Xia Lei unbound the bandages on his arms, legs and torso in a room on the second floor of the villa. The bleeding of his wounds had been stopped but his movements jarred some wounds which had not closed up and it was so painful that he gritted his teeth.

He thought about Dong Wu and Qin Qi. These were two powerful individuals and neither one of them would lose to him in a one-on-one fight. These two people also had vastly more experience than him. Xia Lei was also very aware that if he had not had his left eye’s ability to slow down movement speed, he would have no chance at all of winning against either of them.

‘I am still too inexperienced. I was foolish to think that I’d be unbeatable after learning Wing Chun. There are many experts like Master out there in the world and some of them even more powerful than Master too. I have to work harder on this next time,’ thought Xia Lei to himself. If he met Dong Wu and Qin Qi again, it was likely that he’d be fighting for his life. He would be in even more dire straits than he was in this night if he hadn’t improved by the time he met them again!

Xia Lei could see the wounds on his body after removing his bloodstained clothing. The flesh around those wounds looked to be rather worse for wear and was startling to see. Every wound represented a dangerous situation. If he’d been slower by just tenths of a second those wounds would not be just flesh wounds.

Xia Lei opened the first-aid kit next to his bed and was about to tend to his wounds when the room door was suddenly pushed open and Shentu Tian-Yin walked in with some clothing.

Xia Lei shyly pulled a cotton blanket over his body to cover himself.

Shentu Tian-Yin’s cheeks reddened slightly and she said a little awkwardly, “You can’t wear those clothes anymore so I got Ming-Mei to buy you new ones. Try them on and see if they fit. I’ll get her to buy them again if these don’t fit.”

“I’ll try them on later.” Xia Lei’s face was red too. How was he to try clothes on in this state?

Shentu Tian-Yin put the clothes down but did not leave. She stared at Xia Lei, her gaze odd. Xia Lei was well-built and well-proportioned and it was not obvious when he had clothes on but without clothing, his muscles all over could be seen and they could be compared to the perfect merman-like muscles of professional swim athletes. Muscles like these held a natural attraction for women.

Xia Lei avoided Shentu Tian-Yin’s gaze. He looked at the clothes she’d placed on the bed. There was a suit, shirt, socks and even underwear; preparations were meticulous.

One looked at clothes while the other looked at the person and both said nothing. The atmosphere in the room was instantly heavy with awkwardness.

However, the one looking at clothing couldn’t keep looking at clothing. Xia Lei laughed awkwardly. “Uh, I’ll try them on later.”

This was a hint to tell Shentu Tian-Yin to leave the room before he took care of his wounds and tried on the clothing she’d brought him.

Shentu Tian-Yin didn’t seem to understand his hint. She hesitated but still went ahead and said, “I’ll help you. It’s not easy for you to do it alone.”

“Huh?” Xia Lei quickly said, “No need, I’ll do it myself.”

Shentu Tian-Yin stubbornly insisted, “Sit down. I’ll help you.”

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“You really don’t have to...” Xia Lei was very embarrassed.

Shentu Tian-Yin yanked the blanket off Xia Lei’s waist. “What’s there to be embarrassed about? Didn’t I also lie like this in front of you? And you hit me too.”

Xia Lei was speechless.

Shentu Tian-Yin reached to push Xia Lei and used a doctor-like voice to say, “Sit down.”

Xia Lei smiled wryly and sat by the bed.

Shentu Tian-Yin unscrewed a bottle of iodine, pinched a cotton ball with tweezers, dipped it in iodine and used it to clean the blood from the wounds on Xia Lei’s arm. She was careful and super gentle. The pain that the iodine brought, however, was still great and Xia Lei drew a sharp breath.

“Does it hurt a lot?” asked Shentu Tian-Yin in concern.

Xia Lei clenched his teeth and bore the pain. “It’s all right. I can take it.”

“It’s all my fault. This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t go to Distinguished Gathering.” Shentu Tian-Yin felt guilty.

Xia Lei smiled. “You made the right decision. You spurred your Second Uncle’s family into action and made Gu Ke-Wu give up. Nothing’s wrong with that. We just underestimated the Gu clan’s power.”

“You don’t blame me?” Shentu Tian-Yin’s voice was small.

“Why would I? Don’t overthink it. I got hurt but we’ve reached our goal. Gu Ke-Wu won’t bother you again and your Second Uncle’s family may do what you expect them to do once they get the news. Isn’t that good?” said Xia Lei.

“Why are you so good to me?”

“I...” Xia Lei was about to speak but words failed him when he opened his mouth. That’s right - why was he so good to her?

Shentu Tian-Yin did not pursue the matter and finished tending to the wounds on his arm. She bent over again to take care of the wounds on Xia Lei’s thigh.

The ice queen Shentu Tian-Yin was embarrassed and nervous. Her hand grew unsteady and she poked at the wound which she should have dabbed lightly.

“Argh!” Xia Lei couldn’t help a cry of pain and his body jerked away in response. The movement, however, hit Shentu Tian-Yin and her tweezer-holding hand jabbed at his special place. There was a cotton ball which absorbed some of the impact but...

Xia Lei opened his mouth but no sound came out. New blood-stains appeared on his briefs.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry...” Shentu Tian-Yin was so embarrassed she could die; not a single spot on her face wasn’t red. She made to wipe at the area but retracted her hand soon after.

She could wipe other areas but can that place be wiped?

Liang Si-Yao probably could, but she was not here.

Xia Lei finally caught his breath and said in a strained voice, “I, I’ll do it.”

Shentu Tian-Yin was also too embarrassed to continue helping Xia Lei to tend to his wounds and she nervously handed the tweezers to Xia Lei before standing and making her way to the exit. “I’m going back to my room. It’s next to yours. Y, you can call me if you need anything.”

Shentu Tian-Yin closed the door behind herself and only then did Xia Lei pull at the elastic of his underwear to check the injured area. He smiled wryly and shook his head. “You have a tough life, my brother...”

He felt like a hunting dog full of spirit being stabbed violently by someone with a pitchfork while resting in his cage. Was there anything more unlucky than this?

Xia Lei was exhausted when he was done tending to his wounds. He was about to go to bed when he received a call from Liang Si-Yao.

“Whatcha doing, Lei Lei?” Liang Si-Yao’s voice was charmingly sweet.

Xia Lei relaxed immediately when he heard her voice. “Lying on the bed.”

“By yourself?”

“Of course. What, is there supposed to be two?” Xia Lei felt like spanking her.

“So did you miss me?”

“I did. Of course I did, you enchanting little imp,” said Xia Lei with a smile. The image of Liang Si-Yao’s beautiful legs surfaced in his head, and her intoxicating buttocks, and... It felt good to be in love. He never had such exquisite feelings when he was single.

“So which part of me did you miss?”

Her voice was teasing and Xia Lei couldn’t hold back anymore. “Everything.”

“You naughty man, you. I miss you too but I just wanted to hear your voice so I called.”

Xia Lei was speechless.

“You haven’t said those words to me yet. I want to hear them.”

Xia Lei paused. “What words?”

“Those words, silly. Just three words.”

Xia Lei thought for a bit. “Drink more water?”

“Not this, dummy!”

“Uh... Good night, you?”

“Are you doing this on purpose?”

“Oh, I know, it’s... Have you eaten?”

“I’m going to ignore you!”

“Haha...” Xia Lei knew which words she wanted and he hemmed and hawed for a bit before he finally got over his goosebumps and said in a small voice, “I love you.”

“Louder, I’m begging you.” Liang Si-Yao was excited and very happy. Her voice trembled.

“I love you!” Xia Lei suddenly found that these words were not that difficult to say. His voice was much louder and the words felt more natural to him.

“I love you too!” Liang Si-Yao started giggling.

Xia Lei suddenly remembered Fu Chuan-Fu’s reminder and said, “Si-Yao, you have to be careful now, no matter what you do. Don’t go out unless you really have to. Tell Master to do the same.”

“What happened?” Liang Si-Yao had great intuition. She was in bliss earlier but quickly became anxious.

Xia Lei was silent for a bit before he said, “The Shentu clan is at war with the Gu clan. I’ve also become a target as the ‘boyfriend’ of Shentu Tian-Yin. I’m afraid you and Master will become targets too. Anyway, I want you and Master to be careful.”

“You’re worried about me?” Liang Si-Yao was not anxious anymore after she knew what was going on and her voice took on a teasing tone.

“You’re my wifey, so who else should I be worried about?”

“Wifey? I... I’m not marrying you.”

“Then I’ll marry someone else.”

“You dare?!”

“Hahaha...” Xia Lei’s laugh pulled at his wounds and he let out a cry of pain.

“What’s wrong?” asked Liang Si-Yao in concern.

Xia Lei was going to tell her about his injuries but didn’t want her to worry so he just said, “It’s nothing. My leg cramped up.”

“Oh, poor thing. Shall I massage it for you?” said Liang Si-Yao gently.

“Yeah, massage me.”

“Okay, close your eyes. Feel my hand. I’m gently massaging your thigh. I’m slowly moving up, gentle circles, gentle circles.”

“Hold on, what are you massaging?”

“My special place. Don’t interrupt. Close your eyes.”

Xia Lei was speechless.

City women sure knew how to play!