Chapter 145: Applying Medicine

Watching the man roll over on the bed, clutch the quilt in his arms, and close his eyes, Yun Huizhou could not help but walk over, sit by the bedside, and call out to him.

“Lian Li, you haven’t applied your medicine yet.”

“I’m not doing it, I’m so sleepy.” Lian Li buried his head in the quilt, though his body remained exposed.

Yun Huizhou shook him, refusing to let him sleep. “If you don’t apply the medicine, the places where you were hit today will hurt terribly tomorrow.”

At these words, Lian Li finally deigned to open his eyes. He looked at Yun Huizhou with a dazed expression, clearly so exhausted he was barely conscious. Nevertheless, he forced himself to crawl up and reach into the bedside cabinet for the medicine.

Seeing him like this, Yun Huizhou hesitated for a moment before pressing down on his shoulder. “Go to sleep. I’ll help you apply it.”

Hearing this, Lian Li immediately withdrew his hand from the cabinet and flopped back onto the bed. “Alright, I’ll tell you where I got hit today.”

Yun Huizhou: “…No need. I know where you were hit. I remember.”

“Okay.” With Yun Huizhou’s assurance, Lian Li closed his eyes in relief. He was so tired he had forgotten his previous resolution to keep his distance from Yun Huizhou.

Seeing that this person had fallen straight to sleep the moment he agreed, Yun Huizhou felt both exasperated and amused.

This man truly had no sense of self-preservation at all.

However, this also meant he truly hadn’t seen that book, nor had he noticed Yun Huizhou’s own feelings.

This was for the best; at least the two of them could maintain their current relationship and interact normally.

He reached out, grasped Lian Li’s shoulder, and turned him over to face upward. Although Lian Li was exhausted and had his eyes closed, he hadn’t quite fallen asleep in that short span of time.

Feeling Yun Huizhou turning him over, he cooperatively shifted his body.

Yun Huizhou’s hand paused for a fleeting second at the ties of Lian Li’s inner robes before pulling them open.

He remembered that Lian Li had taken a punch to the stomach from Senior Uncle today. Without looking too closely, he poured the medicinal oil into his palm and rubbed it onto Lian Li’s abdomen.

His movements were very light, making Lian Li feel a bit ticklish. Lian Li reached up and grabbed Yun Huizhou’s hand for a moment before quickly letting go.

After finishing with the stomach and waiting for the medicinal oil to dry slightly, he flipped Lian Li over to face upward with his back.

He remembered that Lian Li’s back and left shoulder had been struck twice by Senior Uncle’s palms. Those two strikes had not been light; even now, two bright red palm prints were visible.

If the medicine wasn’t applied, they would turn bruised and purple by tomorrow.

After finishing with the back, Yun Huizhou’s gaze slid downward. Next were the knees and calves.

He did not intend to remove Lian Li’s trousers, so he simply moved to pull up the pant legs.

While rubbing the medicinal oil into the calves and knees, Yun Huizhou thought to himself that it was fortunate Senior Uncle hadn’t kicked Lian Li directly in the thigh today; otherwise, those trousers would have had to come off.

By the time he finished applying all the medicine, Lian Li was fast asleep.

Yun Huizhou put the medicine bottle away and sat by the bed, watching Lian Li.

At this moment, Lian Li’s hair was completely loose, softening the contours of his entire face. He looked both obedient and soft. Yun Huizhou’s thoughts uncontrollably drifted back to the matters that had been troubling him.

Yet, he could not find a way to untangle the threads of his confusion.

Regardless, they would be returning to Drunken Dream Island soon. Judging by Senior Uncle’s requirements, they would have to stay on Drunken Dream Island for a long time to come.

Without other matters to distract him, perhaps he would be able to think clearly about what he truly wanted.

He had to make a decision eventually, rather than being like this—feeling distressed and frustrated every time the thought crossed his mind.

He knew Lian Li had noticed his poor mood lately and had been deliberately mindful of his emotions during their interactions.

But if he could never sort it out and remained in a foul mood, Lian Li would eventually grow tired if he had to constantly cater to his temperament.

When that time came, he feared even their existing affection would gradually wither away.

Having reached a conclusion, Yun Huizhou pulled the quilt from Lian Li’s arms and spread it over him.

He then went to the kitchen to fetch hot water. After returning to the room and taking a quick soak, he took out the medicinal oil to treat the areas where he had been hit hardest before walking over to the daybed to lie down.

The two of them actually slept straight through until dawn the next day.

Yun Huizhou was the first to get off the daybed. He went into the courtyard to listen for any movement. Finding that neither the East Island Lord nor the West Island Lord had stirred yet, he felt relieved.

Though they didn’t have many belongings, they still needed to do some simple packing.

If they overslept and their Junior Uncle and Senior Uncle were ready to depart only to find they hadn’t packed, even the Junior Uncle—who had spent half the day yesterday pleading for them to have some rest—would likely give them a harsh lesson.

If Junior Uncle and Senior Uncle joined forces, the result… was something even he didn’t particularly want to endure.

He returned to the room and saw Lian Li suddenly sit bolt upright in bed, looking as if he had been startled awake.

Just as Yun Huizhou was about to speak, he heard Lian Li beat him to it: “Oh no, I overslept! We haven’t packed our things yet!”

Lian Li hurriedly threw on his clothes and jumped off the bed, nearly putting his shoes on the wrong feet.

As he pulled out a bundle to pack his things, he shouted, “Yun Huizhou, are Senior Uncle and Junior Uncle ready to leave? Are we going to be late? We’ll be punished, won’t we?”

He turned his head and saw Yun Huizhou still standing motionless at the door. He immediately beckoned to him. “What are you standing there for? Hurry up and pack, then go wash up. If we’re late and have to stand in punishment… no, if they wait too long, they might give us a joint thrashing!”

Seeing how quickly he was packing, Yun Huizhou said, “You pack. I’ll go to the kitchen for water. By the time you’re done, we can wash up.”

“Fine,” Lian Li said. “Hurry up.”

The two worked in coordination and soon had themselves ready. Just then, the voice of the East Island Lord, infused with internal energy, reached everyone’s ears: “In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, everyone assemble at the gate. We are preparing to depart.”

“Haha, we made it, we made it!” Lian Li said with a face full of joy to Yun Huizhou, who was leading Ice Treader and his own little yellow horse, while carrying his own pack.

“Mount up and let’s go,” Yun Huizhou said.

The two flipped onto their horses and headed toward the main gate of the manor.

When they arrived, they found only the East Island Lord and two horses at the gate. They were the second group to arrive.

Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan had not yet appeared.

The East Island Lord was in no hurry, leaning against his horse with his eyes closed to rest, as the time had not yet run out.

Furthermore, aside from Xiyu, the other four juniors would arrive with the utmost speed; the time of a cup of tea was certainly sufficient.

As for Xiyu, while he wouldn’t exceed the time limit, he would likely arrive at the very last possible moment.

Not long after Lian Li and Yun Huizhou arrived, they saw Zhao Honglan and Qu Tingquan emerge together, each leading a horse. Now, only the West Island Lord was missing.

When the five of them had originally left the Spirit Cult, they only had three horses. The West Island Lord had known the numbers in advance and had prepared several more horses at the manor. Now that they were leaving, they had one horse per person.

The group waited at the gate for a while longer. Lian Li saw the East Island Lord suddenly open his eyes. He did a rough mental calculation and realized the time of a cup of tea was up.

At that exact moment, the West Island Lord descended from the sky onto a horse—the very one the East Island Lord had been leading.