Nalan Yanran jolted at the figure that had suddenly appeared before her. Then she recognized the face. Xiao Yan. She let out a shaky breath of relief.
But something was wrong. Terribly wrong. His expression was twisted, veins bulging across his forehead, heavy beads of sweat streaking down his cheeks. His face was flushed an unnatural, feverish red. And his eyes—his eyes held a frantic, terrifying confusion, and beneath it, an impulse he clearly could not control.
"Xiao Yan… what's wrong with you?" she asked, her voice tight with confusion.
He didn't answer. He simply walked toward her, one slow step at a time. With every step, an invisible pressure bore down on her. She understood now. He had lost his mind.
Worry flashed in her eyes. Her fists clenched. She backed away. He advanced. Her spine met the cold stone wall. Nowhere left to run.
"Xiao Yan, wake up!" She shouted at him, desperately trying to break through whatever had seized him. It was useless.
He let out a low, guttural roar and swept his hand forward. Emerald-green flame lashed out and bound her in place. The way the flames coiled around her was strange—like some lost art of ropework she had only glimpsed in forbidden texts.
"No… no, Xiao Yan, please wake up." Panic flooded her face. Large tears rolled down her cheeks.
But he heard nothing. Or if he heard, the crimson fervor burning in his eyes only grew stronger at the sight of her bound and helpless before him.
Then came the tearing sounds. Cries of pain. Other noises that echoed endlessly through the vast, empty underground chamber.
---
Time passed. How much, neither could say.
On the stone platform in that world of red lava, two figures remained. One stood. One sat. Both wore skirts, though one wore a full set and the other only a short garment, her upper body bare.
Xiao Yan stared at Nalan Yanran, who sat huddled on the ground with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. They had been like this for over ten minutes since waking. His storage ring had melted, so she had given him a skirt to cover himself. He now wore only that.
Ten minutes ago, when Xiao Yan had opened his eyes, he had found Nalan Yanran lying beside him. Her pretty face was streaked with tears, her expression one of utter exhaustion. Both of them had been completely bare.
He had lost his sanity back then, but his memory remained. As it returned in fragments, he understood what he had done. He had never imagined that absorbing the Heavenly Flame this time would make him lose control so completely. And he had never imagined he would take Nalan Yanran's virginity in the process.
Before, after she had broken their engagement, he had harbored a deep, bitter resentment toward her. But after spending time with her in her disguised identity as Lan Na, he had come to understand her character. In truth, feelings for her had already taken root in his heart long ago. He had simply been too afraid to face them.
Now he stood, looking down at her, his emotions a tangled knot. She sat on the ground, arms wrapped around her knees. Neither had spoken since waking.
A long breath escaped him. Countless thoughts swirled in his mind, and all of them finally condensed into a sigh. The situation was what it was. There was only one path forward now. His gaze shifted—from conflicted to resolved. Perhaps it was in this moment that Xiao Yan truly began to grow up. Understood what responsibility meant.
"What happened earlier… was my fault. I'm sorry." He lowered his head, his voice quiet, laced with deep apology.
Nalan Yanran's body trembled at his words. The memories surged back and she pressed her head down even further. She had not expected to lose her innocence like this. She had feelings for Xiao Yan, yes—feelings she had harbored for a long time—but this had come too suddenly. She couldn't accept it so quickly.
She bit down hard on her lip, trying to suppress the emotions churning inside her, but the tears still fell, splashing onto the stone.
Xiao Yan watched her shoulders tremble and felt his own heart twist. "Even though this was an accident… what's done is done. I'll take responsibility. I want to continue our engagement."
Nalan Yanran lifted her red-rimmed eyes to him, tears still streaming. "You don't have to force yourself," she choked out. "Our engagement ended the day I was defeated. You said this was an accident. I… I accept this accident."
"No! That's not what I meant!" Panic flashed across Xiao Yan's face. He fumbled for words. "I am… I just… I mean…"
"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone. I don't mind. Let's just pretend this never happened." Her voice cracked. "We'll never see each other again."
Even as she spoke, fragments of memory surfaced against her will. She had resisted at first, struggled… but later, hadn't she… cooperated? The thought had barely formed before she crushed it, secretly scolding herself. *Why am I thinking such strange things? It must have been an illusion.*
"Do you even know what you're saying?" Xiao Yan's voice dropped, heavy with intensity.
"Of course I know. This is best for everyone, isn't it?" Her expression was firm, her gaze fixed on him. But her angle was unfortunate, and her eyes caught sight of things they shouldn't have. A strange sensation rippled through her body, followed by a sudden surge of remembered pain.
Xiao Yan met her gaze for a long moment. Then he dropped into a crouch and pulled her into his arms.
She startled, tried to resist, but he held firm. Finally she gave up and buried her face against his shoulder. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks. Her fists pounded weakly against him. "You're nothing but a brute," she sobbed. "A cruel, heartless brute."
She sank her teeth into the flesh of his shoulder.
Xiao Yan sucked in a sharp breath. But he didn't push her away. He simply endured.
"Once we get out of here," he said quietly, stroking her hair, "I'll go to your family and formally propose. Then we'll settle everything."
His voice was gentle, but underneath it lay absolute resolve. He was serious now—not out of guilt, but out of something deeper. Recognition. Affirmation. Love.
Nalan Yanran froze. She pulled back and stared at him blankly. When her mind finally caught up, she asked—