Chapter 57

Although his fever had broken, Ji Xun was still not allowed to be discharged that day because he had a battery of medical examinations scheduled for the following day.

No reading allowed, nor any training.

Time suddenly stretched out endlessly.

The nurse came in to change Ji Xun's IV drip. Watching the transparent medicinal liquid drop by drop inside the infusion tube, Ji Xun suddenly remembered the days when he used to be a poor student.

Back then, studying was the last thing on his mind.

As soon as school was over, he would run straight to the Fu household.

He would meddle in whatever Hang-ge was doing, and even though he often just caused chaos and messed things up, Fu Shuhang had never once shown any annoyance toward him.

He had endless things to talk about with Fu Shuhang, his desire to share was simply overflowing.

More often than not, they did nothing at all; just being in the same space made him feel immensely happy. Just being able to look up and see him, or getting a reply whenever he called out...

Because he liked him so much, he couldn't bear the thought of parting.

Every night, he would fall asleep happily, looking forward to seeing him the next day.

He had been so foolish back then.

Unable to read the room, full of self-righteous delusions.

He thoroughly deserved to experience a "broken heart."

Ever since he discovered that Fu Shuhang had a completely unfamiliar, hidden side, he often found himself wondering if there was another layer of meaning behind Fu Shuhang's words.

Whether the way he looked at him carried a hint of covert sarcasm and contempt.

Perhaps when he was making a mess of things, Fu Shuhang would say it was fine, but deep down he was actually thinking that he was nothing more than a useless piece of trash.

Thinking about it this way.

Ji Xun suddenly realized that in the span of less than half a year, more things had happened than in all the dozen or so years since his childhood.

From having his competitive spirit ignited, to finding a way to cultivate a spiritual beast, to the birth of the Great King Egg, and then trying to figure out how to hatch the egg...

During this time, he had also suffered from sleepwalking and saved Fu Shuhang twice.

Even though this last time had been the result of someone's scheme...

Life had undeniably become fulfilling.

Studying diligently, accompanied by the Great King Egg, training hard with the goal of entering the military academy...

Everyone must be taking their exams with intense seriousness right now, right?

Ji Xun withdrew his gaze and looked out the window.

The maple trees were dyed in shades of fiery red.

A gust of autumn wind swept two leaves up into mid-air, the leading maple leaf fluttering higher and higher as if fleeing, while the one behind drifted aimlessly downward until it landed on the ground.

Ji Xun suddenly thought: What comes after working hard to get into the military academy?

Getting his wish to exact revenge on Fu Shuhang, and proving to all the adults that he could do it.

And then what?

For the very first time, Ji Xun felt a sense of profound bewilderment.

Ji Xun still remembered taking the first bath with the Great King Egg and feeling the ecstatic thrill of having found a new life—a life that was apart from Fu Shuhang, one that no longer revolved around him.

But looking back now.

If he went to the military academy.

His future life plan would still end up revolving around Fu Shuhang.

Zhao Zhanlei came to the hospital right after his exam finished.

Not knowing Ji Xun's exact room number, he started knocking on doors one by one, beginning with the first room on the eighteenth floor.

As luck would have it, Ji Xun's room was the very last one.

When he finally knocked on the last door and saw Ji Xun sitting up in bed, completely safe and sound, a parched Zhao Zhanlei let out a massive sigh of relief. He pulled an apple out of his bag, rubbed it against his clothes a couple of times, and took a bite. "I finally fucking found you."

"Why are you here?" Ji Xun asked, confused.

"My exams are over. You missed the exams because you were hospitalized, how could I not come visit?" Zhao Zhanlei said. "But I didn't know your room number, so I had to knock on doors all the way down the hall."

"Couldn't you have asked the doctor or nurse?"

"...I forgot."

"You could've also called my mom and dad on the comms to ask."

Zhao Zhanlei: "..."

"Just look at that brain of yours, you definitely tanked your exam today."

Zhao Zhanlei curled his lips and said, "I just took it casually, it doesn't matter."

Ji Xun couldn't help glancing behind him.

Zhao Zhanlei walked into the ward and casually shut the door behind him. It was clear he had come alone, with no one else in tow.

Ji Xun feigned indifference as he pulled back his gaze, curling his lips in secret.

That jerk Fu Shuhang really was heartless.

Zhao Zhanlei pulled a chair over to the bedside and sat down, chatting casually, "Anyway, since you missed the exam and Hang-ge missed it too, there's no point in me getting a good score all by myself."

"What? Fu Shuhang didn't take the exam either??" Ji Xun was extremely surprised!!

Ji Xun quickly recalled what had happened during his spiritual sleepwalking the night before. After feeding the medicine to Fu Shuhang, everything seemed fine, and when he woke up later, Fu Shuhang's complexion had improved significantly. Could it be that it hadn't worked?

Did something happen to Fu Shuhang as well?

"Yeah," Zhao Zhanlei said. "Instructor Lude even came looking for me this morning asking why Fu Shuhang wasn't there. I told him how would I know, I tried calling Hang-ge several times on the comms and he didn't answer. Then after the exam this morning, I heard you missed it too during lunch."

Zhao Zhanlei looked at Ji Xun. "The moment I heard that, I figured out what was going on. You two are so unfaithful, not treating me like a brother. You didn't even bring me along when you decided to skip exams."

"..." Hearing this, Ji Xun immediately retorted, "Zhao Stone, are you out of your mind? Is missing an exam some kind of good thing? This exam score is tied to getting into the military academy in the future!"

"Tied or not, I don't care. Nothing's more important than my brothers. If I'd known you were hospitalized, I wouldn't have taken the exam today either; I would've come to keep you company." Zhao Zhanlei said self-indulgently, rapidly finishing his apple. Too lazy to get up and throw away the core, he casually flicked his wrist, tossing it straight into the trash can a few meters away, and then asked, "Oh right, Xunxun, where's Hang-ge?"

Ji Xun said, "How would I know? I haven't seen him since I woke up!"

Nor had he heard his parents mention anything about Fu Shuhang.

He should be fine, right?

"Huh?" Zhao Zhanlei looked puzzled. "That shouldn't be right. Hang-ge was the one who told me you were in the hospital."

Ji Xun was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but quickly replied, "Uncle Fu must have told him then."

He knew I was in the hospital and still didn't come to see me?！！

What a heartless bastard!!

"That's possible too." Zhao Zhanlei looked at Ji Xun. "Where are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"I've been fine for ages." Ji Xun didn't mention his spiritual sleepwalking to Zhao Zhanlei, but instead asked in return, "I have something to ask you, though."

Zhao Zhanlei: "Go ahead."

"All of you sentinels underwent spiritual counseling yesterday, right?"

"Yeah. Today is the final exam, after all!"

"I heard Fu Shuhang had to be dragged there personally by your instructor. Is that true?"

"That's right," Zhao Zhanlei said. "Hang-ge didn't do it in the morning, but in the afternoon combat class, he took down sentinels from two entire classes. Instructor Lude saw that something was wrong with him and dragged him off for spiritual counseling. Why do you ask?"

Ji Xun didn't answer why, feeling rather perplexed instead.

If Fu Shuhang had intentionally skipped counseling in order to trigger his sleepwalking...

Then why, after already having undergone spiritual counseling, would he still end up like that??

It had been the same last time.

Fu Shuhang had just finished spiritual counseling, and even after his mother double-checked to make sure he was fine, an incident still occurred.

Was spiritual counseling completely useless for Fu Shuhang?

But how could that be...

Seeing that Ji Xun wasn't responding and had drifted off into his own thoughts, Zhao Zhanlei said a few more words and then waved his hand in front of him. "Xunxun? Little Ji Xun?"

Ji Xun snapped out of it and looked at Zhao Zhanlei.

"What are you thinking about so intensely?" Zhao Zhanlei asked.

Instead of answering, Ji Xun held out his hand to him. "Lend me your comms."

Zhao Zhanlei took it out and handed it to Ji Xun, asking casually, "Where's your own?"

"Didn't bring it, I was still dizzy when I left this morning."

Zhao Zhanlei: "..."

Zhao Zhanlei frowned. "What's going on? How do you just pass out like that when you're fine? Where exactly are you feeling sick?"

"I had a fever," Ji Xun said. "I got caught in the rain last night."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhanlei looked even more baffled. "Did it rain last night??"

Ji Xun: "You wouldn't understand."

He searched for Fu Shuhang's comms ID and dialed.

As Ji Xun made the call, Zhao Zhanlei noticed something continuously squirming under the blanket covering Ji Xun. Zhao Zhanlei reached out and lifted a corner of the quilt, only to see a wrinkled Great King Egg that looked like it had lost most of its moisture.

Zhao Zhanlei: "Holy crap, Xunxun, is your Great King Egg about to hatch? Why is it all shriveled up like this?"

Ji Xun figured it had something to do with his own spiritual power.

When his spiritual power was stable, the Great King Egg would try to hatch.

When it was unstable, the Great King Egg would also exhibit some negative symptoms.

However, after having Aunt Wang take a look at it, she said there wasn't any major problem; the little fellow inside was still very lively and possessed a tenacious life force.

Ji Xun tried calling Fu Shuhang on the comms.

The call didn't go through.

"Calling Hang-ge?" Zhao Zhanlei noticed and said, "Useless. He turned off his comm device right after sending me that message, you can't reach him."

"How could that happen?" Ji Xun wondered. "Didn't he say anything else to you?"

Zhao Zhanlei: "Not a single word."

Zhao Zhanlei: "I was taking an exam when he sent me the message. When I saw it afterward, I immediately tried calling both you and him, but his was turned off and nobody answered yours."

Ji Xun figured there was a very high possibility that Fu Shuhang had gotten beaten up.

Knowing Uncle Fu's explosive temper.

Fu Shuhang might very well be lying in bed on his last breath right now, and because he felt too embarrassed, he simply turned off his comm device.

Ji Xun handed the comm device back to Zhao Zhanlei and took back the Great King Egg, which Zhao Zhanlei had been poking and prodding. "Stop messing with it, it's very anxious today. Hurry up and peel an apple for me."

Zhao Zhanlei pulled out a pocket knife and said as he peeled the skin, "Little guides are truly precious. You even need to have your apples peeled."

"What's precious is the patient, not the guide."

"Fine." Zhao Zhanlei chuckled, handed over the peeled apple, and casually reached out to touch Ji Xun's forehead.

Ji Xun took a bite of the apple and complained resentfully, "You didn't wash your hands!"

"It's no big deal." Zhao Zhanlei felt Ji Xun's forehead temperature, then touched his own, and said, "It's normal. If it's normal, why were you talking nonsense earlier? It didn't rain last night, so where did you go to get caught in the rain and catch a fever? Don't tell me you got sick from playing in the water by yourself?"

Ji Xun said, "It's a long story, I'll explain it to you later."

Zhao Zhanlei thought to himself that you could explain it right now, it's not like I'm in a rush to leave, plus getting caught in the rain and running a fever isn't that complicated.

Still, seeing Ji Xun like this,

Zhao Zhanlei didn't press him further and asked, "Well, since you're all better, why are you still staying in the hospital?"

"I still have to run some tests. I can be discharged tomorrow after they're done."

"Alright." Zhao Zhanlei stood up. "Then get some rest, I'm heading back first. I still have exams tomorrow and the day after."

Ji Xun told him to do his best, and then added, "Stone, when you go back today, can you help me check if anyone is home at the Fu's place?"

He wanted to find out what on earth that jerk Fu Shuhang was up to...

"Sure, why not," Zhao Zhanlei said. "Though I actually thought Hang-ge skipped his exams to stay here and keep you company, I never expected he hadn't even shown up."

Ji Xun immediately snapped, "You're overthinking it! How could he possibly miss his exams to keep me company?! Not even if it rained blood from the sky!!"