Li Yingjie was still secretly wondering what the heck was going on when Li Shiyu said to the staff member monitoring Li Yingjie"s healing pod, "Help me open up this healing pod!"
"This ..." The staff member looked dubiously at his team leader, not daring to obey immediately. Even though Li Shiyu was the dux of the military medical research specialization, thus being like half a leader to them, this matter was related to the treatment of a student, so the staff member did not dare to move recklessly.
Seeing this, the team leader hurried to explain, "Dux Li, this student is currently undergoing treatment. If we interrupt the process now, it might affect the final recovery time."
At these words, Li Shiyu raised his right hand and turned on his communicator to carefully enter some information, then said, "Don"t worry. I"ve already requested to take on Li Yingjie"s treatment from the military academy. Very soon, you all should receive the transfer procedure request here."
As the dux of the military medical research specialization, Li Shiyu had the right to request primary responsibility over the care of any patient. Of course, the military academy would still hold responsibility over the two students. The administration would keep track of the entire treatment process, circ.u.mventing any possible harm that could occur to either of the involved parties. Either side that committed any fault would be strictly punished by the military academy.
Hearing Li Shiyu"s explanation, the team leader relaxed. Very quickly, the team leader received the transfer order, and so instructed the staff member to stop the treatment process of the healing pod and open the pod.
This out of the ordinary event drew the concern of the other first years waiting in the treatment centre. They all gathered close, and upon seeing the healing pod suddenly being opened, their expressions changed. One of the students was Xie Yi, who had accompanied Li Yingjie here for treatment under Ling Lan"s orders. Enraged, he asked, "What do you all think you"re doing? Don"t you know that interrupting treatment will affect his recovery?"
The team leader rushed to explain, "This student will be transferred to the Military Medical Research Centre for treatment. You all can relax. The treatment and medicinal agents there are several times better than those we have here. Not only will his injuries not be affected, he might even be able to recover even earlier."
Xie Yi peered dubiously at Li Shiyu and the others — would these people who were obviously seniors be so kind and benevolent? Xie Yi could not be blamed for overthinking things. After all, they had just had a confrontation with the seniors of Leiting. According to the update they had received from a member who had rushed over from the arena, Boss Lan had just defeated the top fighter of Leiting, officially winning the wagered fight. It could not be excluded that the people of Leiting might turn to anger from their shame, and take the opportunity to do something underhanded while they still had not received direct orders from those in the upper ranks.
Seeing this, Li Lanfeng smiled and explained, "We"re from the Wuji Mecha Clan, and this is Dux Li from the military medical research specialization. If you understand how our military academy is run, you"ll know that the military medical research specialization is never involved in the conflicts among the various factions."
As military doctors were the holy ones who treated the sick and healed the wounded, they needed to treat all patients objectively without any bias. Thus, whether it was within the military academy or within the actual military, military doctors were absolutely not allowed to be involved in any conflicts among the various factions. This was because once a military doctor was involved, they could not guarantee that their heart would remain pure. Especially on the battlefield, if a doctor hesitated or wavered due to their patient being from a different faction, it could result in a death, and this was something the military could not condone.
From the start, Xie Yi was a news-gatherer, a busybody — he knew what the senior across him had said was not wrong. If the other was really from the military doctor specialization, he could certainly relax, for the other would definitely not do anything bad to Li Yingjie. As such, he acquiesced, but he still kept a close watch on Li Shiyu and his group. The moment he detected anything odd, he would make sure to prevent them at first notice from harming Li Yingjie.
At this time, Xie Yi was still rather simple and naive, not knowing that military doctors were people too. They experienced the full gamut of emotions just like any other person, and especially towards those particular people whom they loved and hated in equal measure, even if they would treat them dutifully, they would still find all manner of ways to "torment" the other. And despite how these torments were actually also beneficial to the patient, it went without question that there was not a single patient who would be willing to accept such treatment if they had been given a choice.
As the healing pod was completely opened, the healing fluid inside the pod was suctioned out at the same time. Very soon, Li Yingjie"s body was revealed, and several seconds later, the uniform he was wearing was blown dry — it was as if he had never been immersed in healing fluid.
At this moment, Li Yingjie finally found the chance to speak. He asked, "Second elder cousin brother, why are you here?"
"Hmph, why can"t I be here?" Li Shiyu harrumphed coldly. Facing Li Yingjie, he did not have the same patience he had when dealing with his eldest cousin brother. He found this brat here annoying no matter how he looked at him.
Li Yingjie was instantly left speechless. He found that he was indeed a great idiot for asking this question. Li Shiyu being here, dressed in the uniform of a dux no less, naturally meant he was a student of this military academy. And being able to be a student of the First Men"s Military Academy, of course meant he had pa.s.sed the admissions tests. Could his brain have been injured when he had been struck previously?
"Fine, that was a stupid question. I should ask, what are you doing here? Are you here to laugh at me?" Li Yingjie stared unhappily at Li Shiyu. His relationship with his second elder cousin brother was not very good; he would not be so self-deluded to think that his cousin was here to be chummy with him.
"At least you are self-aware, wise enough to know you"re a joke. Yes, I"m here to lecture you. Performing so terribly on the stage, you"ve really disgraced our Li family," scolded Li Shiyu, disappointed. Even though Li Shiyu had rejected the position of Li family inheritor, this did not mean he did not acknowledge that he was of the Li family. Thus, seeing Li Yingjie perform so badly, he was extremely dissatisfied.
Li Yingjie rolled his eyes at these words. How could he have forgotten that his cousin brother had an inherently venomous tongue 1 ? Whenever they met, his cousin brother would critique him till it seemed as if he were worthless. Of course, he had not wanted to just take it, constantly looking for a way to fight back. But unfortunately, the other was older than him by quite a few years, and relied on his advantage of the extra years of strength and knowledge of combat skills to suppress Li Yingjie. Thus, he had failed many times in his attempts to object, never having found a chance to turn the tables till now.
Originally, four years ago was a very good chance for him to turn the tables, but Li Shiyu had unfortunately become at odds with grandfather because he had rejected the position of inheritor, subsequently moving out of the Li family mansion. This caused Li Yingjie to no longer have the chance to meet the other to attempt bringing his revolt to the final stages ...
Li Shiyu paid no mind to whether Li Yingjie would be disgruntled by his words, instead continuing to instruct, "Later, follow me to the Military Medical Research Centre. After this, your injuries will be my responsibility."
"That"s not necessary. Since I can be healed here too, why should I go there?" retorted Li Yingjie haughtily. He did not want to owe this annoying second elder cousin brother anything, and would rather suffer a little more here.
At these words, Li Shiyu"s face darkened and he leaned in close, bending over to pat Li Yingjie"s still immobile face within the healing pod, and said lowly, "My taking over your treatment, is already a fact. So, just give up."
Li Shiyu"s dark face made the warning bells in Li Yingjie"s heart blare loudly — could it be that his cousin brother was shifting his venom from his tongue to his hands 2 instead? He struggled desperately, trying to speak. Right then, an icy voice suddenly rang out from the main doors of the treatment centre. Despite the size of the treatment centre and how many people there were inside, this voice seemed to ring out by everyone"s ears, clear and coherent.
"I would like to know, what in the world is going on?" From the doorway, this question signalled the entrance of a coldly dashing youth radiating a cold aura as he slowly walked into the treatment centre.
For some reason, the moment he entered the treatment centre, the entire centre"s temperature seemed to drop by several degrees. Some people even felt an invisible pressure descend upon them. The initially somewhat raucous noise was abruptly silenced, and everyone"s eyes were drawn and held by this youth.
It turned out that Ling Lan who had won the arena fight had arrived, and behind her were quite a few of the team leaders of the New Cadet Regiment.
Li Yingjie"s initially grumpy expression instantly brightened when he heard this voice. He turned his head to look over and shouted out, "Boss Lan!"
This behaviour of Li Yingjie"s made Li Shiyu"s face change minutely, and the gaze of Li Lanfeng, who had been observing Li Yingjie all this while, flashed briefly. Li Lanfeng lifted his head to look in Ling Lan"s direction, and his gaze became extremely solemn.
"Li Yingjie!" Li Shiyu could not hold back an angry bellow. His voice was raised quite a few decibels — it was clear to see how much rage was contained behind it. Li Shiyu was extremely dissatisfied with how easily Li Yingjie had acknowledged another as his boss, and was also sad on behalf of his eldest cousin brother. This was because he felt that only Li Mulan should be the boss of them Li family brothers. And Li Yingjie, this great big dumba.s.s, had actually given this honourable t.i.tle of their eldest cousin brother to someone else — this was something he could not forgive.
Li Shiyu"s furious roar did not cow Li Yingjie, who instead had an expression filled with stubborn recalcitrance on his face. Li Yingjie was exactly like this. He was someone who, if he does not acknowledge you, no matter how much you pressure him, he would still refuse to submit. However, if you could gain his heartfelt deference, one cold glance would be enough to freeze him in his place. Right now, this personality of Li Yingjie"s was out in full force, which just made Li Shiyu"s rage flare even higher.
If it could be said that meeting his eldest cousin brother made Li Shiyu want to draw close instinctively, wanting to protect the other, then meeting Li Yingjie was completely the other way round. All of Li Shiyu"s initial praiseworthy good temperament would completely disappear, only leaving behind roars of anger and a venomous tongue ... not once could they co-exist peacefully.
Li Shiyu and Li Yingjie glared at each other. On one side, Li Lanfeng"s expression shifted minutely, but just as he was about intervene and mediate, a glacial voice rang out extremely close to him, "Why isn"t my party member being treated? Can you explain this?"
Apparently, Ling Lan had already arrived by the healing pod of Li Yingjie, and was speaking directly to the staff member in charge of treating Li Yingjie.
Perhaps because she had just come straight from combat, there was still a trace of killing intent on Ling Lan"s body. This intimidating aura actually made the staff member break out in cold sweat all across his forehead, unable to reply for a moment.
"Hm?" Ling Lan quirked an eyebrow, her freezing gaze driving a bolt of chill into the staff member"s heart. He quickly replied, "I"m sorry, he ... he"s been transferred to the Military Medical Research Centre."
"Transferred to the Military Medical Research Centre?" Ling Lan"s brow furrowed, unsure what this meant. Xie Yi dashed up to her side and explained the entire chain of events to Ling Lan. Ling Lan nodded as she listened, finally getting the picture.
Once Xie Yi was done speaking, he retreated. Only then did Ling Lan turn her attention to Li Shiyu"s group of four, and Li Shiyu"s group instantly felt a wave of invisible pressure crashing onto them.
Li Lanfeng"s gaze began to flicker once more, because he had sensed a familiar energy ... perhaps the other was really like him. This was the very first time he had ever sensed the presence of kin — his heart could not help but pound for several beats.
The Chinese version of "sharp tongue". I would have translated it directly into "sharp tongue", but there"s a phrase later on in this chapter that only really works if I keep this as "venomous tongue". Anyhow, having a sharp/venomous tongue means a person is given to using cutting, harsh, or critical language. And there, this is the phrase. The more proper English version "from being sharp-tongued to having murderous hands" just doesn"t have the same impact and beautiful parallelism. Li Yingjie is wondering if his cousin brother has decided to take action and really harm/kill him instead of cutting at him with words like usual.