He Had to Agree, Willing or Not!

But he did not explain. There was no need.

Instead, he reached out, picked up Ouyang Nianci again, and darted aside to clear a path.

Being picked up again left Ouyang Nianci unbearably embarrassed. Heat seemed to rise in her eyes, though she could not tell whether she was angry with him or with herself.

That slap just now had left her strangely light-headed, and an emotion she could neither name nor understand began to stir.

She wanted to resist and seize the chance to strike the boy, but his decisive manner and commanding presence cowed her. She could not even summon the will to fight back.

"We should leave first."

Lin Xiaotian's voice was calm.

Xiao Jingli jolted. The way he looked at the boy changed.

"How did you know I was coming to steer the boat out of here? You even cleared a path for me."

Lin Xiaotian gave him a cool glance and said flatly:

"With that much commotion above, the Ouyang Household isn't a pack of fools. They're bound to notice. It may take them some time, but not too long."

"You've only recovered a little of your strength. You're no fool, either. You wouldn't stop recovering just to watch me lust after her."

Xiao Jingli burst out laughing. He stepped forward through the path Lin Xiaotian had cleared, ready to steer the boat away.

"Little brother, you saw right through me..."

As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Ouyang Nianci, whom the boy was holding.

Her face was bright red, and she looked thoroughly flustered.

"Who would've thought this girl had developed feelings for you? Look, she isn't even fighting back! Hahaha."

That made Ouyang Nianci furious. Whether he had struck a nerve or simply angered her, she gave a sudden wrench and broke free of Lin Xiaotian's hand.

She was faintly surprised. He wasn't restraining me anymore?

Xiao Jingli glanced at Ouyang Nianci.

"Girl, count yourself lucky. Otherwise, I'd have killed you with one palm strike. And if I didn't, I'd have dragged you back and let the disciples of my Lineage have a taste of the Ouyang Household's eldest young lady."

Ouyang Nianci's face burned red, but she did not lash out.

She was no match for Xiao Jingli alone, let alone with his accomplice there.

The boat moved smoothly onward. Branching passages riddled the underground river, so dense that anyone unfamiliar with them would have struggled to tell them apart.

After they had traveled for nearly half an incense stick's time, Lin Xiaotian suddenly spoke:

"That's far enough. We can let Ouyang Nianci go and make her own way back."

Xiao Jingli left the helm and reached the deck in a few bounds.

"Ouyang Nianci can't leave. If she does, she'll know too many of the Xiao Household's secrets."

Lin Xiaotian did not seem surprised.

"All you want is the secret of where Senior Dongli took me back then, isn't it? I can tell you the location."

Ouyang Nianci grew agitated at once. "No! You can't tell him. Even if I die today, I have to stop you."

Xiao Jingli snorted. "If not for this little brother, I'd have taken you away already and put you through torment you can't bear to imagine."

Ouyang Nianci's chest rose and fell. She was plainly furious, and what he said was true, but she still argued:

"You can't do this. Kill me if you must. I'm a member of the Ouyang Household, and I have to do everything I can to stop you. Otherwise, I wouldn't rest easy even in death. I'd endure humiliation if I had to."

Xiao Jingli stopped looking at her and turned his gaze on Lin Xiaotian.

Lin Xiaotian did not look at her either. He met Xiao Jingli's gaze and considered for a moment.

"I'm keeping her alive so she can go back and tell the Ouyang Household I wasn't the one who killed their people. I'm not afraid of them, but I don't want that chamber pot dumped over my head."

"Letting her go is the best way."

Xiao Jingli smiled and gave him a challenging look.

"If she lives, the Xiao Household will likely end up at war with the Ouyang Household. We don't fear them, but I don't want our young men killed or wounded."

"You can bring the girl back to the Xiao Household and live with us from now on. Do whatever you like with her. We won't interfere."

"And I'll even let you choose one of our own eldest young ladies to marry."

"Haha." Lin Xiaotian laughed. "Brother Jingli, you've taken a liking to my potential and want me to serve the Xiao Household. That abacus of yours is clicking away."

Xiao Jingli answered without hesitation:

"Little brother, hearing you call me that feels wonderful. After spending this much time with you, anyone but a fool could see your potential."

"Haha. Even if your path in the Martial Dao ends here, that quick mind of yours alone makes you worth winning over."

Lin Xiaotian nodded, seemingly in agreement.

Xiao Jingli's smile bloomed like a flower.

Ouyang Nianci's heart sank to the bottom of a ravine. Her face went from flushed to ashen, then from ashen back to flushed.

Even now, she found herself imagining how the boy might torment her. But when she thought of Xiao Jingli handing her over to his clansmen as a tool for venting their anger, her face turned ashen again.

She knew she could no longer change what happened today. Most likely, she would not even be allowed to die. He would take her by force.

If it came down to it, being taken by the boy would be a blessing by comparison. But she was the eldest young lady of the Ouyang Household. How could she bear such humiliation?

The moment she heard the boy agree, she would kill herself without hesitation.

"Brother Jingli, you have a point. I hadn't thought everything through."

Xiao Jingli's smile grew warmer.

Ouyang Nianci's ashen face turned cold. She quietly began circulating her blood and qi, preparing for one final struggle. Even if it failed, she might still have a chance to kill herself.

"Brother Jingli, I've decided to tell both of you the location. And I'm letting Ouyang Nianci leave."

"What? This..." Ouyang Nianci stared at the boy, stunned. She could no longer make sense of him.

Xiao Jingli's smiling face changed abruptly. Anger, surprise, bewilderment, and confusion crossed it, along with a trace of the look one gave a fool.

Bang!

Xiao Jingli slammed his palm into a wooden fixture beside him. It shattered into splinters.

"Little brother, are you really going to treat my good intentions like donkey liver and lungs?"

"Little brother, I could kill this girl and force you to submit. Then you'd talk whether you wanted to or not."

Sweat ran down Ouyang Nianci's forehead as she watched the two men nervously.

She feared the boy would yield under the threat of overwhelming force. At that moment, she found herself hoping he would stand firm.

But she knew that was wishful thinking. Faced with such power, he would have to bow his head. Otherwise, he would lose any chance of surviving.

Whoosh!

Before their eyes, Lin Xiaotian shot forward like a ghost and appeared less than half a meter from Xiao Jingli.

With another whoosh, Lin Xiaotian returned to where he had stood.

"Well? You were steering the boat, with no time to nurture your strength and recover. I've been meditating the whole time."

"Am I qualified to say it now?"

"Ouyang Nianci lives today, and both your Households learn the location."

Xiao Jingli's pupils contracted. The boy had moved so fast just now that he had not even had time to react.

Ouyang Nianci's eyes widened in astonishment. She looked almost like an awestruck admirer.

How could he move that fast?