Lu Chengwen raised his hands. "If you kill me, you're dead too."
"I'm not afraid to die!"
Lu Chengwen looked at her. "But is it necessary?"
"The Young Master needs you dead!"
"I'm his sworn brother. He wants to kill me?"
"For Snow City! For the people of the Northern Kingdom! For all the common folk of Huaxia!"
Lu Chengwen laughed. "That's what he told you? Other than killing brothers and tricking women, there's no other way to do good?"
"I... I don't understand! And I don't need to! The Young Master understands everything. I just need to follow his orders."
Lu Chengwen stared at her. "You feel lost, don't you?"
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
"You're starting to doubt what's right, aren't you?"
"Shut up!"
"Your Young Master keeps giving you tasks you don't want to do. You've questioned it, but you're afraid to think too deeply, right?"
"Stop talking!"
Lu Chengwen sighed. "Let's leave these questions for time to answer. Right now, your ribs are fractured and misaligned. If they aren't reset soon, you'll die."
"I told you, I'm not afraid to die."
"If you die, who's going to protect your Young Master in the future?"
Hua Xuening froze.
"Your Young Master has a long road ahead. He'll face more and more powerful enemies. He needs you alive—alive to help him. Put down the knife, and I'll reset your bones."
"My body belongs to the Young Master. No one else is allowed to touch me!"
"It's not like I haven't touched you before."
"You—"
Hua Xuening tried to exert force, but the searing pain instantly sapped her strength.
Lu Chengwen swiftly snatched the dagger from her hand and tossed it aside, then sealed her pressure points.
"Phew..."
Lu Chengwen exhaled. "You're still too naive. Once your Young Master... *ahem*... you'll regain your clarity. Then you'll be a smart little girl."
"But for now, bear with it. I'm going to reset your bones."
"Don't... please, don't touch me. I can't betray the Young Master."
Lu Chengwen looked at her. "Stop being so old-fashioned. If I were your Young Master, I wouldn't want you to guard your chastity with your life. I'd rather you let men touch you, let men look at you, as long as you stay alive, healthy, and happy."
"But... you..."
"Enough. There's a lot you don't understand. If you don't understand, just listen to those who do. In a doctor's eyes, there are only patients, no distinctions between men and women. Those who specialize in certain fields see women's bodies all the time, and it doesn't faze them. It's just flesh, just life."
"Are you a doctor?"
Lu Chengwen grinned. "Nope."
"So that's why you're bleeding from your nose?"
"Huh?" Lu Chengwen realized that when a beauty's upper half was fully exposed in front of him, he was still very much affected.
He wiped his nosebleed and got back to work.
*[I'm really not a doctor.]*
*[Wow, I knew she was well-endowed when I fed her medicine that day, but seeing it is even more impressive than touching it.]*
*[Damn, with something this big... it's hard to work! It keeps getting in the way...]*
Hua Xuening was so embarrassed she wished she could faint, but unfortunately, she remained conscious.
Lu Chengwen fumbled for a long time, wiping his incessant nosebleed while rambling, "In a doctor's eyes, patients are just patients! They have no other identity!"
"Take you, for example. Even though your assets are ample, perfectly shaped, and feel amazing to the touch, and you can't resist right now, guess what? My heart is as still as water!"
Lu Chengwen grabbed a roll of tissue from the side, wiped his nosebleed, and stuffed some up his nostrils.
"Healing the sick and saving lives is a doctor's conscience. My family runs a pharmaceutical company, so I understand patients' feelings better than most."
"Let's talk about your chest, for instance. What if I look at it?"
He reached out and grabbed it. "What if I touch it? I feel nothing!"
"My heart is as still as water!"
"A doctor's mind is pure!"
He picked up the phone. "Bring more tissues to the suite. My nosebleed won't stop."
Lu Chengwen continued, "Where were we? Oh, right, your chest! Hmm... I'm not an expert on this, but I know a doctor's duty and mission!"
"To heal the wounded—no, wait, *to heal the chest*—is our duty and mission."
"Would I take the chance to sneak extra glances to satisfy my own dirty thoughts and despicable desires? No!"
"Would I take the chance to grope a few more times, secretly fantasizing and reveling in my heart? No!"
"Would I take every possible advantage, continuing to harass you even after finishing the job? Absolutely not!"
"My heart is as still as water!"
Hua Xuening had been watching his performance coldly. Now, she said icily, "The bones have already been set."
"Really?"
"Yes. Over ten minutes ago."
"See? That's how responsible I am! Most doctors would stop after resetting them. But me? I see it through to the end!"
"Are you done yet?"
"When I was six years old—"
Hua Xuening began to cry, tears silently streaming down her face.
Lu Chengwen finally withdrew his hand, awkwardly saying, "I was... just trying to ease the awkwardness."
"I thought... I'd chat with you a bit more."
Lu Chengwen sighed.
*[Well, now she definitely hates me.]*
*[I'm probably dead no matter what.]*
*[But she was Long Aotian's person to begin with. Even without this, she'd have killed me. No difference.]*
*[I need to make sure I'm safe first, then unseal her pressure points. How do I do this?]*
As Lu Chengwen pondered, Hua Xuening suddenly sprang up. Somehow, she already had a long blade in her hand, pressed directly against Lu Chengwen's throat.
Lu Chengwen's mind went blank.
*[I sealed her pressure points!]*
*[Did I do it wrong because my skills are too weak?]*
*[I'm dead for sure now! I've got the 'chest-groping' grudge and the 'force-feeding medicine' feud with her!]*
At this moment, if Hua Xuening applied even the slightest force, Lu Chengwen would die without a doubt.
A long silence followed. Neither spoke, just staring at each other.
Then the door burst open. Jiang Shihan walked in. "President Lu! I've brought the supplements you asked me to buy for the young lady! President Lu? Which room are you in?"
Hua Xuening glared fiercely. "I'll kill you sooner or later!"
With that, she leaped out the window and vanished.
Lu Chengwen exhaled in relief. "Phew! Dodged a bullet there."
---
Hua Xuening, injured and filled with grief and indignation, fled.
She didn't understand why she hadn't just killed Lu Chengwen with a slight flick of her wrist.
Why?
Because he understood her? Because he said she was a kind and innocent girl?
Because he saved her, painstakingly persuaded her companions, and even learned on the spot to reset her bones?
Or because... he had touched her, and now she couldn't bring herself to kill him?
Hua Xuening's mind was a mess.
She knew that if that sliver of her consciousness hadn't been sealed away, she wouldn't be so confused, so conflicted, so torn right now.
*Sealing my consciousness, only for the Young Master to unlock it later... is that really a favor?*
Lu Chengwen's words seemed to make sense—this wasn't a favor. It was just returning what was originally mine!
*Damn it!*
*How could I doubt the Young Master?*
*Hua Xuening, everything you have was given to you by the Young Master!*
*How could you listen to that smooth-talking Lu Chengwen's nonsense and start questioning your master?*
*So easily swayed—am I really such a disloyal, treacherous person?!*
*Lu Chengwen! Next time we meet, I swear I'll kill you!*
Hua Xuening's thoughts were in chaos.
She forced herself not to think about Lu Chengwen, his words, the things he'd said in his heart...
But the more she resisted, the more conflicted and lost she felt.
The more she felt like an impure person—her body already defiled, now even her mind was tainted, unable to stop doubting the Young Master.
She began to loathe herself, despise herself, condemn herself.
Her pent-up rage had nowhere to go.
When she returned to the hideout, she found it eerily quiet.
Rushing inside, she discovered Bang Daomang unconscious on the ground, the Young Master missing, and a pig-headed man lying motionless.
She didn't recognize this person!
Hua Xuening grabbed Bang Daomang and shook him. "Where's my Young Master?! Talk!"
Bang Daomang had suffered too much trauma and couldn't wake up.
But the pig-headed man, hearing Hua Xuening's voice, twitched and slowly began to regain consciousness.
Hua Xuening, still injured, walked over, teeth clenched. "Where's my Young Master?"
Long Aotian's eyes were swollen shut.
Of course they were!
Earlier, Copper Tuo Wang had used his head as a punching bag, slapping him nonstop for what felt like an entire playoff series.
A normal person would've died long ago, but this was Long Aotian we're talking about!
The protagonist's luck was no joke!
Over 6,800 brutal slaps, and he was still alive!
Alive, yes, but his head was beyond recognition.
First, the swelling. It was bad before, but after everyone left, his face had "fermented" even more, puffing up to twice its size. His head was now wider than his waist.
Especially his eyes. They were completely swollen shut, his eyelids like two loaves of bread squeezing his eyes into nonexistence—just a slit remained. If not for his nose, you wouldn't even recognize it as a head.
Then, his ears. After so many slaps, they were ringing nonstop.
Finally, his mouth.
The inside of his mouth was so swollen his tongue had no room to move. He couldn't even find his teeth if he tried.
If not for his nose, he'd have suffocated by now.
Hua Xuening thought to herself: *This person looks bizarre—must be the result of some demonic cultivation technique that distorted his appearance.*
*Since he's here, he must know where my Young Master is.*
She pressed her sword against the pig-headed man's throat. "Talk! Where's my Young Master?!"
Long Aotian couldn't see, but he recognized Hua Xuening's voice. Unfortunately, his mouth was so swollen his tongue was useless, and his speech was incoherent.
"You won't talk?!"
Hua Xuening was already furious!
She was angry at Lu Chengwen, and even angrier at herself.
Now, she snarled, "If you won't talk, I'll flay you alive!"
Long Aotian let out muffled, unintelligible sounds.
Hua Xuening channeled all the rage she'd bottled up from her encounter with Lu Chengwen into the pig-headed man. She stabbed her sword into his body and slowly twisted the hilt.
"This spot hurts the most when stabbed! Let's see how long you can endure!"
Long Aotian was going insane. *Am I enduring?! I can't move or make a sound!*
*What the hell are you doing?!*
Hua Xuening smirked. "Still not talking? Didn't expect you to be so tough!"
Long Aotian thought: *I'm not tough! Can't you people just wait until the swelling goes down?!*
Hua Xuening hadn't expected this pig-headed man to be so stubborn.
But the more stubborn he was, the angrier she became.
"If I can't deal with that bastard Lu Chengwen, I can sure as hell deal with you! Today... I'm making it my mission to make you talk, no matter what it takes!"
Long Aotian wanted to die.
He felt... there was no point in living anymore.
*Just end it. I'm exhausted.*