Chapter 1785 — The Strange Little Shu
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Unless it was that one time he was injured and couldn't come out, he would never fail to leave his room.
Hearing Gu Mengyao's words, the old man Wei's expression grew even more grave. If something was out of the ordinary, then there was certainly a problem — could Wei Zhao have run into some trouble?
"So... Xiaoyi may have gotten himself into some kind of trouble..." Old Man Wei could not be certain, but worry was plain in his heart. "I'll go take a look..."
"We're coming too..." Tang Zhi said instinctively.
"All right, then stay behind me and don't make a sound. If he truly lost track of time, we shouldn't disturb him," Old Man Wei cautioned.
Tang Zhi and the others hastily nodded to show they understood.
Old Man Wei crept quietly to Wei Zhao's door and gave it a gentle push; it swung open at once.
Wei Zhao never locked his door at home — there were no outsiders here, so he had no fear of being disturbed.
At first, after pushing the door open, Old Man Wei had meant to be careful and keep it from making any noise. But the moment he took in the scene inside the room, he gave a violent start, shoved the door wide and rushed in, crying out in alarm: "Xiaoyi, what's happened to you?"
There lay Wei Zhao on the floor, his whole body flushed red. His clothes and the wooden bed had long since crumbled to ash, and Wei Zhao lay sprawled amid that ash!
At Old Man Wei's cry, Tang Zhi, Gu Mengyao and Little Shu also rushed into the room. But when they saw that Wei Zhao was unclothed, their faces flushed at once — though only for an instant, before shame gave way to alarm, for the color of Wei Zhao's body was much like that of a boiled crab. And that was not all: the moment they drew near him, they could plainly feel the heat of a fire roasting their skin!
"Grandpa Lin, what's wrong with Wei Zhao?" Tang Zhi forgot her embarrassment and asked urgently.
Lin Dongfang, for his part, was frowning deeply. Clearly he too had no idea what had happened, or why Wei Zhao should suddenly be in such a state.
"I don't know yet, but something has definitely gone wrong!" Old Man Wei said, his expression grim. This was plainly not... it could not possibly be normal to lie there on the ground without moving a muscle — something had clearly gone amiss!
With that, Old Man Wei reached out and touched Wei Zhao's body. Even with his physique, impervious to fire and water and hard as diamond, he was badly scalded by Wei Zhao — fortunately without injury, but anyone else would likely have been burned outright.
Old Man Wei pulled his hand back the instant he touched him, his expression growing heavier still. "Has Xiaoyi ever had anything like this before?"
"This... no, never..." Tang Zhi thought it over, then shook her head decisively.
"But... he hasn't, though Little Shu seems to have," Gu Mengyao said suddenly, recalling the time not long ago when Little Shu had abruptly broken out in fever. The situation had been much like Wei Zhao's now — her whole body flushed red as though boiled, and burning hot enough to frighten anyone!
The only difference was that Little Shu had been conscious then, while Wei Zhao was now unconscious.
"Oh? You mean that time she was stricken with fire poison?" Old Man Wei remembered too — Wei Zhao had called him before and told him about Little Shu.
"Yes, that's right, the time she was stricken with fire poison — but the circumstances were somewhat different," Gu Mengyao said with a nod. "Little Shu's fever came out of nowhere; she said it was an old ailment from childhood. But Wei Zhao's... this must have come on afterward!"
Old Man Wei nodded approvingly. Gu Mengyao was clearly quite sharp, to spot the difference at once.
"When Little Shu had this happen before, how was it resolved?" Old Man Wei asked.
"I took a kind of medicine to suppress it..." Shen Yushu said. "But it should be different for Brother Arrow..."