Yes, I did all of this!

He knelt on the ground in the evening, breathing heavily.

"Still unwilling to give up?" A voice rang out, not from the surroundings, but from within Yuhi's own heart.

"I was about to give up..." Xi Ri replied in a low voice, her voice hoarse and her eyes weak, but she still bit her lower lip tightly: "But I still want to confirm, if Duanmu Mo is still alive, I have no reason to be here!"

Exhausted, the body squeezed out its last strength, and Xi Ri struggled on—and then, a faint sound began to emerge:

"Mr. Duanmu, where is Cangyi?"

"gone."

"What about Senior Xia Yan...?"

"Don't worry, she's just weak. Let her rest a little longer, and she'll wake up soon... Wait, she's about to wake up!"

The surrounding scenery gradually blurred, and Xia Yan finally felt a faint light emanating from her eyes. Her eyelashes trembled slightly, and finally, Xia Yan opened her eyes.

—The faces of Duanmu Mo and Yu Zhi came into view.

"You're awake? Are you alright?"

Faced with Duanmu Mo's question, Xia Yan lowered her gaze and looked at the clothes on his chest.

It had a noticeable hole in it, with glaring bloodstains around the hole, but no signs of injury could be seen inside the hole.

"That's great..." Xia Yan's body, which should have been devoid of any strength, surged with power, and she raised her hand, gripping Duanmu Mo's clothes tightly.

Despite Xia Yan tugging at his clothes, Duanmu Mo was pulled down by her and hugged by her.

Xia Yan buried her face in Duanmu Mo's chest, feeling his breath, and tears streamed down her face again uncontrollably.

"This isn't a hallucination, right...? This time it must be real, right—?"

"Don't worry, I'm right here." Feeling Xia Yan sobbing in his arms, Duanmu Mo raised his hand and soothed her head.

"If..." she said, tightly embracing Duanmu Mo's chest.

"Don't blame yourself too much. It was all a weirdo's conspiracy. In the end, you were the one who saved me, weren't you?"

Duanmu Mo placed his hand on her head: "Okay, let go now. You need to take your medicine to recover."

"No." Xia Yan didn't hesitate at all. Instead, she pulled Duanmu Mo into her arms and said in a low voice, "I'm so scared... What if you just leave and disappear?"

The gentle smile on Duanmu Mo's face remained unchanged:

"Don't worry, I won't—if it really doesn't work, you can just hold my hand while you take your medicine."

"No." Xia Yan still refused, tightly hugging Duanmu Mo around the waist: "I'm resting now."

—So troublesome...

Duanmu Mo took a deep breath: "You can't rest like this. Listen to me, you need proper rest."

"......Um."

Seemingly sensing the warmth of Duanmu Mo's palm, she sat up.

"..."

With a complex expression, Yu Zhi Duanmu Mo spoke.

"Drink."

Duanmu Mo raised the bowl, wanting Xia Yan to hold it.

However, Xia Yan opened her mouth, revealing her slender neck, and raised her head, saying, "You feed me."

"..."

Seeing Xia Yan's dependent look, Duanmu Mo suddenly felt a bit like taking a tough stance and making Xia Yan do it herself, just to see what kind of expression she would have after he scolded her.

But this is just wishful thinking, since Xia Yan's attitude is most likely the work of Duanmu Mo himself.

Since it was something he had done himself, Duanmu Mo felt embarrassed to cause trouble and could only let her snuggle up to him as he fed her the bowl.

"Hmm..."

Xia Yan closed her eyes and slowly swallowed the medicinal soup as Duanmu Mo fed her. Her slender neck contracted, drawing attention.

"call......"

After a long while, Xia Yan lowered her eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

She leaned over and unceremoniously rested her body against Duanmu Mo.

Even with this gesture, she did not let go of Duanmu Mo's hand, holding it tightly the whole time.

"......What are you doing?"

"I don't want you to leave," Xia Yan said softly, sensing Duanmu Mo's presence.

Duanmu Mo sighed and said helplessly, "Alright, then you should rest well."

"Um......"

Smelling Duanmu Mo's scent, Xia Yan's breathing gradually calmed down.

With her eyes closed, she said softly:

"I'm so scared... Please don't hate me for this."

"Don't worry, I'm right here. You can sleep peacefully, and your injuries will be healed after a good night's rest."

"No......"

Xia Yan said this, but her expression had already relaxed. After slowly finishing that one word, she leaned close to Duanmu Mo and fell asleep.

After seeing her asleep, Duanmu Mo breathed a sigh of relief and laid her back on the bed.

"Indeed, it was the right thing to prepare some sleep aids."

Prying Xia Yan's tightly clenched hand open, Duanmu Mo's furrowed brows relaxed once more. Unconsciously, she turned over and hugged her trench coat to her chest.

He then turned to look at Yu Zhi, who had been hesitant to speak since earlier, and said directly:

"You seem to have something you want to ask. Go downstairs and say it."

"Um......"

Grabbing two sundaes at random, Duanmu Mo and Yu Zhi went downstairs one after the other.

Duanmu Mo:

"Mr. Duanmu... what exactly happened?"

"This one?"

Duanmu Mo casually handed a sundae to Yu Zhi, then picked up his own and started eating.

"It's complicated, but to put it simply, tonight I was lured to the vicinity of Xia Yan's house by a request from a strange person. The strange person used a trick to make Xia Yan severely injure me."

"Huh?"

"They should have succeeded in their scheme, but when I woke up, I found myself completely unharmed. Although I didn't understand the situation, I decided to leave first to avoid being a burden to you, and that's how I ran into you—it's that simple."

—Is it really that simple?

Yu Zhi could sense that the injuries Duanmu Mo described could not be described as "serious injuries." According to Xia Yan's words, the strange man must have made her hallucinate before attacking.

The magical girl's attack was merciless, and judging from Duanmu Mo's chest, it was undoubtedly a fatal blow.

Yu Zhi wouldn't take her anger out on Xia Yan, but once she understood the extent of Duanmu Mo's injuries, she couldn't help but feel a pang of fear.

"Mr. Duanmu, why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"

Yu Zhi put down the sundae; she had no appetite for it now. Her voice trembled slightly as she walked over and couldn't help but look at the hole in Duanmu Mo's chest, even reaching out to touch the area, but she couldn't see any wound.

"Because this isn't the time to talk about these things."

Duanmu Mo said matter-of-factly, "Besides, Cangyi just told me that it was Xi Ri who awakened a new power and healed me. Now I'm fine, so let's just pretend this didn't happen."

"How can you pretend it never happened...?"

Yu Zhi looked at Duanmu Mo in disbelief as he rubbed her head hard.

"Don't worry, I know my own body best. After all, I cherish life the most."

“But…” Looking at Duanmu Mo’s body, Yu Zhi’s eyes were filled with confusion.

—What's going on? This feeling of being the only one left behind...

"Alright, alright, it's getting late, you should go back to sleep too."

“I…” Yu Zhi opened her mouth, hesitated for a moment, and finally made up her mind: “No—I want to stay here too.”

"What's going on... Why do you guys like spending the night here so much?"

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Mo sighed and asked, rubbing his forehead in exasperation.

"Consider it taking care of Senior Xia Yan!"

"Just consider it?"

"Ah—" Yuzhi didn't know why she said that. She panicked for a moment and quickly waved her hand: "It's nothing, it's just... going back to the apartment so late, the landlord will be suspicious."

"Hmm... that's fine too."

Duanmu Mo agreed with her reasoning, nodded, and patted her head: "Well then, it's time for bed. Let's sleep on the sofa tonight."

"I see!"

Yu Zhi was immediately overjoyed and followed Duanmu Mo upstairs: "Well then, excuse me!"

"Sunset, Blazing Wings, Azure Wings, is there something about my house that attracts magical girls?"

Adhering to the spirit of not wasting anything, Duanmu Mo quickly finished two sundaes, washed up, and then threw two blankets onto the two sofas.

"I'm afraid it's not the house's fault..."

Watching Duanmu Mo finish the sundae she had already eaten, Yu Zhi blushed slightly and sat down on the sofa.

"What do you mean?"

"It's nothing—goodnight, Mr. Duanmu!"

"...Goodnight then, Yuzhi."

Chapter 102: Future Arrangements