Xie Chen then poured Su Yan a cup of hot water: "Brother, have some hot water."
"Hello, thank you." Su Yan felt his throat starting to hurt. Oh no, was he really sick?
Chapter 10 Extra: Dust and Smoke (Part 10)
Su Yan quickly finished the cup of hot water in his hand in one gulp, but what could a cup of hot water do? It couldn't do anything.
He still got sick; not only did his throat hurt, but he also started having headaches.
"Achoo, achoo..." Su Yan lay on the bed, sneezing repeatedly, his eyes filled with tears.
Seeing Su Yan in such distress, Xie Chen gritted his teeth, then wrapped himself in a cloak and hat, covering himself up completely, and said, "Brother, wait for me, I'll go find a doctor for you!"
"Achoo, you, achoo, don't go by yourself. Just go to the pavilion and find someone to fetch a doctor for you. Don't go out by yourself, achoo achoo..." Su Yan rubbed his nose, feeling extremely uncomfortable, but he was also worried about Xie Chen's safety going out alone.
You should know that Xie Chen has never left his side since he came to Xuanyuan Pavilion.
"It's alright, brother, I can do it. I'll definitely find a doctor for you." Xie Chen said and ran out of the room.
This was the first time he had gone out on his own since he came to Xuanyuan Pavilion.
Although the fear deep in his heart was still there, he was no longer afraid of anything when he thought of Su Yan, who was bedridden.
The moment he left, Su Yan became worried. Even though he had only just left, Su Yan felt as if Xie Chen had been gone for a long time.
Unable to rest easy, he propped himself up and sat up, sneezing as he dressed.
He sniffed, endured his headache, and went out.
All he could think about was the scene of Xie Chen being surrounded and bullied in a corner after he went out. The little guy would only speak in front of him, and he would hardly say a word in front of others.
If you really encounter a bad person, you'd be so stupid as not to even scream for help.
After leaving Xuanyuan Pavilion, Su Yan kept looking around, afraid that he might see Xie Chen being beaten and kicked in some nook or cranny.
But Su Yan was actually overthinking it. Xie Chen had learned martial arts, and no ordinary person could beat him.
But in Su Yan's view, Xie Chen was still young, and young people are easily bullied. As his older brother, he had promised to protect him.
"Achoo!" Su Yan shrank his neck, sneezing as he looked for Xie Chen.
As he passed the entrance of an alley, he heard mocking laughter coming from inside: "Is this guy mute? We beat him up and he didn't utter a sound."
"Exactly, he must be mute. No wonder he's all alone. His family must have abandoned him and thrown him out. Now he's a little beggar on the streets."
"The mute little beggar, the mute little beggar..."
Those people were shouting and laughing at the same time.
Su Yan looked over and, through the gaps in the human wall, saw a black cloak. He knew this little guy was going to get bullied if he went out, and immediately flew into a rage, roaring, "What are you doing! Achoo! You're bullying me! Achoo! You dare bully my brother? Don't you want to die?! Achoo!"
Hearing Su Yan's roar, the group all looked over and saw Su Yan sneezing while glaring at them menacingly.
"Hahaha, where did this sickly kid come from? He's not even fully recovered, yet he dares to act so arrogantly."
Although Su Yan was sick, dealing with these people was still a piece of cake. They dared to bully Xie Chen, and he would beat them so badly that even their own parents wouldn't recognize them!
"You bunch of bastards! My beloved younger brother is so cruel to you! I'll kill you all!" Su Yan was furious. Xie Chen was already a loner, and now that he'd been bullied by these people, it would probably take him a long time to recover from the trauma.
Chapter 11 Extra: Dust and Smoke (Part 11)
Su Yan rushed over and gave those people a severe beating, knocking them to the ground where they couldn't get up.
He then rushed to Xie Chen's side, hugged him tightly, and comforted him, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, your brother is here, everything is alright."
"elder brother?"
Su Yan heard Xie Chen's voice, but strangely, the voice didn't come from his embrace, but from the alley entrance.
He turned his head and saw Xie Chen standing there, wrapped in a cloak, with a doctor carrying a medicine box standing next to him.
"Achoo." Su Yan sniffed and then released the child from his arms.
The child in her arms looked up at Su Yan, her eyes filled with gratitude.
Upon seeing this, Xie Chen immediately ran over, pulled Su Yan over, and then glared at the child with a cold face.
Su Yan looked at the pitiful, unfamiliar child and said, "It's alright, you should go now."
The child wanted to take another look at Su Yan, but when he saw Xie Chen's eyes, which were as wide as copper bells, he lowered his head and ran away.
"Achoo!" Su Yan sneezed again, feeling a bit cold and shivering.
Xie Chen grabbed him and said, "Brother, why did you run away?"
"I was just worried about you, Achoo," Su Yan replied.
"Brother, don't worry about me. I've already found a doctor for you. Let's go back quickly." With that, Xie Chen pulled Su Yan along.
Su Yan looked at Xie Chen, who was holding his hand and walking ahead, and couldn't help but chuckle. Although Xie Chen was still young and not very tall, he felt inexplicably safe. He thought that when this little guy grew up, he would definitely be a very responsible and trustworthy man.
Time flies, and five years have passed in the blink of an eye.
The little boy from before has grown up and is now eighteen or nineteen years old. He has become the most skilled assassin in Xuanyuan Pavilion.
At that moment, Su Yan was working on the abacus when suddenly a small object hit him on the head. It didn't hurt, but it startled him so much that his hand trembled and he messed up the abacus he had just set up.
He stood up angrily and roared, "Xie Chen, get out here! Don't think I don't know it's you!"
Then Xie Chen jumped out from the shadows, stood two meters away from Su Yan, and picked up a bag of food hanging on the sword and put it on his desk.
"Su Yan, don't be so fierce. I bought you something to eat as soon as I finished my mission, but you yelled at me. You have no conscience." Xie Chen sheathed his sword and held it to his chest, raising his eyebrows and looking at him leisurely.
Su Yan glanced at the food on the table: "Who asked you to buy food? I can buy it myself."
"Yes, yes, you will buy it, but I've already bought it, please accept it, okay?" Xie Chen pleaded.
Su Yan snorted lightly: "Fine, since you've been begging so much, I'll reluctantly accept it."
"Then you go ahead with your work, I'll go back to my room first," Xie Chen said, turning to leave.
"Hey, wait a minute," Su Yan called out to him.
"What's wrong?" Xie Chen turned his head and looked over.
"Your mission this time was very difficult. Are you alright?" Su Yan asked.
Xie Chen smiled and said, "It's nothing. If something were wrong, would I still be standing here?"
“That’s true. Then you should go back and rest. I haven’t finished settling my accounts yet,” Su Yan said.
Xie Chen nodded slightly and left the room, but as soon as he stepped out of the door, he felt his blood surging and couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
Chapter 12 Extra: Dust and Smoke (Part 12)
Just as Su Yan was about to sit down, he heard a thud outside. He rushed over and saw Xie Chen collapsed outside the door.
"Xie Chen!" He quickly picked Xie Chen up, carried him back to his room, and then found a doctor to treat Xie Chen's injuries.
Looking at Xie Chen, who was seriously injured, Su Yan felt uneasy.
"Doctor, how is he?" Su Yan asked quickly when he saw the doctor stop.
"He suffered severe internal injuries and needs to recuperate slowly. He shouldn't get out of bed during this time. I'll write a prescription later. Just go and get the medicine according to the prescription. Take it three times a day for seven days," the doctor replied.
Su Yan nodded: "Okay, okay, thank you, doctor."
When Xie Chen woke up, he saw Su Yan sitting on the edge of the bed, propping his head up and dozing off. He couldn't help but chuckle.
Although Su Yan was dozing off, he immediately woke up when he heard the soft laugh. He opened his eyes and looked at Xie Chen in a flustered manner.
"If you're sleepy, go to sleep. I'm not going to die, you don't need to keep watch over me like this," Xie Chen said, staring at him.
"Pah, pah, pah! You're spouting nonsense as soon as you wake up, you little bastard! You're so badly injured, and you're still pretending in front of me. Do you have to be strong?" Su Yan scolded him harshly.
Seeing his anxious and agitated appearance, Xie Chen laughed and said, "Su Yan, why are you so concerned about me?"
"I... isn't that a pointless question? I raised you from the bottom of my heart, you're like my own brother. How could I not care about you? Only you, you little rascal, have no conscience. You've grown up and become unruly, always teasing me!"
Actually, Su Yan breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Xie Chen wake up, and then he couldn't help but want to scold Xie Chen, because it was all his fault that he had been so anxious for so long.
"How am I heartless? I always bring you food when I come back from missions. When I tease you, it's just to make you happy," Xie Chen replied.
Su Yan snorted: "Trying to make me happy? I think you're just trying to make yourself happy. I'm not happy at all! I'm not talking to you anymore. I'll go get the medicine you've brewed and bring it to you."
With that, he stormed off, and soon returned with the medicine he had just brewed.
Xie Chen looked at his cautious manner, and a strange emotion welled up in his eyes.
"Open your mouth." Su Yan scooped up a spoonful of medicine and held it to Xie Chen's lips, saying irritably.
Xie Chen pouted: "Su Yan, I'm a patient, why are you being so harsh to a patient?"
"I..." Su Yan was speechless for a moment and did not say anything more.
After giving Xie Chen the medicine, Su Yan told him to continue sleeping and then turned to leave.
Xie Chen asked, "Su Yan, aren't you going to stay and take care of me?"
"Didn't you just tell me to go back to sleep?" Su Yan replied.
"I... I was just thinking of letting you go to sleep, but I didn't let you go back to sleep. You still have to take care of me. If you want to sleep, just sleep next to me, that way you'll know immediately if anything happens to me," Xie Chen said, his eyes sparkling.
Su Yan stood there staring at him blankly for a while, then said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of you, but I have something to do now, you go to sleep first."
With that, he left.
Xie Chen watched his departing figure, his eyes slightly lowered.
Su Yan left Xuanyuan Pavilion and headed straight for the Ting Prince's Mansion.
Feng Muting was throwing a tantrum in his study. He had just scolded a maid away when Su Yan walked in.
Seeing the terrified maid rush out, Su Yan swallowed hard, then took a deep breath and walked up to Feng Muting.
Chapter 13 Extra: Dust and Smoke (Thirteen)
"Your Highness..." Su Yan stammered, bowing with his hands clasped.
Feng Muting frowned as he looked at him: "Why are you here? Is something important?"