Flipside

Chapter 28

Han Jihua came awake, struggling with the broken images of events as he registered the strange ceiling above him and the pain within his limbs.

'What happened? The three of us were fighting that goat Lan Qiren, but that bastard cheated and everything exploded. I was flying, I think. Next was seeing the sky as someone lifted me up. Wait, what happened to Ai and Wuxian?'

With a ragged gasp, Jihua tried to sit up, only to feel streaks of fire in his body; it felt as if every rib was broken. The sharp, persistent burn in his right shoulder meant that his collarbone, as well as that arm, was broken, too. Tears gathered as he fought off the nausea to move; he flinched and cried out at the gentle hands stopping him.

"Young Master Han, you're safe! It's me, Wen Ning. You have been badly injured and need to stay still. You are safe inside Fuyu Mansion; I won't let anyone hurt you."Jihua let Wen Ning gently push him back into bed and gratefully sipped the warm liquids Wen Ning fed him. Jihua was impressed at the shy Wen Ning's bedside manner.

The normally quiet and submissive young man was gone; in his place was a confident and professional man whose eyes were openly assessing him in a clinical manner.

After he finished the cup and feeling a strange floating sensation throughout his insides, he tried to speak, only to be hushed by the very firm voice of Doctor Wen.

"It's better if you don't try to speak; your right cheekbone and jaw are broken, along with most of the bones on your right side. Your core is healing the internal injuries, which are extensive and in line with being thrown through several walls because of an explosion and then having most of the second floor sitting on top of you. If you weren't a Cultivator with a strong core, you would be dead."Jihua's eyes felt heavy, but he managed to keep them open. He watched as Wen Ning sat down on the chair next to the bed, suddenly looking very young.

"The Captain of the Brocaded guards found you and brought you here; most of Shaanxi Street is gone, as well as Huan Yi Brothel. Um, don't worry Li Shen'an paid off the damages. He used Fuyu's emergency funds. Apparently, he always figured Lan Wangji would make something explode one day." Wen Ning shook his head a little but continued.

"Deputy Commander Gu said that witnesses reported an elderly man with a goatee, holding both Master Fuyu and Wei Wuxian before disappearing."

Jihua was stunned and terrified at this news. Lan Qiren was insane, and who knew what he was doing to WangJi and WuXian now?

He wanted to get up and go find the mirror to save them, but Wen Ning's medicine was potent and effective.Desperate, he tried to tell Wen Ning about the mirror; he felt his mind go numb and slow while trying to think of a plan. Blinking slower and slower, he heard Wen Ning talk."Don't worry, Master Han. I uh, sent Cotton through the mirror.""Cotton?" Jihua spoke through his teeth, the pain now numb on the surface felt heavy and hot below.

"It...was all I could think of. And, well, she is pretty smart for a cat." Wen Ning awkwardly replied.

"The Murder Muppet is loose in Gusu, great." Jihua thought before he drifted off into a dreamless sleep.