Chapter 99: The Glow of Desire

A faint, ethereal glow hovered at the tip of Xiao Moyuan’s finger—like a lone star in the dark night, yet also a poison leading into the abyss. Su Mian’s gaze was locked on it.

At first it was pure yearning, a hunger rising from the depths of her blood. The crisp, refreshing aura of his spiritual energy was, to her, sustenance, nourishment, perfection for her demonic form. Her body seemed to whisper: *Draw near. Consume it. You will feel more comfortable… more powerful…*

But then reason flickered. Xiao Moyuan’s earlier words echoed in her mind: *Do not eat.* This was training—the first step in controlling desire.

If she couldn’t resist this temptation, how could she ever suppress her demonic aura and gain freedom?

She bit her lower lip hard enough to taste blood, using the sharp pain to stay lucid.

In Xiao Moyuan’s eyes, the little fox was a study in contradiction. She stared at the glowing fingertip, her pupils oscillating between dazed longing and painful clarity.

Sometimes her eyes widened, reflecting the white light, face soft with yearning.

Other times she shuddered, lashes trembling violently, defiance and anguish flashing through her gaze.

Her body was more honest than her expressions. Her toes inched forward half a step; her upper body leaned toward the light. Then, as if burned, she recoiled—spine snapping straight, hands clutching her hem until her knuckles bleached white.

Forward. Back. Desire. Resistance.

Within two meters she waged a silent, ferocious war.

Fine sweat beaded on her brow, sliding slowly down flushed cheeks. Her fox ears twitched anxiously—sometimes pricking up, sometimes drooping pitifully. Her fluffy tail lashed back and forth, thumping the carpet in agitation.

Eventually bodily craving overpowered her faltering reason.

She moved slowly, hesitantly, until she stood directly before him—close enough to feel the gentle warmth radiating from his spiritual energy, close enough to see the faint blue veins on the back of his hand.

Xiao Moyuan glanced down.

The little fox had been pushed to her limit. Face tilted up, tiny sweat droplets glinted on the tip of her nose. Her cheeks burned an unnatural red that spread to her neck; even her furry ears were tinged pink. Her breathing came ragged, chest rising and falling with barely perceptible tremors, as though she could already taste the energy in the air.

Her glassy eyes were fixed unblinkingly on his finger—filled with profound distress. It was as if he held not spiritual energy, but her very lifeline, and he was cruelly withholding it.

Xiao Moyuan raised his wrist, checking the time.

“An hour has passed,” he stated calmly, though a faint surprise flickered deep in his eyes. “For a first attempt… enduring this long is quite commendable.”

The praise did not relax her; it only sharpened her tension. The light was still there—closer now, more vivid, more alluring.

Unable to resist any longer, she leaned in. Delicate nostrils flared as she cautiously sniffed the air around his hand—caution and greed warring in the gesture.

Her body trembled. Her tail curled and uncurled. A soft, stifled whimper slipped from her throat.

*So fragrant… I want it so badly…*

Two voices clashed in her mind.

One sobbed desperately: *Just once… can’t I just taste it? I’m in so much pain… my body hurts… it’s mine! It’s mine!*

The other—fainter but stubborn—carried her remaining rationality, her anxiety for her parents, her longing for freedom, her terror of being forever caged or cast out.

*Hold on, Su Mian. Hold on. For your parents. For freedom. For living like a human again. If you eat it now, everything collapses.*

The two thoughts tore at her, leaving her in extreme contradiction—extreme desire, extreme restraint.

Sweat soaked her forehead. Her gaze flickered wildly between obsession and clarity. Her whole body shook with the strain.

Xiao Moyuan watched the silent struggle. His eyes darkened. A faint smirk curved his lips, voice carrying both admiration and amusement.

“You’re more disciplined than you look.”

As he spoke, the light on his fingertip suddenly flared brighter.

“Ss—!”

Caught off guard, Su Mian let out a brief, tearful gasp.

Her already frayed nerves felt cruelly plucked. The enticing aroma intensified tenfold, smashing through her crumbling defenses.

The flush raced to her ears; heat radiated from her entire body. Her breaths turned short, passionate, chest heaving.

Finally her legs gave out. She collapsed onto the carpet, face still tilted upward, eyes unable to leave his hand.

Her gaze burned—desire and the anguish of being cornered fused together. She had reached her absolute limit. Reason stretched to breaking. A low, distressed moan grew steadily louder in her throat.

Xiao Moyuan looked down at her, expression unreadable.

He leaned closer. The fingertip holding the concentrated spiritual energy lightly touched her scorching cheek.

“Ah!”

Su Mian shuddered violently—as though struck by a mild electric current.

Direct contact was a hundred times more intense than the distant pull.

Through the touch she felt not only the overwhelming allure of the energy, but also the coolness of his fingertip. The two sensations wove together into something lethally seductive.

She bit her lip so hard fresh blood welled up.

With her last shred of strength she fought the urge to part her lips and take his finger inside.

*No… I can’t fail at the very last moment…*

Xiao Moyuan’s eyes darkened further.

“Oh?”

His tone rose slightly—genuine surprise.

His fingertip did not retreat. Instead it traced the soft curve of her cheek, slowly sliding down to her moist, slightly swollen lips.

It paused right at the edge—tantalizingly close.

Almost like placing a delicacy directly against her mouth.

Su Mian’s pupils shrank to pinpoints. Her entire body trembled.

She could clearly feel the temperature of his finger, the peak of the spiritual energy’s seduction.

Blood beads seeped from the corner of her bitten lip—crimson and defiant. Behind her, her tail thrashed wildly against the floor.

Xiao Moyuan leaned even closer. His deep voice became a whisper, laced with dark seduction.

“Open your mouth.”

With those two words—

The final thread of Su Mian’s reason—stretched beyond endurance for more than an hour—snapped.

The last shred of clarity drowned beneath a tidal surge of desire.

Now only instinct remained.

Her clenched teeth slowly relaxed. Her bitten lips parted just slightly.

Then—cautiously—she extended the tip of her soft pink tongue and lightly licked the glowing fingertip.

Just that one lick.

“Sss—!”

In that instant, all restraint, all endurance, all thoughts of parents, freedom, future—became meaningless.

She no longer hesitated.

She opened her mouth wide and took his finger inside.

Her warm, moist mouth enveloped his fingertip. Her agile little tongue—once cautious—now twined around it eagerly, greedily seeking more.

Pure spiritual energy poured into her body through the contact point, bringing indescribable satisfaction and comfort.

She closed her eyes. Satisfied whimpers rose in her throat. Her whole body relaxed, unconsciously pressing closer, as though craving even more.

Xiao Moyuan’s finger stiffened slightly.

He looked down at the little fox kneeling before him—lost in the act of suckling his finger.

The earlier pain and struggle had vanished from her face. Long lashes fluttered. Cheeks still flushed. She looked unusually obedient… and alluring.

He could feel his spiritual energy draining rapidly, the soft warmth of her mouth, the faint shivers from her unconscious licking.

After a long moment he finally spoke, voice slightly hoarse.

“Today… this is enough.”

But the little fox, drunk on spiritual energy, heard nothing more.

****

In the days that followed, training continued without mercy.

Xiao Moyuan pushed “Desire Control” to its extreme.

At first it was difficult. Even after the command “Stop,” Su Mian would unconsciously continue—eyes glazed, throat emitting discontented whimpers, tail anxiously winding around his wrist.

Xiao Moyuan never indulged her. He would grip her jaw mercilessly, forcing release, or raise a cool spiritual barrier between them until clarity—and resentment—replaced the boiling desire in her gaze.

Gradually, conditioned reflexes formed.

No matter how sweet the spiritual energy tasted, no matter how loudly instinct screamed, the moment “Stop” sounded, Su Mian would freeze. Then—reluctantly—she retreated. Her eyes accused him of cruelty; her tail drooped helplessly, as though she had suffered a terrible injustice.

Xiao Moyuan remained unmoved. He cared only for results.

A monotonous, grueling week passed.

Change came on a certain evening.

When Xiao Moyuan once again brought spiritual energy to her lips, Su Mian instinctively accepted it, drawing gently. Moments later—before he could speak—she stopped herself.

It was not forced. It was tentative, experimental self-restraint.

She looked up at him, eyes questioning, carrying a faint, uncertain pride.

Xiao Moyuan nodded and withdrew his hand.

In that instant Su Mian clearly felt the roving demonic energy inside her begin to obey her will. She gathered it, pushing it deep, suppressing it.

Then she rushed to the bathroom mirror.

The girl reflected there had soft black hair, clear eyes, healthy flushed cheeks from excitement. Her head was smooth. Her back was clear.

No fox ears. No restless tail.

She looked like an extraordinarily beautiful ordinary girl.

She spun around and ran out of the bathroom, voice bubbling with barely contained joy.

“I did it! I can control my ears and tail now!”

Xiao Moyuan had been leaning against the living-room window. At her words he turned.

Seeing her sparkling eyes, his brows barely moved.

“Call me what?”

His voice was flat.

Su Mian’s smile froze. A faint blush spread across her face.

She bit her lip, slightly awkward, averted her gaze, voice lowering with a trace of stiffness.

“…Master.”

The contract had been signed three days earlier.

The process was simpler than she expected—no elaborate ceremony. Xiao Moyuan had simply pressed his palm to hers, imprinting a seal containing his core spiritual energy directly into her soul.

In that moment Su Mian felt an invisible bond form between them.

Yet the feared scenario of becoming a “plaything” never materialized. Xiao Moyuan made no attempt to coerce her, nor did he change their usual dynamic.

It was as though the master-servant contract existed only to give her a legitimate “identity” in the human world—a shield against being hunted or forcibly returned by other exorcists.

His only explicit demand: in the presence of other exorcists, she must address him respectfully as “Master.”

And during these days of training—to help her adjust—the form of address had been deliberately practiced many times.

“Mm.”

Xiao Moyuan gave no special reaction to her use of the title.

He stepped to the center of the living room and traced a few invisible lines in the air.

A faint, glass-like *crack* sounded.

The invisible barrier that had sealed the apartment dissipated.

Car horns, street chatter, the familiar clamor of the outside world drifted in through the open window.

Su Mian took a deep breath, feeling an almost dreamlike sense of déjà vu.

Xiao Moyuan walked into the bedroom and returned moments later with a small box.

Inside lay the familiar necklace—the one he had given her at their first meeting, later taken away “for repair.”

The pendant looked even more lustrous now, with a subtle flowing glow.

“Come here.”

Su Mian approached.

Xiao Moyuan moved behind her. His cool fingertips brushed the nape of her neck—making her feel faintly ticklish—as he fastened the chain.

He adjusted the pendant so it rested just above her collarbone.

His voice came from directly above her head.

“With the necklace on, you can go out now.”

Su Mian looked down at the familiar glint against her chest.

Her emotions were complicated.

It feels like I’m wearing a pet collar…

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