Chapter 389: A Walking Target
Yuche stood beside my chair, his expression calm as he examined Lingyun over my head. Whatever he saw in the other man didn’t improve his mood. Like at all.
"He needs the healer," Yuche announced like I hadn’t figured out that part myself.
Lingyun’s arm tightened around my waist. "I’ve already seen one healer today. There should be a daily limit," he pouted, his lower lips sticking out as he gave me a puppy dog look. Did he really think that I was going to take his side?
Absolutely not.
Besides, this was also payback. He made me go see a healer, now it was his turn.
"The first healer fixed my ankle," I said, smiling at him. "Hopefully she is good enough and can fix your stupidity."
"I don’t think that’s one of her powers," sighed Chenghai, shifting all my ’purchases’ slightly in his grip.
"Then he can start with his ribs," I replied with a shrug.
I glanced at the boxes stacked against Chenghai’s chest. Chocolate, cookies, Cheezies, chips, tea, canned fruit, and several complete television series were wedged together in a way that should not have remained upright.
I really hoped that Chenghai didn’t have a problem carrying everything. I would hate for them to drop and have a dented box or something broken.
Lingyun looked offended like I had just said he was shit in bed or something. "You noticed?" he demanded, shocked.
"You’re breathing like an eighty-year-old smoker," I replied, rolling his eyes. "It’s either that your ribs are hurt or you’ve been smoking behind my back, and I don’t think that even you are that good at hiding things from me."
Lingyun smirked for a moment before he put back on that innocent, boyish face that he loved wearing around me.
Yeah, I saw that coming.
Once again, Chenghai shifted the mountain of boxes in his arms so that he could see me better. "He has at least two ribs broken on his left side."
Lingyun turned his head. "Whose side are you on?" he growled, his eyes flashing a different type of red for a second before going back to his neutral dark brown color.
"Mine. I want to put these boxes down before you collapse and she decides I should carry you too," Chenghai sneered.
I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. A few of the boxes were lighter than they should have been. That, combined with his fighting power, he should be able to hold everything for a few days, but I wasn’t willing to risk my secret getting out.
No one knew that I had been skimming from the tables and gifts since we reached the snack stalls.
Of course, it was nothing dramatic. I wasn’t emptying shelves while merchants watched or making entire boxes disappear from Chenghai’s arms. That would have been careless.
It was just little things. A chocolate bar when the seller turned to find another case, two bags of candy while Yuche’s appearance distracted everyone nearby, a tin of tea hidden beneath a larger box for half a second before it slipped into my space.
There was also the ’non-snacks’ like the three Blu-rays from the top of a stack while the seller searched for the missing seasons.
One item from several different places was far safer than taking ten things from the same pile. That way, there was no obvious gaps, no confused merchants, no men asking why the bag I had been holding suddenly weighed nothing.
Everything already inside my space was safe, and I wasn’t taking the risk with the other stuff.
Cars could be attacked, bags could be stolen, and Lingyun could decide that throwing an entire crate at someone was a reasonable use of supplies.
And all that meant that my supplies would no longer be mine. But my space had none of those problems.
Lingyun lowered his head until his forehead rested against mine. "Do you like them?"
I looked down at the velvet bag. That was the problem.
The cores were exactly what I had come here hoping to find, even after I had given up on the idea that the market possessed anything useful. Lingyun had disappeared for less than an hour and returned with enough power to make the trip worthwhile.
He had also apparently let someone use him as a punching bag along the way.
"The gift is good," I admitted. Of course they were good. I liked them very much.
And Lingyun knew exactly what was in that bag so I couldn’t hide any of them in my untouchable space.
I felt like a walking target, and I hated it.
But as cranky as I was, I couldn’t help but smile at him when his entire face lit up at my words. "You’re still an idiot," I complained, shaking my head.
"I can be both," he assured me.
"Yeah," I sighed. "You’ve proved that time and again." Then, to stop the argument... of course... I kissed him before he could say anything else.
There was no reason to make it complicated. He had brought me something I wanted. I loved him. He was injured, annoying, and looking at me as if a kiss would solve every problem he had created upstairs.
It probably would not.
That did not stop me from curling one hand behind his neck and pulling him down properly.
Lingyun made a pleased sound against my mouth and tried to crowd closer. His ribs objected before I did. His breath caught sharply, and the arm around my waist stiffened.
I pulled back, but he tried to follow before I placed my hand over his mouth. "Healer," I announced, no longer willing to put it off. "Now."
Lingyun kissed my palm.
"You can kiss me again afterward," I said.
His eyes lit up.
Yuche looked toward one of the nearby market workers. "We need a private room and the healer who treated her earlier."
The worker bowed immediately. "Of course, Dragon Head. There is a secured room on the second level. I’ll have it prepared."
That was fast.
Apparently, being Jian Yuche’s woman came with better service than most customer-loyalty programs.
The merchant behind the Blu-ray table hurried to pack the final box set I had selected. While everyone’s attention shifted toward Yuche and the worker arranging the room, I picked up a loose case from the edge of the table.
A complete collection of old horror movies.
I turned it over as though I were reading the back... then it disappeared into my space.
I placed my empty hand on top of the velvet bag.
No one noticed.
Lingyun was still attempting to negotiate his way out of treatment.
"I can walk."
"No one said you couldn’t."
"The room is upstairs."
"So are the healers."
"That sounds incredibly inconvenient."