Chapter 128: Mesmerized
After Mo Xiao left, Su Tang quickly pulled the medical kit to the side of the treatment chair. The metal rollers made a light sound on the floor, breaking the silence of the room.
She put on sterile gloves, her fingertips touching the cool rubber. Yasuo removed the upper half of his combat uniform. Seeing the jagged wounds on the man and the unidentifiable grime trapped within the torn flesh, Su Tang couldn’t help but purse her lips.
He was already injured like this; why go to the White Tower? He should have come to the Medical Department first.
“Bear with it. I’ll do a simple cleaning first.”
Su Tang spoke while picking up a cotton ball soaked in saline and carefully wiping the blood from Yasuo’s shoulder.
The edges of the wound were mangled, mixed with dirt and dark red scabs—it was a shocking sight.
Yasuo’s body was tense, yet he didn’t make a sound. His gaze drifted toward Su Tang’s face from time to time.
Her eyelashes were very long, casting faint shadows as she looked down. Her focused expression made the vigilance he had carried for days dissipate, replaced by a growing sense of peace.
The distance between them was very close. He could clearly smell her scent—a clear sweetness that lingered at the tip of his nose. Yasuo’s violence values had inevitably risen during this mission, but sniffing that scent now, his turbulent mental power actually began to stabilize.
“If it hurts, tell me. I’ll be gentle. No need to tough it out.”
Su Tang noticed his stiffness and thought he was embarrassed to cry out in pain, so she made her movements even lighter.
Once the external blood and grime were cleaned, it was time for the small debris trapped in the gaps of the flesh.
Su Tang used tweezers to pick up an alcohol-soaked cotton ball and carefully moved closer.
“This will hurt a bit. If you can’t stand it, tell me. We’ll take a break before continuing.”
“It’s fine. Go ahead.”
Seeing that Yasuo didn’t seem to be lying, Su Tang nodded. As the cotton ball touched the gap of the wound and began to wipe, a sharp pain flared.
When she wiped deep into the wound, Yasuo couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan, fine beads of cold sweat appearing on his forehead.
“Take a rest.”
Su Tang moved the cotton ball away. There was too much grime in the crevices; it couldn’t be cleaned without going deep.
How on earth did he end up like this? Did a Polluted Entity chase him until he was rolling on the ground?
“I’m fine,” he said hoarsely. His gaze shifted downward, landing on her hand that was holding the cotton ball.
Her fingers were slender and looked quite delicate. Yet she was the one who used these hands to help him with his Purification, and now, she was using those same delicate hands to treat his wounds.
Yasuo stared at that white softness, the darkness in his gaze deepening.
Su Tang didn’t notice his look. Seeing that Yasuo’s expression had softened, she picked up a new cotton ball and focused on cleaning the foreign objects from the wound.
“There are fragments of a Polluted Entity in the wound. They must be cleaned out. Bear with it—we’ll try to get them all at once, or the wound will get infected.”
After wiping out the larger particles, some small shards remained tightly stuck to the flesh. Seeing the pain on Yasuo’s face, she switched from cotton balls to tweezers.
Su Tang used the tweezers to carefully approach the injured area, picking out a small piece of black debris and placing it in the tray.
“It seems this mission was very difficult. Is anyone else in Team 5 injured?”
“We were ambushed on the way back. They weren’t injured. I was attacked while covering the rear.”
Su Tang nodded slightly. It seemed it had been a close call.
“With Captain Yasuo protecting them, of course the cats are safe.”
Hearing that she was teasing him, the man let out a low laugh, his eyes full of satisfaction.
“Speaking of which, I haven’t seen Xiao Yu for a few days. How is it? Does it need my help?”
Yasuo had taken Xiao Yu with him on the mission. She really missed the cat after all this time.
“It’s just a bit tired and resting in the Mental Sea. Once it’s recovered, I’ll let it out to keep you company.”
Yasuo followed her lead, completely ignoring the way Xiao Yu was noisily protesting in his Mental Sea. You must be joking. He finally had a chance to be alone with her; how could he possibly let that cat out to disturb them?
The resistance in his Mental Sea grew stronger. Yasuo frowned, feeling a headache from Xiao Yu’s noise, and simply severed their connection.
His gaze unintentionally caught that white softness, and his eyes followed her fingertips involuntarily.
When her finger accidentally touched the skin of his shoulder, he felt as if he had been electrocuted. A fine current spread across his skin, making his heart skip a beat.
So fragrant…
As the distance between that white softness and his face grew closer, the clear sweetness lingering in his nose became even more distinct. Yasuo seemed mesmerized. His mind and eyes were filled with nothing but that white softness. His head lowered inch by inch. He gauged the distance, tilted his head slightly, and his lips drew closer and closer to that white skin…
“Click—”
The sharp sound of the door opening instantly shattered the ambiguity of the room.
Su Tang snapped her head up, her eyes wide with a trace of confusion, clearly startled by the sudden noise.
She instinctively took half a step back, looking toward the door. Her gaze met those of An Se and Mo Xiao.
“You’re here. Perfect—I’m almost finished.”
Yasuo, meanwhile, was like a puppet with the pause button pressed. He froze in place. He hadn’t even had time to hide the infatuation on his face before he met the two gazes from the door.
Particularly Mo Xiao’s gaze—it was like quenched ice. Yasuo shuddered and snapped out of it, hurriedly sitting up straight.
“Ahem.”
An Se gave a light cough, taking the lead in breaking the eerie atmosphere. He slowly approached Yasuo, pretending not to have seen the subtle scene.
“Is that so? It seems we arrived just in time for the finale.”
“Since we’re here, let’s give him a check-up. After all, he just came back; let’s see if he was affected by the pollution.”
An Se smiled and nodded toward Su Tang, who was standing aside and removing her gloves.
“That was my intention.”
“Yasuo, in a moment, I’ll approach you with my mental power. Remember to relax your mental barrier.”
Yasuo gave a sheepish response, though he was inwardly cursing these two unwelcome guests. Did they really not arrive right on cue?
No matter how much he complained in his mind, he had to cooperate on the surface, obediently allowing An Se to finish the check-up.
Mo Xiao’s expression was grim. His gaze raked over Yasuo like a hook before landing on Su Tang. Seeing her standing there quietly as if she hadn’t noticed anything, his anger finally subsided a bit. He quickly walked to Su Tang’s side and stood there, like a dog guarding its food, shielding his prize and refusing to let anyone else touch her.
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