After seeing off Ren's Mom, the three of them returned home, and Lin Jichen and Ren Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, Ren Lan's mother was quite open-minded and reasonable; otherwise, Lin Jichen wouldn't have known what to do.
However, it seemed that Ren's Mom had already decided that Lin Jichen was her daughter's boyfriend, and no matter what, he couldn't shake off this suspicion.
But this was already the best possible outcome. If things had really escalated, Lin Jichen might have ended up being accused of abducting a young girl...
Not long after, Qin Xiaowei came home, unaware of what had happened. She chatted briefly with Lin Jichen and Ren Lan before taking Niu Naitang to bed.
"Phew! I need to take a shower. Today scared me into a cold sweat," Ren Lan said as she ran to the bathroom. Before long, she came out in her pajamas, drying her hair with a towel.
She thought Lin Jichen would have already entered the game, but to her surprise, he was still sitting on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting.
Ren Lan walked over and sat down, saying, "Little Lin, don't worry. It's all over now. My mom always sides with me; she won't tell my dad."
Ren Lan thought Lin Jichen was still worried about being discovered today, which was why he was sitting on the sofa, uneasy.
Lin Jichen opened his eyes and smiled, "I was waiting for you to finish. I need to shower too before I can sleep."
"Huh? You're not going into the game tonight?" Ren Lan asked, puzzled.
Lin Jichen had to explain that it wasn't convenient to go out at night in the Thunder Marsh.
Ren Lan was delighted to hear this, "That's perfect! I need your help with something!"
"Sure, what do you need?" Lin Jichen agreed without thinking.
He quickly regretted it.
"I haven't practiced my punches in a long time. Can you be my sparring partner?"
Lin Jichen's expression froze. Did this woman want to use me as a punching bag?
"Um... I need to sleep."
Ren Lan pouted and gave him a sharp look, "You just promised me, didn't you?"
Lin Jichen smiled bitterly, suddenly recalling the voice message he left for Ren Lan before he died in his past life. Was it really coming true?
"But we don't have any protective gear. What if you hurt me?" Lin Jichen tried to make a last-ditch effort.
Ren Lan smiled; fate is unpredictable.
She turned and brought out boxing gloves and protective gear from her room.
"Come on, let's just do it for half an hour. I still need to do tasks in Tale of Immortal afterward," Ren Lan urged.
Lin Jichen smiled bitterly, "You just showered. Isn't boxing right after a waste?"
"No worries, I can always shower again. This is a rare opportunity," Ren Lan said nonchalantly.
Lin Jichen knew he couldn't refuse. It seemed he was destined to be the punching bag today. Sigh...
In the living room, Lin Jichen put on the protective gear and held up the pads, while Ren Lan put on the gloves.
Before Lin Jichen could mentally prepare, she started attacking.
The first two sounds were from Ren Lan's punches, and the last bang was Lin Jichen hitting the floor.
"Ouch!" Lin Jichen grimaced, clutching his backside.
"Are you okay, Little Lin? Sorry, I'll go easier on you."
"It still hurts! Can't you go easier?"
"Hehe, I got too excited and didn't control my strength. My bad, my bad. How about this?"
"Ugh, it all hurts anyway. Just finish quickly."
"Okay, okay, I'll try to be quick. Hang in there."
Lin Jichen was curled up on the floor, holding himself, his face filled with despair, his eyes vacant.
Ren Lan, on the other hand, was flushed with excitement, thoroughly enjoying herself, accompanied by a mischievous laugh.
"Hehe, Little Lin, you did well tonight. Go shower; you can go first."
Lin Jichen dragged his battered body like a walking corpse to the bathroom.
Ha, is this life? Just end it already.
After a shower, Lin Jichen still felt intense pain all over, his bones nearly falling apart.
This crazy woman, where did she get such strength?
Exhausted and sleepy, Lin Jichen quickly fell asleep on the bed.
In his dreams, he felt someone lift his blanket and then pull it off.
A pair of cool, jade-like hands started roaming over his body.
Lin Jichen woke up in shock, thinking, no way, he had already satisfied this crazy woman's punching desires. Did he now have to satisfy her carnal desires too?
Was he going to lose his purity tonight?
But soon, Lin Jichen smelled the scent of medicinal wine and realized he had overthought it.
Ren Lan was just there to apply medicine to him.
Lin Jichen relaxed and pretended to sleep, letting her do her thing.
Ren Lan carefully applied the medicine and massaged his bruises.
"It actually feels a bit good..." Lin Jichen thought to himself.
But soon, he felt something was wrong...
Sure enough, Ren Lan noticed too, but she just thought Lin Jichen was reacting in his sleep.
"Ugh! Stupid Lin, all your energy is spent on this. No wonder you're so weak," Ren Lan muttered, blushing, as she quickly finished applying the medicine, covered Lin Jichen with the blanket, and fled the room.
Lin Jichen breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, she didn't realize he was awake, or he might have faced another round of torture.
Hearing Ren Lan's last words, Lin Jichen smiled bitterly. Was it his fault? It was a normal reaction, okay!
With those hands roaming all over him, if he didn't react, he'd be a eunuch!
But Lin Jichen was still very tired and soon fell into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Lin Jichen woke up to find Ren Lan had already finished her workout and even bought him breakfast.
"Why didn't you call me when you went out to exercise?"
"You were sleeping like a dead pig. How could I wake you? Besides, considering how you sacrificed your body last night, take the day off," Ren Lan said.
Lin Jichen felt something was off with her words, as if he had sold his body.
"Eat your breakfast. I specially went to a soup shop to get you some chicken soup to nourish your body."
Lin Jichen felt even weirder. He seriously suspected he had been taken advantage of last night...
After breakfast, Lin Jichen quickly logged into the game.
He hadn't been online all night, wasting precious early development time, which made Lin Jichen feel a pang of regret.
In Tale of Immortal, every second counted for development and self-improvement.
But there was no other way. Going out at night in the Thunder Marsh was suicidal; you wouldn't even know where the attacks came from.
If he couldn't find the Thunder Dragon, Lin Jichen would have to continue hiding during the night and moving during the day in the Thunder Marsh.
Logging back in, he was still in the Thunder Marsh. Fortunately, nothing had happened overnight.
Lin Jichen emerged from his hiding spot. The Thunder Marsh was still pouring rain, with constant lightning and thunder.
Soaked to the bone again, Lin Jichen continued his aimless search for the Thunder Dragon in the Thunder Marsh.