Liu Sheng was tired, lying down in his bed, completely done with everything that was going on. He had to practice with a one-handed sword, which was light, but he also had to use his left hand, which was no easy task. So every time he came back from the barracks, from the training grounds, he was dead tired.
It's been a week since he came back from the battles he fought and won. Of course, all the achievements were given to General Zhu, not a person it should have been given to, but it had to be done. Liu Cheng actually feared him a lot. Liu Sheng had no idea why, but his brother just obeyed everything he was told by this idiotic general and did not question a thing. Well, maybe partially because that idiot somehow had someone to send an imperial decree to force us to do things.
But Liu Sheng was sent home. He wasn't useful anymore, and on the battlefield, he couldn't do much, so his brother took command of his men and let him go home.
He heard a sound coming from the door, and immediately perked up on the bed, and grabbed the dagger he had always hidden on his body. It was already dark outside, so visitors weren't expected.
The slow and careful steps sounded a lot closer, and it made Liu Sheng get up from bed and hide himself behind the door, so this way when the door opened, he would still be covered.
And that was exactly what happened. Though the sudden movement and the wind from outside had blown down the candles near the door, and so the unwelcomed visitor and Liu Sheng were in the dark. He could only hear their breaths, and no one dared to move.
"Where is he?" the person whispered, and Liu Sheng grinned. He was ready for the surprise. Liu Sheng jumped out of his hidden place and put his hand on the person's mouth while pressing the hilt of the dagger into his back. This wasn't someone he wanted to kill; he was ready to interrogate him.
The intruder bit into his palm, but Liu Sheng kept the hand there, the hand that was stabbing him with the back of the dagger, which was grabbed by the intruder's hands, so he let it go. He let the dagger fall and kicked it into the corner of the room, only knowing it got there when he heard it bump against the wall. He pressed his body against the intruders and locked his hands between them.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, whispering into the intruder's ear, letting his right arm just rest between their bodies. It was now painfully throbbing as he, in the adrenaline surge, forgot he couldn't use his right arm. His left arm slid down the person's throat and loosely grabbed him by his neck. Or it wasn't much of a grab, more like a caressing hold.
"I knew you weren't truthful in your letter, so now let me have a look," Jingting said. Sheng laughed and let go.
"Your net of spies is something even imperial guards could envy you," he said, closing the door, while Jingting was lighting up the blown-out candles.
"It was your brother…" Jingting chuckled, and his smile became a grin when he saw Sheng's defeated face. He sat on the bed and put out his bag. Then he patted the place next to him.
Liu Sheng immediately knew what was going on and, as an obedient doggie, sat next to his healer, with the right arm facing him. The blood was now seeping through the outer robe he still had on, so he was afraid he might have broken the stitches he was given.
When he took off all his clothes from his upper body, he received a light slap over his head that he did not expect, so he didn't duck in time.
"For what?!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head with his left hand.
"For lying to me. I hate that. Remember, if you lie to me once again, I will stop talking to you. If you were to tell the truth, I wouldn't be so worried about you. But because you lied, I thought your arm was almost falling off, thanks to your brother's message." Liu Sheng pursed his lips and cursed his brother inside his head for a long time with the worst curses he knew.
"It's not so bad. It will only take two weeks or so to heal without a problem. Fang Tao did a good job, but he still needs a bit of training in sewing." Liu Sheng stared at him with his mouth open.
"Two weeks? They told me to learn how to use my left hand because there was a possibility I won't be able to use the right one anymore…?" He was stunned. Was Jingting really some miracle healer people always sought for in time of need? Was he so fortunate that he was the one Liu Sheng pumped into when he was dying? Did Heavens send him his way so he could be saved?
"I will do a slight tweak to what Fang Tao did. He did not sew the inside of the wound. But you can use the alcohol-salve-cured thread to sew the inside of a person's body, and it won't infect it. I learned it a few days ago when saving a deserter's leg. I thought the thread would make it worse, but he did not worsen…"
Jingting was telling him how he came across this when smearing a tingling and burning salve over his wound. When he finished explaining everything, which none of Liu Sheng could understand, he took a needle for acupuncture and stuck it into something before putting it into Liu Sheng's body.
"You even know how to do acupuncture?" he asked, but Jingting looked really offended as if it was hilarious he even asked such a stupid question. Then he started his work. Liu Sheng couldn't feel anything except a slight tugging of the needle when it was dragged out of his hand.
"It wasn't that bad. Your muscles were only scratched, not fully separated; none of your meridians and nerves were damaged. It will take two to three weeks to heal, so you can use your arm a bit, six weeks to be completely back to where you had been." He said after tightly wrapping his hand and putting it back into the fixed position. Then he started putting everything back into his bag and stood up.
"I drew a few things and made a few suggestions for Fang Tao. If you want to give it to him, please do, so he will be able to provide better care." He smiled while giving Liu Sheng the book. And then turned around to go away. But Liu Sheng caught him by his hand and tucked him back in. Somehow, Jingting ended up in his lap, where he stayed for a few moments before recovering from the shock.
"I have to go back. I sneaked out in the dark of the night. I really think they will notice once I'm away for longer than two days… And Xicheng is not happy with you and your brother. Not since…" Jingting stopped himself from saying anything and patted Liu Sheng's hand.
"Once everything is okay, you can come to the sanctuary if you need and have time, and we can spend more time together." He smiled, and they really disappeared. Liu Sheng was staring at the dark door where his healer had gone. He grabbed the book and curled up in his bed with it pressed to his chest. He missed him more than he thought. How could he take to go away for a longer time? Impossible. He would rather die than be separated from him…