When she opened her eyes again, the sudden light made her eyes involuntarily tear up. Her vision was blurry, and she could only vaguely make out a figure in front of her, seemingly waving its hand and opening and closing its mouth as if asking a question.
Lu Zhaozhao, using her vague sense of direction, grabbed the flailing hand. The moment her hand touched it, the rough, calloused, yet unusually warm and strong hand was easily restrained, allowing her to move freely.
When her eyes were stimulated, Lu Zhaozhao didn't think much for a moment. She just blinked hard, forcing out physiological tears. Then, her vision gradually returned.
The face of the person in front of her gradually became clear, and Cheng Sangji's anxious face filled her vision.
Lu Zhaozhao was somewhat puzzled. She had just been with Jiufeng, while Cheng Sangji had clearly already left the third boundary.
The same question that had been nagging at her arose in her mind: "What are you doing here? Where is this?"
Cheng Sangji breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her speak, and wanted to answer her, but a beautiful female voice interrupted him.
"If my brother hadn't risked his life to save you, you would probably have been burned to death on the third floor!"
Lu Zhaozhao recognized Nan Rongrui's voice, propped herself up on her elbows and looked at her, but seeing that Nan Rongrui seemed to have no intention of talking to her much, but only wanted to stab her once, she frowned and turned to Cheng Sangji.
Cheng Sangji noticed her confusion and explained it to her in detail.
Lu Zhaozhao then realized that the nine phoenixes she had seen and the subsequent scene of a hundred birds paying homage to the phoenix were all illusions. According to Cheng Sangji, when she was found, she was surrounded and scorched by heavenly fire and had lost consciousness. If Cheng Sangji had not used his methods to dispel the heavenly fire and protect her heart meridian, she probably wouldn't be sitting here unharmed now.
Hearing this, Lu Zhaozhao looked up and met Cheng Sangji's eyes, and unconsciously asked, "Why did you come to save me?"
Cheng Sangji avoided her gaze, focusing only on the wristband on his hand, and said, "Now that we have formed an alliance, I naturally cannot abandon you."
"Is that all?" Lu Zhaozhao stared at him stubbornly, trying to meet his gaze.
But Cheng Sangji did not answer directly. He simply patted his clothes, stood up, took two steps away from her, and said with his back to her, "You are badly injured. You should rest well tonight."
After saying that, he walked away.
Lu Zhaozhao stared at his departing figure, frowned and pondered for a while, then shook her head helplessly and closed her eyes to regulate her breathing.
Cheng Sangji clenched his fists tightly in his wide sleeves until he was far away, only then realizing that he had been clenching his back teeth the whole time. When he saw Nan Rongrui looking at him, he smiled at her nonchalantly and walked into the depths of the forest.
Nan Rongrui wanted to catch up with him, but was stopped by Tu Danxi. She stared at him in confusion, then lowered her voice and said, "He's still injured. What if there's something strange nearby..."
“You are also injured. If something happens to him, you won’t be able to help him,” Tu Danxi replied calmly. “Besides, my brother won’t be too far away. If you’re worried, I’ll go with him.”
Nan Rongrui frowned and glared at him, then reluctantly agreed.
Tudan Xixiang turned and chased after Cheng Sangji in the direction he had left.
Passing through several dense trees, the sound of flowing water reached his ears, and from afar he saw Cheng Sangga sitting by the stream.
He walked toward Sang Ji, about to speak, when a strong smell of blood hit him.
"How did you get so badly injured!" Tu Danxi rushed forward, pressing down on his arm with one hand and channeling spiritual energy into him with the other.
Cheng Sangji's face was frighteningly pale; the damage caused by the displacement of his internal organs made him vomit blood uncontrollably.
Tu Danxi channeled his spiritual energy to alleviate his injuries while simultaneously examining his wounds.
You won't believe it until you see it, and what you find will shock you.
Cheng Sangji's body was scorched beyond recognition by the Heavenly Fire. In addition, his cultivation level and spiritual power were too cold, and the Heavenly Fire restrained him and remained in his body, making it impossible for him to heal himself, which is why he ended up in such a sorry state.
"Why was you so impulsive today, brother?" Tu Danxi asked abruptly as he treated his injuries, his brows furrowed.
Cheng Sangji was in so much pain that he was sweating profusely, but he still tried to remain calm and pretended not to understand: "I was caught off guard and this thing stayed in my body."
“You know perfectly well that’s not what I meant,” Tu Danxi muttered under his breath.
What he wanted to ask was why his brother turned back after seeing Guan Nan not come out with them, why he stayed by Guan Nan's side and waited for her to wake up after rescuing her, and why he pretended to be fine and endured the severe injuries alone.
Cheng Sangji gave a wry smile, looked up at the night sky, where the full moon hung high, and his eyes seemed to hold a myriad of stars.
After a long silence, he whispered, "I think I'm... developing feelings of love for her."
Tu Danxi looked up at him in shock, his eyes filled with deep question: "Why?" They had only known each other for a short time, and before this, they had always been adversaries.
Tu Danxi had been by Cheng Sangji's side for a long time. He knew that his brother was not as gentle and refined as he appeared. The real Cheng Sangji was cold-blooded and ruthless. During the Gu Diao clan uprising, he personally poisoned his own brother, plotted to imprison and kill his uncle who had tried to seize power, and imprisoned his uncle, who had treated him like his own son, in a cold prison forever.
Tudan Xixiang will never forget the day he and his father arrived at Luwu Mountain after receiving the news, and the horrific scene of the mountain covered in corpses and flowing blood. He will also never forget the image of Cheng Sangji standing amidst the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, raising his authority.
Rumors circulated that the Gu Diao Clan had suffered a sudden calamity, with all the clan's capable members passing away on the same day as the clan leader. As a result, Cheng Sangji's grandfather had no choice but to pass on the position of clan leader to the then young Cheng Sangji.
Some said Cheng Sangji was lucky, as all those ahead of him had died, allowing him to sit in that position unjustly; others said he was unlucky, having to support his clan at a young age. But no matter what others said, Tudan Xixiang never listened, because he knew the inside story. It was all a scheme orchestrated by Cheng Sangji himself. That's why Tudan Xixiang was so shocked when Cheng Sangji uttered the word "love." He couldn't believe that such a cold-hearted person could develop unusual feelings for someone whose stance was unclear.
Perhaps his shock was too obvious, because Cheng Sangji laughed, dispelling the previously unclear atmosphere.
"I can't explain matters of the heart, but if one day she goes against our position, I will show no mercy."
Hearing this, Tu Danxi nodded, his consciousness returning. His elder brother was still the same elder brother, never troubled by love, as he had always been, and as he would always be.
As dawn broke, Cheng Sangji's injuries, though not fully healed, appeared to be fine on the surface. Tudan Xixiang had intended to finish him off in one go, but Cheng Sangji stopped him.
“If this continues, your body will also suffer. There are only two days left in this round, and we can’t afford to have another injured person.”
Having said that, he got up, washed the bloodstains off his hands with the stream water, and walked back to the place where he had been resting with Tudanxi.
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