After a moment of stunned silence, Shen Qian ignored Ding Yi's attempts to stop him and lifted up the back of her shirt.
The back is still white, but it is no longer smooth.
The wounds, large and small, were equally shocking, mostly old, but there were also many new ones, and one of them was still oozing fine blood.
Shen Qian took a deep breath and didn't rush to speak. Instead, he took out some herbs from his storage ring and applied them to Ding Yi's wounds.
"I...I'm okay."
Ding Yi grasped Shen Qian's hand in return, while her other hand stroked Shen Qian's cheek, as if to prevent something from falling. She said softly, "As a martial artist, it's normal to get injured during training, isn't it?"
"That depends on the situation!"
Shen Qian remained expressionless. "This isn't injury; it's self-harm."
Ding Yi tilted his head and looked at Shen Qian, then, as if he had discovered something interesting, he smiled and said, "Are you angry?"
"No!"
"You're angry."
"...Yes, a little. I don't understand why you would do this to yourself. Is the training intensity of your elite training camp really that high?"
Shen Qian no longer concealed his emotions and coldly snorted, "Then I'll go talk to Zang Qingfeng tomorrow."
Ding Yi took a moment to realize what was going on, and immediately smiled, "You have quite the nerve."
Zang Qingfeng is the principal of Beiwu Martial Arts School and a top-tier master of the Mountain and Sea realms.
"I can even speak to the head of the martial arts department, so what's wrong with talking to the principal of Beiwu?" Shen Qian seemed very confident.
"Yes, I believe you." Ding Yi shook his head and said, "It's okay, no one forced me, it was all my own choice."
"Why exactly?" Shen Qian finished applying the ointment to the wound, put down Ding Yi's clothes, and then frowned as he asked, "You've been in seclusion almost the entire time, which was actually your own choice, wasn't it?"
Ding nodded slightly, and after a brief silence, gently rested her head on Shen Qian's shoulder before speaking.
"Because combat... is one of the fastest shortcuts to improving strength."
He paused, startled.
In a sense, Ding Yi was not wrong.
Combat not only improves skills but also accelerates the condensation of vital energy.
There are other shortcuts before sinking, so we don't rely on this aspect much.
In fact, every other genius is a veteran of countless battles.
“You know that’s not what I’m asking.” Shen Qian wasn’t fooled by Ding Yi.
Ding Yi fell silent again.
Shen Qian wasn't in a hurry, so he led Ding Yi to sit down on the grass.
Ding Yi leaned quietly against Shen Qian's chest. Time passed, and just when Shen Qian thought she had fallen asleep, she finally spoke.
"You know about my family. Have you ever heard me mention my mother?"
"Hmm, it seems not. I only remember your dad picking you up... Oh, speaking of your dad, is he in Beidu? I've always wanted to find time to visit him."
Suddenly, Shen Qian thought of something and couldn't help but ask.
Ding Yi pinched Shen Qian reproachfully, then asked in confusion, "It's strange, he was here yesterday, but it seems he had something come up and left today. I just booked a restaurant to take you to see him."
"Oh, I see. Then we'll have to wait until next time."
Shen Qian said regretfully, but in his heart he was wondering if his father-in-law had some kind of problem with him, since he was always absent.
"Let's continue talking about your mother. What happened to her?" Shen Qian steered the conversation back on track.
"My dad and mom divorced when I was very young."
Ding Yi quietly recounted, "My mother settled down in Jiangzhong alone, but she would come back to see me every winter and summer vacation, until... ten years ago."
"Ten years ago?"
Shen Qian was startled when he first heard the sensitive place name "Jiangzhong" and then the sensitive time.
"What does the auntie do for a living?"
"She used to teach at the military academy in Jiangzhong..."
"A professor from Jiangzhong Military Academy?" Shen Qian was taken aback, a bad feeling rising in his heart. "Could she have also experienced that incident?"
"It seems you know about that."
Ding Yi nodded wearily, his voice lowering.
“It wasn’t until I came to Beidu that my father told me the whole truth. Back then, there was a ‘door’ in the Jiangzhong Military Region that was pushed open. My mother was trying to save a colleague and didn’t have time to escape. She was swallowed up by the ‘door’…”
He remained silent for a moment, a complex mix of emotions welling up within him.
He never imagined that, after all the twists and turns, the Ding family would also be involved in that matter.
But the plot of saving a colleague feels like I've heard it somewhere before.
However, Shen Qian's mind was in turmoil, and he didn't have time to think back.
Having sorted out his thoughts, Shen Qian roughly understood why Ding Yi had been cultivating so diligently after arriving in Beidu.
"You... want to go through that 'door'?"
He asked with a bitter smile.
“I inquired about the details of that incident through my teacher’s connections, along with information that my father has collected over the years.”
Ding Yi said softly but firmly, "I don't think Mom... is necessarily dead."
Shen Qian wanted to deny it, but didn't know what reason to use.
Because no one really knows what happened to those who were swallowed up by the "gate," not even kings and nobles can be sure; at most, they can only say that "the odds are against them."
When Ding Yi said this, there was a light in her eyes, a light that reflected the hope she held in her heart.
"But that's supposedly an A-level 'door'."
Before sinking, one can only try to persuade them indirectly.
"I know, that's why I'm working hard at my training."
Ding nodded. "I won't act impulsively, at least... I won't do anything foolish until I have enough strength."
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