"Did I fail?" Chen Shuo's heart sank at the thought, and he wanted to get up immediately.
But as soon as he tried to move, Chen Shuo felt his entire body wracked with pain, the intense agony nearly causing him to black out.
"Ugh! How did it get this bad..." Chen Shuo said bitterly. He hadn't expected it to be this severe. Indeed, he had underestimated the Demon Hunters of the Legendary Realm.
If he had resisted with full strength, the other party's pressure wouldn't have caused him any harm. But he had suppressed his power to that of an ordinary person.
Clashing head-on like this, it was fortunate that his body was still robust enough to avoid serious injury.
If he had only the physical strength of a Demon King level, this encounter would likely have ended in tragedy.
Chen Shuo's movement woke Su Xiyan from her deep sleep. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Su Xiyan asked in a lazy voice, "You're awake? Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
"I'm fine, no big problem," Chen Shuo put on a brave face, looking at the concerned Su Xiyan. No exaggeration, he felt like his entire body was about to fall apart.
Now, forget about moving, he didn't even dare to breathe too deeply for fear of triggering another wave of pain.
Seeing Chen Shuo gritting his teeth to endure, Su Xiyan couldn't help but feel angry, "You're just like a stubborn mule! Look at how much pain you're in, and you still say you're fine?"
Embarrassed at being seen through, Chen Shuo replied, "I just didn't want you to worry."
"You knew I'd worry? Didn't I tell you before, if it was too much, we could find another way? But you had to go and..."
Before she could finish, tears began to glisten in Su Xiyan's eyes. She hadn't expected Chen Shuo to be so reckless. The image was still vivid in her mind.
She remembered Chen Shuo, covered in blood, trembling but still determinedly moving forward. She had shouted repeatedly from the sidelines, but some kind of barrier on the stairs seemed to prevent Chen Shuo from hearing her.
Several times, Su Xiyan had wanted to rush up and stop Chen Shuo, but each time Su Yuanying had held her back.
This was why Su Xiyan felt somewhat guilty, regretful that she couldn't offer Chen Shuo any help at that crucial moment.
"Silly girl, I'm fine, aren't I?" Chen Shuo instinctively tried to sit up to prove his point to Su Xiyan, but his body's condition was far from capable of supporting any movement.
As soon as he moved, the tearing pain returned, causing Chen Shuo to grimace in agony.
Seeing Chen Shuo's pained expression, Su Xiyan's face filled with concern, "Are you alright? This is no time to act tough!"
Su Xiyan hurriedly leaned in to check on Chen Shuo's injuries. Just that slight movement had reopened several of his wounds.
As fresh blood seeped from his body, Su Xiyan's heart tightened. She quickly moved to fetch the medical kit to dress his wounds.
Watching Su Xiyan bustle about, Chen Shuo felt an inexplicable joy despite his physical pain.
Seeing Chen Shuo still able to smile, Su Xiyan grew even more exasperated, "You! How can you still laugh at a time like this? Don't you feel pain at all?"
"What else can I do but laugh? Should I cry instead? Besides, now that I'm injured, I have someone to take care of me. Isn't that much nicer than before?"
Chen Shuo recalled how previously, he had been the one bustling about most of the time.
Cleaning, cooking, and managing all household chores, Chen Shuo had almost become the image of a house husband.
Although there was nothing wrong with that, doing these things day in and day out could become tedious over time.
Now the roles were reversed, with Su Xiyan taking care of his daily needs.
This dramatic change gave Chen Shuo a sense of inexplicable pleasure.
As the saying goes, it was like the liberated serf singing his song - the tables had turned.
"Oh, so that's what you're after? Are you... are you trying to infuriate me? You'd rather get injured than do housework? If you disliked doing those things so much, you should have said something."
"If you had mentioned it, I would have known to hire a housekeeper."
Su Xiyan said angrily, and Chen Shuo dared not interrupt her words.
He thought to himself, "Are you kidding? If she wanted to hire a housekeeper, she would have done so long ago."
He had never understood why, with the Su family's vast business empire, they hadn't simply hired a housekeeper for cleaning and such. It would have been effortless for them.
To be frank, even if they hired a hundred housekeepers to clean 24/7, the cost would be less than a drop in the bucket for the Su family.
Yet, Su Xiyan had never hired any housekeepers.
Since Su Xiyan had brought him into this home, Chen Shuo had been responsible for all the household chores, big and small. At that time, he had been very weak, and if he had dared to say even one word of refusal, Su Xiyan might have ended his life.
Under those circumstances, how could he have had the courage to voice any objections about housework to Su Xiyan?
As for why he hadn't mentioned it later, Chen Shuo had more or less gotten used to it.
Taking care of this girl's daily needs, nurturing her into a delicate little princess - wasn't that a kind of happiness in itself?
To avoid dwelling on this topic, Chen Shuo quickly changed the subject, "By the way, how did I pass out? What happened after I fainted? Did I make contact with Elder Xu?"
This was something Chen Shuo had been eager to know, as his memory stopped at the last step of the stairs.
"You have the nerve to ask about that? It was because you insisted on pushing yourself. You collapsed right on the last step. Fortunately, Elder Xu caught you just in time..."
"What? Elder Xu caught me? Does that mean he saw me? Then what? What happened next?"
Upon hearing that Xu Changjun had caught him, Chen Shuo's heart leaped with joy. If what Su Xiyan said was true, then his mission might have been accomplished.
"There is no 'what happened next'. Your condition was critical at the time, but due to your special identity, we couldn't take you to a hospital. So with my father's help, we brought you back here, and your treatment was carried out here as well."
Su Xiyan recalled the incident with a lingering sense of fear.
During that time, her mind had gone completely blank, as if emptied. She was relieved that Chen Shuo was alright; otherwise, she wouldn't have known how to face the situation.
"Ah? He really didn't say anything?" Chen Shuo's mood swung like a rollercoaster, plummeting from its peak.
Seeing Chen Shuo's disappointed expression, Su Xiyan smiled slightly, "I'm just teasing you. Elder Xu said to go find him once you've recovered."