I’ll never hurt you, baby. (1)

Shi An: “…”

Isn’t that your fault?!

Even if you want to study dragons, why do you even have to research that aspect?

You, humans, practically have no shame!

Mu Heng looked fixedly at the young man before him, then let go of his hand as if nothing had happened.

He took a step backward, turned around, and walked forward.

“Follow me.”

Shi An: “???”

The man in the distance stood with his back lit from behind by the light of the moon, his deep eyes hidden in the shadows, looking obscure, and his silver hair shining under the moonlight. “You have passed your lockout time, have you forgotten?”

Shi An: “…”

Oh, right.

Inside the room.

Mu Heng stripped off his coat, loosened the collar, and removed his gloves.

He lowered his eyes and his gaze fell on his fingertips.

It was bizarre.

Although wearing gloves, the sensation of touching the other person’s skin just now remained on his fingertips. Still, there was an indefinable sense of ambiguity due to the soft layer of leather. It must be said that at that moment…

A strong desire to explore was aroused within him.

He wanted to take off his gloves, let the skin of his fingers touch his cheek, and rub the red, delicate skin to see if it felt like what he imagined it would feel like.

Even worse…

The feeling of restlessness that had been repressed in his soul since he saw the other man gradually revealed itself in the form of fierce, sharp claws, and teeth as time passed.

An inexplicable, tyrannical desire arose in him out of nowhere.

It flowed silently through his heart like a dark undercurrent.

A voice in the back of his mind was screaming.

To strangle the other man’s throat, snap the thin white neck in his palm, let out a dying gasp and whimper, and stain the white skin more beautifully with blood.

–To become his trophy and possession.

Two completely different emotions, tenderness and bloodlust, tug at his heart and soul.

Although Mu Heng forced himself to withdraw his hand and instantly suppressed the fleeting impulse, the grotesque feeling remained clear and vivid in his mind.

That said, even if a student had restricted access, as long as he casually went on the phone and told the person in charge of the dormitory that Shi An was late due to academic reasons, given his status, the person in charge there couldn’t possibly refuse.

But… When he learned about the matter of the lockout, Mu Heng’s first reaction was to bring the person back to his place.

Without any thought at all, it was an utterly subconscious decision.

This state of mind was indeed not right.

Mu Heng took out his phone and called Wen Yao, giving a few brief and concise instructions.

Soon, several S-rank mission files were sent over.

These mission documents were all related to the mercenary group they met that day. Some pointed to their leader, others to their previous assignments, and many more connected to their next whereabouts.

That time in the Aiwen District, excluding the few mercenaries who had died, most of the rest had been captured by them.

But they did in fact get the container to store the flames of the leader’s body.

According to Zhuo Fu’s evaluation, it was indeed the Dragon Flame.

However, the sole leader had already died and the remaining mercenaries were not high enough in rank. Although they had been ordered to come to the valley, they did not know the source of the information, let alone the whole dragon flame thing.

Principal Pei had already started working on translating the ancient book.

There was no need for him to get any more involved.

More importantly… Mu Heng decided he had to leave now.

He was too deeply affected by those inexplicable emotions.

After washing up, Mu Heng flipped through the mission documents Wen Yao had faxed. It was still too early for him, nowhere near time to rest, but strangely enough, a familiar feeling of sleepiness overcame him, pulling him toward an irresistible slumber.

In the darkness of his half-asleep, Mu Heng seemed to hear a distant voice faintly.

It was as if it was murmuring and whispering and coming from ancient times, inaudible, but he somehow had a feeling… that it was a dragon.

Soon, the room fell into silence, leaving only the sound of the man’s even breathing.

The door to the room was pushed open and the young man peeked in.

Very good, asleep.

Shi An was barefoot, his body loosely covered with a shirt, and his long silvery-white dragon tail stuck out from the hem of his shirt, swinging behind him.

He stood by the bed, looking down toward the man sleeping in it, then sighed slowly.

Actually… Shi An wasn’t going to come back for a second time.

Although Mu Heng was shiny and his body heat was comforting, he had such a poor sleeping posture that he would unconsciously touch his tail.

— At least until Mu Heng was made into an unmoving amber, Shi An wasn’t prepared to sleep with him again!

However, Shi An tried to feel the remnants of the dragon molt magic in his body after returning to his room and found that the absorption progress had increased again after an afternoon.

There was still a possibility that it had been a coincidence once or twice, but the third time made this less of a possibility.

So, to recover his strength as soon as possible, Shi An thought about it and finally sneaked over.

Most importantly, he had to retrieve his tail!

It was too much of a hindrance.

No matter what he did, he had to always be on his guard, afraid that his tail would touch something or someone. It was fine for a day or two but not for much longer.

Especially since he was supposed to be in class next, something would happen sooner or later if he didn’t retract his tail.

Shi An took a deep breath and cautiously climbed into bed.

To prevent what happened last time, Shi An turned around, returned to his room, and brought another quilt over.