Nan Zhiyun also heard the anger in Yu Jingchen's tone and dared not hesitate further. Seeing him approach, Yu Jingchen said nothing, and Nan Zhiyun suddenly felt a bit awkward.
Xinglai collected everything from the table, and Qianxia also withdrew. The room was suddenly left with only the two of them, and Nan Zhiyun's heart was beating fast. It wasn't for any other reason, but purely from fear and awkwardness.
Yu Jingchen didn't rush to sleep. Instead, he walked to the side and extinguished the candles in the room one by one. Seeing Yu Jingchen's actions, Nan Zhiyun's heart raced. She was afraid of the dark environment, but at this moment, she didn't dare to say anything or stop him.
As Yu Jingchen extinguished the candles, he noticed Nan Zhiyun's agitated breathing. He continued his actions without pause. If she wouldn't speak, why should he indulge her? Besides, extinguishing candles wouldn't eat her alive, would it?
As only the last two candles remained, Nan Zhiyun finally couldn't help but speak, "Your Majesty..."
Yu Jingchen ignored her and extinguished one candle. The room became much darker. Nan Zhiyun was scared. "Your Majesty, please don't extinguish this one, okay?" she said, looking at the last lamp with pleading in her eyes.
Yu Jingchen finally deigned to look at her, but then said, "You don't have the right to make demands here." With that, he extinguished the last candle within reach.
The room plunged into complete darkness. Nan Zhiyun couldn't see anyone and was terrified. Her mind flashed back to her past experiences of being locked up, unable to see or hear, and being beaten... They would lock her in with those wolves. Help me...
Nan Zhiyun's body turned cold. In such an environment, she couldn't stay for another moment. Perhaps sensing someone approaching her, her anxiety grew.
Yu Jingchen sat down beside her. Nan Zhiyun knew it was him, but... Yu Jingchen was no longer the young man who had rescued her from such a predicament. He wouldn't be walking towards her with light.
"Sleep," Yu Jingchen uttered two cold words, then lay down himself. Nan Zhiyun sat on the bed, with no choice but to try and convince herself to sleep. She wanted to escape.
Yu Jingchen remained silent. Nan Zhiyun gazed at the utterly dark surroundings and felt a sense of delirium. Her head felt heavy, as if this were an abyss and she was slowly falling into it. She wanted to grasp something, but there was nothing.
She wanted to call for help but couldn't utter a sound. She wanted to stand up but felt weak and drained. Nan Zhiyun hugged herself. No... she was scared. Who would save her? Nan Zhiyun despaired. She didn't want to stay here for another moment.
Perhaps because Nan Zhiyun's movements were too agitated, Yu Jingchen finally spoke, "Aren't you tired? Didn't you hear me when I told you to sleep?"
Normally, Nan Zhiyun might have been too afraid to hesitate after such simple words, but not now... she was truly terrified. She couldn't hear anything around her, her mind was in a complete muddle.
Yu Jingchen hadn't expected Nan Zhiyun to be so terrified of such an environment. He sensed something was wrong. For most people, even in a dark room, they could still see a little. But Nan Zhiyun was different. Whether it was due to trauma or some other reason, she couldn't see any light in such conditions.
"No..." Nan Zhiyun's mind was filled with images of being kidnapped. She feared that kind of environment. After what happened in her previous life, her fear of such places only grew.
Yu Jingchen got up. Nan Zhiyun heard the movement, and her heart felt as if it were being squeezed, fearing that the next moment would be irrecoverable.
"What is there to be afraid of?" Yu Jingchen couldn't understand. He reached out and grabbed Nan Zhiyun's arm, but Nan Zhiyun, as if under a spell, was startled by this touch.
She wanted to break free, struggling to pull back, but no matter how she struggled, she couldn't escape his grasp.
"Nan Zhiyun!" Yu Jingchen's anger flared. He forcefully shook off Nan Zhiyun's hand, and she lost her balance, falling to the side.
But that was insignificant. She was just scared now, with no time to care about anything else. Even when her injured hand touched something, she didn't feel much pain.
Yu Jingchen was about to get up, but Nan Zhiyun, as if sensing his movement, groped around in the darkness and grabbed Yu Jingchen's robe. Yu Jingchen frowned, then felt Nan Zhiyun's actions. She followed his clothes and pulled at his arm, "Your Majesty... can you light a candle? Please..." She truly couldn't control herself anymore.
Yu Jingchen didn't answer directly but said, "Let go!"
"No, can you light a candle? I'm afraid of the dark, I'm afraid of the dark..." Nan Zhiyun had even forgotten her proper self-address.
"I told you to let go!" Yu Jingchen said, reaching out to pull her away. But Nan Zhiyun, drawing strength from somewhere, refused to let go, her grip tightening as she hugged Yu Jingchen's waist. "Don't go... I won't let go. It's so dark here... Your Majesty, please... please," Nan Zhiyun began to tremble all over.
Yu Jingchen hadn't expected Nan Zhiyun to be so afraid of this environment. How could she be afraid to the point of losing her reason?
"Let go," Yu Jingchen no longer wanted to waste time with her.
"I'm scared... please," perhaps having reached her limit, she felt less fear towards Yu Jingchen's words than towards the greater terror.
"Let go," Yu Jingchen's tone was clearly much calmer this time, but Nan Zhiyun couldn't listen.
"If you don't let go, how can you light the lamp?" Yu Jingchen was finally compromising. In truth, he himself didn't know why he hadn't forcefully shaken her off. Nan Zhiyun's strength was nothing to him. In the past, he could have broken her arm simply because he found her repulsive.
Yu Jingchen's statement did not calm Nan Zhiyun. To her now, Yu Jingchen was like a drowning person finally grasping a piece of driftwood; if she let go, there would be no hope of survival.
Yu Jingchen tried to pull away, but upon hearing Nan Zhiyun say, "No, please, please... I'm scared," his hand ultimately didn't pull away.
Yu Jingchen remained seated there, allowing Nan Zhiyun to do whatever she pleased.