Behind that smile, he could sense the well-concealed pain. Perhaps the pain was so severe that even the smile now appeared somewhat forced.
Huo Xiao Di’s earlier smugness vanished without a trace. It was as if he had been struck by lightning, leaving him breathless for a moment.
“You’re hurt?”
What he didn’t notice, however, was the shy yet intense gaze coming from the boy beside him.
—The boy, upon seeing him, had eyes brimming with warmth, and he felt an urge to reach out and hold his hand.
—Seeing him reminded the boy of that moment in the courtyard of the inn at Little Hammer Mountain, when Huo Xiao Di, standing under a bamboo umbrella, had looked at him with concern and extended a warm hand. Back then, the boy had just been knocked to the ground by Commander Feng’s horse—the horse that now, most likely, strutted proudly only in the halls of King Yama.
The mute boy let out two hoarse sounds, as if trying to call out.
It was only then that Huo Xiao Di noticed his gaze. Seeing the boy’s eyes, his own expression softened.
“You didn’t drink the medicine from Han Shui Palace, did you?”
The boy shook his head.
Only then did Huo Xiao Di feel reassured. His gaze lingered briefly on the boy, just long enough to confirm he was unharmed. Then, his dark, shining eyes turned back to Zhan Ri Fei.
—“Was it someone from Han Shui Palace who injured you? Was it that demon woman, or the lifeless monster?”
Huo Xiao Di’s most detested person was the Moon Emissary. Or, to be more precise, he despised women like the Moon Emissary.
Zhan Ri Fei’s expression remained calm. “I doubt there’s anyone else. But even if they did injure me, I suspect they’re not feeling too good themselves.”
Though his face was still alarmingly pale, and his voice weak and breathless, a faintly triumphant smile began to form at the corners of his lips. Against the boundless night, that smile, strangely enough, shone brightly.
Despite his severe injuries, he could still manage to smile as though nothing had happened! Huo Xiao Di’s face showed an odd expression, and a hint of a smile also appeared in his eyes.
Then he asked a peculiar question—one whose answer even a blind man could guess.
“They didn’t hurt you badly? If that’s the case, why are you still sitting on the ground? Why haven’t you left?”
Zhan Ri Fei’s reply was just as unexpected: “Because if I can sit, I absolutely won’t stand.”
This was the fourth sentence he had spoken since the Sun and Moon Emissaries of Han Shui Palace had left.
The first two sentences were directed at the boy. When he said the first, it was as though his chest was weighed down by lead, and he could barely manage to cough. That single sentence had drained every ounce of strength in his body.
When he said the second, his voice was broken and hoarse, barely audible.
But by the time he spoke this fourth sentence, his voice had returned to normal.
—Was this man made of iron?
Huo Xiao Di pursed his lips and thought to himself, “Clearly, he can’t get up and is just being stubborn! How can someone be so different from him?”
His large eyes darted around—a signature sign that he was deep in thought.
—Such lively, water-like eyes were truly wasted on a man’s face. Yet whenever his eyes moved like that, it always seemed like someone was about to have bad luck.
Zhan Ri Fei looked at him with a slight smile, hoping this time it wouldn’t be him.
Finally, Huo Xiao Di’s large eyes stopped moving and centered on his gaze. He spoke at last, but Zhan Ri Fei didn’t expect his first sentence to be: “You never ask anyone for help, do you? I bet getting you to ask for a favor is harder than climbing to heaven.”
Without waiting for a response, Huo Xiao Di theatrically began counting on his fingers. “All I did was peel off a few plasters from the Prince of Xiang Yang’s mansion for you, and in return, you not only dealt with the people of Han Shui Palace but also saved this kid. Don’t forget, we agreed that we owe each other nothing.”
Stretching out his words, he added slowly, “I, Huo Xiao Di, never owe anyone a favor.”
Then, smiling serenely, he stood there waiting!
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