As the verdant glow faded, a soothing wave of warmth spread across Hu Jia's skin. The lingering sting and swelling vanished in an instant, leaving only faint, residual heat — as though the earlier ordeal had been nothing more than a fleeting dream.
Xiao Jietian withdrew his healing palm and glanced down at the disheveled little tiger still clinging to him. His lips curved in faint amusement.
"Aren't you going to get down? Or do you plan to keep biting me… stay wrapped around me… or perhaps beg for another round of discipline?"
Hu Jia's face blazed anew. No way — another strike and her dignity would be utterly ruined!
She scrambled off him in a flash, feet touching the floor as though it were scalding iron. She hastily checked her robes, relieved to find only a small tear at the waist — nothing irreparable.
Straightening her collar, she shot Xiao Jietian a glare filled with deep resentment, as though he were a heartless rogue who had just abandoned her after a night of betrayal.
Xiao Jietian rubbed the bridge of his nose in faint apology when he noticed the torn fabric.
Yet in Hu Jia's eyes, that unconscious gesture took on an entirely different meaning.
He used that very hand to… spank me just now… and now he's rubbing it under his nose? Is he… savoring the scent? If you like it so much, I could just deliver it straight to your door… Wait — what am I even thinking?! This big bad wolf is corrupting my mind!
Too hateful… simply too hateful! But I can't do anything to him. My weakness is firmly in his grasp. It's over… completely over for this lifetime. I'll be bullied to death by him.
She truly could not fathom how she had been so careless — how that hidden "switch" had been triggered, and how he had discovered it so easily.
Desperate to change the subject, she pointed toward a distant sealed door and asked quickly:
"How is this place isolated?"
Xiao Jietian followed her gaze.
"Fei Yan is in seclusion inside." He gave a brief, calm recounting of Medusa's evolution into a Nine-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python.
"Ah?!" Hu Jia gasped, hand flying to her mouth in shock.
She suddenly remembered the undignified cries and whimpers she had let slip earlier. Nervousness flooded her eyes as she looked at him.
Xiao Jietian immediately understood. He reached out and gently patted her head.
"Relax. I already sealed the chamber completely. No sound — no matter how loud — can reach her."
Hu Jia slowly lowered her hand and exhaled a long, relieved breath.
"Thank goodness… thank goodness. Next time something this important happens, tell me in advance — or just stop me outright."
"If I accidentally disrupted Sister Fei Yan's evolution… even if I died ten thousand times to atone, it wouldn't be enough."
She was no ignorant child. A magical beast's bloodline evolution was far more perilous and consequential than a human's breakthrough — it was a true defiance of fate, no less significant than a peak Dou Zun attempting to step into Half-Saint.
Moreover, Medusa was ascending to the legendary Nine-Colored Heaven-Devouring Python. In comparison, even the chance to become a Dou Sheng was trivial.
Once successful, advancing to Dou Sheng would be all but guaranteed — and not just any Dou Sheng, but a high-tier one at the very least.
"Hehehe…"
Hu Jia suddenly began to giggle, shoulders shaking as though she had thought of something delightful.
"What's wrong with you? Did your brain get addled?" Xiao Jietian reached out, placing his palm on her forehead with mock concern.
"Your brain is the one that's addled!" Hu Jia swatted his hand away, eyes narrowed into gleeful crescents. "I was just thinking — once Sister Fei Yan finishes evolving, I'll have the strongest backer in the world. I'll walk with swagger from now on. Hehehe."
"Then why don't you say I'm protecting you?" Xiao Jietian crossed his arms, looking down at her with deliberate disdain. "With your amateur skills, you'll probably still need me to save you in the future."
He even put on an exaggerated expression of contempt.
"Don't look down on this young lady!" Hu Jia planted both hands on her hips, glaring up at him furiously. "I used to be called the Little Enchantress of Jia Nan Academy — my strength is not bad at all!"
"When Sister Fei Yan emerges, I'll follow her to cultivate. With her personal guidance, I'll make you beg for mercy in no time. Then we'll see if you still dare bully me!"
Xiao Jietian nearly laughed aloud.
Getting involved with Medusa meant enduring the harshest "rod education" imaginable. In the entire Boundless Heaven Hall — aside from the two naive reserves — who did not know that the Queen was the biggest trap of them all… in every sense of the word?
This little tiger was still too young. She had yet to taste the true bitterness of Medusa's "guidance."
"And you say you're protecting me? You're the one who bullies me the most! Hmph — even hanging around with those two little girls, Xiao Ling and the others, is more reliable than you, you big bad guy!"
Hu Jia thought he was mocking her again and immediately raised her voice in defense.
"I'm not bullying you — I'm helping you grow and discover your hidden flaws." Xiao Jietian looked at her with a teasing smile. "If I hadn't 'helped' you today, would you have discovered that little 'problem' of yours?"
Before he could finish, Hu Jia lunged forward and clapped both hands over his mouth, face scarlet.
"Stop talking! Shut up!"
He easily pulled her hands down.
"Did you pick your feet with that hand?"
Hu Jia stared at him blankly.
"No… why?"
Then she saw the half-smile tugging at his lips and instantly understood.
"Xiao Jietian — you actually dare say my hand smells?! I'll fight you! It's you or me today!"
With that, she threw herself at him in a flurry of flailing fists.
Xiao Jietian simply extended one arm and pressed down lightly on her head. No matter how wildly she swung, her short arms could not reach him — she could only rage impotently in place.
Both of them tacitly refrained from using Dou Qi. Once qi entered the fray, it would no longer be playful — and her poor rear would suffer the consequences again.
"Keep those hands away from me," Xiao Jietian continued to taunt.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Hu Jia was going mad. She finally stopped struggling, lifted her own hand to her nose, and sniffed deeply.
"It doesn't smell at all! It even smells nice — don't you believe me? Smell it yourself!"
She thrust her hand toward his face.
Xiao Jietian recoiled in exaggerated disgust — though the smile never left his eyes. He took two deliberate steps back.
"No thanks. I just saw you secretly wiping something on it earlier!"
Hu Jia's eyes widened in outrage. She felt utterly wronged.
She hadn't done anything like that!
He's slandering me! Everyone, come look — he's slandering me!
When she caught the unmistakable amusement at the corner of his mouth, she knew she had been thoroughly tricked.
Just as she opened her mouth to retaliate, Xiao Jietian reached out and patted her head again — this time gently.
"Besides, you just came out of seclusion. You haven't even bathed yet, and you're running around like this. Go wash up in my bathroom first."
Hu Jia instinctively raised her arm and sniffed herself. There was no foul odor — only her natural faint fragrance.
But now that he mentioned it, she did feel sticky all over — especially along her inner thighs, where sweat had gathered and trickled during her earlier struggles.
"Where's your bathroom?"
"Over there."
Xiao Jietian pointed toward one of the large doors at the far end of the hall.
Hu Jia started walking in that direction. Halfway there, she suddenly turned back, eyes narrowed in wary suspicion.
"You… you better not dare peek."