Bai Qingyue was not unfamiliar with acts of torture. Unlike popular myths, not all deities were kind and righteous beings set to lead an example to the rest of the population.

The Celestial realm had its own rules and own leadership. Karmic retribution was ordained by the heavenly energies governing all living entities. However, that wasn't to say that the gods did not inflict punishment upon each other, not to mention upon mortals for which certain deities were appointed to do just that.

There were divine punishments frequently meted out and the ones left in charge of condemning and punishing criminals in the upper planes were the Sovereign Lords.

One could say that punishments inflicted upon Deities would be a hundred times worse than that inflicted on mere mortals. The feeling of one's body being tortured was nothing in comparison to the agony of a tormented soul being torn into pieces. An intact soul can reincarnate, but a damaged one is left to suffer eternally in an endless abyss.

Bai Qingyue now concluded that when it comes to delivering physical punishment, his wife had quite a talent for this particular skill.

'Able to look but unable to touch' is a punishment with its own special section in hell, no doubt about it.

Inside the tiny wooden tub and beneath the warm nourishing water, Bai Qingyue's young fox form was frozen stiff. He feared that if he moved a single muscle right now, he would surely transform and gobble up this woman.

His thoughts were fully consumed by feeling the softness lightly brushing against his snout, he felt more than heard Li Meirong's movements. She grabbed the coarse comb from the side of the tub and gently stroked his fur, making sure to groom him without further harming his injuries.

Truthfully, there were no injuries left at all. After receiving half of Bai Zhang's accumulated internal energy, Bai Qingyue's open gash was healed instantly. His restored powers left him brimming with vigour.

Not that he would tell her though, he rather liked her fretting over him. To make his facade look more realistic, the crafty fox had the foresight to make a few surface cuts on his skin, not deep enough to even itch him but sufficient for Li Meirong to be concerned for his wellbeing.

He heard her speaking softly as she continued her careful ministrations.

"Snowball, you're so tiny and defenceless. From now on, you must stay by my side so I can protect you. You never told me what had happened for you to end up so heavily wounded…" Li Meirong inquired as she set the brush aside and scooped the herbal water with both her hands, pouring it over Snowball's "injured back".

In his haze, Bai Qingyue had to pause for a moment and consider his response. In a way, he was grateful for the distraction her question provided, it assisted him with fighting against the urge to change into his real form and bully his wife as much as she bullied him.

In the end, he settled for a short answer, one that was close enough to the truth to be mentioned without loopholes.

"It was a family dispute." Was his curt reply.

For some reason, his words seemed to have deeply affected his wife.

Li Meirong thought that her family was bad but Snowball's family went as far as to nearly kill him! Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears at her unfortunate familiar's tragic past.

Looking bewildered by the turn of events, Bai Qingyue's pupils widened and his nerves tensed from seeing his wife get so upset. To say that Bai Qingyue was confused was an understatement. First, she seduced him when he was not in shape to actually take "proper" advantage of the situation. Then, she started crying, making him feel guilty for his thoughts!

Hey, I still have a score to settle with you for almost selling off your husband to another female!

Restraining herself from weeping, Li Meirong kept her tears at bay and started sniffing instead.

Bai Qingyue nervously raised his paw and rubbed it across her wet lashes, "Stop crying. It's in the past now."

He never had to comfort another person before and wasn't really sure what to say or do. Luckily, his words managed to calm her down, she grasped his paw with her own hand for comfort and her sniffles quieted.

Li Meirong nodded in agreement. She brought her arms around Snowball's belly and held him against her. Noticing that his belly had shrunk, she said in an attempt to lighten the mood, "That's right, that's right. You've got me now and I'll be your family from now on." She paused a moment and then added, "I'm glad to see that your bloating is gone now. Don't stuff yourself too much from now on or you'll turn into a fat ball of fur!"

Her first sentence caused Bai Qingyue's heart to be filled with sweetness, thinking to himself that his silly girl had no clue that they were already a family.

And then her second sentence irked him all over again.

D*mnit! The girl was driving him mad! He silently cursed.

As if that wasn't enough, just as he was about to retort her insolence, Li Meirong added insult to injury.

"And when you get a little bigger, we'll find a nice fox lady for you, a sweetheart of your own choosing. Don't worry, I'm not a big fan of arranged marriages myself. If there's someone you like, you have to court her first!"

Bai Qingyue felt the blood rush back to his head but for an entirely different reason, almost coughing up blood instead. He wanted to kiss and choke this infuriating woman at the same time!

Can you stop trying to shove concubines onto your husband?!