The air seemed to grow warmer.

Jiang Zheyu’s heart was pounding. Her hands were still pressed against Su Yan’s chest. Through the silky fabric of his clothes, her palms could feel the heat radiating from his body and the frantic thumping of his heart.

She paused. ’His heart is racing, too?’

The thought distracted Jiang Zheyu at a most inopportune time.

The large palm on her nape gently caressed her skin, sending a thrilling, electric shiver through her.

"Yu Yu..." Su Yan called her name affectionately, his voice growing exceptionally deep and hoarse.

Hearing the man’s gentle, passion-filled voice greatly soothed Jiang Zheyu’s anxiety. It was as if his low, husky tone made her entire body go soft.

Her cheeks slowly began to blush.

Su Yan lowered his head and kissed Jiang Zheyu’s lips. His cool lips met her soft ones.

He held her by the waist and kissed her tenderly, his red irises narrowing into vertical slits, gleaming with excitement and desire.

Jiang Zheyu’s tea-colored eyes widened slightly in surprise. For a moment, she even forgot to push Su Yan away.

But as Su Yan kissed her, she found she felt no resistance at all.

Jiang Zheyu’s hands, pressed against Su Yan’s chest, slowly curled, gripping the black silk of his clothes.

’So he’s the male lead. Fine. I was planning on latching onto a powerful backer anyway. I’ll just have to call on the professional skills I used to cozy up to big shots in the modern world.’

Jiang Zheyu tilted back her slender neck and slowly returned Su Yan’s kiss.

Her response sent a jolt of electricity through Su Yan.

He understood. His Female Master’s response meant she had accepted him.

They were true Beast Mates now, the most intimate of partners.

Jiang Zheyu’s lips were swollen and red from his kisses, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were moist, the corners tinged with pink.

The corners of Su Yan’s own eyes had turned a deep crimson.

Jiang Zheyu felt a large hand travel slowly up from the back of her knee...

Her nightgown was in disarray, its shoulder straps having slipped down her arms.

A damp, cold sensation slithered past her legs. She felt something slick and icy pass gently but insistently between her knees. The cold made her start, and when she looked, she saw a massive black snake tail coiled around her.

She was now kneeling upon the enormous tail.

The part of the tail beneath her thighs was hotter than the rest.

Su Yan, lost in the moment, was still kissing her brow and her features.

The realization that she was kneeling on a massive snake tail, surrounded by its enormous coils, shocked Jiang Zheyu back to her senses.

"Su... Su Yan!" Jiang Zheyu desperately gripped the clothes on Su Yan’s still-human torso, her whole body trembling in fear. "Change... change back!"

Su Yan paused and looked down at her. He saw the girl was afraid of his snake form again, and a flash of pain crossed his red eyes. He gently took her wrist, his voice raspy. "Yu Yu, don’t be afraid."

He took her hand and pressed it against his serpentine body, covering the back of her hand with his own to prevent her from pulling away.

He lowered his head to kiss her eyes, whispering hoarsely, "Don’t be afraid of it. Just touch it, okay?"

Jiang Zheyu’s palm lay on the cold snake body, covered by Su Yan’s large hand.

She was frozen stiff, too scared to move. Tears streamed down her face. Her other hand clutched desperately at Su Yan’s clothes as she looked at him with tear-filled eyes. "Su... Su Yan, it’s not about being scared... I... I just can’t accept this right now. Change back... please change back, okay?"

Her voice cracked, on the verge of a sob.

Su Yan looked down at her. The girl’s beautiful long lashes were damp with tears, her tea-colored eyes filled with pain. Seeing her like this made his own heart ache as if pierced by a needle.

He quickly retracted his serpentine tail, pulling the girl into his arms and stroking her back comfortingly. "Don’t cry."

But when Jiang Zheyu saw his slitted, reptilian pupils, she shoved Su Yan away in a panic and stumbled back, collapsing onto the edge of the bed. Fear flashed in her tear-filled, tea-colored eyes.

Su Yan instinctively reached for her, but his hand froze mid-air when he saw the terror in her eyes.

"I’m... I’m sorry. I’m going back to my room to rest," Jiang Zheyu said, wiping her tears with her arm before sliding weakly off the bed.

Su Yan watched her, his eyelids half-lowered. "Rest well," he said softly.

Jiang Zheyu pulled open the door and gave a faint, "Mm."

She left his room and returned to her own.

Back in her room, Jiang Zheyu collapsed onto her bed, tears still streaming uncontrollably.

"My dear Master Yu Yu, a hot bath has been prepared. If you are unhappy, perhaps you’d like to take a soak," the voice of the intelligent butler, Xiaoyi, sounded.

Jiang Zheyu’s face was blank. After a moment, she followed Xiaoyi’s suggestion and went to the bathroom for a bath.

After drying herself off and changing into a different nightgown, she lay down on her bed.

She thought she had already adapted. After all, she had managed to endure the sight of the giant snake in the mental space and finish the purification.

She never expected that seeing it in reality would instantly send her right back to square one.

Jiang Zheyu pulled the covers up over her head.

"Master Yu Yu, if you are unhappy, Xiaoyi has several hundred lullabies that can help soothe your mind," the intelligent butler’s voice said.

A stuffy, nasal "Mm" came from Jiang Zheyu under the covers.

"This is the famous ’Lullaby of Serenity’ by Mr. Luo Aisheng," Xiaoyi announced.

As Xiaoyi finished speaking, a gentle, peaceful melody filled the room.

Perhaps it was because of the gentle, peaceful music, but she thought even the intelligent butler Xiaoyi’s mechanical voice carried a trace of tenderness.

"Thank you, Xiaoyi," Jiang Zheyu said softly.

"Sleep well, Master Yu Yu," Xiaoyi replied gently.

The next day, Jiang Zheyu slept in until noon.

There was a message from Su Yan on her Light Brain: "Yu Yu, I went out this morning to buy some cake. You can have some when you wake up. Rest well."

"Okay," Jiang Zheyu replied.

She still hadn’t figured out how to face Su Yan.

She accepted Su Yan as a person, but she couldn’t accept his beast form.

Jiang Zheyu pressed her lips together. ’Last night was such a mess!’

’Failure, failure, failure!’

Her eyelids drooped. Jiang Zheyu got out of bed. ’All the unpleasantness of the past should be buried and forgotten, as if it never happened.’

She felt that she needed to overcome this fear.

’I’ll start by looking at snakes on the Star Network every day!’