Wei Zhao examined Liu Bojia's injuries once more. They were just as before — no worse, no better. Then again, in a case like his, to have been kept alive on a ventilator this long was already no small feat.

Wei Zhao wasted no words. He said to Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian, "Find someone to take off his hospital gown. I'm going to apply the needles."

"I'll do it." Chen Yutian did not decline. He volunteered and stepped over to unfasten Liu Bojia's hospital gown. Qiu Lingshan, being a girl, could hardly lend a hand, and merely watched from a distance.

Liu Bojia's gown had been loose to begin with, so Chen Yutian slipped it off with ease.

Wei Zhao nodded, gestured for Chen Yutian to step back, then took out a box of silver needles. He had bought them the night before; the previous box had been used up on Li Dilei. These things did not come cheap — one of these days he would have to get that box back from Li Cihua.

The silver needles went in swiftly. Wei Zhao had no intention of curing Liu Bojia completely; he chose instead to use his own energy to repair the man's fatal wounds. So, to avoid a repeat of what had happened with Feng Xiaoxiao — where every drop of energy in his body had been drained dry — he first sealed several of Liu Bojia's meridians with the needles. That way he could choose precisely which parts of Liu Bojia's body to channel energy into.

As for the rest of his injuries — wasn't there still a hospital? He could lie in his ward and recover slowly on his own.

Wei Zhao channeled energy into Liu Bojia's body and mended several fatal wounds, which drew a sigh of relief from him. Liu Bojia needed far less energy than Feng Xiaoxiao had; it was much the same as the young lady's case back then. In that case, even if he repaired every one of Liu Bojia's injuries, it would not cost him too much energy.

But Wei Zhao did not do that. For one thing, it would be far too shocking to the world; for another, he owed Liu Bojia nothing — healing him to this point was already generous! As the old man back home liked to say, a thief never goes home empty-handed, and no one makes a move without reward. You can't just work for free, can you?

"There. He should wake up this afternoon." Wei Zhao withdrew the silver needles from Liu Bojia's body. The whole process had taken less than ten minutes.

"That simple?" Qiu Lingshan had watched Wei Zhao insert a few needles, then knead a few times at Liu Bojia's body — and that was the cure? If so, then over something so trivial he had hemmed and hawed and put her off — what was that supposed to mean? To him it was no more than lifting a finger, yet he had tricked her into playing the little fool more than once?

Wei Zhao rolled his eyes. "You think it's simple? Then you do it. How much true qi did I lose, channeling it into his body? If I'd channeled that into you, you might well have leveled up."

Wei Zhao had only meant to needle Qiu Lingshan for not using her head, but after hearing him, her thoughts tangled into knots. Wei Zhao had actually used true qi to heal Liu Bojia? Wasn't that far too extravagant? Could Wei Zhao's true qi be used by others? She had only ever heard that the true qi one cultivated in her own family could be used by others — she had never heard that another family's true qi had any such power.

Besides, even in her own family, lending one's true qi to another came with a condition: the other party had to be one's future husband! Just look at Grandpa — as a young man he had only been early-phase Huang level. Had it not been for Grandma's efforts, how could he ever have reached the peak of late-phase Huang level?

And yet Wei Zhao had spent his true qi on a man he had never met, an ordinary man at that. Qiu Lingshan found it hard to fathom. At the same time her heart ached for it — how much better if that true qi had gone to her? Who knew, she might even have leveled up!

"The little fool admits she was wrong, all right...?" Qiu Lingshan said, blushing, and caught Wei Zhao's hand. "Good man, next time why don't you channel some true qi into me and see?"

"We'll see, when there's time," Wei Zhao said perfunctorily. "If there's nothing else, I'll be going. Tang Yun is waiting for me to go look at houses with her family."

Qiu Lingshan caught the perfunctory tone, yet she was not discouraged. If Wei Zhao had agreed just like that to channel true qi into her, she would have found it hard to believe.

Tang Yun? That name made Chen Yutian start. It sounded like a girl's name. He had no idea what she was to Wei Zhao. It seemed Wei Zhao did rather well for himself with women — Qiu Lingshan had no shortage of rivals!

Wei Zhao left the ward, leaving only Qiu Lingshan and Chen Yutian behind. Qiu Lingshan's face returned to its former coldness, as though the person who had just been acting coquettish had not been her at all — which made Chen Yutian marvel: could a person change so quickly?

"Seems you've got quite a few rivals?" Chen Yutian had laid this attachment to rest once and for all. The moment he saw Wei Zhao, he understood the gulf between himself and the man, and so he simply gave up his illusions. Now that his heart had settled, he could even joke with Qiu Lingshan.

"So what if I do?" Qiu Lingshan was rather surprised by his manner. In that instant it seemed his feelings toward her had grown much calmer; that being so, it would be nice for the two of them to get along as good friends — at least without the irritation she had felt before. "You're finally giving up?"

"Yeah. And what good would it do not to? I'm no match for him." Chen Yutian shrugged in self-mockery. "I didn't expect it to be him. If it's him, I gave up long ago — I wouldn't even have come along today to make a fool of myself."

"You knew Wei Zhao before?" Qiu Lingshan had caught a certain flavor in his words.

"That I can't say." Chen Yutian shook his head.

Qiu Lingshan smiled. "The way you are now makes me much more comfortable. Before you were so meek and yielding — not a shred of manly spirit."

"Yes, that's my weakness too... under your oppressive weight since childhood, I never could summon the will to resist." Chen Yutian nodded. "So it was destined that I'd never be your true destined one — a follower at best."

"There are plenty of good girls out there. With the Chen family's standing and your own strength, are you afraid you won't find a woman?" Qiu Lingshan patted his shoulder. "I think it's better to place you in the position of a brother — much easier to get along that way."

"Fine. Then from now on we're good brothers..." Though Chen Yutian had already given up, there was still something bitter in his tone as he said it.

"How is Grandpa Chen's health?" Qiu Lingshan had not been to see Old Master Chen in a long while. Ever since she learned that Old Master Chen intended to come to her family with a marriage proposal, the ties between the two families had thinned considerably.

"Not too good..." Chen Yutian shook his head. "It isn't said openly, but outsiders can guess it well enough. There are too many people coveting the Chen family's standing. I'm afraid that with my own strength alone, I cannot hold the Chen family together... So Grandpa also wants you and me—"

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