Chapter 45: Are You Scared of Something

Ding! A strange electronic sound echoed throughout the dark room. The man lying on the bed shook his lashes as he forced himself to open his eyes. Dark tan eyes met with the darkness of the room, not being able to recognize anything in the first few seconds of consciousness.

Ding! There came the faint sound once again.

The patient moved in his bed, cautious in moving his arm in a thick cast. He tried to roll on his side as if looking for a certain sight.

"Ah, Jie, you're awake." A mellow and sweet voice echoed. Next to the patient was a man with rather messy hair, the strands looking layered as they formed soft downward peaks. The man had his sleeves rolled up while holding his phone down. His phone was probably the same thing that was making that noise.

Ding! He was right.

"Did I wake you up? Wait, let me turn this down." He hurriedly fiddled with his phone and muted it. After so, more messages began popping out, one after another. The man then chuckled as he put the phone down on the nightstand and went to kneel next to the bed, hand reaching out to stroke at the patient's hair. "You should sleep again and rest some more."

"Idiot, you're late. I hate this place..." Lai Mingjie reached out using his free hand, but he didn't hit the other person. He only weakly rubbed the back of his hand against the other's cheek. "I feel so hot..."

"Is it hot?" Xu Rouguang twitched. The heater was indeed on, but the room was nonetheless moderate in temperature. If he would describe it, it was comfortable. Then again, he could control the temperature of the air around him at will; he never had issues about this. He then smiled at the patient, rearranging Lai Mingjie's blanket. "Don't worry, it's just..."

"Rou... Rouguang..." The director fluttered his lashes weakly. Under the poor illumination, it was almost next to impossible to see the face he was making. However, the weak cry quickly alarmed Xu Rouguang.

His hand flew to the lamp on the nightstand, and its weak light showed him quite a nightmare. Lai Mingjie's face had grown flushed almost seconds as soon as he woke up. His eyes narrowed involuntarily as the heat coming from his own cheeks made his eyes want to close. Huffing came from the patient, hopelessly dealing with the heat.

Xu Rouguang used his hand to touch Lai Mingjie's burning forehead. His eyes widened before reassuring Lai Mingjie that everything would be okay. He then got up from the floor to press the button that called nurses for help. The general ended up spamming the button before coming back to Lai Mingjie's side.

He ran his hand over the patient, looking for anything worth a note. However, it was just his body heating up like crazy. Did Nuwa do something to him?

"Sir, what's happening?" The first nurse to arrive quickly came to see Lai Mingjie. The other nurses came to help her diagnose a problem as well. As much as Xu Rouguang could make out from their words, Lai Mingjie was running a high fever... but none knew why he was having this after two peaceful days of staying here.

Xu Rouguang had to step outside when the doctor arrived and took a look. He watched them from an open door and saw the helplessness in his Jie's eyes. Whatever happened was probably attributed to the demon king's sickly human body. Lai Mingjie was bound to be discharged later in the afternoon, and he was only taking supplements to recover his strength.

"My, my, that looks bad." Botangca showed up next to the general while he was deep in thought. She then turned to the general who was glaring in her direction. "I didn't do anything. Lai Mingjie's physical body is sickly by default. Whatever it is, it should be from his body rejecting any type of care."

"...The supplements?" Xu Rouguang asked with an unfriendly tone. Botangca behaved like it wasn't the first time it happened. He only received a nod from the woman. He then brought his eyes to his Jie, hoping that his fever would subside soon.

The night progressed to dawn as Xu Rouguang and Botangca stayed by Lai Mingjie's side. The she-demon was seated on the couch after setting up a small table and smuggling wine into the ward. She thought Lai Mingjie would be awake and pass on the night by having a little taste of heaven's wine to boost his mood. Xu Rouguang had God-Given Peaches in jars with him since it would make Lai Mingjie feel better. Both of them brought illegal items into the ward, but Lai Mingjie ended up running a fever and sleeping through the night.

"I didn't think I'd be wasting my time here tonight." Botangca chuckled as she enjoyed her bottled water—which was actually wine. "Then again, looking at the bright side, it's so serene in here." She looked around the room. "This hospital had seen so many deaths as well. I feel at home."

"You'd be a bad nurse." Xu Rouguang snorted softly. "Women wouldn't want you touching their husbands or sons."

"How could you be so two-faced?" Botangca shifted to her side, facing Xu Rouguang who had his eyes gazing at Lai Mingjie. "You lost your memories so I might as well not base you from what I knew. You act so nice and sweet towards Emodao and the humans, but you know nothing but hate towards me. The other immortals and other demons suffer from that bad gaze as well. Tell me, Xu Rouguang, which one is the real you? The man who hates everyone or the saint on earth?"

Xu Rouguang sighed. "How is this important or even relevant to you?"

The siren huffed before drinking from the bottle. "I am tasked in finding out what happened to you. If I don't know much about you, I might be missing clues."

"You only needed to see if the ritual to pull someone out of the Abyss is real and if it was feasible to be done at this age." The general didn't spare her even a glance. "Emodao values you, and so I shouldn't create a rift between us. However, I had always felt an incredible dislike of beautiful women."

"Hmm, makes sense. Especially with that stunt Poison Flower pulled." Botangca chuckled. "I bet you were so angry when she caught Emodao in a much simpler and faster way. Also, it's all because she's a gorgeous imperial princess. Hehe, Emodao wouldn't pass on that."

"Who?"

"Princess Poison Flower. She could poison any man's heart with her words and manipulate them to do her bidding." Botangca shrugged. "She's very alluring. Too bad she disappeared into the night and was never found again. Some said she was taken by some demon and eaten or played to death." She put down the bottle she just finished. "If it was me, I would eat her whole, too."

Xu Rouguang's eyes narrowed as he wanted to ask for some other things about this Princess Poison Flower. There was a chance that this maiden could have been the phantom princess. However, the light began to seep through the blinds of the ward. The general was secretly looking forward to this sun as his forty-eight-hour-deadline had come.

He only regarded Botangca once. "I'm heading out now. Make sure you don't get seen by his parents."

"Why? Are you scared of something?" She leaned against the chair after storing her bottles. Botangca then crossed her legs slowly as if mocking the general. A smile was on her face as she kept on staring at those glaring eyes.

"Secretary Xu, are you here?" Yu Shenqi's voice echoed as she entered the room. She then landed her gaze on Botangca and Xu Rouguang. Her sharp eyes only dimmed as she feigned a smile. "Oh, Miss Bo, what a surprise."