Chapter 33: Well-defined abdominal muscles, clearly defined bulges...

In the dream, there was only endless darkness.

Xiao Qiyu remained kneeling on the bluestone ground outside the front study, surrounded by darkness. His back was torn and bleeding, and the harsh sound of whipping continued to echo from above.

In his dream, he was just like his real-life temperament, silent and still as a mountain, mechanically enduring each beating without offering any defense for himself.

The pain was sharp and penetrating, but Xiao Qiyu endured it with restraint. Beads of sweat dripped from his temples, mingling with the blood on the ground.

He told himself that he could get through it.

It is only right and proper to admit one's mistakes and accept punishment. Let alone fifty lashes, even five hundred lashes, he must endure them without missing a single one.

It's okay, it won't hurt.

Xiao Qiyu, it doesn't hurt.

He mimicked the gentle tone his mother used to use to comfort him, repeating it over and over in his heart: It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt...

Perhaps it was because of his different state of mind, but his dream also became chaotic and disordered. A gust of wind rose from nowhere, carrying countless familiar laughter and footsteps, like an invisible net passing through his body and making a ruckus around him.

Xiao Qiyu recognized the voices as those of his uncle and aunt, and his cousins.

They walked past him, chatting and laughing, without stopping for a moment.

After clearly sensing the hustle and bustle around him, Xiao Qiyu's wounds felt as if they had been doused with salt water, and the burning pain intensified suddenly, making him feel like he was about to die.

But compared to this physical pain, an even more unbearable agony was quietly gnawing at him—loneliness.

I feel so lonely.

The bustling activity right next to him had nothing to do with him.

But a faint longing also arose in his heart.

He couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if a footstep was coming for him.

How wonderful it would be if someone walked up to him, looked at his wounds, and felt sad for him even for a moment.

The excruciating pain in his back felt like a sharp knife stabbing into his heart. In his dream, Xiao Qiyu felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into boundless pain and darkness, gradually becoming numb and almost unable to feel his own existence.

Suddenly, a faint, sweet fragrance wafted into my nostrils.

Immediately afterwards, the girl's clear voice pierced the chaotic silence, brimming with vibrant life force, and suddenly rang out:

"Xiao Qiyu!"

"Xiao Qiyu! Wake up!"

...

It was midday, and the begonias outside the window swayed gently in the breeze. Bright sunlight filtered through the leaves and through the window, casting shimmering patches of light on the ground. In the ice chest beside the bed, the glistening white ice was melting silently, and the fruits and vegetables inside emitted a refreshing fragrance.

On the small sandalwood table next to the ice chest, there was a bowl of refreshing mung bean soup, with a few golden dried osmanthus flowers garnishing the surface.

Xiao Qiyu slowly opened his eyes.

The darkness of the nightmare vanished instantly, and what came into view was Cui Ying's bright, clear, and moist almond-shaped eyes. The first thing you smelled was her soft, sweet scent.

"You're finally awake!" Cui Ying's voice was filled with obvious excitement and nervousness as she looked at him with worried eyes. "How are you feeling? Are you hungry? Thirsty? Is your back still hurting a lot?"

The air was filled with the strong, bitter aroma of medicinal herbs.

Xiao Qiyu's face was pale, and his beautiful appearance was softened by his illness, giving him a rare air of refined elegance. He lay face down with his back up, his wounds covered with a thick layer of ointment, his face pressed against the pillow, his neck twisted, and his posture was not comfortable.

But Xiao Qiyu paid no attention to the pain in his back or the stiffness in his neck; his mind was filled with only one question—"Am I dreaming?"

Is Cui Ying ever this gentle?

As if to verify whether he was still dreaming, Xiao Qiyu reached out and pinched Cui Ying's cheek.

Then, I squeezed it hard.

Soft, warm, not a dream.

Xiao Qiyu frowned in confusion, his thin lips parted slightly, and his dry, hoarse voice revealed a clear weakness tinged with bloodlust: "Did you take the wrong medicine?"

Cui Ying slapped his hand away, rubbing her reddened cheek, her voice rising with anger: "Are you out of your mind! Why did you pinch my face for no reason? Believe me or not, I'll slap you away!"

Xiao Qiyu's gaze fell on her long eyelashes, which were trembling rapidly with anger. He exhaled through his nose, and a knowing look of "I knew it" appeared on his face. He sneered, "Cui Ying, if you went to great lengths to knock me unconscious to prevent me from being whipped and are treating me with such concern because I saved your life, then there's no need for that."

“Even if it weren’t you, I would have killed that Turk without hesitation if it had been anyone else yesterday—”

Xiao Qiyu's eyes were deep as he looked at Cui Ying's face, and he smiled sarcastically: "So, put away your compassion. I don't need your guilt or pity. Do you understand?"

Cui Ying was still rubbing her face when she heard this. She pouted and said sarcastically, "I know, I know, you're the best, okay?"

Xiao Qiyu: "..."

Xiao Qiyu: "What kind of tone is that?"

Did you treat him like a three-year-old?

After rubbing her face enough, Cui Ying got up, picked up the bowl of mung bean soup, and walked back to the bedside to sit down.

She picked up a porcelain spoon, scooped up a spoonful of the emerald-green soup, and said fiercely to Xiao Qiyu, "Open your mouth."

Xiao Qiyu's throat was parched, and he instinctively craved that bowl of cool soup. However, he pursed his bloodless lips, stubbornly turned his face away, and refused to respond to Cui Ying's concern.

Cui Ying didn't tolerate him. She directly shoved the soup bowl into the hands of the maid standing beside her, then reached out and forcefully pried open Xiao Qiyu's chin with her other hand, holding a porcelain spoon. She forcefully pried open Xiao Qiyu's tightly closed teeth and poured a spoonful of cold mung bean soup into his mouth.

The sweet and refreshing soup slid down his dry and burning throat, and the coolness seemed to instantly dispel the confusion in his mind, making Xiao Qiyu feel refreshed.

After pouring the first spoonful, Cui Ying continued her work, scooping up a second spoonful and prying open Xiao Qiyu's lips and teeth again, forcing the soup down his throat. The excess soup slid down the corners of Xiao Qiyu's mouth, sticking to his chin.

The once imposing captain of the Vermilion Bird Gate now appeared utterly pathetic and vulnerable, like a lamb ready to be slaughtered.

"Let go!" Xiao Qiyu snapped angrily, a faint blush creeping up her ears. "I'll drink it myself!"

The feeling of having one's lips and teeth forcibly pried open is awful and shameful.

Cui Ying glanced at the gruesome whip marks on his back, secretly gasped, and looked at Xiao Qiyu with a suspicious gaze: "You can do it?"

Xiao Qiyu's brow twitched, and he patiently explained to her, "I injured my back, not my hand."

Cui Ying looked at his left arm, which was wrapped in gauze, and her beautiful brows furrowed: "But your arm..."

The Turkic barbarian struck with deadly force. What appeared to be merely a graze on Xiao Qiyu's left arm was actually a wound nearly half an inch deep, with the flesh turned inside out.

Xiao Qiyu moved his left arm: "What's the difference between this little injury and an ant bite?"

When Cui Ying thought of Xiao Qiyu clenching his teeth in his sleep while the imperial physician was applying the medicine, he rolled his eyes inwardly and thought to himself, "You're just pretending."

But she didn't expose him; she simply reached out her hand to help him up.

To prove he was alright, Xiao Qiyu propped himself up on his arms and sat up before Cui Ying could touch him.

To facilitate wound healing, Xiao Qiyu was not wearing any clothes on his upper body. When he was lying face up earlier, his back was covered with ointment, so not much skin was exposed. But now that he was sitting up, he was completely naked in front of him, and his entire chest and abdomen were on full display. Below his well-defined waist and abdomen, two V-lines extended into his waistband, making his waist appear narrower, his shoulders broader, and his figure taller.

Cui Ying originally intended to hand him the mung bean soup, but as her gaze swept over him, it involuntarily moved downwards and landed on his well-defined, clearly bulging abdominal muscles.

Cui Ying was like a country bumpkin entering the city, suddenly dazzled by the dazzling world and unable to look away.

Xiao Qiyu didn't notice where her gaze was at first. It wasn't until he had received the mung bean soup and Cui Ying was still handing him the bowl with a blank stare that he followed her gaze and looked down at his bare upper body.

"Is it pretty?" the boy's indifferent voice rang out, carrying a hint of barely perceptible embarrassment and helpless resentment.

Cui Ying snapped back to reality, feigning composure, and clicked her tongue before looking away: "So-so."

Xiao Qiyu: "...Cui Ying, don't think that just because I'm injured I can't deal with you."

Cui Ying rolled her eyes at him, her tone deliberately provocative: "Then I'm really begging you to come and deal with me."

Xiao Qiyu finished the remaining mung bean soup in the bowl, then got off the bed and walked towards Cui Ying.

The strong medicinal smell, mixed with the boy's unique scorching aura, wafted over and seeped into Cui Ying's nostrils.

Given Cui Ying's usual temperament, she would never back down; instead, she would have stepped forward and taunted, "Come on, come on, I'm really scared of you." However, at this moment, Xiao Qiyu's face was pale, but his eyes were sharp and deep, and he exuded a cold, oppressive aura. Especially his hideous scars added to his intimidating presence.

He looked exactly the same as when he killed the Turks yesterday.

Cui Ying maintained her composure, but a hint of fear unconsciously crept into her eyes, and she took a half-step back without thinking.

This subtle change was noticed by Xiao Qiyu.

He hesitated only slightly before continuing to approach, his tall figure enveloping Cui Ying, the strong smell of medicine enveloping her tightly.

"Are you ready for me to clean up?" Xiao Qiyu raised an eyebrow, his gaze locking onto her amber eyes.

Recalling the bloody scene from yesterday, Cui Ying swallowed involuntarily, then deliberately raised her voice, bluffing, "It's still uncertain who will deal with whom!"

Before she finished speaking, she punched Xiao Qiyu in the chest.

This is tantamount to walking into a trap.

Cui Ying knew in his heart that this punch was purely to save face, to lose face even if he lost the fight.

She anticipated that Xiao Qiyu would easily grab her wrist and subdue her without lifting a finger. At that time, she would distract him by cursing and swearing, and then take the opportunity to escape and complain to her grandmother.

However, reality was quite different from what she had imagined.

After taking that punch, Xiao Qiyu did not retaliate. Instead, he took a step back, his body swayed violently, and he staggered back onto the bed. He frowned, clutched his chest, and let out a suppressed cough.

He looked up at Cui Ying, his eyes filled with shock and pain, his voice trembling with suppressed gasps:

"Cui Ying, do you want to kill me?"

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Author's Note: The Best Actor has emerged.