Lan Yan felt the gentle breath on her forehead, which involuntarily slowed her own breathing. Her hands clenched even tighter. After Jun Yelan left, she remained in that stiff posture.
Seeing Lan Yan's flushed face, Jun Yelan asked, "What's wrong with your face? Did you catch a chill from being out in the wind for too long?" He reached out to touch Lan Yan's forehead. Her temperature was about the same as his. He looked down and saw that Lan Yan's face had become even redder.
He suddenly realized that even though Lan Yan was usually bold, she was still an unmarried woman. His ears turned red, and he stepped back, saying, "I apologize."
"Why are you apologizing to me?" Lan Yan stood up, standing on her tiptoes to meet Jun Yelan's gaze. She then smiled, saying softly, "Thanks to you, my forehead doesn't hurt anymore."
She always felt there was something between her and Jun Yelan. Taking this opportunity, she wanted to break down that barrier.
Jun Yelan looked at the person before him, his heart trembling slightly. He saw his own reflection in Lan Yan's eyes, his appearance as the eunuch. He moved his lips but ultimately said nothing.
Lan Yan, confused, walked closer, intending to grab Jun Yelan's sleeve, but Jun Yelan dodged her.
"It's very late, you should go back," Jun Yelan said, looking towards the door and turning his back.
Lan Yan had to leave. However, as she reached the door, she ran back, laughing, "Yelan, I really like the hairpin you gave me, and the candy too. I know you ostensibly gave them to Xiao Yao, but there was really a share for me."
"I always knew," she said before turning and walking out of the room.
Watching Lan Yan's retreating figure, Jun Yelan's lips curved into a slight arc. "Truly a unique woman." A woman he could neither avoid nor bear to hurt.
He looked at the task on the table and called out, "Song Cheng, go capture the person outside the city." Today's matter needed to be dealt with.
"Yes, Your Excellency," Song Cheng saw that Jun Yelan was in a better mood than usual, indicating that his time with Miss Lan had gone well. He suppressed a smile and made the arrangements.
Jun Yelan then braved the snow and headed out of the city.
Meanwhile, Lan Yan returned to the kitchen, warming herself by the fire, and murmured, "How can I possibly resolve Jun Yelan's inner turmoil?"
As she spoke, a system voice sounded in her mind, "Host, I've finally contacted you."
Lan Yan replied exasperatedly, "It's been so long, I thought you had forgotten you even had a host. Why are you specifically contacting me now?" She poked the charcoal in the fire pan, pretending to talk to herself.
The system, sensing Lan Yan's annoyance, said, "Host, ever since you arrived in this world, I've only been able to establish intermittent contact. Something has been interfering."
"I'm worried the target of this world's mission might be in more danger, so you must protect yourself." He couldn't reveal the hidden mission, so he could only tell Lan Yan this.
Lan Yan nodded. Although her system was unreliable, it did have a conscience. "Alright, I'll be careful. Do you have any life-saving medicine on your end? I don't know martial arts or medicine, so I'm useless."
"You have completed four worlds, and I have also been upgraded. I can give you three pills." The system exchanged three pills and placed them in Lan Yan's sleeve. "As I upgrade later, I will be more useful to you."
He had initially just wanted to complete the hidden mission quickly, but as he accompanied the host all this way, something had changed.
Lan Yan clasped the medicine bottle in her hand and smiled, "System, I find you are actually quite capable. Thank you, I will use them well." It was great, she finally had a golden finger, albeit a small one.
Hearing this, the system felt much better and logged off.
Lan Yan then stayed alone. Seeing that the sky had turned dark, she prepared to return to rest. As she walked down the corridor, she glanced at Jun Yelan's courtyard. It was still dark, meaning he hadn't returned yet.
She sighed and went back to her room to sleep.
At this time, Jun Yelan was outside the city, covered in blood, a sharp sword in his hand. His whereabouts had been leaked, and he had walked into an ambush.
Song Cheng was helping him, shouting, "Your Excellency, you must leave quickly! These people are not ordinary martial artists."
"They are specialized assassins!" Jun Yelan looked at the man who emerged from the opposite side, dressed in rags, holding a carved dagger. He snorted coldly, "A rather impressive display, even inviting the number one under heaven, Wuming."
Wuming stood expressionlessly in place and said, "Those people want you dead." He raised the dagger in his hand and attacked Jun Yelan.
Jun Yelan blocked the attack with his sharp sword and then reversed the blade, thrusting it towards Wuming. His sword grazed Wuming's arm. Seeing the blood dripping down, he sneered, "Only I can take my own life."
From the moment he was abandoned by his family and sent into the palace, he had sworn that no one in this life had the right to take his life. His eyes turned fierce, and he lunged at Wuming.
Seeing Jun Yelan suddenly become ferocious, Wuming quickly retreated, but he still sustained several wounds. He frowned; this was the most difficult opponent he had ever encountered.
He said, "Even if you survive, you are far from the city, and you will die from excessive blood loss."
"So what?" Jun Yelan's eyes were bloodshot. He directly slashed Wuming's arm and stabbed Wuming in the abdomen. "You should worry about yourself."
Seeing this, Wuming realized that if he stayed any longer, he would also lose his life. He turned and fled forward; this was his first mission failure! He needed to go back and tend to his wounds.
Jun Yelan retracted his blood-covered sword and looked at Song Cheng, calling out, "Let's go." His investigation into the corruption case had touched upon the interests of those in power, and they had begun to target him.
If he survived this, he would definitely retaliate doubly.
Seeing Jun Yelan's unusually pale face, Song Cheng quickly helped him back to the city. The eunuch absolutely could not die here.
Jun Yelan bit his tongue to keep himself awake. He still had the candy in his embrace to give to that person in the manor.
Song Cheng supported Jun Yelan, and the two of them struggled back to the manor. He didn't know what else to do, so he had to knock on Lan Yan's door and shout, "Miss Lan, open the door quickly!"
Lan Yan, who had already gone to sleep, heard the urgent voice and quickly put on an outer garment to open the door. She saw Jun Yelan, covered in blood, at the doorway, her pupils widening in shock as she cried out, "What happened?"
She quickly helped him inside and had Jun Yelan lie on her bed. "Song Cheng, quickly go get a doctor!" After Song Cheng left, she looked at the unconscious Jun Yelan, her hands trembling. She clenched her palms to calm herself.
"Right, the medicine the system gave can save his life." She quickly took it out and put it into Jun Yelan's mouth. Seeing that he wasn't swallowing, she leaned down and breathed into Jun Yelan's mouth. "Jun Yelan, you must swallow it to live."