She definitely didn’t want to get too close to Jing Ji, especially after that woman had just forced a kiss on her.
Now, whenever she saw Jing Ji, her stomach churned uneasily.
Jing Ji raised an eyebrow, a teasing glint in her eyes, “Sitting in the back? Dream on. Who knows what tricks you might pull back there? If you suddenly stabbed me, wouldn’t I be sinking in the gutter?”
Mu Xi was momentarily speechless at Jing Ji’s words, thinking this woman really was overly suspicious.
But she had a point.
Given Mu Xi’s current situation, Jing Ji certainly wouldn’t trust her easily.
“What do you mean then?” Mu Xi frowned and asked.
Jing Ji pointed to the front seat of the motorcycle, her tone carrying a commanding edge that left no room for argument.
“Sit in front and hold me from the front. That way I can keep an eye on you, and you won’t get any ideas.”
‘Hold her from the front?’ Mu Xi instantly felt a chill run down her spine.
That position was way too intimate.
It was basically like a couple.
And to have to hold a woman who had just forced a kiss on her—it was really hard to accept.
“Can we change the position?” Mu Xi tried to negotiate, her tone softening slightly.
“Like, I could sit in the back and you could tie me up, or…”
“Or what?” Jing Ji cut her off, voice dripping with mockery.
“Or maybe you want a romantic piggyback ride? Little girl, you sure know how to think.”
Mu Xi was a little annoyed by Jing Ji’s teasing, her face darkening, “I just think that position’s inconvenient and could cause some… exposure.”
“Exposure?” Jing Ji burst out laughing like she’d heard the funniest thing ever.
“In those ragged clothes you’re wearing, what’s there to expose? Besides, even if you did flash something, it’d be to me. I’m not losing out.”
Mu Xi took a deep breath and forced down the anger swelling in her chest.
Trying to reason with this woman was like playing the lute to a cow.
Arguing further would only make Jing Ji more smug.
“Fine, I’ll sit in front,” Mu Xi said stiffly, already bracing herself for the worst.
She decided to endure it for now, follow Jing Ji out of the Forest first.
Once they reached safety, she’d figure out how to get rid of this woman.
Mu Xi approached the motorcycle, hesitated briefly, then climbed up.
She carefully avoided contact, sitting stiffly on the front seat with her hands rigid on her knees, her body taut like a drawn bow.
Jing Ji chuckled at Mu Xi’s stiff posture, “Relax, I’m not going to eat you. Hold me tight, or if you fall off later, don’t blame me for not warning you.”
Mu Xi gritted her teeth but eventually reached out and wrapped her arms around Jing Ji’s waist.
Through the thick uniform, she could feel Jing Ji’s firm, hot body.
A strange scent hit her—a mix of sweat and a faint metallic tang of blood—that made Mu Xi even more uncomfortable.
The motorcycle engine roared, vibrating her eardrums.
Jing Ji twisted the throttle sharply, and the bike shot forward like an arrow.
The intense acceleration pushed Mu Xi back violently, and she instinctively clung to Jing Ji’s waist, afraid she’d be thrown off.
Wind howled past her ears, trees blurred by in a rapid retreat, the motorcycle bouncing wildly over the rough dirt road, shaking her insides as if they’d shift out of place.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to endure the violent jolts, her heart heavy with unease.
She didn’t know how much time had passed before hunger began gnawing at her stomach, waves of emptiness twisting painfully through her insides.
She lifted her head, noticing the harsh sunlight was no longer directly overhead but slanted—the afternoon had come.
The roar of the motorcycle drowned out the protests of her growling stomach, but Jing Ji seemed to have excellent hearing—or was constantly alert to her movements.
“Gurgle… gurgle…” came the unmistakable sound again.
“Hungry?” Jing Ji suddenly slowed the bike, her rough voice laced with amusement.
Mu Xi pressed her lips together awkwardly, silent, but her stomach answered for her.
Jing Ji stopped the motorcycle decisively by the roadside, killing the engine.
The roaring ceased, and silence immediately fell.
“Let’s go. We’ll find something to eat,” Jing Ji said, jumping off first, then gesturing for Mu Xi to follow.
Mu Xi hesitated briefly, then also climbed down.
Her legs tingled from the long bumpy ride.
She rubbed her aching knees and looked around.
They stood at the edge of a dark little forest, tall trees towering overhead and blocking out much of the sun, the light filtering through layers of leaves.
The air was thick with the damp smell of decay and humus.
“What are we eating?” Mu Xi frowned.
She didn’t think there would be much food out here in the wilderness.
Were they going to eat bugs or tree bark?
Just the thought made her queasy.
Jing Ji strode ahead without looking back.
“Don’t worry, you won’t starve. There’s plenty of wild game in this Forest.”
Mu Xi didn’t believe Jing Ji could conjure food out of thin air, but she had no better option and forced herself to follow.
As she carefully pushed aside branches and weeds blocking the path, she couldn’t hold back the question that had been circling in her mind.
“Why did you kiss me just now?”
Jing Ji paused for a fraction of a second at the question, then nonchalantly kept walking, her tone flippant as if discussing the weather.
“You’re so pretty, and your lips are so cute, isn’t that just begging to be kissed?”
Mu Xi was dumbfounded by the answer and almost tripped over a root.
What kind of reason was that?
It was pure thief logic.
She stopped and looked at Jing Ji’s retreating figure, her voice tinged with irritation, “That’s sexual harassment, you know that?”
Jing Ji suddenly spun around, a playful smile curling at the corner of her mouth as she appraised Mu Xi with keen interest.
“Sexual harassment? Little girl, you’ve got quite the vocabulary. But you’ve got one thing wrong—I’m not interested in you like that. Kissing you was just to make you behave and stop trying any tricks.”
She paused, her tone leaving no room for argument.
“Remember, you’re my captive now. You’d better cooperate, or I won’t hesitate to use more ‘extreme’ methods to make you listen.”
Mu Xi made a soft sound of acknowledgment.
Jing Ji didn’t stop walking but suddenly turned, raising a black firearm toward the bushes.
A muffled bang sounded, and the smell of gunpowder quickly spread.
She walked over and picked up two wild rabbits still twitching, her movements sharp and precise, the accuracy of her shot astonishing.
Using what was around her, Jing Ji broke dry branches and stacked them to make a fire.
Flames licked the dry wood with crackling sounds, the heat driving away the Forest’s cold dampness.
She swiftly cleaned the rabbits, the knife flashing as fur flew, the mixture of blood and the faint burnt smell filling the air.
“Tsk, too bad there’s no seasoning,” Jing Ji muttered, a hint of regret in her voice as she turned the roasting rabbit meat.
Mu Xi sat down on a clean stone near the fire, her gaze fixed on the sizzling rabbit meat dripping with oil, her throat rolling involuntarily.
Hunger gnawed at her like a relentless parasite, the sharp pangs of emptiness making her nearly lose the ability to think.
At this moment, even unseasoned roast meat—or raw meat—would be a feast she’d devour without hesitation.
The aroma of the rabbit meat invaded her nostrils aggressively, and Mu Xi’s salivary glands went into overdrive.
Ignoring the heat, she tore off a charred rabbit leg and stuffed it into her mouth.
The meat was coarse, carrying a wild gamy taste and some small hairs that hadn’t been cleaned off, but to her starving stomach, this was a delicacy.
She ate ravenously, as if trying to make up for the past two days of hunger all at once.
Jing Ji watched Mu Xi’s eating with a faint, subtle smile tugging at her lips, her eyes shining with playful scrutiny.
She tore off a piece of rabbit meat herself, chewing slowly, but her gaze never left Mu Xi.