Minutes passed. The medical staff came and went. Lu Cheng made calls, arranged for private nurses, and demanded action.
But eventually, assured that Lu Zeyan was stable and would likely remain unconscious through the night, he made a decision.
"We'll go home," he told his wife. "The nurses will monitor him. There's nothing more we can do here tonight."
Mrs. Lu didn't want to leave, but exhaustion and shock had taken their toll. She let her husband guide her out, casting one last look at their unconscious son.
The hired nurses settled in for their shift, professional, competent, well-paid.
The Lu family took care of their own, after all.
Even when they didn't understand what was happening to them.
Lu Zeyan remained unconscious, his mind mercifully blank for now, his mouth finally silent.
But the curse continued its work, embedding deeper, spreading further, ensuring that when he woke, the deterioration would only accelerate.
