She pinched his wrist, about to take his pulse, but at her touch, he jerked his wrist away as if scalded by hot water.
Dong Huiying was taken aback.
He, too, was momentarily stunned.
Then, his thin lips tightened slightly.
"Zhi Chen is fine, it’s only a headache due to poor sleep these days."
Dong Huiying frowned deeply. He had withdrawn his wrist so abruptly, as if stung by a wild bee, which reminded her of Yixuan from several months ago...
Could he be like Yixuan? Not wanting to be touched by her, fearful of being hurt by her? She took a trembling step back...
Zhi Chen, seeing her expression, understood, but how could he explain? It wasn’t that he was afraid of her or avoiding her touch; it was that he felt guilty—as if her touch would make him...
"Baobao, don’t overthink, alright?" He took a step toward her and gently stroked her hair. "I’m not scared of you, I’m just..." Could he admit that he had fallen, that he had feelings for her?
He saw her worries, Shujun, Haoming, Yue Ning... With all these emotional debts, her pressure was already great enough; he didn’t want to add to her burdens.
He took a deep breath... "Shujun is unwell, and you’ve been worried enough about him. I want you to rest—you don’t need to be troubled by my minor issue."
"Really?" She was still somewhat hesitant.
Zhi Chen chuckled softly, "Of course, it’s true. I don’t have an aversion to you."
Dong Huiying was suspicious. "It’s just taking a pulse; it won’t delay anything."
Unknown to them, Shujun had arrived behind the two.
He gazed at his elder brother and Dong Huiying, then suddenly knitted his brows tightly.
"Brother, are you hiding something from us?"
Zhi Chen’s brows furrowed sharply. He had recently dared not close his eyes, for as soon as he did, nightmares would plague him continuously. That day when he accidentally consumed Dong Huiying’s blood, he saw certain images, and ever since, each night he would dream of a ruthless, cold-blooded version of himself massacring a city...
He had yet to understand what it all meant.
Why would he have the same dream over and over?
And the content of the dreams, it seemed to be expanding—initially, it was just the massacre, but later... It appeared to be the border between the Ji and Yuan two countries...
Everything felt so real, as if it truly happened.
He would occasionally feel confused, struggling to distinguish dream from reality.
For him, it was as though it was another life...
Seeing Zhi Chen lose himself in thought, Shujun furrowed his brows harshly once more. "Baobao, take Brother’s pulse for him; he must be hiding something!"
Dong Huiying thought the same, but just as she reached out for Zhi Chen’s wrist, he suddenly clutched his head as if in unbearable pain, staggered, and hit a wall. After a muffled groan, he lost consciousness.
This incident alarmed everyone present.
Yue Ning and Haoming immediately supported their brother’s body, and at the same time, Dong Huiying quickly seized Zhi Chen’s wrist to take his pulse.
The pulse was both erratic and deep; she felt a pang of alarm.
Afterward, she lifted Liang Zhichen’s eyelids to look and then pried open his mouth to examine it closely.
Dong Huiying’s face was stricken with shock, then quickly said, "Haoming, Yue Ning, help Zhi Chen to lie down." She herself turned and rushed into the room where Shujun was staying.
That room had always been hers before Shujun’s arrival, and many of Dong Huiying’s things were still kept there.