Ning Xuan grabbed Chen Nan and whispered in his ear, "Carry me inside!"
The grip was so tight it hurt; Ning Xuan's nails were digging into his flesh. He felt the pain and the warmth of her palm, and seeing her state, his heart began to race. Not daring to hesitate, he scooped Ning Xuan up and rushed into the house.
"Contractor, we're home. How are you feeling?" Chen Nan watched Ning Xuan nervously. The turmoil inside her was so intense. Awakening a Companion Spirit was usually a gentle process, not one with such a violent reaction. The way Ning Xuan looked right now... it was like a precursor to mutation. Only mutating into a mindless beast would cause such a severe agitation.
'How could this be? Female Spirit Controllers don't mutate. They don't!'
"Go to your room! Don't come out until I call for you!" Ning Xuan felt incredibly hungry. A few days ago, Chen Nan had bought a lot of Earth Deer Beast Meat and stored it in the fridge. It was all processed and ready to eat.
"Contractor, you..." Chen Nan looked at her, still worried.
"Go, now!" Ning Xuan forcefully flung his hand away. Chen Nan stumbled back from the push. Seeing the fire burning in Ning Xuan's black eyes, he felt completely unable to resist. As if bewitched, he nodded and retreated to his room like a ghost.
Once he was in his room, Ning Xuan opened her clenched right fist. Beneath the skin of her palm, the black seed extended dozens of black threads. These threads pierced into her boiling blood vessels, weaving through them and absorbing certain substances from her blood. The black threads slowly grew. As time ticked by, her boiling blood gradually calmed.
A special energy, similar to Spiritual Energy, rose like a mist. It broke free from her blood and spread into her limbs and bones. The meridians and acupoints within her body gradually became distinct.
Ning Xuan felt her racing heart slowly calm down. She withdrew the black threads from her blood vessels. The moment they broke through her skin, they grew into a dozen black-and-red vines. The vines, like tentacles, moved under Ning Xuan's control. They pulled all the food out of the refrigerator, went to the kitchen, and started heating it. Ning Xuan watched the vines, her eyes filled with joy. Her Spirit Plant had finally awakened from its dormancy. Although it was severely depleted, its core had not been damaged. As long as it had enough energy, it could recover its original strength!
However, the Ghost-faced Red Vine was a Seventh-level Demon Plant, and this body's constitution was too poor to handle it. For now, she could only summon these few vines to move around. To unleash the Red Vine's full power, she would have to wait for this body to grow stronger!
'Good. I'm finally not fighting alone anymore. As long as I slowly build up my strength, I'll find a way back one day.'
Ning Xuan sat in the dining room, unhurriedly eating the heated meat cutlets. As soon as she finished one, a vine would deliver another. Though Ning Xuan didn't seem to be eating fast, none of the dozen or so vines were idle.
After more than half an hour, the month's worth of food that had been stored in the refrigerator was gone. The gnawing hunger inside Ning Xuan finally subsided.
The Fierce Beast lurking inside her seemed to be finally satisfied. Ning Xuan felt every cell in her body, from the inside out, relax and unfold. This unfolding sensation brought immense pleasure to her emotions and Divine Sense. A ripple spread through her Spiritual Sea as her spiritual power overflowed, instantly blanketing the entire house. At the same time, the substance that had evaporated from her blood seeped out through her pores. Ning Xuan felt light and incredibly comfortable.
Ning Xuan glanced at the empty refrigerator. 'I need to have Chen Nan buy more food. Otherwise, if this happens again and I have nothing to eat, I don't know what I might do when I get desperate with hunger.'
Ning Xuan went upstairs to find Chen Nan. Just as she reached the second floor, she heard a pained, low gasp. It was a suppressed sound, as if someone was enduring immense pain.
Besides her, Chen Nan was the only one in the house. 'Is Chen Nan hurt? But he was fine just a moment ago!'
Ning Xuan looked toward the source of the sound. It was coming from Chen Nan's room.
She went to Chen Nan's room and knocked. "Chen Nan, are you okay?"
"I'm... fine!" Chen Nan's hoarse voice replied.
"Then open the door. I need to talk to you!" Ning Xuan frowned. His voice was trembling; he didn't sound fine at all.
'Although Chen Nan hid his personal information at first, probably because his low Level made him unwilling to form a Contract, he's done so much for me since he arrived. He drove off Ning Chuchu, and in the time they'd spent together, he'd given his money and effort, catering to her every need. He's helped her a lot so far. Now that he's clearly hurt, how could she just stand by and do nothing?'
"Tomorrow... can it wait until tomorrow?" Chen Nan was shivering. Ning Xuan could hear his teeth chattering.
"Is the poison in your body acting up? Didn't you say my spiritual power could help you expel it? I'm coming in!" Ning Xuan was genuinely worried about Chen Nan. 'He's the only friend I've acknowledged since coming to this Otherworld.'
The house belonged to Ning Xuan, so she could enter any room she pleased. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. Inside, Chen Nan's clothes were in disarray, and there were traces of blood at the corner of his mouth. The corners of his eyes and brows were tinged with red. His pupils, usually so calm, had turned an emerald green. They welled with tears, clear and flawless, making him look like an elf.
Seeing Ning Xuan enter, Chen Nan's eyes showed a mix of forbearance and panic. He pulled out a silver collar from somewhere, closed his eyes, and with a CLICK, fastened it around his neck.
After he put on the collar, a faint red blush quickly spread across his exposed skin. The expression on his face became even more pained. Perhaps from the effort of holding back, his body was trembling!
"You... you're in your heat period?" Although Ning Xuan hadn't been in this world for long, ever since taking on a Contractor, she had learned about everything he might need from her.
The way Chen Nan looked now was clearly the state of a male Spirit Controller going through the heat period that occurred after they reached adulthood.
The so-called "heat period" was a rather euphemistic term. In reality, it was a mating season. By using gene-fusion technology to merge with Mutant Beast Genes, humans had gained power, but they had also picked up other bestial habits. This annual heat period differed depending on one's Companion Spirit. Chen Nan's Companion Spirit was the Green-eyed Golden Eagle, a large, Fierce Beast of a bird. Its heat period usually occurred in the spring and lasted for about one to two months.
"Please, leave!" Chen Nan's fingers dug tightly into the mattress beneath him. Smelling the pheromones wafting from Ning Xuan at such close range, his already precarious sanity was on the verge of shattering. His blood boiled, crashing rampantly through his body. His heart pounded uncontrollably. Every drop of blood in his veins was filled with a desperate craving for the person before him. 'I crave for her to come closer, to stroke me, to touch me, or more...'