Chapter 25: Li Qingxuan Awakens

A wisp of barely noticeable warm breath finally slipped out from between her lips, lightly brushing over her sweat‑slick face from tension—no longer the hopeless icy stillness of last night!

"Ugh…" a muffled, hoarse groan was squeezed from deep in his throat.

This sound was so weak it was almost an illusion, yet it struck Li Feifei's taut nerves like a thunderclap.

"Qingxuan!" Li Feifei's voice suddenly rose, filled with uncontainable joy and a sob, her fingers instinctively tightening as she wrapped her hands around his still‑cold hand that seemed to have a hint of life, "Did you hear me? It's me! I'm Feifei!"

As if responding to her call, Li Qingxuan's tightly furrowed brow relaxed a fraction, his clenched eyelids trembling as though lifting against a thousand‑ton weight.

A faint, hazy, chaotic gleam flickered indistinctly between his lashes.

His head twitched ever so slightly on the pillow, as if trying to shake off a heavy burden; the movement was as weak as a leaf drifting in the wind, yet it filled Li Feifei's eyes with tears instantly.

She bit her lower lip hard to keep from crying out, and with her other hand she gently stroked his cheek, as if soothing a dream so fragile it could shatter.

Just then——

"Bang!"

A deep, massive impact slammed into the closed iron gate! The whole heavy door shuddered violently, and dust rained down from the frame.

It was the Black Goat!

That impact carried an indescribable fury and extreme anxiety, followed by a series of ever more urgent, high‑pitched wails that pierced the door, sweeping through the room like a raging storm.

The sound was no longer the previous low, suppressed tone; it was now filled with excited whinnying and urgency, as if sensing his master's spirit fluctuation, yet unable to approach, it could only vent the surging joy and agitation within its massive body in the most primal way.

A huge black shadow thrashed wildly beneath the window, its heavy hooves scraping the ground impatiently, while its mane rasped against the door with a harsh rustle.

The entire fortress seemed to tremble slightly amid the beast's violent unease.

Li Feifei shuddered all over at the sudden roar, her heart nearly leaping out of her throat.

Instinctively she stepped in front of Li Qingxuan, terrified as she peered through the window at the Black Goat.

"Wooo——!"

Another earth‑shaking roar, mixed with pain and fury, erupted; its piercing power made Li Feifei's eardrums ring and even the bed trembled slightly.

The Black Goat seemed to have reached the edge of losing control, the torment of being unable to approach driving it into full‑blown rage.

This violent bellowing and battering also seemed to become the final strong stimulus for Li Qingxuan's consciousness.

In that heart‑pounding roar, Li Qingxuan's eyelids twitched violently, and he finally managed to pry open a slit.

The pupils revealed in that slit were unfocused and blurred, yet they clearly made out the vague outline of the beam overhead… and Li Feifei's face, drenched in tears and etched with ecstatic terror.

His clouded gaze moved extremely slowly, straining to catch the outlines of light around him, and at last it stubbornly settled on Li Feifei's face.

His lips twitched again, as if trying to speak, but all that came out was a more broken sound, almost drowned by the Black Goat's violent roar outside: "Feifei!"

After commanding the Black Goat to be quiet in his mind, its roaring and door‑banging ceased abruptly.

As if an invisible giant hand had choked his throat, the deafening howl and violent battering vanished instantly, leaving only a muffled, suppressed sob from deep in his throat, as if voicing his grievance.

The huge shadow's swaying stopped, the rustle of mane against the door faded, and the heavy hooves, uneasy, scraped the ground twice before finally coming to rest.

The suffocating tremor inside the fortress faded, leaving only Li Feifei's own heavy, ragged breathing and Li Qingxuan's faint breath.

Li Feifei froze in place, forgetting to lower her arm shielding Li Qingxuan, she gazed at the shadow outside that had suddenly gone still, then snapped her head back to look at the bed.

Li Qingxuan's eyes opened a little wider, still unfocused and heavy with fatigue and weakness, yet deep in his pupils a faint light struggled to gather, no longer pure chaos but gradually coalescing.

His gaze drifted slowly, finally settling on her face again; his lips parted slightly, as if he wanted to say more, but only a more broken, thread‑thin whisper escaped.

"Th… thank you…" he forced out a few muffled syllables from his throat, each word seeming to exhaust the tiny bit of strength he had just mustered; after speaking, the eyelids he had barely kept open sank heavily again.

"Qingxuan!" Li Feifei's heart clenched, then was seized by a tangle of wild joy and deeper fear.

She lunged back to the bedside, her icy fingers gripping his equally cold hand, as if trying to prevent him from slipping back into sleep.

"Don't sleep! Look at me! You did it!" she cried incoherently, tears bursting forth like a broken dam and dripping onto his pallid cheeks.

The sensation at her fingertips remained icy, but the faint pulse felt a little stronger than before.

She dared not be sure, fearing it was merely her imagination.

She hurriedly lowered herself, pressing her ear to his chest, holding her breath and listening intently.

"Thud… thud…"

That heartbeat was still weak, but not as feeble as last night; it beat with growing strength, in a slow yet steady rhythm—thump, then thump.

The rise and fall of his chest also seemed a bit more pronounced, even though each breath brought pain from the bruised area.

"Med… medicine…" Li Feifei suddenly recalled that bottle of azure liquid; the little bit just now had worked! It must have!

She trembled as she picked up again the Spirit Recovery Elixir placed beside the bed.

The azure liquid shimmered with an odd luster in the sunlight, its cool aroma spreading once more, bringing a hint of solace to her agitated mind.

This time, though her hand still shook as she pulled the stopper, it moved much more smoothly.

She carefully brought the bottle's mouth to Li Qingxuan's lips, her other hand gently supporting his head, and slowly poured the elixir into his mouth.

The cool azure liquid trickled in, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly a few times, and Li Feifei's heart rose to her throat as she stared unblinkingly at his reaction.

After a few seconds, Li Qingxuan's face gradually relaxed, the tight furrow of his brows smoothed by the cool medicine's effect.

His eyeballs rolled again beneath his lids, the heavy eyelids lifting a slit; this time the point of light gathered in his eyes grew much clearer, still weary but no longer illusory, striving to focus on her face.

(PS: It's free—just a labor‑of‑love tip; it gives the author more drive, please!)