Five days ago, late at night.
From the first day Chu You fell into a coma and was hospitalized, Lin Mo hadn’t set foot in the Swordbearer Division even once.
He threw all affairs to Zhao Dongyuan and Gu Qiancheng to handle, while he himself stayed by the hospital bed, not leaving for even a moment, keeping vigil twenty-four hours a day without interruption.
Three days passed in a blur.
Stubble darkened Lin Mo’s jaw, and his whole body seemed wrapped in a low-pressure gloom that was almost visible to the naked eye.
He sat at the edge of the bed, gently helping Chu You turn onto her side.
After carefully massaging her back for a while, he cautiously laid her flat again and meticulously tucked in the corners of her blanket.
Every movement was performed with utmost patience.
Just as Lin Mo finished, the door to the hospital room was softly pushed open from outside.
Gu Qiancheng walked in with a boxed meal in hand, set it casually on the small tea table, glanced at Lin Mo, and said, “Time to eat.”
Lin Mo responded with a low “Mm,” patiently smoothing Chu You’s disheveled bangs behind her ear before getting up to walk over to the table and open the meal box.
Only now did he start on his first meal of the day.
Gu Qiancheng slowly paced to the window, arms folded across his chest, silently watching the city neon outside.
For a time, the only sounds in the hospital room were Chu You’s gentle, regular breathing and the faint noises of Lin Mo eating in silence.
No one knew how much time had passed.
Gu Qiancheng suddenly spoke, his voice somewhat abrupt in the quiet: “Chen Xinyu and Lu Ran still haven’t been found… We’ve searched everywhere possible, and it’s like the two of them vanished into thin air without leaving a single trace.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Mo’s chopsticks paused for a moment.
Then he stuffed a large mouthful of rice in, mechanically chewing and swallowing before speaking in a hoarse voice: “It’s fine.”
He lifted his eyes, the depths of his gaze utterly devoid of emotion. “I’ll settle this debt myself.”
Gu Qiancheng slowly withdrew his gaze from the window, turning to Lin Mo, the corners of his lips curving with a hint of mischief: “Such a devoted declaration. By the way… you really don’t mind?”
Lin Mo asked in return, “Mind what?”
Gu Qiancheng pointed with his chin toward the bed, his tone bland: “Junior Sister is from the demon clan, and she tricked you pretty badly. You really have no hard feelings at all?”
At these words, Lin Mo first shook his head, then nodded.
“I do… and I don’t.”
Gu Qiancheng raised an eyebrow: “Oh? Tell me about it.”
Lin Mo set down his chopsticks, pulled a tissue to wipe his mouth, and for once, his voice was serious: “Whether or not she’s a demon doesn’t matter to me.”
He paused, his gaze unconsciously drifting to the peaceful face sleeping on the bed.
“As for her deceiving me… I do care about that a little.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Qiancheng’s face showed an “I knew it” expression.
Yet Lin Mo’s next words stunned him.
“But it’s not what you think…” Lin Mo’s eyes regained their focus, tinged with a clear stubbornness.
“Since death was a lie she made up herself, then all the things she told me before that… were probably lies too, weren’t they?”
He furrowed his brows slightly, as if confirming something, or perhaps talking to himself: “That’s what I care about most.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of undisguised shock passed over Gu Qiancheng’s face.
He scrutinized Lin Mo up and down, trying to find any trace of self-deception or pretense on the other’s face, but Lin Mo’s gaze was so frank it was almost pure.
After several seconds in a daze, Gu Qiancheng finally seemed to process the meaning of the words.
He raised a hand to his forehead, letting out an incredulous groan: “You’ve got to be kidding me… A pure love warrior + the ultimate bootlicker? Junior, your character setting is way too outdated! This isn’t what’s popular these days!”
“You just don’t understand…” Lin Mo lifted the meal box again, his eyes glinting with reminiscence.
“Senior Sister has always been a gentle person.”
“Lying to you is considered gentle?” Gu Qiancheng let out an exasperated laugh.
Lin Mo nodded, his voice steady and certain: “She must have had her own reasons.”
“…You’re unbeatable, Junior.”
Seeing Gu Qiancheng’s obvious disbelief, Lin Mo hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice to share an old story.
“That was when I’d just started school, seventeen, even more withdrawn than now. I barely talked to anyone and spent all my time in the training hall.”
His voice gradually sunk into memory.
“One day I trained too late. When I tried to go back to the dorm, I found the main gate already locked, so I planned to make do and sleep in the hall for the night…”
“And then?” Gu Qiancheng leaned in curiously.
Lin Mo’s lips lifted unconsciously: “Then I heard voices upstairs—like someone was arguing… I snuck up and found the rooftop door, which was always locked, was actually unlocked that night.”
Gu Qiancheng raised an eyebrow, “Was it Qingqian on the rooftop?”
Lin Mo nodded, “It was Senior Sister… At the time, she was president of the martial arts club, very famous at school. The one arguing with her was that year’s vice president—I don’t remember the name.”
He paused, his tone a bit helpless, “That guy was confessing to Senior Sister, and after getting rejected, he wouldn’t shut up, which really annoyed her.”
“Hahahaha!” Gu Qiancheng suddenly burst out laughing, “Didn’t that idiot ever hear about Qingqian’s legendary deeds when she first enrolled? There was some blockhead who confessed to her, and she beat him into the hospital—said outright that if anyone else tried, she’d put them there for a month!”
He doubled over with laughter, wiping away tears as he continued, “And still there were people who refused to believe it and kept pestering her.”
“Qingqian got so mad she sent all those guys to the hospital. The worst was this unlucky fellow who, after finally getting discharged after twenty-odd days, got mugged and sent right back to the hospital his first night back on campus! Hahahaha…”
“Your Senior Sister always keeps her word—she says a month, it’s a month.”
Lin Mo couldn’t help but laugh as well.
He slowly looked up, gazing at the peacefully sleeping figure on the bed, his eyes growing even gentler: “That night on the rooftop, I heard Senior Sister say to the vice president—”
He mimicked Chu You’s icy tone, “Are you afraid of heights?”
“If you’re not, I’ll let you fly,” Gu Qiancheng slapped his thigh in laughter, “Even if you are, you still have to fly! Wasn’t it that line? Hahahahaha…”
“Mm.” Lin Mo’s eyes wandered to the window, as if seeing the starry sky of that night again, a soft smile at his lips.
“Then Senior Sister kicked him off the roof, and after she was done, she turned to me and said: Wasn’t that a cool kick?”
Gu Qiancheng’s eyes went wide: “She noticed you?”
“Yes,” Lin Mo nodded.
“I forced myself to step out, and when she saw it was me, she paused for a second, then smiled…” His voice softened without realizing it.
“She said, Oh, it’s you—the little kid who trains alone every day.”
“She actually remembered you?”
“I was surprised too,” Lin Mo said softly.
“But she really did remember, and she didn’t care at all that I’d overheard. Instead, she was worried about whether I’d eaten and even snuck me out to eat hotpot.”
At this, Lin Mo’s eyes shone with warmth: “That was the first time since entering school that someone remembered me, the first time anyone cared if I was hungry.”
Gu Qiancheng fell silent, looking thoughtfully at Lin Mo.
“After that, every time Senior Sister saw me in the training hall, she’d greet me,” Lin Mo’s voice was quiet but especially resolute.
“Sometimes she’d give me a bottle of water, sometimes remind me not to train too late. Maybe to her it was just a small effort, but to me…”
He didn’t finish, but Gu Qiancheng already understood.
The hospital room was quiet for a moment, the only sound the steady beeping of the monitors.
After a while, Gu Qiancheng let out a long sigh.
This time, he didn’t tease Lin Mo again; he just walked over and patted his shoulder lightly.
In that moment, it seemed he finally understood where Lin Mo’s stubborn trust came from—it was the warmth built up bit by bit on countless lonely nights, from a bottle of water, a bowl of noodles, a word of concern.
And that warmth was enough for one person to believe in another unconditionally.
Just then, Chu You stirred restlessly on the hospital bed.
Lin Mo caught the small movement at once out of the corner of his eye.
In a flash, he shot up from his chair and rushed to the bedside in a single stride, leaning over to call out softly, “Senior Sister? Can you hear me? Are you awake, Senior Sister?”
But Chu You still kept her eyes tightly shut, showing no response.
Just as Lin Mo was about to straighten up, thinking it was his nerves playing tricks.
Chu You’s arm suddenly slipped out from under the blanket and wrapped around his arm with uncanny accuracy.
Lin Mo froze completely.
The sensation on his arm was soft, and far too hot.
Instinctively, he looked down, his gaze landing on Chu You’s face.
Her cheeks were unnaturally flushed, her breathing rapid.
Beneath the covers, her body twisted restlessly, tiny beads of sweat welling at her brow.
What left his mind blank was that Chu You, in her unconsciousness, rubbed her feverish cheek against his arm, a sticky, indistinct murmur escaping her lips.
“Lin Mo, I want to…”