The young man lying on the bed remained silent for too long, long enough for everyone to notice that something was wrong.

The people gathered around the bed gradually quieted down and looked at each other.

Feng Ke looked at Lian Shenwei's calm eyes, and suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart. He asked in a low voice: "What's wrong?"

There are only three words, and the mouth shapes are easy to distinguish.

Lian Shenwei blinked lightly, and the first syllable that came out of his throat was hoarse and strange, "I..."

He paused: "I don't think I can hear you."

As if he was afraid that they would worry, the young man forced himself to give a soothing, yet extremely pale smile.

Feng Kexin kept falling down.

His worst fear came true.

——

Except for the initial moment of shock, Lian Shenwei quickly accepted the fact that he could no longer hear.

He adapted faster than anyone expected and became a lot less talkative.

Qiu Che eventually found out everything. Feng Ke refused to tell him, so Qiu Che used his sword to force the truth out of him. The two of them almost came to blows.

"Now that you know everything, he insisted on fighting with you like this. What can I do? Should I ask Uncle Lian and his elder sister to come out and pull his ears?!" Feng Ke had a pile of medicinal herbs on the table, and his tone was extremely angry.

He managed to control his emotions.

"I have said everything I should and shouldn't say. You can ask him about the rest. Lao Qiu, if you feel guilty or upset, you don't have to. I saw that he was very happy when he fought with you."

"Honestly, in the past ten years, I have watched him gradually change from Lian Yubai to Lian Shenwei, and his health has also gradually deteriorated. As a childhood friend, I would be lying if I didn't feel sad."

Feng Ke kept talking, his tone becoming low.

"He has very little time to be truly happy."

Lian Shenwei hated other people's sympathy for him, but in Feng Ke's eyes, he was really pitiful.

He is a lonely adult who was forced to grow up.

Qiu Che was silent for a long time before he said, "I understand him."

"If it were me, I would make the same choice as him."

They are not only friends, but also rivals.

After countless battles, the idea of ​​defeating the opponent has been ingrained in their bones. Once they draw their swords, they will not hold back.

This is the pride in their bones.

[…I am no longer a swordsman.]

These were the words Ximian had said to him when they first met in Jinling, and he had always remembered them.

Regardless of whether he can draw the sword again or not, Ximian will always be a swordsman in his heart.

Qiu Che: "Feng Ke, you have to cure him."

"I will hold him back," Feng Ke said, no longer as sure as before, "His pulse is too strange. I can only be thankful that he first showed symptoms of deafness and did not cough up blood, which means that he is not decaying from the inside and can still be saved."

"When you go to the border this time, if possible, bring me some medicinal herbs from there."

"He was captured and trained as a medicine man, which resulted in many medicinal materials being unusable now. There are very few medicines that he can use in the Central Plains, but there may still be some in the border areas."

Qiu Che kept it in mind, "I understand."

"Wait," Feng Ke stopped him, "Ask someone to send these potted plants to his bedroom. For some reason, the plants in his room died too quickly."

Qiu Che nodded: "Okay."

He picked up the sword and went to Lian Shenwei to say goodbye.

There was a rocking chair in the Moon-Crossing Courtyard, covered with a thick carpet and surrounded by bamboo curtains to block the wind.

Lian Shenwei was covered with a cloak, lying on his back, half asleep.

This time the treatment was timely, but the pain was even worse than last time, but the pain was constant and he could no longer feel it. He had just woken up one day and was better off staying in bed, but since he couldn't hear any sound, he didn't want to stay in the room at all.

As soon as he felt a little better, he asked someone to bring a rocking chair over to the Moon Courtyard.

The mild nourishing food on the table remained untouched.

The sick bird that was picked up -

No, Costin.

Also known as the Gyrfalcon, the true emperor of the sky.

Feng Ke had already confirmed its gender, and it was a male. It was said that the bird was so angry that it almost shut itself off on the night of the gender confirmation.

Lian Shenwei gave it a name, A Zi.

It was born with a defect, and was later stolen by a bird trader. It was then abused, and its wings were injured so badly that it could only flap a few times with difficulty. It had a limp, and didn't have much hair on its body.

Feng Ke tried his best to treat it, but he couldn't tell how long the bird could live.

Ah Zi was curled up in the cloak that covered him.

The man and the bird looked strangely similar in their sickly appearance.

Looks very harmonious.

This was the scene that Qiu Che saw when he came over. He watched it quietly for a moment, took out a folded piece of paper, and gently placed it on the table next to Lian Shenwei.

Even at such a close distance, Lian Shenwei still didn't notice anything.

It was Ah Zi who squinted and glanced at him.

Qiu Che was carrying a bag on his back, which contained a very long sword case, and in his hand he was holding the Infinite Sword.

"Xi Mian, I'm leaving."

He clasped his fists: "Take care."

Qiu Che's tall and slender figure strode away and soon disappeared.

Ah Zi suddenly cried out, and his wings fluttered onto Lian Shenwei's chin, opening his mouth towards him.

"…Hungry?" Lian Shenwei coughed and tried to grab a snack from the table, "Hmm?"

His eyes fell on the origami, and after a moment's pause, he raised his hand to take it. His pale fingertips were like spring snow, giving the illusion of almost disappearing in the sunlight.

Familiar handwriting came into view.

[Seeing you write is like seeing you in person, Ximian writes to you personally:

I know everything about you. Don't blame Feng Ke. I forced him with a sword.

I understand your choice. If it were me, I would make the same decision. Ximian, your sword intent tells me that you are very tired. If you are very tired, don't worry about so many things.

I will go to the border and take the Fuxue Sword with me. As you requested, I will find a suitable opportunity to hand it over to your apprentice Li Ningfeng.

If I lose, I will be his sword on the frontier.

Boya Ziqi, a soulmate is hard to find. After the last fight with you, the blade of the Wuliang Sword was damaged. I don't plan to repair it because there is no need.

You are the only opponent I recognize in this life, Infinite Sword. Ever since I met you in Phoenix Terrace and lost to you, I have drawn it only for you.

From now on, like the Cangshan Sword, it will never be unsheathed again.

Except for one thing.

Qiu Che is a rough and uncouth man. If one day in the future I find out that the court has done something bad to you, I will point the blade of the Infinite Sword at all the officials and kill them in the Golden Palace.

Qiu Che stayed.]

This was the first time Qiu Che wrote him such a long letter.

Lian Shenwei read it carefully, lost his mind after reading it, and then folded it up. The letter was so close to him that he didn't even notice it when Qiu Che left it.

The young man raised his hand and hesitantly touched his earlobe.

He was in a trance for too long, and Ah Zi became dissatisfied. He called out to him several times, but Lian Shenwei still didn't respond.

Ah Zi flapped its wings twice in a row, which made it very tired. It was about to collapse when Lian Shenwei finally noticed it.

He took a snack from the plate.

He held it in his hand and said, "Eat it."

Ah Zi took two steps forward helplessly, and pecked at the snack viciously with all his strength, pecking so hard that even Shen Wei's palms hurt.

The young man did not retract his hand, but just watched with silence in his eyes.

Qiu Che went directly to the residence of Marquis Zhongyi and said that he had heard about the war on the border and came to help the court, and asked the Marquis Zhongyi to recommend him.

Marquis Zhongyi already had a good impression of the chivalrous men in the martial arts world, so after thinking for a long time, he agreed.

Qiu Che had met the young emperor when he was still a crown prince during his southern tour. In Ying Jingjue's eyes, he was a friend of his savior Ximian, so he was naturally a little less wary of him.

Trust the people you employ, and don't employ people if you don't trust them. After finding out that Qiu Che's ancestors had served in the military, Ying Jingjue suppressed the chaotic voices in the court and made a decision to let him and Li Ningfeng set off to the border immediately.

soon.

The army is ready to go.

Li Ningfeng was protected in the middle carriage, which had been modified and was very stable. Qiu Che was not wearing armor, but was dressed casually as a knight, holding a sword and riding a horse, guarding one side of the carriage.

Li Ningfeng lifted the curtain. His health was getting better day by day. He had lost weight and the light in his eyes was more reserved and steady, like a sword that had been polished and hidden in its sheath.

"Thank you Mr. Qiu for your help."

"The army is about to set out. Are you waiting for someone?"

The identity of successor is highly valued by people in Jianghu. He is half-successor of Ximian and Fudu Villa. Qiu Che's attitude towards him is even better than Ying Jingjue.

He shook his head: "No, let's go."

I just want to listen to some music that can help me sleep.

Lian Shenwei would always go out and stay in the Suoyue Courtyard to avoid Feng Ke. In the past few days, he only stayed outside for half a day.

The last time he was discovered, he was dragged into the room by Feng Ke on the spot.

Knowing that Lian Shenwei couldn't hear him, he turned around and scolded Tiannan: "He doesn't know what's going on, don't you?! Who! Who told you that he can go out and get some fresh air now?!"

"Did I say that? Did I say that in my dream?"

"If your master dies accidentally, you will be responsible?"

Tiannan said in awe: "Mr. Feng, I'm sorry..."

But he couldn't stand the way his master talked to him with a smile and said he wanted to go outside and take a look.

The curtains of the Jueyue Courtyard were all down, there was basically no wind, and the master was covered with such a thick cloak, so he thought it should be fine, so he agreed.

Feng Ke sneered: "Nothing?"

He glanced at Lian Shenwei who was leaning against the bed.

The instigator kept his head down, looking like he didn't care about anything and didn't show any remorse. Feng Ke wanted to scold him but couldn't bear to do so.

Lian Shenwei actually felt that he was fine, after all, it had happened several times.

But he developed a fever that afternoon. This time the fever was not as severe as before, but it lasted for a long time and the temperature did not go down.

He had always recovered from his fever on his own before, but this time he had repeated fevers. Feng Ke was afraid that he might really go crazy from the fever, so he racked his brains to find a few medicines that Lian Shenwei could take, and managed to get a fever-reducing effect.

The effect is not obvious, but it is better than nothing.

At this time at night, he brought the medicine to Lian Shenwei.

After Lian Shenwei lost his hearing, he never knocked on his door again and just opened it and went in.

Lian Shenwei was not lying on the bed. He was standing barefoot on the blanket on the ground, sitting casually on the footstool under the bed with a small basin of water in front of him.

There was a black handkerchief soaked in the water.

Feng Ke found it familiar; Lian Shenwei had been using this color and style recently.

Strands of bright red flowed out from the handkerchief and melted into the water.

Feng Ke's heart skipped a beat.

The young man in white pajamas covered his lips with another handkerchief and coughed very quietly. He even rolled up his sleeves carefully, as if he was afraid of getting them contaminated by accident.

When he finished coughing, there were some spots of red on his lips, but his face was very pale. His white fingers were holding the black handkerchief, and his protruding wrist bones and two thin fingers were circumferential.

For a moment, he no longer looked like a twenty-something man struggling in a sea of ​​blood and calculations, but more like a child curling himself up.

Lian Shenwei lowered his eyes.

I coughed up more blood than before.

Before, the water was clean and colorless after washing the handkerchief, but now it is no longer the case. After washing, it turns a very light red.

Fortunately, today all the green plants in the room that were half dead due to his blood poisoning were replaced with new ones, so he could pick one and pour the water into it. He would bathe every other day, and on that day, he wouldn't have to go through so much trouble. He would divide some of the water out, and there was so much water that it couldn't be seen.

But it's still a problem.

You should prepare more so that he can burn them directly together with the letter paper. It will be much more convenient.

Feng Ke's nose was very sensitive, so it was very possible that he could smell something. He often went to Zhuoyueting to ventilate the room, but he was actually worried that Feng Ke would find out.

Just as he was thinking this, the light in front of him suddenly dimmed, and he saw a piece of blue clothes hem, which swayed slightly and stopped in front of him.

“…”

Lian Shenwei was silent for a moment and raised his head.