Free Web NovelChapter 91: Chapter 91: Is Lanlan Afraid of Me?
Like He Hanshi, Ye Ming also had a lot of green toxins in his body. However, they weren’t as concentrated and were more dispersed.
Shi Lan wasn’t sure if it was because of yesterday’s Spiritual Connection, but her spiritual power seemed to have grown stronger. She smoothly and effortlessly absorbed all the toxins from one of Ye Ming’s arms, with plenty of energy to spare.
A little over ten minutes later, Shi Lan opened her eyes and let out a long breath. A warm feeling spread through her body; she didn’t feel uncomfortably full as she had expected.
She looked at Ye Ming. "Lord Ye, why don’t you check your collapse value now?"
After Shi Lan’s hand left, a faint sense of melancholy inevitably surfaced in Ye Ming’s heart. A flicker of regret crossed his eyes as his dark paws unconsciously curled and uncurled, as if trying to recapture the fleeting warmth.
At first, Shi Lan was wondering how much the chip data would decrease this time, but before she knew it, her attention was completely captured by Ye Ming’s paws.
The flexing and retracting claws, the faintly visible pink toe beans—to her, they were like catnip, holding a fatal allure.
The contrast was probably just too great. Before this, she could have never imagined that the formidable, ferocious Black Panther actually had soft, pink paws.
It was like a fierce, burly man wearing a pink undershirt.
She stared intently for a long while, her clear, spring-like almond eyes tinged with a fervent heat. It took Ye Ming a moment to remember that Shi Lan had asked him to check his value.
He looked at Shi Lan and saw her staring at him with a direct gaze. Thinking she was urging him on, he quickly lowered his paw and pressed his chip.
With no more paws to watch, Shi Lan snapped back to reality. A daring thought popped into her head: ’If only the guys in this prison would let me do whatever I want with their beast forms.’
’Then, whether it’s black toe beans or pink toe beans, black fur or white fur, I could play with them for as long as I want.’
Just the thought of it made a smile involuntarily appear on her lips.
Until Ye Ming spoke, his voice tinged with surprise, "It dropped by 5%. It’s at 65% now."
"Oh, that’s good then."
Shi Lan snapped out of her pleasant fantasy, quite satisfied with the results of this session.
’It seems my spiritual power really has improved a bit,’ she thought. ’My previous record when treating He Hanshi was a 4% reduction. At this rate, maybe when I get to someone at Jiang Xia’s level, I’ll be able to finish it in a single day.’
At this thought, she was filled with hope for the future.
Ye Ming looked at her. He didn’t know what she was thinking, but a relaxed, natural smile played on her lips. Her gaze was soft and distant, the corners of her eyes were lifted, and her serene features looked gentle and peaceful. Just looking at her seemed to sweep away all worries.
’No wonder everyone in the prison is inevitably drawn to her.’
’Souls trapped in darkness for too long can’t help but yearn for all things beautiful.’
’Besides, it was Lanlan who brought them hope of leaving this prison.’
Ye Ming’s eyes flickered, ripples spreading through his heart. He couldn’t help but ask, "Lanlan, are you afraid of my beast form?"
Hearing his voice, Shi Lan’s gaze fell upon him. Perhaps because his emerald earring hung from his pricked panther ear, constantly refracting a brilliant green light, her eyes were inevitably drawn there first.
The emerald earring was truly the perfect finishing touch, adding a magnificent and mysterious air to the elegant and noble Black Panther, giving him a sort of exotic, western-region flair.
But regarding Ye Ming’s question, Shi Lan had indeed been a little scared at first.
She blinked, fragmented flecks of shimmering green scattering in her eyes. She pondered for a moment before saying, "A little, at the beginning, when I wasn’t familiar with you. But I’m not scared anymore."
"Not only am I not scared, but I also think your beast form is very handsome."
’Every inch of muscle is just right, the lines are smooth and well-defined. Even the face of his beast form isn’t one of those bony, gaunt ’awl faces’ I’ve seen before. It’s a little fleshy without being round, and it suits his beast form perfectly.’
"Oh."
Ye Ming only responded with that single, precious word, but his long, floor-sweeping black tail curled upwards, forming an excited arc.
’Lanlan finally isn’t scared of me anymore.’
Before, Ye Ming had only dared to hide from her, shrinking back into the darkness. That was because Shi Lan had been frightened by his beast form when they first met.
So, to avoid earning her disgust, he had been exceedingly cautious.
Seeing this, Jiang Xia’s golden eyes darted around. In the past, he definitely would have disdained such behavior from Ye Ming.
After all, his health used to be poor, and his parents doted on him. If he so much as looked at something for too long, his parents would have it delivered to him in no time.
He never lacked for anything and never needed to fight for it. Even his mother used to say that one shouldn’t be too eager with females; with his family’s status, there were plenty of females to choose from.
Jiang Xia had once deeply agreed, looking down on all the females in the Empire.
But the difference between liking someone and not liking them was just too vast.
Facing Shi Lan, he too began to worry that she would find his beast form too short and small, unable to provide the sense of security that females liked.
Not to be outdone, he spoke up, "Lanlan, what about me? Do you like my beast form?"
Shi Lan turned and walked toward him. "Of course, Lord Jiang. Your beast form is very cute and beautiful."
Shi Lan had probably repeated her praise for Jiang Xia the most, but when faced with such a soft, adorable Pallas’s cat, she never felt the slightest bit of impatience.
Jiang Xia’s confidence was rekindled. He flicked his thick, fluffy tail smugly, his eyes fixed on her as he replied happily, "Lanlan is very beautiful too. You’re the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen."
He had to admit, he had been a bit too harsh in what he’d said to Leo before.
’You’d never find a female like Lanlan in the Empire.’
’Many females might have their own unique qualities, but only Shi Lan pleased him in every way. He wished he could hide her under his fluffy belly, keeping her from anyone else’s covetous eyes.’
A pleased smile touched Shi Lan’s lips. ’Jiang Xia is such a sweet-talker.’
The more she looked at him, the more she liked him.
She squatted down to watch him for a while. Jiang Xia, proud and full of himself, lay down on his side by the protective gate to give her a better view. His two fluffy ears twitched alertly, and his tail swept back and forth on the ground, tracing a semicircle.
Shi Lan’s heart practically melted into a soft ball of cotton from the cuteness.
In Cell No. 3 behind them, Ye Ming watched the interaction between Shi Lan and Jiang Xia, his gaze flickering slightly.
Because Shi Lan’s spiritual power was growing, her treatment of Ye Ming progressed faster than she’d expected. In four days, his collapse value had dropped to 50%.
What puzzled her, however, was that Ye Ming still hadn’t transformed back into his human form.
She was a little worried that the prolonged collapse of his High-level Spiritual Power had caused some kind of side effect.
According to theory, he should have been able to regain his human form once his collapse value dropped below 60%, though the time it took could vary.
’Could it be that the actual extent of Ye Ming’s damage is more severe?’
’If that’s the case, maybe it would be better to perform the Spiritual Connection with him sooner rather than later.’
So, on the fifth day, Shi Lan brought up the idea of performing the Spiritual Connection with him.
She had originally planned to wait another two days. Because the treatment had progressed so quickly, she was worried they hadn’t built up enough trust, which could affect the procedure.
But seeing Ye Ming’s current condition, she felt it was better to act sooner to avoid complications and reduce the risk as early as possible.
When Ye Ming heard this, he didn’t refuse, simply nodding in agreement.
"Alright."
For once, Shi Lan asked him with a rare hint of uncertainty, "Are you ready?"
