Chapter 244 Wang Dong'er: Am I sick? How come I didn't know?
Beibei's question landed on the shore of Poseidon Lake, where the golden light of the setting sun shimmered on the water's surface.
Huo Yuhao stood there, clutching the Love-Sickness Heartbreak Grass in his hand, his knuckles turning white.
His lips moved slightly, but he didn't answer immediately.
Several people around him were staring at him. Xu Sanshi's brows were furrowed, Jiang Nannan's eyes were filled with worry, and Xiao Xiao's eyes were still red.
Wang Dong'er stood not far away, neither walking over nor speaking, but simply watching him.
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and then began to speak.
He mentioned the letter.
Titan and Niu Tian wrote to him that Wang Dong'er had a hidden illness that could only be cured by the Love-Sickness Heartbreak Grass, which could only be found in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye deep in the Sunset Forest.
He said he set off as soon as he finished reading the letter, without telling anyone, because he met Wang Qiu'er on the way, and Wang Qiu'er went with him.
At this point, Huo Yuhao paused, glanced at Wang Dong'er, and then continued.
He said they met Liu Yuan, Du Busi, and Long Aotian in Sunset Forest.
His voice lowered when he mentioned Wang Qiu'er. He said Wang Qiu'er was not human, but the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the imperial auspicious beast of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Her true identity was seen through by Liu Yuan, and she revealed her true form under the pressure of Du Bu Si.
Xu Sanshi frowned even more deeply.
"An imperial auspicious beast? That Wang Qiu'er?"
Huo Yuhao nodded without saying anything more.
He continued talking about the things in the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire.
Poisonous fog, array formations, fragrant and exquisite immortal products, and that poisonous scripture.
He said he failed the test because the plant was poisonous enough to make him hand over the book.
He said that Liu Yuan picked a lot of magical herbs, and he followed behind looking for the Love-Sickness Heartbreak Herb, which took him a long time to find.
Then he talked about taking blood from his heart.
He said he cut open his chest with a knife and dripped his blood onto the love-sickness herb.
The blood was frozen, not ordinary ice, but the kind of ice that just wouldn't melt.
He tried many methods, but none of them worked.
He was about to jump into the hot spring to melt the ice, but Liu Yuan pulled him out of the water with chains.
At this point, Huo Yuhao's voice lowered even further.
He didn't mention kowtowing, only saying that Liu Yuan helped him and that the Snow Emperor helped him peel the ice off the Acacia Heartbreak Grass.
He retrieved his heart's blood again, and this time he succeeded. The grass blossomed, and he picked it and brought it back.
The shores of Poseidon Lake were quiet for a few seconds.
After listening, Beibei fell silent.
He looked at the bandages on Huo Yuhao's chest, the wounds on his face that hadn't healed yet, and the dark red grass in his hand.
He opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but didn't know where to begin.
Xu Sanshi spoke first, his voice somewhat deep.
"You mean Wang Qiu'er is a Soul Beast? An Imperial Auspicious Beast? She's been following you for so long, and you didn't even notice?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head.
"No. Her disguise was perfect; even Du Busi didn't see through it immediately. It was Liu Yuan who noticed."
Xu Sanshi fell silent.
Jiang Nannan stood beside him, her gaze shifting from Huo Yuhao to Wang Dong'er.
Her voice wasn't loud, but her question was very direct.
"Is Dong'er sick? What's wrong?"
Xiao Xiao also asked a question, her tone filled with worry.
"Yes, Dong'er, are you not feeling well? I haven't heard you mention it before."
Wang Dong'er stood there, her back to the setting sun, her expression shifting from worry for Huo Yuhao to confusion.
She looked at Huo Yuhao, then at the Love-Sickness Grass in his hand, and her brows furrowed slightly.
"Am I sick?" Her voice carried an inexplicable sense of bewilderment. "How come I didn't know? I'm perfectly healthy."
Huo Yuhao was stunned.
He looked at Wang Dong'er's face, at her furrowed brows, and at her confused eyes.
His hands began to tremble, not the kind of trembling caused by blood loss or weakness, but an uncontrollable trembling that welled up from the bottom of his heart.
He remembered what Liu Yuan had said.
When you get back, go and ask Wang Dong'er yourself if she is really sick.
At the time, he felt that Liu Yuan was meddling in other people's business and that Liu Yuan did not understand the situation.
Titan and Niu Tian are Wang Dong'er's elders; they wouldn't lie to him.
The letter clearly stated that Dong'er's illness was congenital and could only be cured by the herb *Acacia fuciformis*.
He never doubted the authenticity of the letter.
But now, Wang Dong'er says she doesn't even know she's sick.
Huo Yuhao's mind went blank for a moment.
He recalled every question and doubt Liu Yuan had raised.
Titan and Cowherd are so powerful, why don't they come in person?
Even if they can't pick them, why aren't they even willing to escort them?
If it's really that urgent, why let him go alone?
What will happen to Wang Dong'er if he dies there?
He couldn't answer these questions at the time, and simply brushed them off by saying "they have difficulties."
He didn't want to doubt Titan and Niu Tian, nor did he want to doubt those two elders.
But now, Wang Dong'er is standing in front of him, saying that she is not sick.
Huo Yuhao's hands trembled even more violently.
The love-sick grass in his hand swayed slightly, and dewdrops on the leaves slid off, dripping onto the ground and seeping into the soil.
"How could this be..." His voice was very low, almost to the point of talking to himself, "The letter clearly said...you're sick...you need this herb..."
Wang Dong'er frowned even more deeply.
She walked over to Huo Yuhao, looked down at the dark red plant in his hand, and then looked up at his face.
"What letter? Is it from the brocade pouch that my eldest and second uncles asked me to give you?"
Huo Yuhao took out the crumpled letter from his pocket and handed it to Wang Dong'er.
His fingers were still trembling. The letter swayed between the two of them, and Wang Dong'er took it and unfolded it.
She looked at the handwriting on the letter very carefully.
Read from the first line to the last line, and then from the last line back to the first line.
Her expression changed from doubt to seriousness, and then from seriousness to an indescribable complexity.
"This is indeed the handwriting of my eldest and second fathers." Wang Dong'er's voice was calm, but her hands were trembling slightly, and the letter made a soft rustling sound in her hands.
"I am not sick. I have never had any hidden illness. I have always been in good health since I was a child."
Huo Yuhao's face turned pale.
It wasn't the kind of whiteness that comes from blood loss, but a whiteness that emanated from the very bones, the kind that comes from being punched hard.
His lips were trembling, and many words were stuck in his throat, unable to be uttered.
He recalled what he had done in the Yin-Yang Well of Ice and Fire.
Cut open his chest, take his heart's blood, and drip it drop by drop onto that blade of grass.
It was cut again after being frozen, and then dripped again.
He jumped into the hot spring and almost got scalded to death. He knelt on the rock and kowtowed, breaking his forehead and bleeding profusely.
He thought he was saving Wang Dong'er's life.
But now Wang Dong'er tells him that she is not sick.
He's become a clown?
Huo Yuhao swayed, lost his balance, and took a half step back.
Xu Sanshi reached out and helped him up, and he regained his balance, but his face was still very pale.
Wang Dong'er looked at him, folded the letter, and put it into her storage soul tool.
Her voice was still in a very flat tone, but you could tell she was suppressing something.
"I'll go find my eldest uncle and second uncle. They'll give you an explanation."
Huo Yuhao opened his mouth, wanting to say "No need," but swallowed the words back.
He didn't know what to say or what to do.
He just stood there, clutching the love-sick grass in his hand, as if he were clutching a joke.
(End of chapter)