Lu Yanzhou discovered something was wrong halfway through his shower.
But if one calculated carefully, the weird situation had already appeared long ago. When his legs lacked strength and he had trouble walking, he always felt that something was off with them. However, after careful observation, he found nothing wrong, and even after discussing this phenomenon with the doctor, the doctor checked thoroughly but found no issues. The conclusion was that it was a cognitive illusion.
Just like how amputees felt pain in their lost limbs—it was a false signal from the brain.
Lu Yanzhou accepted this explanation.
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why he always felt something off with his legs.
The doctor said that once his legs fully recovered, this sensation would gradually fade. Everything could be left to time.
After waking up, matters with the corporation, his coma, the Lu Family… all sorts of things weighed on his shoulders. He was too busy and forgot about the odd sensation on his body when occupied.
Until today.
When he entered the bathroom, he was in a good mood. The busy matters were nearly wrapped up, and in a few more days, he would have time to rest properly at home.
Perhaps increasing his time with Lin Juan would allow him to understand this person better and deepen their impressions of each other.
Hot water flowed down his taut muscles as Lu Yanzhou thought idly.
Suddenly, he felt a burst of pain on both sides of his thighs.
Lu Yanzhou lowered his gaze, and this glance made his heart plummet into the abyss.
Something seemed to be hiding inside the flesh of his legs, eagerly trying to burrow out.
As time passed, the pain grew more pronounced.
It came from deep within the muscles, piercing into the bone marrow.
Lu Yanzhou was someone who endured pain well, but even so, a layer of dense cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
A scorching heat spread from deep within his body, as if something with extreme heat was hidden at his core, desperately wanting to break free from this body’s restraints and be unleashed.
Lu Yanzhou did not know what this thing was, but he had a premonition that it absolutely could not be allowed to emerge!
The shower water turned cold. What slid down his body was unknown—whether it was the shower water or sweat from the pain.
The pain intensified, and Lu Yanzhou could no longer stand. He braced against the wall and gasped heavily.
In a short moment, something faintly visible appeared under the skin of his legs, slowly emerging.
Lu Yanzhou could not describe what appeared in the flesh of his legs. Only after a bout of intense growth pain did he see something clearly not belonging to a human sprouting on his legs.
At the peak of the pain, Lu Yanzhou seemed to lose sensation of the outside world. In his hazy consciousness, a voice came from outside the bathroom, pulling his awareness back.
Upon sobering, the first thing he felt was still pain.
He tried to straighten up, but bumped into something in the process, creating a loud crash.
The voice outside grew more urgent.
Lu Yanzhou braced against the wall. Veins bulged on his arms, and he gripped so hard that he left several finger marks on the wall.
Lu Yanzhou had no mind to notice these things, because something had grown on his legs.
It resembled the scales of some animal, yet did not match any in his knowledge. The scales sprouted layer upon layer on his legs, densely and chaotically overlapping, causing bursts of intense pain.
Clusters of scales on each side were hardly aesthetic. Lu Yanzhou’s first reaction was that he did not want Lin Juan to see him like this.
Like a monster.
His legs hurt so much he could no longer stand. Lu Yanzhou slid down the wall to sit on the floor.
Outside the bathroom, Lin Juan heard Lu Yanzhou’s voice sounding different from usual, and a bad premonition rose in his heart.
Could it be that the person who tried to harm Lu Yanzhou from behind last time had struck again?
He had heard from Lu Mingxuan that Lu Yanzhou’s path had been far from as glamorous as it appeared. In places unseen by others, he had faced assassinations, poisonings, and all sorts of foul deeds.
The road to his current position was fraught with thorns and dangers.
But Lu Yanzhou had resolved them all one by one.
When ordinary means failed against him, someone harbored malice and turned their gaze to the weird phenomena that had appeared at some point.
The emergence of weird phenomena was too unpredictable for humans, and Lu Yanzhou could not guard against everything. He still fell victim, contracting a strange illness and falling into a coma.
To this day, they had not uncovered the mastermind behind the harm to the Lu Family.
They had only found peripheral, non-core figures.
Any faction involved faced fierce retaliation from the Lu Family.
Lu Yanzhou never showed mercy to enemies.
Lin Juan pondered and could not set his mind at ease. He walked to the bathroom in a few steps, placed his hand on the doorknob, and said, “Lu Yanzhou, I’m coming in.”
This time, it was no longer a question but a declaration.
If someone harmed Lu Yanzhou right under his nose, how could he face the huge fees paid by the Lu Family?
“No need…”
Despite the effort to disguise it, Lin Juan still heard the off note hidden in the man’s voice.
Click.
The door opened.
What Lin Juan saw first was the steam overflowing the bathroom.
Under the misty steam, everything ahead was unclear.
Lin Juan walked in a few steps: “Lu Yanzhou?”
No response came.
Lin Juan immediately felt even stranger. No matter how busy Lu Yanzhou usually was, he would not ignore him.
He released his perception but sensed no weird phenomena in the bathroom.
He should install a pollution detector in the house sometime.
Lin Juan thought.
He continued forward and finally spotted the man slumped by the wall in the corner.
The man was bare from the waist up, with only a bath towel draped around his waist and below. He was drenched all over, hair falling over his forehead, appearing somewhat disheveled.
But this dishevelment did not diminish his handsomeness; instead, it softened the sharpness from his usual style of slicking all his hair back, giving a completely different feeling from usual.
“Lu Yanzhou?” Lin Juan drew closer. “Are you okay?”
Hearing the voice, the man lifted his gaze.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but Lin Juan saw a flash of wetness in his eyes.
Lu Yanzhou’s expression was indescribably complex.
Like joy, yet like resistance.
Two opposing emotions converged in his eyes, creating an indescribable weirdness.
He just stared at him without speaking.
Lin Juan had no choice but to continue proactively: “Did you fall?”
Lu Yanzhou shook his head, then nodded: “I’m fine.”
His voice was somewhat hoarse. While speaking, he still stared fixedly at him.
It was as if he had been targeted by some large beast. Lin Juan felt his hair stand on end from the stare but steeled himself and approached, half-squatting: “I’ll help you up.”
Lu Yanzhou’s grip tightened on the bath towel.
“No need.”
“You’re still worrying about face at a time like this? I’m helping you up, not hugging you,” Lin Juan feigned anger. “If you don’t obey, I’ll really hug you.”
Lu Yanzhou finally stopped resisting and allowed Lin Juan to help him up.
During the motion, the bath towel around his waist slipped down. Lu Yanzhou grabbed it with one hand, but his other arm was held by Lin Juan, so he could not salvage the other side, and the towel draped down.
Lin Juan clearly felt the man’s body tense instantly.
He subconsciously glanced down and widened his eyes.
Lu Yanzhou’s body stiffened even more.
Lin Juan felt a bit embarrassed too. Seeing Lu Yanzhou dazed like that, he endured the awkwardness and comforted: “It’s fine. We’re both men; seeing it is nothing. Besides, with your endowment, are you afraid of someone taking a look?”
By the end, there was a hint of teasing.
Lin Juan had not expected Lu Yanzhou to be so shy.
But indeed, well, impressive endowment.
In every aspect.
After saying that, Lin Juan clearly felt Lu Yanzhou’s rigid body gradually relax.
“Want me to dry you off?” Considering Lu Yanzhou’s usual demeanor, Lin Juan paused. “Or do you want to do it yourself?”
“Trouble you to help me. I have no strength left.” After extreme mental tension, Lu Yanzhou felt drained.
Those short few minutes felt longer than the past decades. From Lin Juan entering, to helping him up, to the towel slipping.
He did not know how he had gotten through it.
He feared Lin Juan seeing the abnormality on his legs, feared Lin Juan treating him like a monster. He had seen how merciless Lin Juan was toward monsters—presumably harboring extreme hatred for those existences.
If he knew he had become a monster, would the look in his eyes also carry hatred?
The thought of the youth’s gentle gaze never falling on him again made Lu Yanzhou feel as if he were immersed in an icy pool, chilled to the bone.
He did not care about others’ views—only Lin Juan’s.
He did not want to see disgust in the other’s eyes.
In the instant the towel slipped, many thoughts flashed through his mind, his brain spinning rapidly to find a suitable excuse for his abnormality.
None of the countless reasons satisfied him. Despair filled his heart, his body rigid as a board, awaiting the final verdict.
Unexpectedly, what came was a teasing remark.
Lu Yanzhou could not help but look down.
His legs were smooth as before, as if everything that had happened in the bathroom was just an illusion.
He blinked in disbelief, closed his eyes, then opened them again.
His legs remained empty of anything.
No scales, no pain—nothing.
The gentle wiping sensation pulled his thoughts back.
Lin Juan had never done this for anyone before. Worried Lu Yanzhou could not stand steady, he did not let go throughout, and with one hand, he could only wipe bit by bit with a dry towel.
“I don’t know my own strength. If I wipe too hard and it hurts, you must tell me.” Lin Juan was well aware of his own power.
“Mm.”
Lin Juan always felt Lu Yanzhou’s emotions were off tonight. He thought it was because he had fallen and his confidence was hurt—after all, he was a man who valued face so much that even when his legs gave out, he refused to let him carry him to the wheelchair. Lin Juan considerately did not ask more.
After drying him off, Lin Juan helped Lu Yanzhou out of the bathroom: “Sit on the bed first. I’ll get you clothes.”
He helped him sit on the bed, found clean loungewear for him, thought for a moment, and still said: “Next time you go to the bathroom, be careful. If your legs give out again, call me in time.”
“Don’t feel embarrassed.” After saying that, Lin Juan added: “Didn’t you previously think I was your caregiver? If you’re embarrassed, just keep treating me as one.”
“You’re not.” Lu Yanzhou could not.
So stubborn!
Lin Juan grumbled inwardly, then glanced at the man sitting on the bed looking up at him obediently. It inexplicably gave him the feeling of a wet large dog gazing up.
He instantly could not muster any anger.
Forget it—what was he bickering with a patient about?
“Sit still. I’ll blow-dry your hair.” He was already a patient—what if he caught a cold?
Lu Yanzhou opened his mouth, but Lin Juan had already fetched the hairdryer, plugged it in, and turned it on.
Amid the whirring sound, Lu Yanzhou silently closed his mouth.
“This is my first time blow-drying someone’s hair. If it feels uncomfortable, tell me directly.”
The gentle force passed through his hair strands, warm wind blowing on his scalp. Lu Yanzhou relaxed even more.
Remembering Lu Yanzhou’s abnormality, early the next morning, Lin Juan sent a message to Zhuang Yufeng, asking if he had time to check on Lu Yanzhou.
