The exposed portion of Xiao Shuying’s arm was already covered in bruises of varying depths; it wasn’t hard to imagine what the rest of his body looked like.
Su Yunyu looked on, his heart struck by the sight, and he couldn’t help but complain to the system that the youngsters nowadays were truly ruthless.
However, the jade marrow didn’t need to be applied to every single bruise; it would naturally travel through the four limbs and hundred skeletons to heal every ache and pain.
Su Yunyu held the medicine bottle, intending to pour out some jade marrow and rub it into the bruises. But just as he was about to move, his chin was suddenly struck by a surge of brute force.
“Hiss,” he was completely unprepared. Not only was his chin throbbing with pain, but his body couldn’t help but stumble slightly.
Just as he was about to tilt to the side, his trailing robe was stepped upon. Before Su Yunyu could steady his footing, the person who felt as heavy as a submerged stone, as if filled with immense force crashed into him once more.
It was a scene of absolute chaos. When Su Yunyu fell to the floor, his hand bracing against the jade tiles, he was completely bewildered.
Xiao Shuying had even tumbled onto him. Before he could react, Xiao Shuying began to apologize through tear-choked sobs:
“Master, I’m so sorry… I… I didn’t stand steady…”
It was actually quite suspicious that he hadn’t been able to stand steady to such an extent.
But seeing Xiao Shuying tremblingly trying to stand up, rubbing his reddened eyes as if he were about to cry from guilt, Su Yunyu immediately dismissed any doubts. He couldn’t even help but mock the situation to the system:
“111, look at him. He’s actually so frail he can’t even stand properly. Hahaha, this ‘Long Aotian’ is nothing to write home about.”
111: How come I feel like the one who is actually frail is someone else…
Seeing that Xiao Shuying was truly pitiful, Su Yunyu couldn’t restrain his paternal, teacher-like love. He straightened his messy robes, stood up, and tried to comfort him, telling him it was nothing.
However, before he could offer comfort, Xiao Shuying spoke again, weakly:
“Master, that spirit medicine… it seems to have spilled everywhere…”
Hearing this, Su Yunyu realized his hand felt cool. He lifted it to find the jade marrow had spilled all over his palm.
He picked up the bottle and tipped it, but not a single drop remained.
He felt a pang of regret; after all, this jade marrow was useless to him, but it was incredibly useful for Xiao Shuying.
But the next second, 111 comforted him: [It’s fine, you have a whole stack in your space.]
Hearing this, Su Yunyu immediately returned to normal. He had almost forgotten that the original owner was the number-one person in the world, with resources to spare.
Ahem. He put the medicine bottle back into his space as if nothing had happened. Just as he intended to comfort Xiao Shuying again, he saw the boy biting his lip, his eyes filled with tears, looking incredibly guilty and frightened, as if he were afraid of being punished by Su Yunyu.
This actually made Su Yunyu feel guilty himself. Look at how scared this child is! It was just a bottle of medicine, and he’s acting like he’s about to be beaten. Am I that kind of person?!
Su Yunyu stepped forward, raising his hand to wipe the tears away. Seeing Xiao Shuying involuntarily close his eyes tight at the movement, he sighed slightly and instead patted him on the back to comfort him:
“It’s just a bottle of medicine, it’s nothing.”
“It was also my oversight. Go sit on the bed, and I will reapply the medicine for you.”
As he spoke, he wiped the moisture from the corners of Xiao Shuying’s eyes. Seeing him still trembling, he simply went through with it, leaning over and scooping him up into his arms, ignoring the stiffness of his body as he walked toward the bedside.
Su Yunyu secretly thought to himself that he was risking an OOC (out-of-character) trigger just to be this gentle; he didn’t believe this little brat wouldn’t be moved.
Once he displayed even more tenderness and affection, Xiao Shuying would surely be ready to obediently offer his neck for the slaughter.
Thinking of this, Su Yunyu almost laughed out loud, completely unaware that Xiao Shuying, whom he was currently holding, already had cold, sinister eyes.
He had previously suspected that Su Yunyu had poisoned the medicine, so he had pretended to lose his balance, slammed into Su Yunyu, and stepped on his robe, falling over on purpose.
Then, he had watched with his own eyes as the medicine spilled all over Su Yunyu’s hands. He had apologized while observing Su Yunyu’s reaction, waiting for the poison to take effect.
But absolutely nothing happened. Not only was Su Yunyu not poisoned, but he even comforted him with a face full of mercy.
Now, he was being treated like a weak, frail creature who couldn’t even stand, being held in what Su Yunyu deemed a show of compassion. Damn it, he is hypocritical to the extreme!
Held tightly, Xiao Shuying’s nose was forced against the lotus-pattern embroidery on Su Yunyu’s collar, and his sense of smell was filled with that cold fragrance.
He felt an anger in his heart with no outlet; he almost wanted to bite down on him to see if this man could still keep up his act.
Just as Xiao Shuying was about to take action, Su Yunyu set him down, placing him on the edge of the bed.
Then, he brought out another bottle of jade marrow, though this time he briskly tore off the red silk seal.
Xiao Shuying was filled with suspicion. He couldn’t help but wonder if the first bottle had just been a smokescreen and if he had actually hidden the poison in this second bottle.
While he was engaged in an internal tug-of-war, Su Yunyu was entirely consistent—he only had one thing on his mind, which was applying the medicine.
So, he sat down next to Xiao Shuying, smoothing his sleeve, and soothed him while watching his vacant expression:
“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt in a moment.”
Xiao Shuying’s brow twitched violently upon hearing this.
What does that mean? Did he really poison me, and once I’m dead, it won’t hurt anymore?
Before Xiao Shuying could act, the jade marrow was already being applied to his aching wrist.
A cool sensation permeated his skin, rapidly turning into spiritual energy that traveled through his body.
If he really poisoned me, then this is useless anyway. Xiao Shuying simply let Su Yunyu continue, taking the opportunity to try and capture the spiritual energy brought by the jade marrow.
However, the moment he stimulated his meridians, a piercing pain shot through his entire body. The pain from having his meridians severed was incredibly potent, and he bit his lip instinctively, using enough force that he was about to draw blood.
His meridians were broken in a tragic state—small fragments that trembled every time he tried to channel energy.
Just as Xiao Shuying was about to bite through his lower lip, a wave of cold fragrance rushed toward him, followed by a hand pressing against his biting teeth, accompanied by a voice filled with worry and urgency:
“Let go. I have channeled spiritual energy to you; you are safe now.”
Su Yunyu’s voice was just like his name light as clouds and cool as jade. As these words fell, they somehow caused Xiao Shuying to strangely lose his tension.
He lifted his gaze and stared straight into Su Yunyu’s eyes, which were like pools of water. In the flickering candlelight of the room, they looked like the moon hidden behind clouds.
Hah. Sanctimonious and hypocritical to the extreme.
Xiao Shuying’s body was drained of strength, but that didn’t stop him from exerting his remaining mental energy to loathe this man.
These severed meridians, I will fully recover them one day. One day, I will return to my former position.
Before he could secretly plot his next move, Su Yunyu took a thin blanket from his space and urged him:
“It is late. Rest early.”
With that, he cast a spell on Xiao Shuying, instantly changing him into clothing suitable for sleep, and followed suit, laying down in the innermost part of the bed with extremely swift movements.
He didn’t even give Xiao Shuying a chance to speak. As Xiao Shuying looked at his own thin sleepwear and then at Su Yunyu, who had his back to him and had already closed his eyes to rest, his mind was in absolute turmoil.
This was the closest they had been in almost ninety-nine lives.
What is this man thinking? With his level of cultivation, does he really need to sleep at night? Shouldn’t he be meditating?
No matter how Xiao Shuying pondered, Su Yunyu was sleeping quite peacefully.
Of course, he knew that cultivators didn’t really need to sleep, but!
He had to shorten the distance quickly, and this opportunity was perfectly suited for it.
Of course, he couldn’t do it every single day; his philosophy was that taking the initiative by surprise was the best strategy.
Besides, he was genuinely tired tonight. That collision by Xiao Shuying earlier had made his old back feel a bit uncomfortable.
Moreover, he wasn’t the original owner he was a modern person; he had to sleep at night. So, after lying down for less than a minute, Su Yunyu was sound asleep.
He was past caring about what Xiao Shuying was thinking or doing.
Xiao Shuying had absolutely no intention of laying down on the same bed as him; he just sat on the edge of the bed for a long time.
Then, he looked at Su Yunyu, who appeared to have fallen into a deep sleep.
Is he pretending to sleep, or is he truly asleep?
Xiao Shuying couldn’t be certain. He stared for a while, until Su Yunyu turned over.
His face, usually so aloof, looked softened in his sleep. His ink-black hair spilled over, making his face look like a dark cloud beside the moon.
Especially when his eyelashes were no longer fluttering and his thin lips had regained their color one couldn’t tell that he had any sinister schemes at all.
Xiao Shuying found that he was indeed sleeping soundly, and completely unguarded.
He even inexplicably gave off a sense of fragility a fragility that made him seem easy to kill.
He couldn’t determine when this man would try to kill him again, but he knew one thing: he had to strike first.
After all, between him and Su Yunyu, it was either him or the other.
No matter how many times they lived again, there was only one conclusion.
Moreover, even the Heavenly Dao didn’t seem to like Su Yunyu; he always died in the most inexplicable ways.
Thinking of this, Xiao Shuying curled his lips in mockery, and an idea formed in his mind.
He fished a dagger from his old clothes. It was a three-edged knife, imbued with spiritual energy; he decided to use it to see if he could kill Su Yunyu.
If the truth came out, it wouldn’t matter. Given how easily fooled Su Yunyu seemed, he could just find an excuse and say someone else had done the deed.
In any case, Su Yunyu’s bizarre behavior was like having a sword hanging over his head, never knowing when it might fall.
It was infuriating, and he didn’t want to endure it anymore.
With this thought, Xiao Shuying gripped the dagger tightly, staring at the spot where Su Yunyu’s heart was, his gaze turning vicious.
Without hesitation, he raised the knife high and stabbed down heavily—
Thump. The dagger flew away, and Xiao Shuying flew away too.
He fell heavily to the ground, his chest aching with a dull pain. He spat out blood and swallowed it back down, crawling to pick up the knife before leaning against the wall to catch his breath.
I am a fool. Su Yunyu is the number one person in the world, after all; he must have protective talismans.
Even if he isn’t on guard, or if he has other schemes, this protective magic exists.
I was simply too impatient.
Xiao Shuying put away the dagger and coughed up more blood. He wiped it away, staring at the color of the blood on his palm, then raised his eyes to glance at the man.
He was still sleeping soundly.
This time, Xiao Shuying truly believed that this man was simply sleeping.
His mouth and nose were filled with the scent of blood; the injuries just healed by the jade marrow had gone to waste.
His body ached intolerably, and Xiao Shuying grew even more annoyed at Su Yunyu.
If today didn’t work, there were thousands of days and nights yet to come.
One day, he would make Su Yunyu die.