Chapter 129: How Did It All Deteriorate?

Yun Huizhou’s movements paused. He then grabbed Lian Li’s left arm and pushed the sleeve upward.

Six wounds of varying lengths, none of them shallow, were lined up from bottom to top along Lian Li’s forearm.

He stared at the wounds, his lips pressing together slightly. Closing his eyes, he circulated his internal energy through his meridians. After discovering that the Gu insects causing the abnormalities had all vanished, he opened his eyes and pulled open his own collar to look down.

He found incisions on his chest, abdomen, and arms as well; the cuts on his own body were even deeper.

Recalling how strongly Lian Li’s internal energy attracted those Gu insects, he finally understood how the cuts on Lian Li’s arm had come to be.

Lian Li’s internal energy would gradually alter his constitution, meaning his blood would also become attractive to those Gu insects.

To lure every single Gu insect out of his body, this person must have shed a great deal of blood to serve as the bait.

His gaze shifted to Lian Li’s face. Usually, when Lian Li was asleep, his complexion looked much better than when he was awake, especially with his cheeks flushing a faint red.

But his current sleeping complexion was even paler than before. He feared that once the youth woke up, his face would be frighteningly white.

Yun Huizhou took a deep breath, a feeling he couldn’t quite describe swirling in his heart.

Finally, exerting strength in both arms, he scooped Lian Li up.

The movement was a bit too large; Lian Li’s brow furrowed, and he shifted restlessly.

Yun Huizhou had only just woken up and lacked strength; when Lian Li moved like that, he nearly toppled over with him.

Fortunately, he steadied himself in time and placed Lian Li onto the bed. However, compared to his usual gentle handling, the motion this time was a bit heavy. Lian Li was jolted awake, opening his eyes to find himself face-to-face with Yun Huizhou.

Lian Li’s eyes slowly focused, landing on Yun Huizhou’s face, and then he blinked.

“Ah!” Lian Li cried out, immediately springing up from the bed in an attempt to sit.

Yun Huizhou’s reactions were already somewhat slow, and he was momentarily stunned when his eyes met Lian Li’s.

In that split second, he failed to dodge in time.

“Hiss—”

“Ah—”

Their foreheads collided heavily, producing a crisp thud.

Yun Huizhou, already dizzy and faint from hunger, felt as though he was about to pass out again from the impact.

As for Lian Li, he felt as if his head had struck a block of iron. He fell straight back onto the bed, seeing stars.

Yun Huizhou sat by the edge of the bed, one hand braced beside Lian Li and the other clutching his own forehead. He said somewhat weakly, “Just stay lying down. I’ll go find something to eat.”

Hearing Yun Huizhou speak, Lian Li finally snapped out of it and hurriedly said, “You stay lying down, I’ll go.”

As he spoke, he rolled over to climb out of bed, only to be held down by the shoulder by Yun Huizhou.

“Just stay there. With that complexion of yours, you look even worse than I do.”

“Then what about your injuries?” Lian Li asked.

The Gu insects in Yun Huizhou’s body were dealt with, but he had sustained significant injuries just from taking that palm strike.

“I feel alright,” Yun Huizhou said stubbornly.

His body still ached intensely, his internal energy was not flowing smoothly, and his meridians were stinging, but he simply didn’t want to say it.

Lian Li didn’t believe him at all. Yun Huizhou had literally spat blood after taking that hit; he didn’t believe for a second that he was “alright” after only a few days.

Seeing that Lian Li wanted to argue further, Yun Huizhou reached out and pinched his lips shut, preventing him from speaking.

“Stop talking, and don’t argue with me. If we keep arguing, I think I’m going to die of thirst and hunger.” Yun Huizhou released Lian Li’s lips, but his hand didn’t pull away completely; his thumb even brushed lightly against Lian Li’s lip by accident.

His expression didn’t change, remaining the same as it always was when he interacted with Lian Li.

But Lian Li suddenly didn’t dare to move. An uncontrollable sense of guilt washed over him, and his gaze drifted to the side, not daring to meet Yun Huizhou’s eyes again.

Seeing that he was no longer arguing, Yun Huizhou let him go, stood up, and walked out of the room.

Lian Li watched his retreating back and pursed his lips, cursing himself in his heart for being so spineless. He lightly picked at his fingers while staring blankly at the ceiling beams, unsure of what to do.

He felt that he might not be able to interact with Yun Huizhou the same way as before. Because actions that the latter found casual and brotherly made Lian Li feel guilty, as if he were secretly taking advantage of him.

At this thought, he felt a surge of irritation. How had a pure brotherly bond become so… warped?

Pulling the blanket up over his head, Lian Li closed his eyes. Let’s just go back to Drunken Dream Island first. I won’t come out for a while and will focus on practicing martial arts on the island.

Let Yun Huizhou go out and roam the world on his own.

When the time comes, I’ll just pay more attention to the major events in the Jianghu. If I remember anything, I’ll send a message to Yun Huizhou.

While his mind was filled with these random thoughts, his ears caught the sound of the door opening.

Lian Li opened his eyes but didn’t pull back the blanket. It wasn’t until he heard footsteps reach the bedside that he lifted a corner of the covers.

Sure enough, Yun Huizhou was back. The man was currently leaning over the bed, preparing to pull back his blanket.

Seeing Lian Li uncover himself, Yun Huizhou straightened up and said, “I’ve brought the food. It’s on the table. Go eat first while I change my clothes.”

Lian Li’s gaze fell upon Yun Huizhou, noticing that he was still wearing the robe he had put on after coming out of the bath.

Lian Li had practically watched him put those clothes on, so he naturally knew there was nothing underneath. His mind uncontrollably flashed back to the scene in the bath.

Realizing what he was thinking, Lian Li suddenly began blinking frantically and rolled over to face away from Yun Huizhou.

Baffled by this behavior, Yun Huizhou reached out to turn him by the shoulder, but was stopped by a loud shout: “Don’t touch me!”

Startled by such a large reaction, Yun Huizhou asked, “What’s wrong with you?”

Lian Li shook his head frantically and said, “Nothing, nothing. You go change first, I’m going to lie down for a bit.”

Behind him, Yun Huizhou didn’t reply. Lian Li listened to his movements, and once he was sure the man had left the bedside and gone to the wardrobe where the clothes were kept, he breathed a sigh of relief.

At the same time, he felt like crying but had no tears. A guilty conscience indeed!

Once he heard that the other had mostly finished dressing, Lian Li sat up and turned around. He found that Yun Huizhou was already sitting at the table waiting.

“Come and eat,” Yun Huizhou said, beckoning to him when he saw Lian Li sit up. “I brought enough for two. If you don’t come over, I’ll start without you, but I won’t feel right letting you eat leftovers later.”

Lian Li’s brow twitched. He couldn’t tell what his own mindset was or what he was expecting, but he asked, “Won’t feel right?”

Yun Huizhou nodded with a calm face, then tilted his chin toward Lian Li’s left arm. “You lost quite a bit of blood, didn’t you?”

Hearing this answer, Lian Li wasn’t particularly disappointed. Although he had held a tiny bit of expectation, he was also mentally prepared. After all, when he woke up and found his left sleeve pushed up, he knew Yun Huizhou must have seen the wounds on his arm.