"I'm not afraid!"
Gu Yue lunged into Lin An's arms and wrapped both arms tightly around him.
Lin An felt his bones creak under the pressure.
He tried to push her away, but the seemingly slender girl was astonishingly strong.
Gu Yue buried her face in his shoulder, her body trembling slightly with excitement.
So that was it.
So that was it!
The Dragon Queen was under surveillance by those humans. That was why he hadn't dared approach her.
He wasn't being cold.
He was protecting her.
She had sent him so many messages yesterday. It wasn't that he didn't want to reply. He couldn't.
Gu Yue's heart pounded. A rush of happiness left her dizzy.
Lin An felt his bones reaching their limit. If she squeezed any harder, they really would break.
With a trembling hand, he gently patted the top of Gu Yue's head, as if soothing an agitated Ferocious Beast.
"Calm down. Calm down. Don't get worked up."
"I'm really not the person you knew," he managed to say.
Gu Yue went rigid for a moment.
Then she quieted down.
Not because he had convinced her, but because—
My wife is stroking my head.
An unnatural blush burned across her cheeks. Her blood surged, reddening even the tips of her ears.
This won't do. I should be the one stroking his head.
But... this time is special.
She made a little grumbling sound, as though protesting, yet she couldn't bear for his hand to leave.
"That's enough, Gu Yue! Calm down. You're scaring him."
Tang Wulin had been watching Lin An and caught the flash of pain on his face.
Lin An's body was too frail.
Held like that by Gu Yue, he had already gone pale.
Tang Wulin seized Gu Yue's arm and pulled hard.
"Mind your own business."
Gu Yue shot him a vicious glare.
But that glance also brought her back to her senses a little.
She let go.
Then she immediately turned back to Lin An, gazing at him hopefully, excitement and anticipation still lingering in her eyes.
"Wife, do you remember me?"
Lin An didn't answer.
He merely smiled.
A standard, polite, distant smile.
Then he stepped back, intending to shut the door.
Better not go out today.
Gu Yue was nowhere near as weak as she looked.
Having her so close left him feeling unsafe.
But Gu Yue wasn't about to let him escape so easily.
She reacted in an instant, jamming one foot into the gap and holding the door firmly in place.
The door wouldn't close.
Gu Yue looked at Lin An, disappointment flickering in her eyes.
It seemed the Dragon Queen still didn't remember her.
That's all right, she told herself.
If I keep trying to win him over, I'll succeed one day.
With that thought, she reached out and caught Lin An's wrist.
A warm current of life energy flowed into his meridians.
"I'm sorry. I was too forward. I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Her expression was full of sincere remorse.
But her eyes—
They shone frighteningly bright, so excited that even her pupils trembled.
I touched my wife's hand.
So soft. He smells so good.
I want to lick him.
"I'm fine. Could you let go of me?"
Cold sweat broke out on Lin An's forehead.
His other hand had already reached behind his back, where he quietly pressed the emergency alarm button on his communicator.
At the same time.
In the office of Eastsea Academy's intermediate division director.
Long Hengxu had just brewed a cup of tea. Before the leaves had even unfurled, his communicator erupted with an alert.
He glanced down at the screen.
[S-Class Alert: Tier-One Protected Person "Lin An" has triggered an emergency distress signal]
Long Hengxu sprayed out the tea in his mouth.
"Damn it! Which little bastard did this?"
He snatched up his coat, his face dark with fury, and shot out the door like a cannonball.
Meanwhile, in the teachers' office.
Wu Zhangkong glanced at the alert on his communicator and snorted.
He didn't get up.
He flipped the communicator facedown on the desk and resumed resting with his eyes closed.
The academy responded much faster than Lin An had expected.
In less than two minutes, the entire dormitory building was surrounded.
The division director, subject teachers, and security personnel crowded around in a dark mass. The atmosphere was as tense as if a terrorist attack had occurred.
Long Hengxu rushed to the scene and immediately spotted Lin An, whom Gu Yue had cornered in his doorway.
Thank goodness. Thank goodness.
He first breathed a sigh of relief—at least the situation hadn't become irreparable.
But when he saw Gu Yue's foot wedged in the door and her hand still gripping Lin An's wrist, he nearly ground his molars to dust.
The nerve of her!
Were students these days really this bold?
"You there!"
Long Hengxu stepped forward, suppressing his anger. His voice carried a warning. "Calm down! Don't do anything you'll regret!"
Gu Yue paid him no attention.
As she watched the crowd swarm around them, fierce hatred surged in her eyes.
I knew it.
The Dragon Queen really is under surveillance by these humans.
He has no freedom at all.
No privacy at all.
He's like a canary kept in a cage.
She turned to Lin An, her voice suddenly utterly earnest and full of feeling.
"An'an. Will you come back to Star Dou Forest with me?"
"We can leave this damned human world and never return."
Then her gaze shifted to Tang Wulin.
A flash of icy killing intent crossed her slit-pupiled eyes.
Since things have changed, the wager with Na'er is off.
Now—
I'll kill Tang Wulin and take back the Golden Dragon King Bloodline for good.
That will also sever the bloodline resonance between the Dragon Queen and Tang Wulin completely.
Even if Na'er refuses to merge with me afterward.
Even if it costs me thirty percent of my power, I don't care.
I just want the Dragon Queen all to myself.
The Dragon Queen can belong only to me.
The bloodline within Tang Wulin jolted, as though something terrifying had locked onto him.
He instinctively took half a step back, every hair standing on end.
"Sorry. I'm human."
Lin An's calm voice rang out.
"I'm not the person you knew. I have... family here."
He had refused her.
Without the slightest hesitation.
Gu Yue clenched her fists.
It felt as if someone had seized her heart and squeezed. The bitter ache nearly robbed her of breath.
Why?
Why couldn't two people who truly loved each other be together?
"All right. Everything's fine, teachers. You can go."
Seeing that Gu Yue had finally calmed down somewhat, Lin An waved a hand.
"But—"
Long Hengxu frowned, his gaze fixed on Gu Yue.
He couldn't feel at ease leaving someone so dangerous here.
He had felt the murderous intent that burst from the girl even from more than ten meters away.
And this was only the first day!
If someone already dared lay hands on this man, what would happen later?
Looks like I'll have to arrange round-the-clock surveillance.
"I said it's fine. It was all a misunderstanding."
Lin An's tone turned firm.
Then he picked up his communicator and quietly tapped a few times.
At that moment, every teacher present received a notification on their communicator.
[Deposit Received: 100,000 Federal Credits]
Long Hengxu's expression visibly shifted several times.
The other teachers looked at one another. Their tense faces bloomed into kindly smiles.
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