111 Getting Along - 34.3
As soon as Fan Zhu Xia entered the room, she could feel the intense gaze on her that she couldn't help but look up and meet it.
Wu Jun Qiao who had just finished soaking in the medicinal bath was already back on the bed, sitting back against the cushions quietly and looking well-behaved contrary to his previous playful antics making Fan Zhu Xia raise an eyebrow at him.
Walking closer, Fan Zhu Xia took note of his complexion which had a bit more color than before although he was still a bit pale compared to the average person and also noticed that although no more traces of water was left, his hair still looked a bit damp upon closer inspection.
"How are you feeling?"
Hearing the trace of concern in her voice, Wu Jun Qiao couldn't help the small smile growing on his lips as he answered, "I'm feeling much better after soaking in the medicinal bath..."
"You shouldn't let your hair stay like that. It's not good for you, especially in your current state..." Fan Zhu Xia reminded him while at the same time placing her hand on the top of his head before letting her qi flow down and dry it.
Wu Jun Qiao who didn't expect it, only felt a warm, gentle current cascade down his hair from her palm and before he could even react to it, the hand was gone.
"I can tell that you have high achievements in cultivation even though I can't figure out your current level but because of the current state of your body and soul, it is best for you to pay attention to your health and be more careful." Fan Zhu Xia advised him with a slightly reprimanding tone.
Despite this, when he heard her words, Wu Jun Qiao stiffened slightly before letting out a sigh of resignation and leaning back against the cushions behind him to stare up at her.
"So you noticed huh?" Wu Jun Qiao asked resignedly, a hint of tiredness in his voice.
"Of course I did, what did you expect?"
"Well I had certainly hoped that you wouldn't notice that..."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you then... It's because I heard about your condition before and learned in passing that you were suffering from a previous illness, a sequela due to a previous injury so when I checked your state before, I also tried to find the cause of your lingering ailment but when I couldn't find any sign of it in your body, I tried checking elsewhere, hence me finding out..."
Smiling wryly, Wu Jun Qiao replied, "I've troubled you..."
"No trouble, but I would like to ask you a question if that's alright..."
"What is it?"
"How did your soul get injured to this state?"
"I suffered from an ambush a couple of years ago and to survive, I had to use a secret art passed down in my family. Sadly, I had to push myself beyond my limits at the time, thus suffering a recoil which inflicted damage to my soul..."
Fan Zhu Xia didn't immediately respond and she fell silent for a short while before looking at him with a serious gaze.
"The injury on your soul should already have a state of improvement if it's been years, just basing it on your cultivation but when I checked earlier, that doesn't seem to be the case..."
Thinking of how to respond, Wu Jun Qiao wanted to open his mouth to explain but Fan Zhu Xia spoke again and beat him to it.
"The damage to your soul is more recent and it doesn't have any relation to your physical injuries." Fan Zhu Xia stated flatly while still looking at him, as if daring him to refute her words.
"There was an unexpected situation and I had to do something which as you said, invariably resulted in adding additional damage to my soul."
"What kind of situation?"
"Inner demons..."
Hearing those two words, Fan Zhu Xia fell silent. She knew how dangerous and tricky inner demons were especially to a cultivator, regardless of their current realm. An inner demon itself isn't something to take lightly but detecting it and resolving it is extremely difficult.
Some people's inner demons are easier to resolve than others but for some, the immensity of it can be summarized as the difference between heaven and earth.
Just take for example her adoptive father; Fan Hui Zhong, his inner demons are directly related to the loss of his wife and son. His feeling of guilt and helplessness to save them was something he couldn't overcome to the point that it developed to an inner demon which indirectly led to the stagnation of his cultivation and his loss of desire to live. This mindset of his only started to change when he found Fan Zhu Xia who suffered from the same feelings he did and seeing her and feeling a sense of kinship through his understanding of her feelings due to their similar experiences, he subconsciously started to resolve his inner demons. The appearance of his Fan Shi Hong and finding out the truth about his wife's childbirth which led to the knowledge that the young boy Fan Zhu Xia helped was actually his blood-related, long lost son has also resolved the remnants of his inner demons, leaving him with only a burning desire to find out the whole truth and who the culprit is.
Thinking back at it, even Fan Zhu Xia almost succumbed to her inner demons during the last time she fell into a coma after pushing herself when she treated Fan Song Xue. At that time, she already felt hopeless and was on the verge of being consumed by her demons but unexpectedly, she woke up unscathed.
She didn't know what happened or if there was some outside help that helped her at that time but due to her suspicions and lack of evidence, she kept the whole thing to herself.
She only thought back to it now because Wu Jun Qiao's words reminded her of that particular incident.
This time, Fan Zhu Xia couldn't stop herself from looking at Wu Jun Qiao with a suspicious gaze before finally sighing and putting her speculations away. She knew that even if she wanted to know and ask him now, Wu Jun Qiao might not necessarily give her an answer.
Thinking like this she decided to just keep it to herself and observe first. After all, Wu Jun Qiao did say that they do have time to get to know each other and be more familiar.
In the end, Fan Zhu Xia ended up saying a single sentence.
"Don't put yourself in danger again..."
Smiling lightly, Wu Jun Qiao replied, "I'll try..."
After giving him a long look, Fan Zhu Xia gestured for him to lie down before bringing out her set of acupuncture needles.
Seeing her prepare it and knowing that soon those needles will be stabbed into his body one by one, Wu Jun Qiao just watched everything unfold calmly and cooperated with everything Fan Zhu Xia ordered.
When she told him to close his eyes, he did.
When he felt a warm current blanket his entire body and felt her qi seep into his own, he ignored the foreign feeling despite his instincts giving him an urge to resist but instead just let her do whatever she wants.
When she led her qi out, he waited patiently for her next instructions.
When she told him that it was alright to open his eyes, he did.
When she said not to move a muscle and relax his body, he followed without question.
When she picked up her needles and proceeded to stab them into his body, he didn't even flinch.
It was during this time that Fan Zhu Xia felt his deep trust in her despite being unfamiliar with each other which made her feel a bit moved.
This continued on in silence, with neither of them saying a word and only moved and cooperated with a tacit understanding.
After the acupuncture treatment, Fan Zhu Xia told Wu Jun Qiao that today's treatment was done for today and that she will be going first.
When Wu Jun Qiao asked if there's anything else they need to do, he got the unsuspected surprise of hearing that she'll come back tomorrow to continue his treatment until he got better.
Just this piece of good news alone, made Wu Jun Qiao smile even after Fan Zhu Xia was long gone. No one knew why he was so happy, not even Wu Zhang He who dropped by as soon as he got back.
Only Wu Jun Qiao thought to himself that if he was injured earlier then maybe he would have had earlier contact with Fan Zhu Xia so instead of feeling annoyed or distressed with his current state, a part of him felt that it would have been better if his condition improved slowly, that way he would be able to spend more time with her.
Luckily, others didn't know about this because of they did, who knows how many would vomit blood due to anger with his way of thinking!
