CH 43

The people in the Imperial Hospital really couldn’t help Xie Ke. Even if they were scolded by the emperor, if they couldn’t save him, they couldn’t save him.

During this period, the Xie residence posted notices outside promising a lot of money for medical treatment. Many people came to try, but there were few useful doctors among them.

In the mansion of General Zhongyong, Xie Lin, who knew that Nong Yu was Xie Ke’s confidant, not just a servant, handed over most of the big and small things in Xie Ke’s courtyard to him, just in case someone in the mansion wanted to use this opportunity to have some crooked thoughts. During this time, Nong Yu was very busy; he had to take care of Xie Ke and find him a doctor, and he had to beware of others entering Xie Ke’s room and hearing things that shouldn’t be heard.

Xie Ke often called Fu Zhiyu’s name while unconscious. Fortunately, on the day the emperor came, Xie Ke drank his medicine and fell asleep, so he didn’t say this name in front of the emperor. Recently, in the name of the need to recuperate, even Xie Lin was banished by Nong Yu, and only a few of Xie Ke’s closest people knew what was going on.

Nong Yu felt that maybe if Fu Zhiyu could come, Xie Ke would feel better, but he really couldn’t invite Wang Zhao.

Even if Xie Ke’s life was really in danger now, Fu Zhiyu didn’t care at all. Nong Yu didn’t know what kind of story had happened between the two of them that led to this situation.

Xie Ke obviously loved Wang Zhao very much, didn’t he? Maybe there was really no perfect life in this world, and people who did well in other aspects had to suffer from rocky relationships.

Several of the visiting doctors were still talented and knowledgeable. After taking a few medicines, Xie Ke woke up for a while that night.

“Zhiyu… is Zhiyu there?” He coughed twice, only to feel that his head was heavy; he tried to move his body but couldn’t, “I’ll… go find him.”

“Don’t move,” Nong Yu hurriedly went to help him, and said urgently, “Can you just let Wang Zhao go and let yourself go too? What have you become now? Do you really want to die?”

“I’m fine,” Xie Ke sat up stiffly. He just woke up, his mind wasn’t quite clear, and he muttered, “I’ll be fine. Zhiyu is still here. I’m going to see him. I won’t… leave him alone again.”

“Just lie down,” Nong Yu smelled blood again and knew that Xie Ke’s wound must have reopened. He couldn’t help but worry, “Even if I let you go, do you have the strength? Is it going to be the same as last time, running to someone else’s bed at night, and in the end fainting and being sent back by the shadow guard?”

Xie Ke struggled a few times and knew that what Nong Yu said was true. In his current state, he couldn’t even pass Nong Yu’s level.

He took a few heavy breaths; his mind seemed to be clearer, and he compromised: “You go out first and leave me alone for a while.”

As long as he didn’t go to Wang Zhao, everything else would do. Nong Yu obediently went out and closed the door behind himself.

“027, are you there?” Xie Ke coughed a few more times. He could feel the pain in his back as if he was burned by fire, and there was also a smell of blood and a taste of rust in his throat. “Zhiyu, Zhiyu, has he ever come here?”

“No,” the system voice sounded after a while, “Du Yin went to invite him, but he refused to come.”

It was expected, but Xie Ke couldn’t help feeling a little distressed. After a while, he asked again: “Is my body okay now? Is it really not working anymore?”

It took a while for the system to answer, “The vast majority of these are traumatic injuries. You have been in a coma, and the system cannot use the host’s props without the host’s command. However, when you are injured so badly, healing props generally have some side effects. The pain will be very bad. My basic functions have long been turned off by the Lord God, including pain blocking, so you can only endure it by yourself.”

“That’s okay, you can use it. It’s not the first time that the pain blocking has been shut down. I’m prepared. Just keep this body from dying,” Xie Ke breathed a sigh of relief and murmured again. “Zhiyu has suffered a lot for me, right? I didn’t know it would be like this back then…”

Before he finished speaking, the side effects of the use of props came. It was a pain like being hit by an electric current. It hurt so much that every piece of flesh in his body seemed to be stabbed by a needle. Xie Ke grabbed the quilt under him tightly, unable to make a sound.

He only felt that there was darkness in front of his eyes, and this kind of pain seemed to have no end; but Fu Zhiyu’s appearance in his mind became clearer and clearer. It made him feel that the pain all over his body was much lighter, and everything he suffered was nothing compared to this.

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“Props aren’t everything,” he heard the system remind him in the midst of such pain, “Your body has been repaired like this, and its strength is greatly reduced. It will no longer be as good as it was before. Take care of yourself and recuperate well in the meantime.”

After a few more days, when Fu Zhiyu went out to listen to the storytellers as usual, he learned that Xie Ke was getting better. The doctors said that this was a miracle from Heaven but when Fu Zhiyu heard it, he just felt that he had guessed correctly. Xie Ke would be fine after all.

However, after the Young General Xie woke up, the storytellers in the streets and alleys began to tell stories about him again. Even though there were no new ones, the girls wept with joy. Fu Zhiyu could hear it even hiding in the courtyard of the residence. It was very annoying.

Xie Ke’s waking up was something Fu Zhiyu expected, and he didn’t feel any surprise. Leaving aside his negative impression of Xie Ke, for the whole situation, as long as Xie Ke was there, the emperor’s dependence on the Xie family became greater and greater. Fu Rongye and Fu Lingxiao wouldn’t stop messing around. The more stressed they were, the more violent their moves would be. They were somewhat quiet now, but neither Fu Lingxiao nor Fu Rongye were fuel-saving lamps (meaning they were shrewd and had many tricks), and Fu Zhiyu was really looking forward to seeing what they would do in the future.

They would better not be foolish enough to involve innocent people. It would be the best if it was like in the previous life, the upper levels solving their upper-level things by themselves. Trying to force the emperor to abdicate would be good.

Fu Zhiyu had thought that Xie Ke would recuperate properly and stay away from him for a while. But on the third night, the man jumped over the wall of the residence.

His upper body was still wrapped in layers of gauze, and he began to bleed again after moving so much. Fu Zhiyu had just finished dinner, sat on the couch and played with Rongrong’s ears. When Xie Ke came in through the window, Rongrong barked a few times and his puppy face looked more serious than ever before. Standing in front of Fu Zhiyu, he tensed and let out a low growl, as if there was some monster in front of him.

“It’s okay,” Fu Zhiyu rubbed Rongrong’s head to comfort him, “Rongrong is not afraid, it’s just a strange man, he will leave soon.”

Xie Ke, who was labelled as a “strange man”, wasn’t angry at all. Instead, he smirked and started to move towards Fu Zhiyu again, not caring at all about Rongrong who opened his mouth, ready to bite him.

“Little baby, go outside and find Mingdao to play with,” Fu Zhiyu quickly patted Rongrong to calm him down, “Good boy, if you really bite him, things will be troublesome. Some people are so shameless they will use it to blackmail Wang Zhao’s residence.”

Although Rongrong was very reluctant, he still obeyed his master. He barked in warning at Xie Ke twice and stared at Xie Ke with his black eyes before leaving, as if Xie Ke was some kind of bandit.

Xie Ke: “……”

He was a little jealous when he came in and saw this scene. A dog was treated better than him. Now Zhiyu would never hug him and call him his little baby.

“What are you doing here?” Fu Zhiyu said, “Do you think you’re immortal?”

His tone was cold enough, but Xie Ke just smiled at him, focusing on a strange point: “Does Zhiyu care about me?”

“Dream on.”

Fu Zhiyu rubbed his brow. Xie Ke was really strange.

Even in the world of the book, everyone had their own behavioural logic. Now that the plot had become free, it was obvious that everyone produced behavioural changes in accordance with their own logic. The Crown Prince, the Third Prince and Emperor Qingyuan were all like that. Even Fu Rongli had his own logic and would not inexplicably act illogically.

Although Xie Ke was an actor from outside this world, he was not a psychopath, and all his actions should have had their own logic and reasons. Fu Zhiyu thought he was acting out of guilt and regret before, but now he felt that he had no explanation.

Fu Zhiyu used to think that Xie Ke was an absolutely rational person. Especially after knowing that he was an actor, this rationality was also explained in a reasonable way. But now Xie Ke…

Fu Zhiyu glanced at him, only to feel that Xie Ke’s IQ had indeed dropped a lot. Looking at him now, Rongrong was much more restrained than him.

The point was that before, he felt that Xie Ke had rebooted the world because of a moment of guilt. Anyway, he had completed the task and got the points, so he decided to make up for his regrets, just treating it as if coming back for a vacation after too much work.

But the more Xie Ke did, the more puzzled Fu Zhiyu felt.

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Props were very rare, and sometimes they were life-saving things for the actors. Even if “His Name Will Live On in History” was a super-advanced task and there were many reward points, the way Xie Ke used them, the points he earned from this world might not even cover the usage fee of one of the props.

The Qianyuan Battle was fought a year and a half into the war in his previous life, but this time it only took about eight months, and the hesitant victory in the previous life was very different from the direct win in this life. Even if Xie Ke knew the specific direction of the war, King Xidan was not a waste. He would constantly adjust his strategy according to the situation. It was not that you could do everything well if you knew the plot. Xie Ke was an actor who was from outside the world, but he was inside it now, so he had to follow the basic laws of the world.

He must have used props, and he probably used a lot of them.

If it was because of guilt and regret, was it really worth it? Moreover, this was completely contrary to the essence of Xie Ke that Fu Zhi knew.

If he could do this much for a moment of guilt and regret, and if things were like he said and he had long fallen in love with him, then why didn’t he give up a few points for Fu Zhiyu in the past? Doing it now was like picking up the sesame seeds and losing the watermelon.

Xie Ke changed too quickly, and Fu Zhiyu couldn’t adapt. He only felt that Xie Ke was a stranger in front of him and he couldn’t understand what Xie Ke was thinking.

At this moment, Xie Ke spoke again.

“Did I scare you last time? I’m sorry, Zhiyu, I’ve been gone for so long. I talked to that shepherd couple again. Originally that night, I wanted to apologise to you, not only for what happened in the previous life, but also for forcing you after I came back this time. I didn’t care then whether you liked it or not. I’m sorry.” There were no seats around Fu Zhiyu’s couch, and Xie Ke knelt in front of him, trying to catch his hand but without success. He could only look at Fu Zhiyu and say word by word what he had always wanted to say, “In the last battle, the moment I was hit by the fire bolt, I just thought about not seeing you and not saying these things to you. I was so unwilling.”

The barbarians’ fire bolts were the top hot weapon of this era. It was specifically aimed at Xie Ke. If an ordinary person was hit by it, there would probably be no bones left on the spot. Although Xie Ke was an actor and his body had been strengthened through the exchange of points, it was incredible that he could still survive in this situation.

He had spent a lot of time looking carefully at Fu Zhiyu in front of him, greedily trying to engrave everything about this person in his mind. After he hurriedly returned from the frontier, he only saw Fu Zhiyu briefly and then fainted uncontrollably. At that time, Xie Ke’s consciousness was gradually dissipating because of the pain in his back, and his eyes were blurred. He didn’t take a closer look at what his beloved looked like now. Now that he was awake, he could finally take a closer look.

Zhiyu was now eighteen years old, and some baby fat had faded from his face, but he still looked like a teenager. Today, he didn’t plan to go out. He was dressed casually and his hair wasn’t tied. He leaned on the pillow, looking lazy and beautiful.

Xie Ke had travelled through so many worlds and had seen countless beauties, but even without beauty being in the eye of the beholder, Zhiyu was one of the most beautiful people in these many worlds.

The first time he saw Fu Zhiyu, it was the accident of saving the wrong person. After Xie Ke pulled the person out of the ice lake, he felt something was wrong. He looked down and met a pair of fawn-like eyes. Those eyes stared at him without blinking, with an unconcealed affection that made Xie Ke’s heart tremble for a long time.

At that time, he thought he felt uneasy because he deviated from the plot. It was not the time for the protagonist and Fu Zhiyu to meet, so he deliberately avoided Fu Zhiyu for a while but once was still caught by him.

“Young Master Xie.” Fu Zhiyu stood in front of him, staring at him with eyes that were even more crystal clear. He was bold enough to move forward a little more when he saw Xie Ke stop, “Will you have tea with me? I have inquired, you have nothing to do this afternoon, don’t make any more excuses to refuse me.”

Xie Ke didn’t feel anything at that time, he was just extra wary, because the Fu Zhiyu in front of him was really different from the character in the plot. He didn’t have the slightest idea that this person in front of him would have such a big impact on him in the future.

Xie Ke had been an actor for many years, and he had always felt that there was really no difference between the emotional line and the plot line, it was just interacting with others anyway. It was a script, just follow it. He also didn’t understand the actors who were obsessed with a certain person in a certain world, and he didn’t understand what the desperate love described in some scripts was.

Only when it was his turn did he realise that love made people want to live and die. He had met someone like this, and Fu Zhiyu was the one he was willing to give everything for.