Chapter 11: The Knife Rebellion
4 AM came far too quickly.
Li Wei stumbled through the dark academy corridors toward Xiao Yun's lab, every muscle still aching from yesterday's "experiments."
Why did I agree to this?
Oh right. Because refusing meant losing sanctuary and getting murdered by ninety-seven other wives.
MORNING QUEST: Lab Assistant Duty
Time: 4:00 AM (You're late by 3min)
Penalty: Extra experiments
Also: Fun Fact!
Xiao Yun's cultivation: Soul Realm Stage 2 (Way stronger than you!)
But... her combat skills are LOW!
She's a formation specialist, not a fighter. You COULD resist! :)
Li Wei stopped walking.
Wait.
Soul Realm Stage 2 sounded terrifying, but the System had a point. Xiao Yun was a researcher, not a warrior. Her power came from formations and arrays, not direct combat.
And formations took time to activate.
If he attacked FIRST, fast and unexpected...
Am I seriously considering attacking my wife?
Well, she'd been treating him like a lab rat for two days straight. Turnabout was fair play.
Li Wei entered the laboratory. Xiao Yun was already there, surrounded by floating manuscripts, scribbling notes.
"You're late," she said without looking up.
"Traffic," Li Wei muttered.
"There's no traffic at 4 AM."
"Metaphorical traffic."
She finally glanced at him, adjusting her glasses. "Get on the table. Today's experiment is testing your pain threshold with—"
Li Wei grabbed a scalpel from the nearby tray.
And lunged.
Shadow Step activated.
Li Wei blinked across the three-meter gap, appearing directly behind Xiao Yun, blade aimed at her shoulder (non-lethal, he wasn't a monster).
Xiao Yun's eyes widened.
She twisted—impossibly fast for someone who "wasn't a fighter"—and the scalpel missed by centimeters.
"What are you DOING?!" she yelped.
"RESISTING!" Li Wei shouted.
He pressed the attack. Close quarters. No time for her to draw formations.
Xiao Yun backpedaled, her back hitting a bookshelf. Scrolls tumbled down.
Li Wei pinned her wrists above her head with one hand, scalpel in the other.
For a moment, they were frozen.
Faces inches apart. Her glasses slightly askew. Breathing hard.
Xiao Yun's cheeks flushed. "This is... highly inappropriate."
"So is strapping me to tables!" Li Wei retorted.
♥ CLOSE CONTACT DETECTED! ♥
Distance: 5cm
Affection +2 (Surprised by your boldness!)
Current: 48 → 50/100
"You..." Xiao Yun's expression shifted from shock to something calculating. "You're using Shadow Step offensively. Smart."
"Thank you?"
"But predictable."
The floor beneath Li Wei's feet glowed.
Oh no—
Gravity reversed.
Li Wei shot upward, released Xiao Yun's wrists, and slammed into the ceiling. The scalpel clattered away.
"Wha—!"
Gravity reversed again.
He fell.
Xiao Yun caught him—barely—and they both tumbled to the floor in a tangle of limbs.
Li Wei ended up on top of her, their faces even closer now.
Xiao Yun's glasses had fallen off. Without them, her eyes were large and surprisingly vulnerable.
"You," she panted, "are more interesting than I thought."
"Is that a compliment or a threat?"
"Both." She smiled—genuinely smiled. "No one's ever tried to attack me before. Most people are too afraid."
"I'm terrified, actually."
"Good. Fear means you're thinking." She pushed him off (surprisingly strong for someone so small) and stood, retrieving her glasses. "But you failed. Want to know why?"
Li Wei groaned, sitting up. "Formations are cheap?"
"Formations are EFFICIENT." She helped him up (surprisingly gentle). "But your instinct was correct. If you'd been faster—used Shadow Step twice in succession—you might've won."
She pulled him to the examination table (here we go again) but this time, she didn't strap him down.
Just sat him on the edge.
"Your cultivation is too low for sustained combat," she continued, checking his meridians with clinical efficiency. "Stage 6 is barely entry-level Core disciple strength. You need Stage 7 minimum to fight Core Realm opponents. Stage 9 to match me."
"That'll take months."
"Or..." She pulled out a vial of glowing green liquid. "You take experimental shortcuts."
Li Wei eyed the vial suspiciously. "What does that one do?"
"Muscle enhancement. Should increase your physical strength by 30%. Might also make your skin turn green for a week."
"Absolutely not."
"Your choice." She set it aside. "Then we train the hard way."
She tossed him a wooden practice sword.
"Combat training. If you want to fight back, you need to actually know HOW to fight." She picked up her own sword—also wooden, but she held it like someone who'd never used a weapon in her life.
Perfect.
They sparred.
It was... clumsy. Xiao Yun clearly had theoretical knowledge but zero practical experience. Li Wei had Shadow Step but terrible technique.
They both fell. Multiple times.
At one point, Li Wei accidentally tackled her. They rolled across the floor, tangled in each other's limbs.
"This is NOT how sword fighting works!" Xiao Yun protested, face red.
"Blame physics!" Li Wei retorted, equally flustered.
♥ AFFECTION UPDATE! ♥
Xiao Yun: 50 → 53
Reason: "He's showing initiative!"
She likes that you're not just accepting your fate as a lab rat.
They finally stopped, both exhausted, sitting on the floor amid scattered scrolls.
"You have potential," Xiao Yun admitted. "Raw, unrefined, but... potential."
"Thanks. I think."
"Tomorrow, we continue. Combat AND experiments."
Li Wei groaned. "Can't I just do combat?"
"No. You're still my test subject." She stood, offering him a hand. "But... I'll be less aggressive with the experiments. Since you're cooperating with training."
He took her hand. "Deal."
As he left the lab, Li Wei realized something.
He'd just had his first "normal" interaction with Xiao Yun.
No straps. No forced experiments. Just... sparring. Talking.
Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.
~ Author's Note ~
Thanks for reading! If you can't wait to see what happens next, you can read ahead up to Chapter 30 right now on my Patreon.
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