Chapter 17: Fairy Sister

Since learning about Sun Yang's past, Yun Zhao has generously spent five hundred fairy stones to buy many toys for the cubs' room in the mall.

While busy fulfilling the orders from the Wolf Clan, he also creatively makes various sweet treats for these little cubs.

Ao Yu pats LuoXue’s round belly and ponders, "You shouldn't spoil them too much. Look at this belly, it has gotten quite fat."

Luo Xue startles for a moment, pushes his hand away with his little paw, and runs off, shaking his fur. He climbs onto the cat tree and glares at Ao Yu with a disgruntled expression.

Yun Zhao sneers. Compared to the cat slaves in the mortal world, he doesn't consider himself overly doting.

The appetite of the Wolf Clan is not small. With their regular orders, Yun Zhao has gained a steady customer base and rarely sets up stalls in the market anymore.

To prevent this important customer from getting tired of his little pastries, Yun Zhao makes various fruit jams using the fruits grown in the spirit field and delivers them together.

Of course, this isn't free, but the wealthy Wolf Clan doesn't mind the price at all. They pay in full for everything.

During the day, while Yun Zhao is busy in the kitchen, Sun Yang also slowly moves to Ao Yu's side, wagging his tail and looking at him with eager and curious eyes.

He knows that Ao Yu's guidance is a rare opportunity that can't be sought after.

"Focus your mind, calm your breath...," Ao Yu ignites the calming incense and sits on the soft couch, while the golden-eyed spirit dog tilts his head and squats nearby, his doggy eyes showing a strong desire for knowledge.

Ao Yu is quite satisfied with his disciple's thirst for knowledge. He takes out a manual and patiently guides Sun Yang in practicing how to absorb spiritual energy, explaining each sentence and word.

The little dog is quite slow-witted. The dense ancient text confuses him, and he initially thought that the adult would get impatient and leave. However, Ao Yu only taps his own head with his knuckles and begins to explain the text repeatedly.

In the past, back in the clan's territory, Sun Yang also wanted to listen to the elders' teachings. He sneaked out of his room, carrying his elder brother's book, and quietly squatted at the back of the academy.

Before he even listened for the duration of an incense stick, the young ones studying there discovered him and laughed heartily at the little dog flipping through the book with his paw.

The elder was furious and kicked him out of the hall.

At that time, there weren't any thresholds for little dogs to stumble upon while rolling down the stone steps. He fell and sat in the wet muddy ground, his soft little belly grazed by the stone steps, breaking the skin.

Sun Yang turned his head to look at the academy, filled with abundant spiritual energy, and felt that it was so high and unattainable.

"How's your learning going?"

Yun Zhao enters with a bowl of milk and places it next to Sun Yang.

Although the size of the little dog rivals that of some large dogs in the mortal world, in Yun Zhao's eyes, he's just a little cub!

Sun Yang cautiously sneaks a glance at Ao Yu and seeing no objection from him, immediately lowers himself into the bowl of milk, making splashing sounds.

"You've only been learning for a short time, and you already come in for feeding," Ao Yu glances at him, a hint of speechlessness in his eyes.

He inexplicably thinks of the saying, "A doting mother spoils the child." He quickly shakes his head, dismissing this absurd and strange thought from his mind.

Yun Zhao scratches his face and sheepishly smiles, "I'm just worried that your cultivation might be too tiring... Look, I've cut some fruits for you!"

Ao Yu lowers his gaze and sees Yun Zhao poking a piece of peach with a silver fork and bringing it to his mouth, he hesitates for a moment, then opens his mouth and takes it in.

The peach, soaked in spring water, brings a cool and refreshing sensation. It's full of fruity aroma without being overwhelming. Ao Yu raises an eyebrow and eats the remaining peach clean.

After finishing his milk, Sun Yang burps and raises his head, but Ao Yu pushes his doggy mouth away with disgust.

Yun Zhao quickly takes out a colorful cloth and wipes the little dog's face with a swift motion.

Sensing Ao Yu's gaze, he couldn't help but casually ask, "What's wrong?"

Only then does Ao Yu notice that the cloth is of the same pattern as the little vest Sun Yang is wearing.

Yun Zhao explains, "There has been a lot of rain in the mountains these days, so I used some fabric from the dowry to make him some clothes."

As he speaks, Yun Zhao waves the cloth in his hand, saying, "This is leftover fabric."

"This is from your dowry?" Ao Yu's eyes widened in astonishment.

When those few boxes of dowry were brought to Yuming Mountain, they were thrown into the storeroom, and Ao Yu never bothered to inquire about them.

Upon hearing Yun Zhao mention it, he stands up and heads towards the storeroom, with Sun Yang and Yun Zhao following suit.

The few mahogany boxes aren't particularly large and are covered in a layer of dust. Wu Mu and Luo Xue also curiously follow inside, leaving a trail of plum blossom imprints on the dusty boxes.

Yun Zhao looks at their dark paws, and the veins on his forehead throb.

Ao Yu scans the room expressionlessly and opens the nearest box, revealing colorful fabrics inside.

He bends down and touches them with his hand. They aren't of high quality, and they are not even good materials. In the powerful mountain spirit clan, these are nothing more than items for curtains or tablecloths.

Ao Yu stands up and opens all the remaining boxes, revealing the shabby utensils inside, causing Wu Mu to express his disdain with a grunt.

Wu Mu's claws hook onto the rough needles and threads on the fabrics, unable to believe it, "How could the Mountain Spirit Clan prepare such shabby things as dowry?"

Yun Zhao awkwardly clears his throat, dryly chuckles, and rubs his hands, unsure of what to say.

Ao Yu looks at him with a stern face. He had heard Yun Zhao mention that his dowry was worthless, but he never thought it would consist of such worthless junk, not even worthy of perfunctory treatment.

He turns his head and his gaze falls on Yun Zhao's kitchen-stained clothes. He raises his hand and lightly touches his forehead.

Realizing that he has been taken care of so well and yet failed to notice if Yun Zhao was also leading a comfortable life, Ao Yu couldn't help but feel somewhat regretful.

Yun Zhao doesn't know what Ao Yu is thinking. He covers up his embarrassing dowry, saying, "I made two vests for Sun Yang to wear for now. When I have some free time, I'll go down to the market and buy some new ones."

He assumes that Ao Yu finds his fabric and tailoring skills distasteful, so he tries to remedy the situation by laughing it off and showing that he's not really stingy.

Sun Yang, surprised to learn that his little vest is made from Yun Zhao's dowry, hangs his ears and rubs Yun Zhao's hand with his furry head.

"No need," Ao Yu suddenly speaks up.

"What?" Yun Zhao asks.

Ao Yu's gaze falls on the young man's clean face, and as he looks into those black, bright, and clear eyes, the coldness in Ao Yu's eyes dissipates.

He pauses for a moment and says, "In a few days, I'll be making new clothes, and you should make a few for yourself too."

Yun Zhao is pleasantly surprised, pointing at himself, "Even I have a share?"

Ao Yu lifts his chin and scans him up and down before turning his face away, saying in a low voice, "You only have two or three sets of clothes. If you don't want them, then forget it."

Having said that, he turns around and pushes open the door.

Yun Zhao is momentarily stunned, but a smile quickly appears on his face, and he happily catches up, saying, "I want them! How could I not want them! Thank you, my kind-hearted and generous young master!"

"You talk too much."

The noble beings in the Immortal Realm attach great importance to their reputation, and their requirements for clothing, food, shelter, and transportation are increasingly demanding.

Even though Ao Yu is accustomed to aloofness, his innate dragon nobility still shines through. Each garment is made of silk and fine fabric, with exquisite patterns that are understated.

There are also several clothing shops at the foot of the mountain, but Yun Zhao doesn't know which one Ao Yu used before.

So when they return to their room, Yun Zhao asks him, thinking that they can bring the tailor over tomorrow morning to take measurements for custom-made clothing.

After all, with Ao Yu's temperament, there's no way he would go to the tailor shop and wait in line himself.

Before Yun Zhao can ask the question, he sees Ao Yu folding a paper crane, reciting a few spells, and then pushing open the window to release it.

The paper crane rides the wind and dances a few circles before flying straight into the sky, gradually disappearing from Yun Zhao's sight.

Yun Zhao is puzzled. "What was that?"

Ao Yu gives Yun Zhao a strange glance and says, "Didn't you want new clothes? I just invited someone over."

Yun Zhao acknowledges with an "oh" and suddenly remembers something, asking anxiously, "Will it be expensive?"

When Ao Yu turns his head to look at him, Yun Zhao quickly waves his hand and explains, "I've earned quite a bit these days, but I still need to save! You can go with your usual choices, as for my clothes... just keep them simple..."

"No need to worry about the price," Ao Yu interrupts, his gaze shifting to the wagging tail of Wu Mu, who has hopped onto the soft couch.

Yun Zhao is puzzled, but since Ao Yu said so, he doesn't inquire further. After all, he'll find out when the time comes.

...

The next day after lunch, Yun Zhao is in the courtyard grooming Sun Yang, while Luo Xue and Wu Mu are patiently waiting with their own dedicated combs in their mouths.

After several dips in the warm spring and regular grooming by Yun Zhao, Sun Yang's fur has become less rough.

Luo Xue buries itself in the fluffy fur on the dog's belly and takes a deep breath, happily rubbing against it—it's the scent of the sun!

At that moment, Little Black Rabbit comes running over in a fluster and shouts at Yun Zhao, "Master! Master! Someone... someone is here..."

Yun Zhao puts down the comb and looks up with delight, "Ah, has the tailor that Ao Yu invited arrived? Please let them in quickly."

As soon as he finishes speaking, laughter follows behind Little Black Rabbit. It sounds somewhat inexplicably... excited in Yun Zhao's ears.

Ao Yu comes out of the house, naturally hearing the eerie laughter as well.

He calmly lifts Wu Mu by the back of his neck and tosses the bewildered Wu Mu into the arms of the newcomer as if throwing a small ball.

"Hehehe, little bunny, where are you running off to... huh!" Fairy Xiaguang suddenly finds herself holding a black cat, and she looks at Wu Mu in surprise.

But in an instant, a crazy smile appears on the fairy's lips.

"Ah! It's a kitty! Such an adorable kitty that takes the initiative to jump into my arms! Let sister will give you a little kiss hehehehe..."

Wu Mu is taken aback and struggles, using his paws to cover Fairy Xiaguang's mouth. "Fairy, please behave!"

Unexpectedly, Fairy Xiaguang's eyes narrow with a smile as she lightly bites Wu Mu's paw against her mouth.

Wu Mu's face shows a mix of fear and shock. He desperately resists and turns his head to Yun Zhao for help. "Yun Zhao, save me! This woman is a complete maniac!"

"The little kitty is so feisty hehehehe... the more you struggle, the more sister likes it!"

Yun Zhao looks at the chaotic scene with a bewildered expression and gazes at Ao Yu, his eyes filled with confusion.

Ao Yu sits down, pours himself a bowl of clear tea from the teapot, blows away the foam, and takes a sip. He waits until Xiaguang has had enough of the cat before calmly and leisurely introducing her, "This is Fairy Xiaguang, she's the one who came to take care of the clothing."

Upon hearing Ao Yu's introduction, Xiaguang shyly smiles at Yun Zhao and takes another sip while holding the now limp Wu Mu.

Once Yun Zhao regains his composure, Xiaguang pulls out a measuring tape and approaches him with a smile. "Sorry about that, shall we begin now?"

Seeing Wu Mu transformed into a belly-up version of a big fish, Yun Zhao instinctively takes a step back. What a formidable and lively fairy sister!