In the forest
As Bai Shen and Lin Ruoxi made their way to his camp, which was about one or two kilometer away, a bit over half an hour passed.
If Bai Shen was alone, he could've covered that distance in ten or fifteen minutes; but since Lin Ruoxi was with him, they had to slow down.
She was already tired after running away from Ma Liang, so it was impossible for her to have so much energy to run again.
Especially because she didn't eat anything.
"Don't worry, I still have some meat from last night, and some fresh fish caught this morning."
Bai Shen reassured her with a smile.
"Thank you Bai Shen, I wouldn't know what would have happened to me if it wasn't for you."
Lin Ruoxi sweetly smiled at him, it was a pity that her face had some mud stains; so Bai Shen couldn't really see her features that well.
'But I'm sure she must be very pretty, her chest and legs are well developed after all... Ahem!'
Trying his best not to glance at the poor state of her clothes, Bai Shen pretended to scout the path ahead.
It didn't take them much longer to made it to his camping spot. As soon as they arrived, Bai Shen lit up another fire.
He easily heated up the food, before serving it to Lin Ruoxi.
'That's so good!' Her eyes lit up tasting the snake meat, which had the same taste as chicken.
Since Bai Shen was prepared, he also took some condiments with him; this way, he was sure that whatever he cooked would have a nice taste.
"Do you like it?" He couldn't help but ask after seeing the young woman, who was a bit older than him, quickly finishing the snake meat.
A blush crept up on Lin Ruoxi's face after she heard Bai Shen talking, she started to become self aware.
"Yes! It's so tasty that I couldn't stop until I finished it all. Oh! Do you have something else to eat?"
As if being electrocuted, Lin Ruoxi rose from the ground and grabbed Bai Shen's hands with her own.
The two of them were now looking into each other's eyes, 'This is a good opportunity...'
Thinking so, Bai Shen inwardly muttered, 'Steal.'
"It's alright, I can always go to the river and look for more fish." He gently shook his head at the concerned Lin Ruoxi, making her aware that she was still holding his hands.
"I'm sorry for grabbing you so suddenly." She apologized after a while.
"Haha! It's okay, I don't mind a girl holding my hands, if you were a guy though, I would've probably slapped you."
After Bai Shen said this, they both looked into each others eyes for a while, before bursting into laughter.
"Hehe! You're so funny Bai Shen." Lin Ruoxi wiped her eyes after her laugh passed, "You must have a lot of girls after you."
"Eh? Not really. There's none to be honest." The young man dejectedly shook his head.
The high-school he attended was a place for the rich folks, so there wasn't anything special about him.
It was true that he was quite handsome, above average; but since he only talked with his group of friends, not many people approached him.
"That's impossible! You're so handsome!" Realizing what she just said, Lin Ruoxi stopped herself.
'How could I say something so embarrassing?' What Lin Ruoxi didn't know was that because of Bai Shen's increased Charisma, it was inevitable for her to find him attractive.
Agility: 11.5(0.1^)
Charisma: 8.6 (0.5^)
Bai Shen received 0.6 attribute points after using 'Steal' on Lin Ruoxi. It mostly increased his Charisma though, 'Could it be because Lin Ruoxi has good looks, so her Charisma attribute is higher than the others?'
'This also explains why my Strength and Physique increased so much after killing that Ma Liang guy.'
Slowly, Bai Shen began to understand more and more how his System and Talent - Steal, worked.
"Oh, right! You mentioned something about washing, there's a river a few hundred meters away from here." Bai Shen suddenly changed the subject, to avoid Lin Ruoxi becoming even more embarrassed.
"If you want, I can take you there,' he offered.
And indeed, it worked, Lin Ruoxi's eyes lit up like candles as she spoke, "Sure! I would like to, I really can't stay in this state anymore."
"If you're worried about a change of clothes, I have a tracksuit with me; but I'm afraid it would be a few numbers higher than-"
Before Bai Shen could finish his words, Lin Ruoxi interrupted him, "There's no problem with that! Quickly! Let's go!"
Speechless, Bai Shen could only give his tracksuit to Lin Ruoxi before proceeding to take her to the river.
"After you've finished washing, just call me." Saying so, Bai Shen retreated some distance to give Lin Ruoxi some privacy.
He wasn't a peeping Tom who would try to take advantage and see a woman washing herself, he was better than that.
He was...right?
After Bai Shen left, Lin Ruoxi proceeded to get undressed and wash herself from all the dirt and mud that stuck on her body as she ran from Ma Liang.
"This Bai Shen is so kind... Who else would help a stranger like he did?" As she thought about it, anorher thought couldn't help but pop up in her mind.
'Wait, he couldn't be a pervert. Doing all these so he could score me... I don't think he's that type of man, so I shouldn't worry about it.'
Even if she tried to portray Bai Shen like a saint, his handsome face when he saved her couldn't help but continuously replay itself in her mind.
She even imagined that he was somewhere in a bush, watching her washing herself. The redness of her cheeks was back, unconsciously, she lowered her body inside the water.
———
After twenty minutes or so, Bai Shen heard Lin Ruoxi calling his name. He quickly got on his feet and walked back to the river.
Since he had some free time, he decided to swing his sword for a while to improve his stance.
Thus, he was currently gasping for air; with sweat pouring down his face. When Lin Ruoxi saw him like this, she couldn't help but think that he was really worked up about something.
What surprised Bai Shen though, was Lin Ruoxi's current looks, 'She's beautiful...' His eyes were glued to her jade-like skin, almond shaped eyes and and perfectly formed eyebrows. Those red, luscious lips...
Her body also couldn't be hidden beneath the oversized tracksuit that she borrowed from Bai Shen.
Her delightful curves accompanying that small body that barely reached a height of 1.60 centimeters; it was simply too much for Bai Shen to process at once.
Her blush was back seeing him looking like that at her.
"Are you okay? Your face is all red, maybe you have a fever?" Before she could begin to talk, Bai Shen reacted.
"I-It's nothing! I just felt a bit hot after washing myself, haha..." The 23-years old young woman wasn't very good at lying, so she said anything that could get her out of this embarrassing situation.
"I see. Let's go back then, I still have to train with my sword for a while more. It's going to be dark soon, so I better hurry until I can still see."
Hearing that Bai Shen was training with his sword before coming, Lin Ruoxi felt bad about thinking that the young man was peeking at her.
'You're so stupid Lin Ruoxi, he not only saved your life, he even took care of you, but you dared to think like that about him! Stupid!'
Inwardly cursing herself, Lin Ruoxi nodded at Bai Shen before returning to the camp.
"You can wait for me here." Said Bai Shen before trying to leave the camp, and go a little bit further, so his training won't bother Lin Ruoxi.
"Can I watch you training?" The girl suddenly asked. She was very curious about why Bai Shen was trying to learn how to use a sword.
"Sure. You can watch." After a second of thinking, Bai Shen agreed to let Lin Ruoxi watch him train.
———
Around two hours later, both of them came back.
Now it wasn't only Lin Ruoxi that was tired, but also Bai Shen.
'I must have swung the sword for thousands of times. I can't feel my arms at all.' Sweating as he walked, Bai Shen didn't see the gaze full of reverence directed his way by Lin Ruoxi.
'He's amazing, to think someone could do that continously, without taking a break at all. It's no wonder as to why his physique looks so good...'
Finally arriving back at their camp, Bai Shen opened his mouth and spoke, "I can sleep besides the tent, you can go inside and make yourself comfortable."
"What?! Are you crazy? It's dangerous outside. Even if it's a one person tent, we can squeeze in, there's no need to mind me."
Lin Ruoxi instantly berated Bai Shen before dragging him inside the tent...