Checking Her Body

"How did you figure it out?"

Zhang Lexuan cried out in surprise, almost immediately believing him.

But she quickly realized what that meant: Ling Tianchen understood her physical condition inside and out.

Thinking back on all the things she had said to cover it up, even she could not help revealing a trace of girlish shyness. She immediately turned her head away to compose herself.

Ling Tianchen did not take the opportunity to tease her.

"At first, I only vaguely felt that something was wrong. During your spar with Wu Ming and Han Ruoruo, it looked like you had crushed them with ease, but every time you released Moonbeam, there was an extremely subtle pause. The rise and fall of your chest was off as well. A battle at that level should not have placed any burden on a Soul Douluo, unless your physical condition was far worse than it appeared."

What he did not say was that he had initially noticed Zhang Lexuan's chest rising and falling purely because admiring her with his eyes would have been easy for Ling Luochan to notice, while spiritual detection came with no such concern.

But the longer he watched, the more he noticed the anomaly. It was a sign that she was struggling to keep up.

Naturally, he would never speak of those details.

"You could tell just from that?"

Zhang Lexuan's voice was full of disbelief.

Even her close friend Han Ruoruo had not noticed anything at all. If Ruoruo had known she was injured, she definitely would not have dragged her into sparring.

"That's all. As for the rest, I'm afraid I can't tell you."

He was hardly going to tell her that he had pieced those conclusions together through a mix of later events and guesswork.

Zhang Lexuan pouted slightly. If any inner court disciple saw that expression, their jaws would surely hit the floor.

But she quickly composed herself again, drew a deep breath, and looked at him with anticipation written all over her face.

"Tianchen, since you've seen through my physical condition, you must have a way to treat me, right?"

"Senior Sister, what kind of logic is that? Just because a doctor can diagnose an illness, does that mean they can definitely cure it?"

"Ah?" Zhang Lexuan froze, and the light in her eyes visibly dimmed.

"However—" Ling Tianchen changed tack. "I can try treating you first. As for how much you can recover, that will depend on the specifics."

Hope rekindled in Zhang Lexuan's eyes, and the corners of her lips unconsciously curved upward. "All right. Then let's begin now. What do I need to do?"

"Lie down on the bed first. I'll examine your body."

"Oh."

Zhang Lexuan answered, her lips moving as though she wanted to say something more. In the end, however, she said nothing. She merely took off her shoes obediently and lay down on the bed.

In truth, she really wanted to ask whether she needed to take off her clothes.

But on second thought, since he had not specifically said she did not need to, he had probably assumed it would be necessary.

After all, this concerned the crucial matter of the rest of her life. If he could truly cure her, she was willing to do anything.

From her battle with Han Ruoruo just now, she had already faintly sensed a crisis. Her close friend had reached rank seventy-five, while she had remained stagnant. If this continued, she would sooner or later be overtaken. For someone as competitive as her, that was utterly unacceptable.

With that in mind, she first removed her purple windbreaker. Seeing that Ling Tianchen did not stop her, she hesitantly moved her fingers to the top button of her black shirt.

Her fingertips trembled slightly. After several attempts, she still failed to undo it. Whether the button was too tight or she was simply too nervous, her ten fingers seemed borrowed from someone else and refused to obey her.

Ling Tianchen could not bear watching any longer. His heart stirred, and he nearly reached out to help her.

At last, the top button came undone.

What had barely been held in place immediately sprang free like a released prisoner, bouncing wildly without restraint, fully exposing her ample curves. Fortunately, the black covering protected her from any further exposure.

Ling Tianchen shook his head repeatedly. He realized that Senior Sister might have misunderstood him.

He had only meant for her to lie down; there had been no need to remove her clothes. When he had dealt with Qian Shaoshao before, had he not only needed to touch him through the ice? His ability did not require a patient to undress at all.

Who knew what had gone wrong in Senior Sister's head? She had not even considered something so obvious. She really should not have.

While silently shaking his head to himself, he continued standing there with an unchanged expression and did not remind her.

Opportunities to feast his eyes were rare, and in any case, his conscience was clear.

His intentions had been good; there had merely been a slight mistake in the execution. Even his sister would not blame him for that, right?

Zhang Lexuan felt his fixed gaze fall upon her chest, seeming to carry heat that made her skin grow faintly warm.

Rather than feeling offended or ashamed, a bold thought quietly surfaced in her mind. If she revealed a little more, would his reaction be even more interesting?

The instant that thought appeared, she startled herself.

No, no, no! How could I think that? Although Bei Bei has been heartless toward me, I can't be unfaithful to him.

She fiercely rebuked herself inwardly, and a deep sense of guilt followed.

So this was the kind of woman she, Zhang Lexuan, was. She was clearly already another person's child bride, yet she had such thoughts in front of a boy she had known for less than half a day. What was that supposed to be?

Yet guilt was guilt. Her gaze still involuntarily landed on Ling Tianchen's face.

The young man's features were clear and refined, delicate without appearing feminine.

In terms of appearance, he possessed a chilling allure that Bei Bei lacked. In terms of bearing, the composure that radiated from his bones was something she had always pursued but never truly attained.

She had been Senior Sister for so many years, and everyone said she was steady and composed. Yet only after meeting him did she realize that her composure was merely an imitation, a clumsy attempt to mimic him.

She could not even tell whether the affection she had long felt for Bei Bei was simply a filter born from having grown accustomed to looking at him since childhood.

Besides, Bei Bei had hurt her first. She had never been willing to bring these matters up before others, but only she knew the grievance in her heart. Perhaps she had never owed him anything at all.

And this was merely the most ordinary contact between doctor and patient, wasn't it? Even if Mu En were present, he likely would not be able to say anything about it.

Zhang Lexuan took a deep breath and found one final excuse for herself.

"Tianchen, my hands are shaking a little. You do it."

After saying that unsteadily, she gently lay flat, tightly closing her eyes and completely abandoning the last of her restraint.

As she lay flat, the already precarious fabric was stretched to its limit, outlining a breathtaking curve along the edge of the black covering.

Ling Tianchen swallowed softly and carefully undid the second button. With that, even more of her curves were revealed, pressing against his hand as they swelled forward.

Don't touch her. I'm here to treat her, not take advantage of her.

Suppressing the urge to touch and play with them, he laboriously moved his hand away, gritted his teeth, and quickly undid all the remaining buttons. The black shirt finally fell completely open to either side.

A flawless body appeared before his eyes, as though sculpted from the finest jade in the world. There was not an ounce of excess flesh, her slender waist rose and fell gently, and faint abdominal lines could be seen.

Further down... no, he could not look any further down.

Further down was that black short skirt, its waistband barely resting above her hipbones. He could even vaguely see a small edge of black stockings peeking out.

"Tianchen..."

Zhang Lexuan's voice pulled him back from his wandering thoughts.

Her eyes remained shut, but her cheeks had already burned crimson.

"It's time to treat me..."