The Wool Surgeon's Needle flickered like a streak of silver lightning around Meng Kai's body, threads of vitality stitching the final flap of skin upon his mangled shoulder. His breathing slowly stabilized into an even rhythm, though his face remained pale as paper.
Jiang Chen withdrew the needle at last and looked down at the boy who had just watched his aunt explode into a storm of self destructing Qi, a cold smile touching his lips.
He lowered himself into a squat before the trembling Meng Kai and patted his shoulder, his gaze level. "You have a sturdy constitution, slave. To survive such an explosion and the loss of so much blood... perhaps this world truly does have a place for cowards."
Meng Kai flinched at the contact, his eyes hollow and leaking tears that he lacked the strength to wipe away. He was a broken vessel, his spirit crushed by the realization that he had betrayed his own blood only to live another day, and that too as a slave.
