Chapter 59 Dinner, Bath, Or... Me?

After finishing his far-from-satisfactory explanation to Zhi Ruo and Qing Lili, Xuan was led away by the servant named Jiapei—a woman who appeared to be in her thirties, but was in reality already over a hundred years old. She was a veteran worker here at the Tower of Flames; one of the first, in fact; so Xuan recognized her clearly, and vice versa.

"Immortal Fairy Huo Fei is waiting for you inside her private chambers," she said as the two stepped onto a special elevator that would take them to the 'real' topmost floor of the Tower—Huo Fei's home. "She has missed you dearly during the year you were gone, so she may act a bit spoiled."

At this, Xuan chuckled. "I don't mind. She's always been like that. But… I was only gone for a year?"

"Yes. Did you expect it to be longer…?"

"Hm… yes, quite so…"

Xuan lapsed into thought briefly, recalling all the different pieces of evidences he'd come across in his journey thus far. As much as Xuan wanted to believe it, this world had simply changed far too much for it to have happened in the span of a single year. Dragon Island sending out a Golden Wyvern to guard their next heir, for example, was a good clue. But now that he thought back on it, perhaps it was possible those old fogeys at the Temple just got impatient or something…

Seeing Xuan ponder, Jiapei sighed.

"Well… it is not my position to say anything, but there is no chance that milady is wrong. After all, she has been counting every single day you were gone for."

'Huo Fei…'

Xuan smiled. She really was still like a little kid, despite how mature she ought to be by now. Or rather, she was quite mature to everyone—ruthless, even—but Xuan was her soft spot, and she just wanted to be spoiled by him or something along those lines. It's not like he minded, however—in fact, it made her cute.

A shrill 'ding' noise signaled that the elevator had reached its destination, and the metal doors before Xuan slid open. He walked out, but Jiapei did not.

"I will take my leave here," the servant said, bowing her head. "I wish you and Immortal Fairy Huo Fei an enjoyable night."

Xuan nodded in response as the elevator doors closed once more, and he turned his head to the grand and exquisite double doors leading into Huo Fei's private quarters. With bold steps, he strode forward, familiar with the path since he'd been here many times before. Upon getting close, however, the doors suddenly opened on the other side of their own accord, causing Xuan to pause in his footsteps.

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There, Huo Fei stood there with a lollipop in her mouth, leaning forward and showing a slight glimpse of her generous cleavage. That was not the part that caught Xuan off-guard, however. The part that caught him off-guard was the outfit she was in—a beautiful maid uniform, except instead of the Western black-and-white theme, Huo Fei had opted for a Chinese/Japanese yakuta-style robe with a warm color scheme: mainly red and orange, representing her specialty of fire.

"Welcome home, husband," she said with a charming smile, giving a slight curtsy and eyeing Xuan to see his reaction. "Would you like dinner? A bath, perhaps? Or… do you want me?"

She tugged on her robes a bit, showing dangerously more parts of her well-endowed chest as if to seduce her husband. Xuan, however, merely smiled before leaning in next to her ear and whispering in return.

"What if I said… I want all three?"

"Hmph… as greedy as ever I see." Huo Fei gave a snort, folding her arms, but she didn't seem unhappy. Instead, she turned around and pulled on Xuan's hand to drag him inside and sit him down at a luxurious leather seat in front of an enormous table lined with all kinds of delicious dishes cooked by none other than yours truly, the Immortal Fairy.

"You can have all three if you want," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck while standing behind him. "But… only if you tell me everything that happened in the past year. How did you become like this? Why didn't you say anything before suddenly disappearing like that?"

Xuan let out a sigh. "It's… quite a long story. But before that, there's something I want to ask you first."

"Aren't I supposed to be the one asking questions here…?" Huo Fei lifted an eyebrow.

"I'll buy you a candied apple if you let me ask first."

"Really?!" Her eyes lit up for a brief moment, before calming down again. "A-Ahem, I mean, fine, fine. Go ahead. What is it?"

Xuan got straight to the point, turning serious.

"How did you find out I was here? You rigged the floor advancement rewards for me, didn't you?"

"Hmmm~? Did I? Who knows?"

"I'm being serious, Huo Fei. I don't recall ever giving you any artifacts that could track me…"

"You didn't, but that doesn't mean I can't make one myself," Huo Fei interrupted, smirking widely before dangling some kind of wooden pendant in front of Xuan's face. "It's all thanks to this."

Xuan narrowed his eyes, focusing his gaze on the orange gemstone at the ornament's center.

"That is… a Flaming Heart Jewel?"

"Bingo. Pair that with this wooden pendant you made for me when we were first engaged, and I'm able to sense you whenever you are near me."

"Huh… I see…"

Xuan didn't think of that—the Flaming Heart Jewel was something akin to a sensor. When the person or object it's meant to sense is nearby, it will light and heat up drastically, but the prerequisite was that the user must have some kind of item that symbolized the search target. The wooden pendant from about a thousand years ago, for example, was a good choice.

"Well, I've answered your question," Huo Fei said, squeezing Xuan's face tightly between her arms. "It's about time you answered mine, don't you think?"

Xuan sighed. "Like I said, it's a very long story…"

"Perfect. We have an entire feast to finish, after all."

Huo Fei took the seat next to Xuan, and smiled at him. After a few moments of silent staring, Xuan gave in and began retelling his story, all the way from the beginning…

"It's like this…"