Chapter 161: Never Been This Speechless

The little one pointed at the light screen in midair, pouting, and spoke in a sweet, childish voice.

【Fairy Sister, this shiny door won't open, Yu'an can't get through.】

An Luo saw the message and found it very strange too.

She hadn't received any system upgrade notification either.

"Yu'an, don't rush. Let me check."

Her phone suddenly popped up a low-battery alert, so An Luo had to go to the Ke Ting to find a charger first.

The moment she opened the bedroom door, her foot kicked something.

Then a muffled groan sounded faintly by her ear.

"Ah!"

An Luo was startled, took several steps back, and casually grabbed a vase from the table by the door to hold in front of her.

"Who's there?!"

"An... Miss An, it's me."

Once awake, the person on the ground instinctively tensed up all over, first scanning the surroundings warily with eyes as sharp as a hunting eagle. Seeing the unfamiliar environment, his body tensed even more.

His expression only softened after he saw her.

The man moved twice, seemingly trying to prop himself up.

Seeing the ancient costume on him and that familiar voice, An Luo widened her eyes in disbelief.

"Cheng Chengxuan?!"

Yu'an on the other end heard her words and hurriedly asked.

【Little Uncle?】

【Fairy Sister! How did my little uncle end up at your place?】

A thick smell of blood lingered at her nose. Cheng Chengxuan must have been seriously injured, so An Luo couldn't be bothered to explain things to Zaituan.

"Be good, Yu'an. Elder Sister will explain to you in a bit."

After exiting the Live Stream Room, she set the vase down and hurried over in quick strides.

"Are you alright? How do you feel?"

An Luo wanted to help him up, but seeing the bloody, mangled wounds all over his body, she didn't know where to start for a moment, not daring to touch him at all, afraid her hands might be too rough and worsen his injuries.

"How did you get hurt this badly?"

"I'll take you to the hospital!"

Cheng Chengxuan stopped her from making an emergency call.

"No, you can't!"

The light screen hadn't said how long he could stay here. If he were to vanish in front of everyone, it would cause trouble for Miss An.

"But you're seriously hurt, you need treatment right away!"

Suddenly, An Luo thought of Cheng Sitao downstairs and hurried to get her phone.

"Don't be afraid, I'll call your brother right now and have him come help you!"

Cheng Chengxuan slowly leaned against the doorframe, covering his chest as he coughed twice. Seeing how pale her face had gone with fright, he still tugged the corner of his mouth into a smile and gently comforted her.

"Alright, I'm not afraid, and you shouldn't be either. These wounds only look scary, they're not serious."

After saying that, he coughed twice more, and his face turned even paler.

Unlike his usual meticulously neat clothing and hairstyle, Cheng Chengxuan now had a face pale as paper, several streaks of blood and abrasions on it, blood at the corner of his mouth, a few stray locks of hair falling over his brow, and his clothes all torn. Yet he didn't look disheveled; instead, he gave off an indescribable air of fragility.

He was hurt this badly, yet still found the heart to comfort her.

An Luo sniffed, turned her head aside, and said in a muffled, awkward voice.

"I'm not the one who's hurt, what do I have to be afraid of?"

Cheng Chengxuan smiled, a trace of imperceptible indulgence in his eyes, and went along with her.

"Alright... cough cough! I'm the one who's afraid."

The moment he was sent flying, he really was afraid.

Afraid he'd never see her again, afraid he'd never hear her voice again, afraid she didn't know his feelings, yet also afraid she did know his feelings.

Seeing him start coughing again, An Luo hurriedly poured a cup of warm water.

"Stop talking for now."

She looked anxiously toward the door.

"Why hasn't your brother come yet?"

The moment those words fell, the doorbell rang.

An Luo hurried to open the door.

"Come quick, Cheng Chengxuan is injured, I don't dare touch him."

Seeing who had arrived, Cheng Chengxuan grinned.

"Big Brother."

Cheng Sitao had originally been out handling business, but the moment he got the call, he rushed over by car.

He crouched down and carefully examined him, first taking his pulse briefly, then tugging at Cheng Chengxuan's arms and legs a couple of times, and finally pressing a few spots on his body.

Seeing Cheng Chengxuan in so much pain he kept sucking in his breath, An Luo quietly reminded him from the side.

"He's badly hurt, be gentler."

Cheng Sitao's hands paused.

"..."

No torn tendons, no broken bones, just a bit of internal injury—how could that count as seriously hurt?

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of someone snickering on the sly, and ground his back teeth.

He'd nearly been scared to death when he got the phone call earlier—had really thought the kid was hanging by a thread!

So it turns out he was just playing the pitiful card in front of the young lady!

Thinking this, he deliberately put a little more force into his hands.

"Hiss!"

Cheng Chengxuan frowned tightly, eyes closed, and coughed once.

"Big Brother, go easy. I was knocked around by the shockwave from the bomb earlier—I took some pretty serious internal injuries."

Cheng Sitao: "…"

He had never been this speechless in his entire life.

Was the person in front of him really that little brother of his, the one who couldn't get far enough away from any young lady?

Serious?

He's got some nerve!

Fine, so to mooch his way into staying at the young lady's place, he's learned to spin tall tales, has he?

Cheng Sitao raised an eyebrow slightly. Where An Luo couldn't see, he gave Cheng Chengxuan a fake smile and said deliberately,

"In that case, Miss An, help me hold him up—I'll take him back to my place first."

An Luo nodded.

"Alright."

Cheng Sitao had just laid a hand on him and hadn't even had time to exert any force when Cheng Chengxuan began crying out in pain.

"Hiss! No, it hurts too much!"

Cheng Sitao: "…"

I haven't even touched you yet—don't you dare pull a stunt!

"How about this, then."

Seeing the situation, An Luo suggested softly.

"Stop fussing. Just stay here and recuperate at my place."

Cheng Sitao shot a covert glare at a certain someone, then turned his head, expression solemn, and looked at An Luo as he thanked her earnestly.

"Then I'll trouble you, Miss An."

Soon, the private doctor Cheng Sitao had called arrived as well.

The group carried Cheng Chengxuan to the guest room, then examined and dressed his wounds—a great flurry of activity.

Of course, while the wounds were being dressed, An Luo waited in the Ke Ting, and took the chance to let Zaituan know he was safe.

After seeing the doctor off, An Luo went into the room together with Cheng Sitao.

By then, Cheng Chengxuan had already changed into clean clothes.

Cheng Sitao dragged a chair over and sat by the bed.

"Tell me—what exactly happened? How did you get hurt?"

At the mention of this matter, Cheng Chengxuan's expression chilled.

"It was people of the National Preceptor, Qin Shou."

"After we brought Lord Zhou back to Beihuang City, we found that their people had already followed the trail over. I was afraid they'd discover something, so I led a team to intercept them."

"Something went wrong in the middle. I stayed behind to cover the retreat, and it was my first time using it—I wasn't very familiar with it. Maybe the Gunpowder dosage was off too, and I ended up hurting myself."

Cheng Chengxuan's face was a little ugly.

This time, he really had overreached. Once he knew those were Qin Shou's men, the viciousness in his heart simply couldn't be controlled.

Not only had he exposed the existence of the Gunpowder, he'd wounded himself into the bargain.

Cheng Chengxuan curved the corners of his lips.

"But after this round, Qin Shou shouldn't have many usable men left in his hands. And also…"

The smile on Cheng Chengxuan's face grew much more genuine.

Moreover, he had also discovered a secret.

That mysterious Live Stream Room system seemed to care quite a bit about whether he lived or died.

At the critical moment, it had actually sent him straight to Miss An's side.

He just didn't know how long he could stay this time.

And, since there had been this once, there would surely be a next time, wouldn't there?

Also, Yu'an had quietly told him that Big Brother had a chance to go back.

When that time came, would she be able to go to their side, just as Yu'an had come here?