He Sanlang fell back into a dazed state for a moment. He thought he was dreaming!

The wound on his leg was actually very serious, so even he thought that it was the end of the line for him. If not for his strong will to live, those attackers would really have achieved their goal and offed him once and for all.

At the critical moment, thoughts of what would happen to Chu Lian when he was gone had flashed into his mind. She would most likely be kidnapped by Xiao Bojian, or even locked up into a dungeon somewhere. Those thoughts had pushed him to fight to keep his consciousness and to live.

He opened his eyes again. This time, he didn’t open them slowly. Instead, he flicked them open impatiently. When light filtered into his eyes and his vision cleared, revealing Chu Lian’s lovely sleeping visage once again, He Changdi’s dull eyes immediately lit up with the spark of life.

So it wasn’t a dream. It was real! He had survived! And Chu Lian was right by his side...

Those wide, limpid eyes of hers were shut tightly now. Her thick eyelashes were still, casting a shadow on her cheeks. Her breathing was slow and shallow and the puffs of air she exhaled were warming up his face, even as her cheeks were flushed red.

Even up close, her skin remained as fair and smooth as it looked from afar. It looked as flawless as a boiled egg, giving him the urge to reach out and pinch her cheeks, just to see if they were as soft and smooth as they looked.

Especially now when Chu Lian was in the middle of deep slumber and her face was relaxed into an innocent and harmless expression. It made him feel even more like teasing her.

While He Sanlang’s mind was still processing these thoughts, his palm had already slunk out of the blankets and was reaching towards Chu Lian’s tender cheeks.

The calloused tips of his fingers gently touched Chu Lian’s fair face. His pupils dilated and he couldn’t help sliding his fingers down her raised nose bridge and tapping her slightly parted pink lips.

That soft and smooth sensation on his fingertips sent a bolt of lightning through his body, transmitting a numb feeling from his arm down into his heart, making his heart beat faster.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

He Changdi shifted his body and bore with the pain of the injury on his thigh so he could see the sleeping Chu Lian better.

Time seemed to have stopped in this moment. He Changdi couldn’t keep his hands off of Chu Lian’s sleeping face. He just couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to touch her face here and there. The millenia-old ice on his face seemed to have thawed into a gentle and warm expression. The strangest thing of all was that the corner of his lips had lifted into a smile without his knowing.

He looked exactly like a man enamoured with his lover, who would do anything for her sake. It was completely unlike what he had shown Chu Lian so far.

Luckily Chu Lian was asleep right now. Otherwise, she would probably get the shock of her life from such a ‘terrifying’ sight.

Although He Sanlang constantly acted cold and indifferent, he was actually like a blank piece of paper when it came to romantic relationships. He hadn’t even had the chance to fall in love in his past life before he had been so cruelly betrayed.

The things that the original ‘Chu Lian’ had done to him had become a shadow haunting his heart.

It really hadn’t been easy for him to set his grudge aside and fall in love with the current Chu Lian.

It didn’t take long for He Changdi to become dissatisfied with some simple touching. Although his leg was injured, his arms were perfectly fine. The chaise she was lying on had been placed right next to his bed and was at the same level. He pushed himself up to a sitting position and managed to move Chu Lian over to his bed with a little strength.

He had been worried that she would wake from his actions, but he soon found out that there wasn’t the slightest bit of resistance from her, even when he had her entire person ensconced in his arms.

He Sanlang relaxed and tightened his embrace around her. He placed a gentle kiss on her soft lips before shutting his eyes in satisfaction.

Although he wanted to do something a little more intimate to her, something that only couples would do, he had just suffered grievous injury after all, so he didn’t have that much energy.

With his chin resting on the top of her head, He Sanlang slipped back into dreamland with her familiar scent all around him.

While He Sanlang was now perfectly content, it was getting uncomfortable for Chu Lian in his tight embrace.

Her nerves had been strung tight for the whole day. Later on, she had acted as the doctor’s assistant and then stayed up by He Sanlang’s side for most of the night.

It had always been easy for her to fall asleep in the first place. Since she was so tired, her slumber was even deeper this time. She had been feeling pretty comfortable at first, but she soon felt her body heating up while her nose seemed to be squashed by something. It was all stuffy and hard for her to breathe.

Chu Lian finally found it difficult to continue sleeping and opened her eyes, only to be met with the sight of a wall of flesh. She was still a little stunned at first, but she quickly realised what was going on.

Her first reaction was to roll her eyes before thinking of pushing away the lunatic He Sanlang. However, when she noticed the various wounds on his chest exposed by his slightly open shirt, she hesitated. The reminder that there was a serious injury on his right thigh came to her mind. In the end, she just softly sighed and let him do as he liked.

She wanted to move out of his embrace a little at first, but his arms were wrapped around her too tightly and she couldn’t budge him. After trying for some time, she managed to create at least a hand’s width of space between them. Finally, Chu Lian reached an impasse so she gave up on it. She yawned sleepily and shut her eyes to continue her slumber.

He Sanlang was her husband anyway. Even if the servants chanced upon them like this, no one would actually be as stupid as to gossip about it outside.

It was only after he heard Chu Lian’s breathing devolve into long and slow breaths that He Sanlang finally dared to open his eyes and glance at the woman in his arms. When he saw that she was still obediently curled up and sleeping in his embrace, his mind relaxed while a warm feeling spread through his heart.