Chapter 359, Don’t
After searching the suitcase for a long time, Zhuo still couldn't find the pajamas that Ling wanted. Zhuo, feeling dizzy, even forgot to search the small backpack she brought with her.

I happened to see that the hotel provided unopened yukatas, and Zhuo thought that this should be fine, so he took a women's one and went into the bathroom.

"Um... I can't find a yukata. Sorry, this one will do. The material should be quite comfortable to the touch."

Zhuo saw Ling and wanted to say something, but her physical condition really made her feel uncomfortable so she didn't say anything.

"Then you change first. Call me when you're done. I'll be outside."

Zhuo said and closed the door. He moved his arms, which had become limp after the adrenaline faded away, and picked up the towel to wipe his body. The change of underwear was obviously put together with the pajamas, and Zhuo couldn't find it, so he simply took it off and changed into a yukata. Zhuo thought, since he had to stay overnight today, he could just let Ling find it before that.

The yukata was a cross-lace style with no buttons, but fortunately it was delivered quickly and covered all the way to the knees. Zhuo fastened the belt tightly and prepared to find underwear after Ling came out.

After drinking a bottle of mineral water, Zhuo felt that his body had finally recovered some energy, although he still felt a little tired - it seems that this hot spring really cannot be used as a bath. However, he thought that the reason why he felt so tired was probably because of the stimulation of his muscles.

As Zhuo was thinking this, Ling came out step by step, leaning against the wall, her face flushed, probably because of the effect of the hot spring. The belt around her waist looked tighter than Zhuo's, and her waistline was clearly visible, as if she was simple and elegant.

When Zhuo saw it, he immediately stood up and went over.

"Why didn't you call me?"

"It's only a few steps away, but the aftereffects of your body should be showing up by now."

"Let me see if the sprain is serious, but even if it's not serious, you can't soak in the hot springs."

"It should be fine..."

Zhuo helped Ling lie on the bed, and then put her legs on his own. Ling wanted to get up, but was stopped by Zhuo. She probably knew that she would not give up unless Zhuo checked her again, so she could only keep silent and stare at Zhuo's profile.

Zero's left foot was noticeably red and swollen, and although it wasn't serious, he was definitely injured.

"Don't move. Your ankle is a little swollen. Is it because the ligament didn't recover properly last time and there are some sequelae?"

Zhuo turned her feet and examined them carefully.

Ling's voice sounded increasingly tired, and Zhuo sounded like he was about to fall asleep and had already closed his eyes.

"Last time? Which last time?"

"It was the time when you went to the door and I carried you on my back when you came back. We were just talking about this matter and you said it was okay. Are you trying to be brave again?"

"Oh...oh, that time, yes, I was injured at that time too."

Ling's memory shouldn't be that bad, but the tone of her answer to Zhuo was as if she had forgotten that incident. They had just talked about this topic in the hot spring pool. If Zhuo remembered correctly, it was Ling who brought up the topic. But would soaking in the hot spring too much make people stupid? Zhuo was confused.

Ling's voice sounded absent-minded, and she fell silent after she finished speaking. Zhuo thought she had fallen asleep. After all, from her tone just now, it seemed that Ling was very tired.

Zhuo looked back and found that Ling's hands were tightly clenched at the corners of her yukata, and the white yukata was twisted into a wrinkled shape. Her eyes were looking at her ankles, and she was absent-minded, as if she was in a trance.

"Zero, let me press it a little bit for you to see if it will make you feel better. It may hurt a little~"

"Oh……"

Zero still answered absentmindedly. After receiving his consent, Zhuo reached out and held her ankle to see if the bones were injured. Zhuo understood that the physical fitness of hybrids was different from that of ordinary people, but this was not a reason for Zhuo not to be worried. After all, Zero's body structure was no different from that of humans, and he could not be dragon-bone like the Genji brothers. So he could still get hurt because of trivial things.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Zhuo grabbed it, Ling's knee suddenly shrank back as if it had some kind of knee-jerk reaction.

Startled, Zhuo turned around and looked at Ling.

Although Zhuo felt that he did not use a lot of strength, perhaps the strength he thought was still strong enough for a sprained person. This is not certain.

"Does it hurt?"

"Well... not really... forget it."

"Don't underestimate a sprain. Even a mixed-blood has his limits. I won't be happy if you resist everything. Just bear with it. Massage it and it will heal faster."

"wash--"

"It's not professional, but you wouldn't want to find someone else. It'll be done in no time."

Zhuo turned his head and held her foot with one hand to fix it in place, and with the other hand he went around her ankle and began kneading it from light to heavy. Ling's ankle was originally as delicate as a jade, and holding it in his hand was like stroking a piece of fine mutton-fat jade.

After pinching for a while, Zhuo realized that Ling, who had called her and seemed to be about to say something, had lost his voice. She was still holding the corner of her clothes, but this time, Ling lowered his head deeply, clenched his hands even tighter, and his body was trembling slightly.

Despite this, Zero had no intention of stopping.

So Zhuo had to treat this as a normal reaction to a massage. It was natural to feel pain during a massage, but what Zhuo didn't expect was that it would hurt so much that Ling had to clutch the corner of his clothes.

Zhuo thought there might be some reasons for this, so he softened his strength and made his movements more delicate. It was not until Zhuo found that his yukata was pulled tight from behind that he realized that Ling had completely arched his body, his legs were tightly clamped together, and one hand was holding his clothes.

He quickly loosened his hands and put down her ankles. Ling then loosened the towel from his mouth and breathed heavily, looking completely relieved.

Although it is inappropriate and unreliable to say this - this is the first time that Zhuo has seen the kind of pink blush that belongs to normal humans on Ling's face. It only appears around the apples of the cheeks and is light pink.

The wild thoughts at this time made Zhuo feel heartbroken and blame himself at the same time. He quickly left the room, saying "I'll go ask if there are any medicines, that way it will be more effective." He had forgotten the fact that there was nothing inside his bathrobe.

Fortunately, there were medicines at the front desk. After returning to the room, before I could even sit down, I found Ling staring at his fingers. His eyes were red, as if he had been crying.

This was something Zhuo had never seen before, so he was shocked. In his impression, Ling was someone who could perform knee surgery without anesthesia, remove blades from cartilage, and not say a word.

"Zero, what's wrong with you? Are you in so much pain? Let's go to the hospital...Zero?...Zero?"

"Hmm? ...I'm fine. It doesn't hurt that much anymore."

Zero finally came to his senses and quickly wiped his fingers.

Seeing this, Zhuo frowned and wanted to say something, but now was not the time to blame each other, so he chose to remain silent. Instead, he raised the medicine in his hand and asked carefully, "Then shall I apply some medicine to you?"

“…Don’t, don’t touch…”

After saying that, Zhuo was about to reach out and grab her ankle again, but this time Ling pulled her foot back like lightning, and Zhuo actually saw a little fear in her eyes.

(End of this chapter)