Li Shuang wrote a letter instructing all commanders to lead their troops back to the capital.
The generals who received the message were deeply concerned for Li Shuang's safety and were reluctant to depart. They went together to Wu Ling Gate and saw Li Shuang, immediately noticing the injury on her neck—angry red marks that spoke of violence. Several generals became enraged at once—they had all followed the Grand General in campaigns north and south for many years and were practically Li Shuang's uncles. Though Li Shuang tried her best to reassure them with calm words, Fu Changqing refused to leave.
"General, to be frank, when we set out, the Grand General repeatedly instructed us to protect you. Now that you're in danger, we cannot…"
"It's nothing serious. This injury was merely an accident," Li Shuang interrupted with a growing headache.
"How could this be an accident? General, do you take me for a blind fool? This wound clearly shows someone used great force, injuring your throat and leaving your voice hoarse. That person must have intended to kill!"
Fu Changqing deliberately raised his voice, wanting the Wu Ling Gate disciples to hear and feel ashamed for their failure to protect their guest. Li Shuang's first reaction, however, was to glance back at Jin An's room. Though the room was far, Jin An was no ordinary person—with his keen hearing, who knew if he had heard?
Li Shuang sighed heavily. "General Fu, matters here are mostly settled. I've rescued those who needed saving, and this injury truly was accidental. I'll follow the main army back to the capital in two days. I know you're worried, so perhaps leave a thousand elite cavalry here…"
Before Li Shuang could finish, Qin Lan spoke up from beside her with quiet determination: "This subordinate is willing to stay and protect the General."
As Qin Lan was Li Shuang's guard with excellent courage and martial skills, Fu Changqing and the other generals, though still doubtful, did not press further upon seeing Li Shuang's insistence. They descended the mountain with heavy hearts.
Watching them leave, Li Shuang breathed a sigh of relief. Qin Lan asked from beside her, his voice careful: "Was it that man in black who injured your neck, General?"
Li Shuang was startled. "Why do you suddenly ask this?"
Qin Lan didn't look at her, only staring into the distance with an expressionless face that belied the emotion beneath. "Nothing… I just feel that perhaps only his injury to you would make you protect him so."
Li Shuang caught sight of Wu Yin heading toward Jin An's room. Her attention was immediately drawn there like iron to a lodestone, and as she turned to walk in that direction, she casually replied: "He was simply confused at the time. Have someone find you a room to stay in temporarily. We'll set out in two days as well."
By the time she finished speaking, she had already walked far. Qin Lan lowered his head to look at his hands. Having ridden hard from the capital without rest, his hands were covered in wounds from the reins, with the tiger's mouth callused and cracked, revealing blood-red wounds that seemed to mirror his heart—raw and bleeding.
Li Shuang hadn't noticed Qin Lan's mood. When she returned to the room, she saw Wu Yin standing by the bed looking at Jin An, his brows slightly furrowed in concern.
"What's wrong?"
"See for yourself." Wu Yin stepped aside, and Li Shuang saw that he had removed young Jin An's clothes. Jin An lay on the bed with his eyes closed, appearing to be asleep, but for some reason, the flame mark on his chest was fluctuating in size—one moment the flames would crawl up to his face like living serpents, the next they would shrink extremely small. The changes happened with alarming rapidity, with the red markings moving like insects beneath his skin, quickly reorganizing and writhing in patterns that defied nature.
Li Shuang frowned deeply. "How did this happen?"
"I don't know," Wu Yin answered with uncharacteristic uncertainty, standing with folded arms. "When I examined him today, I noticed his pulse and breath were slightly unstable, but it didn't seem serious, so I let him rest in his room. Just now someone passing by the small house told me they heard the Jade Silkworm Gu host groaning inside, so I came to check. When I removed his clothes, I found him like this."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jin An let out a low moan—a sound of agony that pierced Li Shuang's heart. He seemed to be experiencing excruciating pain in his chest, causing his entire body to curl up like a wounded animal.
Li Shuang's heart ached instantly. She sat beside Jin An, placing his head on her lap with tender care, gently stroking his face and forehead, wiping away his sweat. "Isn't the Jade Silkworm Gu your Wu Ling Gate's greatest treasure? Think of something, find out why he suddenly became like this."
Wu Yin sighed helplessly. "General, you're asking the impossible. He's different from all our previous Jade Silkworm Gu hosts and requires study. I have no reference materials here, how can I investigate… Oh, right." Wu Yin slapped his forehead. "When the Jade Silkworm Gu and its host reject each other, it does look quite similar to his current state, but this usually only happens when the Gu first enters the body."
As time passed and the sun set behind distant mountains in a blaze of crimson, Jin An's condition seemed to become more unstable. The flame markings expanded from just his neck to cover his entire body like wildfire, then rapidly shrank again. His body shook violently during this time, his finger joints gradually thickened, and his body continuously grew larger—bones cracking and reshaping.
He clenched his jaw, seemingly enduring soul-rending agony. Li Shuang was close enough to hear what sounded like his teeth grinding together—the sound of bone on bone.
Wu Yin's expression gradually changed from somewhat amused to deadly serious. "Bring the steel chains!" he called outside.
Li Shuang glanced at Wu Yin without stopping him. "Chain us together."
"General, this is no joking matter."
"I'm not joking." Li Shuang held his head protectively. By now Jin An had transformed into an adult man, wearing only loose pants that had miraculously survived the transformation. He gritted his teeth, emitting beast-like growls from his throat that raised the hair on her arms.
She wasn't joking—firstly because she trusted Jin An wouldn't harm her, and secondly because she feared that if he lost control of himself, with no cage here, what if he disappeared without a trace into the wilderness?
People outside brought the steel chains with clinking urgency. Qin Lan, hearing the commotion, entered the room and froze at the sight before him.
Jin An's appearance was truly terrifying, like a legendary monster from children's nightmares. The red markings on his body never stopped expanding and contracting. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open—they were different colors, one blood-red like fresh carnage and one pitch black like the night sky.
Li Shuang took the chains brought by others and moved to chain herself to Jin An, but just as she secured Jin An's hand before she could lock the chain to her own wrist, Qin Lan rushed forward and grabbed her wrist in desperation:
"General, you…"
Before he could finish his words of protest, Jin An, still in Li Shuang's arms, struck out at Qin Lan with his free hand—too fast for Li Shuang to stop, too fast for warning!
Caught off guard, Qin Lan was hit in the chest with devastating force and sent stumbling back three paces until he crashed into a table. His body jerked violently, and he spat out a mouthful of blood that splattered across the wooden floor.
Wu Yin knew this was bad and immediately shouted outside: "Everyone evacuates down the mountain!"
Just as he finished speaking, he felt heat on the back of his neck—he had been grabbed by the throat. Wu Yin's agile body dodged Jin An's hand by a hair's breadth. Behind them, Li Shuang quickly locked the steel chain to her wrist with fumbling fingers. She pulled Jin An back with all her strength, forcefully stopping his pursuit.
Wu Yin escaped the small house, while Jin An was pulled back by Li Shuang, falling onto her with his full weight.
The colors in his eyes kept shifting like storm clouds, sometimes one black and one red, sometimes all red, sometimes all black, changing endlessly. But what remained constant was Li Shuang's reflection in his pupils—she was his anchor. He lay on top of her, not moving except for his heavy breathing that stirred her hair.
Li Shuang called his name softly: "Jin An." She looked at him, hoping to calm him as she had done in the dungeon before.
He didn't respond, but when Qin Lan supported himself on the overturned table to stand up, Jin An turned his head at the sound with predatory focus. The red markings crawled chaotically across his face, his teeth grinding audibly as if he wanted to pounce and tear out Qin Lan's throat.
"Calm down," Li Shuang spoke with gentle command.
Jin An didn't move. After Qin Lan stood up clutching his chest, he said through gritted teeth: "General, unlock the chains. Let me hold him off while you escape."
These words caused Jin An's pupils to lock into bright red—pure killing intent. His strength surged, and for a moment he forgot about Li Shuang, dragging her along as he stepped toward the door to attack Qin Lan. Li Shuang gritted her teeth through the pain of the chain grinding against her wrist, forcefully restraining Jin An's movements and pinning him to the corner of the room.
"Get out!" she commanded Qin Lan harshly.
Seeing that Li Shuang's wrist was now bleeding from their previous movements, Qin Lan clenched his jaw tightly until it ached. Outside, Wu Yin had led the Wu Ling Gate disciples away, and now returned to pull Qin Lan out of the small house without argument: "When told to leave, just come with me!"
Qin Lan couldn't bear to leave Li Shuang and looked back one more time.
Jin An also wanted to rush out and tear him apart, but Li Shuang wrapped both arms around his waist with desperate strength, staring into his eyes. She rose on her tiptoes and bit his lip.
Li Shuang squeezed her eyes shut. Though she didn't know how to kiss, she knew how to transfer more of her breath into Jin An's body. So she licked his dry lips, then forced open his lips and teeth with determined inexperience.
His temperature was too high, making her dizzy with the heat radiating from him. Her entire body pressed against his as Li Shuang pinned him in the corner, not allowing even the slightest movement.
Jin An's muscles, which had been jumping from his agitated blood, and the constantly changing red markings, all seemed to quiet down under her touch. He obediently accepted Li Shuang's increasingly deep claiming—or perhaps it was soothing.
Jin An's tense body gradually relaxed like ice melting. His eyes were half-closed, like someone between wakefulness and intoxication.
One of his hands was bound to Li Shuang's, held behind his back. The other hand, without needing instruction, naturally reached up to Li Shuang's cheek, caressing her skin with unexpected gentleness, cradling her jaw, and lifting her head to a more comfortable angle.
Then he closed his eyes. They needed only to feel each other's warmth; nothing else mattered.
What color his eyes might turn, what pattern the markings on his body had frozen in, who might be outside, whether anyone was still watching them… none of it mattered anymore.
He knew only that he submitted to her, and her kiss—body, soul, and everything between.
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