Chapter 21: The Tiger and the Trap
The morning mist swirled around them, cooling the sweat on Li Hua’s skin but doing nothing to cool the fury in her eyes.
Kai stood over her, his shadow stretching long across the gravel. He checked his internal clock. The [Dragon’s Vitality] buff had flickered out sometime during the night. The buzzing, infinite energy was gone, leaving him with just his own natural reserves.
But he didn't need a buff for this.
He flexed his fingers. His new base stats were permanent. Strength 9. He was no longer a commoner with a stick; he possessed the physical power of a seasoned veteran soldier.
[System Scan]
Target: Li Hua
Current Qi: 2% (Critically Low)
Stamina: 15% (Exhausted)
Status: Prideful / Enraged.
Kai smirked. She was running on fumes. A Ferrari with an empty tank.
"You have a lot of anger for someone who can't even stand up," Kai mocked, taking a deliberate step back to give her space. "Maybe you should crawl back to the faculty lounge and get some tea, old woman."
That did it.
"Old... woman?"
Li Hua’s eyes snapped wide. The insult bypassed her logic and struck directly at her vanity. A vein popped in her forehead. She grabbed the hilt of her dropped training sword, using it as a crutch to force herself upright. Her legs trembled, but she locked her knees.
"You insolent, gutter-born trash," she hissed, her voice low and dangerous. She tossed the sword aside. It clattered loudly on the stones. "I don't need Qi to discipline a dog. I will break your teeth with my bare hands."
"Prove it," Kai said, spreading his arms wide. "No Qi. Just flesh. Unless you're scared your elite technique isn't enough to beat a 'nobody'?"
Li Hua didn't answer with words. She answered with violence.
She lunged.
Even exhausted, she was fast. She was an instructor of the Azure Wind Academy, a master of martial arts. She closed the distance in a blur, her body twisting like a whip. She aimed a high kick at Kai’s temple, her wet pant leg snapping through the air.
Kai didn't dodge. He saw the arc. He saw the tremor in her muscle right before the strike.
She’s fast, but she has no weight behind it.
Kai raised his left arm, blocking the kick hard.
THUD.
The impact rattled his bones—she was strong—but he didn't budge. With Strength 9, he stood like a stone pillar.
Li Hua’s eyes widened. She had expected him to fold. She tried to retract her leg, to flow into a spinning backfist, but her exhausted muscles lagged by a fraction of a second.
That was all Kai needed.
"Too light," Kai growled.
He didn't counter-strike. He stepped in.
He invaded her guard, his chest slamming into hers. Li Hua gasped as the air was driven from her lungs. She tried to bring her knee up into his groin—a vicious, street-fighter move—but Kai caught her thigh with his hand.
His grip was like a vice. He squeezed her wet, muscular thigh, his fingers digging deep into the flesh.
"Let go!" Li Hua shouted, raining punches on his chest. Thud. Thud. Thud.
They hurt, but without Qi reinforcement, they were just human blows. Kai gritted his teeth and took them.
"My turn."
Kai swept his leg behind hers. He hooked her ankle and shoved her chest with his massive strength.
"Down!"
Li Hua lost her footing. She flailed, grabbing onto his tunic, but gravity and exhaustion won.
CRASH.
They hit the ground together, but Kai made sure he was on top.
The impact knocked the remaining breath out of her. She lay on her back in the gravel, stunned, with Kai straddling her waist.
He pinned her instantly. He grabbed her wrists and slammed them into the dirt above her head, holding both of her hands with just one of his.
"Get off!" Li Hua screamed, bucking her hips.
She writhed beneath him, a wild, untamed tiger. Her hips slammed into his crotch repeatedly, grinding against his erection. Her wet gi was in disarray, the collar pulled wide open.
Kai looked down. The view was chaotic and incredibly erotic.
Her struggles caused her massive breasts to heave violently against the thin, sweat-soaked fabric. With her arms pinned above her head, her chest was lifted, displayed proudly. The white cloth was practically transparent from the sweat. Kai could see everything—the pink tint of her skin, the dark, heavy circles of her areolas, and the hard studs of her nipples poking through the wet linen.
"Struggle all you want," Kai panted, leaning down until his face was inches from hers. "You have no energy left, Li Hua. You're empty."
Li Hua gritted her teeth, her face flushed with exertion and humiliation. She tried to kick him, but he used his knees to pin her thighs to the ground.
She was completely immobilized. Spread-eagled. Pinned by the very student she had called trash.
"This... this proves nothing," she spat, though her voice lacked its usual venom. She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling against Kai’s stomach. "I am... depleted. In a real fight... you would be dead."
"But we aren't in a real fight," Kai whispered. "We're here. And you're on your back."
He shifted his weight. He settled his hips firmly against her pelvis. He let her feel the weight of him. He let her feel the hard ridge of his cock pressing against her stomach through their clothes.
Li Hua froze. Her eyes darted down to where their bodies connected, then back up to his face.
"You..." Her breath hitched. "Get off me. Now."
"Or what?" Kai asked. He released her wrists, but she didn't strike him. Her arms fell limp to the dirt, too heavy to lift.
He placed his hands on the ground on either side of her head, caging her. A drop of sweat fell from his hair and landed on her cheek.
"You lost, Instructor," Kai said softly. "You challenged me, and you ended up on the ground. If this was the tournament... I could do whatever I wanted with you right now."
He let his gaze drop to her chest. He stared openly at her nipples, which were clearly visible through the wet fabric.
"You're a mess," Kai murmured. "Sweaty. Dirty. Defeated."
Li Hua turned her head to the side, refusing to meet his eyes, but a deep, burning blush crept up her neck. She was humiliated, yes. But the sensation of his heavy, strong body pressing her into the earth... the heat radiating from him... it was triggering a reaction she hadn't felt in years.
Her body, betrayed by exhaustion, was responding to his dominance.
"Get... out..." she whispered, her voice trembling.
Kai smirked. He had made his point.
He stood up slowly, removing his weight from her. The cool morning air rushed into the space between them.
Li Hua remained on the ground for a moment, her chest heaving, her legs sprawled open. She looked like she had been ravaged, even though he hadn't removed a single piece of clothing.
Kai dusted off his hands.
"Train harder, Li Hua," Kai said, turning his back on her. "If you're this easy to pin... paying up on our bet is going to be very fun for me."
He walked away into the mist, leaving her lying in the dirt, clutching her torn pride and her wet, aching chest.