Chapter 110: Rumors

When Lei Ya and Mo De brought Ba Ke Er and three dragon beasts back to the Tribe, it was already afternoon—the Tribe's busiest time. Seeing them return with the heavily injured, unconscious Ba Ke Er and three Exquisite Dragon Beasts, the whole Tribe erupted in commotion.

Although they didn't stop at the outer gate of the Tribe, they greeted the Beastmen guards in midair. Then they split up: Lei Ya flew straight to the Tribe Chief's house with Ba Ke Er, while Mo De took the three dragon beasts toward Zhang Fan's home. But the Beastmen's sense of smell and sight are not to be underestimated!

Even though Lei Ya and Mo De were in the air, everyone saw clearly. But after the Beastmen embellished the story and told the females, who passed it along one by one, by the time it reached the already worried Zhang Fan's ears, it had become that Ba Ke Er had suffered severe injuries and stopped breathing.

At that moment, Mo De had not yet reached Zhang Fan's home, so Zhang Fan didn't know the real situation. Hearing the news just received from Fei Er, he felt the sky collapse, the world suddenly plunging into darkness! His heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly recalled what had happened to him while cooking rice at noon.

Thinking of that, Zhang Fan suddenly regretted letting him go out to hunt; he realized his earlier method wasn't due to madness but resembled telepathy. Once Zhang Fan emerged from his chaotic thoughts, he began to doubt it was real.

But when Fei Er told him the matter had spread throughout the Tribe, he suddenly burst into tears, clutching his chest. After crying for a while, Zhang Fan started coughing violently.

The cough itself wasn't serious, yet he coughed up blood. This frightened Fei Er, who quickly wiped the blood from Zhang Fan's mouth with his sleeve and helped the voiceless Zhang Fan inside.

Just as Fei Er had helped Zhang Fan lie down inside, he went to the main room to fetch water, then heard Mo De's voice outside. He hastily set down his cup and ran out to open the door.

Opening the door, Fei Er saw that Mo De had indeed returned, bringing two large and one small—three Exquisite Dragon Beasts. Fei Er paid little attention to the beasts, instead quietly asking Mo De about Ba Ke Er.

Seeing Fei Er's sudden caution, Mo De guessed what had happened. He immediately pulled Fei Er into the courtyard, shut the gate, and dumped the three dragon beasts into Zhang Fan's yard. Then he and Fei Er went inside to explain things to Zhang Fan.

Upon hearing that Ba Ke Er wasn't dead, Zhang Fan felt the darkness that had just fallen suddenly pierced by a faint light. Although he knew Ba Ke Er was severely injured, he remained optimistic that Ba Ke Er would pull through—he had personally promised to take him everywhere he wanted to go and stay with him for life, until they both returned to the Beastmen's embrace.

Now knowing the truth, Zhang Fan felt he couldn't stay home another moment. He sprang out of bed, ignoring Fei Er and his wife still by the bedside, put on his shoes, and ran out.

Fei Er and his wife, seeing Zhang Fan regain his spirits, were glad, but Fei Er still remembered Zhang Fan coughing up blood. He immediately grabbed Mo De and followed behind Zhang Fan without bothering to close the door—no one would visit while the host was away—so the two ran after Zhang Fan toward the Tribe Chief's house.

When Zhang Fan and Fei Er and his wife arrived at the Tribe Chief's house, at the place set aside for patients, Ba Ke Er on the sickbed had already received preliminary treatment and had just woken up.

Upon smelling Zhang Fan's scent, Ba Ke Er let out a low, hoarse whimper, instantly drawing everyone's attention to him—though his intention was merely to call for Zhang Fan alone.

Hearing Ba Ke Er's voice, Zhang Fan felt as if he were hearing heavenly music, even though Ba Ke Er's voice was unusually hoarse. Zhang Fan didn't notice that his lips still bore the blood he had coughed up when he'd heard the false news of his own death, overcome with grief.

He forced a grim smile at Ba Ke Er and gently asked, "Ba Ke Er, you're awake? How are you?"

Ba Ke Er was barely holding on, lest he faint again; with all his strength he gently shook his massive head toward Zhang Fan and let out two soft hums, as if responding to Zhang Fan's words—which indeed he was.

Since Zhang Fan couldn't understand beast language, he couldn't know what Ba Ke Er's hums meant, relying only on body language to guess—and this time he guessed correctly.

Upon hearing Ba Ke Er's hums, Zhang Fan went over, cupped Ba Ke Er's beastly face with both hands, brought his own face close, and rubbed it against Ba Ke Er's. Then he said, "Ba Ke Er, I'm fine—as long as you're alive……as long as you're alive, that's good! I just need you to stay alive and well."

As he spoke, Zhang Fan broke into a smile full of happiness. At that moment, Ba Ke Er, having expended all his stored strength, weakly rubbed Zhang Fan a few times before collapsing again.

This frightened Zhang Fan; agitated, he coughed up blood again. Seeing the urgent situation, Wei Er decisively had Di Er fetch the fast-acting heart-saving pill made from the formula obtained from Zhang Fan.

Di Er brought over a whole bottle containing ten fast-acting heart-saving pills, approached Zhang Fan, immediately poured out one, and fed it to the just-fainted Zhang Fan. Meanwhile, Wei Er quickly cleaned Ba Ke Er's wound again and applied fresh medicine.

When Zhang Fan slowly came to, Ba Ke Er had not yet awakened from his coma.

It was now evening. Zhang Fan thought Ba Ke Er had been unconscious for so long without eating, and recalled from Mo De on the road that Ba Ke Er had missed lunch because he was fighting the dragon beasts, making him feel even more heartbroken.

He climbed up, put on his shoes, walked to Ba Ke Er's bedside, gently stroked the beast's fluffy golden fur a few times, lowered his head, kissed Ba Ke Er's eyes, softly told the long-unconscious Ba Ke Er where he was going, then turned toward his own home.

Back home, Zhang Fan finally noticed the two large and one small—three Exquisite Dragon Beasts—placed in his yard. Seeing them, his mind kept replaying the scene of Ba Ke Er being gravely injured by them, making the beasts especially grating to him.

He simply went forward, dragged the small one—the only beast he could move—into the kitchen.

Looking at the beast before him, Zhang Fan, angry, slaughtered it with a knife, chopped it into minced meat, added seasoning, made meatballs and steamed them, then boiled a large pot of rice porridge.

After casually eating something at home, Zhang Fan picked up a basket full of food, left the house, and headed toward the Tribe Chief's residence.

When Zhang Fan arrived, he happened to see Ba Ke Er awake again, overjoyed, hurriedly brought out the food, and spoon-fed it mouthful by mouthful to Ba Ke Er, who lay in the sickbed still unable to take human form.

Ba Ke Er, seeing Zhang Fan about to feed him, hoarsely told Zhang Fan to eat first; Zhang Fan simply replied that he had already eaten and continued feeding. Ba Ke Er didn't refuse, eagerly opening his mouth—after all, he hadn't eaten in nearly a full day!

Because Ba Ke Er now has to eat with Zhang Fan every day, they've been having three small meals a day, each only three-tenths full; over time, this is unlike before when they'd eat enough for several days at once and then fast for days. So Ba Ke Er is actually starving, his belly pressed to his spine! As for why he woke from his coma, it's largely from hunger.

Under Zhang Fan's feeding, Ba Ke Er ate every bite cleanly, yet the two remained wordlessly in sync—silence speaking louder than words.

When Ba Ke Er reached six-tenths full, Zhang Fan's arm ached from prolonged feeding; Ba Ke Er noticed Zhang Fan lowering his utensils and beginning to rub his arm, and understood.

Ba Ke Er strained to lift his foreleg, slowly placed it on Zhang Fan's arm, and began gently massaging it. Seeing Ba Ke Er in such condition yet still remembering to massage his arm, Zhang Fan felt warm inside and gave him a faint smile.

Ba Ke Er also responded with a goofy beastly grin; Zhang Fan couldn't help but burst out laughing! For a moment, the long-standing gentle warmth was broken, and the atmosphere turned cheerful—even though one was severely injured and the other had just been driven to cough up blood.

That night, Zhang Fan didn't return home but stayed directly in the Tribe Chief's house, in the ward for patients—fortunately, only he and Ba Ke Er and his wife were there. Of course, if other patients came for treatment, they would automatically go to other rooms.

After all, Zhang Fan is also a patient! Moreover, he had coughed up blood due to the false rumor spread by the tribesmen. Upon learning this, the Tribe Chief flew into a rage, ordered an investigation, and imposed heavy penalties on those found spreading the rumor.

For a while, after witnessing the Tribe Chief's fury, the whole Tribe silently avoided mentioning the matter. But Zhang Fan and Ba Ke Er, unaware at the time, didn't know that someone had already quelled the rumor for them.

At that moment, they were embracing in the ward, sleeping sweetly! It seemed nothing in this world could separate them.