Chapter 112: Healing Wounds

Ling Xiao slowly opened his eyes; his field of vision was filled with a chaotic gray. He lay beneath a peculiarly shaped ancient tree, and he clearly heard the voices of Shi Ran and Fen Tian arguing.

"I told you to find a place to stay, so why did you dump us into this Dragon Burial Abyss!" Shi Ran's voice was clearly annoyed.

Fen Tian's tone was helpless: "Your master's demonic aura is leaking; this damned place is the only spot where immortal and demonic qi are mixed and indistinguishable, a chaotic realm!"

Shi Ran was momentarily at a loss: "This… this is how it is…" Her momentum instantly dropped.

Yet Fen Tian grew more aggrieved as he spoke: "Do you think I enjoy coming back? Everywhere here is painful memory I cannot bear! If not to protect you all, I would spit three times each time I flew over!" He lifted his massive dragon head, and a crystal-clear dragon tear rolled down.

Shi Ran honestly apologized: "I really feel sorry for you…" She rubbed her sore neck, "Why don't you shrink a bit? My neck really can't take this!"

"Hmph!" Fen Tian snorted a burst of dragon breath, clearly still angry; his massive body turned and sank straight into the abyss, returning quietly to his lair filled with "painful memories."

Shi Ran shrugged helplessly, silently thinking: This old dragon's temper is huge; even if he finds his beloved little fairy, he probably still won't know how to coax. She turned around, only to see Ling Xiao had somehow awakened, leaning against the tree trunk, a faint smile playing on his lips as he looked at her.

For some reason, Shi Ran felt her ears warm. She stepped into the cool breeze and hurried to Ling Xiao's side: "Master, you're awake!"

"Mm," Ling Xiao nodded, his voice hoarse from injury, "I'm sorry to have troubled you."

Those words somehow carried the tone of a husband apologizing to his wife. Shi Ran's heart jumped; she didn't dare think further, hurriedly lowered her head, and fished out several small jade bottles from her exquisite Qiankun bag: "Master, I… I can't tell which is the Clearing Demon Pill; quickly tell me which one it is."

Ling Xiao's gaze swept over, precisely picking out a jade bottle, he poured out two gleaming pills: "You also need to take one."

"I actually don't need it…" Shi Ran's spiritual power was stabilized by the fire lotus force, and the demonic qi Ling Xiao had transferred was clearly distinct from hers, causing far less conflict than within Ling Xiao himself.

"Listen." Ling Xiao's voice wasn't loud, but it carried an unyielding insistence.

"Fine, she felt awful!" Shi Ran obediently took the pill and swallowed it.

After the Clearing Demon Pill entered his stomach, the pain in Ling Xiao's brows eased slightly, and his captivating purple eyes lost some of their intensity. "Chang Feng and the others are still trapped in the demon realm; I need to go again." He said in a deep voice.

Shi Ran grabbed Ling Xiao's wrist: "I'm coming too!"

Ling Xiao frowned: "Listen." This time, even the influence of his beauty seemed to weaken.

Shi Ran's gaze was firm: "My senior brothers went to the demon realm because of my words; both publicly and privately I cannot stand by! Master, I will definitely go! If you don't allow me to follow, I'll sneak off on my own!"

Ling Xiao saw the unshakable determination in her eyes, knew persuasion was useless, and softly sighed: "Alright. This time we must act cautiously. Our bodies are both tainted with demonic qi—perfect to pose as ordinary demon cultivators and sneak in to investigate their whereabouts."

Shi Ran nodded firmly, her only worry: "Master, your wound…"

Ling Xiao gave a low cough, shifting the topic: "I've heard… Yun Tingliao is with you?"

A flicker of small disappointment crossed Shi Ran's heart—she had thought Master would let her personally pull out that poison needle, so she could… cough cough, but Ling Xiao gave her no such chance. "Summon Yun Tingliao and have him extract the poison needle for me…"

Yun Tingliao had been busy from morning until the bright stars appeared; as soon as he showed up, he flared at Shi Ran: "Just stuff me back into your sea of consciousness! I'd rather brawl with that stupid dragon in there than deal with this bloody mess! As the esteemed Third Prince of the Demon Realm, from now on I'll have a psychological shadow at the sight of needle-like objects…" He chattered on, and Shi Ran's attempts to interject were blocked each time.

Infuriated, Shi Ran shouted: "Shut up! Say another word and I'll confiscate all your gambling gear right now!"

Yun Tingliao fell silent instantly. Under Fen Tian's suggestive eye‑roll, he reluctantly added: "Cough… your master… is really a tough guy. This poison needle wounded his foundation, his vital energy is greatly depleted; tonight you need to… take good care of him…" He said this extremely grudgingly.

Shi Ran gave the dragon and wolf a cold glance. Fen Tian and Yun Tingliao spoke in unison: "Why not… send us back first?" They didn't want to stand around as light bulbs watching this master‑disciple pair enact some sentimental scene.

Shi Ran had the same idea; she waved her bare hand, and the world finally fell silent.

She steadied herself, recalling the classic drama trope— the male lead gravely injured, the female lead comforts him with a bowl of hot porridge. Full of confidence, she pulled out pots, pans, bowls, and ladles from her Qiankun bag, intending to cook a "moving" pot of white porridge for her master.

However, as she carried the items and just rounded the twisted ancient tree, her gaze fell on Ling Xiao's back— the thought of cooking porridge instantly vanished like smoke.

Ling Xiao turned his back to her, his clothing slipped to his waist. Although he had sealed several major points on his back to prevent the poison needle from wandering, that sinister fine needle was still stubbornly crawling beneath his skin. Shi Ran recalled how he had forced himself to speak with her earlier; her heart felt as if pricked by a needle— how much pain must he have been in then?

Yun Tingliao must have done his utmost, locating and extracting the poison needle through the smallest possible incision; yet this "smallest" wound, to Shi Ran's eyes, remained hideous and glaring, lodged upon his smooth yet pallid back.

Shi Ran silently put away the cookware, lifted her hand to wipe away the moisture that had quietly slipped from the corner of her eye. She took a deep breath, drew clean water and a pristine cloth from her Qiankun bag, and with movements so gentle they seemed impossible, she began carefully cleansing the grime and dried blood around his wound.

Throughout the process, Ling Xiao remained deep in unconsciousness, unaware of the warm tears Shi Ran dropped onto his back, nor did he know that the hands cleaning his wound, while focused, also carried a hint of anguish and secret reliance— her fingertips would occasionally, unconsciously, brush ever so lightly over the edge of his uninjured skin.

"Mother…" the unconscious Ling Xiao murmured, brows furrowed. Upon hearing this, Shi Ran paused, and her thoughts involuntarily turned to Su Changhen; as a mother, harming one's own child is incomprehensible to her— back then Ling Xiao was only four or five, what sin had he committed? It was merely his own mistake he refused to face, so he could only bully the weaker Ling Xiao; if he truly hated the demon realm to the extreme, he ought to openly settle scores with demon cultivators like Hui Ying and Mi Tong, rather than bully a child who needs love even more than she does.

Filled with righteous indignation, Shi Ran failed to notice the faint upturn of Ling Xiao's lips in his coma— "secret!"

He gave a faint smile, like a star in the dark night!