Chapter 101: Chapter 101: Injured

Teacher Ai Li watched Lu Xiao and Ares interact so naturally and sweetly, a smile touching her eyes along with a hint of unconscious envy.

She and her main husband had always treated each other with polite distance. She considered herself a female partner who understood how to respect males, but she could never be like Lu Xiao. Nor would her main husband ever show his emotions as naturally as Ares did.

She used to think there was nothing wrong with it. Compared to families that bickered and fought over jealousy all day, her home life was very harmonious, which was a rare thing in itself.

But now, seeing the way Lu Xiao and Ares were with each other, Teacher Ai Li finally understood what her own home was missing. It was missing love!

But she knew in her heart that she would probably never experience that kind of love in her lifetime.

Just as Teacher Ai Li was lost in her thoughts, a sudden, massive BOOM echoed, as if something had exploded. Ares instinctively pulled Lu Xiao into his arms, his eyes flashing with alarm.

“What’s going on? What happened?” Teacher Xueli asked, her voice tight with anxiety.

Just then, a waiter pushed the door open. “Sorry to bother you all, but there’s been an explosion on the adjacent Central Propaganda Street, and a fire has broken out. For your safety, please evacuate through the emergency exit. As an apology, our boss says your meal is on the house. Please follow me.”

The group didn’t hesitate. They grabbed their belongings and hurried out after the waiter.

All around them, the other patrons in the bar were scattering in a panic.

After all, with an incident like this, no one could guarantee the fire wouldn’t spread to their location, and no one was willing to take that risk.

As they exited through the emergency passage, Ares kept an arm around Lu Xiao the entire time, sheltering her against him while also keeping an eye on the others.

Only when they reached their hover car did the group finally feel a sense of relief. They looked up at the night sky, which was filled with billowing columns of thick smoke in the distance.

The fire was even larger than they had imagined. Even with firefighters on the scene, it clearly wouldn’t be extinguished anytime soon.

“We should go. There’s nothing we can do here. The firefighters and medics should be on site, so we’ll have to leave any casualties to them,” Teacher Ai Li said, patting Lu Xiao’s shoulder. “I guess we only got half a celebration today. We’ll find another time to make up for it.”

Lu Xiao nodded. She waved goodbye to the four teachers and watched them get into their car and drive away before turning to get into her own car with Ares.

But just at that moment, two figures—one tall, one short—emerged from a nearby alley.

The explosion had knocked out all the streetlights in the area.

Lu Xiao could only vaguely make out their silhouettes, but Ares, with his male senses, had already identified one of them. “Vice Admiral Fred?”

At his words, Lu Xiao immediately looked over just as the two figures reached them.

The person with Vice Admiral Fred was none other than Lu Yu.

’I should have known. If Lu Ge Wei asked Admiral Clan for help, he would have sent Vice Admiral Fred to handle it.’

’What’s surprising is why they’re here.’

Fred seemed just as surprised to see them. “Major General Ares, Lu Xiao, it’s a relief to run into you. Could I trouble you to take Lu Yu home? I still have matters to attend to.”

As he finished, Fred gave a cough, as if he were suppressing something.

Lu Xiao was about to speak when she heard Lu Yu’s panicked voice. “He—he’s hurt!”

Ares had actually smelled blood on the Vice Admiral as he approached. He hadn’t said anything, not wanting to frighten Lu Xiao. Fred’s own words confirmed he also wanted to avoid scaring her, but Lu Yu had just blurted it out anyway.

Hearing this, Lu Xiao’s gaze shot to Fred. “You’re injured.”

Her tone was certain.

“He was injured… protecting me. I…” Lu Yu’s voice finally lost its usual self-assured, defiant tone. She started sobbing, clearly terrified by what had happened.

Lu Xiao didn’t have time for details. She had no idea how badly the Vice Admiral was hurt. “Get in the car. Ares, help Fred. We’re going to the hospital now.”

Since he could no longer hide it, Fred said, “There’s no need to worry. It’s just a minor injury. You don’t need to take me to the hospital. Just drop me off at the military region headquarters; they can treat it there.”

Lu Xiao looked to Ares. “How far is his military region?”

“The First Military Region is on the outskirts of Emperor Star. It’s a thirty-minute drive.”

Hearing that, Lu Xiao’s expression darkened. “If you don’t want to go to the hospital, you can come to my home. At least it won’t take thirty minutes to get there.”

’Does he think he’s made of iron? Thirty minutes? Isn’t he afraid he’ll bleed out?’

Fred started to protest again, but Ares cut in, “Vice Admiral Fred, I think you should listen to Lu Xiao right now.”

Hearing this, Fred swallowed the refusal on the tip of his tongue. “Then I’ll have to trouble you, Lu Xiao.”

“Don’t worry about it, Vice Admiral Fred. In any case, you were injured because of Lu Yu. It’s only right that I help.”

“I understand.” Fred said no more.

Lu Yu was silent after getting into the car. She seemed genuinely terrified, completely overwhelmed with panic.

Lu Xiao saw this but offered no words of comfort. ’If she hadn’t been so stubborn and gone to a place like the black market, none of this would have happened. Even Vice Admiral Fred got hurt because of it.’

’I can only imagine what they must have gone through.’

’But I’m not sure I’m even cleared to know the details,’ Lu Xiao thought, so she wisely didn’t ask.

Once they were home, Ares went to a room to retrieve the Treatment Device.

He then helped Fred treat his wound. As a military officer, Ares was perfectly capable of handling such tasks.

Lu Xiao, meanwhile, told Lu Yu to go take a shower.

Just as she was about to enter the bathroom, Lu Yu suddenly threw her arms around Lu Xiao. “SOB… Sis, why aren’t you scolding me? Go on, say something! Yell at me!”

Lu Xiao froze at the sudden embrace. Listening to Lu Yu wail and ramble, she felt a headache coming on.

She pushed Lu Yu away. “Stop your wailing. And wipe your nose, it’s disgusting. You had the nerve to go to the black market, and now you have the nerve to cry about it? If you’re bold enough to go to a place like that, you should be capable enough to handle the consequences. Now get in the bathroom and wash up!”

’Lu Xiao was really getting tired of Lu Yu’s dramatic teenage phase—acting all tough and then just wailing the second things went wrong.’

Being pushed away with disdain and then scolded, Lu Yu, surprisingly, felt a sense of relief wash over her. “Thanks, Sis. I feel much better now.”

“…” Lu Xiao glared at her. ’What’s wrong with this girl? Does she enjoy being yelled at?’

Lu Xiao didn’t say another word, afraid it would only make Lu Yu feel even better.

Once Lu Yu was in the shower, Lu Xiao left the bedroom to check on Fred’s condition.

By the time she got there, the Treatment Device had already healed most of Fred’s injuries. There was no longer any serious danger.

But when she saw the blood-soaked clothes that had been taken off him, Lu Xiao knew he hadn’t been telling the truth.

’Judging by the amount of blood, that was no minor injury.’

’If they had actually listened to him and spent thirty minutes driving to the military region, the man would have gone into shock from blood loss halfway there.’

“If you don’t mind, please rest here for the night,” Lu Xiao said, turning to Ares. “There are some wontons in the fridge. Could you cook some for Vice Admiral Fred and Lu Yu?”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep