The Place He Shouldn't Have Patted

Lin Xiaotian raised his eyes and looked straight at his opponent. He could make out the lines on the man's palm and the faint waves of scorching Blood Qi rolling off its edge.

The strike was fast, but not so fast that no one could react. At least, not for him.

His unusual Blood Qi had not directly raised his Martial Dao realm, nor had it improved his Root Bone to some monstrous degree.

But at the same level, his body reacted far faster than anyone else's.

Especially after absorbing the medicinal essence of those herbs today, his Blood Qi was like a young man who had eaten his fill: brimming with strength and itching to let loose.

He could not avoid the palm strike entirely. After all, his opponent was burning his Blood Qi, greatly boosting him in every respect.

Besides, with his abundant Blood Qi, his body recovered faster. Even if the blow landed, it would do little harm beyond making him suffer for a while.

But that was no reason to take the strike for nothing.

The corners of Lin Xiaotian's mouth lifted slightly. He said:

"I also took medicine to burn my Blood Qi just now. That was how I forced myself out of this woman's fatal attack. If that palm strike lands squarely, I'm afraid the secret you want will die with me."

Xiao Jingli faltered. His breathing tightened, and he started to pull back some of his strength while still aiming to strike the boy.

But that brief hesitation gave Lin Xiaotian time to react. Grabbing Ouyang Nianci, he leaped into the collapsed opening with a whoosh.

The beasts below had long since stopped pouring out. They clung to both sides of the shaft in dense, seething layers.

As he jumped in with Ouyang Nianci, it was as though he had poked a hornet's nest. The beasts surged at them again.

Lin Xiaotian circulated his Blood Qi. Holding Ouyang Nianci in his left hand and his blade in his right, he slashed several times in quick succession, carving out a temporary gap.

Ouyang Nianci was not so lucky. Lin Xiaotian shielded her vital points and shifted her out of the worst of it, but quite a few beasts still slammed into her.

She let out a soft cry of pain.

Fortunately, the furious assault soon ended. Below them ran a stream, and on it, astonishingly, floated a small boat.

Lin Xiaotian's eyes lit up. He adjusted his posture, twisted in midair, and landed inside the boat.

He looked up. The opening was still there, with beasts clinging to its walls, but they did not attack again.

A moment later, the beasts at the opening stirred into another frenzy, and a burly man dropped straight down.

Lin Xiaotian carried Ouyang Nianci a few steps back, leaving room for the man as though waiting for him to board.

Bang!

The boat rocked from the impact.

Lin Xiaotian remained standing, smiling at the somewhat bedraggled External Force expert of the Xiao Household.

"You aren't afraid of me? You didn't take the boat and flee. You just waited for me."

Xiao Jingli steadied himself in the boat, puzzled by the boy's reaction.

Lin Xiaotian did not answer. He pointed at Ouyang Nianci in his hand. "Give me a decent healing pill. At least as good as the one you're about to take."

Xiao Jingli froze, then pointed at him as though he had seen a ghost. "You're ordering me around? And telling me to give this girl a pill?"

Lin Xiaotian remained calm, scarcely sparing him a glance.

"Ouyang Nianci can't die. I don't want to bear the blame for killing someone from the Ouyang Household. Besides, you took medicine that overdraws your Blood Qi. Its effect should be wearing off now. The exhaustion and side effects will hit soon."

"I don't want to kill you."

"You..." Xiao Jingli's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. Then he burst out laughing. "Haha! You're an interesting little brat. No one's ever threatened me like that before. You're the first."

"For that nerve of yours, here..."

Whoosh!

A pill flew toward him.

Lin Xiaotian caught it without even looking, hauled Ouyang Nianci up, pinched her mouth open, and roughly stuffed the pill inside.

She made a muffled noise of protest, but against his force, every struggle was futile.

All she could do was glare at him with bloodshot eyes.

"Hahaha!" Xiao Jingli laughed, pointing at Lin Xiaotian and doubling over. "Little brat, that's no way to treat a beauty!"

"Do you know she's the jewel of the Ouyang Household? Plenty of young pups in our Lineage have their hearts set on marrying her."

"And here you are, handling her so roughly... You haven't the slightest idea how to cherish a beauty."

"It's still better than letting you kill her." Lin Xiaotian's reply choked off Xiao Jingli's laughter.

"Enough. Stop pretending you're fine. I know you need to heal too. If your Explosive Blood Qi hadn't worn off, you'd have subdued me the moment you came down."

Lin Xiaotian spoke so calmly that Xiao Jingli had no retort.

Xiao Jingli stopped smiling and stared at him, a fierce light blazing in his eyes. Then, all at once, he laughed again.

"Haha! Very good, boy. I like the look of you... Fine, I'll heal first. Overdrawing myself does damage, after all. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to resort to this."

"But don't get any ideas. Even weakened, I'm still an External Force expert. That little body of yours couldn't withstand me."

"I know. Don't worry. If you die, I probably won't be able to get out of this cave." Lin Xiaotian's voice remained even.

Xiao Jingli stopped trading words with him. He sat down sharply on the boat's deck, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes.

But the moment he sat, there came another thump. The boy across from him had sat down too, legs crossed, settling in to recover.

"Why, you little bastard!" Xiao Jingli now understood that the boy also needed to recuperate. He had only stood there looking unruffled to bluff him, and Xiao Jingli cursed inwardly.

Still, he could not help admiring the boy a little. Anyone else would have been frightened out of their wits.

Lin Xiaotian sat there, though in truth there was nothing wrong with him. His Martial Dao strength was simply too astonishing, and he needed some way to conceal it.

Sitting cross-legged would make him look injured. Then the excuse he planned to give would sound reasonable.

After Ouyang Nianci swallowed the pill, her Blood Qi surged like mercury. Her cheeks grew rosy, lending her a touch more beauty, and much of her depleted Blood Qi recovered.

She had regained a fair amount of strength, too.

She quietly opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the young man sitting upright, his posture perfectly composed.

From here, he even looked rather handsome.

She admitted she had misjudged him. Someone that woman treated as a younger brother, someone Master Huang had personally escorted here—how could he be so simple?

Even if he said some childish, grandiose things, that was only a young man speaking his mind.

This angle gave her the perfect chance to strike and kill him. Her Lineage's secrets could never be revealed.

She hesitated. The boy had just saved her, yet she was about to kill him. It felt dishonorable.

She gritted her teeth. Her Lineage's interests came before everything. Just as she prepared to strike—

Smack! Something patted her bottom, and a voice sounded by her ear:

"Behave yourself. Stop trying to kill someone at every turn."

Ouyang Nianci went rigid. No one had ever dared treat her so rudely, much less pat her there.

Her entire face turned red.

Lin Xiaotian felt wronged himself.

He had noticed her movement and meant to warn her. Perhaps his Blood Qi was running too high. And with her so close, her fragrance kept rushing into his nose.

So when he reached out, though he had meant to pat her back, his hand somehow landed there instead.

"Hahaha!" Laughter rang out from the other end of the boat. It was Xiao Jingli.

He had opened his eyes and was watching the young man and Ouyang Nianci with interest, his expression saying he finally understood.

"No wonder you saved her. You had your eye on her! Fine, then. From now on, this woman is yours."

Lin Xiaotian knew the misunderstanding had grown far too deep.