Chapter 1146 — Wei Zhao's Secret Worries

To begin with, the mood between them out there had been ambiguous and awkward enough; but now that they had stepped inside the tent, it turned downright uncomfortable.

It was not that Wei Zhao and Feng Xiaoxiao had never had the chance to be alone in a room together — on the contrary, that one time Feng Xiaoxiao had even "laid herself bare." But back then there had been nothing between them; at most they were classmates, deskmates. Now, though, they were a couple.

A couple, yes — even if there was a measure of pretense and revenge in it. But whatever the beginning had been, both of them now felt that certain something for each other, and that changed everything.

"Xiaoxiao, after all that seafood today, do you feel at all unwell?" Wei Zhao was the first to break the awkwardness, steering them onto a more serious subject. It was, of course, something that had been weighing on him — last time Feng Xiaoxiao's attack had come of eating too much seafood.

"I'm fine. Nothing particularly uncomfortable — I didn't eat that much this time." Feng Xiaoxiao had not expected Wei Zhao to be so concerned for her, and warmth rose in her heart in waves. It seemed Wei Zhao treated her so well — could she really go through with her revenge?

Even as Feng Xiaoxiao's heart melted, she grew more afraid — afraid that her death would bring trouble upon Wei Zhao.

In that moment she felt an urge to confess everything to Wei Zhao, but the words reached her lips and would not come out.

"That's good. If you feel unwell, you must tell me early, so I can be ready," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm..." Feng Xiaoxiao nodded. She was not as nervous now as she had been before.

"Then let's rest early. Tomorrow at dawn we're going to watch the sunrise." Wei Zhao said to Feng Xiaoxiao, "Shall I turn off the light? The lamp in this tent is rechargeable — I'm afraid of running it down."

"Mm, all right... Huh? Going to sleep now?" Feng Xiaoxiao was taken aback for a moment before it registered — Wei Zhao wanted to sleep?

She looked at him uncertainly. This "rest" of Wei Zhao's — was it truly rest, or was it, once the light was off, doing the things a couple ought to do?

"The sunrise by the sea comes very early. If we don't get some sleep now, we won't be able to get up in the morning," Wei Zhao said.

"Oh..." From his words Feng Xiaoxiao could not tell what he really meant, so she simply answered.

Wei Zhao reached out and switched off the tent lamp, and darkness fell over the tent at once.

"Let's sleep. Good night," Wei Zhao said, lying down.

Feng Xiaoxiao was slightly startled. She had not expected that when Wei Zhao said sleep, he truly meant sleep. From the look of him, he had no intention of even taking off his outer clothes, nor of edging any closer to her — which left her a little ill at ease.

She lay with her eyes open, looking at Wei Zhao beside her. He was lying flat on his back.

Lying this close together, she ought to have been nervous and excited, but Feng Xiaoxiao felt none of it — because it seemed to her that Wei Zhao had no intention of going any further at all.

She waited a long while, and still Wei Zhao showed no reaction. Inwardly she cursed him for a block of wood. A lone man and a lone woman sharing a tent, and he had not a single thought? Even she, a girl, was having thoughts — why wasn't he?

"Wei Zhao... husband... are you asleep?" Feng Xiaoxiao finally could not help asking.

"Not yet." Wei Zhao opened his eyes with a wry smile. In truth, Wei Zhao was no Liu Xiahui; he had no miraculous art to keep his heart unmoved in a woman's embrace. But he did possess a willpower beyond that of ordinary men.

That Wei Zhao felt something for Feng Xiaoxiao was beyond doubt. But until he had figured out how to handle her situation, how could he be in any mood to do anything else with her?

As he came to know her better, Wei Zhao knew that he had truly come to feel for this girl something he could not bring himself to let go. Yet the more that was so, the heavier the sorrow lay on him. He did not want Feng Xiaoxiao to die, and yet he was powerless.

Outsiders called him Divine Doctor Lin; he possessed a peerless art like the Xuanyuan Yulong Jue, and still he was helpless before Feng Xiaoxiao's illness. Such, perhaps, was the sorrow of a divine physician. Since ancient times there had been no few cases like this — a lifetime of healing others, and yet unable to heal the one beside you.

"Then... let's talk a while? I can't sleep either..." How could Feng Xiaoxiao be sleepy now? Wei Zhao was right there beside her; she was too excited and too nervous for sleep, and wanted none of it.

"Mm... talk about what?" Wei Zhao turned his head. In the darkness he could not make out her expression, but her bright eyes were clearly visible, and his heart stirred slightly — tenderness, pity, and more than anything, unwillingness.

Wei Zhao wanted to save Feng Xiaoxiao's life, but there was nothing he could do.

"Tell me... about you and my dad. You used to be my dad's colleague? Then now..." Feng Xiaoxiao had always been deeply curious about how Wei Zhao and her father knew each other. She did not know everything about her father's work, but she knew a thing or two.

Most of it was extremely dangerous work — how could Wei Zhao possibly be an old acquaintance of her father's? Yet judging by Wei Zhao's formidable skills alone, it was possible. But then she was puzzled again: her father's work was a lifetime post, so how had Wei Zhao become a student? And even if Wei Zhao could have changed careers, how old was he now? How could he have been her father's colleague?

So all these curiosities filled Feng Xiaoxiao's mind with questions.

"Heh, there's not much to tell. I wasn't one of your father's people — I joined as outside support, so I had more freedom and leeway." Wei Zhao shrugged with a smile. "That's all I can say. Some things fall under confidentiality rules — I'm sure you understand."

"Oh... I see." Feng Xiaoxiao was a little disappointed, but she could hardly press further.

Inside An Jianwen and Su Taizao's tent.

Su Taizao was watching the two tents not far off — Gu Mengyao's and Wei Zhao's — through a pair of binoculars.

An Jianwen had been the one keeping watch before, but after a while he found the work too dull: he could not hear them talking, and there was no fun in it at all, so he handed the job over to Su Taizao.

"Brother An, from what I've observed, Gu Mengyao is sharing a tent with Shen Yushu and Tang Yun, and Wei Zhao is in the other tent with Feng Xiaoxiao. After they went in, none of them has come back out!" Su Taizao reported his findings to An Jianwen.

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