Chapter 57
Applying medicine meant he would have to expose his back.
Two grown men looking at each other’s backs was nothing, but Ye Xuan still felt somehow embarrassed.
Xia Chenxi was clearly only being kind and offering to apply medicine for him. What was he feeling awkward for?
So fussy and petty.
“If you can’t, I’ll wear a blindfold.”
The way he said that made Ye Xuan feel even more embarrassed. It was just his back. There was really no need to exaggerate like that.
Even wearing a blindfold?
Ye Xuan cast aside his sense of shame and said to Xia Chenxi, “Turn your head a little. I’ll take off my shirt.”
Xia Chenxi obediently turned his head and looked to the side. Then he noticed the bathroom mirror. Ye Xuan’s every movement was reflected clearly in it.
He should have closed his eyes, or at least avoided looking at the mirror, but some strange thought took hold of him, and he simply could not move his eyes away.
His breathing grew a little heavier.
Ye Xuan’s skin was fair. He looked thin, but his figure was well-proportioned, without a trace of excess flesh. When he lifted his arm, the curve of his waist dipped into a perfect line.
Some people were thin, but all their flesh gathered around their stomach. Ye Xuan was different. He looked like a child Nüwa had carefully carved and especially favored.
“I’m done.”
Xia Chenxi turned around as if nothing had happened and saw the large purplish bruise on Ye Xuan’s fair right shoulder.
It was especially striking.
That zombie was lucky it had not fallen into his hands. Otherwise, he would have tortured it until it went mad.
Xia Chenxi squeezed the ointment onto his hand and placed his palm over the bruise.
“It’ll hurt. Bear with it.”
Xia Chenxi tried to lighten his movements as much as possible. At first, Ye Xuan could still grit his teeth and tightly grip his pants, forcing himself to endure it, but later, he really could not take it anymore.
It hurt too much.
The dull pain pierced through his nerves and shot straight into his brain. Ye Xuan’s temple throbbed nonstop.
“Xia Chenxi, lighter.”
His tone sounded almost like he was acting spoiled. Xia Chenxi licked his upper lip and, for some reason, felt his mouth go dry.
“Bear with it a little longer. Be good. Otherwise, even if your body recovers, the bruised blood won’t disperse and will still stay blocked there.”
Xia Chenxi held the back of Ye Xuan’s neck and massaged the bruise.
A tear slid down Ye Xuan’s cheek. Then, like pearls from a broken string, tears fell one after another.
Afraid Xia Chenxi would see, Ye Xuan hurriedly wiped them away with his right hand.
With such obvious movement, how could Xia Chenxi not notice?
He had not expected that he would actually press Ye Xuan until he cried.
Xia Chenxi became flustered, not knowing where to put his hands.
“I… you… are you okay? I won’t press anymore.”
The more Ye Xuan wiped, the more tears flowed. He could not stop them.
He had cried from the pain.
Losing face like this in front of Xia Chenxi made Ye Xuan truly want to cry now.
“Xia Chenxi, I have stress tears. You’re not allowed to laugh at me.”
“I won’t laugh.”
Xia Chenxi sat behind Ye Xuan and looked at the back of his head, where a little tuft of hair was sticking up. Once Ye Xuan’s emotions stabilized a little, he helped him straighten his clothes and stood up.
“That’s enough for now. Let the rest recover on its own.”
Ye Xuan lay down, shifted a little, and pulled the blanket up.
He did not want to face Xia Chenxi right now. He felt too embarrassed.
Xia Chenxi took the initiative to leave the room and said to Ye Xuan, “Rest well. Have a good dream.”
Ye Xuan had been exhausted all day and soon fell asleep.
Xia Chenxi, however, could not sleep that night. The moment he closed his eyes, Ye Xuan’s image appeared in his mind—the way he had cried while being held by him.
Paired with that almost coquettish voice.
Xia Chenxi could not sleep the entire night.
After sleeping through the night, Ye Xuan woke up feeling refreshed. He discovered that his left hand could move again, and the pain in his right shoulder had eased a lot too.
There was no need to ask for leave. He could continue attending base training.
In a good mood, Ye Xuan temporarily forgot the embarrassing incident from last night and greeted Xia Chenxi.
Xia Chenxi glanced at Ye Xuan and said listlessly, “Morning.”
“What’s wrong with you? Didn’t sleep well?”
The images that had tormented him all night surfaced in Xia Chenxi’s mind again. Xia Chenxi felt like he was going insane.
“Mm. Didn’t sleep well.”
Xia Chenxi was not in high spirits, and Ye Xuan did not press him for details.
The two set off for the training ground together.
On the way, they ran into Nan Yunzhou. Rather than calling it a chance encounter, it was more accurate to say Nan Yunzhou had been waiting on the path they had to take early in the morning.
Nan Yunzhou circled around Ye Xuan, looking him up and down several times.
“Ye Xuan, I heard from Xie Yan that you fractured a bone. How do you feel now? Is there anywhere else uncomfortable?”
Ye Xuan patted Nan Yunzhou. Nan Yunzhou looked even more nervous than he himself was.
“I’m almost fine after resting for a night. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come to training.”
Seeing that Ye Xuan looked as if nothing had happened, Nan Yunzhou still reminded him, “If you really feel unwell, don’t force yourself.”
Guan Yu rushed out of the training hall and charged between Ye Xuan and Xia Chenxi.
“Ye Xuan, are you okay? I received the notification yesterday too. Xia Chenxi said it was enough for him to go and asked me to lend him the battle motorcycle. Good thing you all came back safely.”
“I’m fine. Don’t I look perfectly okay?”
“Then that’s good. Eh?” Guan Yu saw Nan Yunzhou standing opposite them and smiled as he greeted him. “Hello, Nan Yunzhou.”
When Nan Yunzhou saw Guan Yu, his expression cooled. “Morning.”
“You’ve seen him. Time to go train.”
Xia Chenxi grabbed Ye Xuan and walked forward. Nan Yunzhou reached out and held onto Ye Xuan too.
The two of them pulled Ye Xuan into the shape of a big character.
Guan Yu, standing beside Ye Xuan, looked completely confused.
What was going on?
Ye Xuan looked back at Nan Yunzhou. Nan Yunzhou immediately let go and waved at him in the air.
“Bye-bye, Ye Xuan. Remember to leave together this afternoon.”
“Bye-bye.”
Hope flared in Guan Yu’s eyes as a light bulb. This meant he could join them too!
He cheered like a monkey and ran back into the training hall.
Ye Xuan looked at Xia Chenxi. “What’s wrong with him?”
Xia Chenxi was very calm, already used to it. “Just having a fit. Don’t mind him.”
After giving Ye Xuan a few reminders, Xia Chenxi parted ways with him at the fork.
As soon as Ye Xuan arrived at Hall B, his teammates all gathered around to ask after him.
“Ye Xuan, are you okay? I heard you fractured a bone.”
“It’s all because the mission information wasn’t clear.”
“I heard you encountered a new type of zombie. Was it dangerous? I asked Chen Cheng, but he wouldn’t say anything. How did you guys deal with the new-type zombies?”
“…”
The chatter came from all sides, making Ye Xuan dizzy.
“Don’t rush. I’ll answer one by one.”
After answering his teammates’ questions, Ye Xuan looked around the hall and realized Chen Cheng and Luo Feng had not arrived.
“Where are Brother Feng and Chen Cheng?”
Yesterday, he had asked Chen Cheng to bring the person back. After that, he had been too busy dealing with everything else and had not asked about Chen Cheng’s condition.
Lu Shao told Ye Xuan that after Chen Cheng brought the person back yesterday, he had fallen unconscious.
“I heard it was because his neurons were over-depleted, so his brain activated an automatic protection mechanism. Brother Feng is at the hospital with Chen Cheng right now.”
Tong Wei cut in, “You have no idea how scary it was yesterday. He was standing there perfectly fine, then suddenly collapsed stiff as a board. He was clearly unwell but didn’t say anything, just forced himself to hold on and pretended to be mute. That kid—when he wakes up, I’m going to teach him a proper lesson.”
Yesterday, when Chen Cheng helped him hold back that later “stone man,” he had even coughed up blood.
Overusing that ability of his definitely caused great harm to his body.
“Then should I go see him after training this afternoon?”
Reborn in the Apocalypse: I Decide to Cling to My Roommate’s Thigh
