Chapter 8: 8.第8章 、失血过多

After listening to Ji Kece's words, which seemed to point out that all the methods he had employed failed to consider her feelings, his eyes gradually dimmed. His lips parted slightly. "Kece, I..."

Ji Kece even knew that Ji Wu, the Sect Leader of Desolate City, and all the disciples of Desolate City had been slaughtered by Yin Xi, forcing her best friend to live under someone else's roof out of necessity.

Ji Kece gave a somewhat mocking laugh. "Oh, right. It seems Kece has forgotten—does Your Highness not have a pair of biological children, Geng Yu and Wang Ru?!"

His brows twitched slightly. He hadn't expected that something he thought was a secret would be known by Kece. When he held power in the Qiansha Sect, he had indeed forgotten that Kece had once been his confidante; any slight movement or change would have been known to her.

"Your Highness seems to have forgotten that the siblings Shi Wan and Shi Chang were Kece's closest companions, as well as the right and left hands of the Qiansha Sect." Kece pulled away from Yin Xi's embrace and struggled to stand up from the floor. She leaned against the armrest of the chaise longue, one hand clutching the wound on her back, her face as pale as paper.

Seeing that Ji Kece's face lacked any trace of vitality and her lips were completely colorless, Yin Xi attempted to stop her from continuing the topic. "Don't say any more, Kece. Your injuries..."

Lacking any desire to continue speaking, Ji Kece slumped limply onto the chaise longue. Her face was unnaturally white, and her tightly closed eyes were brimming with tears, making her trembling eyelashes look as if they were soaked in water. A thin trail of blood had also seeped from her tightly bitten lip.

The blood on her back had already soaked through her outer garment. Yin Xi quickly knelt beside the chaise longue and was surprised to find that Kece's back was covered in a large patch of blood. He immediately applied pressure to her Zhangmen, Qihai, Yu, and Weilu acupoints to stop the bleeding and prevent the loss of vital energy, as the blockage was preventing the circulation of Qi and the rising of the Dantian's energy.

Yin Xi knew that this pool of blood was caused by Kece using her Dantian energy herself; despite knowing she had such a massive wound on her back, she had insisted on straining her body.

Yin Xi took out the emergency medicinal supplies from the Pili Hall medicine box. Disregarding the propriety between a man and a woman, the short sword from his sleeve reappeared, slicing through the six layers of clothing on Kece's back. The sound of "shredding" echoed through the Pili Hall.

In a daze, Ji Kece felt a sensation of coolness on her back. She turned her head, her eyes widening and her lips trembling slightly, her bloodless cheeks flushing faintly. "Your Highness... men and women should observe proper distance..."

Yin Xi ignored her words. Using both hands, he guided Ji Kece to lie face down on the chaise longue, her back facing him. "Now is not the time to discuss social etiquette. Kece, tell me the truth—when you came here just now, did you use your Dantian?"

Lying limp on the chaise longue, Ji Kece nodded. The pain in her back caused her eyelids to twitch, and fine beads of sweat poured from her forehead. She let out a few muffled groans through her teeth.

As Yin Xi looked at the whip marks on her back, his sword-like brows furrowed tightly, and a faint anger flickered in his obsidian eyes. He had not expected the Ji family rules to be so cruel. Seeing them lashed upon Kece caused him a heart-wrenching pain, yet he could not ignore General Ji's regulations.

As the powdered medicine was sprinkled onto the scars on her back, a tingling, refreshing sensation spread, causing her to groan occasionally. Even though she was incredibly reluctant, she found herself somewhat enjoying it.

*Enjoying?* The word suddenly flashed through Ji Kece's mind, making her whole body shudder as she accidentally brushed against the whipped wounds. "Ouch, it hurts..."

That sound was even more like a spoiled plea, or perhaps mere affectation. To an outsider unaware of the situation, it would seem like a couple's playful bickering, and the atmosphere would appear quite ambiguous.

Yin Xi suddenly leaned down, his lips close to Ji Kece's earlobe, his warm breath lingering around her. "Kece, did I hurt you?"