Chapter 168: Rong Ye is Furious!

Rong Ye woke up suddenly.

At first, he didn’t know what had disturbed his sleep... maybe a sound, or maybe the strange emptiness beside him. The stone bed felt too cold.

He blinked groggily, his ears twitching as he lifted his head. The fire had gone out, leaving only faint embers glowing near the wall. The cave was dim and still.

Then his eyes widened.

The spot beside him, where Su Qinglan had been sleeping earlier, was empty.

"Eh?" he muttered, blinking again as if his vision was playing tricks. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. There was no movement around him. No scent of her nearby. Just the faint smell of dying fire.

His heart dropped straight to his tail.

"W–wait... Where is she?" He whispered, sitting up in a rush. His ears suddenly strained with alertness.

Panic struck him in full force.

"Ahhh! No, no, no! I actually fell asleep?!"

He grabbed his own hair dramatically. "Beast God above, what kind of idiot am I? How could I fall asleep when she was here and beside me!"

He started pacing back and forth, limping slightly as his body still ached from his earlier "injuries."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid fox!" he scolded himself. "You said you’d stay awake! You promised yourself you’d watch her! But nooo, she had to smell nice and breathe softly and...ugh! That sound put me right to sleep!"

He groaned and clutched his chest. "It’s not my fault! Her scent is too soothing! My poor body was crying for rest! But still..."

He glanced back at the empty bed, ears drooping. "Why did she leave?"

His first thought was hopeful... maybe she just went out to relieve herself. Maybe she was nearby.

"Yes, yes, that must be it," he muttered quickly. "She wouldn’t just leave me here. She’s too kind, too softhearted... right?"

He hesitated, then whispered softly, "Qinglan?"

No reply.

His ears twitched.

"Qinglaaan?" he called again, louder this time.

The only answer was the echo of his own voice.

Now his imagination began running wild. His ears flattened as he grabbed his head. "Oh no. Oh Beast God, no! What if someone kidnapped her? What if she ran away to find some wild man while I was sleeping and...AH!"

He shot up, bolting toward the entrance of the cave. "Qinglan! Hey! Are you out there?" he yelled desperately, voice cracking halfway.

His shouting echoed through the quiet night, loud enough to wake the spirits of the forest.

And it definitely woke up Stove.

The poor plant jolted awake in its corner, its leaves trembling violently. It rustled in panic, clearly annoyed at being woken in the middle of the night.

Rong Ye didn’t care. He spun around and rushed at the plant. "Stove! You! You saw her, right? Tell me she’s just nearby! Tell me she’s outside washing her hands or something!"

The stove rustled again, unimpressed. Its leaves drooped as if it were sighing.

"Don’t look at me like that!" Rong Ye barked. "This is serious! My female is missing!"

The plant tried to retreat, but he grabbed it by its stem and shook it lightly. "Come on, say something! Shake your leaves twice if she’s outside! Once she’s gone!"

The stove trembled so hard that half its leaves nearly fell off. Then, in pure irritation, it slapped one of its leaves right across his arm.

"Hey...ow!" he yelped, rubbing the spot. "You dare hit me? You little weed!"

But then the plant’s leaves glowed faintly, and a soft vibration passed through him; it was a message.

Now after leveling up, he could easily communicate with anyone, but still it has a limit...in one day he could pass his message two or three times.

Rong Ye froze.

"...She’s gone with Xuan Long?" he repeated slowly, eyes widening.

The stove rustled, confirming the message. Then another vibration followed: Master said not to disturb her.

Stove added the last message by itself; he was connected to its master in some way, and it could easily find her emotions or if she was in danger.

And currently he could sense her happiness, and let’s not forget the morning talk, with his intelligent brain. He already pieced everything.

With all his understanding, he would not allow this loudmouth fox to ruin his master’s good day.

On the other hand, Rong Ye just stood there, blinking. His mouth opened and closed several times before he finally exploded.

"WHAT?!"

He threw his hands in the air. "She’s what?! She left with that snake?! In the middle of the night?!"

The stove rustled nervously, trying to calm him down.

But that only made it worse.

Rong Ye’s fur puffed out like a startled ball of fluff. "After all my planning! All my careful schemes! All my charming smiles! And she goes with him?! That cold, slithery, moody, scaled demon...!!"

He groaned dramatically and dropped to his knees. "Why, Beast God, why! What does he have that I don’t?! A tail? But I have six!"

The stove rustled again, sounding like it wanted to roll its leaves and go back to sleep.

Rong Ye pointed at it accusingly. "And you! You’re supposed to be on my side! You could’ve stopped her!"

The stove’s leaves twitched in obvious annoyance and gave one last firm rustle... something like, She told me to watch you; obviously she doesn’t want you.

Rong Ye froze again. His eyes widened even more.

Then his eyes narrowed as he muttered darkly, "And she’s with that snake... while he’s in his mating period."

He clutched his head dramatically. "No, no, no! This can’t be happening! I’ll die before letting that scaly beast charm her!"

The stove, clearly done with his nonsense, rustled once and turned away, ready to go back there to sleep.

Rong Ye pouted, glaring at it. "Fine! Ignore me then! But I’m going after her! I’ll bring her back myself!"

He limped toward the entrance, muttering and growling to himself the entire way. "That snake thinks he can just slither off with my female? Ha! I’ll show him what a fox’s fury looks like! Even if I have to crawl, I’ll...bring her back."

But before he could leave, the stove’s vine whipped out and yanked his leg.

"AHH! What now?!"