain in his tailbone had triggered some bizarre auditory hallucination.
‘Wife?! What the hell is this?! What did I do?! Why is she suddenly shouting nonsense?! Forget the fact that I’m male — even the word itself is seriously wrong!’
Jiu Baiyun opened his mouth instinctively, but no words came out.
The silver-white fox ears on his head, which had been drooping, stiffened abruptly, with several tiny hairs standing on end.
But just because Jiu Baiyun couldn’t spit out a word for a long time didn’t mean the Fox Demon Lord couldn’t.
The next moment, the Fox Demon Lord let out a snicker.
“Pfft — HAHAHAHAHA!!! Wife??? Jiu Baiyun, did you hear that? She’s calling you wife! HAHAHAHA!”
This was probably the happiest the Fox Demon Lord had ever been since sharing a body with Jiu Baiyun.
Face blackening, Jiu Baiyun decisively blocked the Fox Demon Lord.
After the laughter disappeared in his ears, Jiu Baiyun finally breathed a sigh of relief.
And the instigator — the “Palace Master” — after shouting that earth-shattering title, showed not a trace of shyness or playfulness on her delicate little face.
Instead, it was as if she had solved a huge problem.
Then she revealed an extremely satisfied, even slightly smug, pure smile.
She seemed completely unaware that there was anything wrong with the address, and she didn’t care at all about Jiu Baiyun’s thunderstruck expression.
Seeing that Jiu Baiyun was slow to react, her light gray eyes sparkled again and refocused on that snow-white fox tail.
“Wife!”
She repeated sweetly, as if confirming an absolutely correct identity label.
“Is it okay now?”
Then, that little hand, so fair it was almost translucent, reached out again to Jiu Baiyun’s tail tip as if it were the most natural thing.
Hearing the “Palace Master” call out again, plus the small hand reaching for his tail again, Jiu Baiyun quickly responded.
“You can’t just call me that!”
He first used his hand to stop her little hand, then quickly said:
“This…”
He took a deep breath, trying to suppress his churning thoughts, and looked at the exquisite creature before him with complex eyes.
After a moment of hesitation, he tentatively asked:
“Um… Do you know what that title means?”
Upon hearing this, the “Palace Master’s” delicate little face instantly lost all previous confusion and contemplation, replaced by a look of natural certainty.
She nodded her little head forcefully, her silver-gray hair swaying with the motion.
Her ethereal, childish voice carried a “do you even need to ask” straightforwardness.
“Of course I do.”
This answer shattered the faint hope Jiu Baiyun had that “she might have just learned a word and doesn’t know its meaning.”
“Then… why do you call me that?”
Those pure, utterly clear light gray eyes looked at him again — or more accurately, at the snow-white fox tail behind him.
Her fair little hand unconsciously raised again, pointing at the target, and then she used an extremely serious tone to explain slowly:
“But private area—”
She deliberately emphasized those two words, as if repeating the key point Jiu Baiyun had just made.
“Isn’t it only when you become the other person’s husband that you’re allowed to touch it?”
She tilted her little head, her long eyelashes fluttering, her light gray pupils filled with the pure light of “I understand it thoroughly and found the perfect solution.”
Her ethereal voice even carried a hint of relief and expectation after completing the deduction.
“So, you’re my wife. That makes me the husband, so I can touch it!”
Upon hearing the “Palace Master’s” logic, Jiu Baiyun’s mind briefly went blank, then a string of question marks popped up.
‘What does that mean? Is that reasonable? No, what does that mean?! Since when is a private area only touchable by the husband?!’
Looking at the little creature before him with her expression of absolute certainty, Jiu Baiyun was momentarily speechless, unable to say anything for a long time.
“W-wait!”
Jiu Baiyun almost stumbled back a step.
“That logic is wrong! Completely wrong!”
The Palace Master, still clinging to his leg, was jostled by his movement.
On her delicate little face, a deep confusion immediately reappeared.
She seemed unable to understand why, now that the “husband” identity had been confirmed, she still couldn’t touch her “wife’s” tail.
“Where… is it wrong?”
She tilted her head, with a hint of inquiry.