Lastly, there was Lei Ruolan.
At first, Li Chenyuan seemed to have a particularly bad problem with her. After martial practices where she would beat Qiu Yunru into the dirt triumphantly, Li Chenyuan would push past her, nearly knocking her over; he would step on her feet, seemingly by accident; and he would knock her food off the table whenever she left.
One time, after Li Chenyuan had casually swept his arm and knocked her stew to the ground, Qiu Yunru gaped at him.
"Li-shidi...Did you do that on purpose...? Why...?"
Li Chenyuan's face reddened. He shook his head. "Sometimes my arm slips. It was an accident."
This was obviously a poor excuse to everyone else, but Qiu Yunru was conflicted.
Why would this noble kid so blatantly be cruel to someone, in a manner that everyone could see? He was seventeen--even he, a kid who had been abused and locked up in his home, must recognize that such behavior would be picked up on by everyone! Perhaps it really was that he had a problem with his arm. Maybe, after being beaten too much, he sometimes spasmed...?
When Lei Ruolan returned to the table, she was enraged.
"It was him again." Fang Hai snapped, shooting a look at Li Chenyuan.
Of course, this all resulted in Lei Ruolan taking to beating up Li Chenyuan during martial practices until he was black and blue. Li Chenyuan was unphased.
As Qiu Yunru iced his bruises after one particularly bad practice, he couldn't help but feel his heart ache.
"Li-shidi...Even if these things are by accident, you should be extra careful to stay away from Lei-shijie. She isn't forgiving, and seeing you in this state isn't good."
Li Chenyuan merely grumbled. "Why should I be careful? It's not as if I haven't had worse before. It's only once a day."
Qiu Yunru wept a little inside for this kid. He had been so abused and beaten that he didn't bat an eye at being beaten into the dirt daily now!
"Still...please be careful. This shixiong is asking you to."
One day, Fu Jia returned from a mission she had been leading for a few weeks. She joined them at dinner that night with her usual joyful demeanor, sitting close to Lei Ruolan and pinching her cheeks until they were red and flushed as always.
"How has my Lei-shimei been? Beating people up again?"
After that dinner, Li Chenyuan's demeanor towards Lei Ruolan suddenly changed.
He stopped accidentally stepping on her feet; he stopped accidentally knocking over her bowls; he stopped accidentally walking into her shoulders.
Qiu Yunru was bewildered.
Had his involuntary movements been cured so quickly?
"Li-shidi...have you been cured?"
"Of what?"
"The accidental movements that cause your arms and legs to slip?"
Li Chenyuan's face went red once again. "...Yes. I went to the sick bay. I'm better now."
_____
Early one morning, Qiu Yunru went to go and gather Li Chenyuan as usual for morning running practice. He knocked on his door.
"Li-shidi? It's time for laps."
There was no sound from the other side of the door.
Strange--Li Chenyuan was normally so punctual that the door would be opened even before Qiu Yunru began to knock!
Qiu Yunru knocked again, listening. Was this kid really still sleeping? He must be exhausted beyond reason, if that was the case! Was he sick?
"Li-shidi?"
A muffled groan came from the other side of the door. It was the sound of someone writhing in immense pain.
Qiu Yunru's heart leapt up his throat. He fumbled with the door, opening it quickly.
"Li-shidi!"
There on the bed in his sleeping robes, tangled up in sheets to the point of nearly strangling himself, was Li Chenyuan.
He was clearly still sleeping fitfully; sweat poured down his forehead, dampening the sheets, and his hair stuck to his skin like plastic. His face was both deathly pale and flushed a bright red with fever.
Qiu Yunru's heart leapt from his throat onto his tongue.
He rushed to the bedside, gently trying to untangle the mess of blankets and sheets. Pressing one hand to Li Chenyuan's forehead and using the other to free him, Qiu Yunru closed his eyes and monitored the kid's qi circulation.
His heart leapt out of his mouth in shock.
What was this?!
The qi was circulating rapidly and in starts and stops, as though being constricted. Li Chenyuan's meridians were all intact and healthy. However...
There was a strong presence of demonic qi!
It wasn't within Li Chenyuan's body, but rather surrounding his head!
Hurriedly, Qiu Yunru pulled a talisman out of his sash and slapped it onto the kid's forehead. He made a sign with his hands and began drawing out the demonic qi as though carefully siphoning a black string out of a mess of tangled yarn.
Slowly, Li Chenyuan began to relax. His forehead un-creased, the sweat pouring down his face slowed, and his breathing steadied.
Qiu Yunru sighed in relief.
He wasn't sure exactly what kind of situation this was--a demonic possession? Some sort of strange illness that generated demonic qi? It wasn't anything he had seen personally before. However, whatever the case was--if his mentee fell ill, how would he ever get his golden core?!
Yes, that was the reason he was panicked.
Also, he may have started to care about this kid a little bit, having saved him once or twice, but the first reason was far more important!
Once the demonic qi was almost all removed, Qiu Yunru moved to take off the talisman. However, as soon as he did, there was a tug on his fingers.
Like someone was reeling in a fishing rod, all of that demonic qi slurped back up into Li Chenyuan's head in an instant!
Li Chenyuan was soon thrashing again. Qiu Yunru was shocked.
The panic in his chest swelled.
What was going on here?
This time, instead of trying to draw the qi out, Qiu Yunru touched Li Chenyuan's meridians and focused on circulating his qi steadily. Perhaps this would help his qi begin circulating normally again.
After a few minutes of this, Li Chenyuan's body really did seem to calm down. Even the presence of demonic qi around his head quieted until Qiu Yunru could no longer sense it.
When Li Chenyuan opened his eyes, he saw Qiu Yunru leaning over him closely, face contorted and flushed from effort, while touching his throat gently.
He froze, eyes wide. Then he closed his eyes again.
Qiu Yunru continued circulating his qi for another minute before growing concerned.
The qi was circulating normally through Li Chenyuan's meridians now, and his heart rate seemed to have returned to normal. Why wasn't he waking up?
He leaned over and patted Li Chenyuan's face gently.
"Li-shidi? Can you hear me?"
There was no response. He leaned closer, feeling for breath from Li Chenyuan's lips. Thankfully, he was breathing. But still...his heart clenched tightly. If he wasn't awake yet, then something that he couldn't even detect must be taking hold. He had to get more help immediately.
With difficulty, Qiu Yunru wrapped his arms around Li Chenyuan and picked him up. It wasn't difficult to lift him--after almost two years of training, Qiu Yunru had grown strong enough to lift much heavier things. However, this kid's body was even bigger than his own--it was hard to even wrap his arms around him!