“Shen Yuanzhou, why are you unhappy?” Yan Yu’an was more or less knowingly asking. Sure enough, the moment he finished, he saw Shen Yuanzhou’s resentful eyes.
With A Xuan helping, Yan Yu’an had a good reason to comfort Shen Yuanzhou too. He looked at him and knew he was in a bad mood.
Though Xie Ji and Ning Bingque were displeased with Shen Yuanzhou, they just crossed their arms and stood to the side with cold faces.
Shen Yuanzhou glumly buried his head away. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Xie Ji and Ning Bingque standing there, and whether it was his pride or something else, he still refused to speak.
Yan Yu’an raised an eyebrow, seeming to know why he wouldn’t talk to him. So he glanced at Ning Bingque, signaling him to pull Xie Ji outside.
The corners of Ning Bingque’s mouth slowly curved into a smile. Tsk—surely they weren’t really going to share An’an? He didn’t want that.
Though he thought this, he still pulled Xie Ji out.
Xie Ji looked at Ning e to let An’an stay alone with that stupid snake.
He wanted to resist, but meeting Ning Bingque’s half-smiling look and the pleading expression on Yan Yu’an’s face, he could only be helplessly pulled out by Ning Bingque.
Yan Yu’an crouched down and raised his hand to stroke the big snake’s smooth body. He glanced at A Xuan, who was staring at them eagerly, and pursed his lips at it, signaling it to go out too.
Helpless, though A Xuan also wanted to know what had happened, it didn’t dare disobey its master, so it could only hang its head dejectedly and go out.
Yan Yu’an’s fair, tender hand slid across Shen Yuanzhou’s skin. Though he’d done plenty of work since coming to this world, no matter how hard or tiring it was, those marks never seemed to stay on his body.
Shen Yuanzhou felt those hands stroking over him and couldn’t help shuddering all over. He trembled, his vertical pupils fixed dead on Yan Yu’an—if Yan Yu’an didn’t know Shen Yuanzhou wouldn’t hurt him, he definitely would have turned and run.
Shen Yuanzhou slowly coiled his body around Yan Yu’an. The cold, slimy touch made him break out in goosebumps.
As if dealing with prey, Shen Yuanzhou coiled tighter and tighter around Yan Yu’an, until Yan Yu’an felt he could barely breathe.
“Shen Yuanzhou…”
He said tremblingly, his tone carrying a trace of pleading: “Forgive me.”
Shen Yuanzhou paused, then mercilessly buried his snake head against Yan Yu’an’s shoulder. His sharp fangs viciously pierced through Yan Yu’an’s skin, leaving a vivid red bite mark at his collarbone.
Blood flowed from the spot, and he flicked his snake tongue and rolled all the blood that flowed out into his belly. Only after a long while did he let out a satisfied sigh.
“My Snake Queen.” He stubbornly said this name. “You’re mine.”
Yan Yu’an paused and slowly shook his head. “I don’t belong to any of you.” He said this in front of the big snake, who was about to fly into a rage.
The big snake seemed not to have expected him to say this. It stared at him blankly, its face written all over with incomprehension.
But Yan Yu’an didn’t want to explain so much to them. His hands had already been bound tightly by Shen Yuanzhou, and he could only reach out his fingers as far as he could to poke at his body.
The snake’s body was soft and boneless, covered in pretty patterns.
He thought for a moment and continued to soothe him. “I know how you all feel about me.” He hesitated. “But I…” He didn’t know how to accurately describe his own thoughts.
In their era, he was a good-for-nothing who needed others to protect him. No one would like someone as frail, sickly, and powerless as him.
But now… he didn’t understand how to handle these relationships. It wasn’t in the books, and the teachers hadn’t taught it.
Shen Yuanzhou slowly released him. Gaining his freedom, Yan Yu’an couldn’t help collapsing onto the ground. He propped up his head, his tone uncomprehending. “My strength isn’t enough, I’m not good-looking either, I’m good for nothing—why do you all like me?”
Shen Yuanzhou was silent for a moment, then shifted into human form. His arms were firm and strong, and his long arm scooped Yan Yu’an up and pressed him tightly into his embrace.
His voice was magnetic and husky—if described with an instrument Yan Yu’an had seen before, it would undoubtedly be the cello.
“We like you because you yourself are a very good person. The shining points in you—both I and they see them clearly.” Shen Yuanzhou spoke slowly, stroking Yan Yu’an’s hair. “All the beautiful qualities in you draw us in. Like them, I’ve been in darkness for many years—we all yearn for the sunlight.”
He paused and raised his hand to cup Yan Yu’an’s face. Under his astonished gaze, he slowly pressed a kiss to his forehead.
He hadn’t expected Shen Yuanzhou to say this. Yan Yu’an’s face was a little hot, and he heard the thump-thump of a heartbeat—but he couldn’t tell whether it was his or the man before him.
And besides… Shen Yuanzhou looked at the youth’s face, hesitating as if he wanted to say something but stopped.
Yan Yu’an wasn’t bad-looking like he’d said—on the contrary, in the eyes of all their mutants, Yan Yu’an was the best-looking of them all.
But he didn’t know how to tell Yan Yu’an either. He was too embarrassed to admit to Yan Yu’an’s face that he liked his face very much, so he could only turn his head slightly. “Also, you’re very good-looking. You’re the prettiest mutant I’ve ever seen.”
Yan Yu’an looked at Shen Yuanzhou, whose ears had gone red, and felt a little embarrassed. But then he thought: the prettiest mutant? Even counting himself, shouldn’t there only be four mutants?
He shook his head helplessly, but he knew Shen Yuanzhou was comforting him.
“So, are you still sad?” Yan Yu’an asked, his gaze earnest.
Shen Yuanzhou nodded as if under a spell, but he still stubbornly said: “But no matter what, you’re my Snake Queen. From childhood to now, I’ve only ever acknowledged you as the one.”
Yan Yu’an froze, then smiled and simply nodded. “Right. I’m your Snake Queen.” He kissed Shen Yuanzhou’s forehead. “I don’t know what feelings I have for you all, but there’s always been a voice in my heart telling me that the three of you are indispensable.”
His tone was exceptionally serious. He explained to Shen Yuanzhou: “I won’t mate with them. That’s too early for me…” He paused, seeming to feel something was off, but for a moment he couldn’t put his finger on it.
Shen Yuanzhou raised an eyebrow. He thought for a moment, then said directly: “I don’t mind you having other partners, but I can only be the first!”
Yan Yu’an: “…” He wanted to say that wasn’t what he meant, but he didn’t know how to explain it to Shen Yuanzhou either, so he could only scratch his head helplessly.
“Alright, you all come in. What’s with the eavesdropping?” Shen Yuanzhou’s voice suddenly dropped. Yan Yu’an froze, inexplicably hearing anger in his tone.
The next second, the door was pushed open. Ning Bingque looked utterly composed, while Xie Ji looked like a tail that had been stepped on—his face bright red—and little A Xuan wore a look of understanding.
Yan Yu’an: “…” What the hell?!
He couldn’t help slapping his head, but was immediately caught by the wrist by Shen Yuanzhou. He used the momentum to stand up, his gaze fixed tightly on the tips of his feet, simply not daring to look up at the others’ expressions.
“He and I both heard it.”
In the end it was Ning Bingque who broke the silence. He gave a light laugh, glanced at the utterly dark-faced Shen Yuanzhou, then at the still-embarrassed Xie Ji, and felt his task was heavy and the road long.
“Alright, let’s talk about our views on Yan Yu’an having multiple partners.”
The moment Ning Bingque said this, Yan Yu’an nearly dropped his jaw in shock. He stammered and raised his hand to signal: “You—you all—what do you mean by that?!”
Ning Bingque raised an eyebrow at him and raised his hand. “I don’t agree.”
Xie Ji, on the other hand, looked at him as if he were an idiot. He didn’t understand why Ning Bingque would disagree.
In his heart, though he hated these two fools, having multiple partners should be a perfectly normal thing. Though he wasn’t interested in the other lionesses in the tribe, this idea of his had long been deeply ingrained.
Shen Yuanzhou stuck out his tongue and continued licking the bite mark he’d left on Yan Yu’an’s collarbone. Only after a long while did he slowly say: “I agree.”
Ning Bingque raised an eyebrow, seemingly not having expected him to say that. Shen Yuanzhou politely looked back, half-smiling.
Yan Yu’an: “…” Did anyone ask what he thought?
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, the other three looked straight at him, startling him.
“What about you? An’an.”
Ning Bingque looked at him with a smile, but Yan Yu’an felt his look was like he wanted to eat him whole.
“I—of course I don’t agree!” He snapped back to his senses and hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands.
Shen Yuanzhou and Ning Bingque looked as if they’d known what he was thinking all along—they nodded as a matter of course.
But Xie Ji didn’t understand. He looked at Yan Yu’an uncomprehendingly and couldn’t help raising his voice. “Why, An’an?”
“This… I…”
Yan Yu’an knew lion prides shared lionesses, and for a moment he didn’t know how to explain it to Xie Ji.
But Ning Bingque threw an arm over Xie Ji, looking like the best of brothers. Xie Ji immediately wore a look of having eaten shit and, without even thinking, tried to dodge to the side.
But meeting Yan Yu’an’s searching gaze, he forcibly held it in—after all, he didn’t want to lose to this stupid bird in front of An’an.
“Alright then. As for the matter of Yan Yu’an’s partners…” Ning Bingque’s face was still all smiles, but Yan Yu’an saw a fox’s cunning on that bird face. “We’ll each rely on our own abilities.”
The moment these words fell, Yan Yu’an clearly sensed the air grow tense at once. He looked around, observing each person’s expression.
After a while, he lowered his head, his tone seeming to carry a trace of anticipation. “You—you want to use me as a competition?” He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Though he liked all of them, he always felt these few were like his younger brothers.
Combined with how they were always at each other’s throats on ordinary days, he couldn’t help coming to this conclusion. As he spoke, he looked around again and saw Shen Yuanzhou’s face suddenly darken, Ning Bingque’s slight frown, and Xie Ji’s discontented clamoring.
“What competition! We’re not that bored!” He said discontentedly, pursed his lips, and moved a step away from Ning Bingque.
Then, under Yan Yu’an’s astonished gaze, he strode toward him and, ignoring Shen Yuanzhou’s warning beside him, planted a smacking kiss on Yan Yu’an’s cheek.
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