Her body was too heavy, she kept sinking deeper and deeper.

  How hateful... Hua Duomei, who grew up in the water towns of Jiangnan since childhood—her swimming skill was the most outstanding among the four Hua sisters. But now, with six long chains binding her, she kicked and paddled, exerting all her strength, yet she could not swim out of the sea no matter what. What's more... that palm strike had landed right on her chest and abdomen. She began to feel a sharp pain; when she exerted force, blood could not help but surge up her throat and she vomited. Seawater mixed with her spilled blood poured into her mouth and nose, and she was in agony...

  Ugh... Damn it. If she really drowned and died in the South Seas, when the news reached her sisters back in Jiangnan, they would tear her apart so completely she wouldn't even rest in peace...

  She refused to accept this, she refused... She and that man hadn't even finished their quarrel. How could she be willing to die...

  Her brows furrowed faintly in restless distraction. Though she was clearly asleep, fine beads of sweat seeped out from her forehead.

  A thick, warm coarse palm could not help but cover her forehead, resting gently against it. Lei Salang looked down at the pale, beautiful face on the pillow; the residual fear still steamed in his chest.

  Then came the pain, so sharp it felt as if he too would vomit three liters of blood, just like she had after being hauled onto the boat.

  Her once glossy, flowing hair had been hacked off, cut unevenly; the longest strand didn't even reach her shoulder.

  Faint indentations from the bonds marked her neck, all four limbs, and her waist. Even after all six chains had been removed, new abrasions had formed on the delicate skin of her collarbone and ankles, and there were also scrapes on the insides of her wrists.

  There was still a faint trace of red at the corner of her mouth, leftover from the blood she had vomited. His heart ached even as it stirred. He could not help but bend down to lick and kiss her slightly cool soft lips, sucking the blood stain away. He allowed himself to probe lightly into the warm depths of her mouth, passing his burning breath into her lips and teeth over and over.

  "Umm... Lei Salang..."

  Lured by the familiar kiss and familiar scent, Hua Duomei kissed him back by instinct. She kissed too intensely, her internal energy went off course, and a dull ache rose again in her chest and abdomen.

  A warm palm covered her forehead, the other pressed flat against her chest and abdomen. His martial arts leaned toward the fierce and powerful path; normally his internal skill cultivation was not outstanding. But when he held his palm to her like this to soothe her, Hua Duomei actually felt a warmth spread through her left chest, and then her dantian, and her restless mind calmed. Her arched brows relaxed, and her eyelashes finally lifted.

  When she saw him, she gave a quiet, surprised hum in her heart.

  The man's stern expression was a world of difference from the heavy yet gentle strength of his hand resting on her, and that delicate kiss just now. He was clearly extremely angry... Moo moo moo, how much longer is this big man going to hold a grudge against her?

  He's hated her since the stone house incident up until now, unyielding and unforgiving. Can't we call a temporary truce so I can rest and recover properly? When I've gotten my strength back, he can go back to hating me all he wants...

  "Awake?" he asked gruffly.

  "Mm..." She pressed her lips together, tasting the scent he had left on her lips and teeth. Hua Duomei couldn't help but squint and smile, her slightly weak beautiful eyes sliding over his face. "Where is this?"

  This strange, spacious room looked a lot like the main building at the Dazhou wharf area. She was lying on a screen bed in the corner; two thin bamboo screens formed a flimsy enclosure around the space. Lying inside, she could faintly hear the voices of people outside.

  Lei Salang withdrew his hands and said calmly: "This is one of Feng Shantang's secret lairs in the multi-island waters." He paused briefly. "We transferred ships here, we'll set out back to the main island immediately."

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  She widened her eyes, a flash of inspiration went through her mind, and she immediately grasped the key point.

  "You colluded with Feng Shantang in secret, worked together behind the scenes, and all those incredible ships of Feng Shantang are hidden here. These are Langgui's warships after all, so of course they can't sail openly to the main island... Ah! You, you you..." She stared at him unblinking, and a faint rosy color bloomed on her pale cheeks. "You ambushed her from behind!" Cough cough cough... Her emotions fluctuated too violently.

  She remembered what happened, every single detail was clear now.

  Seeing her coughing lightly, the man's brows knotted into mountains, and his big palm once again lightly covered her chest and abdomen. But Hua Duomei still forced her voice out.

  "I fell into the sea, my whole body was in agony, I couldn't swim up no matter what. Two dark figures swam toward me. You... you and Lv Yun... both of you jumped off the boat too..." Both of them stretched out their arms to grab me.

  In that moment, the two of them set aside their old feud for a time, making saving me the only thing that mattered. That key Lv Yun claimed had been thrown into the sea long ago was actually still hanging around my neck. When she saw what was happening, she finally pulled out the knife and cut off those six heavy burdens for me in the middle of the surrounding seawater.

  You pulled me hard and fought to paddle with your limbs, so neither of us would sink further. Lv Yun took the chance to help me undo the chains... When she was pulling off the last chain, her two legs got caught by the long chains that had already been undone and were floating around. You pulled me, who had finally gotten free, upward, and you, you..."

  Lei Salang snorted coldly, a sardonic half-smile on his face, and finished for her: "You want to call me out for letting her die, don't you? Hmph, I did let her die. And that person Luanyun Shanyun isn't worth my effort to save anyway." His blue-tinged face darkened even more, partly because it seemed she actually cared about that damn pirate woman.

  She ground her teeth, still pouring out her pent-up feelings.

  "How nice of you. When did the great building master, who always steals others' beloved and never helps others get what they want, start feeling pity, repaying grievances with virtue? You were barely even alive yourself, yet you still had to stretch out your arm and grab hold of her, insisting on dragging that thieving woman up with you!" She was out of breath and injured, but the five fingers clutching Lv Yun's arm would not let go no matter what. Even with all the resentment in his heart, he could only do as she said and pull both women out of the water.

  He couldn't help but overthink it, afraid that under Luanyun Shanyun's pestering, she had really developed unusual feelings for that woman. Otherwise, with her style of always drawing a clear line between favor and grievance and repaying every grudge, how could she soften her heart after being tortured and bullied by the other for days?

  His inner fire burned hotter, he hated this sense of uncertainty so much. His bright eyes were stained with ferocity, and he roared lowly: "Yes! I did ambush her from behind. So what?"

  Hua Duomei was stunned by his outburst.

  Suddenly, she understood. Hmm... this look of his... is it anger from embarrassment? She wanted to laugh, but quickly bit back the smile that was about to bloom. She cleared her throat and said slowly: "It's nothing! Cough cough cough... It's just that Master Lei Salang has always acted openly and aboveboard. A sudden sneak attack from behind really takes people by surprise..."

  Back then, after she and Lv Yun were both pulled out of the sea, a small boat came to pick them up. Once the three of them were on board, Lv Yun had no time to fight, she just hugged her with genuine emotion and worried over her injuries. Hua Duomei caught a glimpse of Lei Salang, pushed aside, with a dark face. The next moment, before she could even say a single word, that big man's stern lips curled coldly, he struck from behind Lv Yun with a swift hand blow and knocked her out directly.

  She smiled and sighed. "This kind of brilliant underhanded trick has always been my specialty as the building master. Aren't you just staying by my side for too long, you become red when you stay close to vermilion, black when you stay close to ink, and got influenced without even realizing it..." As she spoke, she couldn't help but cough a few more times, but luckily the coughing up blood had stopped.

  Her coughing made Lei Salang's heart clench. He didn't want to remember, but he couldn't help it. His thoughts had a will of their own, forcing him to remember more than ten days ago, when Danhua and the twelve little servant girls brought back the news that she had been captured. When he learned she had fallen into Luanyun Shanyun's hands, that she hadn't struggled much and couldn't struggle anyway, that she had just obediently let herself be taken away, he was both shocked and angry. That angry emotion was also clearly mixed with panic. God knows how long it had been since he had felt such terrible dread, yet because of her, his chest felt tight and suffocated, and he couldn't sleep for several nights in a row.

  And that terror reached its peak and overflowed completely after she was struck by Luanyun Shanyun's palm and fell into the sea. The more he thought, the more shocked he was, the more stern his face became, and his voice was cold and full of sarcasm.

  "The building master's actions are indeed confusing. You were bullied, yet you didn't even collect your debt with interest. At the moment of life and death you actually took pity on her and held on to her for dear life." He snorted. "Caring so much about your opponent, this is really out of the ordinary."

  After he knocked out the thief woman, she was busy coughing up blood, but she never loosened her grip on the other's hand. Before she fainted, she kept asking him for a promise, demanding that he swear to her that he would absolutely not kill that thief woman while she was unconscious.

  Did she really care that much?