Douluo Continent: Thunder Roar

Ling Yu paused, his arm around Ma Xiaotao tightened instinctively, and then he slowly turned around.

She was soaked to the bone, and her red dress clung tightly to her body, clearly outlining her shapely curves. Her supple waist and full breasts were not concealed at all by the wet clothes.

The fabric, soaked by the lake water, had a faint transparency, vaguely revealing the fair skin underneath, which shimmered softly in the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees.

He frowned slightly.

Men and women should not touch each other. He was only focused on carrying her ashore and relieving her pain, and hadn't thought much about these things.

Only after Wang Dong'er pointed it out did he realize that hugging a wet senior like this was indeed inappropriate.

He lowered his head again and asked in a calm tone, "Can you walk by yourself?"

Ma Xiaotao kept her eyes closed and motionless, as if she hadn't heard him. She remained nestled in his arms, her fingertips still gently clutching the fabric at his waist.

Ling Yu waited patiently for two more seconds, then softened his tone and called out softly, "Sister Xiao Tao."

His response was still silence.

Wang Dong'er, watching from the side, stared wide-eyed and couldn't help but complain, "Is she faking it? She was fighting so fiercely just now, and now she can't even walk?"

Upon hearing this, Ma Xiaotao's eyelashes trembled slightly, but she still refused to open her eyes, appearing weak and powerless.

Just then, the person in his arms suddenly spoke, their voice muffled against his chest, soft and weak, with a hint of feigned weakness: "I'm injured. My arm hurts, my leg hurts, everything hurts."

She paused, then added in an even lower voice, but with an air of self-righteousness: "You did it."

That's true.

During their sparring session, he landed several solid blows on her.

Although he had received some basic treatment, he was still aware of the strength of his palm strike.

The left palm deals high damage, and the right palm deals high damage; this is no joke.

Wang Dong'er rolled her eyes, her face full of resentment, yet helpless.

Ma Xiaotao was silent for a moment, then added, lowering her voice even further, with a hint of cautious probing, her fingertips tightening slightly: "And... it seems like the evil fire is about to get out of control again."

She was internally pounding with anxiety as she said those words.

The evil fire from last time had already been sealed in the scroll by Ling Yu using the Fire Sealing Seal. The little bit of new evil fire that had accumulated in the past few days was nothing to worry about and far from being out of control.

But she couldn't help but want to try, to see if he would worry, to see if he would continue to hold her and treat her with more special consideration because of this.

That wretched fire, which torments my mother terribly every day, suddenly withers away at the crucial moment.

Ling Yu looked down at her, his dark eyes devoid of emotion. He simply stared at her for two seconds, his tone flat and utterly emotionless: "It's only been less than a week. The little bit of evil fire that's newly formed in your body shouldn't have accumulated much by now."

Ma Xiaotao's heart skipped a beat, and she knew something was wrong.

She should have known that Ling Yu wasn't so easily fooled. He was meticulous and knew something about her situation, so how could he easily believe her words?

But the words were already out, and she couldn't just give up now and watch him put her down. She gritted her teeth and decided to add fuel to the fire, betting that he would soften his heart.

"That's normal," she hurriedly explained, her voice deliberately trembling to add a touch of truth, "but we fought for so long, my soul power was greatly depleted, and my emotions were fluctuating wildly... maybe..."

Before she could finish speaking, her body suddenly began to tremble slightly.

She was trying to mobilize the remaining evil fire energy within her body, wanting to make her "disguise" more realistic.

The next second, a sudden change occurred.

Her breathing became rapid, her chest heaving violently, making her full curves under her wet clothes even more prominent, and a few suppressed moans escaped her throat, soft and charming.

An unnatural flush rose on her bright face, spreading from her cheeks to her ears and neck, even tinging the corners of her eyes with a faint blush, like the finest rouge spreading out.

Her gaze gradually became unfocused, yet it still held an unusual brightness, and her eyes, as they moved, carried an indescribable allure.

When lust surges, the charm that is unconsciously revealed is captivating and mesmerizing, making it impossible to look away.

Her body began to heat up, not with the scorching, outward heat she felt during the battle, but with a deeper, more viscous heat emanating from within, burning her meridians and making her feel weak all over.

She instinctively snuggled closer to Ling Yu, her whole body going limp like a puddle of water, practically hanging on him. Her arms unconsciously wrapped around his neck, pressing her chest even tighter against him, their wet clothes clasping against each other's skin, transmitting their burning heat.

She bit her lower lip slightly, her soft lips turning a vibrant red from her teeth, adding a touch of fragile beauty.

Her pale pink eyes were half-open and half-closed, her long eyelashes trembling gently, and the touch of crimson at the corners of her eyes made her extremely charming, completely different from her usual flamboyant and arrogant appearance.

"Little Yu..." Her voice was terribly hoarse, with a faint tremor, like a murmur, or perhaps a plea, her tone full of entreaty, "Really... I can't hold it in anymore..."

Ling Yu's body stiffened slightly, and the arm holding her tightened unconsciously.

He looked down at the person in his arms, at her flushed cheeks, her hazy eyes, at her slightly parted, glistening lips, at her gentle rubbing against his chest because of her fever, and a ripple of emotion stirred in his heart.

The next second, the Sharingan quietly activated, and three black tomoe slowly rotated in the crimson eyes, revealing a clear understanding of everything.

He could clearly see the flow of soul power within her body—it was indeed somewhat disordered, and the newly formed evil fire was also more active than before, running rampant through her meridians and scorching them.

But this is still a long way from the point where the evil fire gets out of control.

He paused for two seconds, his tone still calm, yet carrying an undeniable certainty: "...It's an act."

Ma Xiaotao froze, the allure on her face instantly fading, leaving only astonishment.

They saw right through me.

Those Sharingan eyes were too powerful; no disguise could hide from them.

She opened her mouth, wanting to continue arguing and pretend to be wronged to get away with it, but when she met his scarlet eyes, all the words stuck in her throat.

There was no blame, no impatience in those eyes, only a knowing calm, as if they had already seen through all her little thoughts.

She suddenly panicked.

Will he be angry?

Does he feel like she's playing him or deceiving him?

Will this cause me to distance myself from her or even dislike her?

Could it be that she will be expelled from the Akatsuki organization?

She dared not think any further.

She had finally managed to get closer to him, finally managed to get him to lower his guard and hold her like this, finally managed to get him to care about her a little bit more—if she ruined all of this because of these little tricks, she would really regret it to death.

She opened her mouth, wanting to explain, to admit her mistake, to tell him that she just wanted to get closer to him and to be cared for by him, but the words wouldn't come out, leaving her only with panic and helplessness.

She just stared at him, blankly for two seconds, her mind completely blank.

Then, as if possessed, she tilted her head slightly, quickly leaned in, and gently kissed his cheek.

She just looked at him for two seconds.

Then, as if possessed, she quickly leaned in and gently kissed him on the cheek.

It was very light, as light as a feather falling on the water.

After kissing her, she buried her face in his chest, not daring to look up, her ears burning red. She could feel her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would burst out of her chest, she could feel the warmth of his chest, she could feel his steady breathing—

And the air around us suddenly became quiet.

Wang Dong'er stood not far away, her eyes wide open, her lips opening and closing repeatedly, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

Jiang Nannan remained standing there, the faint smile on her face completely frozen. She looked at Ma Xiaotao's head buried in Ling Yu's arms, at Ling Yu's drooping hand, at the two figures pressed together, her palms digging painfully into her nails.

Zhang Lexuan held her teacup, her smile deepening, but a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.