He announced excitedly: “Yan Yu’an is the lioness of the lion tribe!”
Ning Bingque pursed his lips and secretly badmouthed him. “I heard the lion tribe shares partners. I can’t bear to let An’an go there.”
Yan Yu’an’s heart tightened. He looked at Xie Ji and heard him say: “With my strength, if I’m not willing, no one would dare share with me.”
And so the three of them openly and covertly started comparing themselves. Fortunately, Shen Yuanzhou was no longer glum.
Over the next few days, Yan Yu’an clearly felt the difference in how the three treated him.
Never mind the endless prey every day—just the fact that every night they all clamored to sleep with him left Yan Yu’an dizzy and overwhelmed.
At the same time, he could clearly feel that mysterious power inside his body was about to overflow.
“Master, eat, eat!”
A Xuan brought the other three to gather several baskets of unknown flowers and plants, so when Yan Yu’an saw them, he couldn’t help his mouth falling open.
He picked up a small flower from A Xuan’s basket and, under A Xuan’s expectant gaze, slowly put it into his mouth.
A bitter taste spread through Yan Yu’an’s mouth at once. He couldn’t help scrunching up his face and forcing down the urge to spit it out, swallowing the flower.
This flower seemed to have some wondrous effect too—after swallowing it, he clearly sensed that spiritual energy inside him clamoring for something. So he silently ate another bite of the other plants.
And so, under their astonished gazes, Yan Yu’an polished off several baskets of grass in no time.
“Th-this—is it okay to eat so much…” Ning Bingque watched Yan Yu’an, who had burped contentedly, dumbfounded, and couldn’t help looking at Xie Ji and Shen Yuanzhou.
Only after seeing that they were just as incredulous as he was did Ning Bingque relax slightly—oh, so he hadn’t seen wrong.
A Xuan was especially excited, waving its little claws and wanting to urge them to keep looking.
Yan Yu’an blearily swept his gaze over the few of them and felt his head was a little dizzy. He raised his hand to signal that it was fine, then squinted and went back to lie on the bed.
Perhaps because it was summer, the animal hide beneath him made him feel a little hot. Yan Yu’an uncomfortably fanned himself with his hand.
He didn’t know what he’d just done—even eating those grasses hadn’t been his own will. Now he only felt like something was about to burst out.
Uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable.
Yan Yu’an irritably rolled over on the bed. Right now even the breath he exhaled was frighteningly hot. If anyone came in, they’d find that his originally fair skin had now turned a faint pink.
He panted heavily, closing his eyes and trying to calm himself down—but there was simply no way at all!
Summer afternoons were already frighteningly hot. Yan Yu’an patted his own face, wanting to calm himself down.
He didn’t know how much time had passed before he only felt a flash of white light before his eyes. When he opened them, what met his gaze was hair—messy and magnified several times over.
Yan Yu’an: “Ah… huh?” He hurriedly got up, moving both hands and feet together, but he’d just steadied himself when he was tripped by the rolled-up edge.
He more or less guessed what had happened. His body went weak and he couldn’t help collapsing onto the bed. What kind of mess was this?
Yan Yu’an wanted to cry but had no tears.
At this moment, Xie Ji and the other two happened to open the door. They wanted to see how Yan Yu’an was doing, but what met their eyes was an utterly empty big bed.
Xie Ji’s face was written all over with shock. “Where’s An’an?” He turned to look at Shen Yuanzhou, and seeing Shen Yuanzhou shake his head, he looked at Ning Bingque.
Ning Bingque looked at him speechlessly. “I’ve been with you two the whole time just now. And didn’t we watch Yan Yu’an go back into the room with our own eyes and not come out?”
Xie Ji withdrew his suspicious gaze. Just as Ning Bingque said, they’d been standing at the door the whole time, and Yan Yu’an had indeed gone in and not come out.
“I’m here!” At this moment Yan Yu’an also came back to his senses. He bounced hard on the bed, waving both hands, wanting them to notice him.
Ning Bingque’s brows furrowed. He narrowed his eyes and walked to the bedside, and saw Yan Yu’an—only the size of a little finger. A look of disbelief gradually came over his eyes.
Seeing that Ning Bingque had noticed him, Yan Yu’an plopped down on the cushion, panting.
Shen Yuanzhou followed his gaze and saw the little person sitting on the cushion. His pupils trembled at once, and he couldn’t help swallowing.
“An’an!” Xie Ji’s exclamation made Yan Yu’an couldn’t help looking at him.
He saw Xie Ji’s whole face written all over with the word “delight”—even the tail behind him had puffed up like a burst of flowers.
Xie Ji looked like he’d seen some treasure. He shoved aside Ning Bingque, who stood dumbfounded by the bed, and carefully held out both hands to scoop Yan Yu’an up.
“Little An’an.” He couldn’t help swallowing, and the gulp was exceptionally clear to Yan Yu’an.
He’s not thinking of eating me, is he? Yan Yu’an couldn’t help thinking.
In the end it was Shen Yuanzhou who reacted first. Xie Ji set Yan Yu’an on the small table, and Yan Yu’an climbed onto an overturned cup, making himself look a little bigger.
Shen Yuanzhou asked quietly: “How did you end up like this?” As he spoke, his gaze couldn’t help drifting around—he didn’t dare look at Yan Yu’an.
Yan Yu’an shook his head. He put his hands on his hips and tried to make his voice louder. “I don’t know either. After I ate those grasses I felt my whole body heat up, so I came back to rest.” He seemed a little puzzled too. “Then I felt a flash of white light before my eyes, and when I came back to my senses I’d turned into this.”
Shen Yuanzhou thought for a moment and had Xie Ji go find A Xuan, who had gone out to gather things.
Xie Ji grumbled discontentedly, but in the end he went out.
Ning Bingque sat eagerly in the chair, his gaze following the tiny Yan Yu’an closely.
Those eyes, magnified several times over, stared straight at him like this, and Yan Yu’an found it a little frightening. But he quickly came back to his senses. “I think that power inside me is about to be more or less restored.”
As he said this, his eyes couldn’t help turning toward the door. Xie Ji had carried A Xuan back.
He casually tossed A Xuan onto the table, then looked eagerly at Yan Yu’an again, the smile at the corners of his mouth impossible to suppress.
Seeing its master had become about its own size, A Xuan was dumbfounded too.
Yan Yu’an looked at this pitch-black little monster and suddenly, inexplicably, felt a sense of like drawing to like.
But he hadn’t forgotten—A Xuan’s true form was twenty times his size.
“Master, how did you turn into this?” A Xuan tilted its head, a little puzzled. But then, the shrunken master was still as pretty as ever.
Yan Yu’an shook his head. He wanted to pat A Xuan’s head like usual, but only when he got close did he realize A Xuan was even taller than him, so he could only withdraw his hand sullenly.
Shen Yuanzhou said: “Maybe there’s something wrong with those herbs.”
The moment these words fell, A Xuan immediately denied it. “Impossible. I’ve lived here so long—how could I not even tell the properties of herbs apart?” As it spoke, it narrowed its eyes. “Master shrinking is clearly the effect of Shrink Grass.”
The tiny him looked at the several giants on the table and said with certainty: “It must be that you all didn’t distinguish them clearly and picked it along with the rest.”
Yan Yu’an fell silent.
Judging by A Xuan’s expression, it probably really was that Shrink Grass thing. He couldn’t help asking: “Then is there any way for me to turn back to normal?”
A Xuan waved its hand carelessly. “This herb’s effect only lasts two days. After two days master will turn back to normal.”
Yan Yu’an felt slightly relieved. He plopped down onto the table and glanced at the other three.
“Master, sleep in my basket—I can sleep with you now!”
A Xuan cheered and eagerly pushed its basket toward Yan Yu’an.
But A Xuan was never a clean little monster to begin with—there were still some stains of blood and food scraps in the basket.
Yan Yu’an: “…” He took a step back and expressed his refusal with his expression.
“Alright…” A Xuan looked a little disappointed and twiddled its fingers.
After learning that Yan Yu’an wasn’t in any danger, Xie Ji and the other two relaxed too. Xie Ji even cupped Yan Yu’an in his hands, staring at him with burning eyes.
“Little An’an.” He chuckled twice. “Little An’an is so cute.” As he spoke, he wanted to plant a smacking kiss on Yan Yu’an’s face.
Yan Yu’an immediately turned his head to refuse.
Life as a shrunken person wasn’t easy. Now Shen Yuanzhou had even woven a little basket especially for him.
The little basket wasn’t big, but to Yan Yu’an it was a luxurious large flat—all he had to do every day was accept the feeding from Xie Ji and Ning Bingque.
“Oh, eat a little more.” Xie Ji looked helplessly at the roast meat of which he’d only taken two bites, and circled anxiously on the spot.
The tiny Yan Yu’an made him experience the pain of raising a child. The shrunken Yan Yu’an was completely different from usual.
Ning Bingque came in and saw Yan Yu’an, his face full of stubbornness, refusing to eat. He sighed helplessly.
“Big lion.” Yan Yu’an put his hands on his hips, his expression fierce. “I’m not hungry!”
Xie Ji didn’t know what kind of feeling this was—he only knew that the tiny person before him seemed to be acting spoiled with him.
Xie Ji remembered when his parents were still around, and he couldn’t help extending his tail, wanting to tease this little cub.
Ning Bingque only felt helpless. Though he liked the little Yan Yu’an too, he still knew Yan Yu’an was an adult—not some little cub.
“Big lion!”
Yan Yu’an lunged for Xie Ji’s tail, but was tripped at once, and after crawling on the ground for a long while he couldn’t get up.
“It should recover today.” Shen Yuanzhou came in and glanced blandly at the two playing happily, then finally sighed and looked at Ning Bingque. “He still ate only that little today?”
Ning Bingque nodded. Perhaps because he’d shrunk, Yan Yu’an had only eaten a tiny bit these past few times, and instead preferred the strange-shaped grasses A Xuan brought back.
This made them a little worried.
“Master! Master!” A Xuan ran in carrying a little basket and, fawning, pushed the basket toward Yan Yu’an.
Yan Yu’an’s eyes lit up. He picked up a washed flower and started chewing. “Tasty! I like it!”
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