As soon as she entered the living room, Chu Lingzhi heard coughing coming from inside. Her heart tightened, and she rushed in to find Chu Junyu and Nangong Yichen standing anxiously by the bedside, their faces tense. Huo Luan stood nearby, looking worried and at a loss. When they saw her, it was as if they had found a savior.
Nangong Yehen, who was coughing, lifted his gaze, his misty eyes flickering with anger. "Where did you go?"
Chu Lingzhi didn't answer him. She sat down by the bed, grabbing his wrist with one hand while pressing the other to his forehead. As he coughed, traces of blood stained the sheets in scattered drops.
A low fever!
Chu Lingzhi's expression turned grave as she felt his pulse—it was weak. From the pulse, she could tell the cold toxin had spread to his lungs. If this cold toxin wasn't expelled in time, it could lead to pneumonia, and once the cold entered the lungs and heart, it would be even harder to treat.
Chu Lingzhi frowned deeply. How could this be?
She looked up, her gaze colliding with Nangong Yehen's, and asked urgently, "Master Nangong, did your mother pass away very early?"
"Mommy, why are you asking that?" Chu Junyu's handsome little brows furrowed instantly upon hearing this.
"There's an unexpellable cold toxin in his body that could relapse at any time. It should be hereditary from his mother."
"What do we do? Will he die?" Nangong Yichen asked nervously. Would he end up like his grandmother, dying young?
Huo Luan's face changed dramatically upon hearing this. Chu Lingzhi didn't know the old lady's situation, but he did. Though he had never met her, he was well aware of her condition. She had indeed died young, suffering from a strange illness that no treatment or medicine could cure. She passed away when Nangong Yehen was four years old. Huo Luan worried whether his master would also leave this world young, like the old lady.
Nangong Yehen sat against the headboard, his delicate face carrying a sickly handsomeness. He looked at Chu Lingzhi with a faint smile. "I have very few memories of her."
Having so few memories meant she must have left when he was very young.
"Are you worried about me?" Nangong Yehen asked with a smile.
Chu Lingzhi shot him a glare. "Isn't that obvious?"
"Don't worry, I won't die," Nangong Yehen said, reaching up to touch her face, offering her a reassuring smile.
Seeing him like this, Chu Lingzhi's heart stirred slightly, and at the same time, a trace of panic surged within her.
"You're not a god." No matter how successful a person was, they couldn't escape aging, sickness, and death.
"I believe you can cure me," Nangong Yehen said, curling his lips into a smile.
"You have that much faith in me?" Chu Lingzhi glanced at the bloodstained sheets, her heart aching, feeling an urge to cry.
"When I woke up earlier and didn't see you by my side, I was in a very bad mood," Nangong Yehen said, looking at her with displeasure.
"..." Chu Lingzhi frowned, looking at him in confusion. Was he sure he wasn't Ouyang Ruobing?
"I was taking a walk outside with Miss Ouyang," Chu Lingzhi said, watching him. She thought she might catch a flicker of something unusual on his pale face.
But no. When he heard her mention Ouyang Ruobing, he didn't even blink.
"I'm in a terrible mood, and I feel completely weak," he said, leaning weakly against the headboard, glancing at Nangong Yichen.
"I'll give you moxibustion."
Nangong Yehen looked at Chu Junyu. "No, it hurts."
"It can't hurt more than the wounds on your back."
"Big master, little master, let's step out," Huo Luan said, being the one who knew when to leave.
"Dad, you're twenty-nine years old, and you're still acting like a spoiled child."