"Heh, look closely at my toenails." Chu Qi, with her excellent flexibility, performed a standing split, extending her right foot towards me. I peered closely and saw a knife mark on her big toenail. Only then did I realize she had used her toenail. If there had been the slightest deviation, with her immense strength, her entire toe might have been lost. What lovely toes, it would be such a pity to lose one.
Seeing she was unharmed, I bent down to examine my waist. It was merely a superficial graze from the dagger, a trickle of crimson seeping out, but no blood was flowing.
I let out a long sigh and frowned, "Master, can we not use such methods? It's too dangerous!"
Chu Qi placed her foot on my shoulder and patted it. "If we don't use this method, do you think you'd have the strength to stand up?"
That's right. I checked and felt my body. My heart was still beating fast, indicating the continued secretion of adrenaline, the effects hadn't worn off. My arms and legs, however, felt significantly less sore. The muscles in my limbs, including my core muscles, could be tensed at will, as if I had just finished a warm-up.
"Push-ups, fifty-five. Not one less!" Chu Qi moved her small foot to my chest and pressed down. I stumbled backward, spun in mid-air, landed on my hands, and immediately performed a push-up. Indeed, I had strength now!
As I was doing the second one, Chu Qi sat on my back again. I held my breath, no longer thinking about whether her body was warm. I performed the push-ups one after another with quality and quantity. By the twentieth, the ache in my arm muscles returned, and my back muscles could barely support Chu Qi's weight. My body began to tremble from exhaustion, and large drops of sweat fell from my forehead onto the blue and white tiles by the swimming pool.
"Mas... Master, I ca-can't hold on..."
"Then shall I get the knife again?" Chu Qi chuckled.
"Getting the knife won't help... because, because I know... you... will save me..." I told her the truth. It was like the boy who cried wolf, except I didn't need to believe her the third time; I believed her the second time.
"Indeed, that's the case. Alright, then I'll let you off." Chu Qi got up from my back, and I slumped to the ground again.
"Hey, hey, don't fall asleep, at least one more, okay?" Chu Qi stood in front of me, and I could only see her toes. "If you're a man, do one more!"
Just one? That's manageable. I took two deep breaths, mustered all my strength, and pushed myself up again. But just as I thought I had completed the task, I found Chu Qi squatting down and, from who knows where, producing a thumbtack and placing it directly below my heart!
"Hey! What are you doing now!" I roared. Just as I was about to roll sideways to dodge, Chu Qi sat on my back for the third time.
"Hehe, if I add force, you won't be able to roll over." With that, she used a technique similar to "qianjinzhui" (a move that drops weight downwards), pressing my body down little by little. I was so tense that I dared not even open my mouth to speak, fearing that if I lost concentration, my arms would give way, and I'd be impaled by the thumbtack!
Only when my chest was close to the thumbtack did Chu Qi remove her "qianjinzhui." I quickly exerted more force with my arms, pushing myself up, as far away from the thumbtack as possible!
"Twenty-two."
I cursed her inwardly, she was too devious!
Unable to escape Chu Qi, I could only be pressed down by her "qianjinzhui" again, completing half a push-up, then she would remove it, and I would complete the other half.
"Twenty-three... twenty-four... thirty-nine... fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five. Good, task completed!" Chu Qi declared, immediately stood up, and simultaneously hooked my waist with her ankle, kicking me into the adjacent swimming pool.
Her move was absolutely necessary, because when I heard "fifty-five," all the tension in my body instantly released, and I almost sank and got impaled by the thumbtack. Her final kick saved my life.
I floated on my back on the water. This time, I was truly, completely, utterly exhausted. Even breathing felt like a chore. After resting for a while, I forced myself to take a breath to maintain basic bodily functions.