Lan Yan felt like crying but had no tears. What was all this? She tightened her grip on the lantern in her hand, recalling the magical artifacts she had in her bag, and reached for it again.
However, it was too dark. After fumbling for a long time, she couldn't find any artifact that emitted light, so she had to stay put.
She looked up at the night sky. Even the moon was hidden by clouds, with only a few sparse stars visible.
Alas! Forget about finding someone; she didn't even know how to get back herself!
The system's voice sounded in her mind, "Host, don't worry. Perhaps Jun Yelan will appear soon."
Lan Yan quickly asked, "System, did you use your cheat? Do you know what's going to happen?"
But the system remained silent. It was actually just trying to comfort Lan Yan and had no idea what the future held.
Without a response, Lan Yan muttered, "System, don't leave yet, stay with me for a while." She looked around at the pitch-black surroundings and slowly squatted down, hugging her arms.
Her unease grew, and her heartbeat quickened.
The system knew its host had a fear of the dark and said, "Host..." Its signal was suddenly interrupted, and the words it wanted to say were cut off.
It could only watch Lan Yan like this.
Seeing the system suddenly go silent, Lan Yan's heart pounded in her throat. Her breathing grew rapid, her hands clenched together, and she kept muttering, "Jun Yelan, where are you?"
At this moment, Jun Yelan was on a mountaintop, looking at his transformed claws for hands and feet, a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes. He had tried for several hours here but couldn't change back.
This had never happened before. Someone must have done this deliberately! He adjusted his internal energy, continuing to try, his mind involuntarily recalling Lan Yan's face.
He wondered how Lan Yan was doing, if she was still worried about him!
The paper figure in his hand suddenly began to shake. His eyes darkened, "Did something happen to her?" He quickly got up, released the paper figure, and followed it towards the direction of the forest.
The forest was shrouded in darkness, but after transforming back, his eyes turned red, allowing him to see in the night. His red eyes swept across the forest, and he pricked up his ears to listen to the sounds.
Soon, he found the familiar voice, the voice calling his name. He accelerated towards the direction of the sound, looking at the small, delicate figure in the darkness, and slowly walked towards her.
Lan Yan, squatting on the ground, sensed a sound behind her. She instinctively turned her head, only to see a pair of red eyes, and clutched the magical artifact in her hand.
She covered her mouth and nose, thinking she hadn't been discovered.
However, the red eyes moved closer and closer, fixing their gaze on her. She couldn't help but retreat, accidentally bumping into something, and was about to fall backward.
But a strong arm caught her. She looked up at the red eyes and hesitantly called out, "Jun Yelan?"
Jun Yelan froze on the spot, unsure whether to respond. He had seen how frightened Lan Yan was and involuntarily wanted to approach, but now that he was close, he feared Lan Yan seeing him in his current state.
He slowly withdrew his hand, but Lan Yan grabbed it, making him even more hesitant to move.
"You are Jun Yelan. Only he would ignore my words like this." Lan Yan smiled in the darkness, tightly gripping Jun Yelan's arm, but the texture felt different from before.
It felt as if she was touching Jun Yelan's skin, but it was very hard, like animal hide. Finding it strange, she asked, "Jun Yelan, are you really just cultivating so late at night?"
Jun Yelan's eyes dimmed slightly. He thought it was fortunate that it was dark, so Lan Yan couldn't see his expression. He lowered his voice and replied, "Yes."
Lan Yan frowned. Why had his voice become so low! She felt that something must have happened to Jun Yelan, but it was too dark for her to see clearly. She said, "Jun Yelan, can you take me to a place with light?"
Her voice was tinged with tears, "It's so dark here."
Jun Yelan's heart ached. He immediately scooped Lan Yan into his arms and ran towards the other side of the mountain forest.
The wind howled outside at night, but Lan Yan, nestled in Jun Yelan's embrace, didn't feel cold at all. She leaned against his chest and smiled, "Jun Yelan, although tonight was terrifying, it's a good thing I found you."
Jun Yelan stiffened, tightened his grip on Lan Yan, and brought her to a moonlit mountaintop. Seeing the approaching light, he prepared to put Lan Yan down and leave immediately.
But Lan Yan clung to Jun Yelan tightly. She felt as though Jun Yelan was always trying to escape her. She looked up at him but had her eyes covered. Confused, she asked, "Jun Yelan, what's wrong?"
"It's safe here. Go back tomorrow morning." Jun Yelan placed his hand over Lan Yan's eyes and said this with a dejected expression. He didn't dare to take the chance that Lan Yan, as a cultivator, might not be able to accept his current appearance.
The forms that they, as demonic beasts, showed to outsiders were disguised. Their true forms were either somewhat presentable or rather grotesque. He belonged to the latter category, so he covered Lan Yan's eyes even more tightly.
Lan Yan's vision turned black again. She reached up and touched Jun Yelan's chest, murmuring, "Jun Yelan, if you have something to say, just tell me." Seeing that Jun Yelan did not respond, she said aggrievedly, "I hate the darkness."
Jun Yelan gritted his teeth and said, "Then close your eyes. Open them after I leave."
"No problem," Lan Yan replied with a faint smile.
Jun Yelan put Lan Yan down. The moment he removed his hand, he saw Lan Yan open her eyes. He was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran into the forest.
Lan Yan hadn't recovered from what she had just seen. Seeing him about to leave again, she quickly pounced onto his back, grabbing Jun Yelan's wings. "Wait, I'm scared here too."
"I'll start a fire for you," Jun Yelan said, activating his palm, but his arm was still held by Lan Yan.
Lan Yan smiled, "With you here, I'm not afraid anymore. Jun Yelan, it's because of this appearance that you don't want to see me. But I think you look particularly tall and mighty like this, and I really like it."
"So you're different from me. You have two forms, one more than me."
Jun Yelan's heart had trembled when he heard the first half of the sentence, but hearing the latter part, his heart calmed down instead. He said, "But I look ugly like this, not like the way you liked me before."
When he was in his human form, Lan Yan had stared at him a lot, likely liking his appearance.
Lan Yan shook her head, "How do you know what I'm thinking! You were like this when you carried me away just now, and I felt very safe. Anyway, I don't care, you can't leave."
Her hands were both exerting force, afraid that if Jun Yelan broke free, she wouldn't be able to withstand his true form.
Jun Yelan fell into hesitation. The arm he had raised was slightly lowered.
Seeing this, Lan Yan poked her head out and smiled, "Jun Yelan, can you turn around, please?"