Lei Wen looked at her thoughtfully. "Miss Ling Yu."
Ling Yu shook her head. "Please, no need to call me 'Miss.' Just call me Ling Yu."
Lei Wen chuckled. "Alright." He smiled. "May we check your pulse? My wife will do it. I just want to understand why you haven't developed a core. You definitely took the pill, right? And it looked like this?" He took out a reddish-brown pill.
Ling Yu leaned in, eyeing the pill closely. She grimaced, remembering the taste. "Yes, it looked like that. I don't know why I don't have a core yet." She glanced at Lei Wen. "Maybe because I chewed it?"
Lei Wen put the pill away and shook his head. "No, that shouldn't have affected it. But that's why I want to check your pulse—to see if we can understand why the pill didn't work on you."
Ling Yu nodded and stretched her arm toward Lin Qian.
Lin Qian placed her fingers on Ling Yu's wrist, her expression turning serious. Ling Yu instinctively held her breath, as if afraid of disturbing her concentration.
Lin Qian looked at Ling Yu and smiled. "There's no need to feel nervous. You are a perfectly healthy young woman."
She turned to her husband. "And I can't find out why the pill didn't work. That said, she's clearly exhausted. If she doesn't rest soon, her body will force her to."
Ling Yu's eyes brightened with hope. "Does that mean I can cultivate?"
Lin Qian tilted her head. "Have you ever tested it?"
Ling Yu's excitement deflated. She pouted slightly. "Yes. I don't have an innate talent."
Lin Qian patted her head gently. "No need to feel bad. You are already special."
Any more special, and someone might just lose his mind, she thought, glancing briefly at Xuan Tian, who was within earshot.
While Ling Yu mourned her 'lost' core, Xuan Tian turned to Zhao Zhi and Xu Yun. "It's better if both of you don't go to Zhang Clinic today. Things might get dangerous."
Zhao Zhi reassured him, "I agree. Before I came here, I paid the inn's concierge to send a message that we are sick."
Xuan Tian nodded in approval.
Meanwhile, Ling Yu was deep in discussion with Lei Wen and Lin Qian about the absence of her core.
"Maybe I need to take another pill? In case one isn't enough?" Ling Yu asked Lei Wen.
The doctor shook his head again. "No, it doesn't work like that."
Lin Qian chuckled. "Ling Yu, I think it's best that you go rest. You've been through an ordeal. You said it yourself—you must be tired."
Ling Yu shook her head firmly. "I can't." Her gaze shifted to Xuan Tian. "I'm going to Xue Qin Lou with him."
Hearing that, Xuan Tian immediately turned to Ling Yu. "Absolutely not."
Ling Yu stood and approached him. "And why not?"
Xuan Tian crossed his arms. "Because it is dangerous."
Ling Yu straightened her back and looked up at him, arms crossed. "But you're going. If you are going, then I'm going too."
The two of them stood face to face, arms crossed, locked in a silent standoff, neither backing down.
The doctors were baffled by this development. This was the first time they had seen Ling Yu blatantly challenge Xuan Tian like this. Before, she always had a reason—sometimes difficult to follow, but understandable if they tried to see it from her perspective. But this? They couldn't comprehend her reasoning at all.
The Celestial General towered over the fourteen-year-old human girl, looking like he might swallow her whole at any moment.
One breath. Two. Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… The doctors silently counted. By the time they reached ten, Ling Yu's body visibly swayed before collapsing backward.
Xuan Tian moved like lightning, catching her before she hit the ground. She had fallen unconscious.
Xu Yun reacted faster than the rest of the doctors, immediately grabbing Ling Yu's right wrist to check her pulse, her face turning serious.
"I checked her before, and I already noted she was exhausted. Her body must have reached its limit." Lin Qian's voice remained steady, though concern flickered in her eyes.
Her husband comforted her. "Don't worry. She's in good hands. No one's blaming you."
Xuan Tian's eyes narrowed as he turned to Xu Yun. "What's wrong with her?"
"Blood!" Xuan Tian's sharp eyes caught the sight of blood on Ling Yu's leg.
"She's bleeding! She fell on her rear just before we left Xue Qin Lou. And before that, her back got slammed into a wall. Is this because of that?" Xuan Tian blurted out, in his mind, trying to 'help' Xu Yun with her diagnosis.
Lin Qian stepped forward. "She got slammed into a wall and fell? Was she attacked? Where were you?"
Xuan Tian hesitated. "No one attacked us. It was me. I—slammed her into the wall to save her. Not just her, but Chen Wei as well. And she fell because I… let go." The more he spoke, the lower his voice became. Hearing it out loud, he realized how absurd it sounded. A strange, uncomfortable feeling settled in his chest. Am I feeling guilty? Why am I feeling guilty? I saved her! And—she wanted me to let her go.
Fortunately, Xu Yun finished checking Ling Yu's pulse. "Lin Qian Jie-Jie is right. She's exhausted to the point where her body forced her to rest. And not only that—the fact that she hurt her back and behind, and now—" Xu Yun pointed at the blood, "she's actually in her monthly bleeding period. I believe it is her first time."
Lin Qian sighed with pity. "She's only fourteen. And she's human. With no core. Too much adventure and excitement."
Hearing Lin Qian's words, Xuan Tian couldn't help but acknowledge that she was right. Dr. Lin is absolutely right. She's just a weak, young human girl. I should've known better.
Xuan Tian stood up, Ling Yu in his arms, carrying her in a princess hold. Xu Yun also stood. "Let's put her in a room. I'll clean her."
Lin Qian nodded. "I'll help."
With that, the three of them left the dining room, heading toward an empty room.
Lei Wen and Zhao Zhi watched them leave.
"What a morning," Zhao Zhi muttered, shaking his head.