The Yao Emperor and His Human Doctor.

Chapter 48 - Debt of Gratitude

Su Ning still had a high fever in the morning and only woke up in the early afternoon. He woke up with a sore body, there was a fire crystal under his chest, helping him absorb qi, like he had used on Huang Jia before. He managed to sit up with some difficulty.

The last memory he had was the attack on Barrier, after which he didn't remember anything else. His mind seemed stuck on past events so vividly that it hurt and he pushed them away with some irritation. It had been so long since this had happened, why bother him again just now? He observed the place where he was, it looked like one of the rooms in Emperor Yao's fortress...

Had he been shot down and been unconscious this whole time? The more he thought, the more his head hurt, he raised his hand to touch it, feeling a thin linen bandage that surrounded it. Did he still hurt his head??? Su Ning couldn't believe that he had gone to all this trouble for others! What a shameful role! He covered his head with the covers, embarrassed. So much concern for Huang Jia, who was injured, and he was the one who left something to be desired! He must be very rusty in his cultivation anyway...

As soon as he looked up, he saw the door being opened. Dr. Han entered, followed by An Shu, who was carrying a bowl of medication on a tray. He soon exclaimed tearfully as soon as he saw the other awake: "Dr. Su! You're awake!"
He ran with the flag, leaving it next to the bed and hugged him tightly. Su Ning's stomach burned from the strong hug, but he just returned the affection, patting the yao on the back.

"Hey A-Shu, don't be like that... is everything okay with you? Where are the others?" Su Ning looked distressedly at Dr. Han. The fox smiled, making a gesture for him to calm down. The doctor relaxed, Han Chia was someone he trusted and he would never hide anything from him.
"First, drink your medicine, Dr. Su. I've never treated you but I hope you're not a difficult patient." The fox laughed. Su Ning nodded, drinking the bitter medication in one gulp.

Han Chia took his pulse and assessed him, then asked An Shu to have the kitchen make something light for him to eat. The snake ran away at almost the speed of sound. Dr. Han sat down on a bench and began to recount the latest events he had become aware of. He was cursed, he became a child and when he remembered the past, the jiao attacked them and now he was sealed at the bottom of a crater in the fortress courtyard.

Qiang Yong was now reporting the remaining Yao Kings under the barrier failure and Xing Ou Yang's escape. Han Chia didn't know all the details, but even Ren Shyu had been injured, although he recovered quickly like his mother. Qiang Yong seemed to be fine, and Su Ning felt his heart calm down completely. He had developed a warm feeling towards the dragon ever since they talked in the clinic's heated pool.

Perhaps this was the beginning of  a lasting friendship, he considered. In the meantime, An Shu had returned with a bowl of fish soup and steamed buns. He took some of Han Chia's report and was also eager to comment on him. Su Ning was drinking soup while listening to him talk nonstop, starting from the fight at the Barrier until now. Su Ning was calmer, luckily he wasn't dead weight...

"Ah, you know, the Emperor left orders for the kitchen to leave the meals prepared so that when you woke up there would be something ready." He bit into one of the buns absently. He had brought far more than Su Ning usually ate and didn't bother stealing his food.

"I have the impression that he no longer distrusts you. In fact, I think he even has a certain esteem now. He took such good care of you when you were a child... And then he didn't leave your side when you were unconscious. I bet it was that charm from when you were a kid! Doctor, you were so cute!"

Su Ning turned purple with embarrassment. Even Han Chia laughed. "That was something I would have liked to have seen. The Empress and the maids are a little inconsolable that you came back so quickly. It must have been really cute to captivate them to that extent." The other doctor wanted to hide under the covers again. "I didn't expect it to be so much work!"

"Work? Are you kidding? The child Su Ning was a precocious, quiet and well-behaved little boy. Then you still protected Ren Shyu until help arrived and in the end you even sealed Xing Ou Yang again! Where did you work??? "
Su Ning smiled awkwardly. He was still in a lot of pain and was tired. With so little qi left in the body, even eating and talking was exhausting. Han Chia was aware of this.

"Well, now you better rest. As soon as they know you woke up, all the dragons will show up here and it will take you even longer to recover your energy."
Su Ning obeyed, he gave ting himself. While resting, sleep soon came and he fell asleep as if he had slipped on the snow. This time he dreamed that he was a child, that he felt alone, lying in a strange bed.

A stranger came and talked to him. It seemed like this person was so sad... The stranger lay down with him, to keep him company. Su Ning could feel the comfortable warmth the other emitted and he didn't feel so alone. This time he woke up in the early evening, feeling a little better. He turned around and saw Ren Loo beside him. The dragon looked at him smiling.

"Ah! Dr. Su, I'm so happy to see you awake! Dr. Han said you would wake up earlier this time, so I came here to wait. I really wanted to talk to you."
Su Ning made to sit down, but Madam Ren stopped him. "Stay lying down. That wound to your stomach was serious." She said and her expression immediately became serious.

"Dr. Su, first I want to thank you for protecting A-Shyu. Qiang Yong said that as you came back little by little, you would end up forgetting about us again, so in the end you defended someone who could even be a threat to you. You were the only human there after all.” Ren Loo bowed his head. "I will never forget this."

Su Ning watched her silently. "I don't remember anything but there's nothing to be thankful for, Madam Ren.  Probably Ren Shyu helped me too. He's an excellent boy."
Ren Loo was still deep in thought. "Ren Shyu told me in detail what happened there while A-Yong and I didn't arrive."

Madam Ren stared at him firmly. "He said that Cheng Doi was his shixiong."
Su Ning did not look away. There was no anger or resentment in him, just a hidden sadness that came to the surface. Ren Loo found this reaction strange but Su Ning decided to speak first.

"Madame Ren... I'm sorry for not intervening sooner... so many lives would have been spared... apologies are useless in the face of such grotesque mistakes." He said despondently. Ren Loo swallowed. She analyzed him from the corner of her eyes, there was no falsehood in this remorse. She sighed and tapped his forehead with the tip of her finger.

"Don't be foolish! It wasn't your fault. Ah, sorry, your head was injured too... I also realized that you don't condemn me, although I feel now as if I somehow owe you a debt..."
"Not at all, on the contrary. Cheng Doi may have even been influenced by Xing Ou Yang and was consumed by his own spiritual weapon, but I assure you he had no lack of advice." Su Ning said categorically.

Ren Loo felt the weight beneath his head disappear. In the morning, talking to Qiang Yong, she asked if he would question Su Ning about his past in the war. Her brother's response was negative. He didn't want to bring the doctor any more suffering. However,  he would investigate this himself and clarify all the dark points of this story.

Now, seeing the doctor's posture, Ren Loo was sure that her brother was acting this way. There were many knots in this ball of thread. However, that person's life and feelings were intertwined with this and undoing this tangle would make him bleed profusely. Ren Loo's expression softened. This was a conversation she was afraid of.

Afraid that Su Ning wouldn't understand her, which wasn't the case. She wanted him to acquit her, but he simply denied that any crime had been committed. She smiled at him.
"Sorry doctor, but I do have a debt to you. A debt of gratitude, which I will certainly repay you one day. You bet."

Author's Note

This Ren Loo, she's a little crazy but she's cute! It's good that Su Ning knows how to differentiate what is fair and they have a good relationship. Even more so, if he could be her future brother-in-law, huh, Ren Loo 😆.