Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off

Anyone watching closely would notice that his body was trembling from fear and relief.

"Shi Feng, you’re not allowed to leave me either, okay? If anything happens, you have to tell me," she whispered against his chest.

"Mmph." Shi Feng nodded. He didn’t understand why she was saying this, but he would do whatever she asked.

For now, he was simply grateful that she had finally woken up. Only he knew that, over the past week, it had felt as if the sky had collapsed on him.

But then, her gaze landed on Xuan Long.

He stood at the edge of the bed, his expression unreadable, but his emerald eyes were filled with a deep, silent worry.

Su Qinglan remembered the twenty years they had spent together in that big city.

She remembered how he had treated her like a kin, feeding her and protecting her even though she never spoke a word. And she remembered the day he never came home.

She scrambled toward him, ignoring the weakness in her legs. She grabbed his heavy, muscular arms and looked up at him with a gaze so intense it seemed to pierce his soul.

"Xuan Long," she whispered, her voice a command and a plea. "If anything happens... if it’s about your family, your clan, your past... you cannot hide it from me! You have to tell me!"

Xuan Long’s eyes constricted.

The mention of his "clan" hit him like a physical blow. He wondered if she had seen a vision of the future again...after all, she had predicted many things before.

He looked at her small, tear-streaked face and felt a protective urge so strong it nearly overwhelmed his possessive nature.

He didn’t ask how she knew. He simply leaned down and pressed a firm, warm kiss onto the top of her head before long, clinging to her in his arms.

"I will not hide anything from you, Lan Lan," he promised, his voice like deep thunder. "My life belongs to you. My secrets belong to you."

At his feet, the little snake cub, Xiao San, was coiling and uncoiling happily. Seeing his mother finally awake after a week of silence made his tiny heart race.

Su Qinglan looked down and smiled with her teary face.

She scooped the little snake into her arms, giving him dozens of tiny pecks on his smooth scales.

Xiao San hissed happily, coiling around her wrists and nuzzling into her palm. He had missed his mother’s scent so much.

Su Qinglan looked at the little snake with a heart full of regret and relief.

In the past life, she had never mated with Xuan Long, so Xiao San had never been born.

She realized that in the past, everything she touched turned to ash...her father died, her first cub was murdered, and her husbands perished in agony.

But here, in this life, her children were alive. Her husbands were standing in front of her.

The heavy atmosphere in the room shifted as Su Qinglan’s gaze finally landed on Han Jue.

Out of everyone, he was the one who had stayed by her side the longest in that dark, miserable life, aside from Xuan Long.

He had been her silent guardian for ten years of wandering, watching his brothers die one by one, losing his youth and his health just to keep her shell of a body breathing.

He had died in a cold cave, covered in leaves, with no one to bury him and no one to mourn him.

Realizing the weight of his sacrifice, Su Qinglan broke down into a fresh wave of violent sobs. She wrapped her arms around him, her hands trembling as she grabbed his sturdy shoulders.

"Han Jue! You... your life matters too!" she cried, her voice cracking with the pain of fifty years of hidden history.

"You can’t just give everything to me! You have to take care of yourself! Don’t let yourself get sick, don’t stay in the cold... please, just live for yourself too!"

Han Jue was completely stunned. He didn’t understand why she was suddenly so frantic about his health or why she was looking at him as if he had already died a thousand deaths.

He reached out, his large, warm hands steadying her. He took her trembling hand and placed it firmly against his broad chest, right over his beating heart.

"Lan Lan, don’t cry," he whispered, his eyes filled with a gentle, protective heat.

"It hurts me right here when I see you like this. I am strong. I am right here. See? My heart is beating for you."

Seeing his calm, devoted expression only made Su Qinglan weep harder.

She remembered him as a thin, sickly man in that cave, apologizing to her father’s ghost because he couldn’t protect her anymore. She felt a debt to him that she could never truly repay.

To lighten the heavy mood and stop her from crying, Han Jue decided to tease her a little. He placed his large hand gently on her stomach and gave her a playful, broad smile.

"If you really want me to be happy, Lan Lan... then just give me a little wolf cub. I would be more than happy to be a father."

Su Qinglan froze.

In the past life, Han Jue never had a child. He died alone, his bloodline ending in that silent forest.

The thought made her heart ache with a fierce, protective promise. "I will," she sobbed, mixing her tears with a sudden, determined look.

"I’ll give you as many as you want! Don’t ever think you have to hold back!"

Han Jue blinked, surprised by her intense reaction. He quickly began stroking her back to calm her down, chuckling softly. "Lanlan, don’t! I was just joking. Even one cub is fine. I don’t want to exhaust you."

Su Qinglan immediately pulled back and chided him, her eyes still red but her voice turning sharp. "No! Don’t say that! You always think about others! If you want many cubs, just say it! You are mine, Han Jue, and you deserve everything!"