Chapter 82. He cheered himself up. ...

Thus, the two officially confirmed their relationship.

Hua Manlou is a very considerate person, and when he heard that Lu Yusheng's only request was "not to interfere too much with her," he agreed very firmly.

After this matter was resolved, Lu Yusheng couldn't help but think about his injuries again.

Are you really alright?

"I'm fine."

Hua Manlou could feel her staring intently at him, and he was enjoying the attention and care with a sense of joy, so the physical pain was naturally negligible.

“But your right arm never moved…” she paused before adding, “even when you put your hand on my back during our kiss just now.”

Hearing Lu Yusheng bring this up again, even as a man, he couldn't help but feel a little shy, and a bit of inexplicable nostalgia.

He dared not recall it, yet he could not offer a compelling rebuttal.

After all, the numbness in the arm is real, and it would be far-fetched to say that you are fine when you can't even move it.

Lu Yusheng sighed helplessly and carefully rested his head on his uninjured left shoulder.

Hua Manlou seemed surprised that the two had become so close so soon after they started talking, and he felt a little flattered and overwhelmed by the sweetness.

Lu Yusheng's experience points have unknowingly brought him very close to level 20. In another month or so, he should be able to refresh his third skill. Hopefully, a healing skill will appear later. As for the present...

She stood up and packed her things: "Shall I go to town to get you some medicine?"

Although I don't know if I'll run into trouble without any travel permits or similar documents, I heard from Sikong Zhaixing that the chances of the city guards not conducting spot checks are quite high.

"Oh, right." Lu Yusheng paused as he was putting away his paper and pen, then suddenly remembered something and continued, "Write down the prescription for me, I'm afraid I'll forget it later."

Hua Manlou said helplessly, "There's no need for such trouble. The antidote pills given by my family and relatives are enough to cure many kinds of strange poisons. If these pills can only suppress the symptoms and not cure the root cause, then even if we buy the best medicinal materials in the city, it will probably be useless."

Hearing this, Lu Yusheng could only reluctantly give up his plan again. But he didn't know if it would be safe for him to recover on his own, so he could only call for his teammates.

She opened her communicator and typed furiously in the group chat, the screen gradually filling up with Lu Yusheng's chat messages.

—【Hua Manlou is injured. Does anyone know a doctor? I would be grateful if I could borrow one.】

[Lu Xiaofeng, what are you doing?]

As expected, no one had the habit of checking the communicator frequently. Chu Liuxiang and his companion either had created a small group chat or simply weren't familiar enough with the others, so they rarely spoke.

At this point, none of the remaining four people in the group were online, so Lu Yusheng could only continue typing with little hope: 【I'm in a bit of a hurry, remember to reply when you see this.】

After she had filled the screen with messages in fits and starts, the person she was looking for finally replied to her first.

【Hua Manlou】, 【Injured】, 【What happened】.

The three paragraphs of text were sent together with very short intervals.

Although Lu Xiaofeng doesn't use punctuation marks, he still manages to express his concern and care very well.

"If only the communicator could send pictures," Lu Yusheng thought, his mind wandering. "If there are no emojis, then some emojis would be fine too."

But then I couldn't help but look at Hua Manlou... Let's make the translation a little easier.

Lacking the dramatic, menacing emojis to heighten her emotions, she could only express her anger with a sour face and dry, unfiltered language.

—【A group of lunatics came looking for trouble, probably trying to rob him. They injured Hua Manlou, and it seems some poison got into his body.】

Lu Xiaofeng, having clearly put aside other matters and focused on the conversation, immediately replied: 【Do you know who it is?】

In the remote and desolate town tavern, due to the sparse population around, only one customer had come in most of the day since the tavern opened.

The middle-aged man, who would have been inconspicuous in the crowd, was now drinking alone with a sullen expression. Even though his mind was in turmoil, he still managed to put on a new mask.

In taverns that are on the verge of closing down, the drinks are equally terrible—sour and bitter, making men feel nauseous after just one sip.

He managed to swallow the wine, uttering only a muffled sentence: "It's nowhere near as good as the one on the alley..."

Actually, Sikong Zhaixing had already regretted it a little on the way out that day.

It's not like I didn't notice it before. I was mentally prepared for her reaction, so why did I still act so impulsively when I was actually rejected?

He asked himself, "Didn't I prepare to accept all the consequences before I made things clear? Why am I so angry now?"

On the other hand, just as she was about to turn back, she asked again, "If she doesn't agree, am I supposed to just hang myself on one person for the rest of my life?"

It was under this internal struggle between his left and right brains that Sikong Zhaixing once again activated the communicator he had taken with him.

He had already learned of the object's magic when he was investigating the theft case, so he was not surprised that the message could still be transmitted freely even when they were hundreds of miles apart.

What truly changed his expression at that moment was the content of the article.

At that time, he simply checked the group chat regularly to see if there were any new messages, while also hoping that Lu Yusheng might try to contact him through this only means of communication.

Then I happened to see the message that Lu Yusheng typed out with the name [Ding Chunqiu].

The infamous reputation of the Starry Constellation Old Monster was widely known in the Central Plains martial arts world, and Sikong Zhaixing naturally recognized him, immediately feeling a chill in his heart.

Then I scrolled up and read the message. The more I read, the more alarmed I became. How could such a thing happen after only a few days away?

Are you injured?

He disregarded the fact that he was still in a cold war with someone and immediately wrote a reply on the screen.

At first, Lu Yusheng was a little surprised to see a third person interrupting her conversation with Lu Xiaofeng, but after confirming that the name was the runaway Sikong Zhaixing, he immediately replied, "It's nothing."

Then, remembering that this was their first conversation in almost a week since they separated, she asked with concern, "Are you doing alright out there?"

In fact, you could guess from Sikong Zhaixing's first question that if he and Lu Yusheng were still together, they wouldn't need to communicate through a communicator.

But Lu Xiaofeng still asked, "Monkey spirit, aren't you on the path?"

Lu Yusheng didn't participate in the conversation afterward because he was preparing dinner. When he finished and looked back, the chat had already ended. Seeing that Sikong Zhaixing had already replied to him, he didn't bother with it anymore.

It must have been tough for Hua Manlou. He traveled through wind and snow to get back, and before he could even eat, he ran into that group of lunatics.

Now he's injured again...

"Can you still go back?" Lu Yusheng asked with concern as he walked over carrying a bowl of soup.

Since the injury wasn't on his leg, it didn't affect his ability to use light-footed skills.

But having just gone through something like this, how could Hua Manlou feel comfortable leaving her alone here again?

So he said with a troubled expression, "I'm afraid it's not very convenient. I wonder if I could stay at Xiaoyu's place for the time being?"

He had barely begun to speak when Lu Yusheng immediately responded as if making a vow: "You can stay here without worry, I will take good care of you."

However, she couldn't help but become increasingly worried about his internal injuries.

Fortunately, Lu Xiaofeng later mentioned in the group chat that he was at some kind of mountain villa, and upon hearing the news, he had already rushed there with others.

After confirming that he would bring the doctor back, Lu Yusheng paid no more attention. After putting down the soup bowl, he squatted down next to Hua Manlou's seat and watched him.

The latter shifted his chair slightly, turning to face her directly: "Don't worry, my current situation is different from directly ingesting poison. I can gradually dissipate the effects by using my internal energy to resist it."

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand and placed it on Lu Yusheng's head, his fingers moving slightly as he gently stroked the other's hair a few times.

Lu Yusheng looked at him quietly for a while, and only after confirming that he was not lying did he finally show a faint smile.

"Then I'll feed you."

"No need for that, I can use my left hand too..."

Her unfinished words were interrupted by her getting up. The girl, who had regained her energy, went to the kitchen to get a spoon, scooped up some soup from her seat, and stretched out her arm to shove it into his mouth.

Lu Yusheng's attitude was unyielding, leaving Hua Manlou with no choice but to comply.

After realizing that the two were not very close, she not only obediently opened her mouth, but also sat up straight and moved her head closer to the other person so that it would be easier for her to stretch her arm.

——————

The first person to return here was Sikong Zhaixing.

Although his lightness skill was comparable to Lu Xiaofeng's, he had a significant advantage in straight-line distance, so he naturally arrived a few days earlier than the latter.

There was no one in the hall, and the door was unlocked, so the owners were probably not far away and were likely upstairs.

Sikong Zhaixing did not rush upstairs to look for him.

They've been apart for so long, and there was some awkwardness before he left. Now that everyone else is inside, he's starting to worry about how to start the conversation with Lu Yusheng.

As he thought about his opening remarks, his gaze wandered aimlessly around, searching for traces of the previous fight.

The snake's corpse had already been buried by Lu Yusheng, and the surrounding bloodstains had been covered up by her turning over the soil. Apart from the charred pit outside the house, the place looked much the same as when he left.

His gaze, tinged with nostalgia, circled the room before finally settling on a piece of paper the two had forgotten on the computer desk. Curious, he approached to examine it.

"...Sikong Zhaixing, Lu Xiaofeng, Lianhua Qingwen, Ibuprofen?"

The person whose name was inexplicably written on the red paper frowned, seemingly unable to understand the connection between the two passages.

The only clues we can deduce from the number of characters, the tonal patterns, and the red paper on which it was written, suggest that this might be a couplet.

No, can this really be considered a couplet?

Upon seeing this, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity. He turned over the remaining red paper in the bag under the table and saw that it was indeed the one he had bought in the city before.

Although it was a bit of a pity that the plan to write couplets together had fallen through, seeing that Lu Yusheng still cared about him even after they parted ways made him feel a little better.

Sikong Zhaixing took the paper out again and examined it carefully, and surprisingly, he actually noticed something.

But it's not about technique, it's about emotion.

Not only does his name make up the majority of the seven characters, but the heavy ink dot at the very first stroke also reveals the writer's extremely complex emotions when putting pen to paper.

As for the last three characters, judging from their bland brushstrokes, lack of sharpness, and simple lines, they were probably just there to make up the numbers, so I didn't pay them any mind.

Sikong Zhaixing blew on the ink on the paper for a while. Although it was completely dry, he still couldn't bear to tear the paper. In the end, he naturally prepared to put it in his usual room.