You're Too Cruel, Li Xiang!

Tsukasa Shishio stood tall where he was, making it clear that he intended to force his way forward and take Li Xiang with him.

Faced with his threat, Li Xiang instead held the unconscious Senku in her arms and slowly backed away.

Her eyes curved with her smile, and her lips curled into an utterly wicked grin.

"Want to catch me?"

Li Xiang's tone was light as she taunted him, looking Tsukasa Shishio straight in the eye.

"Then come and get me."

The moment those words fell, the atmosphere shifted.

Tsukasa was just about to step forward and catch up to the retreating group. But the instant he moved, a faint, dragging ache suddenly spread through his lower abdomen.

At first, it was only a mild, bloated ache. Within moments, however, the pain spread rapidly, churning through his gut and growing more intense.

The sudden stomach pain hit fast and hard.

Tsukasa's sharp brows abruptly knitted tight, and his body jerked to a halt, freezing him mid-motion.

A flicker of disbelief crossed his eyes. His exceptional physique meant he rarely experienced uncontrollable physical pain like these sudden cramps.

Seeing him freeze, Li Xiang could no longer hide her wicked grin. She simply let it turn mischievous and chuckled under her breath.

She looked so smug that she was practically asking to be punched...

Tsukasa raised his eyes, his dark gaze fixed heavily on her, and asked in an extremely low voice, "Did you tamper with it?"

He immediately realized that the problem lay with the grilled fish he had just eaten.

Everything else he had touched or consumed that day had been perfectly clean, with nothing unusual about it.

Everything except the fish Li Xiang had personally grilled and handed to him.

Li Xiang slowly raised a hand and rubbed the tip of her nose, looking utterly innocent as she offered a straight-faced excuse.

"Oh, come on. Why make it sound so nasty by calling it drugging?"

"I didn't add any poison or sedatives. It won't hurt you or kill you. At most, I just added a little extra of my special seasoning."

She arched an eyebrow, watching Tsukasa's expression darken little by little as the pain in his abdomen became more pronounced, and grinned even wider.

"So, how is it, little Tsukasa?"

"My special all-natural laxative tasted pretty good, didn't it?"

"Oh, actually, let me tell you the truth. I added laxatives to it. Enough to give you the runs for days."

"Hey, stay away from spicy, greasy food, little Tsukasa. Replenish your electrolytes, and you'll recover faster."

The cramps churned more and more violently. Tsukasa's face visibly paled, and the strength rapidly drained from his body.

No matter how powerful a fighter he was or how freakishly fit, he was still no match for nature's call.

Forget chasing anyone or forcibly taking Li Xiang away. Even standing steadily was becoming a struggle.

Taiju and Yuzuriha had watched the entire thing from the sidelines. Standing shoulder to shoulder, they exchanged a look, both speechless.

Li Xiang really was far too sneaky and cunning...

Taiju scratched his head, hesitated, and finally could only sigh helplessly. "Li Xiang really is... full of surprises."

Yuzuriha nodded gently. "Li Xiang really is..."

With Tsukasa rooted to the spot by unbearable stomach pain, Li Xiang stopped teasing him.

Joking was one thing, but serious business came first.

She wiped the wicked grin from her face and became serious again. Holding the unconscious Senku securely in her arms, she turned to the two stunned onlookers and quietly instructed them.

"Come on. Let's get out of here."

They had to seize this chance before it was gone.

Taiju and Yuzuriha immediately snapped out of their daze. Not daring to waste any time, they hurried after Li Xiang.

The three lingered no longer. They turned and hurried out of the woodland campsite, heading deeper into the dense forest in the distance.

They kept moving at a brisk pace until they were well away from Tsukasa's area. Only after confirming that he could no longer catch up and they could hear no sign of him did they finally stop.

Li Xiang carefully lowered the unconscious Senku from her arms and gently laid him flat on the soft grass.

Looking at Senku lying motionless with his eyes shut, Taiju was still sick with worry. "Li Xiang, is Senku... really okay?"

Everyone had clearly seen Tsukasa's knife-hand strike land precisely on the back of his neck. It had been clean and decisive, striking directly at his central nervous system. That blow had definitely been meant to kill.

"Tsukasa clearly killed Senku with his own hands just now. How could he still be alive?"

Yuzuriha crouched beside him too, her face full of worry and her eyes slightly red. She stared at the unconscious boy, anxious and frightened.

Faced with their anxiety, Li Xiang smiled faintly and motioned for them to come closer, her gaze settling on the back of Senku's neck.

"Look closely."

Taiju and Yuzuriha hurriedly leaned down for a closer look, and only then did they notice!

The skin on the back of Senku's neck had not completely returned to its smooth, intact state. A small patch of fragmented petrified shell still clung firmly to it, not fully peeled away.

The patch of stone was tiny and hidden at the back of his neck. Without looking carefully, they would never have noticed it.

Li Xiang slowly began, "What Tsukasa destroyed just now were the nerves in his flesh."

"But this patch is still on his neck. That means Senku's cells can regenerate through the petrification."

"Petrification itself is the ultimate preservation of life. As long as even a trace of petrified tissue remains where the nerves were severed, the person isn't truly dead."

As she spoke, she took a small bottle of liquid from the little pouch she carried.

"As long as petrified cells remain, the revival fluid can rebuild the nerve tissue, repair all the damage, and reset his vital signs."

With that, Li Xiang raised her hand and steadily poured the entire bottle of revival fluid over the wound on Senku's neck.

The clear liquid slowly soaked his skin, seeping into the remnants of the petrified shell.

Faint, tiny cracking sounds quietly rang out as the remaining stone shell softened bit by bit.

And flaked away.

Taiju was instantly overjoyed, so excited that he nearly jumped. "Thank goodness! Senku isn't dead! Thank goodness!"

The enormous weight on his heart finally lifted. The despair of helplessly watching his friend die vanished in an instant.

Yuzuriha also let out a long sigh of relief. All the worry faded from her face, replaced by a relieved smile.

Before long, the boy's eyelashes fluttered lightly, and his fingertips twitched after the revival fluid had soaked in.

A moment later, Senku slowly opened his eyes. His initially dazed, unfocused gaze gradually cleared.

He slowly propped himself up and gently rubbed the back of his neck. A slight, dull ache remained, and his head was briefly foggy, but his awareness had fully returned.

Seeing him wake up without a hitch, Li Xiang finally relaxed completely. She promptly stood up and raised her arms in a long stretch, her whole body loose and at ease.

She glanced at Senku and said casually, "You're awake, so you're fine now."

"Let's get going."

Senku rubbed the sore, stiff back of his neck. "Yeah. Let's get moving first."

Since little Senku had already died once, Yuzuriha thoughtfully made him a contraption to hold his neck together. Senku looked like a scarecrow, helpless to do anything about it.