I raised stunning young ladies, but they all wanted to possess me.

Gu Yan quickly returned the greeting.

"Commander Wei, you're too kind."

"You are a senior, having guarded Shanglu for so many years."

"I will have to rely on you a lot in military matters."

Wei Changfeng waved his hand, a tired but composed smile on his face.

"Don't call me 'senior' or anything like that."

"At this stage of the war, the most capable should step up."

"Your mental fortitude during the Battle of Shanglu Beach was witnessed by the entire war zone."

"I trust you with the troops from these eight corps."

Chen Sinian stood aside without saying a word.

His gaze remained fixed on Gu Yan, as if confirming something or recalling something.

Gu Yan could feel the weight of that gaze.

"Uncle Chen."

Gu Yan turned around and bowed slightly to him.

"thank you."

"Thank you to the Chen family as well."

Chen Sinian waved his hand, his lips moved, but he only said three words in the end.

"Come back alive."

Just then, the door to the command post was gently pushed open.

Pei Youyi stood at the door, a few grains of sand blown in by the sea breeze clinging to her light gray trench coat.

She first nodded to Wei Changfeng and Chen Sinian to greet them, then walked to Gu Yan's side and said something in a low voice.

"Xiao Yan, something seems off with Yuzuru Hanyu."

Go and see her.

"It seems her old injury has flared up again."

Gu Yan's heart sank.

He nodded apologetically to Chen Sinian and Wei Changfeng.

"Please forgive me, I have some urgent business to attend to."

Wei Changfeng waved his hand.

"Go ahead, go ahead."

"The handover is not urgent; the staff team will be ready to assist at any time."

Chen Sinian nodded without saying anything more.

Gu Yan followed Pei Youyi out of the command post.

The sea breeze rushed towards him, making his coat flutter loudly.

He walked quickly, almost running across the camp.

Yuzuru was placed in a separate tent at the far east end of the camp, a quiet corner that the medical officer had specially prepared for her.

Two apprentice shrine maidens from the Chiyomiya family were standing outside the tent. When they saw Gu Yan coming over, they both moved aside.

Gu Yan lifted the curtain and went inside.

Only a very dim emergency light was on inside the tent.

Yuzuru curled up on his cot, the hem of his plain white kimono soaked with cold sweat.

Her face was frighteningly pale, her lips were bloodless, and beads of sweat streamed down her face.

Her pheasant sword lay beside the bed, the dark red runes on its scabbard flickering erratically, like a candle flame that could be extinguished at any moment.

"Hanyu."

Gu Yan walked a few steps to the bedside, knelt down on one knee, and reached out to touch her forehead.

It was terribly hot.

Her body temperature was abnormally high, and the fluctuations of spiritual energy within her body were chaotic, like a storm rampaging through her meridians.

"Mr. Gu..."

Yuzuru opened his eyes with difficulty.

His dark brown pupils had lost their usual clarity, becoming veiled with a sickly mist.

"I'm fine."

"I'm just a little tired."

"You're still saying you're fine even after all this?"

Gu Yan's voice was very low, but it couldn't hide the urgency in it.

He held her hand; her fingers were icy cold, but her palm was burning hot.

"Is it a wound left when you killed that calamity?"

"Why didn't you say so before?"

Yuzuru shook his head slightly, a very faint smile appearing on his lips.

"What good would it do to say it?"

"There is no medicine and no manpower at the front line."

"I cannot let the soldiers see their commander fall."

"So I just kept enduring it."

"I really can't take it anymore tonight."

Pei Youyi stood at the tent entrance, looking at the two people inside.

Her brows were furrowed, and she hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Xiao Yan, Yu Sheng's injuries cannot be suppressed by ordinary medicine and spiritual healing."

"The core of her spiritual energy suffered a backlash when she killed an SSS-level calamity, and now the backlash is eroding her meridians."

"If this continues, she will lose all her spiritual power, and perhaps even..."

She didn't finish speaking, but Gu Yan understood.

"I know how to treat it."

Gu Yan's voice was calm, but Pei Youyi noticed that the knuckles of his hand holding Yu Sheng's hand had turned white.

Yuzuru looked at him, a very faint trace of panic flashing in his deep brown pupils.

"Mr. Gu, that won't work."

"Your body hasn't recovered yet."

"In that case, you will..."

"Your current state makes me even sadder."

Gu Yan interrupted her, her tone gentle yet unquestionable.

He reached out and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, tucking her sweat-dampened hair behind her ear.

"You've saved me so many times."

"This time, let me save you."

Yuzuru looked at him, his lips moving slightly.

She wanted to say something, but in the end she just nodded very lightly.

Her eyes reddened, but no tears fell.

Gu Yan stood up and walked to the tent entrance.

Pei Youyi stepped aside to let him out.

He took two steps, then stopped and looked back at Pei Youyi.

"Sister Youyi."

"Could you please keep watch outside for a while?"

"Don't let anyone in."

Pei Youyi's eyelashes trembled slightly.

She looked at Gu Yan's back and nodded very, very lightly.

"Go."

"I'm here."

"Nobody will go in."

Gu Yan went back into the tent and carefully tied the curtain.

Then he went back to the bedside, sat down, and took Yuzuru's hand.

Her hands were still so cold, so cold it made one's heart race.

His other hand rested on her back, his palm pressed against the sweat-soaked kimono.

He could feel the spiritual energy within her body was like countless mad snakes, rampaging through her meridians.

The backlash had already invaded the edge of her spiritual core, spreading towards the center little by little like a black tide.

"It will be a little uncomfortable."

He lowered his head and whispered very softly in her ear.

"But you trust me."

"Like being in a sacred spring."

Leave everything to me.

Yuzuru closed his eyes.

Her eyelashes trembled slightly, like two petals fluttering in the wind.

Then she gave a very soft "hmm" and stretched out her arms to wrap around Gu Yan's neck.

Gu Yan lowered his head and kissed her lips.

Unlike the gentle kiss on the beach before, this time he infused it with a trace of the Mirror Flower Seal's spiritual power.

A rainbow of light shimmered very faintly between their lips, like a lighthouse shining in the darkness.

His spiritual power transformed into countless tiny threads, seeping from her lips into her meridians, chasing after the rampaging spiritual energy, wrapping around it one by one, and soothing it little by little.

The violent backlash within her body seemed to be slowly melted away by this gentle power, receding from the depths of her meridians like the receding tide.

Yuzuru's body trembled slightly in his arms.

She could feel the chaotic spiritual energy being gradually sorted out and put back into place, like a tangled mess being patiently untangled.

The feeling was like when he touched my back for the first time in the spiritual spring.

Gentle and peaceful, as if someone had lit a lamp deep within her consciousness.

She slowly relaxed and leaned softly into Gu Yan's arms.

Her lips moved away from his and pressed against the crook of his neck, her breath hot enough to make Gu Yan's skin tingle.

She could feel her spiritual core stabilizing again, and the backlash of the black tide was receding.

But an even stronger feeling is something else entirely.