Chapter 194 - 193: Saving Someone

Professor Zhang looked at the medical report in his hands, his thoughts drifting back to five years ago.

Back then, both Vermilion Bird and Xuanwu were severely injured. Professor Zhang had exhausted every medical intervention available just to get them to about eighty percent of their original health. Although Xuanwu’s injuries had appeared lighter than Vermilion Bird’s, the medical report somehow indicated that his Martial Arts had been completely crippled.

Professor Zhang and his team couldn’t believe it and wanted to examine him again. However, Xuanwu reacted violently to the news. Upon learning his Martial Arts were gone, he locked himself away and refused to see anyone. Later, seeing that he truly couldn’t summon a shred of his former strength, the medical team finally accepted reality.

Looking at it now, they had all been fooled.

Xuanwu had definitely tampered with that original report. Blaming himself for White Tiger’s death, he felt too ashamed to remain in the military or face his brothers in the Four Palaces. So he pulled a stunt like this, allowing himself to "naturally" be stripped of his position as the Black Tortoise Chief, and then vanished without a word.

"That brat... That brat is absolutely out of line!"

The old chief looked at Professor Zhang’s expression and immediately understood what had happened. Staring at Xuanwu on the hospital bed, he felt a profound, aching frustration at the man’s foolish choices. He stomped his feet in anger.

Vermilion Bird’s expression was equally complex, her heart filled with a mixture of fury and sorrow. She was angry that Xuanwu had taken matters into his own hands and left in such a cowardly manner, yet it broke her heart that, after all these years, he was still trapped in the shadows of his trauma.

Professor Zhang let out a heavy sigh as he looked at Xuanwu. Reaching out, he patted Ye Xuan on the shoulder with earnest gravity.

"Alas, an illness of the heart requires medicine of the heart. If you want Xuanwu to overcome his mental block and return to the military...

"You’ll have to find a way to pull him out of the shadows of his past. Otherwise, even if his Martial Arts aren’t crippled, he’s no different from a useless person."

Ye Xuan pressed his lips together tightly, his eyes dark and unreadable. He nodded without saying a word. The guilt in his heart peaked in that exact moment. Giving Xuanwu one last deep look, he turned and left the room alone.

Seeing this, Vermilion Bird hurriedly chased after him.

"Ye Xuan! Stop right there! Where are you going?" She quickened her pace, catching up to the furiously storming Ye Xuan, and grabbed his arm.

"You..." She wanted to offer him a few words of comfort, but when she saw his tear-streaked face, the words completely died in her throat.

It was the first time she had ever seen Ye Xuan cry.

Ye Xuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He wiped the tears from his face and spoke in a low, hoarse voice. "Let me be alone for a while. Call me when Xuanwu wakes up."

With that, he shook off her hand and walked away without looking back.

Vermilion Bird stood frozen in place for a long time. When she finally snapped back to reality, she realized her own cheeks were warm and wet.

When would they ever truly be able to let go of the events from five years ago? She asked herself honestly—had she let it go?

The answer, of course, was no.

Back when Professor Zhang had examined her, he told her that the chance of making a full recovery was less than ten percent. But to avenge White Tiger and seek justice for their fallen brothers, Vermilion Bird had to cling to even the slightest sliver of hope. Over the past few years, she had tried absolutely everything that could aid her recovery. She forced down countless bowls of intolerably bitter medicine and endured grueling, inhuman physical therapy without a single day of rest.

She was willing to do whatever it took, so long as she could return to normal. Finally, she succeeded.

However, the hatred in her heart didn’t fade with her physical healing. Instead, it festered over time, growing only more intense. She had once knelt before White Tiger’s tombstone and sworn to personally slaughter the scum of the Celestial Ranking. If her own hatred was this deeply rooted, she could only imagine the immense agony Xuanwu carried in his heart.

They were all trapped in that tragic incident from five years ago. Unless they slaughtered those people with their own hands, none of them would ever find peace.

***

Leaving the military base, Ye Xuan wandered aimlessly through the streets of Jingcheng. Having not been back for five years, the city felt simultaneously strange and familiar. Many things had changed, while others remained exactly the same.

Looking up at the towering skyscrapers enclosing him, Ye Xuan felt a stifling sense of suffocation. It was as if he were trapped in a cage, unable to break free no matter how hard he struggled.

Just as he was lost in thought, a sudden clamor snapped him back to reality. He turned his head to see a bright red Ferrari swerving recklessly down the street a short distance away.

"My god! Whose child is that! She’s going to get hit!" someone in the crowd screamed.

Following their gaze, Ye Xuan spotted a little girl with pigtails standing on the edge of the road, hugging a rubber ball. Her eyes were wide with terror and confusion as she wailed at the top of her lungs. The Ferrari was less than ten meters away from her. Bystanders squeezed their eyes shut, too terrified to watch the impending tragedy.

Without a second thought, Ye Xuan bolted toward the little girl. He scooped her up into his arms and used his momentum to roll out of the way, tumbling twice across the nearby grass. The Ferrari grazed right past Ye Xuan’s back before crashing into a fire hydrant with a deafening BANG.

A man stinking of alcohol, his face flushed red, staggered out of the wrecked car.

Ye Xuan’s left arm was scraped, but he didn’t care to check his own injury, immediately looking down at the child in his arms.

"Little girl, are you alright?"

She was completely stunned, unresponsive to his words. Right then, an elderly woman rushed out from the frantic crowd, sprinting toward Ye Xuan in a blind panic.

"Nannan! Oh, Nannan! You almost scared Grandma to death! Are you hurt?"

The grandmother pulled the little girl into her arms, frantically checking her from head to toe. Seeing a familiar face, the little girl finally snapped out of her daze. She clung tightly to her grandmother’s arm and sobbed breathlessly.

The grandmother was scared out of her wits. She had only looked away for a brief moment; who knew her granddaughter would wander out of the restaurant all by herself? To think she had almost witnessed such a horrific accident—she shuddered at the mere thought of the consequences.

"Kind sir, thank you so much! If you hadn’t saved my Nannan, I don’t even dare to imagine what would have happened!"

Having heard the surrounding bystanders describe the blur of action, she realized Ye Xuan was her granddaughter’s savior. Overwhelmed with emotion, she dropped heavily to her knees in front of him and began to kowtow in deep gratitude.

Flustered, Ye Xuan quickly reached out to help the old woman up. "Please don’t do this. I only did what anyone should do."

He hadn’t really thought about it at the time; his instincts had simply taken over.

Suddenly, the drunk driver stomped over, aggressively jabbing his finger at Ye Xuan and the grandmother as he hurled curses.

"Damn it, do you all have a death wish or something? Didn’t you see my car coming? Are you too stupid to move?

"You made me wreck my brand-new car! Such fucking bad luck!"