Free Web NovelChapter 99: Chapter 99: Jiang Xia’s Question
Jiang Xia remained oblivious. He just crossed his arms proudly, his eyes narrowed. His normally round eyes had become long and slender, his golden pupils shimmering with confident satisfaction.
He unabashedly let her look him over, satisfied with the captivated and amazed expression in Shi Lan’s eyes.
The pair of ears on his head unconsciously twitched a couple of times, and Shi Lan’s eyes widened slightly, as if glued to them.
’Wow, a human form with beast ears.’
’So adorable.’
’I have to pet them!’
Shi Lan stared, mesmerized, for a good while. It wasn’t until her nose began to tickle and she couldn’t help but sneeze that she snapped back to her senses.
Jiang Xia’s brows furrowed. He temporarily reined in his impulse to display his good looks to the female, as if in a courtship ritual. His cherry-pink lips drooped slightly. "The room is still too cold. Lanlan, you should go out first."
Shi Lan agreed, but then she paused, unable to resist pointing to the top of her own head. "Your ears..."
As she pointed this out, the ears atop Jiang Xia’s silver hair twitched again reflexively, completely without his awareness.
"What?"
He didn’t quite understand what she meant. ’What about my ears?’
Jiang Xia followed her gaze, raising a hand to touch the top of his head. There was something fluffy... and it was moving...
He touched it a couple more times in disbelief. Instantly, his golden pupils constricted.
’What’s going on? Why are my ears still out?’
Jiang Xia subconsciously raised his hands to cover them, his pale face gradually turning crimson under Shi Lan’s gaze.
’This is so humiliating. I actually forgot about my ears when I transformed.’
He stammered out an explanation, trying to save face. "It’s been a long time since I’ve transformed. I just... lost the feel for it for a second."
Jiang Xia had imagined that his first transformation in front of Shi Lan would be suave and heroic.
Who could have imagined he would forget to even retract his ears?
’Only low-level Beastmen mess up their transformations. How could I, a proud 2S Spiritual Power Beastman, make such a mistake?’
Jiang Xia was filled with vexation. The ears on his head drooped limply beneath his hands, and for a moment, he even forgot that he could retract them now.
Shi Lan looked up at him and said sincerely, "Mm, I understand. They look very nice like this, too."
Her pale pink lips curved up slightly, her cheeks forming a gentle smile.
An imperceptible light flashed in Jiang Xia’s eyes as he looked at her in disbelief.
Jiang Xia had always believed that by anyone’s standards, Shi Lan was certainly a very beautiful female.
But more than her beauty, he loved her eyes. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
They were a bit like his own eyes in his beast form—somewhat round. Her pupils were pure black, like the most brilliant obsidian, and they reflected light as if ripples of water were flowing within them.
They were limpid and clean, yet they seemed to hold a gentleness so encompassing it could drown a man.
As he recalled, in all their time in the prison, she had only ever gotten angry at him once. That was when he and Mu Tangfeng had been arguing, threatening to kill each other.
And from the very beginning, no matter how he messed with her, played pranks on her, or deliberately threw tantrums, she had always been patient with his temper, just like now.
’Lanlan is the best,’ Jiang Xia thought. He sniffled, silently retracted his ears, and, worried that Shi Lan would catch a cold, urged her to go outside first.
He turned the barrier door transparent again. Separated by the door, he couldn’t help but push his luck, emboldened by her kindness. "So, Lanlan," he asked, "can I pursue you to be my female now?"
Shi Lan stared at him, stunned. At that moment, all the other Beastmen in the prison tacitly stopped what they were doing, their ears pricked up as they eagerly awaited Shi Lan’s response.
Shi Lan looked at the beautiful, long-haired young man before her. Jiang Xia and Mu Tangfeng were likely the two youngest in the prison, and both possessed a youthful arrogance—bold and passionate.
Mu Tangfeng was more reserved, however, whereas Jiang Xia was always direct about what he wanted.
In truth, watching the prisoners regain their human forms one by one these past days, Shi Lan wasn’t entirely unmoved.
No matter how dense she might be, she could sense their feelings for her were special. It was just that she was, in reality, a very insecure person with no confidence when it came to romance.
Perhaps because she had no experience with it, or perhaps because she had grown up in a dysfunctional family full of resentment, she was reluctant to casually enter a relationship, and even more reluctant to let herself get hurt.
A flicker of hesitation crossed her eyes. After a long moment under Jiang Xia’s expectant gaze, she smiled. "Didn’t I say we can talk about this after you all leave the prison?"
"You’ve only just regained your human form, and you’re already thinking so far ahead?"
Perhaps it was because she wanted to give them both a chance, but she didn’t refuse him outright.
Just as she’d said: they could talk about it after they left prison.
’Once they leave and see more outstanding, better females, if their feelings remain firm and unwavering, then I’ll be willing to poke my head out from the shell I’ve been hiding in.’
Hearing this, Jiang Xia smacked his lips in disappointment, not knowing whether to be dejected or grateful that she hadn’t rejected him outright.
The others felt the same.
But for now, while they were still in prison, their actions were indeed heavily constrained.
Jiang Xia didn’t press the issue, and Shi Lan breathed a silent sigh of relief, as she was worried she wouldn’t have known how to respond if he had.
’At least, as I am now, I truly can’t give him an answer.’
’If I were the type of person who didn’t take things to heart, I might have boldly agreed. It’s just a courtship, after all; it doesn’t mean we’d actually end up together.’
’But my personality is the exact opposite. I’m easily moved by the smallest gestures of warmth, which is why I never even dared to make close friends before. I always kept to myself, terrified of being the one abandoned again.’
Shi Lan collected her thoughts. Jiang Xia flashed her a brilliant smile. "Okay, whatever Lanlan says. We’ll talk about it after I leave the prison."
He grinned, revealing two sharp canines peeking out from beneath his cherry-pink lips. An intense, youthful vitality seemed to rush forth from him.
Shi Lan watched him for a moment before she, too, was infected by his energy and couldn’t help but smile.
However, the pleasant atmosphere was quickly shattered by Yan Huoshui.
He spoke up. "Lanlan, come here."
Shi Lan froze for a moment, only then remembering the trust-building test Yan Huoshui had mentioned.
With a resigned shake of her head, she took off her overcoat and walked to the entrance of Cell Five.
Yan Huoshui’s crimson eyes were fixed on her. "Lanlan, come in."
"Come in?"
"Yes. A trust-building test isn’t very convenient when there’s a door between us."
He explained in a gentle voice, but as Shi Lan hesitated, his mood began to darken.
A dark thought crossed his mind: ’Why is Lanlan willing to go to Jiang Xia’s cell, unafraid even of a spiritual power meltdown, but she won’t come into mine?’
’Is the charm of the great Nine-tailed Fox Clan really no match for that foolish brat?’
His long lashes lowered slightly, and a shadow slowly crept into his gaze.
Not until Shi Lan responded, "Okay."
Only then did he blink, his lips maintaining their gentle smile as if nothing was amiss.
’Such a good girl.’
Shi Lan opened the door to Cell Five. Compared to the cold of Cell Four, Cell Five was rather warm due to a hot spring pool inside. The moment she stepped in, her long-sleeved shirt felt like a bit much.
She couldn’t help but start rolling up her sleeves.
Seeing that she was having trouble with one of them, Yan Huoshui slowly walked over. "Lanlan, let me help you."
Without waiting for her reply, his slender, jade-like hands reached out.
