Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World-Chapter 89: Ride Me? (No, Not Like That!)

"Xin Yi, let me see your leg."

Xin Yi looked up from where she had been sitting by the window, watching the settlement below.

It was the next day. Her seventh day in wolf territory.

Tomorrow—TOMORROW—Sha Chen had promised to take her to the Temple of Mán Shū.

She still hated him.

Mostly.

Maybe.

"Why do you want to see my leg?" she asked suspiciously.

Sha Chen stood in her doorway, arms crossed. He looked.....different this morning. Less Alpha-commanding. More concerned-maybe-worried.

"Because I need to check the mark," he said simply. "To make sure it is not causing you pain. Or burning. Or—"

"It is fine."

"Let me see it anyway."

"No."

"Xin Yi—"

"I said it is FINE, Sha Chen!"

They glared at each other.

[DING! (¬‿¬)]

[They are bickering again]

[Like an old married couple]

[How sweet! ☆]

"You are impossible," he muttered, walking into the room uninvited.

"And YOU are pushy!"

"I am trying to help!"

"By barging into my room without permission?!"

He stopped to look at her. "May I come in?"

"You are already IN!"

"Then may I STAY in?"

She huffed. "Fine. Whatever. Do what you want. You always do anyway."

Sha Chen approached slowly, like she was a wild animal that might run away. "May I see your leg?"

"Why are you being so polite suddenly?"

"Because you told me I do not listen." He sat down on the floor in front of her. "So I am listening. And asking. May I see your leg?"

Xin Yi blinked.

That was......unexpected.

"Fine," she said. "But only to check the mark. Nothing else."

"Nothing else," he agreed.

She pulled up the hem of her dress, exposing her ankle.

The mark was still there. The serpent coiled around the lotus, glowing faintly in the morning light.

Sha Chen leaned forward, studying it closely.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No."

"Does it burn? Tingle? Feel strange?"

"No. It just.....exists."

He reached out, but then hesitated. "May I touch it?"

"...Yes."

His fingers gently brushed against the mark, and somehow, Xin Yi shivered.

But not from pain. From something else entirely.

His touch was warm, his fingers calloused but soft. He traced the outline of the serpent slowly.

"It is beautiful," he murmured.

"It is terrifying," she corrected. "I do not know what it means. Or why I have it. Or what it will DO to me."

He looked up at her. "We will find out tomorrow. At the temple."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

They stayed like that for a moment. His hand on her ankle. Her looking down at him.

Then to her shock, he started massaging. Working his fingers around the mark. Along her ankle. Up her calf slightly.

"What are you doing?!" she squeaked.

"Checking for swelling. For heat. For any signs of infection or magical interference."

"That is NOT necessary!"

"It is absolutely necessary."

"Sha Chen—"

"Relax, Xin Yi. I am just checking."

But the way he was touching her...

It was not clinical. It was careful.....amost tender. Wait...

Her face burned red.

[DING! (¬‿¬)]

[Host is BLUSHING]

[Sha Chen is being surprisingly gentle]

[Tension level: RISING! ☆]

He noticed how red her face had gotten, and a chuckle escaped him.

"Oh? You are blushing, Xin Yi."

"I am NOT!"

"You are. Your face is red."

"That is just—just the heat! From the sun!"

"The sun is not even shining on you."

"Then it is from EMBARRASSMENT! Because you are touching me without—without—"

"Without what?" He looked up at her, his eyes gleaming with mischief. "I asked permission. You said yes."

"I said yes to CHECKING! Not MASSAGING!"

"They are the same thing."

"They are NOT!"

He laughed again, much deeper this time. Then, reluctantly, he pulled his hand away.

"There. I am done. The mark looks fine. No infection. No magical corruption. Just.....a mark."

"Good," she said primly. "Thank you for checking."

"You are welcome."

Silence fell....awkward and heavy between them. Then Sha Chen spoke quietly. "Do you still hate me?"

Ugh? Why would he ask that?

Xin Yi looked at him. At this wolf who had kidnapped her. Threatened her mate. Forced her into his harem. But who had also saved her from drowning. Protected her from Zi Jue. Kept his promises about sending builders to Azure Scale.

Who was looking at her now with a very vulnerable look in his eyes.

"Yes," she said honestly. "I still hate you."

He flinched.

"You tore me away from Qing Lin," she continued. "And from my baby. From Xiao Long. You took me from my HOME. From the life I was building."

"Xin Yi—"

"And you do not listen to me," she said firmly. "You are stubborn. You try to control everything. You treat me like I am helpless. Like I cannot make my own decisions."

He was silent.

Completely silent.

"Oh," he said finally, his tone quiet.

"Oh?" she repeated. "That is all you have to say? Oh?"

He let out a deep sigh. "You are right."

Xin Yi blinked. Eh? He was agreeing with her? "What?"

"You are right," he repeated. "I have been.....controlling. Overbearing. I did not listen. I just.....commanded."

"You did."

"I am sorry."

She stared at him, the sheer shock of this prideful wolf Alpha apologizing to her nearly scrambling her brain. "What?"

"I said I am sorry." He ran his hand through his hair. "I am not good at this. At.....at treating females like people instead of possessions. Mama tried to teach me. Papa tried to show me. But I....." He trailed off.

[DING! (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.)]

[Character development detected!]

[Sha Chen is LEARNING! ☆]

"Hmm," he said, looking frustrated with himself. "Very well."

"Very well what?"

"I have a proposition for you."

She narrowed her eyes. "What kind of proposition?"

"After we go to the Temple of Mán Shū—" He looked irritated, like the words were disgusting to say. "—after we go to the temple..."

He groaned. "What?" Xin Yi demanded. "Just say it!"

"I really do not like this," he muttered.

"Like WHAT?"

He looked at her directly. "You can go back to Azure Scale."

Time stopped.

Xin Yi’s heart stopped. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Wait," she said. "Really?"

"Really."

"You will let me GO? Just like that?"

"Not just like that," he said quickly. "There is a condition."

Of course there was.

"What condition?"

"I will go with you."

She blinked. "What?"

"I will accompany you to Azure Scale. To see your territory. To meet your....your snake king." His jaw clenched saying those words. "To ensure you are safe. Then you will come back."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because I—" He stopped, and then started again. "Because I want to understand. Why you love him. Why you chose him. What he offers that I cannot."

Xin Yi’s throat felt constricted. This was......this was more than she had hoped for.

"So," Sha Chen said. "Do we have a deal? Temple tomorrow. Then Azure Scale the next day. With me accompanying you."

"Yes!" The word burst out before she could stop it. "Yes! Deal! Absolutely deal! Thank you!"

He rolled his eyes. "You do not need to thank me. I am simply being.....reasonable."

"You are being WONDERFUL!"

"I am being strategic."

"Whatever you want to call it!"

[DING! (◕‿◕)]

[MAJOR PROGRESS!]

[Sha Chen agreed to let her return!]

[With conditions, but still! ☆]

He stood up, and brushed off his pants, before his eyes landed on her again. "You have really beautiful eyes," he said suddenly.

Xin Yi’s face went SCARLET. "W-what?!"

"Your eyes. They are beautiful. Dark. Expressive. I have never seen eyes like that before."

"I—you—stop saying things like that!"

He smiled sheepishly. "Why? It is true."

"Because it is FLUSTERING!"

"Good." His smile widened. "Tomorrow, you will ride me."

Xin Yi choked on air. Ride????

"WHAT?!"

"You will ride me," he repeated. "To the temple."

"Ride you?!" Her mind was racing. Her face was on FIRE. "Like—like in the BEDROOM?! Or—" Xin Yi couldn’t do that! She had heard the term before in her old life...but to do it with a wolf Alpha?!

What if he was too...no! She couldn’t think about it!

Sha Chen looked at her, his face a puzzled expression. "Bedroom? Xin Yi, what—"

Then understanding dawned on him, and he burst out into laughter.

"What—NO!" He was actually doubled over now. "I meant my WOLF FORM! You will ride my wolf form to the temple! It is faster than walking!"

"Oh." Xin Yi wanted to die. "Oh. Right. Of course. The wolf form. Obviously."

[DING! (≧▽≦)]

[HOST THOUGHT—]

[HAHAHAHA]

[THIS IS PEAK COMEDY! ☆]

"Although," Sha Chen said, still smiling. It was a dangerous and teasing one. "If you are OFFERING—"

She smacked his arm. "NO! Absolutely not! Never!"

"—I would not mind."

"SHA CHEN!"

He just chuckled at her. Xin Yi was so adorable. He wanted to keep her forever.

"I am joking, Xin Yi. Relax."

"You are TERRIBLE!"

"I am learning to have fun."

"Well learn SLOWER!"

He was still smiling as he walked toward the door.

"I hope you will have fun today, and also get some rest," he said. "Tomorrow we leave at dawn. The path to the temple is long. And dangerous. You will need your strength."

"I will be ready."

"Good."

~

In the shadows of the corridor, someone was watching. Zi Jue pressed herself against the wall. Her silver fur bristling. Her gray eyes narrow and cold.

She had heard everything.

The laughter. The teasing. The DEAL.

Sha Chen was letting the outsider LEAVE. He was going with her to Azure Scale. Was abandoning HIS harem. HIS tribe.

For HER.

Rage burned in Zi Jue’s chest.

She had been his first harem female. Had served him for THREE YEARS. She had given him everything.

And he was throwing it all away for some weak, pathetic, marked OUTSIDER.

No.

No, this would not stand.

She turned away from Xin Yi’s door. Her mind racing. Her heart pounding.

"Tonight," she whispered to herself. "Tonight I will make my move."

She would remind the Alpha of what he was giving up.

Or she would make sure the outsider never left wolf territory alive.

One way or another.

This ended TONIGHT.