Post-Match Recovery, HaoDong's Sweet Tenderness

After Ye Guyi left, Shrek's resting area remained quiet for a long time.

The evil formation on the field had been broken, and the Sun Moon team had been ruled in violation, but the real trouble had not vanished. He Caitou placed the dismantled Simulation Core into a sealed case. Bei Bei went to report to Xuan Lao, while Tang Ya took Xiao Xiao to organize tomorrow's roster. Gradually, only Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er remained in the small meeting room.

Huo Yuhao looked even worse than he had during the day.

After continuously dismantling and studying soul tool cores, breaking the evil formation, taking Ye Guyi's misjudged sword strike head-on, and forcibly maintaining Spirit Detection, his Spirit Eyes had been throbbing with pain. Wang Dong'er looked at him several times before finally unable to hold herself back any longer.

Yet he was still studying the soul tool structure diagram. The blueprint lay pinned beneath the lamp, its edges worn by his fingertips. He had marked the three layers of guiding patterns in the Sun Moon Simulation Core, the remnants of the Holy Spirit Cult's evil formation, and the cracks carved open by Ye Guyi's Holy Light Slash with extremely fine lines. Wang Dong'er understood half of it, and precisely because she understood, she was even angrier.

This person always put his own pain last.

"Sit down."

Huo Yuhao froze.

Wang Dong'er had already pulled out a chair, her tone leaving no room for refusal. "I said sit down."

Huo Yuhao had no choice but to sit.

She stood before him, and the soul power of the Goddess of Light Butterfly flowed from her fingertips, gently pressing against the center of his brow. As warmth seeped in, Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, tense for an entire day, finally loosened a little.

"Why didn't you say anything if it hurt?" Wang Dong'er asked.

Huo Yuhao said quietly, "The competition isn't over yet."

"The competition isn't over, so you can treat yourself like a soul tool?"

Huo Yuhao fell silent.

Wang Dong'er looked at his closed eyes, and her chest ached with both bitterness and pain.

She hated him, but she also hated herself. Even though she was still angry, seeing him like this made her worry about him first.

Huo Yuhao's voice was very low. "Dong'er, I'm sorry."

"I'm not blaming you. I just want you to take better care of yourself."

Huo Yuhao opened his eyes.

Wang Dong'er's eyes were red, but she did not cry. She lowered her head and looked at her hand. Her light soul power still rested against his brow, warmth slowly seeping in through her fingertips. She should have pulled it back, yet she could not do so immediately. She hated how hopelessly she still missed him, thought about him, worried over him. She also hated that Huo Yuhao had to be Huo Yuhao.

Strong enough to make her proud, yet enough of a bastard to make her heart ache for him.

"I came back with you because the tournament isn't over, and because I couldn't bear to see you die at the gates of the Clear Sky Sect. So... I still don't want to see you get hurt, to see you consider everyone else and only think of yourself at the very end."

Huo Yuhao's throat tightened.

"I know."

Wang Dong'er said softly, "Then remember it. Remember that someone cares about you, that someone cares about your health."

Huo Yuhao nodded.

"Alright."

Wang Dong'er looked at him for a while, as though unsure whether he truly understood.

Then she picked up the roster on the table and glanced at it. Wang Dong'er set it facedown and said flatly, "She still hasn't returned, and you don't need to pretend you don't miss her at all."

Huo Yuhao's throat tightened again.

"I wasn't thinking of going to find her."

"I know." Wang Dong'er looked at him. "But you'll wonder why she hasn't come back. You'll worry whether she might run into danger while investigating clues outside alone."

Huo Yuhao was silent.

Wang Dong'er smiled faintly, but there was bitterness in that smile. "See? I know you better than you know yourself."

Those words weighed more heavily than any rebuke.

Huo Yuhao said quietly, "Dong'er, she is still a member of Shrek. She's our companion."

"I keep saying I won't forgive you and don't want to mention her. Do you really intend to look like this every time I bring her up?"

Huo Yuhao froze. Wang Dong'er did not look at the roster again. She walked over, shut the door between the small meeting room and the inner lounge, then dimmed the soul tool lamp. As the light faded, the clamor of the arena outside seemed sealed away in another world.

She turned back to look at him. The corners of her eyes were still red, but her tone was hard.

"Come here."

When Huo Yuhao walked over, his steps were noticeably slower.

Wang Dong'er saw it and was so angry that she wanted to laugh, yet she also wanted to cry.

"So now you've learned to be afraid of me."

"I'm not afraid of you." Huo Yuhao's voice was hoarse. "I'm afraid of making you suffer."

"I'm suffering right now."

She reached out, grabbed his collar, and pulled him close. It was not their first time, nor was it the kind of awkward closeness where neither knew what to do. She knew his scent, knew the faintly cool soul power that remained even after he restrained his Ultimate Ice, and knew how his breathing would grow heavy whenever he endured things until his limit.

As she kissed him, she murmured indistinctly, "I haven't forgiven you."

"Mm."

Huo Yuhao finally raised his hand, held her by the waist, and pulled her closer into his arms. She knew his restraint, and she knew his loss of control. So when Huo Yuhao's kiss gradually deepened, she did not stubbornly tell him to stop as she had earlier. She merely turned her face aside to catch her breath, the redness at the corners of her eyes becoming more apparent. "Be gentler. We still have to compete tomorrow."

Huo Yuhao stopped.

When Wang Dong'er saw that he was actually considering it, she laughed in irritation and punched him lightly.

"With your strength, would it really affect anything?"

As those words fell, the soul tool lamp in the room went dark.

Late that night, Huo Yuhao held her in his arms and straightened the collar that had been rumpled. He lowered his head and kissed the top of her hair. Wang Dong'er was already deeply asleep, yet her fingers still clutched tightly at the corner of his clothes. Huo Yuhao looked at her pale, slender hand, then at her sleeping profile, and his chest hurt terribly.

At last, he understood that some wounds could not be repaired immediately by winning a match, taking a beating, or saying a few words about taking responsibility.

He had to wait.

And he had no choice but to wait.