Villain Saving System (BL)

Heimo’s eyes dropped and his entire body turned cold when he saw the ground where the hem of Lu Yizhou’s robes swept was spotted with blood and it was still trickling down, even now. A hole had been formed on his lower back where the flesh was showing, raw, with its edges burnt black. So deep that Heimo could see the shift of muscles whenever the man moved. Not only that, he could also catch a glimpse of his spine. The dragon, Heimo thought numbly. The dragon had shot a fire beam at them and Heimo was unscathed. How could he be unless someone was covering him? H—How consumed was he by his own troubles that he failed to realize that Lu Yizhou was suffering?

Bitter bile surged up Heimo’s throat and he felt like he was going to throw up, again. But this time, it was worse than before. His gut twisted in his stomach, like someone had just punched him straight on his chest. And somehow, it wasn’t unfamiliar. He felt like he had gone through this kind of thing before; he had always, always been too caught up with his own problems, unaware that somewhere, someone else was looking after him, protecting him, getting hurt because of him.

Don’t turn your back on him again, a voice in his mind spoke, so desperate and anguished that Heimo felt it bleeding out of his fingertips. But... again? What did it mean? When had he ever—

It was just a split second then Lu Yizhou noticed his line of sight and his shoulders tensed. He turned his body so as to hide his wound from sight and once again, Heimo felt as if the air had been squeezed out of his lungs. He never showed me his back, Heimo belatedly realized. All these times, Lu Yizhou had moved with every intent to cover his condition. Carrying the wound on his body, he had shielded Heimo time and time again, he had sent Heimo his spiritual energy, he had brought Heimo up here. But then, what had Heimo done? He had pushed the man, provoked him, insulted him, sent him crashing against the wall, attacked him with demonic energy; and his sword— God, his sword...

Lu Yizhou wasn’t only carrying flesh wounds, but his soul was also gravely injured.

"Come back!" Heimo’s eyes burned so badly it seemed like blood was going to drip out of it. His voice was raw, the edges sharper than ever that he almost bristled. But there was no denying the plea in his tone. "Don’t you dare... Don’t you dare to go down with that condition!" He struggled desperately against the invisible chains around his body but it was no use, he still couldn’t move an inch. Frustration and helplessness cut him open as he growled. "LU YIZHOU!!!"

Lu Yizhou stared at him in one passing moment that felt like eternity before he sighed and returned to Heimo. Now that he had been shocked out of the haze of his mind, Heimo could notice the rigidness in his steps, the strain between his brows and the tightness on his lips that clearly spoke of pain. Goodness, Heimo you idiot. How did you not notice? How could you always miss anything important? Lu Yizhou slowly crouched down in front of him and Heimo’s mouth opened to yell, how could he do that?! Didn’t the movement pull on his wounds?! But then, he realized Lu Yizhou had been crouching in front of him just a moment ago. The words sizzled before they could make it past his lips. He felt so, so upset as if he was going to die.

"It’s not that bad," the man started.

"Not that bad, your ass!" Heimo snarled. "You stupid idiot! Why the hell were you jumping after me?! You should have left me alone and let me clean up after my own mess!"

He reached out slowly and this time, Heimo didn’t flinch away. Warm, broad palm landed on top of his head, combing through the messy strands of his hair before tucking it behind his ears. Heimo’s body was trembling from the sheer force he willed not to bite his tongue. He didn’t deserve this kind of gentleness, not now, not ever. The guilt was killing him. "It’s okay. I will be back soon."

He was so insufferable that Heimo wanted to tie him up and force him to sit down. "You aren’t answering my questions!"