Rescued

Xia Yu had cultivated the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill to the sixth level, giving him six tons of strength in his hands. Even with the blast shield in his hands, the missile's impact cracked the bones throughout his body, shattered nearly half the bones in both his arms, and displaced all his internal organs. The blast shield was torn apart almost instantly. Tony Stark's munitions really were fearsome.

The missile's shockwave hurled Xia Yu to the other side of the village. He forced himself to use the last of his strength to run into a family's cellar. (The area had been ravaged by war for years, and every household had a cellar.) Then he lay on the ground, unable to move. Only a breath of True Qi protecting him kept him alive. All he could do was lie there and wait for his Nine Yang Divine Skill's Internal Energy to recover. His injuries were so severe that he didn't know how long it would take, but he wasn't too worried. After being blasted away, Xia Yu had used the one-click outfit change to remove his battered armor and put on the watch Natasha had given him.

Xia Yu had used the last of his strength and Internal Energy to get into the cellar because he was afraid The Mandarin would come after him. He knew The Mandarin definitely wouldn't die. Most treasures in Marvel were embodiments of rules, unreasonably powerful. The movies still placed restrictions on their users, but in the comics, even an ordinary person wielding the Six Infinity Stones could slaughter gods.

Xia Yu was right. Thanks to the automatic protection of the ring on his right index finger, The Mandarin had indeed survived, but the impact had nearly killed him too. He was only slightly better off than Xia Yu. He had been forced to use one of the functions of the ring on his right thumb to suppress his injuries for ten hours, then hurry back to his lair to heal. He had no time to pursue Xia Yu.

The Mandarin had suffered terribly in his encounter with Xia Yu. The protection on his right index finger had lost three charges. There had only been four in total, and once they were gone, they were gone for good. He had wasted three on Xia Yu. Already injured, he had forcibly activated several powerful ring skills and exhausted his mental strength. He didn't know whether he had damaged his foundation. Compared with that, a hundred million dollars was no loss. After their first clash, The Mandarin, who had ten rings and was far stronger than Xia Yu at this stage, had been thoroughly traumatized by him.

By comparison, Xia Yu had saved Tony and earned thirty thousand points, which he had turned into three more levels of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, with plenty of points left over. He had also gained a hundred million dollars and gotten a measure of The Mandarin's strength. He had come away with plenty of gains, but now, unable to move even a finger, Xia Yu was still cursing Tony Stark in his heart for making his missiles so powerful.

After Xia Yu had lain there for more than eight hours, Natasha arrived. She didn't wail or cry out. Once she had confirmed he was all right, she simply sat beside him and watched him in silence, her eyes red.

"Don't be sad. I just can't move for now. It won't take long for me to get better. Look, even though I can't move at all and you can't touch me, my handsome face is still fine. You can touch my face. Actually, forget it. Come here and let me kiss you instead. It's been months since we last saw each other. I missed you," Xia Yu teased her.

As soon as Xia Yu spoke, two tears slid from the corners of Natasha's eyes. She lowered her head and gently licked his lips, then said something very Black Widow: "Promise me that if something like this happens again, you'll let me stay by your side and fight with you."

She didn't try to stop him or persuade him to stay away from danger. She only asked, with tears in her eyes, to fight alongside him.

If he could have, Xia Yu would really have liked to get up and hold her. Since he couldn't, all he could do was tell her firmly, "One day, we'll always fight together."

Xia Yu was as limp as a puddle of mud. Even having someone carry him might displace his internal organs, so Natasha simply stayed with him in the cellar for three whole days. They had all sorts of things in their rings, so there was no inconvenience on that front. It was just a little awkward that Natasha had to take care of Xia Yu's eating, drinking, and bathroom needs.

Xia Yu's internal organs had initially stabilized, and he had focused on using Internal Energy to repair the bones in his right hand. Now he could at least smoke and drink water on his own. It was time for the two of them to go back.

Neither of them wanted their relationship exposed to anyone else, at least not yet, whether to S.H.I.E.L.D. or Tony Stark. In the end, they decided Xia Yu would call Tony and have someone come pick him up.

What was Tony Stark doing at this time? Influenced by the butterfly that was Xia Yu, Tony hadn't held a press conference as soon as he returned. Instead, he had rushed to coordinate resources to search for Xia Yu. Also because of Xia Yu's influence, he and Pepper Potts had gotten together earlier than they originally had. In the movie, Tony Stark had replaced his old reactor with a new one and thrown the old one away. Fortunately, Pepper Potts had retrieved it and made a beautiful glass case for it, with the words "Tony Stark has a warm heart" written on it.

Now, however, Tony Stark hadn't thrown away the old reactor. Instead, he had engraved three Chinese characters on it: Heart of Xia.

"Xia will be all right, Tony. He'll definitely come back," Pepper Potts comforted Tony.

Tony Stark set the engraved old reactor on the table and turned to Pepper Potts. "I hope he's all right too, but it's been three days. Pepper, you didn't see how powerful that man in black was. Yinsen died saving me, and Xia stayed behind alone to stop that monster and cover my escape, while all I could do was watch. Pepper, all of this was because of the weapons I invented myself, weapons meant to protect us." As he spoke, Tony Stark buried his head in his hands.

Pepper stood up and held Tony in her arms. She also hoped Xia Yu would return safely, but three days had passed. To be honest, both of them had already lost hope. Otherwise, Tony would never have engraved the three characters for Heart of Xia on the reactor. It was a little like a tombstone.

"Mr. Stark, Miss Potts, although this is rather bad timing, I must inform you that there is an incoming call that Mr. Stark needs to take," the humanlike JARVIS said.

"JARVIS, Tony said he didn't want to contact anyone from the outside world for now," Pepper Potts said.

"Miss Potts, the signal for this call came through Mr. Stark's private satellite. The satellite phone placing the call is the one Mr. Stark gave Mr. Xia," JARVIS said.

Tony raised his head and met Pepper Potts's eyes. Both were filled with wild joy, and they said almost at the same time, "Put it through."

"Tony, it's me." Xia Yu's weak voice came through.

"I knew you were all right. I knew it! Where are you? We'll come get you." It was the first time Tony Stark had expressed his excitement so strongly.

"Xia, it's so good that you're all right. You have no idea how worried Tony was about you. He wanted to stay in Afghanistan and wait for you, but the government forcibly escorted him back," Pepper Potts added on Tony's behalf.

"Hi, Pepper, you're there too. Tony made the right choice going back. Don't worry about it." Xia Yu greeted Pepper and continued, "I don't know. I only brought one GPS, and I already gave it to you. I'm in a cellar in an abandoned village. It can't be far from where we separated. Oh, right, a missile exploded here three days ago."

While Xia Yu was still speaking, Tony Stark was already using his computer to pinpoint his location. As soon as Xia Yu finished, Tony said, "That's enough. I've already found your location. I'll have James Rhodes come get you."

"No, Tony, all the bones in my body are broken. I had to lie here for three days before I could call you. I can heal myself. I don't need a doctor, especially not a military doctor, examining my condition. Do you understand? You'd better have James Rhodes find a stretcher, carry me onto it, and take me back," Xia Yu said hurriedly.

Hearing Xia Yu say that all his bones were broken and that he had had to lie there for three days before he could even manage a phone call, Tony and Pepper Potts's eyes turned red. Tony forced himself to keep his voice under control. "I understand. You'll be back as fast as possible. I'll have hot pot ready and waiting for you."

After the call ended, Pepper Potts could no longer hold back her tears. She choked out, "Oh, God, Tony, what on earth did poor Xia go through? He said all the bones in his body were broken, and he lay alone in a dark cellar for three days, unable to move. Oh, God!"

Tony's eyes were red too. Both of them automatically imagined how painful and desperate it must have been for Xia Yu to lie alone in a dark cellar for three days and nights, unable to move, eat, or drink.

What they didn't know was that for those three days, someone had personally taken care of Xia Yu's eating, drinking, and bathroom needs. Since Xia Yu couldn't move, Natasha had even...