Chapter 321: Chapter 321: Yun Han Vomits Blood
"I didn’t say that. I just want to know where Ning Xuan is now. You all know the person at Second Legion Headquarters isn’t Ning Xuan, so why are you deliberately hiding it from me?" Yun Han was in great pain. He didn’t know if this was Yu Mingche and the others’ way of isolating him, or if this was what Ning Xuan herself wanted.
He desperately wanted to see Ning Xuan, to find her and ask her to her face what he had done wrong. ’She can punish me however she wants, but... she can’t just discard me like this, without any explanation, can she?’
"Kneel down." Yu Mingche coldly spat out two words.
"What did you say?" Yun Han frowned, suspecting he had misheard. Although he was subservient in front of Ning Xuan, that didn’t mean anyone else could humiliate him as they pleased.
"Then what is this?" A vine whip appeared in Yu Mingche’s hand—its handle pure black, its body a twisting braid of black and red.
The moment Yun Han saw the vine whip in Yu Mingche’s hand, his eyes widened. He took a step back, then dropped to his knees.
He was all too familiar with this Vine Whip. It was made from a branch of Ning Xuan’s Plant Pet, the Ghost-faced Red Vine. Ning Xuan had used this whip on him more than a few times.
The Vine Whip’s appearance in Yu Mingche’s hands could only mean one thing: Ning Xuan had given him the authority to punish her Contractors.
Yu Mingche’s long, slender fingers gently brushed over the fine thorns on the Vine Whip. The black-and-red braided body glinted with a grim, cold light. He lifted his gaze to the kneeling Yun Han, a dark glint flashing in the depths of his eyes.
"Shouting the moment you walk in, trespassing in the main courtyard without permission... I heard your Contractor even sent you to the Training Institute to learn the rules. Is this what you learned?" Yu Mingche’s voice was calm and measured, but the Vine Whip in his hand suddenly sliced through the air with a loud CRACK, lashing across Yun Han’s shoulder.
Yun Han was dressed in white, and the lash instantly stained the fabric on his shoulder red.
Yun Han gritted his teeth. The familiar stinging pain sent a tremor through him. This Vine Whip was heavy yet flexible, its body covered in thorns, making a blow from it several times more painful than an ordinary whip.
The second lash landed precisely on his back, instantly tearing a gash in Yun Han’s clothes. He could feel that Yu Mingche was deliberately controlling his strength, inflicting excruciating pain without causing any real damage to his muscles or bones.
The Vine Whip drew a graceful arc in the air with a sharp whistle. The third lash followed immediately, landing on his back again. Another strike, another bloody welt.
Yun Han’s back burned with fiery pain, but within that pain was a trace of Ning Xuan’s aura, which inexplicably made him feel at ease.
The main body of the Vine Whip was from a Plant Pet that Ning Xuan had nourished with her own blood, so the whip naturally carried her aura.
Yu Mingche slowly walked around behind him, the tip of the whip ghosting across the side of Yun Han’s neck. "Two months ago, Senior Yun Tianye went to the Heavenly Might Corps Headquarters to find you. You two were together for a full half-hour. I wonder what you talked about then?"
Hearing this, Yun Han angrily turned his head. "You’re spying on me?"
"He’s my father. We’ve met before, and Ning Xuan knows about it. It’s nothing to hide," Yun Han retorted.
When he had just returned from the New Star Body, he met with his father once. That time, Ning Xuan had tormented him until he was left with barely a breath, and it took him over half a month to recover.
Two months ago, when he met with his father, he had returned with all his military affairs in order, fully prepared to confess to Ning Xuan and accept her punishment. But even then, he hadn’t been able to see her.
It was then that Yun Han started to grow suspicious. Lin Mo had happened to return just in time to stop him.
Thinking of Lin Mo, another surge of frustration welled up in Yun Han’s chest. Lin Mo knew about this too, yet he was the only one left in the dark.
"Oh, you think there’s nothing to hide?" Yu Mingche sneered at Yun Han. "Have you forgotten that your father once tried to assassinate Ning Xuan?"
"My father made a mistake, and he was punished for it. Ning Xuan is my Contractor now. My father would absolutely never do anything to harm her again," Yun Han retorted.
"And who can guarantee that? He has a record."
"Before you feel wronged that we’re hiding things from you, shouldn’t you first consider whether you’re worthy of Ning Xuan’s trust?" Yu Mingche really knew how to hit where it hurt. That one sentence made Yun Han’s face turn deathly pale.
A choked cough escaped him, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
This startled Yu Mingche. Yun Han was actually one of Ning Xuan’s favorites, and she didn’t distrust him. ’I just used the opportunity to land a few lashes and say a few words,’ he thought. ’It shouldn’t have been enough to make him vomit blood, should it?’
’If Ning Xuan finds out, will she think I’m bullying Yun Han?’
"Yun Han, were you injured on the battlefield? With your constitution, a few lashes shouldn’t be enough to make you vomit blood, right?" Yu Mingche guessed, looking at Yun Han’s pale face.
Yu Mingche immediately contacted Feng Linran and told him to investigate Yun Han’s recent movements. Sure enough, Feng Linran quickly found out that the Heavenly Might Corps Headquarters had been ambushed by Starry Sky Beasts a few days ago. The beasts were numerous and powerful, and Yun Han had been injured in that battle.
"Hurry up and get a doctor for him," Yu Mingche ordered Feng Linran.
"Isn’t Miss Ning the best doctor?" Feng Linran asked, puzzled. "Since Young Master Yun Han is injured, can’t he just go to her for treatment? She’s his Contractor; no one else’s treatment will be as effective as hers. After all, when a Contractor is injured, they need their Contractor’s comfort even more than medicine or conventional treatment."
"You’re right. Never mind, then." ’Feng Linran really isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed,’ Yu Mingche thought. He had assigned Feng Linran so much investigative work to find information on Ning Xuan, yet the man hadn’t noticed anything was amiss.
Yu Mingche ended the call, then crouched to look at Yun Han closely. "You came back for Ning Xuan to heal you? Is it that serious?"
Yun Han’s lips twitched. His voice was low and raspy. "...I’ll live."
"Heh. Stubborn." Yu Mingche sneered. He pressed a fingertip into a wound on Yun Han’s back. Yun Han let out a muffled grunt, and cold sweat trickled down his face.
Yu Mingche withdrew his hand, slowly and methodically wiping the blood from his fingertip. He took a medicine bottle out of his Space Button. "Take it. This medicine is from Ning Xuan. No matter how serious your injuries are, it’ll work."
"I don’t need it. You can keep it." Yun Han didn’t accept, staggering to his feet and sitting down in a nearby chair.
"You won’t take it? Don’t you trust me? I can’t call a doctor for you," Yu Mingche said.
"I know. We can’t expose the fact that Ning Xuan isn’t at the Second Legion Headquarters, so we can’t do anything that might arouse outside suspicion," Yun Han added.
"Good, as long as you understand." Yu Mingche nodded.
