25: Chapter 25 Chen Yaojia explodes: You looked and touched naked, and you're not taking responsibility?

Inside the rock cave, it was silent, with only the faint intermingling breaths of the two.

Chen Yaojia's eyelashes fluttered, and she was the first to awaken from her stupor.

The scorching pain in her back instantly sobered her up significantly. She subconsciously tried to move, but it pulled at her wound, causing her to let out a suppressed groan of pain.

Immediately, she found herself in a prone position, covered by an outer robe, and the back of her silver-patterned battle attire... had been neatly cut open, with cool ointment and bandaged strips directly touching her skin.

Memories surged like a tide—the dying counterattack of the Poison Scale Beast, the figure who pushed her away, the firm arm, the chiseled profile, and that completely subversive touch...

"Ah!" she gasped, her cheeks instantly burning, and she subconsciously wanted to pull her clothes tighter and sit up.

But with a larger movement, the wound on her back tore open again with agonizing pain, forcing her to lie back down, fine cold sweat seeping from her temples.

This pain, however, made her completely calm down.

She took a deep breath, painstakingly turned her head, and looked around.

The dim rock cave, with faint light seeping through the cracks in the entrance blocked by boulders, and dry soft grass spread beneath her.

And that "culprit" Li Siwen, was currently leaning against the rock wall nearby, his head tilted to one side, deeply asleep.

His face was tired, with faint dark circles under his eyes, and his lips were somewhat chapped.

His originally smooth ink-black hair was also a bit messy, stained with some dust and dry grass clippings.

One of his arms was unconsciously stretched in her direction, as if he was still vigilant about something even in his sleep.

Chen Yaojia's gaze fell on his torn clothes and the new scrapes on his arm, then she felt the clumsy but exceptionally careful bandaging on her back...

She was not an ungrateful person.

Clearly, after she fainted, this person rescued her from the beast horde, found this refuge, and treated her wounds.

Recalling the "delicate and timid" Junior Brother Li she first met in the Utility Area, who needed protection, then the stunningly talented Junior Sister Li who later made an impressive appearance, and now...

This person, whose identity was a mystery, whose strength far exceeded imagination, yet who stayed by her side and carefully looked after her when she was severely injured.

Various scenes intertwined in her mind, and the shock, anger, grievance, and confusion in her heart gradually gave way to a more complex emotion.

[Complex emotions from Chen Yaojia +55]

She struggled, using her uninjured arm to prop herself up slightly, and extended her slender fingers to gently caress Li Siwen's haggard profile. A warm touch came from her fingertips.

"You... what kind of person are you, really?" she murmured softly, her eyes holding a softness and curiosity she hadn't even noticed herself.

Her touch was light, but it sharply woke Li Siwen, who was already a light sleeper!

He suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp vigilance flashing in them first.

Upon seeing it was Chen Yaojia, it instantly turned into anxiety and concern.

Li Siwen instinctively reached out to help her: "Sister Yaojia! You're awake? Don't move! How's your wound? Does it still hurt? Has the poison spread?"

He rattled off a string of questions, his tone practically overflowing with concern.

Chen Yaojia looked at his anxious demeanor, and the questions she had prepared got stuck in her throat, her heart inexplicably softening.

But she deliberately put on a stern face, huffed, and gently pushed his hand away.

"Don't touch me! You... liar!"

Li Siwen's hand froze in mid-air, his face instantly filled with embarrassment and guilt.

He awkwardly retracted his hand and whispered, "I'm, I'm sorry... Sister Yaojia, I... I didn't mean to deceive you. It's just... I had no choice."

"No choice?" Chen Yaojia looked at him with a sidelong glance, deliberately drawing out her words, "What kind of 'no choice' requires you to cross-dress, and... and..."

As she spoke, her cheeks couldn't help but flush again, and her voice lowered, "And let me... let me..."

She truly couldn't utter the words "touched and seen."

Li Siwen, however, misunderstood, his gaze flickering, not daring to look at her.

"The situation was urgent then, and you were too severely injured. Your clothes were stuck to the wound, and I couldn't apply medicine without cutting them open. I, I had no other choice... I hope Sister Yaojia can forgive my offense..."

Chen Yaojia looked at his embarrassed yet sincere apologetic demeanor, which formed a huge contrast with the decisive, powerful image in her memory.

Somehow, she found it a little... cute?

[Subtle favorability from Chen Yaojia +35]

She suppressed the urge to smile, maintaining a stern face as she continued her "interrogation": "Oh? Just cut open my clothes to apply medicine? Then... how much did you see? Hmm?"

The last syllable carried a hint of coquetry and playfulness that she herself didn't notice.

Li Siwen was slightly taken aback. Adding favorability now?

He blurted out instinctively: "I didn't see much, just your back... Uh, it was unavoidable to... touch a little during bandaging."

Sure enough, Chen Yaojia's face turned completely red, even her fair neck was tinged with crimson.

She glared at him, mortified: "Li Siwen! You... you didn't just see! You also... you also touched?!"

"I didn't! I didn't! That was bandaging! It was necessary contact!" Li Siwen hastily waved his hands in explanation.

He hadn't even explained the cross-dressing yet; he couldn't be mistaken for a pervert again.

Chen Yaojia watched his flustered appearance and finally couldn't help but let out a "Pfft" of laughter.

But with a laugh, she pulled at her wound again, instantly turning into a cry of pain mixed with light laughter, tears in the corners of her eyes, she didn't know if they were from pain or laughter.

"Alright, alright!" She caught her breath, her voice softening, with a hint of helpless indulgence, "I know you did it to save me... This time, I won't hold it against you."

Li Siwen breathed a sigh of relief, only then realizing that Chen Yaojia wasn't truly angry.

Before he could ponder further, Chen Yaojia suddenly leaned closer.

Although she couldn't move much due to her wound, she still tried to bring her face close to his.

Chen Yaojia exhaled like an orchid, her voice lowered, with a hint of slyness and an inexplicable meaning, saying: "However... you've seen it, you've touched it, my innocence is ruined by you."

"Li Siwen, tell me, how should this debt... be settled? Should you... take responsibility for me?"

Upon hearing this, Li Siwen suddenly looked up, meeting her eyes that were so close.

Those eyes no longer held the previous shock and anger, but rather a shallow shimmer of water, with a smile, a test, and a hint of... expectation that he couldn't understand?

The air in the rock cave seemed to instantly become ambiguous and thin.

His heart suddenly skipped a beat. He opened his mouth, looked at the pale yet still radiant face before him, with its playful smile, and by some strange impulse, he solemnly nodded: "Okay, I'll take responsibility!"

As soon as the words fell, both of them froze.

[Heart flutter from Chen Yaojia +60]

Chen Yaojia hadn't expected him to agree so readily, and for a moment, she didn't know how to respond. Her heart inexplicably sped up, and she averted her gaze, her eyes flickering.

Li Siwen also realized what he had said, but the words were out, and he had no intention of regretting them. He just watched Chen Yaojia's reaction, nervous and expectant.

A subtle and sweet silence fell over the rock cave. An indescribable emotion quietly sprouted and spread, intertwining the two tightly.

Just then—

"Awoo—!"

From a distance outside the cave, a long and ferocious beast roar suddenly rang out, breaking the momentary enchantment.

Immediately after, more roars and running sounds of Yao Beasts faintly came, as if a pack of Yao Beasts was lurking and hunting nearby.

Both of them instantly snapped back to reality, their expressions becoming solemn.

Li Siwen immediately got up, quickly walked to the crack in the cave entrance, and cautiously looked out. He saw shadowy figures in the forest, and many faint green eyes flickering in the pervasive poisonous miasma.

He returned to Chen Yaojia's side, his face heavy: "The Yao Beasts outside haven't dispersed, and... there seem to be more of them. It might not be easy for us to leave here."

Chen Yaojia also furrowed her delicate brows. The pain in her back and the faint threat from outside the cave reminded her that the crisis was far from over.

The warming atmosphere was instantly replaced by the urgency of reality.