The Scum Is A ***

He Shun's face is pale and his eyes are red due to his tears he is suppressing as to not look shameful. He looked at Qi Lan's face that is pale. He Shun's heart is full of panic. Qi Lan is unconscious because of blood loss.

"Don't panic. The wound is not that serious." Wen Yan told He Shun who is on the verge of tears.

"Yeah. It is just some claw marks." Li Yan said as he helped Cui Xiao and Fei Yinzi apply salve on Qi Lan's wounds so that his wounds would not leave scars.

He already have an ugly and big scar on his back, which is really terrifying just to look at. It makes one think of what Qi Lan had gone through, and how much was he in pain back then, when he had this scar?

"Why aren't you thinking that He Shun is crying because of Qi Lan's scary scar?" Tang Li asked.

"Shut up!" Li Yan and Wen Wen looked at him.

He Shun choked back a sob. "It was me… he must have been hurt because he saved me earlier…" he said as his hands trembled when he tried to touch Qi Lan. In the end, he retracted his hands. He doesn't deserve to touch the other, much less just look at Qi Lan.

"Come on. Even I would also save you earlier." Tang Li said as he sympathetically patted He Shun's back to comfort him.

He Shun sniffled as he took out a magic pill and fed it to Qi Lan again to ensure that Qi Lan wasn't poisoned by the demon that clawed him earlier. Who knows which demon is hiding poison? They can't be so careless.

As Cheng Sheng said, 'an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure'. In other words, it is better to try to keep a bad thing from happening than it is to fix the bad thing once it has happened. In case Qi Lan was really poisoned and the poison has to infiltrate his blood yet, He Shun has to give Qi Lan an anti-poison magic pill in advance. This is one of their sect's treasures, since this anti-poison magic pill of theirs can repel any types of poisons.

This is what his father, He Run, told him, and gave him the magic pill before he entered the third stage of the competition. He Shun doesn't know what his father will say if he sees him giving the magic pill to Qi Lan… but, He Shun knows that this is the right thing, for Qi Lan has saved his life, and for many times!

"What should we do now? Qi Lan is down." Li Yan said as he helped Fei Yinzi bandage Qi Lan's wounds.

"We should take a rest first and formulate our next plan." Wen Yan answered.

"En." Tang Li agreed. "That was a tough battle earlier… I really thought that I was a goner!" he said and sighed as he patted his chest. He was given a scare earlier. "Those demons are too aggressive!" he told them.

"Yeah…" they nodded in agreement.

"The demons are really stronger this time… after all, they are the ones left." Fei Yinzi said.

"Xiao-shijie, you weren't scared earlier, were you?" Wen Wen asked as he sat beside Cui Xiao and hugged his knees. "I was." He sighed.

"I wasn't." Cui Xiao answered.

"Why weren't you scared?" Wen Wen asked. After all, those demons can take their lives, and, most of all, are ugly and disgusting with their saliva dripping from their lips.

"Because I trust them." Cui Xiao answered.

"Huh?" Wen Wen blinked as he stared at her.

Cui Xiao's expression is indifferent compared to her elder sister Cui Xiang's expression which was always gentle. Thus, even if they are twins and are very similar in their face, their expression distinguish them from the other.

However, they are still twins, after all. No matter how different they are in terms of personality and the way they dress, as well as behave, Cui Xiang and Cui Xiao have one thing in common: their gazes. Cui Xiang and Cui Xiao have gentle gazes, despite how indifferent Cui Xiao's expression is. And her expression, actually, is due to her inability to express her emotions, since she doesn't know how.

"I trust Er Zi, Yan-shixiong… as well as the others." Cui Xia said as she looked at Wen Yan talking to Fei Yinzi, Tang Li, Li Yan and He Shen who are choking back his sobs as he sat beside Qi Lan who was lying face-down with the ground covered in blanket.

"'trust'…" Wen Wen muttered as he looked at his elder brother, Fei Yinzi and the others talking.

"En." Cui Xiao nodded. "We feel scared because of insecurity, no matter in which situation." She said. "Be it being scared of the dark, it was lack of security of light, or not having someone to accompany you in the darkness. Or, being scared of loneliness… it is because you lack love… you lack the security of someone, which is their proof that they also care, or love, you." She explained.

Wen Wen's eyes widened in shock as he looked at Cui Xiao. "Xiao-shijie…" he muttered.

Not only that this is the first time he has heard Cui Xiao talking this long, he was also surprised that Cui Xiao could say these words. It is not that he is underestimating Cui Xiao. In fact, he is quite afraid of her. He is surprised that she could say these words because he thinks that Cui Xiao shouldn't be familiar with emotions since she always wore an expressionless face.

But, now, Wen Wen found out that Cui Xiao actually knows more about emotions than him! Cui Xiao is hiding deeply!

"Xiao-shijie…" he called as he lowered his head.

"What?" Cui Xiao answered as she turned to look at him.

Another common thing between her and her elder sister Cui Xiang is that both of them are patient people. Not only because mages need to be patient in alchemy, as 'haste makes waste' is their motto, according to Cheng Sheng. Cui Xiang is patient because she is gentle. As for Cui Xiao, she is patient because… she is slow.

Slow to react, and thus slow to response.

"Xiao-shijie… I…" Wen Wen spoke as he took a deep breath.

"… problem?" Cui Xiao asked as she stared at him.

Wen Wen nodded as an answered. Even if Cui Xiao is a slow person, she is sharp! Or else, Cheng Sheng wouldn't raise her to be a tactician.

"En… I – " Wen Wen muttered as he lowered his gaze and stared at the pebbls by their feet. "I… feel confused lately." He confessed.

"… 'confused'? About what?" Cui Xiao asked.

"Confused… about what I feel." Wen Wen answered.

"… what do you feel?" Cui Xiao asked.

"Right now… I feel – " Wen Wen spoke as he raised his head and looked at Fei Yinzi's back. "I feel… flustered." He answered as his cheeks reddened. He immediately lowered his head to hide his blushing cheeks. "I feel nervous when he is near, especially when he approaches me and talks to me." He said. "I act calm towards him as to not show what I feel or reveal my thoughts. But, I… I really feel…" he took a deep breath.

Cui Xiao fell silent as she looked at the flowing clear water of the stream where fishes underwater can be seen swimming and sometimes leaping out of the water. "For one to feel nervous of the other… it means that you must have done something that is worthy of feeling guilty." She said.

"'something'? 'guilty'?" Wen Wen muttered as his eyes widened. Then, his face paled when he remembered how he treated Fei Yinzi under xiao Bao's and xiao Ling's instruction.

Not long later and his pale face flushed red.

Cui Xiao looked at him. "Can you tell me what did you do?" she asked.

"I… but, at that time, it was necessary…" Wen Wen stammered.

Cui Xiao stared at him. "Cheng-shibo said that there are two ways to determine what you feel." She said.

Wen Wen looked at her. "To determine what I feel?" he asked.

Cui Xiao nodded. "En." She muttered. "The first way is to think it with your brain. The second way is to feel it with your heart." She told him.

Wen Wen's forehead furrowed. "What does this mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"The former is to see it objectively. The latter is to see it subjectively." Cui Xiao answered.

"'objectively'… 'subjectively'…" Wen Wen muttered, feeling dizzy.

"If you use these two, then you will reach in one answer." Cui Xiao said.

"How can there only be one answer when there are two methods?" Wen Wen asked in confusion.

"Because, if you have reached one conclusion – " Cui Xiao looked at him in the eyes. " – then that means that the answer that you have is correct.." She told him. 

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