[The Guilt-Ridden Lion]
At dawn, Luo Ye burst into the medical tent, his eyes bloodshot and his face grim. He looked like a blade drawn from its sheath, cold and dangerous.
"Is Ling Dang here?" he growled.
Sang Qi, still half-asleep, jumped in surprise. "No? I haven't seen him in days. Did he... vanish?"
Luo Ye collapsed onto a stool, burying his face in his hands. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have been so harsh."
As Sang Qi listened to the story of the tea and the scolding, he couldn't help but scoff. "So he tries to care for you, and you bark at him? If I were him, I'd have thrown the tea in your face."
Luo Ye didn't argue. He had searched all night, and the fear was starting to eat him alive. Where are you, kid?
[The Slip of the Tongue]
The tension was broken by Li Furong, who walked in with her herb basket.
"Is this the 'Big Sister' Ling Dang mentioned?" Luo Ye asked, his eyes locking onto her.
"And you must be the 'Luo-Dage' he talks about," Furong replied, her brow furrowing as she sensed the gloom in the room.
When Sang Qi explained that Ling Dang had run away in tears after being scolded, Furong snapped. She slammed her hand on the table—BAM!
"How could you be so cruel?!" she shouted at Luo Ye. "He was so worried about your lack of sleep that he begged me to help him brew that tea! He likes you so much, and you treat him like garbage!"
The room went deathly silent.
"He... likes me?" Luo Ye stammered, pointing a trembling finger at himself.
"He likes him?" Sang Qi's jaw dropped, his finger pointing at Luo Ye in utter disbelief.
[A Clumsy Cover-up]
Realizing she had said too much, Furong's heart skipped a beat. She quickly tried to pivot. "Yes! He... he respects you! He likes you like an older brother!"
The fingers slowly lowered, and the silence stretched, awkward and heavy. But for Luo Ye, the words "He likes you" had already struck a chord deep in his soul. It wasn't anger he felt anymore—it was a terrifying, heart-pounding vibration.
"I have to find her—him!" Furong corrected herself, her eyes red with worry. "What if something happens to that poor girl—kid!"
Sang Qi, still confused, muttered, "He's a guy, what are you so worried about?"
Immediately, two lethal glares—one from Furong and one from Luo Ye—pierced through him like icy daggers. Sang Qi recoiled, raising his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay! Just saying..."
[The Search Begins]
"I'm going to find him," Luo Ye said, his voice cold and determined. He wouldn't rest until Ling Dang was back under his protection.
Furong rushed out first, her heart racing with fear for her "little sister."
Sang Qi watched them go, sighing as he grabbed his medicine bag to follow. "What a mess," he grumbled.
But as he walked, he looked at Luo Ye's rigid back. He realized that after today, nothing between Luo Ye and his "little clerk" would ever be the same again.