Boys Should Stay Safe When Out and About

Ma Xiaotao glanced down at the pink blast of Qi scattering beneath her feet, a little surprised.

That rabbit shockwave was much stronger than she had expected. If she had taken a direct hit just now, it would have hurt for quite a while, even with her strength suppressed.

"Again!" Jiang Wu formed another pink rabbit below her.

This time he had learned his lesson. Thrusting both hands forward, he sent them flying one after another. The pink rabbit-shaped waves of Qi formed a line in the air, chasing Ma Xiaotao along her flight path.

Ma Xiaotao dodged left and right, her fiery wings beating with a rush as she swept Phoenix Fire Line after Phoenix Fire Line down at him.

One fought in the sky, the other on the ground. Lines of fire clashed with pink rabbits, sending sparks and flashes of pink light flying through the woods. The surrounding trees suffered, a hole burned through one here and a branch blasted off another there, while several layers of turf were torn up from the ground.

The longer Ma Xiaotao fought, the more she felt something was wrong.

The brat was throwing his rabbits faster and faster, and his aim was getting trickier. At first, she could dodge them easily, but later she had to evade them in earnest to keep them from hitting her in the face.

Some distance away, several people watched Jiang Wu and Ma Xiaotao spar.

There were five of them in all: Xian Lin'er, Yan Shaozhe, Qian Duoduo, Du Weilun, and Cai Mei'er.

Xian Lin'er stood at the front, arms folded and eyes fixed unblinkingly on the fight in the woods. Her face was mostly expressionless, but the slight curve of her lips gave her away.

"This brat, Mitu Shockwave... he came up with the Soul Skill himself, but he certainly picked the name casually." Her tone was mild, making it impossible to tell whether she was praising or mocking him.

Yan Shaozhe stood beside her, stroking his beard as he watched Jiang Wu use Teleportation while forming rabbits, chasing Ma Xiaotao all over the sky. "Although Xiaotao has suppressed her strength, this brat's combat awareness really is quite good. Dean Xian, you've taken in a fine disciple."

Xian Lin'er turned to glance at him, her tone flat. "Yan Shaozhe, stop scheming. He's my disciple. Don't even think about poaching him."

Yan Shaozhe smiled and said nothing in reply, but his expression made it clear he hadn't given up.

Qian Duoduo chimed in from the side. "Old Yan, don't be foolish. Lin'er finally took in a disciple, and you want to snatch him halfway? If word got out, how would you show your face?"

Yan Shaozhe waved a hand helplessly. "I only said a couple of nice things, and every one of you is guarding against me like I'm a thief."

Du Weilun and Cai Mei'er laughed beside them. Cai Mei'er said, "Who doesn't know what you're thinking? But Jiang Wu seems well suited to Dean Xian, and he's interested in Soul Tools too, so stop thinking about him."

Yan Shaozhe sighed and said nothing more, though the lingering reluctance was written all over his face.

In the woods, Ma Xiaotao grew more impatient as the fight went on.

At the same time, Ma Xiaotao was puzzled, wondering why Jiang Wu had so much Soul Power.

"Is this brat a rabbit or something? How can he throw so many?" Ma Xiaotao flipped sideways to dodge two pink rabbits, then beat her fiery wings and dived, planning to close in and settle things in hand-to-hand combat.

The moment Jiang Wu saw her diving, he used Instant Beast Flash to open the distance, then flung another Mitu Shockwave back at her.

The rabbit grazed Ma Xiaotao's arm, scorching a patch of her sleeve, and the shock from the exploding pink wave of Qi left half her body numb.

"All right, brat, so you can dodge, huh?" Ma Xiaotao gritted her teeth as crimson-gold flames surged from her body, and she crashed down like a small sun.

Jiang Wu saw what was coming and knew he couldn't dodge, so he charged up to meet Ma Xiaotao.

More importantly, he didn't have much Soul Power left and needed to maintain his current state. Otherwise, he would have run Ma Xiaotao around like a dog.

The two figures collided in midair.

With a muffled boom, a blast of Qi rolled outward, flattening the surrounding bushes against the ground.

Jiang Wu was knocked back seven or eight steps, his feet plowing two furrows in the ground as his right arm went numb.

Ma Xiaotao had just gotten worked up during the fight, and her strength had gone well beyond three rings.

The recoil also sent Ma Xiaotao bouncing back into the air, and she beat her fiery wings twice before stabilizing herself.

"Not bad, brat." Ma Xiaotao shook out her numb wrist, the determination not to admit defeat on her face growing stronger. "Again!"

She folded her fiery wings and plunged straight down from the air, her right foot wreathed in flame as she kicked at Jiang Wu's chest.

Jiang Wu turned sideways to evade her, and the two became entangled in close combat once more.

As they fought, Ma Xiaotao suddenly felt a current of heat surge out of her bloodline. It was searing hot and carried a restlessness that made her heart race.

Her hands slowed for a beat.

Jiang Wu thought she was about to change tactics and hurriedly opened the distance, but Ma Xiaotao didn't pursue him.

She stood where she was, her chest heaving. The fierce look on her face turned to one of struggle, and fine beads of sweat appeared at her temples.

"Senior?" Jiang Wu lowered his guard and called out tentatively.

As he spoke, he deactivated Golden Dragon Body. He really couldn't maintain it any longer.

Ma Xiaotao didn't answer. Her hands were clenched into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

She could no longer suppress the heat. It burned its way up to her chest and rushed into her head. Everything before her began to blur, leaving only the figure of the young man in front of her growing clearer and clearer.

She smelled his scent, sweat mixed with a warm fragrance she couldn't quite describe. When it entered her nose, it was like a fire tossed into a pile of dry kindling.

"Get away, quickly..." Ma Xiaotao forced the words through clenched teeth, her voice trembling.

Jiang Wu froze for a moment. Before he could understand what was happening, Ma Xiaotao had already moved.

She crossed the distance in one step, faster than before. Jiang Wu instinctively tried to dodge, but Ma Xiaotao's hand had already clamped onto his shoulder with ridiculous force, her five fingers digging into his flesh like iron pincers.

Then she pressed herself against him, her burning lips coming down on his.

Jiang Wu's mind went blank with a buzz.

He could feel the abnormal heat coming off Ma Xiaotao. Her whole body was like it was on fire, even her breath was hot, and she kissed him fiercely and urgently, without any rhythm.

One hand held his shoulder while the other had already begun tugging at his collar.

"Senior, calm down!" Jiang Wu turned his head away and pushed at her in a fluster.

In all his years of life, this was the first time Jiang Wu had encountered anything like this.

In the distance, Xian Lin'er's expression changed. "This is bad, Xiaotao's Evil Fire is acting up!"

Yan Shaozhe grew anxious too. "Stop her, quickly!"

Xian Lin'er was already moving, her body turning into an afterimage as she swept toward the woods.

Qian Duoduo and Yan Shaozhe followed close behind, and Cai Mei'er and Du Weilun rushed over as well.

Xian Lin'er arrived first and struck the back of Ma Xiaotao's neck with the edge of her hand, judging the force with perfect precision. Ma Xiaotao let out a muffled grunt, her grip loosened, and her body went limp.

Yan Shaozhe came up from behind and caught Ma Xiaotao, while Qian Duoduo pulled Jiang Wu aside.

Jiang Wu stood there in a daze, his collar hanging open, his hair mussed, and a lipstick mark from Ma Xiaotao still on his face. It took him a long while to recover his senses.

At that moment, Jiang Wu had only one thought: boys needed to stay safe when they were out and about.