“I told you I’m useless!” Luo Wei suddenly erupted. Ignoring the pain in his leg, he forcefully pushed himself out of Wei Lan’s embrace and half-sat up, slapping Wei Lan’s hand away. “If you didn’t care about me, you wouldn’t be worried, right?”
Wei Lan hurriedly pulled Luo Wei back into his arms and coaxed, “I said the wrong thing again, please don’t be angry, okay? I’m nothing compared to you. If you are useless, what does that make me?”
“You can run and move, but what about me?” Luo Wei asked Wei Lan. “What can I do?”
“You’re injured, aren’t you?” Wei Lan said. “Once the injury heals, everything will be fine.”
“What if I’m crippled?”
“It won’t happen.”
“So far, not a single doctor has said my leg can be cured!”
“But they haven’t said it can’t be healed either.”
“You—” Luo Wei was frustrated. “Are you playing word games with me? What if I can never walk again?”
Wei Lan sighed, rubbing his forehead. They had discussed this countless times on their journey, yet here they were again.
“I don’t want to be a cripple!” Luo Wei raised his voice. “To lie in bed like this for the rest of my life, I might as well…”
“What do you want to do?” Wei Lan quickly interrupted Luo Wei, asking, “I’ve said it will be fine. Just rest well, and you’ll recover. If you don’t believe me, at least trust the doctors. This is all because of Sima Qingsha. Should I go kill him to vent Young Master’s anger?”
At the mention of killing Sima Qingsha, Luo Wei’s momentum weakened.
“As long as you say the word, I will go,” Wei Lan said.
Luo Wei sighed and his voice softened. “I’m just upset. You don’t need to pay attention to me.”
“I am happy to take care of you,” Wei Lan whispered in Luo Wei’s ear. “Young Master, how many times do you want me to say it before you believe me?”
“I do believe you,” Luo Wei hurriedly replied.
“I’m willing to take care of you for the rest of my life,” Wei Lan lightly bit Luo Wei’s earlobe. “Apart from the Young Master, I’ve never had such thoughts about anyone else. So, let me take care of you. When we grow old, we can still live like this.”
Luo Wei’s ears turned slightly red. He wasn’t someone who was sentimental, but he liked hearing Wei Lan say such things.
Seeing that Luo Wei had calmed down, Wei Lan once again placed his hand on Luo Wei’s back, infusing some true qi into his body.
“Don’t go find Sima Qingsha,” Luo Wei said, still worried.
“I won’t,” Wei Lan chuckled behind Luo Wei, but he didn’t dare laugh out loud, afraid Luo Wei would hear and get embarrassed again. Wei Lan had become experienced in coaxing Luo Wei. He used to think Luo Wei was clever and sharp, but now he realized Luo Wei could also be childish and foolish, and needed to be cajoled and deceived.
As the medicine took effect, the pain in Luo Wei’s injured leg gradually eased. The room was warm, and Luo Wei, who had been suffering from his bone injury for most of the night, started to feel drowsy.
“Go to sleep,” Wei Lan whispered to Luo Wei, seeing his eyelids drooping. “We still have to travel tomorrow. If you can get some rest now, please do.”
“With the snow falling so heavily, can we still travel tomorrow?” Luo Wei asked.
“How do you know it’s snowing heavily outside?”
“I can tell from the sound,” Luo Wei said. “I’m not deaf.”
“As long as the heavy snow doesn’t block the roads, we’ll go,” Wei Lan reassured him, lying down with Luo Wei. “Is it still hurting?”
Luo Wei shifted in Wei Lan’s arms, finding a comfortable position, and soon fell asleep.
Wei Lan tidied Luo Wei’s hair, and as Luo Wei slept, a worried expression appeared on Wei Lan’s face. Luo Wei’s injured leg was also a concern for Wei Lan. He didn’t mind taking care of Luo Wei for the rest of his life, but he feared that Luo Wei would not be able to accept to be crippled. Doctors had confided in Wei Lan that even if Luo Wei’s bones healed, he would still have difficulty walking. It would be absolutely impossible for him to be able to run and jump like before he was injured. That was over. Now that the bone had not healed yet, Wei Lan could still lie to Luo Wei and say that he should take good care of it and wait until the bone had grown. But how would Wei Lan tell Luo Wei when the bone did heal?
“Lan?”
Hearing the person in his arms calling him again, Wei Lan hurriedly responded, “What’s wrong?”
Luo Wei made a few sounds with his mouth.
“Dreaming about me?” Wei Lan couldn’t make out what Luo Wei was saying, but he knew Luo Wei was sleep-talking. He gently pinched Luo Wei’s cheek, wishing there was more flesh there to pinch.
Luo Wei nuzzled his head against Wei Lan’s chest, still asleep.
Wei Lan blew out the candle by the bedside. With him watching over Luo Wei, what difference did it make if walking was inconvenient? They were going to farm, not fight or flee for their lives, so what does it matter if they had to walk slower? Wei Lan forced himself to close his eyes and sleep. He couldn’t afford to collapse; Luo Wei depended on him to take care of him. If he tired himself out again, Luo Wei might have other ideas.
The snow fell all night, turning the small town into a world of ice and snow while its residents slept soundly.
Wei Lan woke up to the bright daylight outside the window. He glanced at the person in his arms, breathing softly, deeply asleep. Carefully releasing Luo Wei, Wei Lan tucked him in tightly with the blanket before getting out of bed.
“Lan,” perhaps sensing the absence of someone beside him, Luo Wei stirred on the bed and called out.
“I am here,” Wei Lan quickly reassured him, patting Luo Wei’s back over the blanket. “I’m right here. Young Master, please sleep a little longer. It’s still early.”
Luo Wei then stopped moving again.
Wei Lan looked at Luo Wei closely and couldn’t help but chuckle. This person had even drooled in his sleep. “Is this still the young master of the Senior Chancellor’s mansion?” Wei Lan shook his head, wiped away the drool from the corner of Luo Wei’s mouth, adjusted the blanket over him, and then stood up, quickly dressed, and walked out the door.
In the corridor, the waiters were adding charcoal to the rooms.
The waiter who had led Wei Lan to the room yesterday saw him and greeted, “Is the guest awake?”
“Is there any more charcoal?” Wei Lan nodded to the waiter and asked, “I need some for my room too.”
The waiter hurriedly pushed the charcoal cart forward and said to Wei Lan, “The charcoal is all here. You can take it, sir. Would you like me to add charcoal to your room?”
“No need,” Wei Lan declined the waiter’s offer. Luo Wei was still asleep in the room, and he didn’t want anyone to disturb him.
The waiter was happy to have less work and handed pair of pliers used for charcoal to Wei Lan.
As Wei Lan picked charcoal from the cart, he asked the waiter, “We plan to leave today. Is the road still passable?”
The waiter hurriedly replied, “Guest, the road is still passable, but the snow is too heavy. We don’t know when the road will be blocked. Why don’t you stay a few more days?”
“We are in a hurry to get home,” Wei Lan said. “If the road is passable, we will leave.”
The waiter didn’t insist, saying, “This humble one will go prepare the horse for you.”
Wei Lan thanked him again, took the newly burned charcoal, and returned to the room.
Luo Wei still hadn’t woken up. Around noon, Wei Lan carried him onto the carriage, and Luo Wei only muttered a few words vaguely.
“Please be careful on your journey, sir,” the waiter saw Wei Lan off outside the inn.
Wei Lan set off in the horse carriage amid the wind and snow.
“Isn’t that a wandering hero from the Jianghu?” Several waiters stood at the door, watching Wei Lan leave. One of them sighed, “Look at his movements, faster than ordinary people!”
Boundless Dao 
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