"The cherry blossoms are beautiful today, my lord..." his servant, Ling, said quietly.

Song Xun continued to write, his attention solely focused on the work he had been doing since before the sun had risen. He had only been back a month and was yet caught up with all of the information he wanted to give to his father, the emperor.

He'd already given basic reports, of course, but there were much more detailed ones that needed to be written and presented. He would be busy for another week or two, at least.

"Master Xun, would you care for a drink? Or something to eat?" his servant tried again, changing tactics since he hadn't eaten anything yet that day.

The first cup of tea he'd received since coming back had been poisoned, as well as his first and fourth meal, souring his appetite quite a bit. He needed to focus on putting together his notes to present to his father, not picking apart his poisoned meals.

"No need," he eventually stated, still not bothering to even look up.

He could tell that his servant was going to try something else, but Xun needed to focus and after another moment of the man sputtering, he dismissed him with a wave of his hand.

That bought him another five hours before Ling returned, this time with a tray of food and drinks, requested or not.

Deciding not to fight it anymore, Xun set his brush aside and slowly stood from his desk. The food was all set up by the time he crossed his legs on the pillow in front of his meal table. As he began to eat, Ling started prattling off information about his brothers' whereabouts. Evidently his first younger brother had gone into town, taking one of his many concubines as a partner for the trip.

He would likely drink himself silly, then wait until his concubine fell asleep before visiting as many brothels as possible before sunrise. His other bother, the middle of the three, was in court, trying to grow his backers and gain as much information as possible from the old eunuchs there.

As he finished his meal and Ling completed his briefing, Xun stood back up and began removing his outer robe.

Realizing what he intended to do, Ling quickly cleaned up his empty plates and cups, then dismissed himself with a final "have a good rest of your evening, your highness."

Hanging up his robe, Xun continued to remove his inner one, as well as its undershirt, before finally being left in just a simple pair of pants.

It was still chilly as he stepped outside, with winter just starting to ebb, but still refusing to release its hold on the country of Shen. Looking out over his garden, Xun took in a deep, steady breath, the chilly air cooling his lungs.

He loved the colors of summer, but the chill of winter also held its merits.

Stepping down the few stairs at the back of his main house, Xun walked the cobblestone pathway through a garden struggling to break through winter's grasp. It was just beginning to show bits of green amongst the bare twigs and dead, tangled grasses.

One of the few things that was doing well right then were the blooming cherry trees on either side of the entrance to his bathing spring.

Stepping up onto the raised platform built around the pool, Xun took note of everything waiting for him. Ling personally stocked his bathing area, cleaning it and making sure that everything was as it should be. It was walled in on the left and right side, but the back portion boasted a beautiful swath of mature vegetation and trees.

Finally slipping out of his house slippers, pants, and undergarments, Xun set them aside and walked over to kneel next to a large box of soaps and folded cloths. He took out a peach-blossom bar and a washing cloth, then moved to the edge of the pool. As he was slipping into the warm water, however, he heard something that had his mind immediately focusing on his surroundings.

He didn't stop moving for even a second, but he did send out a large wave of spiritual energy, allowing it to settle over everything within his pavilion's walls.

An animal...

It was a small one, but he couldn't quite tell what kind. It definitely wasn't a squirrel, but also couldn't have been a wolf.

Perhaps a small dog.

That didn't quite feel right, either.

Deciding not to worry about it, he finished slipping into the water and dipped his head beneath its surface to dampen his long black hair. He'd left it undone, his preferred method of wearing it after being in an official position outside the palace for two straight years.

He surfaced a few moments later as the creature, which he could still easily sense, inched closer. It was just beyond the underbrush near the end of his hot spring pool. Unworried, Xun began washing, dipping the cloth in the water, then using the bar to build a lather in the fabric before beginning to wipe along his exposed upper body.

The skin normally hidden by his robes was mostly smooth, but several scars, some faded, some newer, marred certain portions from skirmishes and assassination attempts. There was only one that was visible once he was fully dressed, and that was an extremely faded scar along the lower left side of his neck from his first attempted assassination back when he was eight.

The creature waited until he was completely done washing and rinsing his body before finally inching a nose out of one of the rare evergreen bushes present in his pavilion.

Ah, a dog then?

Except, soon he was proven wrong as a little face followed the nose, it's color a gray so bright it appeared silver.

There's something wrong with it.

That much was obvious right from the moment he sensed it, though. No fox would wander around the palace grounds, no matter how much greenery was planted to hide in. Foxes were hunted for their fur, and one as beautiful as the animal before him wouldn't last long once someone's eyes fell upon it.

As the little thing crept further out of the brush, he quickly realized what specifically was wrong.

Emaciated.

It was also missing a bit of fur here and there, giving it a scragly appearance.

It was sick.

Mange? He had seen plenty of animals during his hunting trips that had been afflicted with the disease. They were often skinny and acted nervously but sometimes fearlessly. They were also usually malnourished.

Of course, rabies was an added possibility.

Retrieving his bar of soap, Xun began running it threw his long hair. As he began brushing out the soapy strands, he saw the fox move closer out of the corner of his eye.

He continued to calmly brush, untangling the few little twists the wind had created within his locks. By the time he was done and had set the bar aside, the fox was completely visible.

He paused as he finally looked directly at it, a little startled by the realization the view gave him.

The little fox definitely had some skin problems and was clearly extremely malnourished, but that wasn't what had Xun finally pausing his bath and turning his complete focus to the creature.

What appeared to be a few small cuts along its dwindling, matted fur, actually began flickering a soft white whenever it shifted its weight. It was a dead giveaway.

Little one... you're a demon?

It truly was a shock, but there was no other explanation for seeing random bits of solid spiritual energy along its body. Only severely sick or injured demons showed such visible cues. But that now begged the question...

How on Earth did a demon get into the palace grounds?

And a sick one, at that.

They stared at each other for several long moments, Xun quietly observing as the now-panting fox began to inch ever closer. It was unsteady on its feet, having to make careful, slow movements in order to not sway too much and risk falling.

He doubted that it'd be able to get back up if it did lose its footing.

Deciding to finish cleaning up, Xun ducked back beneath the water and rinsed out his hair, surfacing after a minute or so once he was sure he'd gotten all the soap out.

With a quick wipe of his hands, his vision was restored, bringing a smile to his face as he saw the little demon at the edge of his warm pool, reaching out towards him with a little paw to tap at the surface of the water.

It seemed to want to try and walk on it, but that was clearly out of the question. When it realized it wasn't going to happen, it flicked its big dirty ears and bobbed its head a few times.

"Little Huli, don't you think you're trying to bite off more than you can chew?" Xun asked it as he sank down a little ways into the water, putting it just below his shoulders to ward off the chill in the air.

The fox seemed agitated by the action and began to pace, swaying a good bit as it walked along the edge of the pool, looking quite like his younger brother did when he'd had one too many. Xun watched it in silence, taking in its actions. He still couldn't tell whether it had rabies or not, but at least it seemed afraid of the water. It likely couldn't swim.

Even if it could, he could easily dispatch it without touching it if need be. But at the current moment, his curiosity was piqued, granting the little demon a momentary reprieve from death.

He watched it for some time until, finally, it's pacing slowed and it sank to the wooden planks of the floor built around the pool. It's breathing began to slow soon after it came to a rest, and a minute after that, Xun's eyes caught something quite interesting.

His body is leaking spiritual energy from the cuts along his skin.

Demons tended to dissipate after passing away due to the majority of their body being made with spiritual energy, as compared to a human's, which only had a mere fraction of a demon's amount. They were far more powerful, but when death finally took them, they rarely left a single trace behind.

Understanding that he was no longer in any sort of danger, Xun swam over to the creature in order to get a better look. It was as he'd suspected. He didn't need to dispatch the fox, it was already dying.

Reaching out of the water, Xun settled his hand against the animal's barely-moving side. He could not only see the energy leaving it, but could sense it trickling out of the little animal's body, too.

Hmm...

Since the fox was already expiring, Xun decided to test something he was suddenly curious about.

Moving his hand over one of the bigger cuts on its body, he used his own spiritual powers to seal the wound. To his surprise, the flow of energy from it actually halted, drawing his eyebrows up the slightest fraction. He'd learned how to seal wounds on the battlefield, but it wasn't a permanent solution by a long shot.

By this time the fox's eyes should have been clouded over or closed as its body shut down, but he was a little surprised to see it still looking up at him with one faded bluish-brown eye. The amount of emotion in that eye made his chest itch a little. The pain in it conveyed just how starved the fox was. Of course, feeding it at this point wouldn't do it any good, even if it could somehow manage to chew and swallow something.

There was, however, one thing it might be able to stomach, if only for the brief time before it passed. A last meal, of sorts.

Flicking his thumb against his middle finger in an exaggerated snapping motion, Xun spun to life a little ball of energy from within himself. He'd never actually fed a demon before, or intended to, for that matter, but he'd seen enough of them drain his men during ambushes and attacks.

"A final meal and farewell to you, little Huli," he said as he concentrated his energy ball into the tip of his finger, then moved his hand down until it was just-barely brushing against the fox's dry nose.

He expected a rather delayed response, if any at all, but the moment the energy was presented to it, the fox's nostrils flared, then its chest expanded with a staggered sniff. A moment later and its mouth was being forced open by its stiff jaw muscles. It seemed like it took an exorbitant amount of effort, so Xun decided to give it one final break and tapped the little ball of light, nudging it forward into the animal's mouth.

The second the energy passed its front teeth its jaws snapped shut, startling him enough to make him take a step back.

Nearly a minute passed after that without any changes, but then something incredible began to happen.

The light within the fox's body began to fluctuate, starting from the cut below its left eye, then to two on its neck. A low hum followed it, growing louder as the light from his donated spiritual energy flared up along the long stretch of damage behind its front leg and side. It was very interesting to see, but he soon realized that even though it was intriguing, it wouldn't do much good.

His energy, just like the fox's, began to slowly leak from its body, drifting upward in dazzling sparkles of glowing light.

He was just about to pull himself out of the water and get dried off, nearly decided on letting the fox be, when he noticed something that had him frowning.

The cut that I had sealed... is still not leaking any energy.

Leaning a little closer, he lifted his hand towards another cut that was clearly losing a good amount of energy, then pressed his thumb over the injury and moved it along its length. The fox's skin crackled as his energy melded with it, sealing off the damage without actually visibly closing the wound.

Without really thinking much about it, Xun quietly sealed the next cut, then the next. Pretty soon he was gently rolling the fox onto its other side, then mending those injuries as well.

Once he had gotten the majority of what he could see, he created another small ball of spiritual energy and presented it to him. The moment the fox sensed the energy it snapped it up, lunging pathetically towards it with a stifled whine. It managed to grab it, though, and quickly swallowed it down.

Xun waited and watched, grinning as the light from his own energy began to shine from within the demon's body. He noticed a few more tiny spots where it was leaking and quickly sealed them, then settled back in the water and watched.

About two minutes later the fox slowly lifted one paw and scratched at the edge of the pool, too tired to get up, but evidently too stubborn to die.

"I'm not going to save you. I was just sating my curiosity," he said as he finally got himself out of the water and began drying off as steam rose from his hot body.

He ignored the fox as he worked, but soon he heard a strange chirping-whine behind him, eventually drawing his attention over his shoulder after he'd pulled on a robe and settled his towel over his shoulders to prevent his clothing from getting wet.

When his eyes fell upon the fox again, it gave its partially-bushy tail a tired flick, then added another chirping-whine as it pawed sideways at the ground.

Slipping back into his house shoes, Xun tied his fabric belt at his waist.

"I'm not taking you back with me. Rest in peace, little Huli," he told it as he started walking away, leaving his dirty clothing folded for Ling to take away later and launder.

He had barely taken a few steps away from the few stairs leading from the pool when he heard a panicked cry.

Xun tried to ignore it and took a few more steps, but when he heard the fox's nails scratch at the ground excessively, he sighed and turned around... just in time to see the little demon stumble to its feet and almost immediately slip right into the warm hot spring!

Without thinking, Xun darted forward and dropped to his knees just in time to reach into the water and yank the fox out by its scruff. Cursing under his breath, and now with a soaked sleeve, Xun set the fox down at the edge of the pool, then stood up again.

He started walking away again immediately, but then...

I swear.

He spun around and yanked the darn thing out of the water, again, then tossed it to the side onto a patch of dead grass. Unfortunately, before he could even begin to walk away, he saw the stubborn thing get back up on shaky legs and stagger towards the pool!

He was rarely one to get upset over anything, whether it be an attempted poisoning or assassination, but this damned animal trying to drown itself in his personal bathing spring...

Scowling, he brusquely walked up to it and nabbed it by the scruff right before it could fall back into the water. That, however, left him standing there holding a sopping wet fox as it began to rain.

With an eyebrow twitching, he turned around, then stormed back down the pathway to his main residence and up the few stairs leading into his warm bedroom. The moment he crossed the threshold he dropped the fox on the floor and shut the door before changing out of his wet robe. He then, finally, returned to his desk to light a candle and continue working.

He'd just let the darn demon die right there, then sweep away any bits of dust or fur that ended up being left behind before he went to sleep.