Chapter 11: Aftermath

Zed's drowsiness immediately disappeared when he noticed Lan'er wasn't in the room. The sun had already risen, and he couldn't help but feel worried, so he hurriedly left the room.

'Did she go to buy breakfast? But considering what happened yesterday, she wouldn't be so reckless. Then, could she be in the bathroom?'

He knocked on the bathroom door before calling out to her. "Lan'er? Lan'er are you there?"

But he was met with no reply, so he opened the door and confirmed she wasn't there. Zed began to feel anxious as he sped across the house, checking every room before calling out to the courtyard.

"Lan'er?! Lan'er?! Where are you?!"

Zed's sweat started to appear on his forehead as he began to panic. 'Oh no.. oh no... where is she... damn it! I shouldn't have fainted due to mana exhaustion!'

Even after circling the entire house and courtyard, Zed didn't find a single trace of Lan'er.

He was about to start looking for her outside, but he remembered that there was one room that he hadn't checked yet.

Zed opened the basement door and he immediately felt an ominous feeling that he didn't feel yesterday.

An unpleasant smell came from the basement, but Zed was sure it wasn't from the burned corpses, since they had long turned into ashes and the smoke and smell should've been cleared up with the spell he used last night.

'If so... then what's causing that smell?' Zed wondered, but when he thought that Lan'er might be down there, he put aside his questions and descended downstairs.

The smell grew stronger as he reached the floor. From there, he found the ashes that belonged to their enemies.

He confirmed that the smell didn't come from there, but instead from the door, which should've been sealed with talismans.

Zed was shocked to see the talismans ripped and torn off the door. He had a worried gaze as he looked at the open door where the strong unpleasant smell came from.

He walked closer, and the smell grew and became much worse, to the point that he would gag. The food they ate yesterday felt like climbing back up his mouth. With great effort, Zed prevented himself from puking.

Zed's face crumpled as he muttered. "Haaa... What the hell is down there.."

When he finally reached the entrance, to his surprise, Lan'er's bloody appearance was there. Her robes had been torn with blood oozing out of her wounds. Her hands were ruined again, and she looked very pale.

Zed's heart skipped a beat as he forgot to breathe. The shock of seeing his little sister's appearance was too much.

But he forcibly snapped out of his daze and ran to Lan'er. "LAN'ER!"

He first made sure to check her pulse. He sighed in relief when he felt her pulses, albeit weak ones.

Zed cast a spell as the two flew upward into the basement. After closing the door, Zed let Lan'er remain floating in mid-air as he took off her tattered clothes.

He sucked in a cold breath as he got a better view of the state of her body.

Zed's eyes squinted as he examined Lan'er's wounds. 'Fortunately, most of her wounds seem superficial. It's as if she suffered wounds from torture.'

His hand clenched tightly as his mind began to be filled with murderous thoughts. 'I'll kill whoever did this to her- no... I won't kill them... I'll make them wish they were dead!'

Anger and hatred flashed in Zed's eyes but soon calmed himself.

'I need to heal Lan'er first.' He sighed and began conjuring up medicine. This treatment would most likely drain his mana again and he would suffer from mana exhaustion once more.

But he didn't care since treating Lan'er was far more important.

Time passed and Zed overworked himself again. He dressed Lan'er's wounds and clothed her with new robes. After slowly laying her on the floor, he collapsed on his back as he was severely exhausted.

After all, conjuring medicine was a taxing process as he was mixing components and reagents. He had to make sure that the mixture was perfect unless he risked damaging her body instead of healing it.

Zed's sweaty and pale body remained on the floor as he fainted. Fortunately, his mana exhaustion wasn't that terrible as he could still breathe properly.

For mages, mana exhaustion was a common condition that could lead a mage to his or her death depending on the severity of the condition. Zed's current symptoms were a mild level of mana exhaustion.

But if he constantly exhausts his mana, there's a chance for it to worsen. Zed knew the very well but still pushed through just to make sure Lan'er was perfectly treated.

-

Lander woke up in the afternoon. She tried to get up, only to end up clenching her head in pain.

She grunted in pain. "Urk!..."

Fortunately, the pain had receded to the point where she could tolerate it. She rose and looked around her. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her master's chamber, but was instead on their bedroom floor.

Her wounds had been fixed, including her ruined fingernails. She also found that she was wearing a new set of robes.

She hurriedly looked around and found her brother's collapsed body beside her.

"Brother!" She moved despite the pain she felt in her body.

She checked his state and noticed that he was heating up while sweat drenched his body. Lan'er panicked as she didn't know what to do. She knew her brother was sick but didn't know how to make him feel better.

Suddenly, she heard her master's voice. "You know, you are very fortunate to have a loving and caring brother."

Lan'er turned and saw her master sitting by the window frame.

Her master continued to speak with a nonchalant tone. "I saw everything. I saw how desperate he was in treating you. He kept creating a healing mixture with his unique martial arts but I suppose it was very taxing to his body to the extent where he collapsed after making sure the treatment was perfect."

Lan'er dropped to her knees and kneeled in front of Tang Xiurong and begged. "Please teach me to treat my brother."

Tang Xiurong lamented inwardly. 'If I only had someone like them when I was alive. Perhaps I would have met a different end.'

She witnessed the siblings' dedication and sacrifice for one another. She could tell that the two of them genuinely loved and cared for each other. Seeing the relationship between the two, she couldn't help but feel slightly envious as she never had someone who genuinely cared for her.

Facing her disciple's determined gaze, she dismissed her sentiments.

"Of course, I would help my cute little disciple." She smiled while hovering closer to Lan'er.

"Now here's what we should do-" From then on, she taught Lan'er how to take care of a sick person.

She also began teaching her superficial knowledge about bodies and health, to which her disciple listened attentively.

-

Zed woke up to find himself wrapped in a soft quilt. He was also surprised to find a spacious soft bed.

He sat up and studied the room. At first, he thought he was brought to a nearby clinic, but then he realized the room was familiar.

It didn't take long for him to figure out that it was their bedroom, but his brows creased as he wondered, 'Where did this bed come from?'

He didn't recall buying it. He had yet to buy any furniture, and yet, he was lying on an excellent and comfortable large bed.

His thoughts were cut off by the fragrant smell of soup along with the hums of a child.

The bedroom door slid open and Lan'er entered the room while holding a bowl of hot soup.

"Ah! Brother, you're up!" Her face brightened when she noticed Zed. She stopped herself from jumping toward him for fear that she might spill the soup.

She walked towards him and put the bowl down. "Brother, you're finally up!"

Lan'er hugged Zed while rubbing her face against his chest. Taking in a couple of deep breaths of the scent of her brother, her mind relaxed as she released herself from the hug.

"How are you feeling, brother?" She asked while checking his temperature with her hand.

Zed felt a warm feeling in his heart as he thought Lan'er took care of him. He felt proud that she was old enough and capable of nursing someone sick.

"I'm fine now thanks to you, Little Lan'er." He patted her head as praise for her good work.

Hearing her brother's earnest praise, Lan'er felt giddy inside as she let out a shy laugh. "Hehehe..."

After satisfying herself with minutes of head pats, she picked up the bowl of hot soup and held the spoon to Zed. "Do you want me to feed you?"

Zed's heart throbbed at the sudden attack of cuteness and his thoughts became exaggerated. 'Ah- I never thought such a blissful service would exist! Am I in Heaven?'

But Zed forcibly controlled his emotions since he knew he was mentally an old man who was well over 100 years old. He felt that it wasn't appropriate for him to feel that way towards a child.

However, he didn't want to waste Lan'er's good intentions, so he showed his appreciation by accepting her offer. Zed was a shameless old man.

Zed spent the next few minutes being spoon-fed and spoiled by his little sister, while Tang Xiurong, who was watching this scene from behind the door, couldn't help but feel an iffy feeling in her heart.

-

After Zed finished his meal, he finally asked Lan'er the questions he had been thinking about.

"Lan'er, how long was I asleep?"

Lan'er immediately answered. "A week."

Zed froze when he heard her answer. He thought he heard it incorrectly and asked her again.

"I'm sorry... could you repeat that?"

"Hm?" Lan'er tilted her head to the side, but still answered. "A week. Seven days."

"Oh I see... and you took care of me the entire time?"

Lan'er smiled brightly. "Yep!"

Zed couldn't believe that he fainted for seven days but considering the cause was mana exhaustion, he thought a week's rest should be enough to withdraw the first level of symptoms as well as the stress he accumulated.

"Huu..." Zed sighed and calmed himself before asking. "And who took care of you while I was asleep?"

"Mas- Myself! Lan'er took care of herself!" Lan'er immediately corrected herself.

Lan'er's panicked reply went unnoticed by Zed's mind as he thought she was just excited and proud of herself. He noticed this since she spoke in the third person.

And most of the time, she only spoke like this when she wanted to get spoiled and act like a child

After Zed finally convinced himself that Lan'er was able to take care of herself, he then asked another question.

"...What did you do these past few days and where did you get this bed? It must've been pretty heavy, right?"

It wasn't that heavy since the bed was a normal size for adults. Zed thought it was largely because it was able to fit the two of them and still had plenty of room to spare.

Lan'er proceeded to talk about her experiences the past week, and Zed listened quietly.

She omitted the part where she met her master and explained a white lie as the reason for her injuries.

Lan'er and her master had already prepared a believable lie to tell Zed. Naturally, Lan'er felt bothered by lying to her brother, but her Master explained that it would be in their best interest that her Master's existence was only known to herself.

Zed was skeptical, but decided to believe in his little sister. After all, if your own family wouldn't believe you, then who would?

Lan'er said that thanks to Zed's treatment, she was able to go outside the next day. She approached the friendly aunty from the eatery, and they ate breakfast there.

She explained to her that her brother was sick, but she didn't know what to do. They didn't even have a bed for him to rest on.

From there, Mu Lin went and helped by referring Lan'er to her acquaintances. Since she knew the circumstances of the two siblings, she didn't hesitate to use her close relationships in asking for a lower price.

She thought that it would be better for the independent siblings if they could save even a little bit of money.

Lan'er was well received by Mu Lin's friends and acquaintances. They even helped carry the bed to their house.

They confirmed that the two siblings were abandoned since they didn't find any adults in their home. Although the house was clean and there was evidence of repairs, they couldn't help but find it desolate as they didn't even have a single piece of furniture.

Some pitied them even more, while others felt bad but considered it as part of life. Living was hard and just because they were less fortunate than others, didn't mean that they would treat them differently.

They could give them some leeway from time to time but they didn't want to take care of them, since they didn't want to bear the responsibility for the two siblings, nor did they want the two to rely on them.

So they left after placing the bed in the siblings' bedroom.

Mu Lin was the only one that remained and helped in taking care of Zed even for just a day.

While changing the child's clothes, she drew a cold gasp when she saw the numerous scars on his body. A terrifyingly large scar could also be seen on his back.

The Aunty didn't know what had happened, but she gritted her teeth in anger as she thought it was too much for a child to suffer this kind of wound.

And despite that, he still had to keep going and look out for his sister and himself.

She looked at Zed's pale immature body and resumed drying his sweat and changing his clothes.

Before leaving, she taught Lan'er how to make a bowl of soup and medicinal tea, as well as how to feed an unconscious person.

It was already night when she left the siblings' house. With a heavy heart, she went back to her store and hoped that luck may dawn on the two siblings.

Edited By: WorthyAdversary