Free Web NovelChapter 95: Chapter 95: His Hidden Gaze
Shi Lan had never closely examined Yan Huoshui’s beast form before, and only now did she realize his body wasn’t entirely red.
His tail and body were a pure, vibrant red, but his paws were what made him unique.
The fur near the tips of his paws was white, like a cat with "snow-stepped" paws. It looked as if he were wearing a pair of thick, white cotton gloves. It created a strange contrast, like a seductive beauty who was actually an innocent young maiden—an air of purity mixed with his inherent allure.
Shi Lan stole a glance at him. All four of his paws were the same.
It made the Nine-tailed Fox seem even more ethereal, like an auspicious creature descending from the heavens on a cloud. He possessed a noble, sacred air that was utterly out of place in the prison.
Shi Lan’s hand lingered on his paw for a while. Perhaps noticing that she was spacing out again, Yan Huoshui suddenly pressed his paw onto the back of her hand.
A fox’s claws were exceptionally sharp, but he had them carefully retracted, touching her only with his soft, fleshy pads.
It felt like a soft cotton ball brushing against the back of her hand. Shi Lan couldn’t resist. Just as she would when playing with a friend’s cat, she instinctively closed her hand around the mischievous paw to keep it from getting away. She even gave it a playful squeeze.
It was so soft. The pads of her fingers sank into the smooth, delicate fur. She could even feel his sharp, retracted claws and deliberately prodded them with her finger, as if in provocation.
Yan Huoshui noticed Shi Lan’s little game and gave her a meaningful look.
’I didn’t expect this from Lanlan,’ he thought. ’She has some nerve, daring to provoke the sharpest weapon of a Beastman’s beast form. At full strength, one swipe of my claws could tear a member of the Insect Clan in two.’
’Hmph. Such a naive little girl, completely unaware of the danger.’
A smile played on his lips. In the end, he didn’t have the heart to scare her.
’She is my future wife, after all. What’s the harm in indulging her a little?’
Shi Lan enjoyed playing with the paw for a little while longer, but then a question popped into her mind. Whenever she’d grabbed a cat’s paw in the past, it would have struggled to pull away. This paw, however, remained completely relaxed, almost as if it were letting her knead it however she pleased.
She lowered her gaze dubiously, looking at the "white-gloved" paw in her hand. This time, reality finally hit her.
She was holding Yan Huoshui’s paw.
Not a cat’s.
She let go in a fluster. The thought of how she’d just been groping his paw like some kind of creep made her smile at him awkwardly. "Sorry, sorry! I was just lost in thought."
"It’s fine. Lanlan, please continue."
The corners of the fox’s mouth, below his long red snout, curled upward. His eyes narrowed into an alluring shape as he spoke, his tone ambiguous.
’Did he mean continue touching his paw, or continue with the treatment...?’
’Either way, I could read several meanings into that.’
’Maybe I’m just overthinking it. After all, my desire to touch his fluffy paw isn’t exactly pure.’
Shi Lan’s face suddenly grew hot. If he were just an ordinary fox, she wouldn’t have felt this way. But this fox was a person, and her actions had bordered on taking liberties.
She took a deep breath, trying to push aside all these distracting thoughts and focus on the treatment.
"Okay."
As she spoke, she looked back at the paw. The claws were still gently sheathed in their pads. A moment ago, she had been poking them, even scraping her own nail against them in provocation, not at all worried he might unsheathe them and hurt her.
’How can a person get so carried away!’
Shi Lan silently berated herself, patting her hot cheeks before placing her hand back on the paw.
She deliberately ignored the pleasant sensation of the fur between her fingertips, calmed her mind, and sent in her spiritual power threads. Gradually, she forgot her embarrassment and focused solely on her work.
Seeing her close her eyes, a dark glint flashed in Yan Huoshui’s crimson pupils as he began to stare at her, openly and intently.
His gaze traveled down, sweeping over her perfectly arched eyebrows, her long, thick lashes that veiled her eyes, and her elegant, straight nose, finally settling on her lips. They were slightly parted in concentration, offering a glimpse of her pearly white teeth.
He swallowed hard. A dark fire kindled in his eyes before being silently extinguished within their crimson depths. But a look of absolute possession still seeped out, drop by drop, from the subtle undercurrents of his gaze.
’His—wife.’
A slow smile spread across Yan Huoshui’s lips.
Because Shi Lan could feel that her spiritual power had grown much stronger, she decided to challenge herself. Instead of her usual session of ten-odd minutes, she treated him for an extra ten.
Some twenty minutes later, she opened her eyes and first checked on her own condition.
Her body felt fine. Her spiritual power felt replenished, but not uncomfortably full. She hadn’t actually reached her limit yet.
Still, it was better not to overdo it. Haste makes waste, after all.
Besides, the two most dangerous individuals had already been dealt with, so she felt much more at ease.
She looked at Yan Huoshui. He had already taken the initiative to check his own condition and immediately reported the results to her.
"Congratulate me, Lanlan. I’m down to sixty percent. It dropped by six points this time."
He beamed at her, his limpid eyes as gentle as still water.
But she didn’t know that just moments before, those same eyes had held a ravenous, savage beast, one he had only temporarily locked back in its cage.
Jiang Yan’s assessment of him hadn’t been wrong.
He was petty and a lunatic.
He had indeed been the one pulling the strings with that student at the school, using his Talent Skill merely to amplify the boy’s own desires.
The student only had himself to blame for his recklessness; he really had tried to kill him.
For a moment, Shi Lan found herself lost in his smile, but her resistance was actually quite good—as long as he didn’t bring out his tails.
She was pleasantly surprised by the results and joined in his celebration. "Congratulations, Lord Yan. At this rate, we might be able to perform the Spiritual Connection in two or three days."
"Is that so?"
Yan Huoshui smiled ambiguously. "Thank you too, Lanlan. You’re truly amazing."
He praised her generously. Shi Lan tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear, a shy smile gracing her lips.
Shi Lan’s perception had been correct. Each time she finished a healing session, her spiritual power grew stronger. According to Xiao Du, her mushroom transformation could now last for forty minutes. As for her Plant Control, where she could initially only control a single plant, she could now control two at once.
’Maybe someday, I’ll be able to command all the plants on the planet to obey me.’
Hearing Xiao Du say this filled Shi Lan with motivation and excitement, like she’d been given a shot of adrenaline.
"Okay, Xiao Du! I’ll definitely work harder to improve!"
’My spiritual power is so useful,’ she mused. ’If I get the chance, there’s no need to hide it in the future. I could help treat others, which would also benefit me greatly.’
’After all, power you hold in your own hands is the only power you can trust.’
’But for now, my Plant Control is still pretty weak. I should just focus on improving myself.’
The next day, Shi Lan went to treat Yan Huoshui again, taking the opportunity to deliver the clothes that had been couriered for Mu Tangfeng and Ye Ming. freewebnσvel.cøm
When Ye Ming saw her arrive at his cell door, he instinctively hid the colorful fabric he was holding. The jade-white skin beneath his blindfold flushed red.
Shi Lan gave him a curious look and placed the clothes in the meal slot.
"Lord Ye, here are your clothes."
