Even Scumbags Have a Tender Side

Faced with this difficult problem.

Lin Xun sheathed his sword and swept his gaze over the situation on the field.

Wu Siduo lay on the eastern side of the arena, the ghostly green motes left behind by the Nether White Tiger still drifting around her.

Gu Yue knelt on one knee on the western side, her right hand braced against the ground as she gritted her teeth and tried to rise. The moment her knee left the floor, though, her strength gave out and she slumped back down. Her soul power had already been exhausted while resisting the Dark Hawk Dragon; she had held on until now purely through willpower.

Both of them were down.

One was unconscious, and the other was close to it.

Lin Xun stood where he was. After only a brief hesitation, he walked toward Gu Yue first.

Gu Yue kept her head lowered, breathing heavily as sweat dripped from her chin onto the ground. Sensing someone approach, she raised her head, her black eyes meeting Lin Xun's gaze.

"Can you still stand?"

Gu Yue said nothing. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.

Lin Xun bent down, lifted her arm over his shoulder, then turned around and carried her on his back. Gu Yue was very light. Her chin rested in the hollow of his shoulder, her breath brushing across his neck and making it itch.

The girl's hands lightly clutched the front of his shirt.

"Don't move around," Lin Xun said.

Gu Yue did not answer. Her eyes had long since closed, yet the arms wrapped around him tightened slightly.

With her on his back, Lin Xun walked to the eastern side of the arena and stopped in front of Wu Siduo.

Wu Siduo lay flat on her back, breathing evenly. The residual poison from Icefire Purgatory had numbed the wounds on her body, so they would not hurt for the time being. The problem was that Gu Yue was on his back, and he only had two hands—he could not carry another person on his back.

Lin Xun bent down without hesitation, slid his right hand beneath Wu Siduo's knees, supported her back with his left, and lifted her into his arms.

One on his back, one in his arms.

Lin Xun's choice... he wanted them all!

Xie Xie stood at the edge of the arena, twirling the Lightshadow Dragon Dagger in his hand. Watching Lin Xun emerge from the center of the field with Gu Yue on his back and Wu Siduo in his arms, he fell silent for a moment.

"Brother Xun is Brother Xun.

"This move, this awareness, this grasp of timing. He was a scumbag through and through, a scumbag without a shred of shame, a scumbag on a level ordinary people could never hope to reach."

Yun Xiao stood beside him and pushed up his glasses. "Are you praising him or insulting him?"

"I'm jealous of him," Xie Xie corrected.

"..."

Mu Xi's eyes lit up again. She grabbed Ouyang Zixin's wrist and pointed at the figure in the center of the arena carrying Gu Yue on his back and Wu Siduo in his arms. Her voice was low, but her tone was brimming with barely contained excitement.

"Look! Look, look! Do you see that? One on his back and one in his arms! Could this scumbag's true nature be any more obvious? Carrying two girls at once in public! Two! I've lived this long and never seen such an outrageous scumbag!"

Ouyang Zixin was pulled slightly off balance, still holding that bottle of sports drink in her arms.

She had actually been watching very closely—from the moment Lin Xun carried Gu Yue over to Wu Siduo, to when he bent down and lifted Wu Siduo into his arms, and then as he walked step by step toward the infirmary.

Ouyang Zixin turned back around, her expression as gentle and calm as ever, even somewhat indifferent.

But the moment Mu Xi saw that expression on her best friend's face, she instantly realized something was wrong.

Stiffly and cautiously, she asked, "Zixin, don't tell me... you're going to explain things away for him again?"

Ouyang Zixin shook her head. "He was simply acting out of basic humanitarian concern."

Mu Xi looked as if someone had smacked the back of her head.

"What did you say?"

"Gu Yue's soul power was exhausted, so she couldn't stand steadily. Wu Siduo had passed out completely. Of the people on the field who could still move, Lin Xun was the closest to them. If he didn't help them, who would?"

Ouyang Zixin spoke as though it were only natural.

"Besides, look at how he did it. The one on his back had her arm pulled over his shoulder, while the one in his arms was carried in a standard princess carry. There wasn't a single unnecessary movement the whole time. Carrying was carrying, holding was holding—completely aboveboard.

"If there really were something between them, he wouldn't do this so openly in public. Precisely because there was nothing, there was no need to avoid suspicion."

"A gentleman is open and at ease; a petty man is forever anxious."

"You..." Mu Xi stood there with her mouth open, wanting to refute her but unable to find an angle. Because, incredibly, Ouyang Zixin's outrageous logic actually sounded somewhat reasonable.

"And besides."

Ouyang Zixin was not finished. Watching Lin Xun's back disappear into the entrance to the competitors' passageway, the corner of her lips curved faintly upward.

"He carried Wu Siduo away too. Wu Siduo is Class One's main fighter, his opponent, and she had just declared that she was going to beat him up. If it were anyone else, after winning the match, who would care whether their opponent had passed out? But he did."

She turned to Mu Xi and said seriously, "This isn't being a scumbag. This is being responsible."

Mu Xi leaned back and slumped against the chair, staring up at the sky.

"Ouyang Zixin, you're really beyond saving."

"I'm not speaking up for him. I'm only analyzing things objectively."

"The result of your objective analysis is that your ex-boyfriend is the least scummy man in the world."

"I didn't say that. I only said your reasoning just now didn't hold up."

"Fine." Mu Xi closed her eyes. "If I ever discuss Lin Xun with you again, I'll write my name backwards."

"Xi Mu sounds pretty nice too."

"Get lost! You love-brained idiot!"

The school infirmary.

A white curtain hung between the two hospital beds. Gu Yue was on the left, Wu Siduo on the right. Wu Siduo had yet to wake up, her breathing even as she remained unconscious.

Gu Yue was awake, leaning against the headboard. Her long black hair spilled over the white pillow, and her face was still somewhat pale. An IV was inserted into her right hand, while her left rested outside the blanket.

The girl's black eyes stared unblinkingly at Lin Xun as he busied himself nearby, her gaze exceptionally complicated.

That warm feeling against her back just now had been so familiar—so familiar that she found herself reluctant to let it go.

At that moment, her heart had been very calm.

"What, are you thirsty?" Sensing her gaze, Lin Xun handed her some warm water. He had even thoughtfully put in a straw to make it easier for her to drink.

A scumbag's methods weren't about grand gestures. They lay in all these little details. Only then could one become a qualified player.

The girl parted her red lips and gently took the straw between them, looking especially obedient. The Silver Dragon King, usually so cold and proud, truly resembled a well-behaved girlfriend accepting her boyfriend's care at that moment.

And so, one fed her water while the other drank, neither saying a word.

After a while, Gu Yue raised her eyes and glanced at him. She had only intended to take a quick look, but the moment her gaze landed on his face, it suddenly stopped.

The afternoon light outside filtered through the white curtains and fell across his profile, clearly outlining his jaw. He was lowering his head to adjust the IV drip rate, unaware that she was watching him.

For no reason, Gu Yue felt the tips of her ears grow a little hot. She swiftly looked away and stared at the curtains for several seconds before saying in a voice half a note lower than usual, "She's awake."

Lin Xun turned around. Wu Siduo on the neighboring bed rolled over, frowning as she mumbled something indistinctly.

Wu Siduo opened her eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for several seconds. Then she turned her head and met the eyes of the approaching Lin Xun.

"You're awake." Lin Xun sat down beside the bed.

Wu Siduo lowered her head and glanced at the blanket tucked neatly over her.

"You covered me up?"

"Who else would it have been, Gu Yue?"

Wu Siduo fell silent for a moment, then pulled the blanket higher, all the way to her chin, leaving only her eyes and the messy strands of hair over her forehead exposed.

"...Oh."

The girl bit her lip and said in a low voice, "Are you very pleased with yourself now?"

"Why do you ask?" Lin Xun paused slightly, then looked at her seriously.

"Heh..." Wu Siduo laughed at herself. "I lost to you. I'm so useless. No wonder you left without saying a word."

Lin Xun was silent for a while. Then he took something from his clothes and opened his palm. It was a pill, pure white throughout, with golden patterns flowing across its surface.

The White Tiger Pill.

Wu Siduo stared blankly at the pill in his palm. Her lips moved, but no words came out.

"The one you originally had did have a flaw, so I took it away to deal with it." Lin Xun spoke casually. "This one is complete. I didn't tell you back then because you wouldn't have believed me even if I had. Now that you have three rings, it's just right for you to absorb it."

Wu Siduo lowered her head, staring at the White Tiger Pill in her palm without making a sound for a long time.

But then she felt Lin Xun's hand cover hers. He placed the pill in her palm, gently closed her fingers around it, and held her hand in both of his.

His warmth passed from his palm to hers.

"I took the White Tiger Pill because you couldn't absorb the flawed one. This one is complete. I'm giving it back to you."

"You..." Wu Siduo raised her head. Her eyes were slightly red, but she stubbornly held her neck stiff and refused to let her tears fall. The usual proud confidence had already vanished from her voice. "You left just like that... all for this?"

"Mm. All for this."

Wu Siduo bit her lip and clenched the pill tightly, but she did not pull her hand back. She simply let him hold it, lowering her head to stare at their clasped hands for quite some time before muttering something so quietly that only she could hear.

"Then you should've told me sooner."

"It's fine." Lin Xun smiled. "Anyway, you said we'd let it go after the fight."

"No, I didn't." Wu Siduo gave a soft snort. "I said we'd let it go if I won. You didn't even let me beat you up properly, so it doesn't count!"

"Hey, hey, you're going back on your word!"