Chapter 375 - 337: Looking Like a Couple of Many Years
Chapter 375: Chapter 337: Looking Like a Couple of Many Years
Gu Ning turned to look. Lanuo had changed into a white lab coat. His previously messy hair was neatly combed and tied into a low ponytail, making him look tidy and presentable. Combined with the rimless glasses on his face, his scholarly air was tinged with a calm, sharp intelligence. He looked like the type of person who was very smart and an excellent student.
"He’s recovering faster than you," Lanuo said to Gu Ning as he walked over to the equipment to check the IV fluid. "Right now, he’s just in a dormant state due to the medication. Logically, you should also be recovering more quickly."
Gu Ning sensed the suspicion about her constitution in his words and didn’t reply.
’If I were a Beastman, I could use Beastman medicine and would naturally recover faster. I wouldn’t even get sick this easily.’
’I always thought my constitution was pretty good for a human, but it’s nothing compared to the ironclad bodies of the Beastmen.’
Lanuo hung two new IV bags, sat down beside her, and felt her forehead with the back of his hand. "Your fever’s finally broken, and your cough is better too." After a pause, he added in a casual tone, "Your normal body temperature is quite low, Miss Ningning."
Gu Ning gave him a slight smile in response. ’I can’t fool Lanuo the way I fooled Leo, telling him I’m from the Snake Clan. He doesn’t look like a Beastman who’s that easy to trick.’
Lanuo didn’t say much more. After performing some basic checks and watching her take her medicine, he glanced at the fox who had been staring daggers at him the entire time, then left the room.
’That fox... Every time I come in, he just glares at me. It’s like he wants to eat me alive if I say one extra word to the little female.’
’I’ll have to find a chance to get him out of the way. Otherwise, I won’t be able to properly study the little female’s strange constitution.’
Seeing Lanuo leave, Barto wanted to tell Gu Ning to ignore him, but he swallowed the words before they could escape.
’Given Gu Ning’s tendency to get sick, she’s bound to need a doctor in the future. But to hide her identity, she can’t go to a hospital for now. Alex must have considered this, which is why he brought Lanuo here.’
His heart grew heavy as he thought about recent events.
’What I told Gu Ning before, about the Beast Alliance rejecting outsiders, doesn’t normally apply to females. But she’s a female from Sky Watch Point, which changes everything.’
’The Heavenly Beast Clan’s frantic pursuit of Gu Ning, and the way that female, Windsor, handled the matter with the Fifth Military District, made me realize that Gu Ning’s identity is far more complicated than I imagined.’
’To completely ensure Gu Ning’s safety, the best option would be for her to go to Zone One. No matter how powerful the Heavenly Beast Clan is, they can’t reach the Central Green Area.’
’But from the way Windsor acted, she doesn’t seem to want Gu Ning to go to the Central Green Area.’
’Thinking about it more deeply, Gu Ning is a female from Sky Watch Point. If the Beast Alliance wants to avoid conflict with them, they won’t take her in.’
’That’s why Windsor secretly followed us the whole way, never once mentioning taking Gu Ning to Zone One, but instead tacitly allowing us to escort her to Zone 5.’
’I can understand the reasoning behind it, just like how the Beast Alliance treats Mixed Breeds. I understand it, but I detest it.’
In that moment, he was struck by how similar Gu Ning’s situation was to his own—perhaps even more difficult.
He suddenly felt a pang of regret.
’Maybe... staying in Zone 19 with Gu Ning wouldn’t be so bad. I would protect her. I would... ’
"Barto?"
Gu Ning looked at the little fox, who was standing there in a daze. Her voice was still a little hoarse as she asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Barto snapped out of it and sat down beside her. He took the hand with the IV line and warmed it in his own. "Do you still want to go to Zone 5?"
Gu Ning said, "Of course I do."
"Why do you ask all of a sudden?"
Seeing the little fox’s downcast, gloomy expression, Gu Ning leaned over to get a look at his face. "You’re not happy? What’s wrong?"
’I’ve been so miserably sick these past two days, mostly sleeping in a daze. This is the first time I’ve felt a little better, with enough energy to pay attention to the people around me.’
’Barto was fine just a moment ago, bustling around to take care of me and muttering nonstop. His mood seems to have plummeted since Lanuo’s visit.’
"What is it, really? Little fox." Gu Ning reached out and gently scratched his cheek with her index finger. "Are you tired? You should go rest."
Barto caught her index finger, looked up at her, and sighed. "Taking care of you isn’t tiring. It’s just... you’ve suffered so much on this journey, and I’m starting to regret taking you to Zone 5."
Hearing this, Gu Ning pulled the pen and paper Alex had given her from under her pillow. She tapped open Kaper’s terminal, expertly navigated to the translation system, and began to write: *Weren’t we prepared for things like this before we left Zone 19? You were the one who said we had to go to Zone 5. Why are you suddenly losing heart?*
Barto’s gaze followed her pen. As soon as she finished the last word, he said, "I’m not losing heart, I’m just worried..."
Before he could continue, Gu Ning wrote: *Worried about what?*
Barto just looked at her, silent.
’What am I worried about? I’m worried her identity will be exposed. Whether the Beast Alliance decides to protect her or Sky Watch Point takes her away, I’ll lose her in the end.’
’I’m worried that her insistence on bringing me and Cook, the way she kept choosing us back in Zone 19, will put her in an even more difficult position.’
’I’m worried she’ll be drawn into the conflicts between the various clan factions and become a pawn sacrificed for their own gains.’
’Faced with such complex and sinister forces, our simple hopes and plans seem so fragile, as if they couldn’t even withstand the winter wind.’
’Staying in Zone 19 might actually be closer to what we want.’
"Coward," Gu Ning said.
Barto was taken aback. "What did you say?"
Gu Ning looked into his sorrow-filled eyes and enunciated each word with perfect clarity. "Barto. Coward."
Barto flushed, and just as he was about to retort, she lowered her gaze and added, "So am I."
The retort died in his throat.
Gu Ning squeezed the little fox’s hand, her thumb stroking the fleshy part between his thumb and index finger. After a long silence, she said, "But... we can’t retreat."
She tightened her grip, looked him in the eye, and said, "Neither you nor I. We can’t."
’Given our situations and identities,’ she thought, ’the path backward is a narrow alley that might just lead to a dead end.’
’It’s not that I’m not scared. But no matter how scared I get, I have to keep my head down and press on. However bad it gets, it’s still better than where I started.’
’I understand what the little fox is worried about, too. Maybe there’s something in the Upper District he doesn’t want to face.’
Barto’s heart ached. He leaned over and buried his face in Gu Ning’s embrace.
Gu Ning stroked the little fox’s messy, long hair. He must have been worried sick these past two days, so much so that he hadn’t even combed it properly.
"I’ll get better," Gu Ning soothed, her voice soft and slow. "Our... plan... doesn’t change. Okay?"
Barto gave a muffled "mhm."
Gu Ning smiled. He was once again her sullen, awkward little fox.
"There’s something off about her constitution. Are you hiding something from me?"
Lanuo said to the alpha wolf walking beside him, holding a test report in his hand.
"Just focus on treating her for now. We’ll discuss the rest later."
As Alex spoke, he pushed open the door to the hospital room. Both he and Lanuo stopped dead in their tracks at the scene inside.
Gu Ning had fallen asleep. Barto was sitting by her bed, his head pillowed in her embrace, having also drifted off.
Lanuo raised an eyebrow. The little female was lying near the edge of the bed, as if she had deliberately made room for the fox to lean against her. One of her hands rested on his head, while the other was held tightly in his.
The scene made them look like a couple who had been together for many years. It wasn’t a clingy, overt intimacy, but one that held a profound, buried affection.