CHAPTER 395: CHAPTER 376: I LIKE YOU

At first, the True Qi infused into his body was indeed like a long-awaited rain falling on a drought-stricken desert, bringing endless coolness.

But as time passed, it felt as though he was being burned by fire. Eventually, the cool spring transformed into boiling magma, not only failing to alleviate the burning pain inside him but instead exacerbated it, becoming more intense and more painful.

Yun Ran gradually noticed that something was wrong with Nangong Mo. Initially, she was convinced he was pretending, but seeing him now... it truly didn’t seem like an act!

"Nangong Mo, you..."

However, before she could finish speaking, Nangong Mo suddenly reached out and pulled her into his embrace, tightly encircling her slender waist with his arms, his head buried in the crook of her neck, murmuring softly, "Aran... Aran..."

Yun Ran was slightly stunned, instinctively reaching out to hug him back, gently stroking his back with her palm, "I’m here, I’m here! Nangong Mo, are you... are you feeling uncomfortable? Do you have any medicine to relieve or suppress this technique?"

However, Nangong Mo seemed to be in a daze, only softly calling her name, whispering that it was very hot.

"Hot?"

Yun Ran lightly frowned, looking at him, abnormally lying on her shoulder, lost in thought.

Her initial judgment was that the secret technique afflicting him indeed had the symptoms of internal heat and external cold, but upon closer inspection, it seemed that the heat he mentioned was not that simple.

As her thoughts fluctuated, Yun Ran reached behind, feeling for his wrist, and the pulse beneath her fingertips made her expression drastically change.

[Heavens! This pulse, this is clearly... Could the technique be so malevolent?! Not only causing torturous suffering but also making one...]

Nangong Mo’s fevered, confused, and hazy mind regained a faint clarity, using the last of his rationality to push the girl in his arms away.

"Aran, you... quickly go!"

Caught off guard, Yun Ran stumbled from his push, kicking the dagger hidden beneath the herbs. The clash of the blade against the jade stone floor made a crisp sound.

Herbs, a dagger, and bloodstains that hadn’t dried.

In an instant, the thoughts in Yun Ran’s mind whirled, considering the wounds on his body, a bold conjecture emerging.

[Could it be that all those wounds were self-inflicted? Using pain to remain conscious, to fight against the... inside him?]

[This clearly isn’t the first time this has happened to him. Has he been using this method each time, resisting desire by harming himself?]

It felt as though an invisible giant hand gripped her heart tightly, leaving her stifled, her breath strained, and her chest in bursts of pain.

Yun Ran pressed a hand against her chest, gently closed her eyes, barely calming the turbulent emotions within her. When she opened her eyes again, a previously unseen determination was present in her autumn-clear eyes.

Yun Ran quietly gazed at Nangong Mo, her tone gentle yet firm, "Nangong Mo, I understand your current situation, and I will not leave."

Faced with the girl’s tender and affectionate gaze, Nangong Mo felt a tightness in his heart, and the hard-fought rationality he maintained almost unraveled.

"You, leave now, listen... to me!"

He used all his willpower to turn away, not looking at her, but her figure was etched in his mind—sometimes mischievous, sometimes bright, sometimes lively—and no matter how he tried, he couldn’t dispel it.

"Aran, be good, leave this place quickly. I really am going to..." lose control!

Nangong Mo clenched his fists tightly, squeezing his eyes shut, but in the next moment, the girl’s gentle body was leaping into his arms.

"Nangong Mo, I like you."