Chapter 83

Chapter 83

The rain that had fallen all night finally stopped. The first ray of morning sunlight was like fine, delicate threads, piercing through the clouds and spilling over the Old City District.

Three old men, all packed with sinewy muscle, passed by Qin Ying’s front door on their way to do morning exercises by the moat.

The long howls they used for their breathing exercises had astonishing carrying power.

Amid that rather neighbor-disturbing noise, Han Lie woke up on the ten-square-meter pink bed.

Beneath him was a huge wad of damp medical cotton, making him look like a bird nesting in cotton fluff.

His bloodshot, crimson eyes struggled to blink once. He had no idea where he was.

Everything within sight was indescribably enormous.

So enormous that he could not tell whether he was lying inside a room or on a vast plain.

Alarmed, Han Lie struggled to sit up.

The charred scabs over his burns immediately tore open, exposing the bright red flesh beneath.

He thrashed once in the wad of cotton, then froze when his hand brushed the large bed beneath him.

This pink color… It was so familiar.

Suddenly, he heard someone say anxiously, “Why are you getting up? Lie down!”

Han Lie’s pupils trembled violently. Then he saw an enormous person approaching.

Her eyes were clear black and white, their lines smooth and graceful. Her lashes were long, and at the outer corner of her right eye was a tiny red mole.

Han Lie sat there rigidly, utterly unable to react.

Was he in the Divine Realm?

Qin Ying grew anxious as she watched him sitting in the wad of cotton.

She had dug Han Lie out of the Box with a Spoon.

On closer inspection, his injuries were horrifying. At first glance, the unconscious man looked like a peanut burned half black.

It was hard to imagine a normal person surviving burns like these.

Qin Ying did not dare move him recklessly. She crushed up an Immortal Grass that had been offered up from inside the Box, soaked it in water, then dampened sterilized cotton and tucked him into it.

Once Han Lie was outside the Box, he was far too small. Qin Ying held the Cell Clamp but truly had no idea where to even begin.

In a panic, she rushed out to buy medicine.

She left quickly and returned just as quickly.

Seeing Han Lie sitting motionless in the cotton wad made her even more anxious.

Before she could go look for the Cell Clamp and gently poke him with it, Han Lie suddenly lay back down in the damp cotton and curled up.

If he had not currently looked like a lump of charcoal and been unable to move, he might already have covered his crotch and curled himself into a shrimp from sheer embarrassment.

“I…” Han Lie wanted to say he was fine, but his throat had been damaged by smoke, and he could not speak. He lay curled in the wet cotton, mortified by the fact that he was barely covered.

In truth, his worry was entirely unnecessary. No matter how good Qin Ying’s eyesight was, there was no way she could see any shameful little details on a single burnt peanut.

She only thought he was in pain and hurriedly set down the shopping bag in her hand.

Qin Ying had bought burn ointment, as well as acetaminophen for pain relief.

The problem was that she could not get a handle on the dosage. She was afraid that if she gave Han Lie too much, she would make his organs fail.

Qin Ying held the medicine instructions and calculated the dose. With her current gigantic size, every trace of emotion on her face was completely impossible to hide from Han Lie.

Half of Han Lie’s face was buried in the damp cotton, and he could clearly see the worry and conflict on Qin Ying’s face.

His heart settled. The Supreme Deity was caring for him so frankly and openly. If he kept acting bashful, he would only seem petty.

The Supreme Deity looked down upon the mortal world. What hadn’t she seen?

He silently encouraged himself, then struggled to sit up and gesture at Qin Ying.

Qin Ying did not notice at first. When she finally glanced over in a free moment, the corner of her eye twitched. “Stop moving!”

Han Lie lowered his head sheepishly, then pointed at the small bowl in front of Qin Ying.

Inside was the Immortal Grass Qin Ying had ground up.

One tiny stalk, mixed with water and ground down, had only produced a shallow layer at the bottom of the bowl.

“You mean… soak you in it?”

Good thing Qin Ying’s eyesight was amazing now. Otherwise, she would not have been able to see what he was gesturing at at all.
At that, Han Lie nodded.

Qin Ying did as he asked, moving him-cotton and all-from the pink Barbie bed in the Dollhouse into the small bowl filled with Immortal Grass juice. Even as she did, she reminded him, “Be careful. Don’t choke on the water.”

After a moment’s thought, Qin Ying still felt uneasy and adjusted the way he was lying.

At Han Lie’s current size, she could position him however she liked with ease. In no time, he was enveloped by the cool medicinal liquid.

The burning pain all over his skin seemed to be brushed by a wave of coolness, and he couldn’t help letting out a soft sigh.

Qin Ying watched him closely. Seeing that he seemed to be doing all right, she breathed a sigh of relief, though regret tugged at her heart as well. Such a handsome man, and now he was covered in burns. It was enough to make anyone lament.

Afraid Han Lie would feel distressed, Qin Ying did not mention it at all.

She took out a small Spoon and a newly bought fine liner brush. After disinfecting them with alcohol, she prepared to apply some burn ointment to Han Lie.

But before she could actually do anything, Han Lie, head lowered, waved his hands again and again in refusal.

If he had to let the Supreme Deity use something like that slender brush to apply medicine to him, he might as well have died in the lava.

Unable to speak, he could only gesture for Qin Ying to put the Spoon beside him so he could painstakingly smear the ointment on himself.

It was truly a cruel sight. Even someone as cold-hearted as Qin Ying couldn’t quite bear to watch, so she looked away and went to grind the Yao Grass for him.

She crushed the Yao Grass in a small gongfu teacup with the back of the Spoon, then took a single drop and brought it to Han Lie’s mouth.

Han Lie looked at the drop of liquid, which was as big as his head, and cautiously leaned in to suck at it.

He was so badly injured that Qin Ying couldn’t help holding her breath at every movement he made.

She was afraid that if she so much as breathed too hard, he would die right there in that little bowl.

Only after she finished feeding him the medicine did she turn her head and let out a long breath.

On the way back, Qin Ying had bought a bowl of plain congee. After Han Lie drank a drop of rice water, perhaps because he was finally certain he was safe now, or perhaps because he had run out of strength, he at last fell into a deep sleep.

Qin Ying used the Cell Clamp to pinch off a tiny wisp of cotton and cover him with it.

As for what to do with him next, she found herself at a loss for the moment.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to look after him. She was simply terrified that one careless mistake would end up killing him.

Qin Ying carried Han Lie, bowl and all, over to the desk.

In the center of the desk sat Qin Ying’s velvet earring box.

On the red lining inside lay a tiny Wooden Puppet in human form.

It felt like a finger that had fallen off her body.

It was part of her, yet separated from her and impossible to control.

The feeling made Qin Ying very uncomfortable.

She simply put it away for the time being and stopped looking at it, then opened the Box beside it.

The World in the Box was shrouded in gray. Perhaps because Han Lie, her anchor point, was gone, Qin Ying’s field of vision could only remain around the Divine Shrine.

While she had been treating Han Lie, some time had already passed in the World in the Box.

The fine rain continued to fall, leaving the lava that covered most of Chixia Mountain half-solidified.

Ash drifted down from the sky, making even the rose-colored sandstone look dim and gray.

Qin Ying’s viewpoint was fixed above the Divine Shrine. She did not know what had happened to Aman and the others who had entered Golden Saddle Mountain with Han Lie, or whether they had escaped the range of the lava.

Tilting herself to the side, she tried to angle her view and see farther. Suddenly, she spotted gray shadows moving over the half-solidified gray lava.

Looking more closely, she saw that they were Aman, Wu Er, and the others who had stayed behind to secure their retreat.

Following at their sides were several Red-furred Hou, hopping through the lava.

Fuzhu walked arrogantly in the distance with its head held high, looking as if it disdained traveling with them.

Wu Er and the others searched as they walked. At last, they found the place where Han Lie had been taken away by Qin Ying. Crouching down, they placed an iron message tube on the ground. Inside was a message left for Han Lie.