Free Web NovelChapter 157: Chapter 157: Petting the Fluffball
"Lan... Lan..."
Mu Tangfeng stammered out her name. A name that usually rolled off his tongue so easily felt stuck in his throat, and it took him a long moment before he could say it completely.
Shi Lan’s hand, poised to shut the door, froze. She didn’t know whether to close it or not. She looked awkwardly at the tightly fastened buttons on his shirt, as if he were guarding against something, and gave an embarrassed wave. "Hey, what a coincidence. I didn’t expect you to be in the room..."
The moment the words left her mouth, Shi Lan wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
’She was opening the door to the guest room they were both staying in. What was so strange about Mu Tangfeng resting in his own room instead of somewhere else?’
’It was all because Jiang Xia had made her so angry she wasn’t thinking straight. She’d been focused only on finding the little troublemaker and had temporarily forgotten that this room was shared by both Jiang Xia and Mu Tangfeng.’
Mu Tangfeng’s face grew redder. He tugged at his suit jacket, a rare look of bashfulness on his face. Recalling what he’d just said, he was terrified Shi Lan would misunderstand and quickly explained, "What a... what a coincidence, Lanlan. I wasn’t saying those things to you. I thought it was Jiang Xia."
"Haha, is that so? Sorry, I should have knocked."
"It’s fine."
Mu Tangfeng immediately shook his head. ’Since it was Lanlan who saw, it doesn’t matter.’
He glanced at the room’s mirror out of the corner of his eye. It was facing the door. ’Her expression is so unnatural right now; she obviously saw.’
’If I’d known, I would’ve found a better pose and angle so Lanlan could have gotten a clearer look.’
Mu Tangfeng felt a twinge of regret, but then he wondered, ’Lanlan must like my physique, right?’
For someone who had always been so narcissistic and vain, it was a rare moment of uncertainty.
However, his confidence quickly returned. ’How many males in the world could be as perfect and handsome as me?’
Shi Lan watched Mu Tangfeng spacing out, wondering what was on his mind. After scanning the room and confirming Jiang Xia wasn’t there, she stealthily closed the door again.
She said from the doorway, "Well, you can get back to changing. I won’t disturb you for now."
With that, Shi Lan quickly scurried away.
A little while later, having failed to find Jiang Xia in the room, Shi Lan returned to the game pod room.
She had a strange premonition that Jiang Xia was hiding right here, just like how a killer always returns to the scene of the crime.
But she had intentionally cleared out most of the things in this room. Other than a few game pods, there was nowhere for Jiang Xia to hide.
Shi Lan unconsciously circled the game pods a couple more times. Terrified, Jiang Xia didn’t even dare to breathe. Seeing how determined she was to find him, he grew even more anxious.
He debated whether to come out and admit his mistake. ’If I do, maybe Lanlan will let me off easy.’
Just then, Shi Lan deliberately put on a stern face and spoke to the cluttered corner where Jiang Xia was hiding. "Come out. If you come out now, I can let it go. Wait any longer, and I’m really going to get angry."
The second Shi Lan finished speaking, Jiang Xia, whose heart was already pounding with indecision, obediently hopped out. His ears and tail drooped listlessly as he said pitifully, "I’m sorry, Lanlan. I was wrong. I’ll never steal a kiss from you like that again."
Shi Lan hadn’t expected him to confess so quickly. The truth was, she hadn’t seen anything; she was just bluffing.
As she thought this, her gaze fell upon his beast form, and her eyes lit up slightly.
’No wonder I couldn’t find him,’ she thought. ’There’s nowhere to hide in this room. He must have turned into his beast form—and such a small one, too.’
She studied the little Pallas’s cat. He seemed even more exquisite and adorable in this form, and his fluffy fur looked like it would be incredibly soft to the touch.
The mere sight of his beast form was enough to make all her anger evaporate.
After all, she wasn’t truly that angry. She was more annoyed at his attitude—doing something wrong and then running away.
She pulled a nearby stool over and sat down, her eyes fixed on him. Her lips were pressed into a thin line, making her look very serious.
Jiang Xia couldn’t guess what she was feeling. Worried that she would start to hate him, his whole Pallas’s-cat-self was so frantic he wanted to cry. His anxious tail had no energy to wag and was pressed tightly against his ankles.
"I’m sorry, Lanlan. Please don’t be angry, don’t hate me, okay? I just couldn’t help myself. I like you so much, Lanlan, I just couldn’t hold back..."
What was supposed to be an apology scene was slowly turning into a confession. Shi Lan almost couldn’t maintain the fierce expression she had deliberately put on.
She struggled to suppress the smile at the corners of her mouth and said sternly, "Come here."
Jiang Xia didn’t dare hide any longer and obediently walked over. But he still looked like a wilted flower, listless and drained of energy. He was so afraid of seeing hatred in Shi Lan’s eyes that he didn’t even dare to look up, let alone think about changing back to his human form.
Soon, he was at Shi Lan’s feet.
The light in Shi Lan’s eyes grew even brighter, a lively joy appearing in their corners. She snatched up the little Pallas’s cat and held him tightly in her arms.
’Hmph. Let’s see you run now.’
That’s what she told herself, but her true intentions were elsewhere. Taking advantage of Jiang Xia’s agitated state, she reached out and started petting the fluffball.
’You can pay me back with your body for that kiss.’
She chuckled to herself, enjoying the warm, soft sensation under her palm as she stroked him from his ears all the way to his tail.
At first, Jiang Xia was still moping and sighing internally, but as he felt Shi Lan’s increasingly bold touch, his mind went blank. All his scattered thoughts vanished, and his body uncontrollably went limp in her hands.
"Lanlan..."
He murmured her name unconsciously from his throat. Shi Lan gave a soft "Mm," and he actively snuggled closer into her palms, his body seeming to press into her, wanting her to touch him more closely.
Jiang Xia couldn’t quite describe the feeling. It was comfortable, but also warm and tingly. Especially when Lanlan’s hands neared the base of his tail, it felt like a spark of electricity shot through his mind.
After getting her fill of petting the fluffball, Shi Lan glanced at his somewhat dazed and blank eyes and seized the opportunity to ask, "Next time, will you still dare to launch a sneak attack and then run away?"
"No, never again, Lanlan. Please pet me some more..."
He noticed her hand had stopped and, with pitiful, teary eyes, begged for her touch again.
Shi Lan thought his current state was a little strange, but she didn’t think too much of it at the moment and continued to pet him for a while longer.
Of course, she was still mindful of his privacy and didn’t touch anywhere below his belly, afraid of touching something she shouldn’t. She mainly stuck to petting his back and head.
But that night, Shi Lan felt that something was very wrong...
Mu Tangfeng told her, "Jiang Xia’s susceptibility period has started. Lanlan, it’s best if you keep some distance from him."
Hearing this, Shi Lan felt a pang of guilt. ’It couldn’t be because I pet him this afternoon, could it...?’
But faced with Mu Tangfeng’s direct gaze, she was too embarrassed to say that out loud and just nodded.
She knew that the susceptibility period was something males went through every quarter after turning 20, usually lasting for seven days at a time. Beastmen whose spiritual power had collapsed didn’t have to worry about it.
However, the susceptibility period wasn’t that difficult to endure. The males of this world all underwent desensitization training to resist it, so they could basically ignore it as long as they avoided frequent contact with a female they were fond of.
Shi Lan understood that Mu Tangfeng had a good point.
After all, Jiang Xia liked her. That was a truth she no longer doubted.
