Xin Mu is Injured

"Ding." A crisp metallic chime echoed. Zhang Ruofeng sensed something amiss, and sure enough, he saw a dirt bee sting the back of Xin Mu's right hand. Having never undergone any training, Xin Mu panicked from the pain and instinctively dropped her weapon to the ground.

"Damn it." Zhang Ruofeng cursed inwardly. While he was busy dealing with the other dirt bees, Xin Mu had been swarmed by two of them. It was unrealistic for him to fend off all these flying monsters on his own, and Xin Mu had no concept of real combat; she had only ever practiced on stationary targets, not moving ones. Zhang Ruofeng knew this, and while he had intended to wait until her abilities improved before teaching her combat techniques, it had now become an urgent necessity.

"Hiss." The dirt bee clinging to Xin Mu's hand let out a shrill cry. Zhang Ruofeng plunged his right hand into the creature's back and twisted hard, crushing it into a pile of black sand. He then raised his right arm to shield Xin Mu's back, taking another sting in the process. He was getting used to it, though; his right arm was already numb, and one more sting hardly mattered.

"Ha!" Zhang Ruofeng whipped his arm, flinging the dirt bee and its stinger onto the ground. He then hooked his right foot upward, bringing the bee to waist height, and swung his left fist down, smashing the final creature into dust.

"Don't move." Zhang Ruofeng turned to stop Xin Mu from shifting. He quickly pressed down on her arm, picked up her dagger, and made a small, one-centimeter incision at the sting site. With a bit of pressure, some pale yellow fluid oozed out along with her blood. Since they lacked the supplies to carry bandages or medicine, Zhang Ruofeng leaned in and sucked the blood from around the wound before spitting it onto the ground—saliva had antiseptic properties, and he figured Xin Mu wouldn't mind too much. "I never thought the detox method I saw on TV would actually work," he joked. Although Xin Mu's expression remained cold, her slightly furrowed brows and teary eyes betrayed the panic of her first real attack. "Well, I didn't really need to be so aggressive with the treatment, but I... I'm running out of time in the Dungeon."

Zhang Ruofeng slumped against the wall. He finally understood what it meant for blood flow to accelerate; the toxins from the two stings on his right arm were rapidly spreading through his body, even numbing his tongue.

However, it wasn't all bad. Zhang Ruofeng immediately discovered a benefit to this drawback: he could still lift his right arm. Though his senses were dulled, his body had reached a state of equilibrium, allowing him to retain control rather than losing the use of his arm entirely.

If I use my body's full strength to fight the status effect, should that also accelerate my recovery? he wondered. He didn't want to speak while his tongue was thick—it was unclear and made him sound childish—so he sat in silence, hoping to recover quickly.

"It hurts." Xin Mu retrieved her dagger, crouched before Zhang Ruofeng, and looked at the wound on her hand. Having been raised in a sheltered, cold environment, she disliked outdoor activities and had never needed to cook or clean for herself. Consequently, she had never been injured before. Zhang Ruofeng's treatment had been rough and simple; while most of the venom was gone and the numbness had faded, the skin around the wound was red and sore from his forceful squeezing.

"Ah, sorry, sorry..." Zhang Ruofeng wanted to rub his nose in embarrassment, but the numbness made him give up. Lifting his arm felt like carrying a sack of rice on his shoulder; it was incredibly heavy.

"Hmph." Seeing Zhang Ruofeng's disheveled state, Xin Mu wanted to laugh but held it back, letting out a soft snort instead. She patted his head before standing up to keep watch.

"So reliable, even though it's her first time being hurt." Zhang Ruofeng had expected this outcome—his body felt like it was pinned down by hundreds of kilograms of iron, making every movement a struggle. He had to force Xin Mu back into fighting shape, or they might face danger in the Dungeon. Especially Xin Mu; her throwing knives required coordinated body movement, and with her left hand numbed, her effectiveness was essentially gone.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo..." Zhang Ruofeng felt his body temperature rising and his breathing quickening, but the numbness was rapidly receding. Within minutes of sitting down, he had regained most of his strength. He took a few deep breaths and pushed himself up from the ground.

"Are you okay?" Hearing him stand, Xin Mu turned back to ask.

"Yeah." No sooner had Zhang Ruofeng answered than he suddenly felt Xin Mu looked more beautiful than usual. Almost uncontrollably, he took a step toward her. The faint scent of her perfume filled his nose. Xin Mu was startled by his movement, seemingly confused by the way he was staring at her like a predator eyeing its prey.

Zhang Ruofeng realized something was wrong, especially when that familiar, stabbing pain surged in his heart. His face twisted, and he took a few steps back, which eased the pain slightly. He finally snapped out of it. "Damn side effect," he muttered. Xin Mu realized it too: the look and action that didn't belong to Zhang Ruofeng were the result of Boiling Dragon Blood, which caused a massive drop in his resistance to women. It seemed the more injured he was, the weaker his resistance became. This infuriated him; it was no secret that getting close to a girl or feeling the slightest bit of interest caused him agonizing heart pain.

"Are you okay?" Xin Mu tilted her head slightly. She would never normally make such a playful gesture, but she was testing the extent of his resistance.

"Yeah..." Zhang Ruofeng was stunned again, taking about two seconds to react before turning his head away to answer.

It really has dropped quite a bit, Xin Mu thought with concern, knowing he used to be able to look away from any woman in under a second.