"Huh?!"
Qin Lan's sobs stopped abruptly, and her whole body went rigid.
She turned her head in a daze. Through tear-blurred eyes, she saw her brother frowning, his mouth open as he coughed again and again.
"B-Brother?!"
Qin Lan cried out, her voice rising so sharply it changed pitch!
She threw her arms around Qin Yao's neck and strained with all her might to lift him. "Brother, are you all right?!
"Quick, sit up! It'll be easier to cough sitting up."
By then, Old Master Qin Dashan had come to his senses too. He scrambled over on all fours to Qin Yao's other side and helped him sit up, little by little.
The moment his palm touched Qin Yao's back, Qin Dashan froze.
The skin beneath his hand was warm—warm and faintly damp.
It was nothing like the icy touch of Qin Yao's nose when he had checked for breath earlier!
"Yao'er! Y-you, don't move just yet..."
Old Master Qin's voice shook badly. His tongue seemed tied in knots as he stammered, "Where does it hurt? Tell Grandpa. Let me take a look!"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Qin Yao coughed a few more times before lowering the hand covering his mouth. His sleeve brushed his chin, leaving a wet streak.
He raised his head slightly and opened his eyes to narrow slits, as though he had just awakened from a long, deep sleep.
His gaze slid over his sister Qin Lan's tear-streaked face, then settled on his grandfather Qin Dashan's wrinkled one.
Then he spoke, his voice terribly weak and his eyes full of confusion. "Grandpa? Lan'er?"
"Why... why are you here?"
It had to be said: "Acting" at the Perfection Realm was extraordinary!
Anyone who saw Qin Yao now would have believed this boy, only just stirring awake, had suffered