Healing

Weisheng Tou froze for a moment at Mo Lu's words.

He glanced back at the large bed in the inner room.

Had Mo Lu helped him regain his senses and made him wash himself clean for that sort of thing?

Weisheng Tou couldn't help remembering how Mo Lu's waist had felt in the bathing pool.

Slender, yet seemingly full of strength, just like Mo Lu himself.

Weisheng Tou's breathing grew slightly heavier as he slowly slipped off his ill-fitting long robe.

But then Mo Lu turned around and approached him with a medicine chest.

Taking in the wounds covering Weisheng Tou's body, Mo Lu told him to lie on the couch beside them.

"Young master, are you... going to treat my wounds?" Weisheng Tou lay on the couch embroidered with intricate patterns, his face full of surprise.

He had never imagined that Mo Lu would personally treat a subordinate's wounds.

"No one else at Lan Mountain Residence knows how to treat injuries. Since I've taken you in, I won't leave you in this state."

Mo Lu sat beside Weisheng Tou, his lashes lowered slightly as he opened the medicine chest and searched through it.

Weisheng Tou watched as Mo Lu took out a paper talisman densely covered in markings.

"..."

Weisheng Tou opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately closed it again.

So they really were a family of shamans?

He had been imprisoned for eight years since his differentiation, and the Weisheng Family had brought in doctors of every standing to treat him.

Even the Empire had sent people to treat him after learning that he was a Super S-Rank Alpha.

He had seen all sorts of precision instruments, worn every kind of blocker patch, taken all manner of capsules and tablets, and received countless different injections. Yet here, Mo Lu was using... a paper talisman??

Looking at the young master before him, dressed in a black long robe, Weisheng Tou felt an unreal sensation, as though he were still dreaming.

Wisps of smoke still rose from the incense burner decorated with flowers and birds beside them, filling the antique room with the calming fragrance of sandalwood.

But it didn't smell as good as he did.

Weisheng Tou's narrow, slightly downturned eyes remained fixed on Mo Lu, the faint scent of white tea seemingly still lingering beneath his nose.

Mo Lu ignored Weisheng Tou's gaze.

He picked up the talisman and rubbed it between his hands. The paper actually crumbled into fine ash.

Mo Lu moved the jade pendant on Weisheng Tou's chest aside and sprinkled the ash, little by little, over his ghastly wounds.

"Ngh..."

Weisheng Tou let out a muffled groan. The immense pain sent cold sweat pouring from his body, his muscles spasming uncontrollably as a faint flush rapidly spread over his skin.

"Cry out if it hurts," Mo Lu said flatly.

He had specially made this talisman. Weisheng Tou's wounds were deep and had gone untreated for so long that they were bound to hurt badly.

Weisheng Tou didn't answer. He merely pressed his lips together, his face expressionless.

Without stopping his hands, Mo Lu looked up at him and gave a cold snort, its meaning unclear.

Hearing Mo Lu's derisive snort and watching his intent expression, Weisheng Tou stayed silent for a while. Then, for some reason, he suddenly spoke on impulse:

"It hurts."

His voice was still hoarse and dry.

Mo Lu glanced at him.

Hadn't he been refusing to make a sound just a moment ago?

Weisheng Tou stared at the Omega before him, a hint of curiosity in his deep black eyes.

He very much wanted to know how Mo Lu would respond.

He felt that Mo Lu wasn't as cold as he appeared.

Yet Mo Lu said nothing.

Having Mo Lu personally treat his wounds was already a stroke of good fortune for Weisheng Tou.

If Lan Mountain Residence hadn't been Mo Lu's private home, with no other members of the Mo Family present, why would Mo Lu have bothered treating such minor injuries himself?

He was only responsible for treating them. Whether the patient could endure his methods was outside his consideration.

Looking at Mo Lu's cold expression, Weisheng Tou withdrew his gaze in disappointment and turned his attention to his own wounds.

The wounds soaked in talisman ash were already showing faint signs of healing, and the pain was steadily fading.

Startled, Weisheng Tou propped up his upper body on the couch.

"Lie back down. Tilt your head back."

Mo Lu touched his index finger to the center of Weisheng Tou's forehead.

Weisheng Tou instinctively obeyed and lay back down, tilting his head slightly backward and fully exposing the curve of his neck to Mo Lu.

Something flickered in Mo Lu's eyes. He quickly sprinkled talisman ash over the ring of wounds around Weisheng Tou's neck.

Feeling the searing pain in his neck, Weisheng Tou swallowed with difficulty.

Beads of sweat slid down his handsome face and disappeared into his tousled hair.

Watching the Alpha's Adam's apple bob slightly and smelling the rose wine fragrance that was almost overpowering the sandalwood, Mo Lu briefly closed his eyes and exhaled.

Even the pheromones leaking out unintentionally could affect him this much. When had he ever encountered something so far beyond his control?

Mo Lu's brow creased slightly. The hand that had been sprinkling ash suddenly pressed against the gland at the back of Weisheng Tou's neck.

"Hah..."

Weisheng Tou gave a muffled groan, his narrow eyes squinting as his thick lashes trembled.

Hearing that faint groan, mingled with pain and pleasure, Mo Lu's fingers paused.

"Seal."

Mo Lu's breathing was slightly unsteady, but his movements remained deft and precise.

Weisheng Tou only felt as though something had sealed the gland at the back of his neck, almost as if a blocker patch had been applied.

The scent of his pheromones was completely suppressed as well.

Only when he sensed the Alpha's scent gradually fading did Mo Lu breathe a little easier.

His fingers brushed lightly over Weisheng Tou's wounds as he checked how they were healing:

"The people of the Weisheng Family gave you these wounds, didn't they?"

"Yes."

Mo Lu murmured an acknowledgment before continuing, "I heard that before you differentiated at thirteen, you received the Weisheng Family's traditional education?"

"...Yes."

Weisheng Tou looked at Mo Lu before him and answered with some hesitation.

In truth, rather than calling it the Weisheng Family's education, it would have been more accurate to say that his education had been modeled on Mo Lu's.

There were always plenty of people who wanted to follow in a "god's" footsteps. Even if they couldn't replicate him, getting somewhere close would do.

So when Mo Lu studied poetry and literary composition, Weisheng Tou studied poetry and literary composition.

When Mo Lu studied incense arts and the tea ceremony, he studied incense arts and the tea ceremony too.

When Mo Lu studied the Zhu You Technique, he studied how to manage his family's businesses.

The name Mo Lu had permeated almost every part of the first thirteen years of Weisheng Tou's life.

As for the eight years afterward...

They could certainly be called "eventful."

"Mm. Then from now on, learn from Ye Liang how to serve at my side." Having checked all the wounds, Mo Lu added, "Turn over onto your stomach."

Weisheng Tou: ...

Being ordered around like this truly was a novel experience.