The nun hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pinched Tang Lis wrist bone, followed by crouching down to pinch her leg bone. Standing up, she said: "No need to become my disciple, I can teach you some martial arts skills. If you can master them, you should be able to defend yourself against ordinary people in the future... However, it involves practicing with knives and swords, which might not be suitable for you."

  Tang Li rubbed the palm of her hand that had just been pinched by the little male god and coughed lightly: "Its okay, I just wanted to learn some martial arts for self-defense. Let me specialize in learning from you, I wont be able to learn it anyway."

  The two agreed, and Tang Li got up early every morning to learn from Xun Nu in the courtyard.

  "Your strength is too weak." Xun Nu pinched Tang Lis soft and delicate wrist, her expression stern, "Not using enough force to hit, its impossible to cause any harm."

  "Come on, hit it accurately at those few positions I mentioned."

  Tang Li didnt expect that when Sweetheart Little Male God was instructing her, he would be so strict as if he had become a different person. His face was stern and his tone was flat, with no ups or downs, and his movements were quick and decisive, making him look even more handsome. Especially when demonstrating to her, the same action that he did was swift and lightning-fast, without any hesitation or delay, giving off an effortless feeling that Tang Li couldnt match even a little bit.

  She has a gentle personality, and every time she makes a move, she unconsciously leaves some room for maneuver, not daring to use her full strength, especially when practicing with Xun Nu, fearing that she might hurt him.

  Xun Nu was also helpless, and once again easily grasped her hand, "Still too weak."

  Tang Li couldnt help it and gave him a flattering smile, "Ill practice a few more times."

  He grabbed her arm from behind and swung it forward, "If youre going to do it this way, remember the arc and speed."

  Tang Li felt that learning from the little male god was probably a self-inflicted suffering, she didnt understand it to begin with, and being held by him like this made her even more forgetful.

  Just then, Xun Nu lifted his leg and lightly kicked her heel, using force to make her kick out, while explaining: "Kick your legs out at an angle like this." He made this move without warning, and Tang Li didnt react in time, directly falling out. Fortunately, Xun Nu grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

  After being released by Sunu, Tangli felt a bit ashamed and lowered her head, feeling like she had not met her teachers expectations when she first learned cooking skills.

  "Thats all for today, well continue tomorrow." Xun Nu said nothing more than that.

  Tang Li was chopping vegetables in the kitchen, her wrist a bit stiff and her finger joints still red and swollen. Xun Nu, who was helping beside her, kept staring at her hand, and when Tang Li put down the knife to massage her hand, he suddenly grasped it.

  He held her hand and looked down, his low voice slowly saying: "Im sorry."

  Tang Lis hand moved slightly, but didnt pull back. "Whats wrong? Is it that Im not studying well myself? Ill practice more tomorrow and get familiar with it."

  Xun Nu shook her head, "Ive never taught anyone before, maybe Im just not good at teaching... is your hand still sore from when I pinched it this morning?"

  Tang Li suddenly understood what he was getting at and couldnt help but laugh, "No, you taught well, its just that Im not used to it. Learning anything requires suffering, when I first started learning culinary knife skills, I also cut my hands many times."

  Xun Nu still held her hand, his thumb gently pressing against her reddened joints, his eyebrows slightly furrowed. He now understood what it meant to be reluctant to part with someone.

  Originally cold hands soaked in water were warmed up by Xun Nus grasp after a while, and both hands had a faint red glow.

  The front shop came shouting, and Tang Li only then withdrew her hand, carrying the tray and walking out. Not long after, she hurried back, pulled Xun Nu, looked at the kitchen door where the curtain was still swaying, and said in a somewhat urgent low voice: "Xun Nu, theres a customer in the shop, I think hes not quite right."

  "What?"

  His calmness soothed Táng Lí. Táng Lí calmed down and explained: "He came in and sat in the corner, wearing a bamboo hat as if hiding something. When he reached for money, his sleeves were exposed, with fresh bloodstains on them, and there seemed to be unwashed bloodstains between his fingers. There were also a few bloodstains on his shoes. Most importantly, I saw a wanted poster in front of the prefecture two days ago, and the fugitive who slaughtered over a dozen families looked somewhat like him. However, I only caught a glimpse of him when he lifted his hat, so I couldnt be certain."

  Xun Nu patted her shoulder and said in an unchanged tone: "Mm-hmm, I know. Ill go take a look. You stay here."

  The man in a bamboo hat ordered a pot of wine and two small dishes, sat for a while in the corner, and then hurried away as night was falling.

  "How was it? Hes gone?" Tang Li lifted the curtain and walked out.

  There were no more customers in the store now, Xun Nu glanced at the sky outside and saw that it had started to drizzle, so she raised her hand to put up the door panel. At this time, the store should also be closed.

  "Hes indeed a habitual killer, I dont know him but can smell the extremely strong bloody aura on him, he must have killed many people recently... Co said a few simple words, didnt mean to elaborate."

  Everyone left, and Táng Lí also stopped talking about it, bringing out food to eat.

  In the middle of the night, Xun Nus room window was silently opened, and a figure climbed out of the window, disappearing into the darkness.

  The fine rain grew heavier, and the whole city was quiet and cool in the heavy rain, shrouded in damp mist.

  A man named Wang Bian woke up from his dream, he suddenly sat up and cautiously pushed open the window beside him to peek outside through a crack. Outside, the rain curtain was connected to the sky, a vast expanse of water vapor, without any unusual signs. He wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead, feeling palpitations due to the nightmare earlier, his throat dry and wanting to get out of bed to fetch some water, but when he turned his head, he found that a black shadow was standing beside his bed at some unknown time.

  Wang Tian immediately picked up a large knife beside him and held it in front of his body, "Who!"

  "That figure opened its mouth and asked: Wang Bian?"

  Wang Tian narrowed his eyes, finding the young man in front of him unexpectedly familiar, seemingly the boss of that small restaurant before. This made him momentarily stunned. After reacting, he immediately became ferocious, raising his knife to chop down.

  With a clang, his knife struck something hard and rebounded, causing his tigers mouth to split open. Wang Bao finally felt afraid and shouted: "Who are you? What brings you here?"

  "Kill you." Xun Nu said, drawing out the Xun dagger. The blade shone brightly in the dark night, like a crescent moon, illuminating the side of the face of the person holding it.

  Wang Tian saw the knife shadow, thought of something, and suddenly his eyes widened, grabbing the knife with a trembling hand, and exclaimed: "Its you, youre that Xun! Who is it, who actually went to Lianyu to buy my life!"

  "Nobody wants your life."

  Wang Tian didnt believe it. Who doesnt know that the first killer in the Refining Realm wouldnt easily take action, and when he does, its a transaction worth tens of thousands of gold? He had only killed over a hundred people, at most a small thief, with no reputation to speak of in the Jianghu. If no one had paid for his life, how could this great deity have been bothered to come personally? Moreover, in order to get a clear understanding of him, he had even gone undercover in that small shop to observe him. Dealing with such a minor character, yet being so meticulous, was truly terrifying!

  The more he thought about it, the more Wang Bians forehead was covered in cold sweat, and as he looked at the figure standing still in the darkness, he felt himself being shrouded in the shadow of death, barely able to muster the thought of escape. Such an atmosphere and killing intent were suffocating.

  "Spare me, spare me! Im just a nobody, we have no grudges or grievances. Ill offer all my gold and silver, just spare my life!"

  Outside, a heavy rain suddenly poured down. Inside, on the bed curtains, a string of bloodstains suddenly splashed out. A headless body fell onto the bed, while the bloody head rolled off the bed and stopped at the foot of the slave girl, whose eyes still showed unextinguished terror.

  ……

  Last night it rained all night, and Táng Lí slept very soundly. This morning she got up a bit late, hastily tying her hair as she pushed open the door to see that the kitchen was already emitting smoke from cooking, apparently Xùnú had gotten up early to start the fire.

  Tang Li smiled slightly, just about to go to the kitchen to ask Little Master if he wanted to practice martial arts today. Her eyes inadvertently swept over a certain corner of the small courtyard and suddenly froze.

  In that corner, there was an additional circular cloth package with a wet stain underneath. The surrounding mud had a faint reddish tint, probably because the rainwater had diluted the blood. As I approached closer, I could still smell a mix of earthy and bloody odors.

  This wouldnt be a human head, would it? Táng Lí stood beside him, looking at the shape and wanting to unwrap the package to see if it was what he suspected.

  "Dont come near, its dirty." Xunu walked out of the kitchen and came up to her side silently, startling Tang Li.

  "Whats inside?" Tang Li asked cautiously.

  Xun Nu: "Thats the fugitive from yesterday. Once the government office opens later, Ill take him over to collect the reward."

  Tang Li suddenly remembered the reward amount, which was three hundred taels. Her small shop had been open for many days and hadnt started making a profit yet. Could it be that Xiao Sheng Shen was worried about her store going bankrupt because of poor management, so he went out to make extra money to support his family in the middle of the night?

  Tang Li looked at Xun Nu, somewhat unsure of how to react.

  Xun Nu didnt know what she was thinking, pulled her away from the mans headscarf and gestured for her to go to the kitchen. "There are many such villains, they take pleasure in killing people, their martial arts may not be high, but they can easily deal with ordinary people, its too dangerous to let him roam around this city."

  Tang Li suddenly understood, the little male god wasnt after the reward, but was worried about her.

  Her heart skipped a beat as she gazed at Xun Nus tall and broad back, and suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of security. Since coming to this world, only Xun Nu could give her such a feeling of peace. Sometimes, she really wished that Xun Nu would like her the way he liked Chu Li in the original story. If so, she would definitely take good care of him and cherish him.

  "Slave."

  The slave turned around.

  Tang Li quickly took two steps forward and hugged him tightly.

  "Are you being so nice to me because I saved you once at Ghost Wailing Plains?"

  Xun Nu lowered her head and looked at the top of her head, "A life-saving favor, should be repaid."

  Tang Lis hand tightened.

  "But everything Im doing now is because you make me happy."

  Tang Li thought she had misheard for a moment, she was stunned, let go of Xun Nu and wanted to lift her head to see his expression, but was hugged back by Xun Nu, who pressed her head into his chest.

  "My heart is pleased with you, I want to protect you." He said again, his tone even lower and hoarser than before.

  Tang Li clearly heard the rapid beating of her own heart, as well as the same vibration coming from Xun Nus chest. She grasped the back of Xun Nus clothes tightly, feeling as if she had suddenly sunk into a dream or fallen onto a cloud.

  "I am too... I also like you." Táng Lí said vaguely, uttering these words.

  Its strange to say, but over the years, many people have confessed their feelings to her, and even several men she met through blind dates proposed marriage with grand gestures, yet she felt nothing. She had never felt like this before - tense and joyful, yet at a loss for what to do.

  Perhaps its because she understood that the men she knew before, who said they liked her and wanted to marry her, were only looking for a good wife and mother, or simply thought they were suitable. But Sunu, when he looked at her, saw only her.

  This is a world that is vastly different from the one she was used to, not without its cruelty, but also with a unique romance. At least their encounter and falling in love were things she had never thought of before.

  Suddenly, she felt herself lifted off the ground. Xun Nu picked up Tang Li and placed her on the windowsill. He gazed at Tang Lis flushed face, his long, thick fingers stroking her cheek, his eyes darker and brighter than before. His Adams apple rolled twice, "You... really like me?"

  Tang Li lowered her eyes and smiled, "Mmm, I like it." After finishing, she generously raised her eyes, looked straight at Xun Nu, and said another sentence: "I liked you from the beginning, now I like you even more." She thought that her real age was probably a few years older than the young god, so she should be generous at this time. However, when she met Xun Nus eyes, she unconsciously lowered her head again, full of shyness.

  She suddenly heard a soft, short laugh with a husky and sexy tone. She looked up to find Xun Nu laughing for a moment, which was the first time she saw him smile, although it was brief and fleeting, but she did see it clearly. In contrast to his laughter, the smile on his face still carried the shyness and joy of youth.

  After being stunned for a while, Tang Li leaned forward, wrapped her arms around Xun Nus neck, and gently and actively pressed her lips to his.