Afterward, the Special Defense Department indeed sent no more players to interfere with Xu Huo. He returned to his residence without incident and met with the former Special Defense Department representative two hours later.
Nie Xuan was brought in in a wheelchair by another player. A thick blanket covered his knees. He had grown much thinner, and he didn't look to be in very good spirits. A layer of stubble covered his chin, as if he hadn't shaved in two or three days.
The player who brought him upstairs left as soon as he had set him down. Father Xu and Ms. Yu took Tongtong out for a walk. Lichun stayed in Xu Huo's room, keeping an eye on Meng Cun. To prevent anyone from eavesdropping, Xu Huo used a soundproofing artifact.
"There's no need for that. Shangguan Jing suffered a setback at your hands and injured more than twenty B-class players. He's already been disciplined. The new person in charge wouldn't dare pull any tricks, for fear of provoking you." Nie Xuan spoke unhurriedly, without sounding the least bit weak.
"I was starting to think you were dead." Xu Huo glanced at his legs. "Looks like you're recovering well."
Nie Xuan rubbed his legs. "I nearly died. There were several times when I thought I couldn't hold on, but then I thought about the state of the Special Defense Department. I had to stay alive."
The last time they met, Nie Xuan had seemed pressed to get everything settled as quickly as possible. Under the twin pressures of death and responsibility, he had become somewhat extreme, like a blade desperate to taste blood.
Now he seemed to have returned to how he had been when Xu Huo first met him aboard the Preliminary Train.
"Congratulations," Xu Huo said.
Nie