Tai Yang blinked a few times but said nothing.
'That conversion I heard was between my predecessor and someone else, and they were talking about a child. Could… Could that kid have been… me?'
Ji Ru started to walk him out of the water.
'I want to know what's going on.' Tai Yang thought. 'I need to get to the Lake of Obscurity… Where is that? I feel dizzy. Lake of Obscurity... Such a strange yet pretty name...'
Li Jun frowned. "Hey, Ji Ru, he looks like he's about to-"
As he spoke, Tai Yang suddenly collapsed, and thinking fast, Li Jun jerked forward to help Ji Ru catch him.
Ji Ru winced as a large portion of skin slid off Tai Yang's arm in a slimy way because of the way he'd caught him. "The adrenaline must have worn off. He's severely burned and he jumped into the water so he's definitely going to have an infection. We need to go to the infirmary immediately."
Li Jun pursed his lips and gave Ji Ru a nod. Shifting slightly, he put his arms underneath Tai Yang's knees and scooped him up. With Tai Yang in his arms, he looked seriously at Ji Ru and Li Wei. "Let's go then."
Swiftly, the trio carried their unconscious guest to Ji Ru's study. Every eye that landed on them widened in shock and distress as they watched Tai Yang get carried along by the prince.
'The prince is carrying Tai Yang?!' They thought as they watched them go.
***
"It's going to happen often, no matter what we do. He's supposed to be dead, and the Universe isn't simply going to cut him some slack." Li Wei said as Ji Ru worked on Tai Yang. Li Jun sighed. They were in Ji Ru's Study.
"I suppose. Still, he's almost died twice already in less than a week. It's disconcerting."
Li Wei nodded and sat next to him on the couch. "I hope we can help him reach immortality soon." Li Wei said.
Li Jun leaned backward. "What do we do about his Effectuating?"
"There's only one person who knows how to do that. You know who I'm referring to." Li Wei said. Li Jun clicked his tongue and scrunched up his nose.
"But he's such an arsehole. I don't want to ask him for his help."
"He'd most likely help though. He used to be good friends with Tai Yang."
Li Jun ran a hand through his hair and held the nape of his neck. "It makes no sense. How the hell did he manifest this, Li Wei?"
Li Wei leaned his elbow on the armrest and rubbed his temple. "If I knew, I'd have explained. It's quite peculiar."
"And the fact that he's a mortal from a non-magical universe… There's something weird about this. I really want to beat it out of him." Li Jun said.
"I agree, it's odd, but personally, I think Tai Yang is as lost as we are. You saw how petrified he was earlier. He had no idea what happened."
"Still. Someone must have an explanation for this." Li Jun said.
Li Wei bit his inner cheek, comtemplating. "I could... look into it…" Li Jun's eyes flicked sideways at Li Wei.
"How long would you need?" Li Jun asked.
"I'm not sure." Li Wei said. His eyes trained on Ji Ru as he spoke. Li Jun followed his brother's eyes. "I don't think it would be safe if I took him along... And he doesn't like to see that kind of thing anyway. But this could be months... How can I be away from him that long? I wouldn't know if he was okay... Or safe."
Li Jun pursed his lips. "Brother… if I were to take Ji Ru with Tai Yang and me, there'd be a greater risk of them being kidnapped."
Li Wei nodded. "Ji Ru shouldn't leave the castle. It's safest here. But then, ugh!"
"Wu Ji?" Li Jun asked. Li Wei gave a stiff nod. "He'll find a way to get in here. I know it."
"We'll have to plan this carefully then." Li Jun said.
Ji Ru continued to heal Tai Yang's burns. He was using quite a bit of magic, and he was sure that it would cause Tai Yang to be unconscious indefinitely. Using too much magic on someone who hadn't cultivated much usually caused a shift in the individual's aura.
In short, their body would go out of whack and that could make them comatose for unspecified periods of time. Of course, Ji Ru wanted anything but that, however, the state of Tai Yang's body was extraordinarily damaged. It was astounding how he hadn't died from the burns because they'd ravaged far beyond his upper epidermal layers.
That aside, Ji Ru exhaled as he listened to the brother's conversation. They often forgot that his hearing as a wolf familiar was exemplary. Even Xiao Xia must have thought of it, hence her desire to ride the horses and make it such that he couldn't hear her conversation. That was simply a hypothesis though, and he didn't want to make any accusations yet.
'I'll figure something out while Tai Yang's unconscious. By the time he wakes up, we can all do what we need to.'
As he stared at Tai Yang, he reached up to scratch his ear. Then he paused. 'While he's like this… Should I return his knowledge to him?'
His large eyes flicked towards Li Wei and Li Jun. 'I'm sure they're both skeptical knowing that he can Effectuate… But…' He looked at Tai Yang's face.
'You never ever did something without a good reason, Beastie. So…' Ji Ru pressed back a flap of skin behind his furry ear, and quietly applied a drop numbing gel. Then reaching for an unused scalpel once he couldn't feel his ear, he made an incision. Steadily pushing his pointer finger and thumb into the cut, he moved them around till he found the tiny vial he was looking for. It felt like flesh had surrounded it, so he gently dislodged it and pulled the vial out. It would heal soon enough.
When he did get it out, he looked at the physical embodiment of Tai Yang's knowledge. It was golden and glowing as it swirled about within the tiny vial. 'I've kept it safe up till now... But it should go back to where it belongs.' He thought, autoclaving the vial in seconds. With a deep exhale, he clicked his fingers to undo the safety seal on the vial and then unscrewed it. 'And when I get the first chance... I'll get the personal memories back. Maybe you'll figure out what the other you wanted to do.'
'I guess we'll have to see if it worked when you wake up then, Tai Yang.' Ji Ru thought. He reached forward and gently lifted Tai Yang's eyelid. 'Here goes.'
Slowly, he let the glowing droplets fall into Tai Yang's eyes. When half the vial had been poured into Tai Yang's right eye, Ji Ru closed it and dropped the rest into the left one.
'Please let it work. I hope that it isn't sealed against you. I've been working with assumptions up till now… But I want this to work. Otherwise, I've just lost all your predecessor ever learned.'
When nothing dribbled out of Tai Yang's closed eyes, Ji Ru glanced at the empty vial and then incarcerated it.
'Hopefully, it can help you level up… I left you alone for less than half an hour and you really almost died. I'm so useless. Why can't I ever protect you?' Ji Ru thought, and his ears drooped.
"Hey, Ji Ru." Ji Ru slightly jumped and looked at Li Jun and Li Wei who had come closer to his make-shift operating room.
The small sanitizing orbs swiveled around them as a precaution and Li Jun clicked his tongue, trying to swat them away.
"Yes, your majesty?"
"I asked if he'll be fine." Li Jun said.
Ji Ru nodded. "He'll be perfectly fine in about an hour, but I can't give you a conclusive estimate of when he'll awaken." He looked back at Tai Yang. "He… Can stay with you tonight while I fix my room, if that's okay, your majesty. He'll be unconscious the entire time. I only need someone to watch him so that nothing goes wrong for a little while."
Li Jun pursed his lips. When Ji Ru had left the room earlier, he'd cast a few spells so that the equipment he'd gotten started to make the cage safer. He hadn't been planning on having Tai Yang back, so he'd set them in motion to work uninterrupted till the work was complete.
'I could always stop the work and make them continue later on.' He thought. However, his mind was then filled with images of a very burned Tai Yang and he winced unconsciously.
'Even if he's simply laying in that cage unconscious, he'd find a way to die. The reconstruction must go on. It has to finish quickly.' Li Jun thought.
"I can watch over him while you rest tonight, we'll fix your room tomorrow. Using this much Aura must be taxing on you, my love, you have to sleep." Li Wei said reaching out to rub Ji Ru's cheek.
Li Jun made a face. "And he's going to have to be present around your overtly cushy displays? Disgusting. Forget it. I'll take him to my room and watch him myself." Li Jun crossed his arms.
Both Ji Ru and Li Wei looked at him in surprise.
"Are you sure?" Ji Ru asked.
"Didn't you ask me in the first place? I don't know why this beanpole offered to watch him before I even responded. Trying to score points with Ji Ru 'cause he's going into heat soon according to Wu Ji, are you? You pervert." Li Jun clicked his tongue. Li Wei turned quite pink. "I didn't think like that at all! I only offered because you're an arse and you're going to put Tai Yang in that creepy cage while he's sick."
Li Jun looked away. "…His cage is under reconstruction. He'll sleep in my bed for now."
Li Wei and Ji Ru's eyebrows shot up. "Then where will you sleep, your majesty?" Ji Ru asked in immense shock. Everyone knew that Li Jun loved his bed. He couldn't sleep in any bed that wasn't his own. The fact that he'd let Tai Yang sleep in it was astonishing.
"I'll sleep in my bed, obviously. Silly dog, where else would I go?" Li Jun clicked his tongue.
Li Wei was too shocked to even respond to Li Jun's dog comment.
"You? You're sharing your bed?" He asked. Ji Ru blinked rapidly too. None of them were even allowed to sit on Li Jun's bed.
"If I leave him on the floor, I'm sure he'll somehow die of hypothermia." Li Jun said. "It's not a big deal. He'll be unconscious anyway, so he can't bother me." Li Jun closed his eyes and rubbed his neck.
When he reopened it, the lovers were looking at him oddly.
'This is interesting.' Li Wei and Ji Ru thought, turning to look at each other.