But soon, it couldn't remember anything else. It only felt the changes in its body, its blood boiling, its bones stretching, a ticklish sensation, or like the pain of being forcefully pulled apart. It whimpered uncomfortably and nudged her.
"Pain..."
Gu Junshi's grip lightened, but her tone was cold and ruthless, "This is equivalent to you transforming again. It's a bit uncomfortable at first, bear with it."
"Gu Junshi, I'm so uncomfortable, and I'm so sad, and I... miss you so much."
It began to babble incoherently in its discomfort, its mind a mess, saying whatever came to it.
Gu Junshi paused.
After a moment of silence, she asked it, "You've been in Fengdu for so long, yet you refused to show yourself, and you ran away when you saw me just now. Is this how you miss me?"
It heard her, its soft ears drooped, and it complained guiltily, "That's because you've become so terrifying..."
Hearing this, Gu Junshi was reminded of the time they first met. It was the same then, chasing after her relentlessly, refusing to leave no matter how much she shooed it away. But after seeing the real her, it chose to run away crying.
Its affection was always accompanied by a fear of getting too close. It was like this in every life, and it was the same in this life.
It couldn't accept that she was different from what it imagined.
She lowered her eyes, her expression indifferent, "What are you afraid of?"
Afraid she would kill it?
Wei Li's consciousness was already starting to blur, but he tried his best to listen to her voice.
Upon hearing her question, his mind couldn't process anything, and he didn't bother with any linguistic tricks. He simply spoke his heart honestly.
"I... I'm afraid the look in your eyes when you look at those people will one day fall on me too..."
So cold, so hollow and dismissive, as if in your eyes, those people were nothing but nonexistent emptiness.
The look in her eyes when she looked at those people?
Which people? Her enemies, or those she deemed obstacles?
She didn't know what it had seen in this life. She merely squeezed its ear, applying a little force, "What you're saying... is rather heartless. Based on what you've done to me before, anyone else would have died ten times over. But when have I ever truly been harsh with you?"
At this moment, as Wei Li's body finally began to transform from beast to human, the pain gradually subsided, and he clearly heard her rare words of tenderness towards him. His face turned red, and he felt as if he were immersed in a hot spring, his fox paws clinging to her neck.
Under a milky white radiance, his fox paws transformed into a pair of slender, fair hands.
His fox body elongated, transforming into a perfect male physique. He leaned against her naked, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into his embrace.
"...Junshi, I miss you so much."
Gu Junshi momentarily forgot that demon beasts transformed without clothes. She felt the delicacy and warmth of his skin, as well as the intense, masculine aura.
He whispered tenderly in her ear, his voice a fox demon's unique magnetic and enchanting timbre that few could resist.
But after a moment of daze, Gu Junshi regained her clarity, her heart as hard as stone. With a wave of her hand, she conjured a brocade robe and draped it over him.
"Let go, get dressed."
"No."
"Do you want me to force you?"
"You were hugging me just now, why won't you hug me now? I'm even more huggable in human form, and we can do more things~"
Gu Junshi felt like she was sensing something inappropriate. She endured, "You..."
Just as she was about to pull him away, she caught sight of the Human Emperor walking towards them.
His aura was now vastly different from before. As his gloomy and chilling gaze fell upon them, especially seeing someone indecently dressed and holding his fiancée, he looked like someone caught in the act.
"What are you two doing here?"
Upon hearing the reprimand laced with anger from behind, Wei Li stiffened.
It wasn't guilt, but because he wasn't wearing any clothes. His precious body was only for Gu Junshi to see!
Wei Li, who had achieved a perfect ten in male virtue, immediately tightened the clothes Gu Junshi had given him and clung tightly to her.
Gu Junshi met the Human Emperor's burning gaze of jealousy.
Normally, people would say, "You've misunderstood," but then be unable to explain. Gu Junshi, however, was direct and concise: "Helping a fox demon transform."
He wasn't wearing clothes because he had just transformed.
They were hugging because he wasn't human, but a young fox who hadn't reached maturity and couldn't transform on his own.
A human hugging a beast, it didn't seem that unacceptable, did it?
Alright, this argument wasn't going to happen.
But the Human Emperor wasn't so easily dismissed. He looked at Wei Li.
"A fox demon?"
He had heard about them too. Fox demons were the most charming and seductive in this world, naturally seductive, and they specifically liked to seduce good women, making honest men cuckolded.
The Human Emperor felt his own head turning green at this moment.
"Since you've gained sentience, you should understand the rules of the human realm. If you don't want your fox pelt stripped, you'd best let go of my wife immediately."
Wei Li, relying on his animal instincts, sensed Gu Junshi's tolerance and protection. So, he rolled his fox eyes, intending to act spoiled, and refused to let go.
He shouted, "I won't let go! You're not even married yet. I've known her for a long time. What's wrong with friends hugging? Are you that petty? If Junshi marries you in the future, won't she have no freedom at all, needing your permission even to make a friend? If it were me, I wouldn't care about Junshi. Whatever she wants to do, she can do. Whoever she wants to hug, she can hug. If you love her, you should prioritize her feelings."
These distorted and exaggerated words made the Human Emperor's temples twitch.
When he had seen Li Sheng speak to Liu Jiang Fusheng in such a sarcastic tone, he had observed Liu Jiang Fusheng's anger with the amusement of watching a play. But now that it was happening to him, he finally understood how infuriating this pretentious third party was.
"You want to hug, do you?"
He coldly raised an eyebrow, instantly teleported in front of them, and a hand, filled with yin and cold ghostly energy, reached out towards Wei Li's shoulder.
This grasp clearly intended to cripple his arms.
Sensing the Human Emperor's sinister power approaching, Wei Li, who had been arrogantly provoking moments ago, changed his expression and instinctively shouted, "Gu Junshi—"
Gu Junshi flipped Wei Li aside with one hand, while blocking the Human Emperor with the other.
"He has just transformed into human form, and his demonic power hasn't recovered yet. Your move will severely injure him."
Her words caused the Human Emperor to sneer repeatedly.
"So what if he's severely injured? Why should I pity him?"
Wei Li, reborn from near death, didn't know how to lie low and preserve his life. He even stuck his head out and said smugly, "If you hurt me, Junshi will pity me."
"Is that so?"
The Human Emperor turned his head to look at Gu Junshi, his narrowed eyes as sharp as knives, drawing out his last syllable.
Gu Junshi felt a slight headache, realizing neither of them was easy to deal with, but she still answered honestly, "I owed him a favor. Therefore, I won't let you harm him in front of me."