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

Chapter 137 - The Hot Springs

A/N: Over time I've recognized many of your usernames through the commenting or votes. Then there were peeps who left wonderful messages and I'm like "I didn't even know you read my story!" Small comforts and surprises leave big impacts and I am grateful for them.

(Image credit - Priscilla Du Preez, Hot Spring Shrine, Beppu, Japan at Unsplash.com)

---

She was about to spirit Dong Hua and her away to the hot springs when his low deep whisper stopped her.

"Wait."

Her wide innocent eyes with its long dark lashes captivated him so much that he barely remembered what he was about to say.

"Hmm?" she mewled out.

"Use my cultivation, little fox."

She blinked back at him as her fingers kneaded into both of his biceps.

"What do you mean? Do you not think I can take you in my aura? But, I've done it before, Dijun."

He ran his hand up her neck to cradle and softly scratch her scalp with his fingers. He knew as a fox she enjoyed this specific kind of affection.

"Of course you can. You're the only one who would dare to and be successful at it. Anyone else who would try to take me in their aura would be blown into many small bits."

She nodded.

"I still remember the first time, Xiao Bai. Do you?"

"It was our last morning under our tree. You were upset but you wouldn't admit it because your head is as hard as your body and you weren't very good with using your words then," she said as she lightly bopped her forefinger on his nose. "I could feel that you were having trouble regulating your emotions, so I took you in my aura to calm and soothe you," she said matter-of-factly. She blinked back at him as if what she was talking about something that had become a normal occurrence to her, like pulling on her long socks, or combing her hair.

He realized that with his slow-developing emotional awareness and mediocre grasp on functional interpersonal interactions, she had been quietly taking care of him in her own loving way since the moment she said she would escort him back to the Nine Heavens.

He remembered how he had been completely bewildered and amazed at how she had taken him into her aura then. She sat in a simple meditative posture and he was surrounded by her warmth. It was as easy as that for her.

Dong Hua sighed and let a slow pensive smile lengthen his lips. "And now I know why you were able to do that."

She smiled demurely. "I didn't know it then but I had already chosen you. All I knew was that you had become the most important person to me and I wanted to spend all my time with you ... for the rest of my life," she whispered.

Her aura was pink when they first met. That morning, when her aura was rose gold as opposed to the previous soft pink, he could not fully understand the implications. The golden threads that became interspersed in her energetic field was her cultivation's unique way of expressing that she had chosen a mate and it was him. Her love was pure, complete, and unconditional and so it was natural and even easy for her to take him into her aura.

He smiled and stroked his thumb over her chin. "I didn't know it either, but I had opened a doorway within myself. Something I had never done before with anyone. Anytime you want to aura-travel us anywhere, use my cultivation. Save yours. I have plenty for the both of us. Go through that doorway in my soul that only you can go through. There, you'll have access to my power. Take us wherever you want to go. Let me be your palanquin, little fox."