Take Care

In a room at a farmhouse on Laojun Mountain.

The walkie-talkie that Qing Chen had placed on the table suddenly rang. "Hello, this is Lu Yuan from Kunlun."

But he ignored it and left it to rest quietly.

At this moment, Qing Chen was lying on his back on the clean white bed, biting a towel, his face pale.

At the foot of the bed, Jiang Xue, holding several bottles of iodine and cotton swabs she had bought that morning, was cleaning Qing Chen's wounds on his feet and legs while crying.

Tiny splinters, glass shards, and dirt.

Jiang Xue cleaned it up little by little.

Large beads of sweat rolled down Qing Chen's forehead, and Li Tongyun kept wiping them away for him.

The little girl was crying too.

They weren't acting out of fear or any other emotion; they were simply too heartbroken for Qing Chen.

Last night, the boy forced himself to return to the inn. In order to prevent anyone from finding him based on the clue that he was barefoot, he even put on shoes despite the pain and found another farmhouse to stay at.

He fainted as soon as he entered the room.

Exhaustion, the fear and panic after killing for the first time, and the adrenaline rush behind the bloodlust all rushed up at once.

He used Breathing Technique throughout the battle, and afterwards, a huge amount of Endorphin were secreted from his pituitary gland, which allowed him to temporarily forget the pain.

But when Jiang Xue cleaned his wounds in the morning, the pain woke him up again.

Jiang Xue originally wanted Qing Chen to rest a little longer, but the wound needed to be treated quickly and couldn't be delayed any longer.

"Why bother? You hurt yourself like this just to save a bunch of strangers," Jiang Xue said, wiping away her tears. "Look at the blood bar on your shoulder. If it were any lower, your shoulder blade would be broken."

Qing Chen didn't speak, but silently endured the pain.

His injuries looked alarming, but he knew they were just superficial wounds and would heal quickly.

In particular, he used Breathing Technique throughout the entire battle, and his lost stamina gradually recovered by dawn.

It's unclear whether it's because he uses Breathing Technique during normal combat and has experienced immense pain.

Qing Chen vaguely sensed that the energy within his body seemed to have grown stronger. What was originally only the size of a fist had now become the size of one and a half fists.

Moreover, the body seemed to be undergoing a transformation; behind the aches and pains all over, even the bones seemed to be making subtle crackling sounds.

Is it time to unlock the Gene Lock?

It shouldn't be there yet.

Three hours later, Jiang Xue finally made sure she had finished cleaning Qing Chen's foot wound. She said to Qing Chen, "Sleep a little longer, I'll go borrow the kitchen to make you something to eat to help you recover."

"Yes, thank you, Aunt Jiang Xue," Qing Chen said weakly.

Li Tongyun, who was standing nearby, said, "Brother Qing Chen, when you came back at dawn, you almost scared my mom and me to death. We thought you were leaving."

Qing Chen hummed in agreement.

Then the little girl said, "Then Mom checked your injuries and found that only your shoulder and foot were the most serious, so we were a little relieved. Don't push yourself so hard next time, okay? I'll be scared if you die."

Qing Chen forced a smile, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

After Jiang Xue left, Li Tongyun said in a low voice, "Brother Qing Chen, I have a rough idea of your identity, but it is a little different from the information I had before. I need to confirm it."

Qing Chen was stunned for a moment, as if something had been discovered by the other party while he was unconscious.

But that doesn't matter; he doesn't really care that the girl knows his identity.

He was simply curious. "Why are you so determined to find me in the Inner World?"

But Li Tongyun continued, "I can't tell my mother about becoming Time Walker, and you're not around. I'm so scared sleeping alone in the mansion at night. I won't be scared anymore once I find you. Brother Qing Chen, do you know how alone I am in that Inner World..."

Qing Chen thought for a moment, "Have we started this self-inflicted injury scheme?"

Li Tongyun pouted. "Boring!"

"Have you made any new friends in the Inner World?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

"I have an older brother and sister who are very kind to me, and Grandpa Li is also very kind to me. However, the old housekeeper said that Grandpa and sister are really kind to me, and I should be careful of that older brother named Li Xiuqi," Li Tongyun muttered. "The Li Corporation seems to be quite complicated. But that kind old man is in poor health, and many people are secretly discussing what will happen after he leaves."

Qing Chen pondered, these older brother, older sister, and grandfather must all be direct descendants of the Li Corporation.

He had heard Li Shutong say that the current head of the Li family was 163 years old, his health was deteriorating, and even anti-aging drugs were no longer effective, as his cell division had reached its limit.

The head of the Kashima family is probably the oldest, at 221 years old, but the way he extended his life seems to be less than honorable.

Qing Chen didn't want to think about these things anymore for the time being.

He turned to look at his shoulder, where a brand new bandage had been wrapped.

Everything before him reminded him that it was all in the past.

But it seems there are still things that haven't passed.

"Xiao Tongyun, could you find some paper and a pen for me?" Qing Chen asked.

"I have it in my bag," Li Tongyun said.

Even when she comes to take a holiday during the National Day holiday, she has to carry her schoolbag and pretend to be doing homework.

With her help, Qing Chen leaned back against the two pillows. He used his phone to search for Morse Code deciphering methods, and then, relying on his memory, drew out the Morse Code that the Kunlun members had typed that night.

A tap with the index finger is a short message, and a tap with the middle finger is a long message. Each set of taps represents a letter or a number.

For example, tapping once with your index finger and once with your middle finger creates the letter A.

Those seemingly disordered tapping rhythms pieced together important information.

Qing Chen didn't know why he suddenly wanted to decipher the Morse Code; he just felt that he had missed something extremely important.

That incident even made a wealthy man like Hu Xiaoniu risk his life to beg him to avenge the two Kunlun members.

Qing Chen quickly recalled the rhythm of the tapping in his mind and deciphered it.

He drew each Morse code on a piece of paper and then labeled the translated letters on the back.

"No regrets in this life, brother, take care."

"Da da da, da, da." (I will repeat this one last time.)

"No regrets in this life, brother, take care."

This is a message from a wounded Kunlun member who fell to the ground to another companion present.

As Qing Chen sat on the bed, he suddenly realized that the other party had already resolved to die the moment he was shot.

He gazed at the bright blue sky outside the window; the sky above the mountains seemed lower and more expansive than that in the city.

But for some reason, Qing Chen's mood became somewhat depressed.

He folded the deciphered piece of paper and had Li Tongyun help him put it into his wallet.