Chapter 34.2 - I want to be stronger

When Xue Jun brought Xue Rui home, everyone panicked. Xue Jun had already called the medical specialist from the military headquarter to come and treat Xue Rui. The medics arrived in a helicopter, and medical devices were quickly hooked up and they only needed to wait for Xue Jun to arrive with Xue Rui.

But once the medical specialist inspected Xue Rui's injury, they were baffled. One even asked Xue Jun directly if he was just over-reacting.

"What do you mean?" Xue Jun asked the medic.

"Sir, although his wounds appear bad, his internal injury is not as bad as you described," the medic replied. "In fact, are you sure that his legs are broken, Sir?"

"..." Xue Jun didn't answer, but his mind went to a certain cultivator. 'Did he give something to Xiao Rui for his injury? Or was he lying to me to get me away?'

"Just help fix whatever injuries my brother has. If it is nothing serious, you can return to the headquarter," Xue Jun told the medic who then returned to treat Xue Rui's wound.

By the time the medic was done, Xue Rui's body was full of bandages but there were no casts present. Even his two legs were spared since the medic had said the bones were all fine. They only stitched few external wounds and told Xue Jun that Xue Rui should wake up in a few hours.

But they didn't expect that Xue Rui did not wake up for the whole night. Xue Jun even called the team of specialist back so they could do another check up on his brother. Even so, nothing came up. In the end, the medic could only tell Xue Jun that it might be that Xue Rui's brain was using this way to rests its traumatised body. It was only then did Xue Jun let the medical team go.

The next morning, Xue Jun came into Xue Rui's room with a bowl of warm porridge. Seeing that Xue Rui's eyes were still shut close, he started to become worried. He had yet to allow his parents to come in, especially his mother because he didn't want them to disturb Xue Rui's rest. Xue Jun placed the bowl of porridge on the nightstand, then went around to replace the IV pack for Xue Rui.

"Ge?" just as he was about to reach for the old pack, Xue Jun heard Xue Rui calling him.

"Xiao Rui, you're up... how do you feel?" Xue Jun asked.

"My whole body is sore," Xue Rui replied.

"Not in pain?"

"No... wait," Xue Rui then noticed that something seemed wrong with his situation. He quickly sat up but his vision started to spin from the sudden movement. Letting out a groan, he clutched his head and started to massage his temple. After a while, Xue Rui could finally inspect his own body but the one that shocked him the most was his legs. "I... remember that both my legs were wasted... how?"

"That was exactly what I wanted to ask you. Xiao Rui, do you remember what happened when you were saved?"

"I..." Xue Rui tried to look back through his memories, and before he passed out, he remembered seeing Li Xinwen and Sun Xiao arriving. "Brother! That... Is Xinwen alright?!" Xue Rui asked in a panicked tone.

"Still worrying about him?" Xue Jun narrowed his eyes at Xue Rui. "With his strength, do you think he needs you to worry about him?"

Hearing what Xue Jun said, Xue Rui felt pain in his heart. He knew that Xue Jun was right. Li Xinwen is strong enough that he didn't need to worry about him. Even so, he still can't help himself from worrying. "Just answer! Is he alright, or not..." Xue Rui looked up at his brother with a pleading look.

"Alright? He's more than alright, ba! Those people who harmed you? Dead without a trace except for one who turned into a human stick," Xue Jun answered.

Hearing that Li Xinwen was safe, Xue Rui let out a relieved sigh. After a while, he froze and looked back up at Xue Jun with a newfound worry in his eyes. "Ge... you said... those people are dead? Did... Xinwen kill them?" Xue Rui asked, and in response, Xue Jun nods his head. "He won't get into trouble, right?"

"What trouble?" Xue Jun asked back.

"I mean, he killed those people... the law..."

"Heh," Xue Jun scoffed as he crossed his arm. "The law can't touch him. As long as none of us speaks about it, no one knows he's the one who killed them."

"What about the victim's family?"

"What about them? The moment I brought you home, do you think the news of you getting injured won't reach your second brother?" Xue Jun asked. "After knowing that you were injured, did you think your second brother will let off those family of theirs?"

Xue Rui didn't answer and kept his lips shut tight. He knew that with Xue Liang's temperament if someone were to harm his family, the man would strike back without mercy. Even if they are currently still 'falling out' as others would say it. It might be because they are triplet, but he noticed that no matter how bad the situation was, Xue Liang still look after him.

While he was still deep in thought, Xue Rui suddenly hears a ringtone from the bedside table. Turning his head, he saw a brand new phone vibrating with its screen lights up, the caller ID showing that it was Li Xinwen calling him. He stared at it for a while, then reached out to it happily, only to hesitate to pick it up when he remembered something.

"Not going to answer?" Xue Jun who saw this, asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I..." Xue Rui's thumb hovered over at the phone screen. All he had to do, was slide his thumb to the green icon to answer, but he hesitated. Not long after, the call ended.

"Xiao Rui, what's wrong?"

"Ge... earlier, you said that with Xinwen's strength, he doesn't need me to worry about him, right? Instead... if..." Xue Rui bit his lower lip. He had just remembered that before he passed out, he seemed to hear Li Xinwen promised to protect him. He should be happy, but instead, he felt hopeless.

Xue Jun saw how Xue Rui is hesitating and couldn't help but click his tongue. "Xiao Rui, if you have something to say, just say it. Hesitating like this, are you still a man?"

"Ge, if I tell you that the world will end in five years, will you believe me?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Xue Jun asked before he took a chair and sat down beside the bed. "Explain clearly. Don't just go right at the end. How do you expect me to understand if you don't give me the context? That's like trying to figure out the chemical formula of poison without having the poison at your disposal to experiment on at all. Do you want me to guess blindly how the world will end?"

Seeing how Xue Jun is waiting patiently on him, Xue Rui collected his thought before finally telling Xue Jun what Li Jinghua had told him. From start to the end, Xue Jun didn't interrupt Xue Rui and only listening carefully.

"That's why... if that future does become a reality, with the way I am now, I will only be a burden to Xinwen, right?" Xue Rui ended his narration with a question aimed to Xue Jun.

"En. If those things such as zombies started to appear all over the place, I would also be troubled..." Xue Jun replied with his eyes closed as he imagined the scene and Xue Rui immediately became dejected. Xue Jun didn't realize his brother's expression and simply continued. "Did your ex-fiance tell you how fast the virus spread? How it spreads?"

"She said that once someone died, depending on their constitution, it may take some time for them to change," Xue Rui answered. "As for how the virus spreads... I don't know..."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Xue Jun asked as he narrowed his eyes at Xue Rui but his younger brother didn't answer him and instead, just lowered his head, avoiding his gaze. "Xiao Rui..." Xue Jun called out.

"At that time... I angered her and... I got kicked out," Xue Rui said in a low voice.

There were a few moments of awkward silence before Xue Jun let out a heavy sigh and massaged his temple. Not long after, Xue Rui's phone rang once again.

Looking at the screen, Xue Rui saw that it was Li Xinwen who called him. He wanted to answer, but remembering how his brother said he would only be a burden, he suddenly didn't know how to face Li Xinwen. He didn't make a move to answer the call and after a while, the call ended. Xue Rui then quickly changed his phone mode to a 'do not disturb' mode.

"Brother, please help me," Xue Rui said as he looked up at Xue Jun. "As I am right now, I can't even protect him! I want to get stronger," Xue Rui said, his eyes were full of determination.

"..." Xue Jun was rendered speechless. This was his youngest brother, who was pampered from childhood, one who had never experienced physical hardship. Suddenly, he said he wanted to get stronger. If their father or grandfather were to hear this, they might've thought that Xue Rui is only joking and was only saying it for the sake of saying it. But Xue Jun could clearly see the determination and can only sigh. "Xiao Rui... did you know why grandfather didn't... even put you in his eyes when we were younger?"

Xue Rui blinked before he shook his head. "It doesn't matter what that old man think. Jun-ge, please help me. If you don't help me... I'll go to Liang-ge for help!"

"Nonsense! Rather than going to him, why not go to Xinwen?!" Xue Jun scolded his brother.

"Because I can't face him with how weak I am..." Xue Rui replied. "I... at the very least, even if I can't be stronger than him, I want to be someone who can stand by his side!"

Xue Jun didn't know what else to say but he finally agreed. "I can't promise you anything. Xiao Rui, ah... when we were younger, master was invited to our home. I don't think you remembered because, at the time, you were sick. But master was there because grandfather asked him to check on us if we have any aptitude for martial arts," Xue Jun said before he looked at Xue Rui with a serious expression. "Out of the three of us, you have the least aptitude for martial arts."

Hearing this, Xue Rui turned disappointed. Xue Jun naturally saw this and can't help asking, "Giving up?"

"No. Least aptitude means that I still have the aptitude, right? It doesn't mean I have no aptitude at all..." Xue Rui mumbled in a soft voice. "If I work hard... can I get stronger?"

"Where there is a will, there is naturally a way. As long as you work hard, I can at least guarantee that you will be stronger than you are now," Xue Jun replied. "For now, go and rest. Eat the porridge, fill up your stomach and recuperate properly. Speaking of which, you haven't answered my question. Do you remember what happened when you were saved? Did... Li Xinwen give you anything?"

When Xue Jun told him to eat, Xue Rui had already picked the bowl of porridge up from the bedside table and started to eat it. Because it was left for a while, the temperature was just right for him to eat. When he heard Xue Jun's question, he only looked up before swallowing the mouthful of porridge. "I think... I remember Xiao Xiao saying something about drinking medicine? But I was teetering between consciousness and unconsciousness so I'm not sure myself whether it happens or I was imagining thing."

'It must be whatever that medicine is that helps Xue Rui recover this fast...' Xue Jun thought. Of course, he was still suspicious about Li Xinwen but seeing that the other doesn't treat them with hostility, and even helped Xue Rui, Xue Jun felt at the very least he can give Li Xinwen a chance. "Xiao Rui, starting next week, I'll train you up. If you have anything to settle, do so this week. Once you start to train, I will not let you out of the training ground."

"Training ground...? Ge, which training ground are you talking about?"

"If not the military training ground, which one do you think I was talking about? Now hurry and finish up your porridge and rest. Once you start training, rest will become a luxury for you," Xue Jun informed his younger brother before he walked out of the room.