Chapter 11: I won’t be kicked for the time being.

Li Tianxing’s fathomless eyes swept over Xie Qiyang’s face, which was straining to look “compliant.”

Something was off—very off.
The unyielding, proud little junior sister he knew, with her sky-high spirit, now seemed like a startled rabbit, clumsily trying to please him.

A flicker of disdain curled his lips.
Whatever tricks she was playing, they wouldn’t make a ripple in his grasp.

“It doesn’t have to be here. Your body’s too fragile right now anyway.”

Xie Qiyang’s heart jolted—yes! She wasn’t getting taken right now!

Then, Li Tianxing slowly stood, his tall shadow looming over her, swallowing the curled-up figure beneath the forest’s gloom.

The sunlight was blocked behind him, plunging her vision into darkness.
An invisible pressure made it hard to breathe.

“But…”
He looked down at her, his voice low.
“The place can change, but right now… I’m feeling quite heated.”

“However,” he added with a shift in tone, “looking at you, all muddy like a monkey, it’s hard to muster much interest.”

Xie Qiyang cursed him inwardly.
You’re the one who beat me, and now you’re the one complaining…

Wait, no interest? That’s good!

Before the thought settled, his fingers moved like lightning.
Xie Qiyang barely saw the flash of golden light before a sharp pain hit—Li Tianxing had grabbed her dislocated shoulder and, with a swift push and twist, reset it!

“Argh—!”
Pain blackened her vision, a scream escaping her throat.
Cold sweat soaked her back instantly.
Her arms hung limp, still aching but no longer useless burdens—she could feel them again.

Before she could catch her breath, a nauseating, fishy stench assaulted her nose!
Li Tianxing had produced a dragon-eye-sized, black pill, slick with strange mucus.

The smell—like rotten fish mixed with spoiled rice—churned her stomach.

She recoiled instinctively, her face twisting in disgust.

“Hm?”
Li Tianxing let out a displeased hum.
Without a word, he pinched her jaw—not hard, but enough to stop any resistance.

“Naughty kids who don’t take their medicine get punished.”

His other hand shoved the foul-smelling pill into her mouth.

“Mmph!”
The stench made her gag, tears welling up from the sheer disgust.
Her jaw ached, her throat retched as the foreign object hit.

Choking back tears, she mechanically chewed the bitter, acrid, fishy thing, each swallow fighting a wave of nausea.

Even stir-fried bullwhip would go down easier than this.

Why?
She frantically sifted through Jiang Ningshuang’s memory fragments while enduring the torture on her taste buds.

The memories told her the Jiang Clan and the Solar Saint Body’s lineage—the Solar Holy Land—were allies for generations.

For factions of their caliber, dual cultivation with a Lunar Saint Body could be arranged openly through marriage proposals or negotiations, some grand alliance nonsense.

Was Li Tianxing insane, or did he have some deep grudge?
Why resort to this life-or-death, bandit-like abduction?

Could he be a rogue Solar Saint Body?

Oddly, despite the pill’s biochemical-weapon taste, it worked instantly.
As the rancid, bitter paste slid down her throat, a strange warmth spread through her abdomen, arms, and cheeks.

The searing pain in her face, abdomen, and arms faded rapidly.
The deep, tearing weakness in her body eased considerably.

Xie Qiyang let out a long breath, savoring the feeling of being alive again.

Suddenly, a rumble came from her abdomen.
She touched her flat, smooth stomach—this body hadn’t eaten food or taken energy pills in at least two weeks.

At the forest’s edge was a steep cliff.
Li Tianxing stopped, and without hesitation, his strong arms scooped under Xie Qiyang’s knees and back, lifting her horizontally.

The motion wasn’t gentle, but it was careful enough not to aggravate her pain.

The sudden weightlessness made her heart lurch, nearly yelping.

A heavy mix of blood, sweat, and dust hit her nose, making her hold her breath as her stomach churned.

“Uh, could I… get some clothes…”
She asked nervously, her two “bunnies” swaying with his movements, leaving her feeling utterly exposed.

“Ah!”
Before she finished, Li Tianxing freed a hand to “calm” the bouncing bunnies.

Xie Qiyang yelped in panic:
“I’ll shut up! I’ll shut up!”

Her silver hair fell messily, brushing his arm, her body stiff as a board, too scared to move.

Li Tianxing, holding her, leaped off the cliff.

The sensation of freefall gripped her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, hearing only the howling wind.
It roared, kicking up dust and dry leaves that stung her face and body.

In just a few breaths, the wind died down, and they seemed to land on solid ground.
His arms loosened, and she dropped onto rough gravel, stirring a small cloud of dust.

Noon sunlight poured like molten gold over the narrow beach below the cliff.

Waves crashed against dark reefs, churning white foam.
The salty, fishy heat mixed with sea mist hit her, stifling and oppressive.

Li Tianxing sat cross-legged on a black reef, scorched hot by the sun, like a silent statue.

After a few minutes, a faint glow flickered from an unremarkable black ring on his middle finger.

The next moment, several glossy black chunks smelling of sulfur, a heavy black iron pot, and a few dried, blood-scented red meat strips appeared on the sand before him.

Xie Qiyang looked over curiously.

Seeing so many items come from a tiny ring shocked her.
She’d read plenty of fantasy novels where protagonists had storage rings, but seeing one in person was another thing.

“He’s… cooking? Why’s this starting to feel like a power-fantasy male lead vibe?”
Her brief relief at not being taken vanished.

If he’s a novel protagonist, wouldn’t she be stuck getting taken for life?