Chapter 296

Pei Ji’s long, narrow eyes slowly lifted, the frost in them melting away, revealing a faint smile.

With a gentle blink, he sent a sudden tremor through her chest.

As her gaze shifted downward, she could see the lips she had just kissed.

The young man’s lips, no longer pale and dry, now seemed to glisten with a soft pink hue, carrying a delicate sheen of moisture.

They were very beautiful—and a little seductive.

She seemed to understand now.

The reason Pei Ji hadn’t moved was because, after her light kiss, he had used the tip of his tongue… to lick the spot she had kissed.

Remaining sanity: 10 percent.

Ning Ning felt like she was about to die.

Why would he do something like that?

Is he an idiot?

Rather than the more direct reaction she had imagined, Pei Ji’s subtle action left her even more flustered.

When neither of them spoke, the room grew unbearably quiet.

The sunlight outside poured in silently, making everything feel restlessly heated, and Ning Ning suddenly sensed a dangerous atmosphere.

She decided to say something to break the overwhelming tension.

Just as she was about to babble some nonsense, she caught a whiff of blood coming from Pei Ji.

He had been injured during the beast tide earlier, and before he had time to properly heal, he had fought with the black dragon.

Now, blood was seeping through, meaning his wounds had reopened.

Her heart stirred, and she spoke softly, “You haven’t properly healed, have you?”

As she spoke, she frowned and instinctively reached out, pulling down the collar around his neck.

As expected, she saw a red stain blooming on the bandages.

Ning Ning pursed her lips, her fingers pressed harder as she pulled his white robe further down.

Pei Ji’s body tensed, but he didn’t stop her.

His robe slipped off his shoulder bit by bit, revealing the bloodstains that could no longer be hidden.

Ning Ning had initially been filled with frustration and concern as she looked at him, but her eyes accidentally fell on the pale pink flush rising on his cold, white skin, making her suddenly realize something was off.

She had applied medicine for Pei Ji before, but in those instances, he had been the one to take off his clothes, revealing his upper body without reservation.

But this time was completely different.

He had been fully dressed, and it was her fingers that had tugged the fabric away.

The pure white robe silently slipped down, gradually revealing his jade-like neck and shoulders, with strands of dark hair falling across them, half-concealing what lay beneath.

Out of the corner of her eye, Ning Ning could see Pei Ji’s Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

His face was so red, even his throat was tinged with pink.

Of course, before meeting her, Pei Ji had rarely interacted with others.

He was unfamiliar with even the most basic forms of physical contact, like hand-holding and hugging.

And now, they had suddenly skipped ahead to something like this…

It was like jumping from kindergarten straight to high school, with one foot already halfway into the adult world.

Even if this was, objectively speaking, just a normal wound inspection.

Remaining sanity: 5 percent.

Ning Ning took a deep breath, trying to steer the situation back on track.

She hurriedly pulled his robe back into place and, in a soft voice, asked, “Does it hurt?”

It was a somewhat unnecessary question because, without even thinking, she knew that, true to his character, Pei Ji would coldly reply, “No.”

He had always been like this.

No matter how much he was suffering, he would remain silent, keeping everything to himself and never telling anyone.

But in the quiet room, Ning Ning heard a familiar voice.

Pei Ji said, “…It hurts.”

His clear, youthful voice carried a slight rasp, more clumsy and awkward than usual, but with a hint of grievance.

Electricity surged from her ears, spreading swiftly through every part of her body, leaving every drop of blood tingling.

Ning Ning stared at him, wide-eyed, meeting his gaze.

He looked back at her, his face flushed with a soft red that stretched all the way up to the corners of his eyes.

His long, raven lashes fluttered as he blinked, sending tiny sparks of light dancing in his dark pupils.

He had never admitted weakness to anyone before.

Not when he was tortured and humiliated as a child, not when he was deliberately targeted, almost losing his life as a teenager—Pei Ji had never once uttered that word.

But now, looking at her with those eyes, he whispered, “It hurts.”

A fatal blow.

Remaining sanity:…

A voice echoed in her mind: System malfunction, malfunction, unable to repair.

Crash, boom, bang—fireworks exploded in her head, going off non-stop.

What was sanity?

Had it ever even existed inside her?

Apparently not!!

Ning Ning heard her own voice: “What would it take… for you to not feel so uncomfortable?”

Oh my god.

She must be going crazy.