Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 550 - 493: Enough

Chapter 550: Chapter 493: Enough
As night fell, Li Hui’s eyes were bloodshot. He punched the table and stared fixedly at Li Ang from across it. "Wasn’t it said that streptomycin has a ninety percent cure rate?!"
"I don’t know."
Li Ang remained silent for a long time before he said, "It could be her concurrent heart disease. Or it could be the herbs she took as a child interacting adversely with the streptomycin..."
Li Hui said hoarsely, "You’re the best Doctor in the world. How could you not know?"
"Doctors are not gods."
Li Ang looked up sharply, enunciating each word.
"..."
Li Hui clenched his teeth, steadied his breathing, and spoke slowly, "I have informed Father and Mom about the situation here. The Imperial Palace Tributor will soon come to take her back to Chang’an."
Li Ang stood up silently, pushed open the door, and walked heavily through the corridor to the temporarily arranged, well-ventilated isolation room.
He lifted the curtain and sat down next to Li Leqing’s bed.
Her condition had deteriorated further in just one day.
Her face and lips were pale, and lumps had formed on the surface of her limbs. Her palm showed purplish-red nodules—these were Osler’s nodules, caused by the embolic symptoms of infective endocarditis.
"You’ve come."
Li Leqing, seeing Li Ang staring at her purplish-red palm, quietly withdrew her hand back under the covers and spoke softly, "Do I look very ugly right now?"
"How could that be?"
Li Ang smiled faintly. "You always look beautiful."
"PFFT."
Li Leqing laughed. "Even though I know it’s meant to comfort me, it still makes me happy to hear it."
Her smile slowly faded as she silently gazed at the Jade Pendant that hung by a thin thread from her bed’s headboard.
Li Ang also fell silent, his gaze following Li Leqing’s to the white Jade Pendant. It swung back and forth, moved by the breeze from the Cooling Wind Charm.
"Li Ang."
"Hmm?"
"I like you."
The room fell silent, the only sound the regular whir of the Cooling Wind Charm.
"I know."
Li Ang met the girl’s eyes again, his gaze soft and gentle.
"Then you,"
Li Leqing turned her head and asked softly, "Do you like me?"
"..."
Li Ang paused.
In his mind, the Memory Palace unfolded on its own, scenes from the past emerging before his eyes.
That year, after the entrance reexamination at the Academic Palace ended, he had walked out of the examination hall full of spirits. He then climbed up to the tavern to meet the young girl who wore a light veil on her face.
From that chance encounter, they had come to know and accompany each other.
Li Ang always felt that he was not an overly emotional person.
For so long, he could never understand why it was he who had awakened memories from the Otherworld. Those memories had led him step by step to where he was today, yet they also made him feel a profound sense of alienation from this world.
He struggled to adapt to people’s concepts, felt anger towards the injustices of this world, and lamented the blind superstitions of the common people.
He could chat and jest with friends like any other student, discussing exams and homework.
But even his closest friends, including his dearest Chai Chai, could never fathom the loneliness and pain Li Ang felt as his thoughts clashed with the reality of this world.
It was this very loneliness and pain that inclined Li Ang toward self-destruction.
He lived like an ascetic, never attending the various feasts his friends invited him to. Whenever he had time, he would write articles on Natural Science and compile medical texts, attempting to reshape this world into one he recognized to alleviate the confusion in his heart.
People said that Young Master Li was selflessly devoted,
but only he knew that he was the most selfish of all.
He understood the girl’s feelings, yet he also felt that someone like him couldn’t give a proper response, didn’t deserve to reciprocate her affections.
Until now.
The memory faded, settling on the moment the girl took off her mask and said, "I believe in Li Ang—from the first time we met, through to now, and into the future. I will always, always believe in him."
Li Ang said earnestly, "I like you."
The Cooling Wind Charm in the room continued to whir consistently. Outside, the distant chime of the Haotian Bell drifted in, and faintly, one could hear the whistle of a Spiritual Energy Locomotive from afar.
The girl’s eyebrows lifted. She said nothing, tucking herself into the blankets like a kitten, the lower half of her face covered—but her raised eyebrows and smiling eyes revealed her current mood.
"Thank you." Through the blankets came Li Leqing’s voice, a mere whisper like a mosquito’s buzz. "This is enough."
"It’s not enough."
Li Ang smiled slightly. He reached his hand under the blanket, grasped Li Leqing’s purplish-red palm, stood up, and removed his mask.
Then, leaning over, he gently pulled down the blanket and kissed the girl’s pale lips.
Time seemed to stop at that moment.
Countless black Mo Si threads extended from Li Ang’s hand, silently burrowing into the girl’s palm, acting as a bridge between them.
Not just from his palm; as Li Ang’s hair fell forward, hidden Mo Si within it pierced the girl’s nape.
Li Leqing’s eyes slowly drooped with drowsiness, the surprise on her face gradually fading.
"I’m sorry."
As their lips parted, Li Ang gazed at the sleeping girl and whispered, "I think I’ll take matters into my own hands one more time."
With his words, a mass of black Mo Si threads spread from his back and chest, sinking into Li Leqing’s entire body.
They passed through her skin, burrowed into her muscles, and twined through her blood vessels.
Just as the Mo Si had once eroded Li Ang, they now gathered and wrapped around Li Leqing’s spine, spreading outward from there.
Li Ang’s complexion paled visibly, at an alarming rate.
Li Leqing’s condition was dire. She was plagued by bubonic plague, myocarditis, endocarditis, and pericardial effusion. Furthermore, because she had consumed too many life-prolonging Immortal Grass and Immortal Elixirs as a child, her response to medical treatment was poor. There was virtually no chance of her being cured through medical means.
The only option was to share a portion of the Mo Si with her.
"AH—"
Li Ang pressed his hand against his wildly throbbing heart. His own body was already battered, barely held together by the Mo Si.
To give her a substantial amount of these Mo Si, including the dark gold Mo Si that were closer to his essence, was like draining half the blood and spinal fluid from his body.
BANG!
Li Ang clutched the edge of the bed forcefully to keep himself upright. His gaze was determined as he watched strands of dark gold Mo Si extend from his chest and burrow into Li Leqing’s heart.