Chapter 178

Chapter 178

Feng Chen's fever lasted most of the night before subsiding. Yan Bubu collected herbs to change his dressings, and after everything was tended to, he curled up exhausted beside him and fell asleep.

However, his sleep was restless, waking frequently to check Feng Chen's forehead, continuing only when assured his temperature was normal.

Yan Bubu slept until noon, noticing Feng Chen still hadn't awakened, but his complexion was noticeably better than yesterday, only slightly pale from blood loss.

He hurried to check Feng Chen's body, finding the wounds healing well and the broken bones not excessively swollen. In the mental realm, everything remained stable, with dozens of mental strands floating in the void, emitting small sparkles of light.

"My dear beloved, you must recover well, our hope rests on you…" Yan Bubu once again gathered and combed through them.

He looked towards the mental core in the center of the mental realm. What was once a white planet floating in the cosmos now resembled a dull, gray date pit. Knowing Sasa was sleeping inside, he floated over, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sasa.

But the core's wall was like frosted glass, obscuring everything. All he could do was inwardly say, "Sasa, rest well, wake up soon, Binunu and I are waiting for you..."

Throughout the day, Feng Chen remained unconscious. Whenever Yan Bubu had a moment, he sat beside him, speaking softly.

"I fed you meat soup and water, but why haven't you urinated? Did the fever burn off all the fluids in your body? But your lips aren’t dry, it doesn’t seem like dehydration."

As he spoke, Yan Bubu leaned down and kissed Feng Chen’s lips twice.

Fearing Feng Chen might wet himself, every two hours Yan Bubu brought the wooden bowl to assist him in urinating. Despite coaxing like one would a child, Feng Chen never urinated.

Yan Bubu watched Feng Chen for a while and then said, "Are you not used to urinating this way? But you can only lie down now. I dare not move you because of your injuries, otherwise Binunu and I could lift you up to urinate standing. Can you manage like this?"

Binunu spent the entire day meticulously sculpting its stone, circling around it and delicately carving with its small claws. Its earnest and treasured approach resembled that of a master craftsman working on a rare stone, contemplating each cut with precision and assurance before proceeding.

Yan Bubu couldn't discern what Binunu was carving until the fire at the cave entrance cast the stone's shadow on the cave wall. From a different angle, he finally recognized a vague outline of a four-limbed animal, albeit heavily distorted.

"Are you carving Sasa?" Yan Bubu asked.

This time, Binunu nodded.

Yan Bubu silently observed the large stone and then commented, "It's beautifully carved, just as beautiful as Sasa."

Binunu extended a claw, gently touching the stone sculpture's back and neck, as if it were stroking Sasa's mane.

That evening, concerned that Feng Chen might develop a fever again, Yan Bubu stayed up until midnight, occasionally touching Feng Chen's forehead. Fortunately, Feng Chen's temperature remained normal, with no signs of fever, and his breathing was steady.

Due to the chilly night, Yan Bubu lit another fire at the foot of their sleeping area, planning to add wood periodically throughout the night to keep warm.

After tending to the fire, he crawled into the pile of grass, lying on his side facing Feng Chen, chatting idly as they used to before sleep.

"...If you don't wake up, maybe we shouldn't go back. How about we just live in this cave? Or I could go back with Binunu and leave you here, coming back to check on you after a while."

Yan Bubu stared at Feng Chen, searching for any expression on his face, but there was no response.

"Just kidding, how could I leave you here alone with Binunu?" Yan Bubu chuckled to himself, placing his hand on Feng Chen's chest and feigning surprise, "You must be terrified! Listen to that heartbeat, thumping away..."

Yan Bubu leaned in to kiss Feng Chen’s lips, "Once your wounds heal, I'll go back to the camp and get Ding Hongsheng and the others to carry you back. We could stay here, but the conditions are harsh and not good for your health. We need to go back. I’ll make you meat soup every day, with real spices this time, not just pretend ones."

He gently pinched Feng Chen’s ear, "But you have to try too. You need to wake up soon..."

With Feng Chen's condition stable, Yan Bubu could sleep peacefully. Binunu brought the stone lion sculpture beside the grass pile and lay down on the other side of Feng Chen, resting its paw on the sculpture.

The fire at the cave entrance gradually died out, leaving the smaller fire at the foot end to cast a warm orange glow inside the cave. The entire valley was silent, with only the occasional crackle from the fire.

Yan Bubu was awakened by an itching sensation on his ear.

It felt like a small insect crawling on the edge of his ear. He reached to swat it, unsure if he got it, but the itch near his ear canal returned after a few seconds.

He continued to dig at his ear, but his sleepiness had faded, and he gradually became more alert.

"Need to catch a mutant creature..." he thought groggily.

Although they had only eaten a small part of the wild wolf mutant and the cave wasn't very warm, two days had passed. He wanted to catch another one to make the freshest meat soup for Feng Chen.

As Yan Bubu opened his eyes, his first instinct was to check Feng Chen's forehead. But as his gaze fell beside him, his outstretched hand froze in mid-air, and his eyes slowly widened.

Unknown to him, Feng Chen had already opened his eyes and was lying on the grass pile, watching him. His uninjured hand held a blade of grass, clearly the culprit behind Yan Bubu's itchy ear.

In the past, upon waking up, Yan Bubu often met Feng Chen's gaze instantly. He used to think it was natural, as if they were meant to see each other first thing upon awakening.

But now, locking eyes with Feng Chen again, Yan Bubu was overwhelmed with excitement, trembling with a happiness unmatched by any other morning. No jewel in the world could be more captivating than Feng Chen's deep eyes.

Feng Chen smiled at Yan Bubu.

Yan Bubu also smiled, but his lips quivered and slowly turned downwards as tears started to stream down his face.

Feng Chen gently moved his lips, silently mouthing, "Don't cry."

Hearing those words, Yan Bubu immediately began to sob aloud.

Yan Bubu had cried several times these past few days, but always silently, forcing himself not to cry and to quickly adjust his emotions. Now, seeing Feng Chen awake, the tightly wound string in his heart suddenly relaxed, releasing all the pent-up fear and panic.

Feng Chen lifted his uninjured hand, as if to wipe Yan Bubu's tears, but it fell weakly after being raised.

Yan Bubu, while crying, took his hand to his face and pressed it against his own cheek.

Feng Chen lay there watching him, his gaze tender as if about to overflow with water, gently moving his fingers to patiently wipe the tears constantly streaming from Yan Bubu's eyes.

Binunu, initially outside the cave, must have heard Yan Bubu's crying and rushed back, peeking nervously from the cave entrance. Upon seeing Feng Chen awake, it dashed over and buried its head in Feng Chen's shoulder, wrapping its paws around his neck.

Feng Chen turned his head and gently touched Binunu's head in a comforting gesture.

Yan Bubu finally began to calm his crying, chokingly asking in a hoarse voice, "You... you... when did you... when did you wake up?"

"Have you cried enough?" Feng Chen's voice was faint and weak, but Yan Bubu heard it clearly.

"I... I've cried enough."

"Your voice is hoarse, don't cry so hard."

"I... I know."

Yan Bubu grabbed a cloth, hastily wiping the tears from his face, and asked repeatedly, "How do you feel now? Does the wound hurt? They say it itches when it's healing, does it itch now? Do you want to drink water or eat meat soup first? Or should I go catch a fresh mutant creature and cook breakfast?"

Yan Bubu had planned to ask many questions when Feng Chen woke up, like how he got injured, how he ended up here, and about the shuttle red spider. But now that Feng Chen was really awake, he forgot everything, only concerned about Feng Chen's physical condition and whether he was hungry.

Feng Chen didn't interrupt, waiting until Yan Bubu finished before responding, "I feel quite good now, the wound doesn’t hurt or itch, and I don’t feel hungry."

"Do you want to drink water? Do you need water?"

"No—get it, bring me a bowl," Feng Chen seemed to refuse at first but then changed his mind.

"Oh," Yan Bubu turned over to fetch a wooden bowl.

From behind him, Feng Chen said, "Put in less water; I can't drink too much."

As Yan Bubu scooped water into the bowl, he heard Feng Chen ask, "Do we have enough bowls?"

"Enough, Binunu made five," he paused, then added, "And three plates."

The wooden bowls and plates Binunu made were arranged beside the cave wall, varying in size and shape, somewhat resembling a child’s craft project.

Yan Bubu brought over a bowl half-filled with water, intending to lift Feng Chen's head to drink, but Feng Chen pointed beside him, "Just put it here; I’ll drink it in a bit."

Yan Bubu set the bowl down and sat beside him, watching.

Feng Chen softly suggested, "You don’t need to stay with me now. You can take Binunu and catch some mutants."

Reluctant to leave, Yan Bubu replied, "I'll sit for a little longer, then go in ten minutes."

After speaking, he leaned down to kiss Feng Chen's face, then looked up at him again, followed by a trail of soft, lingering kisses leading to his lips.

Feng Chen whispered, "I’m really hungry..."

Hearing him express hunger, Yan Bubu reluctantly stood up, "Then I'll kiss you again when I get back. I'll go alone, leaving Binunu to take care of you."

Feng Chen quickly responded, "I don't need care; take it with you."

But Binunu didn’t move, still burying its head in Feng Chen’s shoulder, its paws tightly wrapped around his neck.

"Let it stay—"

"Take it with you."

At this point, Yan Bubu finally sensed something was amiss. He looked at Feng Chen doubtfully, while Feng Chen calmly met his gaze.

"Why do you always seem eager to send us away?" Yan Bubu asked.

Feng Chen's tone was as calm as his gaze: "I'm not."

"You are. You want to send away not just me, but Binunu as well."

Binunu raised its head and stared at Feng Chen, who asked it, "Do you believe that?"

Binunu buried its head back into his shoulder, tightening its paws around his neck.

Suddenly, Feng Chen coughed twice, as if agitating a wound, and winced.

"Binunu, let go," Yan Bubu quickly said.

"Hey, both of you go find something to eat. I'm really hungry," Feng Chen sighed weakly.

Seeing him like this, Yan Bubu immediately felt distressed, no longer dwelling on whether Feng Chen wanted to send him and Binunu away: "Don’t talk, I'll get you something to eat right away. Just lie down."

Feng Chen then turned to Binunu, "Go on, Sasa can't be released yet. It’s still healing, just like me."

This time, Binunu stood up and followed Yan Bubu towards the cave entrance.

Yan Bubu was in charge of finding food, while Binunu gathered shrubs for firewood. The dark matter opened separate paths for them, as before.

Guided by the path, Yan Bubu quickly caught another wild wolf mutant. As he processed the wolf meat by the stream, he spoke to the air, "I thank you every day, you might be tired of hearing it. But I really want to thank you, a hundred times a day isn't enough."

Skinning the wolf, he smiled with pursed lips, "My brother woke up. Although his mental realm is hard to recover, as long as he's okay, that's enough. I'm already very satisfied with his current recovery."

"I had prepared for the worst..." he fell silent, then after a moment, wiped his eyes with his arm, his voice slightly choked, "I'm really thankful."

When Yan Bubu returned to the cave with the cleaned meat, he found Binunu already back, sitting at the cave entrance, chiseling stone.

"Brother," Yan Bubu saw Feng Chen was no longer lying down but sitting up, and quickly asked, "Why are you sitting? Doesn’t the wound hurt?"

There was a thick pile of grass behind Feng Chen, likely arranged by Binunu.

"It doesn't hurt; sitting like this is more comfortable. Besides, your splint has helped. With the splint's support, the bones won't shift," Feng Chen explained.

Yan Bubu asked, "Did I do a good job with the splint?"

Feng Chen gave him a thumbs-up.

Pleased, but still concerned, Yan Bubu set the wolf meat aside and went to check Feng Chen's wound, intending to change the herbal dressing.

"The surface of the wound has healed; it doesn't need medicine or to be wrapped anymore. Letting it air out will help it heal better," Feng Chen stopped him from applying more medicine to the wound.

"Alright, then."

Feng Chen, a sentinel with extraordinary physical constitution and healing capabilities, had recovered remarkably well from the injury in just two days. The external wounds had healed significantly, and the broken bones were likely healing rapidly too.

Happy about Feng Chen's recovery, but concerned about his mental realm, Yan Bubu's expression darkened, "But your mental realm... I don’t know how to repair it."

Feng Chen smiled slightly, "It’s okay. Recovery of the mental realm is naturally slower than physical wounds. Although I can't use my mental abilities right now, it should be possible again after some time."

"Really? Can your mental realm be restored to its original state?" Yan Bubu asked, a mix of surprise and joy in his voice.

Feng Chen nodded, "It's just a matter of time."

Yan Bubu sighed with relief, "That's good to hear... I was so worried. As long as it can recover, no matter how long it takes."

Smiling, he turned towards the cave entrance, "Then I'll start a fire and cook for you."

"Okay."

Once Yan Bubu turned away, the smile faded from Feng Chen’s face, his gaze dropping to his legs wrapped in the splint.

As Yan Bubu started cooking the wolf meat, he noticed Binunu tinkering with something – not its stone lion, but making another bowl.

"Why are you making another bowl? We already have five," Yan Bubu said, turning to look at the wooden bowls and plates beside the cave wall, then at Feng Chen, "Where’s the bowl you used for drinking water? There are only four here now. What happened to the one you just used?"

"The drinking bowl?" Feng Chen looked around, perplexed, "Oh, where is that drinking bowl? Maybe Binunu put it back."

Binunu, sitting at the cave entrance working on wood, turned and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Feng Chen smiled at Binunu, "Binunu's skills are improving, and the bowls are getting better. I wonder how this one will turn out."

Encouraged, Binunu turned back to its task, working even more vigorously on the piece of wood it was holding.

"Still, one is missing..." Yan Bubu scratched his head in confusion. But the disappearance of a bowl didn’t seem significant, especially since Binunu was making more. So, he didn’t dwell on it and began stirring the meat soup with a wooden spoon.

Feng Chen lay half-reclined on the grass, quietly exhaling a slow breath.