Cheng Ziang stepped forward, his sharp nose detecting the faint scent of blood in the air. He glanced around and noticed a dried-up pool of blood not far away on the ground.
Wordlessly, he pulled Yaning forward, his gaze unwaveringly fixed on Luo’er. Seeing Cheng Ziang’s questioning look, Luo’er unexpectedly dropped his gaze, not daring to look straight at him.
"Are you hiding something from us?" Cheng Ziang questioned Luo’er calmly.
"What?" Luo’er replied weakly, his head still lowered.
"Stop playing dumb. Why were you spitting up blood?" Cheng Ziang pressed on.
"That was, Yaning grazed her knee," After hesitating briefly, Luo’er explained unconvincingly.
"Do you think I’m a fool?" Cheng Ziang scoffed disdainfully, then stated icily, "Yaning only scratched her knee. How could she have bled so much that it splattered on your face?"
Confronted by Cheng Ziang’s questioning, Luo’er had no retort, he could only lower his head and remain silent.
"You won’t talk? Are you hiding this even from me?" Cheng Ziang asked coldly.
"I, I..." After much hesitation, Luo’er decided to confess. After all, he was aware of how persistent Cheng Ziang could be. He would broach any subject relentlessly until he understood it thoroughly. A lie might stick once, but not forever.
"I was shot in the chest when I was saving Yila and her daughter on the airboat." Luo’er confessed quietly.
"What did you say?" Upon hearing that Luo’er had been shot, Cheng Ziang’s face turned pale. He hurriedly approached, asking with concern, "Let me see the wound!"
"The wound has, healed." Luo’er pushed him away, speaking softly.
"Healed..." Cheng Ziang was taken aback for a moment. He carefully recalled the sequence of events and soon made sense of it all. Staring at Luo’er, he asked coldly, "Tell me, did you use magic to heal your wound?"
"Uh..." Luo’er nodded slightly, his face becoming even paler.
Cheng Ziang abruptly rose to his feet, clearly infuriated. He paced around to calm himself. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, so he vented his frustration by kicking a nearby tree. This resulted in a shower of falling leaves.
"Did your magic theory lessons go in one ear and out the other? The instructor specifically said that an injured mage should never use magic. Doing so could cause the magical energy pathways to be damaged. You knew you were shot, and you still used magic to heal your wound. What, were you tired of living?" Cheng Ziang found himself swearing in his exasperation.
Yaning, who was standing off to the side, was startled by his outburst. Her face crumpled, and she began to shed tears. Seeing her crying, Cheng Ziang sighed, squatted down, and hugged her. He gently caressed her little head to comfort her.
"If I hadn’t used magic, I would have died then." Luo’er counterargued weakly.
"Fine, you win," Cheng Ziang glared at him and shaking his head, he said, "You shouldn’t have tried to save that mother and daughter in the first place. It was utterly superfluous."
Confronted with Cheng Ziang’s reproach, Luo’er didn’t argue back, he simply kept his head low, enduring the criticism.
"Did you remove the bullet?" In the end, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but ask out of concern.
"Not yet. I was only focused on stemming the bleeding," Luo’er admitted softly.
Cheng Ziang scratched his head and stood up. He said, "I’ll go find Moumou to inform the instructor. He’ll transport you to Earth for treatment. We’ll wait until you’re fully recovered!"
"Don’t go!" As Cheng Ziang turned to leave, Luo’er could not bear it and spoke up.
"Why?" Cheng Ziang turned back around to ask upon hearing Luo’er’s call.
"We’re on the verge of a major conflict right now, headquarters needs intelligence urgently. If I return to Earth, headquarters would likely fill our team with a replacement. I don’t know when I could return to the Otherworld then." Luo’er stated weakly.
"You’re on the brink of death, yet you’re still worrying about continuing your search for your mother. I really don’t understand what’s going through your head. Do you want your mother to see you as nothing more than a corpse?" An incredulous Cheng Ziang asked.
"I’ve worked hard towards this goal for over a decade. I don’t want my efforts to be in vain," Luo’er retorted stubbornly, "And I’m not that fragile!"
"You’re insane, completely insane!" shaking his head, Cheng Ziang fell silent.
After a moment of silence, he finally gave in and said, "We won’t report this to headquarters, but I’ll find someone to take a look at your wound."
"Wait a minute!" Luo’er stopped him again.
"What else do you want? You even want to hide this from everyone else?" An irked Cheng Ziang turned back to him and asked.
"It’s best if it’s kept under wraps," After a pause, Luo’er continued to explain, "I don’t want everyone knowing this, especially Moumou. If she were to find out that I was injured for saving Yila and her daughter, she would definitely feel guilty. I don’t want to..."
"I knew it," Before Luo’er even finished, Cheng Ziang sneered and interrupted, "Always Moumou!"
"Please." Luo’er implored.
"Luo’er, I want to ask you something," Cheng Ziang looked at him and asked despite his trembling lips, "Do you like Moumou?"
"I..." Upon hearing these words, Luo’er couldn’t help but lower his head.
"Look at me and tell the truth!" Cheng Ziang raised his voice.
"I don’t know." Luo’er still lowered his head, choosing to evade.
"Now you’re the captain, Moumou is your team member. You care about her so much, have you ever cared about us?" Cheng Ziang continued to ask.
"If you don’t like Moumou, then why do you care so much about her as a team member? You’re so concerned about her, what about us, what are we to you? Since you don’t like her, why do you treat her differently?"
"I..." Luo’er started to speak but then stopped speaking, in the end he just closed his mouth and lowered his head in silence.
After venting, Cheng Ziang sighed, lowered his head and closed his eyes, scratching his hair. It was a while before he spoke again. "As long as Moumou doesn’t find out about this, it’s all good, right?"
"And Little Ke, he’s too loose-lipped, I’m afraid he would accidentally reveal it." Luo’er said.
"Fine, we’ll keep it from Moumou and that idiot," Cheng Ziang sighed and looked at him. "Listen carefully, I promise not to let them both find out, but I don’t plan on covering for you either!"
Having said that, he took Yaning’s hand and pushed her to Luo’er’s side, saying to her, "Stay with your father, I’ll go and get others!"
"Oh!" Yaning lifted her head, her innocent big eyes looking at him.
"And, no more crying!" Cheng Ziang said angrily.
"Wuu..." Yaning wrinkled her small face, almost crying again from fright.
Leaving the two, Cheng Ziang arrived at a grassy field with a troubled heart. Everyone else was still immersed in the peaceful atmosphere, Hu Daoke lay on the deck chair snoring away. Seeing his dead-to-the-world sleeping pose somehow comforted Cheng Ziang.
Baiyue kept kneeling on the ground, reading her diary as she did previously. Tangmo was leaning against her thigh with his eyes half-closed, enjoying the warm sunlight.
Cheng Ziang approached them and whistled softly. Baiyue’s rabbit-like ears moved alertly and she immediately turned her head around. Seeing she noticed him, Cheng Ziang motioned for her to come over.
Baiyue was startled for a moment, then she closed her diary, and said something quietly to Tangmo’s ear. After Tangmo got up, she stood up and ran towards Cheng Ziang.
"Follow me, I need your help. And don’t let Moumou follow." Cheng Ziang whispered in her ear.
Hearing his words, Baiyue lifted her head to look at him, then turned to look at Tangmo, surprise filled her eyes. Cheng Ziang paid no attention to her reaction, waved at Tangmo and said, "We’re going hunting, you can play by yourself!"
"Oh." On hearing his words, Tangmo answered, got up and walked towards the empty deck-chair next to Hu Daoke. She had no interest in hunting at all. Hu Daoke did enjoy such exercises, but he was already asleep.
"What happened?" Baiyue followed him behind and couldn’t help whispering.
"It’s about Luo’er. He doesn’t want Moumou to know," Cheng Ziang replied without turning his head.
The two followed the grassland to the forest, Luo’er was still leaning against a tree, seeming a bit better. Yaning was sitting on his lap, carelessly trying to grab his ear, but he stopped her.
Seeing the two coming, Luo’er sighed softly. He knew that Cheng Ziang would definitely call Baiyue.
"What happened to Luo’er?" Seeing that Luo’er seemed unharmed, Baiyue looked at Cheng Ziang again and asked.
"Take a look over there!" Instead of explaining, Cheng Ziang pointed to the bloodstains not far away on the ground.
"This!" Baiyue was immediately worried when she saw the blood. She turned her gaze, examining Luo’er thoroughly, worried that he was injured.
Without saying more, Cheng Ziang walked over, grabbed Yaning by her collar and lifted her up. Yaning, being hoisted on his arm, felt no discomfort. In fact, she was excited and grabbed his arm.
"Luo’er’s chest has been shot, go and see!" Cheng Ziang’s statement felt like a thunderbolt out of the blue for Baiyue. She froze on the spot, staring at Cheng Ziang in shock.
"I’m already fine..." Luo’er struggled to get up from the ground, but was immediately stopped by a cold glance from Cheng Ziang.
"Stay put, don’t move!" Cheng Ziang said coldly. He then turned to Baiyue and said, "Hurry and check it out!"
Baiyue isn’t a doctor, but as the most exceptional person in the team, her emergency wound treatment skills were much better than the others’.
She squatted in front of Luo’er, who still avoided her gaze by keeping his head down. After a moment’s hesitation, Baiyue gently unbuttoned Luo’er’s shirt. Soon, the horrific gunshot wound on his chest was exposed to everyone’s gaze. When she saw the gruesome wound, Baiyue couldn’t help covering her mouth, unable to believe her eyes.
"Wha... What happened?" Baiyue stared at him, unable to stop herself from questioning aloud.
In response to Baiyue’s question, Luo’er remained silent. He didn’t want to tell her the truth, fearing that it could strain the close relationship between the two girls.