Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Huo Zhanting Gets Beaten

At that moment, inside the bathroom, warm water droplets fell from the showerhead, landing on her beautiful, smooth, fair skin.

A mist gradually began to fill the air.

The entire bathroom grew humid.

Yu Lan’s eyes were shut tight, her head tilted back to meet the spray from above. The angle accentuated her elegant, pale, swan-like neck.

The patter of the shower masked the sound of the doorknob being gently pressed down and turned by the clever Golden Lion.

Yu Lan hadn’t locked the door.

After all, she was the only one in the entire villa right now.

’Who would be on guard against a big, fluffy lion?’

The first thing to poke inside was a big, furry head.

The lion’s head looked around curiously, tilting to one side as it heard the sounds coming from the bathroom deep within the room.

The ears on its head twitched. For some reason, a flicker of an emotion called shyness passed through the great lion’s heart.

It seemed to know that what it was doing wasn’t exactly proper.

But it really, really wanted to see Yu Lan.

It deliberately quieted its breathing, its powerful, agile limbs making not the slightest sound as it moved across the floor.

It stealthily padded inside.

CLICK!

It was the sound of the door being gently shut.

In the bathroom, Yu Lan tilted her head. ’Did I just hear the door close?’

’It must have been my imagination.’

Although she wasn’t living in Core District One, this was still a wealthy neighborhood with excellent security.

There had never been a single rumor of a burglar breaking into a home here.

Just then, with her eyes closed, Yu Lan had no idea that the Golden Lion was standing not far from her, completely dumbfounded.

The lion looked utterly dazed, completely captivated by the sight.

It had never imagined it would see such a scene.

Through the dense steam, a snow-white figure was partially obscured. The young woman’s eyes were shut tight as warm rivulets of water slid down her beautiful, delicate face.

Her swan-like neck was graceful and long, and below her defined collarbones was a high, full chest.

Further down was a slender, supple waist that looked as if it could be encircled by a single hand.

And a pair of long, powerful legs.

The damp air swirled around, drifting straight toward the Golden Lion’s nose.

A rich, warm fragrance filled the small space.

For some reason, the great lion made a very human-like swallowing motion.

The sound was extremely faint, but Yu Lan heard it.

Her eyes snapped open. "Who’s there?!" she shouted.

The sudden shout snapped the mesmerized lion back to its senses.

But it was too late to sneak out. Yu Lan had already seen it.

The majestic Golden Lion felt a rare flicker of embarrassed anger and, looking extremely sheepish, lifted a front paw to cover its face.

Now, it didn’t dare turn and run like before.

It had a strong intuition that if it ran away now, the beautiful female before it might never like it again.

When Yu Lan saw the Golden Lion appear before her, she froze.

But she had... she had closed the door properly.

’Why...’

’Why is this happening?’

"Ahhhh!!!"

"You shameless, perverted lion!"

"How dare you peep on me while I’m showering!"

"Ahhh!!! You stinky lion, bad lion, how could you be so bad!"

In a fit of rage, Yu Lan charged forward.

Heedless of everything, her small, delicate hands began to THWAP-THWAP-THWAP against the Golden Lion’s large head.

Logically, being hit should have been painful.

But the beautiful little female’s strength was so low that the blows to its head felt less like an angry punishment and more like a lover’s caress.

Yu Lan thought she was giving it a vicious slap, intending to teach it a lesson, but the fragrance carried on her snow-white skin only grew more intense as she drew closer.

The overwhelming scent washed over the lion’s nose.

Its entire head was immersed in an ocean of this fragrance.

The scent was so intoxicating its limbs went weak, and it felt light, as if floating on soft clouds.

Its tail began to wag wildly, betraying its owner’s joy, pleasure, and extreme excitement.

Yu Lan hit it for a while before she realized something was wrong.

She glanced down at her naked body.

Then she looked at the lion, which had its eyes closed in bliss as if it were being rewarded.

That made her even angrier.

Annoyed, she kicked it right in the rump.

"Get out."

Upon receiving the command, the Golden Lion instantly turned and bolted for the door.

It stood at the doorway, raised a foreleg to press down on the handle, and quickly opened the door, the entire lion slipping out.

Seeing this, Yu Lan was so angry she almost had to laugh.

’So I wasn’t hearing things earlier. It just wasn’t a person who came in, but a certain perverted lion.’

’Honestly...’

Yu Lan bit her lip in frustration. She never would have imagined a lion could be smart enough to open and close doors on its own.

She’d had her guard down completely, which led to what just happened...

"Hmph!"

Yu Lan was furious, her pretty little face filled with annoyance.

Her jade-white face, whether from the steam or her inner embarrassment, gradually took on a faint pink hue.

It was a look that inspired both pity and affection.

*

「Ten minutes later.」

Yu Lan emerged from the bathroom, all tidied up.

The whole time, the Golden Lion had been lying right outside the bathroom door, not daring to go anywhere.

It could sense that the beautiful female was very angry about what had just happened.

It wanted to wait here and apologize to the beautiful female the moment she came out.

Sure enough, the instant Yu Lan opened the door, her way was blocked by the big lion lying on the floor.

Remembering what happened, a trace of embarrassed anger returned to her delicate face.

She gave the big lion an annoyed nudge with her foot. "What are you doing lying here?"

"Move, I need to get out."

This big lion stood three to four meters tall.

Even lying down, it was a meter high.

With it determined to block the doorway, Yu Lan couldn’t go anywhere.

Yu Lan thought the lion would continue to lie there clingily for a while longer.

But to her surprise, the moment she spoke, the Golden Lion scrambled up from the floor as if it had received an order.

It lowered its head, once again nudging its big, furry head against Yu Lan.

"Rowr."

Don’t be mad.

"Rowr."

Don’t ignore me.

"Rowr."

I’m sorry.

He was being so clingy.

A big, round, furry head kept nudging against her.

No matter how angry Yu Lan had been, her anger quickly dissipated.

She reached out and gave the Golden Lion’s big head an exasperated pat.

"Don’t you ever do that again, you hear?"

She then pointed to the doorknob and made a gesture.

"Without my permission, you are not allowed to press the handle and come in, understand?"

Yu Lan was just saying it out of habit, not actually expecting the big lion to understand.

But to her surprise, the Golden Lion stared with its round, clear, molten-gold eyes, looking from Yu Lan to the doorknob.

It let out a "Rowr."

It was as if it was agreeing.

Yu Lan’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. She reached out with both hands and ruffled the fur on both of the lion’s ears.

"Sweetie, did you understand what I just said?"

"Rowr?"

The Golden Lion tilted its head slightly, its pupils clearly reflecting Yu Lan’s figure.