Grilled Meat, Luo Li's Pursuit!

Seeing her waver, Bing Tianxiao hurriedly pressed his advantage, pointing at the Luoshen Sword beneath his feet. "Besides, your sword is in my hands now, and so are you.

If I really wanted repayment, I could do this to you right now..."

As he spoke, Bing Tianxiao's gaze instinctively swept over the girl's slender waist and long neck.

A flush instantly surged across Luo Li's pale, pretty face.

It was a blush of shame and anger. Her eyes instantly turned as sharp as blades. "You wouldn't dare!"

"Ahem, I wouldn't. Not only am I afraid of death, I'm also a coward."

Bing Tianxiao immediately backed down, coughing twice to hide his embarrassment. "What I mean is, let's make a deal.

I'll return your sword and let you go, and you won't come looking for trouble with me again.

We'll stay out of each other's way. Let's pretend this life-saving favor never happened and call it even. How about it?"

"No."

Without a moment's thought, Luo Li flatly refused. Her voice remained cold and stubborn. "A favor is a favor, and a grudge is a grudge. Letting me go today would be another favor. But I cannot break my previous vow, unless..."

"Unless what?"

Bing Tianxiao felt like his head was about to explode.

Why was this girl so stubborn?

Luo Li bit her lip and stared at Bing Tianxiao's face, so close to hers.

A complicated glimmer flashed through those glass-like eyes. "Unless you can defeat me, and keep defeating me.

As long as you're stronger than me, I won't be able to kill you..."

Bing Tianxiao froze for a moment.

Then he looked down at Luo Li, whom he was holding against his lap as easily as a chick, before glancing at the Luoshen Sword beneath his feet.

He fell silent for three seconds.

"Heroine, do you have some misunderstanding about the current situation?

Haven't I... already defeated you?"

"That doesn't count!"

Luo Li's face, originally as cold as frost, was now red as though it had been scorched by fire, so crimson it seemed ready to bleed.

Being held across the lap of a boy her own age in such a humiliating position was unbearable for someone as proud as her.

It was even worse than killing her.

Driven by shame and fury, the potential within her body seemed to burst forth in an instant.

Her arms, twisted behind her back, suddenly exerted force, while her long legs tightened like springs as she tried to throw this hateful man off her.

"Ow, you're still putting up a fight?"

Bing Tianxiao was startled. This woman was seriously strong.

He did not dare let his guard down. Though she no longer had her sword, she was still a genuine genius girl.

He hurriedly lowered his stance, his arm muscles tensing as he firmly pinned down the struggling girl in his arms.

"Behave yourself! Keep moving, and I won't be polite!"

Bing Tianxiao threatened viciously.

To make himself more intimidating, he leaned his face closer. "I'm terrified of dying. If you push me too far, there's nothing I won't do!"

Their current position was extremely suggestive, their bodies tangled together. Their fierce struggle caused their breaths to mingle.

Just as Luo Li gritted her silver teeth—

"Grrr..."

An utterly ill-timed sound suddenly rang out beside the silent campfire.

For a moment, the air seemed to freeze.

Luo Li, who had been struggling desperately, suddenly stiffened.

Her cheeks, which had only been flushed with embarrassment, now turned crimson all the way to her ears. Her glass-like eyes were filled with shame and anger.

Bing Tianxiao also paused, his gaze instinctively shifting to Luo Li's flat stomach.

Then he looked at her expression, as though she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground.

"Um..."

Bing Tianxiao blinked, feeling that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to save his life.

He immediately released one hand holding Luo Li down and grabbed the skewer of beast meat sizzling with oil beside the fire.

"Ahem, as they say, food is the staff of life. Miss one meal, and you'll be starving."

Bing Tianxiao held the grilled meat to Luo Li's lips, taking the opportunity to ease the tension.

"How about... we eat first? We can talk after we're full."

Luo Li stared at the grilled meat before her, giving off an enticing aroma, then looked at Bing Tianxiao's ingratiating expression.

Her stomach gave another uncooperative growl.

In the end, hunger defeated her sense of shame.

She turned her head away. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito's hum, yet carried a stubborn pride.

"...Let go."

The campfire gradually dimmed, leaving only a few glowing red coals that occasionally spat sparks.

Bing Tianxiao looked at the pile of clean-picked bones on the ground, and the corner of his mouth twitched.

This girl looked slender, but she certainly did not hold back when eating. Her table manners were excellent, though—she chewed slowly and delicately.

"Full?"

Bing Tianxiao asked tentatively.

He casually kicked the pitch-black Luoshen Sword to Luo Li's feet. "Here, your sword.

As they say, eating someone's food makes you less harsh, and taking their things puts you in their debt. You ate my meat, and I returned your sword. We're even now, right?"

Luo Li gracefully wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, then bent down and picked up her sword.

The instant her fingertips touched the cold hilt, the slightly softened aura around her from eating.

Immediately turned cold and sharp once more.

She rose to her feet, her silver hair lifting gently in the night breeze as those glass-like eyes quietly watched Bing Tianxiao.

"We can't call it even."

Luo Li's voice was crisp and pleasant, but what she said made Bing Tianxiao's scalp tingle. "Saving my life is one karmic debt, and the grilled meat just now is another.

The more I owe, the harder it is for my state of mind to reach perfection."

"Miss, isn't your logic a little..."

Bing Tianxiao had just been about to complain when Luo Li interrupted him.

"So, I've decided."

With a flick of her wrist, Luo Li sheathed the Luoshen Sword, which let out a clear ring.

"From today onward, I'll follow you and hunt you down."

"Huh?"

Bing Tianxiao's eyes widened. "Are you so full you've lost your mind? You just ate my meat, and now you want to kill the cook?"

"Not now."

Luo Li shook her head, staring intently at him. "My state of mind is in turmoil, and I lost to you just now. Fighting you now would be dishonorable.

I'll give you time, and I'll give myself time as well."

She paused, her tone carrying a hint of obsession.

"I will temper my sword until I am certain I can sever this karmic bond.

During that time, if you don't want to die, you can only desperately grow stronger—strong enough that I cannot kill you. Or you can kill me."

After saying that, she gave Bing Tianxiao no chance to argue. Her figure flashed, and she instantly vanished into the dark forest.

Leaving behind only her cold voice, echoing through the air.

"Bing Tianxiao, remember this: don't die at someone else's hands. Your life is mine."

Bing Tianxiao stood there blankly, staring in the direction Luo Li had disappeared.

After a long while, he suddenly slapped his thigh and wailed at the empty woods.

"What a disaster! Did I save someone, or did I bring home a living King of Hell?"

He sighed helplessly and returned to sit beside the campfire.

If he had not known Luo Li's background, he would have drawn his bow and shot that crazy woman long ago.

But the problem was, he could not afford to provoke her.

With the background of a mere Ice Spirit Clan branch, he simply could not withstand revenge from that Earth Supreme old man of the Luo Shen Clan.