He was the one who had helped to stabilize Huo Yuhao’s injuries along with Elder Xuan when Huo Yuhao returned after plucking a Yearning Heartbroken Grass.
On the battlefield, he also became the busiest person, moving to treat whoever was injured.
As Qian Duoduo suffered a critical injury, he naturally rushed over as quickly as possible.
When Xian Lin’er saw Elder Zhuang, it was as if she had seen a life-saving straw. “Elder Zhuang, save him, quick, save him! How’s Duoduo?”
Elder Zhuang looked very gloomy and gently shook his head. “Difficult!”
When Xian Lin’er heard that, her tears started to flow uncontrollably once again. If even Elder Zhuang, who was the most adept at healing in Shrek Academy, claimed that saving Qian Duoduo was difficult, more than half of Qian Duoduo’s life was already gone!
“Duoduo, you can’t die. You, how can you die? You are so strong! You’ll be able to survive. You’ll be able to, right? Tell me. Tell me that you’ll be able to survive.” Xian Lin’er grabbed onto Qian Duoduo’s hand tightly, and her voice was hoarse from all the crying.
Qian Duoduo coughed twice and spat out two foamy mouthfuls of blood. He looked slightly better after being treated by Elder Zhuang.
At this point, two other figures rushed over. They were Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei’er, the two deans of the Martial Soul Department.
They were shocked when they saw Qian Duoduo, and they also noticed the situation on the west side of the city. Xian Lin’er and Qian Duoduo were both struck down by the Bear Lord’s all-out attack. As they didn’t know how the two of them were faring, they naturally rushed over to check out the situation immediately.
“Old Qian, how are you?” Yan Shaozhe squatted down on the other side of Qian Duoduo.
Qian Duoduo chortled, “I’m… fine. It’s… pretty good like this. The two of you… came at the right time. I’ve some things… to say since I’ve some… time left.”
Xian Lin’er’s eyes were filled with tears as she said, “Duoduo, stop talking. Focus, and let Elder Zhuang treat you properly. You mustn’t die. You…”
Elder Zhuang seemed to have used up a lot of soul power as he treated Qian Duoduo, and Qian Duoduo’s voice slowly became smoother. He laughed bitterly. “Although my cultivation can’t compare to the two of you, do you really think I don’t know my own condition? Let me finish talking.”
Xian Lin’er was sobbing as she said, “You, you can say anything you want…”
Qian Duoduo’s gaze turned gentler as he looked at her. “Lin’er, I like you very much. It’s true. From the day I entered the Academy, I’ve always liked you. However, you should know that I’m not good enough for you. You’re so pretty, and you capture everyone’s attention. I can only hide my liking for you deep in my heart, and I can only watch you from afar. Even so, I’m already very satisfied.”
Xian Lin’er was in a daze as she looked at Qian Duoduo. Her face turned slightly pale. Although they had been married for years, Qian Duoduo had never said anything like this to her before.
Qian Duoduo had a reminiscent look in his eyes, “Then, I could see you every day in the Academy, and it was the greatest blessing for me. However, this blessing soon faded away. As I silently observed you, I discovered that you’d already developed a liking for someone else. You liked Yan Shaozhe. Both of you are assault-type soul masters. He’s handsome, talented, and has a strong martial soul. There were so many students in our class that had a crush on him then!”
Yan Shaozhe’s face turned red as he heard this, and he twisted his head to look at Cai Mei’er. Cai Mei’er acted like she didn’t hear anything and only smiled slightly at him to hint that she didn’t mind.
“Yes, Shaozhe is much more outstanding than me and is better than me in all aspects. At that point in time, I became slightly jealous. I was jealous that he was able to capture your heart. To surpass him, I gave my all in the hopes of catching up to him. However, a nightmare happened to me. After a temporary, preliminary selection by the Academy, we were about to be placed in different classes. As a defense-type soul master, I couldn’t possibly be in the same class as you. I really hated myself then for being a defense-type soul master. I really wished I was also an assault-type or a control-type soul master! In that way, I could continue to see you every day.
“The rules of the Academy couldn’t be changed, and I was eventually separated from you. After I went to another class, I thought to myself that I had to give my all. Even if I couldn’t obtain your love, I had to defeat Shaozhe. At least in terms of abilities, I had to be better than him.
“I cultivated tirelessly every day. Once classes were over, I would always quietly walk past the front of your class. If I was lucky, I could take a glance at you, which left me very happy.
“However, a bigger nightmare occurred. After some time, I heard some of your classmates mention that you were dating him and that the two of you had become a couple. It was a huge blow to me then. I was extremely upset for a couple of days. I really wanted to charge in front of you and tell you that I liked you. However, I was never courageous enough. When I looked in the mirror and saw myself, I only felt inferior.
“Do you still remember? During the first internal competition of the Academy, I finally had the chance to defeat Shaozhe. I faced him during the semifinals. I fought extremely hard for that fight, and we fought for two hours until our soul power was drained.”
“I still lost in the end, though. However, I was surprised when all the teachers believed that I was unyielding, and was willing to fight. They believed that I had great potential, and started to nurture me.
“After that, I made my way into the inner courtyard and became a disciple there. I finally had more time to see you. However, I was extremely tormented every time I saw you because he was always with you. Shaozhe’s talent was indeed too great. I kept on chasing after him, but I wasn’t able to catch him. Every time we fought, I always lost. I started to believe that there was something called ‘talent’ in this world. After he became Elder Mu’s disciple, he managed to widen the gap between us. I knew then that, perhaps, I wouldn’t be able to surpass him in this life.”
Yan Shaozhe sighed as he silently listened to Qian Duoduo’s words. He said, “Duoduo, do you know? I was also giving my all at that point in time because you were chasing me too hard. I had no choice to place all my focus on my cultivation and studies to prevent being surpassed by you. In fact, you’d already succeeded then. As I was too focused on these two things, I spent very little time with Lin’er.”
Qian Duoduo chortled and said, “Is that so? That’s great, then.”
If it were any other time, Yan Shaozhe might have turned sarcastic. However, Qian Duoduo was extremely pale right now, and his life aura was getting weaker and weaker. Even though they hadn’t shared a harmonious relationship in all these years because of Xian Lin’er, Yan Shaozhe couldn’t say anything harsh to Qian Duoduo at this point.
Qian Duoduo twisted his head to look at Yan Shaozhe, and the gentleness in his eyes turned into fury, “If it were me, I wouldn’t have left Lin’er for even a minute. I would have protected and taken care of her forever? What about you? You are a scoundrel that only knows how to hurt her. You said that you cultivated tirelessly because I was hot on your heels, but why did you have so much time to flirt with other girls? Why did you hurt Lin’er? Even so, she stayed true and continued to love you deeply. Do you know that?”
Yan Shaozhe was half-red and half-pale. When he looked at Qian Duoduo, who was getting weaker and weaker, he wasn’t able to muster a reply. In fact, Qian Duoduo wasn’t wrong.
Cai Mei’er walked to Xian Lin’er’s side and gently patted her shoulder. After this, she turned around and left. She didn’t care about Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin’er’s past. However, she was one of the girls that Yan Shaozhe had flirted with. In addition, she was the victor out of all the girls. She wasn’t willing to listen any further. Furthermore, they belonged to the same golden generation. Seeing that Qian Duoduo was on the verge of death, she couldn’t control herself.
Qian Duoduo glared at Yan Shaozhe, and his face started turning red. It seemed as if he had regained some vitality due to his fury, “You hurt Lin’er time and time again, but she forgave you time and time again! It was only when she saw you getting intimate with other women that she decided enough was enough and left you.”
Yan Shaozhe lowered his head in pain. “Yes, I wasn’t resilient enough. However, I realized my mistake after Lin’er left me. I searched everywhere for her, but I didn’t manage to find her. I only wanted another chance. It was only after losing her that I realized how much I loved her. However, she had already become your wife after she returned. Do you know how much pain I felt then?”
“You deserve it!” Xian Lin’er suddenly lifted her head and shouted at Yan Shaozhe.
Yan Shaozhe seemed to have lost all his energy, and his head drooped.
“Lin’er is right. You deserve it! After she returned, did you persist? You chose to be a coward and quickly got together with Mei’er before marrying her. Have you ever admitted your mistake to Lin’er? Did you try to seek her forgiveness? No, you didn’t. You are a coward!” Qian Duoduo’s voice was trembling right now and he started to speak choppily, “Yan Shaozhe, let me tell you something. My marriage with Lin’er was actually a result of her desire to make you infuriated. Nothing has ever happened between us. Even after being married for years, we’ve remained clean until now. Lin’er is still a virgin. It’s because she loves you that she couldn’t handle the pain you brought to her, and thought of such a method to test your love for her. What about you? What did you give her in return? Your gift to her was your marriage to Mei’er!”
