Su Ningyan wasn't eating.
How could he, when he was seated across from the very same divine beast prince who had threatened to tear out his liver and eat it?
His thoughts spiraled uselessly while all he truly wanted was to disappear. To run. To be anywhere but here.
Yan Wuhen, meanwhile, ate with elegant composure, his eyes never leaving Ningyan for even a second.
Ningyan could feel it burning into him. He poked at the food with his chopsticks, keeping his head lowered, refusing to meet those red-gold fox eyes.
"Why aren't you eating?" Yan Wuhen asked lightly.
The sound of his voice alone made Ningyan's spine stiffen.
When he didn't respond, Yan Wuhen smiled slowly, his sharp canines briefly visible.
"Yan'er?" he called, his voice softer now.
That did it.
"Enough!" Ningyan snapped, shooting to his feet and stumbling back a step. "I don't know you, and you don't know me, so stop talking to me like we know each other. You literally threatened to eat my liver, chased everyone away! Including that pretty server and now you expect me to calmly sit here and eat with you?"
His arms spread wide, frustration spilling out unchecked.
"Go on then. Take it. Rip it out. I'm tired. After all, I'm unwanted. A cripple. My life doesn't even matter."
As Ningyan spiraled, Yan Wuhen's expression shifted from surprise melting into curiosity, curiosity into something far more amused.
He leaned back, resting his chin against his knuckles, long crimson-tipped claws on full display. Those fox eyes gleamed with unmistakable interest.
Ningyan's face burned.
His muscles tensed, his mind screaming.
Why does he have to be so unfairly attractive?
Someone—anyone—get me out of here!
"Please… let me go, Your Highness."
Su Ningyan lowered himself completely, dropping to one knee, then both, until his forehead pressed against the floor. He stayed there, humiliation burning through him as he offered the deepest submission he could.
"No."
Yan Wuhen's answer was calm. Absolute.
Su Ningyan snapped his head up, rage and disbelief twisting his features. "Why?! Why won't you let me go? It's so easy! You can just... just let me leave!"
Yan Wuhen chuckled softly.
Behind him, his nine fox tails swayed lazily, gleaming red-gold in the lantern light. "Because you smell good," he said, voice light, amused. "And I want to keep you."
Ningyan stared.
"Because I smell good… you want to... what?" His mouth twisted in disbelief. "Are you seriously doing that male lead thing to me right now?"
He scrambled to his feet, glaring like Yan Wuhen had lost his mind.
Yan Wuhen tilted his head, ears twitching. The interest in his gaze only increased.
"What do you mean by that?"
Ningyan scoffed, his heart pounding. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. None of this was in the book. This was a completely new plot branch. One dragging him straight toward the main storyline no matter how hard he fought it.
"What do you mean I smell good?" he snapped. "You're a creep. An insane creep."
Yan Wuhen laughed. "You are a strange little thing." He looked Ningyan over as if he were standing there naked. "Really… strange."
That did it.
Understanding hit Ningyan like a bucket of ice water.
"Oh… shit."
His blood ran cold. He stared at Yan Wuhen in horror. "No. No, no, no..."
He spun on his heel and bolted.
Out of the tavern. Into the streets. He ran without looking back, weaving through bodies, barely avoiding collisions as lantern light and music blurred around him.
Whatever scent Yan Wuhen was talking about... it wasn't affection. It was hunger.
The beast Prince wanted to breed him.
And that hadn't happened in the book. At least not now!
"I met him too early," Ningyan gasped, sprinting toward the heart of Fire City where crowds thickened and music filled the air. "I wasn't supposed to meet him first. Now I have... and he is hungry to fuck me."
The flowers perfuming the air, sparks of spiritual light, laughter and dancing beastwomen crowding the streets, none of it registered.
He just ran.
He looked around wildly.
He was lost. Completely lost. Not that he'd had anywhere to go to begin with.
But all he could think about now was finding something—anything—to hitch a ride on.
"Ugh," he muttered hoarsely, pressing his hand to his stomach. "Why did I have to transmigrate back to when he was still so weak? Why not when he was strong? I could've at least prepared myself mentally."
His gaze landed on a large supply carriage parked beside a stall, stacked with food and materials.
Perfect.
He could hide inside. Jump out once it reached somewhere remote. A village, maybe. Somewhere far. Somewhere without beast princes.
His breathing was uneven as he dragged himself toward it, each step heavier than the last. Hunger twisted painfully in his gut. His vision swam.
"Ningyan, keep it together," he whispered.
"Are you alright?" a gentle voice asked from behind him. "You look like you're about to faint."
He stiffened and turned to see a woman smiling at him with bear ears peeking through her hair, just like the server from earlier.
Panic rushed through his existence. Not again!
"I'm fine," he said quickly, stepping back. "Really. I'm okay. Thank you. Bye."
He stumbled away before she could say anything else, his thoughts spiraling.
If I die again… will I go back? Or will I just disappear completely?
The noise of Fire City began to blur. The laughter, music, chatter... everything sounded distant.
"…I need to stop running," he rasped.
His legs gave out.
And all he could think about was that bed in the tavern. It was soft. Warm.. Ridiculously comfortable.
His eyes slid shut.
His body tipped sideways and an arm wrapped firmly around his waist, pulling him back before he hit the ground.
Su Ningyan gasped, his back pressed against a solid chest.
The man holding him wore a hooded cloak, his fox ears hidden, his tails retracted to just one, but Su Ningyan would have recognized that presence anywhere.
Yan Wuhen leaned down, his breath warm against Ningyan's ear.
"There you are, Yan'er," he murmured softly.
"You're mine now. Okay?"