This place seemed to have served as a secret base for many years. The loose dirt on the ground, trampled fine and soft by travelers over the decades, had a gentle feel to it. Fine dust drifted up into the sunlight, and Shen Yixiu stood amidst the hazy beams, beaming with joy—as thrilled as an academic slacker who had somehow scored admission into Tsinghua or Peking University. She was encased in steel, after all, and had no fear of dust.
"*Ptooey!*" Han Qingyu spat out a mouthful of the fine dirt that had blown into his mouth. Clambering to his feet, he grumbled, "Good one. Just wait till I recov—"
*Thud!* He flew to the other side and slammed flat onto the ground.
"Fly?" Dangling him by his left ankle, the armored suit gave him a shake and looked down at him imperiously. "Fly, then! Fly right up into the sky!"
"..." It had been ages since anyone had bullied him like this! Han Qingyu struggled fiercely, wriggled free from the iron palm, and shot a glare back at Rusty Sister. "Fine, Shen Bucket Girl. I'll remember this."
*Thud!* He was flipped over onto his back again.
Rusty Sister seemed to be getting addicted to it.
Han Qingyu understood the feeling all too well. Back when he used to slam her around, he had been just as arrogant and hooked. What was more, slamming a suit of iron armor produced satisfying clangs and bangs, feeling like a massive home demolition project—infinitely more fun than this.
Unfortunately, the tables were turned now.
Once again, their gazes met, one high and one low. Rusty Sister tilted her head and let out a soft "Mmm~" in thought before saying earnestly, "I was just thinking... you've already committed it to memory anyway, right?"
Han Qingyu: "..."
"And you're so petty... Well, whatever, I'm definitely doomed later anyway, so I might as well smash you a few more times."
As Rusty Sister drew back her arm to swing again, Han Qingyu raised a hand and called for a timeout. Yielding for the first time, he analyzed the situation earnestly: "You're wrong, Rusty Sister. There really is a difference here. The number of times you smash me constitutes a baseline, you understand? For example, once I'm better, a hun—"
*Thud!*
Shen Yixiu asked, "A hundred what, Qingzi?"
"A hun... a hundred percent docile!"
The iron armor paused, then burst into a mechanical "kek-kek-kek" of laughter.
Rusty Sister finally let go.
After the violence, people tended to fall into a rare state of relaxation. Han Qingyu did not even bother getting up. He simply sat on the ground, looking up at her from less than two meters away with a faint smile.
A sudden wave of daze washed over him, making him feel as though time had looped back to the beginning—his recruit days, when he had first begun sparring with the iron armor. Back then, Rusty Sister had held the upper hand too, by a massive margin, and Han Qingyu was routinely pummeled and chased all over the place...
The difference was that Shen Yixiu back then had been silent and plagued by self-doubt within her steel shell, genuinely treated like a machine. Later, she had gradually found her way back to her seventeen- and eighteen-year-old self. The Rusty Sister of today was cheerful, spirited, and even mischievous on occasion.
Another person who had reclaimed his lost time alongside her, growing vibrant and cheerful, was probably Wu Xu. Sadly, he was still unconscious. If he were awake, he would most likely be sitting quietly off to the side, watching and chuckling to himself.
He was truly a child who was slowly being led astray.
"All right, I won't bully you anymore." A sense of satisfaction rang even in Rusty Sister's voice as she finished laughing. The steel hand reached out and waited for two seconds. "Don't be scared. I said I won't bully you anymore. I'll pull you up."
Han Qingyu hesitated for a moment. Considering his current condition, he figured it was best to endure for now and turn swords into plowshares, so he reached out his hand...
*Thud!* Dust billowed into the air once again.
The two stared at each other, one standing tall and the other flat on his back, eyes locked in mutual astonishment.
"If I say I didn't mean to do that, would you believe me, Qingzi?"
*Believe you? I'd believe in ghosts first!* Han Qingyu retorted internally.
"Just that one time—it felt so natural that I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry." The steel hand reached out once more. "Are you all right, Qingzi?"
Han Qingyu looked at her, then turned over and clambered up on his own.
It was not until Rusty Sister left for the mountain to look for winter pears that Han Qingyu dusted himself off, only to discover Zhe Qiuhong. Wearing a collared shirt beneath a white lab coat, she was sitting on a stone in the distant corner of another building, watching him.
Free from the doctors who usually followed her around badgering her with questions, and with only a few patients under her care, she had plenty of leisure time. She had most likely watched the entire spectacle.
*I almost forgot it was her who told Rusty Sister she could smash me around however she liked.* With that thought, Han Qingyu walked over, catching a rare glimmer of amusement in her eyes.
"Enjoying watching me get beaten up that much?!" Han Qingyu asked crossly.
Zhe Qiuhong nodded.
"You seem to hold quite a grudge against me."
Han Qingyu had noticed over the past few days that Zhe Qiuhong was not entirely incapable of showing expression. She was already chatting and laughing naturally with the others; only when she looked at him did a hostile glint appear in her eyes.
"Yes," Zhe Qiuhong admitted directly with a nod.
"Because I slapped Zhe Chunhua at the very end?"
"No. He deserved a beating. It was already merciful that you didn't kill him."
"Next time, I will kill him."
"Yes. I hope there won't be a next time," Zhe Qiuhong said.
Han Qingyu paused. "Then how on earth did I offend you?!"
Seeming to hesitate for a moment, Zhe Qiuhong slowly looked up, a murderous chill in her eyes. "You called me fat. Twice."
"Huh? Did I? Even if I did, what, do scientists care about that kind of thing too?"
Zhe Qiuhong: "..."
"Besides, you really are a bit chubby."
Zhe Qiuhong silently pulled a scalpel from her pocket. "I'm going to kill you."
***
By the ninth day, and then the tenth, Han Qingyu's recovery had slowed to a crawl that made him anxious for the first time. The anticipated molting had still not occurred. Were it not for Zhe Qiuhong's medical assessment, he would have suspected he had lost the ability entirely.
"Don't worry. Once you recover this time, you will be stronger." Inside the ward, Zhe Qiuhong finished her routine examination and put away her scalpel.
*Why does an examination require a scalpel?* As Han Qingyu was pondering this, Wen Jifei leaped up in excitement from the side.
"Stronger?! You mean Qingzi's going to get even stronger?! Holy crap, does that mean he'll jump straight to super?!"
At his outburst, everyone except Wu Xu—who remained lying quietly in a bed of source energy—grew tense with anticipation, including Han Qingyu himself.
Zhe Qiuhong swept her blank gaze over the room. "I wouldn't know. All I know is that this isn't a simple healing process. The source energy stored in his muscles seems to be remodeling... At the very least, once he recovers, his physical constitution will advance to another level."
Muscle remodeling—the concept sounded almost exaggerated! Han Qingyu's physical constitution was already monstrously strong, especially in stamina and defense... in short, he was exceptionally good at taking a beating! What would it look like if he jumped up yet another level?
"Really?!" Wen Jifei hurried forward a couple of steps and gave Han Qingyu's arm a few hard squeezes. Turning around, he asked in confusion, "It feels pretty much the same to the touch. How could you tell, Dr. Zhe? Did you feel it too?"
"No. I just made an incision in the wound on his back to look inside. The evidence confirmed my hypothesis." With that, Zhe Qiuhong walked out the door.
"..."
"No wonder that felt a little painful!"
"No wonder she needed a damn scalpel just to examine a wound!"
Han Qingyu turned around slowly and pulled up his shirt.
Rusty Sister and the others gathered around to take a look.
"It's just a tiny nick. The bleeding has already stopped," He Tangtang said.
"Yeah." Rusty Sister thought for a moment, then piped up, "Can I pry it open to take a look too? Qingzi, muscle remodeling sounds so cool."
Wen Jifei agreed, "Let's see, let's see!"
"Get lost!" "All of you, get the hell out!"
After driving them out of the room, Han Qingyu lay back down on his stomach. Turning his head, he glanced at the quiet Wu Xu beside him. "Only you still act like a human being."
Wu Xu: "Hmm? Qingzi!"
Han Qingyu watched in shock as the man bolted upright like a corpse rising from a coffin, even attempting to stand. *Riiip!* The bandages wrapped all over his body tore open entirely, shreds fluttering into the air as his freshly closed wounds ruptured, blood gushing out.
"The battle's over! It's done, it's done! We chopped him dead—Qu Zongyan is already hacked to death!" Han Qingyu scrambled off the bed and rushed over to pin him down. "Quick, call the doctor over! Wu Xu is awake!"
Twenty minutes later, Wu Xu was once again wrapped up like a zongzi.
"He is different from you. His regenerated tissues are very fragile, and his recovery period will be longer than yours. As for his combat strength, I cannot say." Zhe Qiuhong looked directly at Wu Xu.
"Hello. Nice to meet you for the first time. I am your doctor, Zhe Qiuhong. He abducted me."
Wu Xu: "..." He gave a nod.
"There's something I'd like to discuss with you—"
*Whoosh!* Han Qingyu hurled her straight out the door.
Chapter 417