Cheng Yao was startled and instantly teleported back to the room. There, she saw Zhan Haoting—who should have been lying on the bed—sprawled helplessly on the floor!
“Haoting!” Cheng Yao cried out and hurried over. “Are you all right? Where did you hurt yourself?”
She glanced from the bed to the spot where he had fallen. It was several meters away. She looked at him again and asked, “Can you walk now?”
With Cheng Yao’s support, Zhan Haoting barely managed to prop up his upper body with his arms. There was no joy on his face, however—only a trace of embarrassment and dejection.
He shook his head, his voice hoarse. “I couldn’t see where you were, so I tried to move down from the bed. I tripped over the stool at the foot of it…”
Cheng Yao understood.
He hadn’t regained the ability to walk. He had been using his arms to support himself and inching forward bit by bit, trying to find her.
But he was blind. In this unfamiliar environment, even the most basic movements had become incredibly difficult.
Cheng Yao’s heart felt as though something had given it a sharp, painful wrench. It ached terribly.
She scolded him, though her voice was filled with concern. “Why were you moving around on your own? Don’t you know what condition you’re in? You could have called for me. Wouldn’t I have come right away?”
Zhan Haoting pressed his thin lips tightly together. A clear discomfort crossed his features. After a moment of silence, he said quietly, “I needed to use the toilet.”
He hadn’t had time to take care of it outside before Cheng Yao had brought him straight into her space.
Cheng Yao froze. Looking at his embarrassed yet forcibly composed expression, she felt both heartbroken and helpless.
“All right. I’ll carry you there.”
Without giving him a chance to refuse, she crouched down, grabbed his arms, and tried to hoist him onto her back.
He was a tall, powerfully built man. Even though his injuries had left him thinner, he was still far from light.
Cheng Yao used every ounce of her strength. Her small face flushed red with exertion before she finally managed to get him onto her back. She staggered toward the bathroom, taking one unsteady step after another.
By the time they reached the toilet, her forehead was covered in sweat, and she was breathing hard.
With a clatter, she lifted the toilet seat, then carefully lowered Zhan Haoting onto it.
He felt something cold and hard beneath him, with a strange shape unlike any kind of chamber pot he knew. His discomfort with the unfamiliar object made his body tense slightly.
Cheng Yao looked at his rigid profile and the faint crease between his brows. She thought of the enormous psychological blow he must be suffering—the fall from a man who had once commanded armies and dominated the battlefield to someone who now needed help even to use the toilet.
Her heart turned painfully sour.
To ease his embarrassment, she deliberately adopted a light, teasing tone. “This is perfectly ordinary where I’m from. What’s the matter? Are you still shy in front of your own wife? You’re awfully conservative, General Zhan.”
Zhan Haoting barely reacted.
He simply lowered his head in silence. The fingers resting on his knees curled slightly.
He wasn’t conservative, nor was he merely uncomfortable.
He was… defeated.
A deep, overwhelming sense of defeat that threatened to drown him.
Once, he had been able to gallop across the land, command armies with a wave of his hand, and protect her from harm.
But now, he couldn’t even care for himself. He was like a useless man who needed her to carry him with all her strength. Even in something so private, he had to expose himself to her in such a helpless and humiliating state.
He hated this powerlessness. He hated becoming a burden to her.
Especially… when compared with that “Immortal.”
That sense of defeat was more unbearable than the pain of his wounds.
Then he remembered how she, so small and delicate back then, had carried him to bathe and tended to his wounds in the same way.
His heart felt as though it were being fried in boiling oil.
“You should go out first.”
Cheng Yao fell silent for a moment, then complied and gently closed the door.
Yet a long while passed, and there was no sound from inside.
Through the door, which wasn’t completely shut, she could see Zhan Haoting sitting on the toilet with his head lowered.
His back radiated an indescribable loneliness and dejection. He looked nothing like the God of War she knew—the man who, even when gravely wounded, kept his back straight and his imposing presence undiminished.
Her heart felt as though it were being pricked by countless fine needles.
She knew that his physical injuries, the difficulties of his current situation, and his worry over her safety were steadily wearing away at his pride and fighting spirit.
She couldn’t let him sink into despair like this!
Cheng Yao took a deep breath and forced a cheerful smile onto her face. With a tone full of excitement and anticipation, she began to “paint him a bright future.”
“Husband, I have good news! By a stroke of luck, I obtained several excellent medicinal ingredients. Once I use them to prepare the medicine, the effects are sure to be extraordinary!
“I promise that before long, I’ll have you standing on your feet again! When that happens, you’ll return to your peak and be able to do whatever you want. You’ll never have to suffer like this again!”
Zhan Haoting raised his head and looked in Cheng Yao’s direction. His gaze was calm.
“The Seven-Leaf Flower is a treasure beyond price. According to legend, it can even bring the dead back to life. Such a treasure should be used where it is most needed—for someone whose life is in danger, or to neutralize a deadly poison. Using it on this broken body of mine would be a waste.”
He had guessed that she had obtained the Seven-Leaf Flower?
But he had never mentioned it!
And now he didn’t even want her to use it on him?
What a fool!
Overcome with emotion, Cheng Yao pushed open the door and blurted out, “What do you mean, a waste? You’re the most important person of all! What could possibly be more important than you?!”
Her words sent an indescribable warmth and surge of emotion rushing through Zhan Haoting’s frozen heart.
His hand tightened slightly where it rested on his knee, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
However, his urgent physical need was also twisting his thoughts into turmoil.
He had been holding it in so long that his face had begun to turn bluish. He had no choice but to harden his heart and say, his voice carrying an almost imperceptible embarrassment and hoarseness, “You—you should go out first.”
What was this?
At a time like this, shouldn’t he have been deeply moved, his heart overflowing with love for her?
Why was he being so cold?
He even sounded as though he were driving her away!
What an emotionally clueless blockhead!
The annoyance in Cheng Yao’s heart surfaced again.
“You really are a giant blockhead!”
She pouted, but still brought him some toilet paper and placed the wastebasket by his feet. “Throw the used toilet paper in here.”
After saying that, she gently closed the door. But she didn’t leave. She stood quietly outside, straining to listen to the sounds within, afraid that he might have an accident because he couldn’t see.
Rustling noises came from inside.
After a while, Cheng Yao pushed open the door. Zhan Haoting had already straightened his clothes and was still sitting on the toilet.
She pressed the flush.
The gurgling sound of water beneath him made him uneasy. His face seemed even paler than before.
Cheng Yao touched his cheek. It was cold. Assuming he was unwell, she said, “I’ll carry you back right away.”
“No need.” Zhan Haoting stopped her. “Help me find two stools—or a pair of crutches.”
He couldn’t let her carry him with all her strength again.
Every time he lay across her thin back, feeling her body tremble faintly from the effort and hearing her rapid breathing, it felt as though his pride were being slowly flayed alive.
Cheng Yao looked at his stubborn expression and sighed inwardly. She didn’t argue further.
With a slight movement of her mind, she took a pair of crutches from the corner where miscellaneous items were stored in her space and handed them to him.
Zhan Haoting accepted the crutches and felt his way along as he adjusted them. Then he took a deep breath and pushed himself up with both arms.
Relying on his tremendous upper-body and core strength, he actually managed to stand—swaying unsteadily on his feet.
He braced his armpit against the crutch and adjusted his balance. Then, one step, two… His movements were slow and stiff, and he even stumbled a little, but with the support of the crutch, he truly was inching his way toward the bed, step by step.
Cheng Yao stayed by his side, holding her arms out to steady him without touching, terrified that he might fall.
