You're Strong But Now You're Mine
Chapter 33: When Will the Cycle of Revenge End?

Chapter 33: Chapter 33: When Will the Cycle of Revenge End?

Star Engraving Province Medical Bureau, Phototherapy Room.

Le Yuxin lay on the bed, four convex high-beam lamps blasting his battered body, while two Medical Officers kneaded and pressed his flesh as if his body were malleable clay, reshaping it back together in their hands.

It was unclear how much time passed before the two Medical Officers finally let out heavy breaths, grabbed towels to mop their sweaty brows, then signaled the apprentices to turn off the lights.

"Is it over?" Le Yuxin, eyes tightly shut on the bed, suddenly asked.

The Medical Officers were startled. Officer Yu asked in astonishment, "When did you wake up?"

"I never slept at all." Le Yuxin opened his eyes, then drawled, "The Sleep Broth doesn’t work on me."

"So you were awake for the entire reconstruction surgery?" Officer Yu’s face was filled with disbelief, "Didn’t you feel any pain?"

Reconstruction surgery was the most commonly performed procedure in Medical Officer surgery. Using the penetrative qualities of intense light, the Medical Officers employed Healing Battle Techniques to knead the body’s surface, reconnecting torn blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and even bones. Simply put, they used Light Energy to temporarily fill in the patient’s "deficits," tricking the body into thinking "all’s well" so bodily functions would resume as normal, resulting in rapid cell proliferation and forced healing.

Body: I feel like I got this.

Brain: No, you— (smack!)

Light: Exactly, you got this, now walk it off (hands over a cane), see, you’re fine (snatches the cane away)!

The procedure’s effects were extraordinary, but the flaw was that being flooded with light inflicted excruciating pain on the patient, sometimes even killing them. So, in the past, reconstruction surgery always required physically knocking the patient out—just straight-up unconscious.

Modern Medical Officers discovered a plant with potent sleep-inducing abilities; when boiled into broth, it would put patients into a deep, harmless coma. This Sleep Broth became the standard for reconstruction surgery. As for anesthetics, it wasn’t that they didn’t exist, but no one used them—they invariably damaged the Spirit to some extent, possibly even permanently lowering Spiritual Power. For the people of Huizhao, who prized Spiritual Power above all, such drugs got tossed aside without a thought.

So it wasn’t surprising Officer Yu was so shocked at Le Yuxin—after all, he knew this patient was Captain Qian Yuliu of the Statistical Department’s First Special Operations Unit, who, prior to being admitted, had just taken down three and killed one, an absolute terror of a man.

Patients flipping out and slaughtering Medical Officers from pain was, honestly, not all that rare.

With that in mind, Officer Yu broke out in a cold sweat, feeling like he’d just waltzed through the gates of the Underworld.

Le Yuxin, oblivious to Officer Yu’s panic, sat up and stretched a bit, grinning, "Didn’t hurt, doc, your technique’s great."

Officer Yu’s brow twitched wildly—he knew exactly how bad Qian Yuliu’s injuries were. Two penetrating wounds, thirty-eight severe impacts; injuries that’d be rare even in all of Star Engraving Province. Fixing him up took everything he had.

But now, with the surgery just finished, Qian Yuliu was sitting up and stretching? Did he not feel those shredded muscles and nerves howling in protest?

And he said it didn’t hurt? Officer Yu sometimes gave himself reconstructions for minor injuries—even just from kneeling on a washboard—and the phototherapy stings alone could make his scalp tingle.

Qian Yuliu’s whole body was basically stuffed full of light just now!

That must feel like eating durian king fruit—shell included!

So this was the kind of savage the Statistical Department churned out?

Not just ruthless to others—more ruthless to himself!

Officer Yu adopted an even gentler, more respectful tone, "Help Captain Qian back to the inpatient ward. No food for three hours after the procedure. Captain Qian, are you feeling any discomfort?"

"No, you’ve troubled yourself enough, thank you."

Le Yuxin sat in a wheelchair as a young female Medical Officer wheeled him to the inpatient ward. With no elevators, Medical Bureaus were basically all two stories—the second floor was mostly classrooms and offices, while the first floor held the treatment, surgery, and inpatient areas to make things easier for patients.

Along the way, Le Yuxin barely saw any patients. After all, only a handful ever got treated by the Medical Bureau, and unless you were nobility or in critical condition, you had no right to a bed here.

But almost all illnesses could be healed by surgery and massage here, so there was rarely any need for inpatient care. And since the Huizhao people had high disease resistance due to Spiritual Power reinforcement, disease, even with scarce medical resources, never became a cataclysm.

As Le Yuxin was crossing the Medical Bureau’s courtyard, he ran into a group.

Familiar faces.

Gao Jin, Xia Lingguo, Lin Xue, and the others were shuffling toward the exit, all looking dejected. Trailing behind was a plump, pampered-looking middle-aged woman leading a little boy by the hand, sniffling into her handkerchief the whole time.

Gao Jin saw Le Yuxin and his face changed instantly. He opened his mouth as if to launch a machine gun volley of lectures and curses, but for once, repressed the urge. Turning aside, he kept silent and quickened his pace.

The others also wordlessly left, but a young man by the middle-aged woman involuntarily stammered when he saw Le Yuxin, "Qian Yuliu!"

Gao Jin cursed inwardly, quickly grabbing the middle-aged woman’s arm, "Aunt Lu, calm down, don’t do anything rash!"

Lin Xue tugged at her too, "Aunt Lu, let’s just go home, okay?"

But to their surprise, the middle-aged woman didn’t lose control, just stared blankly at Le Yuxin, asking, "Are you Qian Yuliu?"

Le Yuxin signaled the wheelchair-pushing Medical Officer to stop, nodded, "That’s me."

Lin Xue, Gao Jin, and the rest watched the middle-aged woman anxiously, but instead, she slowly squatted down, hugging the bewildered little boy, "Xiao Hui, do you see that man clearly?"

Xiao Hui looked at Le Yuxin, nodded hard, but said nothing.

"You must remember, it was this man who killed your father, who killed your uncle. Don’t forget his name—your enemy is called Qian Yuliu, you must remember this name, and when you grow up, you must, you must get... revenge... sob..."

The middle-aged woman soon broke down sobbing. Xiao Hui, flustered, reached out to wipe her tears, "Mom, don’t cry, I’ll be good, Mom, please don’t cry..."

Everyone’s eyes were rimmed red; Gao Jin’s tears cascaded down his face. And just then, a voice sounded, totally out of tune:

"When will this cycle of vengeance ever end~"

Gao Jin completely lost it, roaring, "Shut up! Anyone can say that, but you, Qian Yuliu, have no right to!"

"Truth is truth no matter who says it, and a dog’s fang is still a dog’s fang no matter whose mouth it falls from. Don’t let hatred eat your brain—appreciate your enemy, you’ll gain more that way."

Le Yuxin said calmly, "Do you really think it’s right for a child to grow up with hate in his heart? He can’t even read yet, and you want him to learn ’revenge’? He could’ve had a happy childhood—are you really going to destroy it?"

"It wasn’t us who destroyed his happy childhood, it was you!" Gao Jin shouted, "You killed his uncle, Lin Jinyao, then killed his father, Lin Xue’en! Don’t you feel the slightest bit of shame?!"

"Shh." Le Yuxin pressed a finger to his lips, "This is a hospital. Keep it down."

After a beat, he smiled, "No, not a bit of shame."

"You—"

"I’m a patient, I’m not going to argue with you. Some people just can’t take good advice. The world’s already this unstable—if you’re widowed and orphaned, you should cling to whatever happiness you can, not chase fool’s revenge."

Le Yuxin’s lips curled, "If you’re dead set on revenge, you’d better hurry up, because... you’re about to lose your chance."

Lin Xue’en was the second man Le Yuxin killed after crossing over to this world.

Funny thing was, the first was Lin Jinyao.

Both brothers died by his hand, and Le Yuxin couldn’t help but sense some cosmic joke behind it all.

"But as for Lin Xue’en, that traitor," Le Yuxin felt not the slightest guilt. "If the Lin family resented or wanted him dead, he couldn’t care less—in any case, they’d never get the chance."

In all honesty, with Qian Yuliu’s current status, it’d take a damn miracle for him to survive another year. That kid wouldn’t even be grown up for over a decade; by then, Qian Yuliu would either be pushing up daisies or long since vindicated—when would their revenge ever come?

Thinking it over, an insider traitor like Qian Yuliu dying quietly was the most likely outcome. That’s why he told them—not to waste time chasing revenge.

"You might not even get the chance to come after me. I could be dead before you try!"

But to everyone else, his heartfelt warning sounded like something else entirely. Gao Jin’s face changed, "Qian Yuliu, are you threatening to hurt a widow and her child too? Are you even human?!"

Damn it, if only he could do some resurrection jutsu and bring back Lin Jinyao and Lin Xue’en to prove that he, in fact, was White Night’s embedded spy, and Lin Xue’en the Statistical Department’s double agent. Then Gao Jin could crawl on his knees and sing "Conquest" for him.

"Yeah, but I don’t think that’s illegal, is it? Go ahead, call the authorities, let’s see if the Imprisonment Department comes after me." Le Yuxin lounged around, "What, mad? If you’ve got the guts, try killing me—come on~"

"You, you—"

"I just love watching you rage so helplessly—can’t beat me, can’t argue with me. Why don’t you go farm sweet potatoes at home or something?" Le Yuxin grinned with satisfaction. If he couldn’t unmask himself and slap Gao Jin in the face, he’d settle for trash talk to collect some interest.

Gao Jin’s face turned beet red and suddenly he coughed up blood, startling everyone. He pushed off anyone who tried to help, walking out of the Medical Bureau in silent misery—seems he’d finally learned not to go head-to-head with Le Yuxin.

Xia Lingguo gave Le Yuxin one last look, then left without a word, leading the others away.

Le Yuxin had no interest in chit-chat, signaling the still-cautious female Medical Officer to keep pushing his wheelchair toward the inpatient ward.

Lin Xue turned back to look at Le Yuxin’s retreating form, then suddenly said, "Xia Lingguo, take Aunt Lu and Xiao Hui home. I have something to do."

With that, and amidst everyone’s surprise, she hurried to catch up to Le Yuxin’s wheelchair.

"Qian Yuliu, I’d like to ask you something."

"Lo—go on." Le Yuxin almost blurted out a joke, but thought better of it after a second.

"Why did you kill my second uncle?" Lin Xue frowned slightly, staring at Le Yuxin, and gently asked, "Was it because of the gunshot wound you took?"

Back then, Lin Xue saw Le Yuxin grab her uncle by the throat and smash his head in, right in front of her.

"Losing both beloved relatives in succession, Lin Xue’s mind went blank. Sorrow and remorse swelled in her chest, but during the rush to the Medical Bureau, she’d caught a glimpse of Qian Yuliu’s gun wound."

"Qian Yuliu didn’t have that injury before his three earlier battles, and her uncle never used a firearm, so the wound had to come from an assassin."

"What’s more, in the first battles Qian Yuliu never fought to kill, but suddenly, after a few exchanges with her uncle, his killing intent exploded. The inconsistency made Lin Xue suspect there was much more to the story."

"Even his remarks earlier sounded odd—on the surface, pure trash talk, but on second thought, almost like genuine advice."

"So, for a moment just now, Lin Xue was seized by a sudden whim—maybe call it a sixth sense. She decided she had to confront her father’s killer for an answer."

"Yes," he said.

Lin Xue’s eyes widened; her legs trembled. "She could feel she was about to hear something that would shatter her worldview."

Le Yuxin shrugged, "Getting shot at would piss anyone off. So when there was some old bastard right in front of me, I just kind of went all in, you know what I mean? Who knew his head was that fragile?"

The young female Medical Officer gave a shudder, looking askance at Lin Xue, thinking, No wonder he’s the Statistical Department’s Captain Qian—still so cocky in a wheelchair. He’s not even worried someone’s gonna tip him right out of it?

But Lin Xue didn’t get angry, as the Medical Officer expected. She only stared at Le Yuxin for a while, then suddenly asked, "So why didn’t you kill me? I had my sword sheath pointed right at your chest—I truly meant to kill you, and you knew it. Why didn’t you twist my neck?"

"Because I want your body," Le Yuxin thought to himself.

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