The wind at the bottom of the valley cut like knives, each gust carrying a bone-deep chill.
Li Xiang braced Xeno's arms with both of hers, half supporting and half dragging him as she struggled forward, one step at a time.
The high fever had left Xeno barely conscious. His eyelids were too heavy to lift, his entire face was alarmingly hot, and his body was limp, as though his bones had vanished.
Most of his weight rested on Li Xiang.
He lacked even the strength to raise his head, letting the person beside him guide him as he passively shuffled forward.
Li Xiang's arms ached with exhaustion.
Why was Xeno so heavy...?
Was it because he was tall?
Couldn't he turn into Senku?
"Kukuku, Great Teacher Li Xiang?" Senku turned back with a dangerously friendly smile, looking perfectly innocent.
"Uh... that was an accident." Li Xiang scratched her cheek.
"You know how much you weigh, right? Carrying you is easy for me," Li Xiang said with utter sincerity, only for the modern-day Sakura Kingdom natives to blush.
Because in the Sakura Kingdom, "carrying" someone... actually meant sleeping with them.
As someone from Flower-Country, Li Xiang might not know that, which was understandable.
After all, who would pat your shoulder with a perfectly earnest expression and say, "You're easy to sleep with"?
"Li Xiang, in our country, carrying someone actually means... means..." Ukyo tried to explain, but his face turned bright red before he could get the words out.
"Huh?" Li Xiang looked baffled.
Yuzuriha leaned close and whispered in her ear. Finally realizing what she had said, Li Xiang practically threw herself at Senku's feet to apologize.
"Ah, Little Senku, I didn't mean it like that!"
"I know." Senku turned his face away.
*Hey, hey, hey, why did