Chapter 54: A Bedside Awakening and Hidden Secrets

The next morning, sunlight streamed into the room through a gap in the curtains.

Su Mian awoke from a dream more profound than any she had ever experienced. A pleasant warmth enveloped her, as if she were immersed in tepid water, and her spirit felt inexplicably full and vibrant.

“Ah…” She stretched instinctively, letting out a yawn.

Perhaps it was a habit from her long-term use of a falsetto, or perhaps a change within her own body, but the yawn sounded soft and delicate, imbued with a lazy, nasal tone typical of just waking up.

“Hmm?” A clean, pleasant scent of cedar wood lingered at her nostrils.

Su Mian comfortably rubbed her head against the pillow, then realized something was amiss—her hand wouldn’t straighten, and her arm seemed to be blocked by something.

She groggily lifted her head, her sleepy eyes turning to her side.

She was met with a handsome face, sharply chiseled yet etched with a frosty chill. Those deep-set eyes stared at her with a cold intensity, shadowed by prominent dark circles, and his entire being exuded an aura that warned, ‘Do not approach.’

Su Mian felt as though she had been struck by lightning; her mind went blank with a loud *buzz*.

Almost instinctively, she snatched the nearby pillow, clutching it to her chest.

Like a startled rabbit, she sprang from the bed, stumbling backward until she stood on the floor, her face a mask of terror and disbelief. Her voice trembled as she stammered, “Xiao—Xiao Moyuan?! You… how are you in my bed?!”

Xiao Moyuan watched her preposterous accusation and was so exasperated he let out a laugh, though it was raspy from a sleepless night and laced with heavy sarcasm: “Are you certain you’re in *your* bed?”

Su Mian was bewildered by his question. Only then did she fully awaken, her gaze darting around the room in a panic.

This room… it was spacious and bright, with a stark, minimalist decor. The bed’s placement and the overall layout were entirely different from the guest room she had entered last night!

Moreover, she distinctly remembered locking her door last night!

A shocking truth surfaced in her mind—this was Xiao Moyuan’s master bedroom!

She, Su Mian, had slept in Xiao Moyuan’s bed for an entire night?!

“I… I…” Su Mian’s face instantly flushed crimson, the color spreading to her earlobes and even staining her neck pink. She stammered incoherently, “How… how did I end up in your bed???”

Xiao Moyuan snorted, his tone a mix of amusement and exasperation:

“Naturally, you sleepwalked in the middle of the night, crawled and fumbled your way over. Otherwise, do you imagine I went to your room in the dead of night and carried you here?”

Su Mian’s eyes widened in shock, then her face filled with confusion and bewilderment.

She had climbed into his bed herself? But… she had never sleepwalked in her life!

Could this hotel truly be so eerie, perhaps even haunted?

An involuntary shiver ran down her spine.

Overwhelmed by immense embarrassment and shame, she flushed bright red and blurted out without thinking: “Then… why didn’t you wake me?!”

Xiao Moyuan seemed to have anticipated her question. Expressionless, he picked up the phone from the bedside table, expertly pulled up a video, and then tossed the phone to Su Mian: “See for yourself.”

Su Mian fumbled to catch the phone, then looked down at the screen.

The video clearly showed her clinging tightly to Xiao Moyuan’s waist like an octopus, practically wrapped around him.

No matter if Xiao Moyuan whispered her name or gently tapped her cheek and shoulder, she slept soundly, completely unresponsive. When “disturbed,” she would even grumble impatiently and burrow deeper into his embrace.

Su Mian’s face grew progressively redder, as if blood might drip from it.

She was utterly stunned, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into. Not only had she sleepwalked, but she had slept so deeply?

Hanging onto someone like a koala, impossible to shake off? And that person was her ‘love rival’!

Filled with mortification, her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, tinged with deep apology: “Then… why didn’t you… didn’t you hit me…”

She had meant to say ‘push me away,’ but the video clearly showed Xiao Moyuan had tried and failed.

Xiao Moyuan’s lips twitched, forming a smile devoid of warmth. His tone carried a deliberate ‘aha’ moment: “Oh? Yesterday in the car, who was it that righteously reminded me that we are in a ‘rule-of-law era’ and ‘cannot casually hit people’?”

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Su Mian’s flushed cheeks, then slowly added,

“If I had actually laid a hand on you, you might have woken up, called the police, and accused me of using force while you were asleep, or even… molesting you. Wouldn’t I be in an impossible situation, unable to clear my name?”

Su Mian found the first half of his statement somewhat logical. However, upon hearing the latter half, she instinctively retorted with agitation: “I, we are both men! How could I accuse you of that…”

The word “molesting” was simply too difficult for her to utter.

Xiao Moyuan’s expression remained calm, as if stating a perfectly reasonable concern: “You constantly refer to me as your ‘love rival.’ Between ‘love rivals,’ who can say what might happen in such a situation?”

Su Mian opened her mouth, but the words of rebuttal caught in her throat.

Upon closer inspection, Xiao Moyuan indeed looked haggard, lacking his usual sharp intensity. The heavy dark circles under his eyes were clearly visible, evidence of a sleepless night.

In contrast, she felt refreshed and full of energy.

This comparison deepened Su Mian’s guilt.

She lowered her head, her voice filled with genuine apology: “I’m sorry… I, I also just found out I have a sleepwalking problem… If you don’t believe me, you can ask my roommate. I usually sleep very peacefully; I’ve never been like this…”

“I don’t have that much free time to verify.”

Xiao Moyuan cut her off. He threw off the covers and rose, walking directly to the bathroom to wash up. His cool voice drifted from inside:

“It’s getting late. If you don’t want to ride in my car to get back to school for class, you can continue to agonize over your sleepwalking problem here.”

At his words, Su Mian’s gaze shot to the clock on the wall, realizing it was well past her usual waking time. She yelped, no longer caring about embarrassment or shame.

Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she bolted from the master bedroom, rushing back to her own guest room to wash up and change.

Listening to the frantic footsteps and the sound of a door closing outside, Xiao Moyuan in the bathroom paused his cupping of water. He looked up, meeting his own slightly weary but sharp-eyed reflection in the mirror.

He had initially believed Su Mian to be merely an ordinary fox spirit, perhaps one with a purer bloodline.

However, judging by the immense spiritual energy absorbed last night… for a half-demon, not yet fully awakened, to nearly swallow up three tenths of his spiritual power without showing any discomfort—the rate and volume of absorption almost surpassed that of common high-ranking demon beasts!

Such potential was truly astonishing, unprecedented.

Even more perplexing was that in the latter half of the night, after Su Mian seemed to have been “fed,” her demonic features—fox ears, a fox tail, and those feminine body curves—receded like a tide, restoring her to the previously gender-ambiguous, boyish Su Mian. It was as if everything had been but a fleeting dream.

This completely contradicted the records stating that “a Tushan clan half-demon must stabilize their gender before they can awaken and control their powers.”

Even with her gender not yet fully stable, the female state she presented after demonization was already so clear.

While all signs indicated Su Mian’s body and mind were leaning towards feminization, theoretically, this process remained reversible before his heart was truly “moved” and confirmed.

Unless… Su Mian’s body, from the depths of her bloodline, from a more fundamental level, was destined to become female.

Now, Xiao Moyuan was even more curious about the secrets hidden within Su Mian.

How many more unknown things did this seemingly naive little fox, who actually harbored astonishing secrets, still conceal?

He looked at himself in the mirror, a complex glint in the depths of his eyes—a mixture of inquiry, possessiveness, and an indescribable interest that even he hadn’t fully recognized.