Wan Linghua wasn’t embarrassed, as if she’d already become accustomed to others looking at her this way. She explained, “I’m a doctor. After entering Pill Limit Mysterious Land, my Shimei and I wandered off from the rest of the group. Just now, we were entangled by a fierce beast while on the road. If it weren’t for Young Peak Master Yuan, I’m afraid that matters wouldn’t have ended well for Shimei and me.”

　　Yuan Tianwen walked over and pulled Duan Yuyang towards him. “I had some friendly relations with Linghua before; her medical skills aren’t bad. You should let her take a look at Ah Hen.”

　　Duan Yuyang raised the tips of his brows; he dropped her surname and directly called her Linghua. It seemed that their friendship wasn’t small.

　　Jin Fangfei raised her head proudly, “My Shijie isn’t one who would just casually help any random person. There won’t be this shop after you pass this village. If you don’t get out of the way, I’ll throw you out, and you can just wait outside.”

　　Duan Yuyang was both angered and amused. “I entered this cave first. What right do you have to throw me out?”

　　Jin Fangfei put both her hands on her waist as she spoke with an overbearing attitude, “Your great aunt is happy!”

　　Duan Yuyang, “…..”

　　This was the first time that he had seen such an unreasonable person, yet he felt a sense of déjà vu — he had lived for many years until now, but no one had dared to bully him with such arrogance, which was absolutely on account of the Duan family’s face.

　　Over there, Wan Linghua had already inspected Yan Tianhen’s condition.

　　“How is it?” Duan Yuyang asked nervously.

　　“Brother Yuan said before that he became like this after you guys were caught in a strange heavy rain?” Wan Linghua had already heard Yuan Tianwen’s simple explanation of the situation while on the way here.

　　Duan Yuyang nodded and replied with lingering fear in his heart, “Yeah, it’s extremely uncomfortable when that rain hits your body. Ah Hen had the greatest reaction.”

　　He really regretted not giving some of his defensive treasures for Ah Hen to use back then.

　　Wan Linghua’s expression looked a little strange.

　　Duan Yuyang’s heart tightened. “What’s the matter? Is there a problem?”

　　Wan Linghua shook her head and said as she stood up, “I can’t put a stop to this kind of situation. Just let him suffer like this.”

　　Duan Yuyang immediately felt a little angry after he heard that. “What do you mean by that? What ‘just let him suffer like this’?”

　　Wan Linghua swept him a glance. “He’s obtained some benefits; how can he not suffer any hardships?”

　　Duan Yuyang stared blankly. “What do you mean?”

　　“That rain was a medicinal rain.” Wan Linghua was a doctor not just in name but in ability as well, so she naturally possessed more knowledge in this field that Duan Yuyang.

　　“Medicinal rain?” Duan Yuyang had a dumbfounded expression.

　　Wan Linghua explained, “The most powerful alchemists are simultaneously doctors as well. Some of the medicinal pills they refine, which have abilities like cleansing the body of impurities, detoxifying poisons, or warding off evil spirits, can be transformed into a medicinal rain when combined with special techniques, bathing all sentient beings with benevolence. This kid’s constitution has too many Yin and cold attributes, while that medicinal rain has a Yang attribute, so his reaction is naturally a little stronger. However, if you just let it be, he’ll be able to recover and absorb those benefits on his own after a period of time.”

　　Duan Yuyang was instantly dumbstruck, clearly shocked by this unexpected turn of events.

　　“Just…just that simple?” Duan Yuyang asked, “You’re not randomly fooling with me, are you? Are you sure there are no consequences and, on the contrary, can provide benefits?”

　　Wan Linghua didn’t even have time to open her mouth before Jin Fangfei, who was beside her, became upset. She blurted out, “You, it’s fine if you don’t have any ability yourself, but you even doubt my Linghua Shijie. My Linghua Shijie has never been wrong with her diagnosis before. When she was in Cloud Jade Sect, the people living at the foot of the mountain all called her a fairy. You’ve really gotten quite a bargain this time, yet you still try to show off your own cleverness.”

　　Duan Yuyang was scolded this much by Jin Fangfei, but instead of being angry, his formerly-anxious heart settled down as he breathed a sigh of relief. He beamed with joy and looked like a foolish disciple. He raised his brows at Jin Fangfei, “Beauty, don’t be so angry, Gege will apologize to you, okay?”

　　Jin Fangfei immediately got goosebumps and glared at Duan Yuyang with a pair of apricot eyes. “Have you been possessed by a ghost?”

　　Duan Yuyang cleared his throat, “When I see a beauty….”

　　“Stop stop stop hold up hold up!” Jin Fangfei could be said to be frightened by Duan Yuyang. She hurriedly grabbed Wan Linghua’s hand and spoke to her in a coquettish tone, “Shijie, Shijie, this shameless lecher is teasing me so, you don’t even care?”

　　Wan Linghua was unable to restrain a smile and laughed as she shook her head, “You can treat him as a sister.”

　　Jin Fangfei, “…Oh!”

　　Duan Yuyang, “????”

　　What kind of situation? Sister? He’s purely a man, alright?

　　Jin Fangfei glanced at Yuan Tianwen and, when she looked at Duan Yuyang again, her expression had changed.

　　Duan Yuyang wanted to flip a table, but there weren’t any tables for him to flip here.

　　Duan Yuyang wanted to go to Yan Tianhen’s side to seek comforting words, so he sat down beside him.

　　Yan Tianhen scratched at his face so Duan Yuyang hurriedly grabbed his wrist.

　　“Is there anything that can alleviate the situation?” Duan Yuyang asked with a frown. “Henhen looks very uncomfortable.”

　　Wan Linghua took out a bottle of medicine and threw it to Duan Yuyang. “Smear it on the corroded areas. It might alleviate it a little, but the effect isn’t guaranteed.”

　　Duan Yuyang quickly opened it and put it under his nose, sniffing it. The sweet fragrance assailed his nostrils. It was good medicine for treating injuries. He first smeared a little on his arm, then picked up some medicine with his finger as he carefully applied it to Yan Tianhen.

　　Just then, noisy voices came from outside the cave, which seemed as if a group of people was walking towards this side.

　　The people in the cave immediately became alert. Within the Mysterious Land, there will inevitably be more enemies than friends.

　　A white ball rushed in first. Duan Yuyang paused. “Hu Po, why did you bring so many followers in?”

　　With an “ao wu“, Hu Po rushed over to Yan Tianhen’s side and called out towards the cave entrance.

　　A man dressed in white with long hair down to his waist and a breathtaking appearance took the lead and walked in.

　　Duan Yuyang exploded as soon as he saw Lin Xuanzhi. He stood in front of Yan Tianhen and blocked Lin Xuanzhi’s view of him as he crossed his arms and spoke coldly, “Young Master Lin, this tiny place can’t house such a great Buddha like you. Why don’t you look for another place elsewhere?”

　　Shen Rubing folded up the umbrella and stood beside Lin Xuanzhi with a pair of ice-cold eyes. “Gentleman Duan, you should be careful when you talk. Who do you think you are facing?”

　　Yuan Tianwen looked at Shen Rubing coldly. “Why does my person have to choose his words carefully based on other people’s moods? Young Sect Master Shen, please choose your words carefully as well. My temper has never been very good.”

　　He spoke in an imperious manner, as though it was only right. If someone dared to make Duan Yuyang lose face right in front of him, then he absolutely wouldn’t leave even the slightest bit of leeway for the other party.

　　Even Duan Yuyang didn’t expect that Yuan Tianwen would stand up for him so directly.

　　Shen Rubing’s expression twisted for a moment. She glared at Yuan Tianwen for a moment. It was obvious that she held some disgust toward two men getting together.

　　Lin Xuanzhi, however, didn’t speak up at all. He was too lazy to pay attention to these verbal jabs. He went straight to Yan Tianhen’s side and kneeled down beside him without any explanation, reaching a hand to feel the pulse in his neck.

　　Yan Tianhen seemed to feel the familiar aura. He opened his mouth and shouted “Dage” once, then uttered a grieved “wu wu” as he reached out to scratch at the back of his hand.

　　Lin Xuanzhi felt as though a hard hit had landed on his heart when he saw Yan Tianhen’s miserable appearance, his heart suddenly collapsing into a muddled, soft mess.

　　Seeing the cool ointment on Yan Tianhen’s face, Lin Xuanzhi understood and said, “Thank you” to Wan Linghua.

　　Wan Linghua lightly responded, “Don’t mention it, it’s just a slight effort.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi held Yan Tianhen in his arms horizontally and stood up as he addressed Yuan Tianwen, “This place is too close to the cave entrance and the Yang Qi here is strong as well. I will take him inside to heal his injuries. You should all rest here first. No one is to come in before I come out.”

　　Duan Yuyang was immediately annoyed. He was about to snatch the person away in a fit of anger and pointed to the tip of Lin Xuanzhi’s nose as he cursed, “What kind of a good person are you pretending to be at this fucking time? Henhen doesn’t need your concern!”

　　Yuan Tianwen grabbed Duan Yuyang’s arm. “He has other ways to make Ah Hen feel better. You can trust him this once.”

　　Duan Yuyang cursed “Your mother!” once and kicked a stone by his feet with much force.

　　Shen Rubing saw Lin Xuanzhi walk towards the inner cave with Yan Tianhen in his arms, not bothering to hide his actions at all. She couldn’t help but have a strange twisted idea — if she had been caught in the rain before and didn’t use this umbrella, would she be able to take this opportunity now to have Lin Xuanzhi take care of her?

　　But when Shen Rubing saw that the faces of all the other disciples around her had ugly red welts on them, with some who had broken skin, and all of them looking like they were paralyzed by exhaustion, then when she looked at herself again — she still possessed a refreshed aura, was dressed neatly, and had perfect makeup, she once again felt lucky.

　　Jin Fangfei looked at Shen Rubing, who didn’t seem to have been hit by a single drop of rain, and curled her lips upwards, her expression as if rejoicing in another’s misfortune.

　　Very obviously, Shen Rubing didn’t know when she offended Lin Xuanzhi. This umbrella, which blocked out all benefits, must have been given to her intentionally by Lin Xuanzhi. Unfortunately, even now, Shen Rubing was still unaware of how many benefits she had missed out on. Most likely, she was still unable to contain her joy, thinking that she had obtained Lin Xuanzhi’s favor.

　　One really couldn’t afford to provoke Lin Xuanzhi this person.

　　The cave was very deep. Lin Xuanzhi navigated it with ease as he held Yan Tianhen in his arms and turned a corner, coming to a dry and quiet place.

　　The side of Yan Tianhen’s face rested on Lin Xuanzhi’s chest and his hands subconsciously embraced Lin Xuanzhi’s neck, like a clingy small animal.

　　Lin Xuanzhi didn’t set him down either; he directly let Yan Tianhen sit on his lap.

　　He took out a medicinal pill from his storage bag with one hand and tried to stuff it into Yan Tianhen’s mouth, but Yan Tianhen gritted his teeth hard as he shivered. Evidently, Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t feed it to him.

　　“Open your mouth, Ah Hen.” Lin Xuanzhi said softly.

　　Yan Tianhen seemed as though he was having a nightmare, sometimes frowning and sometimes crying. He even faintly yelled “Daddy” a few times.

　　Lin Xuanzhi sighed in his heart. He gazed at Yan Tianhen’s pale face that was mixed with festering red. He couldn’t bear for Yan Tianhen to suffer anymore, so he put the medicinal pill between his teeth and lowered his head, touching Yan Tianhen’s lips with his own.

　　Using softness to conquer steel. Yan Tianhen’s clamshell-like teeth were quickly pried open by a soft object. The familiar cold fragrance made the thought of “reject this” disappear from his subconsciousness and Lin Xuanzhi easily pushed the medicinal pill between Yan Tianhen’s lips.

　　However, after Yan Tianhen had swallowed the medicinal pill, Lin Xuanzhi was still reluctant to pull away his lips.

　　It wasn’t as though he and Yan Tianhen had never kissed in their past life.

　　But except for that final kiss, all the others were from Yan Tianhen coming up to him and kissing him of his own accord.

　　At that time, he felt that he didn’t like Yan Tianhen and even hated him. Naturally, he was extremely repelled and disgusted by Yan Tianhen’s kisses, so much so that he even spoke some cold words, intending to hurt Yan Tianhen.

　　As for that last kiss.

　　Lin Xuanzhi’s heart ached.

　　Yan Tianhen died in his arms, gradually closing that pair of eyes that couldn’t see anything. His breathing weakened, his face as pale as snow.

　　With both his hands trembling, he gently kissed Yan Tianhen’s lips. He remembered that Yan Tianhen once said, “If Dage kisses me, Ah Hen won’t hurt anymore.”

　　And yet, those lips were so cold that even now, Lin Xuanzhi still felt lingering fear when thinking about it, unable to forget.

　　Lin Xuanzhi closed his eyes and felt the soft sensation between his lips.

　　Ah Hen, warm and lively.

　　What was there to argue about?

　　Wasn’t it merely saying a few wrong words and throwing a childish temper tantrum?

　　In the end, Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t bear to abandon him.

　　This was the person he loved the most; how could he bear to hurt him even a tiny bit?

　　Yan Tianhen felt as if he was being fried in a fire in one moment, then as if he’d fallen into an ice cave the next. Sometimes he felt as if ants were crawling all over his body, and other times as if he’d been pricked at by densely-packed needles. In any case, he was miserable to the extreme.

　　As soon as he felt the pain, he would think of Daddy and Dage. In his dream, Daddy smiled at him and waved goodbye to him. At first, Dage was very kind to him, but later, he pointed the tip of a sword at his neck, his complexion seemed carved out of ice. He slowly pronounced every word, “Yan Tianhen, the enmity from killing my father; we can no longer live under the same sky. In this lifetime, there is no possibility of reconciliation between us, and you are even less worthy of being my Lin Xuanzhi’s Didi.”

—