A sickly beauty with monstrous strength

"Oh... right." Mu Xingchen froze for a moment, then quickly recovered and steadied himself with Lin Hanzhi's arm.

"Thank you. I didn't expect you to be so strong." Still shaken, Mu Xingchen glanced back at the pitch-black steps stretching down behind him, their end nowhere in sight.

If he had fallen, his head probably would have turned into a smashed watermelon on the spot.

"Let's get up there first," Lin Hanzhi said coolly.

The cameraman and the group walking ahead of them finally realized something was wrong and turned back to help pull them up.

Before long, all three had been pulled onto an open patch of ground above the steps. Director Song An looked grave. "What happened just now? Xingchen, how did you fall?"

Mu Xingchen's face scrunched up. He tried to control his expression, without much success. "I was helping them up the steps, but... for some reason, I felt like there was still someone behind them. But when I reached out, I realized there wasn't anyone there at all. There was clearly no one there, but something still pulled me. Luckily, I had Master's sachet, and Lin pulled me back. Otherwise, I really would have fallen."

As he spoke, he crouched down and clutched his head, seemingly imagining it turning into a smashed watermelon.

Song An and everyone else present sucked in a cold breath. "Hiss... this mountain really is haunted. We've only been climbing for two hours, and we've already run into something twice."

Something seemed to occur to Qi Gu, and he suddenly said, "If this mountain is so haunted, how did those five hikers reach the summit... were the five who reached the summit really still human?"

Just then, a biting mountain gale swept past. Leaves rustled like voices murmuring in agreement with something, instantly making everyone's legs go weak. They nearly dropped to their knees before Qi Gu, who stood in their midst.

[Lin Hanzhi is pretty strong. He even managed to hold steady like that.]

[A sickly beauty with monstrous strength? I'm eating this up!]

[Aaaaaah, Qi Gu, what are you doing?! You scared me! Pay up!]

[Help, so there wasn't one extra person-none of them were human?]

[Hiss, those ghosts were actually pretty nice. They climbed to the summit and still remembered to update the people on the forum...]

[Fuck, I even replied to that thread. I'm numb.]

"A-are we still going up?" someone asked, trembling with fear.

"With Master Qi's sachets, we should be all right? Anyway, I'm not going down alone and leaving Master Qi!" Wouldn't that just be asking for trouble and courting death?

"Good point. Besides, Master Qi said these sachets can be used three times. As long as we're not too unlucky, we probably won't die, haha," an assistant said.

The crew chimed in one after another. As they spoke, they practically wished they could put the sachets in their hands straight onto an altar, light incense, and kowtow three times.

Some of the quicker thinkers were already considering how these sachets would surely become hot commodities once this episode ended. If they could resell theirs then, they would definitely make a fortune!

Whatever their thinking, everyone looked at Qi Gu with growing reverence and gratitude.

"Since no one wants to go back down, let's keep moving," Song An decided.

The group once again wound forward like a long snake.

This time, everyone more or less deliberately slowed their pace to stay beside Qi Gu and reduce the risk.

Naturally, the three closest to Qi Gu were Lin Hanzhi, Mu Xingchen, and Pubu Gesang.

Qi Gu had noticed for a while that Lin Hanzhi, who was walking half a step ahead of him, had a somewhat unnatural gait, as though he were injured. He had even softly hissed through his teeth several times right in front of him.

Unless Qi Gu was both blind and deaf, he really ought to ask.

"What happened to your leg?"

"Ah... nothing. A branch scratched me when I was pulling him up." Lin Hanzhi pressed his lips together. In the dim yellow flashlight beam, his face looked particularly pale.

"I have some medicine. Take it and put some on." Qi Gu tipped a pill out of his gourd.

"I'm afraid of pain. Putting medicine on hurts." Lin Hanzhi blinked lightly, his lashes like fragile butterflies.

Qi Gu could not quite understand his logic. "Won't it hurt more if you don't?"

"Then could you put it on for me?"

Qi Gu: ?

What kind of reasoning was that? Would it somehow stop hurting if he applied it?

Seeing Qi Gu hesitate, Lin Hanzhi slowly added, "I can't bring myself to do it."

Beside them, Mu Xingchen, who thought Lin Hanzhi had been injured because of him, was overwhelmed with guilt. He immediately offered, "It's all my fault for being careless. Why don't I put it on for you, Lin-mmph, mmph!"

Mu Xingchen's eyes widened as he stared at Pubu Gesang, who had jumped up and covered his mouth. His eyes asked, What are you doing?

"Shut up. I'm saving you." Pubu Gesang lowered his voice so the recording equipment would not pick it up, his gaze still fixed on Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi.

He still had not figured out what was going on.

Hadn't Demon King Lin once gritted his teeth and kept fighting for another thirty thousand words, even with a broken leg and arm? Today, a branch had only scratched him. What was he doing?

Playing pitiful to win sympathy? Hoping sympathy would make Qi Gu volunteer to join the Anomalous Affairs Bureau and work overtime for him?

Pubu Gesang's eight-year-old mind was still very innocent, with room for nothing besides his allowance. He could not think of a reason just then, but instinct told him that if he and Mu Xingchen stayed nearby, there was a high chance they would get caught in the fallout and have their allowances docked.

"Hurry up. Qi Gu is all he needs over there." Clinging to Mu Xingchen's back and covering his mouth, Pubu Gesang urged him to walk faster.

Mu Xingchen only half understood, but after spending these past few hours with Pubu Gesang, he felt that the boy's intelligence clearly surpassed his own, so he chose to trust his judgment.

Lin Hanzhi rolled up one trouser leg, revealing a slender, pale ankle. Blood had congealed around it, looking particularly alarming against his snow-white skin.

Qi Gu wiped the wound with a wet wipe. When he looked up, he saw Lin Hanzhi's jaw pulled taut and his fist pressed against his lips, looking as though he was already doing everything he could to endure the pain.

Qi Gu: "..."

He was so delicate. Was he made of tofu?

Despite that thought, he made his already gentle movements even gentler, then carefully applied the crushed pill to Lin Hanzhi's wound and secured it with a bandage.

Qi Gu was quite practiced at this. After all, he had often fallen as a child and had grown used to treating himself.

When choosing his major back then, he had even considered studying medicine.

But medical training took too many years. He wanted to earn money as soon as possible so his master could enjoy a few good days too.

Unfortunately...

Qi Gu stood up. "Done. My medicine works really well. Your wound isn't deep, so I guarantee it'll heal soon."

"Thank you."

[I'm a bit confused. Why did the kid suddenly drag Mu Xingchen away?]

[You're the kind of person who spins the lazy Susan when your boss is reaching for food and refuses to drink when your boss makes a toast, aren't you?]

[How did you know?]

[I don't know if I'm imagining it, but I feel like there's something a little romantic going on between Qi Gu and Lin Hanzhi...]

[How? He's just helping him put medicine on like normal. This Lin Hanzhi is so delicate, complaining about pain over such a tiny wound.]

[Uh, apart from walking a little slowly, he hasn't held anyone back. What's there to criticize about being a little delicate? Didn't he just save someone too?]

[Maybe it's his constitution? I'm really scared of pain too.]

[I just like beauties who are scared of pain. Am I the only pervert here?]

[Well, to be completely honest, I'm a pervert too.]