The Librarian and the Fox Princess: a Donghua Dijun and Bai Fengjiu story, V.I

Chapter 63 - A Close(d) Encounter

A/N: photo by Millie Olsen at Unsplash.org. 

This chapter is dedicated to anyone who has contracted Covid-19, has a friend or loved one who has contracted it, or who have lost loved ones. May no one be left behind in the wake of this pandemic. May safety and respite be found. May each person find their own meaning in this chaos and may it be healing and transformative.  💖

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Dong Hua had her lying between his legs with her back against his reclined chest. He had an arm securely around her waist while he propped his other elbow against the side of the basin. In his hand was a Buddhist scroll. As he was reading he sat with his knees up like guardrails around her body in case she tried to roll or turn in her sleep.

Earlier, except for his silk white pants, the almighty god had conjured everything he was wearing off. He quietly stepped into the basin. He looked down at his comfortable and minimal attire. He remembered how unhappy she had been when he had conjured a ridiculous amount of robes on her.

He realized it was unfair of him to have such a double standard as he sat down into the soak a couple of feet away. Dong Hua carefully inspected her upper arms and the bruises appeared to have faded due to his care. He decided to conjure for her a clean white under-robe with a red robe layered over it. He always felt she looked stunning in this color; it brought out her birthmark and her rosy lips. Out of compassion, he remembered she hated pants so he exempted her this one time.

His little fox appeared to be completely worn out. She didn't even wake up when he had earlier dropped the scroll in a rare act of unmindfulness when he first saw the bruises on her. 

He had layered on a light sleeping enchantment, gently pulled her over into his chest and meticulously washed her hair to remove the smell. When he was finished grooming his sleeping little fox, he lowered his face into her hair and took in a deep breath. Satisfied that he could smell her natural scent of peach blossoms again, he let her continue sleeping on his chest as he leaned back and relaxed while conjuring a scroll.

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As the waters of Lake Wangsheng lapped over her as she sunbathed, she closed her eyes with a  sigh of contentment. It seemed to be years since she was last in Qing Qiu. She had chosen to lie on her stomach on the cold hard boulders on the shoreline. More than half of her body was submerged underwater. She had specifically chosen this secluded shore to rest and doze off.

She ran the tips of her fingers over the smooth cool boulder beneath her. It was soothing to brush her fingers lightly in a circular motion over a tiny pebble she had found on the rock shelf just inches under the water. The rise and fall of her breath and the warmth of the water lulled her as she continued tracing her fingers around and then over the pebble. Curious, she thought, there were no small pebbles in Lake Wangsheng, what was this object?

Without moving the rest of her tired body, she felt around under the water to try to pick up the pebble. It seemed to be stuck. She ran her thumb over the smooth cool pebble and placed her forefinger and index finger around it, again trying to pick it up but it wouldn't budge. Perhaps the small pebble was just a nodule on the rock formation.

She felt a cold weight over her hand under the water where her middle finger was still stroking the tiny pebble. This weight seemed to be much larger than her hand. It seemed to split itself into cold long extensions that ran themselves over the length of her fingers.

It was a hand. Someone's hand was over hers under the surface of the water. Did they want this pebble too? But she had found it first. It was hers.

Her eyes tiredly fluttered open. The rock she had been lying on was incredibly white and smooth. It glistened with a wet sheen.