Homebody Fairy Chapter 8

He supposed he was not experienced enough, since the Heavenly King actually started negotiating. "Three days."

Linlin stomped her feet and gritted her teeth. "Three days it is!" It took a long time for a big reward. If his social anxiety could be cured, her mission would succeed.

Bian Que gingerly moved toward the Heavenly King.

Youqun reluctantly reached out his hand, mumbling, "I just wanted to sleep in . . ."

"Yes, yes." Linlin nodded. "It's my fault you're suffering."

With cold sweat, Bian Que checked the Heavenly King's pulse for half an hour before breathing a sigh of relief and pocketing his handkerchief.

Linlin looked toward Bian Que. "How is he? Does he have social anxiety? Can he be healed?"

Bian Que was about to speak when he felt his throat close up.

As cold sweat fell from his brow, he quickly glanced at the Heavenly King, who was looking at him threateningly. Bian Que shook his head. "Oh no," he said. "He's great; no social anxiety. You must have made a mistake."
 
Linlin uttered a sound of disappointment. The bargain she had just made was pointless.

If the Heavenly King didn't have social anxiety, then why didn't he want to leave the house? She'd been here for two weeks now and he hadn't walked a single step out of this palace.

Youqun looked satisfied. "I told you I wasn't sick."

Linlin was angry. She stared at the Heavenly King and said nothing as she walked Bian Que out the door.

Youqun squinted. How dare she stare at me? She must be getting too confident. It was the first time he saw such an adorable expression on her, though, with her big eyes flashing with anger, her mouth set in a grimace, and her brows upturned.

An unnamed emotion rose inside Youqun.

After walking Bian Que outside the palace, Linlin said with disappointment, "I'm sorry I made you travel for nothing."

"No, no." Bian Que lowered his voice and got closer. "To be honest, there's something with Heavenly King's mentality, but it's not obvious, so I wasn't sure. I didn't say anything just now since the Heavenly King scared me a little . . ."

Linlin's eyes brightened and she happily looked at Bian Que. "You mean he does have social anxiety? What should I do? How do we cure him?"

Bian Que narrowed his eyes. Why does this feel really bizarre . . . ?

Why was Linlin happy about the Heavenly King being sick?

Well, this was beyond his job description. He nodded and took out some paper and a quill pen. Before he started, he pondered and wrote for about fifteen minutes. "Social anxiety is not easy to cure. You have to make him interact with plenty of people. Medicine is also needed. You have to work hard. Come to me if you have any questions."

Then he ambled away.

Linlin looked at his prescription for a while, then put it away in her clothes and walked back to the palace.

Interact with more people . . .

Some of the medicines in the prescription were easy to find; the Heavenly King's medical cabinet had them. But, some were rare, such as the Soundless Flower. It was a treasure of the Flower Fairy. It had taken her three days of kneeling to get the Smelly Flower, so if she wanted this flower, which took 1,000 years to grow three blossoms, she'd have to kneel so long the floor would break.

She had to think of a smart way.

Linlin considered this carefully.

Inside the palace, the Heavenly King didn't know he was in trouble the minute he had met Linlin. His leisurely days were over. He was still thinking how he wasn't sick, and it was mortifying that Linlin had found a doctor for him!

Youqun sat in bed, still feeling odd about the whole situation. He frowned and wrote on a paper for a while, then snapped his fingers.

A golden bird with rainbow lights flew inside the palace, landing on Youqun's hand.

He tied the piece of paper to the bird's wing, patted its head, and said, "Don't run off to play now. It's really important. Make sure to send this to the Nine-Level Heavens."
 
The bird scratched its foot on Youqun's hand, nodded, and flew off.
 
Watching the golden bird fly away, Youqun sighed and leaned back on his bed.

Xie Linlin . . .

Who are you?

Why would you get an a.s.signment from those old school G.o.ds in the Nine-Level Heavens? They haven't cared about anything in the heavenly realm for years. Why would they a.s.sign anything to you, a lowly fairy? Homebody Fairy is such a weird t.i.tle. Why would it be here in the heavens?

The more Youqun thought about this, the more of an uneasy premonition he got.