Chapter 201 200: Elder Li Wakes Up

The moment the liquid medicine touched his lips, Elder Li subconsciously swallowed it.

Immediately, the medicine's potency spread through the Qi and Blood circulation Mu Lin had established, filling Elder Li's entire body.

Before long, a flicker of movement crossed Elder Li's eyes, and he finally opened them.

"I... what happened to me?"

Mu Lin smiled. "Have you forgotten? An assailant attacked, and you were gravely wounded during the fight, falling into a coma."

Elder Li thought for a moment, and understanding dawned on his face. "Oh, that's right. I do remember something like that. How is your mother?"

Mu Lin knew Elder Li was referring to Mrs. Li and smiled. "Mom is fine. I rescued her the next day, and she's been by your side ever since."

Elder Li sat up, rubbing his head with some difficulty. "Oh, honestly..."

"It can't have been easy treating these old bones of mine, was it?"

Mu Lin wanted to say it was a breeze, but that would have been an obvious lie. 'The old man would see right through it.'

So he paused before replying, "It took some effort, but it was obviously worth it. As long as you recovered, it was all worth it."

Elder Li gestured toward Mu Lin. "You, oh, you! I know you're devoted, but after you expended so much energy, wouldn't you have been terribly disappointed if I hadn't been saved?"

Mu Lin said, "That was never a possibility. If I decide to act, I do so with absolute certainty of success."

"So, how long was I unconscious?"

Mu Lin thought for a moment. To be honest, he had forgotten himself.

"A little less than a week, I believe. Your constitution is still quite strong."

Elder Li sighed. "To have made the whole family worry for an entire week... I don't know what these old bones have done to deserve it! You've worked hard, Xue'er's mother."

Mrs. Li, who was standing at the doorway and had heard everything clearly, quickly shook her head. "Dad, with you here, the family has its pillar of support. My little bit of effort was nothing at all!"

Mrs. Li had already spread the news of Elder Li's recovery.

Li Xue and Li Yinhe dropped their work at the corporation and rushed over.

Li Xue threw her arms around her grandfather. "Grandpa, you're finally awake! You have no idea how miserable I've been."

Elder Li could only comfort her in a soft voice, "Silly girl, I'm fine. If anything really happened to me, wouldn't you cry your eyes out? There, there, don't cry."

After wiping away her tears, Li Xue turned to Mu Lin. "Mu Lin, is there anything Grandpa needs to be careful about during his recovery? Are there any lingering injuries?"

Mu Lin cocked his head. "Are you insulting my skills? If there were going to be lingering injuries, why would I have treated Grandpa in the first place? To ruin my own reputation?"

Li Xue was seething at his words.

'This man is just impossible,' she thought. 'Rather than waste my breath on him, I'm better off just ignoring him.'

Zhang Chunlei had witnessed the entire process. Mu Lin had merely placed a hand on Elder Li's chest, and suddenly the speed at which Elder Li drank the medicine increased dramatically.

'I can't believe Mu Lin can perform such an astonishing feat without using needles.'

He was truly and profoundly shaken.

After all, he was the one who had examined Elder Li the most meticulously over the past few days.

He had discovered firsthand that Elder Li's injuries were incredibly difficult to treat, and the coma was an especially troublesome complication.

It required not just medicinal ingredients, but even more so, technique.

And Zhang Chunlei had thought he possessed both, until he met Mu Lin. Only then did he truly understand that there's always a higher mountain to climb, always someone better.

The hospital room was filled with joyous laughter, with Zhang Chunlei being the only dejected soul.

'Once Elder Li leaves, my connection to Mu Lin will be completely severed.'

'Who knows when I'll ever get to learn the complete Five-Heart Rejuvenation Needle technique?'

'It's hard. So, so hard.'

Back at home, Mrs. Li was busy brewing medicine while Li Yinhe returned to the company to get back to work.

Li Xue, meanwhile, was helping her grandfather to the sofa.

Elder Li hadn't played a game in a long time and was itching for one. As he was setting up the board, he was surprised to see Mu Lin heading for the door.

"Mu Lin! Not staying for a match?"

Mu Lin smiled. "My apologies, I have some business to take care of. I'll definitely play a game with you when I return!"

Li Xue watched his retreating back, then said to Elder Li, "Grandpa, Mu Lin is never home these days. He's always running off somewhere. You should talk to him!"

Elder Li chuckled. "What would I say? Isn't that your responsibility? If you could capture his heart, do you think he'd still be running off?"

Li Xue's expression shifted. The old man's words had struck a deep nerve.

"Grandpa, it's not like that..."

Elder Li didn't take the bait, instead asking her seriously,

"Xue'er, be honest with me. How far have things gone between you and Mu Lin?"

'How far?'

A bead of sweat trickled down Li Xue's forehead. 'What is he talking about?'

'She and Mu Lin were still sleeping in separate rooms! It was only because the family villa was large enough, with plenty of spare rooms, that her grandfather hadn't discovered anything was amiss.'

'In all the time Mu Lin had been living here, aside from that one night they were forced to make do, he had never even set foot in her room.'

'Even though she left her door open every day, trying all sorts of ways to entice him, he would just return to his own room with infuriating self-discipline.'

'Li Xue felt this was no longer her problem. Mu Lin was just a freak.'

'But she couldn't complain to her grandfather. Doing so would mean exposing their fake marriage.'

"Things are going great! We're even sleeping in the same bed now!"

Elder Li nodded. "That's good. As long as you're making progress! Don't think you're getting the short end of the stick by marrying Mu Lin. I'm telling you, it's our Li Family that's well and truly marrying up."

Li Xue pressed her lips together. 'She actually felt that way too. If only she hadn't tried to be so clever at the start and just gone through with the formalities, how much better things would be.'

'Mu Lin surely wouldn't have cared, and she wouldn't be filled with so much regret now.'

'And now, under Mu Lin's treatment and care, her grandfather's health was genuinely improving day by day.'

'So, what would happen next? Once her grandfather no longer needed him, Mu Lin might really just turn his back and leave.'

Lost in her dejected thoughts, Li Xue couldn't help but sigh.

"Grandpa, I'm going to take a shower!" With that, she turned and went into the bathroom, planning to use the sound of the running water to cry her heart out.

Watching Li Xue's retreating figure, Elder Li beckoned Mrs. Li to his side.

"Xue'er's mother, are things really going that well between Xue'er and Mu Lin?"

Mrs. Li gave a natural smile. "Aren't things great? The more they bicker, the more real their feelings are. Dad, you're worrying too much!"

Her attitude toward Mu Lin had mellowed considerably. 'Whether or not he and Li Xue were destined to be together, he was a good kid.'

'For as long as he remained with the Li Family, she would just have to take good care of him.'

Since his daughter-in-law had said as much, Elder Li put the matter out of his mind and settled in to watch TV.

A glance at the time made him realize he'd lost track of the plot, so he called Mrs. Li over again to help him pull up the earlier episodes.

'So annoying.'

After leaving the villa, Mu Lin turned and headed toward the deep, ancient forests.

Cresting a mountain ridge, he came upon a vast, wide lake.

It was like a piece of clear jade beneath the sky, a mesmerizing sight.

It being the height of summer, the lake's surface was adorned with floating lotus leaves and splendid, blooming lotus flowers.

A small smile touched Mu Lin's lips. He had checked a map and knew there was a secluded lake here.

He walked toward the lake, not even pausing at the water's edge, but continuing straight ahead.

He took a step out onto the surface of the lake.

Incredibly, a patch of ice instantly formed on the water, and Mu Lin stepped right onto it.

As his other foot came down, that patch of water froze as well.

Mu Lin continued to walk slowly forward. In his wake, the chunks of ice he had created floated on the surface, melting slowly after bumping into one another.

'As expected,' he thought. 'The True Qi refined in the heat of battle is truly this potent!'

'He had already succeeded in extracting the 'cold marrow' from the 'cool jade,' and could now use his True Qi to endlessly amplify its power.'

'However, this method wasn't necessarily efficient.'

'The 'cold marrow' could only be enhanced to a certain point before he hit a wall.'

'It was like hitting a glass wall.'

'But not long ago, that glass wall had briefly cracked open.'

'During his fight with that charlatan, Mr. Chang, Mu Lin had felt the barrier loosen for an instant.'

'It had allowed his Frost True Qi to grow significantly stronger, leading to his current ability to freeze water with a single step.'

'Given the circumstances, what more was there to say?'

Mu Lin smiled faintly and sat down on the ice. With him at its center, the lake's surface began to freeze over at a rapid pace.

Soon, the entire lake was frozen solid, like a natural skating rink.

Mu Lin slammed a fist into the ice, but it only created a small crater a few centimeters deep.