Chapter 281 - 146: Island Vacation

Chapter 281: Chapter 146: Island Vacation

"Didn’t I tell you to stay in the house and not come out? Being disobedient again, are you? You want a spanking, is that it?"

Seeing Su Ran was angry, Xie Yiren stepped closer, took his hand, and said in a low voice, "As long as you’re okay, you can spank me however you want."

"Oh?"

Su Ran smiled. It was clear Xie Yiren’s words had pushed all his buttons.

"Alright. Once we get out of here, I’ll give you a few good smacks."

"You..."

Xie Yiren couldn’t believe he had the nerve to joke at a critical moment like this.

Su Ran said calmly, "Relax, everything will be fine."

"Still talking tough when you’re knocking on death’s door, are you? Let’s see how many heads you have to lose!"

Wang Yue furiously raised his shotgun and aimed it at Su Ran.

"Stop!"

At that moment, a voice called out from the back of the crowd. Everyone turned to look.

The speaker was Xie Yiren’s Ah Weng, the tribe’s Grand Elder, Xie Song.

"Ah Weng~"

Xie Yiren cried out excitedly and was about to rush over, but Su Ran grabbed her and pulled her back. "Don’t go! He’s carrying a can of gasoline!"

At his words, all the villagers scrambled to the sides in a panic, clearing a path.

Xie Song staggered forward, carrying the can of gasoline, and walked step by step toward Xie Yiren. Some of it sloshed out, the pungent odor striking fear into the hearts of the villagers. Many of them had personally witnessed the gruesome scene from over a decade ago, when Xie Song, carrying gasoline just like this, had burned the previous Saintess to death.

"Ah Weng~"

Xie Yiren’s voice grew hoarse. She shook her head, unable to believe that the grandfather who had raised her would truly treat her this way.

HUFF...

Su Ran let out a silent sigh. ’What a bunch of feudalistic relics,’ he cursed inwardly. He couldn’t understand how Xie Song could change his tune so quickly. The moment he was exposed, he became a different person. But there was no time to dwell on that. Su Ran had already spotted an escape route to the left. If things went south, he’d grab Xie Yiren and bolt. There was no point wasting his breath on these stubborn old fools.

At this moment,

a playful smile appeared on the Second Elder’s deeply wrinkled old face as he watched the approaching Ah Weng.

"I was just wondering where you’d gone. Well, well... so you went to get gasoline. You truly live up to your title as our tribe’s Grand Elder! Impressive! Did everyone see that? Our Grand Elder has always been fair and just. Who was it just now saying the Grand Elder was showing favoritism?"

Xie Song stopped in front of the Second Elder, but he didn’t put the gas can down. He fixed his gaze on Xie Yiren, who was straight ahead, and finally managed a slight smile.

"Don’t be afraid. Ah Weng is here. No one will dare to touch you!"

"Xie Song, what is the meaning of this?" The Second Elder’s expression changed drastically.

Xie Song roared at the Second Elder, "I said, if anyone dares to touch my granddaughter, I’ll destroy them!"

"Hahaha..." The Second Elder laughed. "Xie Song, oh, Xie Song, that’s not what you said a decade ago..."

Xie Song: "Shut up!"

"Why should I shut up! Because of her..." the Second Elder pointed at Xie Yiren, "When you burned the previous Saintess to death, you decried in front of everyone that the Saintess System could not be defiled! Does everyone remember that?"

The crowd nodded. "Yes, the Grand Elder did say that."

The Second Elder continued, "Xie Song, you know the consequences of violating our ancestral traditions. If you, as the Grand Elder, also violate them, you too must be put to death. Have you forgotten?"

Xie Song: "As long as my granddaughter is safe, I am willing to die."

"Hahahaha... What a convincing performance of a good grandfather." The Second Elder laughed strangely, then looked at Xie Yiren. "By the way, Xie Yiren, there are some things you probably don’t know."

"Shut your mouth!" Xie Song barked.

The Second Elder ignored him completely, continuing with relish, "You might find this interesting. Your most respected Ah Weng, holding this very can, tied your mother to that pyre over there and burned her alive. You, Xie Yiren, are the daughter of the previous Saintess."

The moment he said this, everyone was stunned.

"Very few people knew. You were just a small child back then. After he burned your mother to death, your most respected Ah Weng made you the Saintess, as a way to atone for your mother’s sins, I suppose. Heh... but as he raised you, he grew attached. He even forgot the ancestral traditions, hahaha..."

Xie Yiren was in disbelief. "Ah Weng, that’s not true, is it?"

"Sigh..." Xie Song sighed and said, "It’s true. I was wrong back then. I shouldn’t have burned your mother to death for the sake of an inflexible system. I’ve wronged you... Su Ran is right, a life for a life. I am a murderer. I’ve wronged you. But..."

Xie Song turned to face all the villagers and declared, "This is not a feudal society anymore! I, Xie Song, announce today the abolishment of the Saintess System! I, Xie Song, am willing to pay with my life. I beg you all not to trouble my granddaughter!" He glanced back at Xie Yiren. "I’m sorry for what I did to your mother!"

With that, he steeled his heart, grabbed the gas can, and poured it over his head. He swiftly pulled out a lighter and set himself on fire. With a WHOOSH, his entire body was engulfed in flames.

"Ah Weng..." Xie Yiren screamed and tried to rush forward, but Su Ran held her in a death grip.

The Second Elder hastily took two steps back. "What are you all standing there for? Get some water, save him!"

The people in this village were, at their core, simple and honest. But everyone had their own beliefs, much like the religious conflicts in the Middle East—some lines simply could not be crossed.

"I, Xie Song, warn all of you! If anyone dares to harm a single hair on my granddaughter’s head, I will haunt them even as a ghost!"

The burning Xie Song roared one last time. Under the watchful eyes of all the villagers, he took a leap and jumped off the cliff, trading a life for a life.

"Dammit!" The Second Elder slapped his thigh, then looked around. "Su Ran, where’s Xie Yiren? Where did they go?"

...

「A few days later.」

「Xisha Islands.」

CAW CAW CAW~ A seagull skimmed over the azure surface of the sea, snatched a fish, and flew away.

A yacht named the "Riva" was moored near a small, deserted island in the Xisha Islands.

The climate here was tropical.

A hot breeze rolled seashells onto the fine sand.

Under a coconut tree, four women in bikinis lounged lazily on four deck chairs, sunbathing and enjoying the undisturbed life on the deserted island.

The brilliant sunlight shone on their fair skin, making them look absolutely delectable.

This was the kind of island where you could scream your lungs out and no one would hear you.

And these four women were Liu Jinyu, Xiao Wanqing, Xie Yiren, and Aina.

"...So, do you hate your Ah Weng?"

Aina asked curiously after hearing Xie Yiren’s story.

"I..." Xie Yiren thought for a moment. "It’s fifty-fifty. I don’t know. It’s just... really complicated. I almost cried myself to death the past few days. Luckily, Su Ran gathered everyone and brought us here to relax. Otherwise, I probably would have been overwhelmed by it all."

Xiao Wanqing took a sip of coconut milk. "So it’s good to be rich, right? You can just spend money to go out to sea and relax?"

Xie Yiren: "It’s not like that. I just never thought... It just wasn’t... Sigh..."

Xiao Wanqing: "So can you ever go back to your village?"

Aina: "Go back to what? You’re lucky you made it out alive. Why would you go back to that superstitious, feudalistic village? Hey..." Aina scooped up a handful of sand and poured it into Liu Jinyu’s cleavage.

Liu Jinyu: "What are you doing, you little bitch?"

Aina: "Hehehe, I saw you spacing out. Thinking about a man?"

Liu Jinyu: "A man? My ass. I was thinking about what Xie Yiren said... that my little brother was only discovered when he climbed into your bed. Is that right?"

Xie Yiren: "Er... about that... Oh! The fish is burning!"

Liu Jinyu: "You vixen, trying to run away? Get back here! Seducing my little brother, I’ll tear you to shreds!"

After wrestling for a bit, they each returned to their deck chairs to apply sunscreen, waiting for Su Ran to come out so the four of them could properly interrogate him!

SPLASH...

At that moment,

Su Ran emerged from the sea. He shook his wet hair and looked ahead at the sun, the sand, the deck chairs, the bikinis.

He held up the scallops and abalones in his hands. "I didn’t catch any fish, just picked up these scallops and abalones."

Aina: "You’re so useless. You can’t even catch a fish, you just like picking up those abalones and scallops."

Su Ran: "These scallops are tender and juicy, and these abalones are plump but not too rich. I happen to enjoy eating them all."

"Little brother..." Liu Jinyu called out. "I can’t reach my back to put on sunscreen. Come up here and put some on for me."

"Coming."

Su Ran came ashore and dropped the abalones and scallops from his T-shirt onto the ground. Wearing only a pair of beach shorts, he padded barefoot across the fine sand, ruffling his wet hair.

He walked past Xiao Wanqing’s deck chair, glancing at the long, fair legs beneath her white bikini.

"Sister Wanqing, your legs are so fair."

Xiao Wanqing chuckled and shot him a look that seemed to say, ’And whose shoulders do you think they’ve been propped up on?’

Ahem...

Su Ran cleared his throat twice.

He walked over to Aina’s deck chair. Seeing the unique bikini on this exotic woman from the Western Regions, he approached. Aina instinctively clamped her legs together. "What are you doing?"

"You forgot to take off the price tag. I’ll get it for you!"

He reached out and tore the tag off her bikini bottoms.

"There."

"Oh, my hero."

"Heh, you’re welcome. Aina, you’ve put on some weight recently."

"Have not!"

"Look, you’re spilling out of your triangle bikini bottoms."

"Oh."

"Time to go on a diet."

With that, Su Ran walked to the next deck chair, where Xie Yiren was lying. He saw her lying on her stomach, the sun shining on her back, revealing the full Phoenix.

"Yiren, I didn’t know the sun could make it come out too?"

"Duh, of course. When the sun shines on me, my body heats up, and when my body heats up, it comes out..." Xie Yiren bit her lip, realizing Su Ran was teasing her. "No lewd thoughts."

"I’m not, I’m just appreciating it. This is the first time I’ve seen your Phoenix in broad daylight. It’s breathtaking. Here, drink up!"

Su Ran grabbed a coconut milk and stuck a straw in her mouth.

He walked straight to Liu Jinyu’s side, sat down, and gave her pert bottom a pat. She obediently lay flat on her stomach. Su Ran scooped a glob of sunscreen and started rubbing it on her back.

He admired Liu Jinyu as she lay there, especially the fair skin under her bikini. Her long legs were stretched out straight and pressed together, and her triangle bikini bottoms were all wrinkled. Su Ran activated his Finger Technique Fragrance hand and helped straighten out the edges for her.

Ah...

Liu Jinyu let out a cry, covering her mouth.

"You..."

Liu Jinyu turned her head, biting her lip and glaring at him.

Su Ran: "What?"

Liu Jinyu: "What are *you* doing?"

Su Ran: "It was wrinkled. I was just straightening it for you."

Liu Jinyu: "Your hand is very dangerous."