Chapter – 53
Please, Matriarch, Hit Me!
As Lu Liufeng’s voice whistled through the wind and snow, sharp sounds tearing through the air rang out one after another.
A shadow “whooshed” forward, then “whooshed” back again.
After several times, it finally stopped beside Lu Liufeng.
Jiang Xi didn’t even know when it stopped. She felt dizzy, her mind filled with the words Yi Yuexi had said at the dinner table earlier.
“Your brain can’t keep up with an ability.”
How could a brain possibly be as fast as a speed ability!!!
She was so dizzy—her mind couldn’t keep up at all.
A flush colored Mu Ling’s face, excitement impossible to hide.
The matriarch was so small, sinking softly into his arms, so fragrant.
Lu Liufeng lowered his gaze, and his expression changed instantly. He hurriedly reached out to take her.
“Mu Ling, put the matriarch down—now!”
Mu Ling froze, then slowly looked down.
Only then did he realize—the matriarch…
“Matriarch, what’s wrong with you?!”
Lu Liufeng wanted nothing more than to grab him, drag him up into the sky, and throw him down!
Gritting his teeth, he said, “The matriarch doesn’t have an ability—how could she withstand your speed?!”
Dazed, Jiang Xi was passed from one embrace to another.
A few snowflakes landed on her face, then were blown away by a small rotating current of wind, leaving her in a space free of snow and gale.
Her awareness gradually returned. She lifted a hand to support her head.
When she opened her eyes, Lu Liufeng’s handsome face was right there. She couldn’t help leaning closer into his arms and muttered,
“Lu Liufeng, I’m so dizzy…”
Mu Ling was filled with remorse. Holding the matriarch’s hand, he hurriedly apologized.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know. It’s all my fault. Matriarch, hit me, scold me, punish me.”
Even if the matriarch whipped him in the snow, it would be what he deserved. He wouldn’t complain at all.
Yi Yuexi trudged over, stumbling through the snow. One look at the scene and he immediately understood what had happened.
He had thought Mu Ling had improved.
Turns out, he was still the same.
Speechless, Yi Yuexi shook his head and extended a hand.
“Give her to me. I’ll take the matriarch back to rest.”
Lu Liufeng gently touched the matriarch’s head. Looking at her dazed dark eyes, waves of self-blame surged in his heart.
If he hadn’t tried to ease the relationship between Mu Ling and the matriarch, he wouldn’t have let Mu Ling go pick her up, and this wouldn’t have happened.
This time, no matter what, he wouldn’t push other beastmen toward the matriarch again.
Lu Liufeng shook his head at Yi Yuexi and stood up with the matriarch in his arms.
“I’ll take the matriarch back myself.”
Mu Ling, having made a mistake, didn’t dare say much. After pursing his lips, he spoke up.
“I’ll take the earth bull back. We can cut it up after the matriarch wakes.”
In truth, Jiang Xi was already awake—just dizzy, her thoughts sluggish. She only wanted to lie in Lu Liufeng’s arms and let her mind go blank.
It wasn’t until they returned to the warm fire house that she finally felt better.
Lu Liufeng poured a cup of warm water, added some honey, held the cup, and brought it to her lips.
“Matriarch, drink some honey water.”
Jiang Xi gave a vague “mm,” took a sip with Lu Liufeng’s help, then hugged the bamboo cup herself and sipped in small mouthfuls.
Watching her drink like a little animal, Lu Liufeng couldn’t help the faint curve of a smile at his lips.
So cute.
“Are you still uncomfortable anywhere?” he asked.
Jiang Xi hugged the cup and shook her head, blinking.
“Much better.”
At first, she had thought speed abilities were thrilling!
But later… they were thrilling in the worst possible way!
Her thoughts wandered. Mu Ling’s brain must be really stable—he probably wouldn’t ever get a concussion.
Zipping around at top speed every day, his brain structure must be extraordinary!
The warm water tinted Jiang Xi’s dark red lips with a hint of vivid color. Lu Liufeng felt his mouth go dry just looking at her.
Just then, Mu Ling came in carrying the bull. Lu Liufeng stood up a bit guiltily and went to help.
There wasn’t a large enough table in the fire house, so he spread several animal hides on the ground and had Mu Ling place the bull on them.
From the moment Mu Ling entered, his wolf eyes kept drifting toward the matriarch.
After setting the bull down, he hesitated, then still walked over.
Then—with a “thud”—he knelt in front of the matriarch and bowed his head again to admit his fault.
“Please, Matriarch, hit me!!”
Jiang Xi was startled.
She hurried to pull him up. “What are you doing? Get up!”
But… she couldn’t pull him at all!!
Mu Ling was like a bull—she couldn’t budge him in the slightest!
“Please punish me!”
Helpless, Jiang Xi repeated herself.
“I already said I’ll never hit you again. I mean it. Get up!”
Mu Ling lowered his head. “Please punish me.”
Jiang Xi: “……”
She was about to cry!
She looked to Lu Liufeng for help.
But this time, Lu Liufeng said, “Matriarch, he made a mistake, so he deserves to be hit. If you don’t hit him, he probably won’t be at ease.”
Jiang Xi’s eyes widened.
What kind of twisted rule was this?!
But…
She tilted her head and looked at Mu Ling kneeling at her feet. Broad shoulders, sharp brows, a fierce-looking face, and short gray hair that looked prickly too.
It gave her the feeling that if she hit him even once, she’d get stabbed and sent flying three miles away.
“I—I really don’t know how to hit people,” she said, on the verge of tears.
Mu Ling slightly raised his head to look at her. For some reason, an image surfaced in his mind—her slender white fingers tugging at his animal-hide clothes.
His Adam’s apple rolled. Then he cupped the matriarch’s small hands in his own, placed them against his face, and said as calmly as he could,
“Then, Matriarch, slap me a few times.”
Jiang Xi’s eyes widened even more.
Her hands were wrapped in Mu Ling’s scorching palms, pressed against that sharp, chiseled face.
Invisible stubble lightly pricked her palm, making her even more certain she’d be stabbed and sent flying.
“I don’t want to.”
She tried to pull her hands back.
But… she couldn’t pull them free!
Mu Ling lifted those gray-blue wolf eyes and looked at her, utterly resolute.
“Matriarch, hit me.”
Jiang Xi: “……”
“I really have no interest in hitting you!”
Mu Ling: “But I made a mistake. Matriarch, hit me.”
She realized his mind was completely inflexible—there was no reasoning with him at all!
How could someone be so tirelessly eager for someone else to hit him?!
There was seriously something wrong with him!!
She was getting angry!
“If you keep this up, I’m going to hit you!!”
Exactly what Mu Ling wanted. His wolf eyes filled with anticipation, as if his tail were wagging.
“Hit me, hit me, hurry and hit me!”
Jiang Xi slipped up with her words, and by the time she realized it, it was too late.
She sighed and decided to go along with his insistence, lightly tapping him once.
“Then close your eyes.”
Mu Ling obediently closed his eyes.
Jiang Xi raised her palm and gently patted his face. Her hand brushed past his high nose bridge, poking herself.
She hurriedly said, “I hit you! I hit you! You’re not allowed to ask me to hit you again!”
As she spoke, she quickly looked back and reached both hands toward Lu Liufeng, who was moving a stone pot, asking him to help pull her out from between the table and Mu Ling.
“Lu Liufeng! Let’s hurry up and cut the beef!”
Lu Liufeng walked over. Seeing Mu Ling kneeling on the ground, touching half his face in a daze, he said,
“Alright. The matriarch has already hit you. Don’t mess around like this again.”
As he spoke, he reached out and lifted the matriarch from the chair.
Mu Ling remained kneeling there, touching his face, his mind filled with just two thoughts—
So fragrant. So soft.
