Chapter 145 Why should he only want me?

"That—" Before I could finish, my lips were sealed by his, and he only released me after a long moment.

After the kiss, I felt a bit embarrassed, but looking over at Xin'er, I saw she was glaring at me with undisguised hostility.

Was she actually jealous that Wangchuan kissed me?

She... jealous?!

Narrowing my eyes, I stared in sheer disbelief at the scene before me, finding it almost impossible to accept!

Was I supposed to believe that after turning into a small beast, Xin'er had developed a worship of the strong and started fancying Wangchuan?

That because she had been tamed, she also viewed him as... her master?!

A sudden wave of shock and displeasure washed over me! I felt the corners of my twitching!

I had no idea why I was reacting this way all of a sudden, but put yourself in any woman's shoes—wouldn't she feel conflicted if her own sister fancied her husband?!

No... how could any normal woman ever encounter such an absurd and messy situation!

The crux of the matter was that Xin'er was currently an animal, completely incapable of reason!

Why was I so unlucky to run into something like this?!

Seeing snot dripping from my nose again, Wangchuan let out a sudden chuckle and grabbed a tissue.

"Alright, that's enough of that. Have some chirping fruits in a bit. They make a sound when you bite into them, quite fun, and it'll cheer you up."

"Are you kidding me?" I wiped my nose. Though amused, the teasing did nothing to lift my spirits, and I continued to look at Xin'er with worry. "The way she's glaring at you, she must really like... me—"

Worn down by my emotional state, Wangchuan knitted his brows tightly. Perhaps men and women simply thought differently, let alone the mind of a male beast versus that of a woman.

Did he think I was overthinking things?

Pinching my chin, Wangchuan looked genuinely ready to lose his temper—angry that I was fussing over a little beast he had no desire to touch.

Meanwhile, Xin'er looked at me with renewed fury, scratching at the floor with her paws! She looked ready to rip me away from Wangchuan's arms right then and there!

"I..." I slumped weakly against him, my heart in absolute turmoil. "What are we going to do... Who knows how long Xin'er will stay in this animal form... She can't just keep getting mad every time you hold me, can she?"

I knew she didn't know any better now, and that Wangchuan truly had no romantic interest in her, but as an older sister, hearing her whimpering cries genuinely broke my heart.

"Wait. When her husband gets here, she can take him back and pet him to her heart's content."

Wangchuan's reply remained simple, carrying an air of omniscience, accompanied by a casual, knowing smile.

"Husband?" I looked at him in bewilderment. "What husband? Han Mingxuan?"

Tilting his head, Wangchuan curved one corner of his lip into a calculating smile.

"Well, that depends on which husband arrives first. First come, first served, perhaps?"

"What are you even talking about?" I was completely lost. "How many husbands does Xin'er have?! Who comes first? Take her back to pet her?"

Before I could ask anything further, Wangchuan leaned in close. "With all these questions you have, how am I supposed to answer?"

"Normally, of course—Ow!"

With a yelp of pain, my lips were bitten, stinging sharply! His sharp little tooth rested right against my lip as a warning, practically threatening to pierce through!

If I dared to say one more word, I’d probably end up with some kind of lip piercing... so I had no choice but to shut my mouth obediently!

However, before I could even process what was happening, a swift whoosh cut through the air by my ear, accompanied by a rush of wind!

Reacting even faster, Wangchuan swept out a hand to bat the object away, then instantly swept me behind his back!

I watched in panic as the thing he had struck down lay flat on the ground, struggling frantically to flip back over...

"Xin'er!"

I instantly lunged forward to help, but Wangchuan grabbed the ring on my collar!

"I told you she doesn't recognize you! She's trying to kill you, and you still want to run to her?!"

"I..." My mind was in complete chaos as I sat there on the sofa, throwing a genuine temper tantrum in front of Wangchuan for the very first time!

"Then what am I supposed to do! She's my sister! The sister I raised with my own two hands since we were kids! Now she's turned into this! What do you expect me to do! What *can* I do! She's jealous that my husband is holding me! She wants my master to be her master! She doesn't understand anything! How can I just brush it off like you do? When you hit her, it's like hitting me! My heart hurts too! It hurts! How am I supposed to cut her off? How can I?"

With that, I burst into uncontrollable tears.

Watching me cry, Wangchuan turned his head and glared at the small beast Xin'er had become.

At that moment, I saw the pupils in Wangchuan's eyes split vertically for the very first time—his golden irises turned into razor-thin slits, overflowing with murderous intent!

I instantly clamped my mouth shut, grabbing onto him as my entire body trembled uncontrollably.

I could feel the muscles in the arm I was holding grow taut and rigid, as if he were about to spring forward at any second!

At the time, I had no idea what had provoked such immense anger in Wangchuan. It was only later that I learned everything was inextricably linked to Xin'er!

Perhaps without Xin'er, none of these tangled, messy complications would exist today!

That was why Wangchuan had wanted to simply kill her and eliminate any future trouble!

Yet back then, I knew nothing of this, frightened completely pale and shaking like a leaf!

It wasn't until a long while later, sensing that Wangchuan had calmed down, that he turned back, smiled at me, and gently stroked my cheek.

"Don't be scared. I'll get you some fruit to eat."

He wore that same pampering expression. With those words, he stood up, gently brushed my hand aside, and cast one final narrowed glance at Xin'er.

Xin'er whimpered and backed away a few steps, slinking back to her spot by the door with tear-filled eyes.

She was crying too...

In that fleeting instant, I truly didn't know what I was feeling.

I just wished all of this would pass quickly so I could leave it all behind.

Even if it meant going back to how things used to be with Wangchuan—being bullied and teased by him—as long as we could have peace and quiet.

The current situation was simply too terrifying. Xin'er had morphed into a bizarre creature, and You Yan, a primordial beast, claimed my mother had eaten her child.

Every single piece of evidence pointed directly to the fact that my mother was no human.

A quiet premonition told me that my story was far from simple.

First, I had naturally slipped into becoming Wangchuan's cat; then I met Han Mingxuan, who inexplicably helped me; then I hazily became the consort of the Underworld's Third Nether King, made enemies for no reason, and watched my sister turn into this ghostly creature.

Just how many trials were waiting for me further down the road?

I watched as Wangchuan retrieved those red fruits from his pocket, placed them in a fruit basket, and washed them one by one in the kitchen.

He was my master, yet now he was willing to devote himself to me like this, offering up his own genuine affection.

In the past, how high and mighty he had been! To humble cats or humans, he couldn't even be bothered to spare a single glance, finding them utterly annoying.

Just like when he first saw Xin'er—the disgust in his eyes had been completely genuine.

Whether Xin'er was human or animal, he had always worn that indifferent expression of profound detachment.

Yet I truly believed he loved me.

Because only with me did he maintain such endless patience, coaxing me, cherishing me, and even risking danger to journey to the immortal and spiritual realms just to trade for those fruits and other treasures.

And yet, a voice in the back of my mind kept telling me his love for me wasn't that simple.

Jiu Yan had once mentioned that having served his master for a millennium, he had never seen him bestow his heart upon anyone or take anyone seriously. That was why he initially assumed Wangchuan and I were merely playing a game.

In truth, I didn't care whether Wangchuan was playing a game with me. After all, even if it were a game, the stakes had grown too large—we had brought a child into the world, weaving a bond of deep emotion that could never be severed.

What I wanted to know was simply this: why did he choose me?

A thousand years, devoid of romance.

He claimed he had never touched any other little cat, and that it was only within the past millennium that his body had recovered enough to venture into the other realms.

Thus, I had every reason to believe that throughout the tens of thousands of years he spent trapped in the rift, facing countless little cats, they had all been mere passing clouds to him—not even worthy of a disdainful glance.

Could I then dare to guess that for millennia, perhaps even tens of thousands of years, he had lived without a single shred of emotion?

What talent did I possess that allowed me to tame such an arrogant, majestic beast?

Was it my humble, cowardly human identity? Or my foolish, submissive feline identity?

That seemed far too laughable. Over the vast expanse of ten thousand years, it was statistically impossible that no one like my ordinary self had ever appeared before him.

I possessed only a few notable traits: stubbornness, stupidity, a lack of cunning schemes, and zero brains to plot against others.

Such people were a dime a dozen in the human realm; I could easily pluck several of them from a crowd of a hundred. I couldn't possibly be the sole exception to ever cross his path.

Nor could I be the sole exception capable of bearing his noble offspring.

Having finished washing the fruit, Wangchuan walked back to sit beside me, wiped the water droplets away with a tissue, and placed the strawberry-like fruits right in front of me.

"Take a bite. Let's see what it has to say."