You're mine now

Seeing the successful increase in her affection,

Qin Yi was thoroughly pleased with his decision.

When it came to flirting with girls, opportunities never fell from the sky. They were deliberately created.

A man and a woman alone, now holding each other, spending twelve hours together like this under the continuous blessing of the [Hand of Nüwa]-in such circumstances, even a goddess untouched by the mortal world would probably be unable to keep her heart from stirring.

Below the tall stone platform, four enormous Fire Salamander Beasts kept staring at the two people above with eyes as large as bronze bells.

Ordinary Fire Salamander Beasts had tremendous jumping ability.

But these four were too enormous. After several attempts, they could only jump two meters at most before falling back down.

The stone platform was four meters tall, so as long as the two stayed up there, they were safe for the time being.

However, to create the right atmosphere, Qin Yi kept secretly firing Gang Qi from his internal power at the Fire Salamander Beasts from angles Xu Xinran could not see, deliberately provoking them.

Naturally, the Fire Salamander Beasts were furious at being attacked, and they kept roaring and lunging upward to bite.

Xu Xinran shrank back in fear. She was on the outside, while Qin Yi was on the inside. Terrified of being bitten by the Fire Salamander Beasts, she could only press a little closer to Qin Yi to avoid their jaws.

But the little platform was simply too small. It was quite cramped with two people on it.

"I... can barely stay on my feet..." Xu Xinran suddenly said nervously.

"Then sit down."

But the platform was too small. There was not quite enough room for them both to sit.

So Qin Yi could only sit down first, and then Xu Xinran sat on his lap.

"Is this a little better?"

"Mm... a little better."

At that moment, after several unsuccessful attempts to bite the pair, the four Fire Salamander Beasts below the platform seemed ready to give up.

They turned their heads and began crawling toward the water in the cave, swaying from side to side.

It looked as though they were leaving.

But Qin Yi and Xu Xinran had only just reached this crucial moment of growing intimacy. How could he let them leave just like that?

Immediately, Qin Yi secretly struck from behind Xu Xinran, firing several more bursts of Gang Qi through the air.

Under his deliberate aim,

the bursts of Gang Qi struck the Fire Salamander Beasts on their necks and tails, all painful spots.

So the four Fire Salamander Beasts, which had been about to leave, roared and angrily turned back, bellowing at Qin Yi on the platform. They lunged over again, jumping repeatedly, trying to bite him down from there.

Mm, that's more like it. Put on a good show, and I can play the flower-protecting envoy in peace.

To make the four Fire Salamander Beasts work harder for him, and to make the atmosphere even more tense, Qin Yi suddenly fired Gang Qi at the rock wall beside them again, knocking loose rocks to form natural steps.

With these steps, the Fire Salamander Beasts could stand on them and climb higher.

When they stuck out their tongues, they could even lick the soles of the pair's feet.

Qin Yi was, of course, unafraid,

but Xu Xinran, being a girl, was naturally so frightened that she screamed.

Her instinctive reaction was to climb onto Qin Yi, drawing in her calves and lifting her feet as high as she could.

Such intimate contact was clearly dangerous. Before long, the two lost control and entered into a relationship of deep exchange.

Yet Qin Yi wore an innocent expression. He truly had done nothing.

Instead, it was Xu Xinran who had moved closer of her own accord the entire time.

Even so, Xu Xinran did not dare pull away, because after the four Fire Salamander Beasts managed to lick the soles of their feet, they grew increasingly frenzied and excited, as though injected with hormones, lunging and snapping without pause.

Amid this atmosphere,

Xu Xinran was both mortified and helpless. After her nerves had remained taut for so long, she eventually slumped uncontrollably against Qin Yi's shoulder and fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke again,

the four Fire Salamander Beasts beneath the stone platform had long since vanished.

Xu Xinran had regained her clarity upon waking. When she recalled what had happened between her and Qin Yi, she was so utterly ashamed that she began crying silently, tears pattering down from her eyes without stopping.

"Junior Sister Xu, what's wrong?" Qin Yi wiped away her tears.

"...How did this happen..."

"It's all the Fire Salamander Beasts' fault. Neither of us had any control over it."

"But this... what do we do..."

Qin Yi said nothing at this point.

Her emotions were running high right now, so nothing he said would be appropriate.

After a while, her sobbing subsided a little.

Only then did Qin Yi console her. "But no matter what, it has already happened. We need to accept the facts, don't we?"

Xu Xinran looked up at him, her face forlorn through her tear-filled eyes.

Qin Yi asked, "Do you hate me, junior sister?"

Xu Xinran shook her head.

Her affection for Qin Yi was at 40 points. Of course she did not hate him.

Oh, no, that was wrong. The 40 affection points had been before.

Just now, after they had become intimate, Xu Xinran's affection for him had soared straight to 80 points in a single leap.

At the time, in Xu Xinran's mind, their lives had been hanging by a thread, yet Qin Yi had held her tightly, afraid she would fall. He had even stretched out his legs to deliberately draw the Fire Salamander Beasts' attention away.

This was clearly sacrificing himself for another, regardless of life or death,

and all these actions had left a deep impression on Xu Xinran's affection for him.

"Since you don't hate me, why are you crying, junior sister?"

"I... I don't know either..."

"Then don't cry anymore, all right?"

"Mm."

At a time like this, comforting her also offered a chance to earn extra points.

Qin Yi seized the opportunity and held her as he said, "You're mine now. I'll treat you well from now on, too."

Although Xu Xinran had agreed not to cry, tears still kept pattering down from the corners of her eyes.

She suddenly asked through her tears, "Then what about Senior Brother Song... if he finds out..."