His throat twisted involuntarily and instead of a smile, a pathetic little cry of pain escaped his lips.
"Li Shen! Are you okay!? Where does it hurt!? Tell me, where!?"
Even with a face that didn't look Chinese at all, the man spoke in fluent Chinese.
His voice was filled with panic, but to Li Shen's ears, it still sounded strangely pleasant.
He pushed through the pain as best as he could and slowly turned his gaze back toward the man.
For now, he managed to whisper, "…Eve…rywhere… hurts…"
That was all he could say.
All he could focus on was getting someone to do something about this horrible pain.
That was the only thing on his mind.
Also—where even was this place? Why was he in so much pain? What had he even been doing before this? Why couldn't he remember…?
"…If you can still talk that much, then you'll live… You fool… Your magic circuits are severely damaged. Of course it hurts. I managed to heal your physical wounds with recovery magic, but the magic circuits… like always, we have no choice but to let them heal naturally. No one knows that better than you do."
The man gritted his teeth, his voice full of frustration.
"If this teaches you anything… even just a little… then please, start relying on me. I'm begging you…"
The man frowned bitterly as he spoke—his words sounding like a mix between a lecture and a desperate plea.
To be honest, Li Shen didn't fully understand what he was saying.
There were some words he wasn't used to hearing.
However, one thing he could understand for sure was… he must have caused this man some serious trouble.
"Um… I-I'm really… sorry… for all the… trouble?"
He forced the words out while holding back tears, his body screaming in pain.
It hurt so badly he could almost cry right there, but he somehow managed to finish the sentence.
That was when the man—who looked almost like a work of art—suddenly froze.
The tight frown between his brows disappeared and those amethyst eyes went wide with surprise.
Then, after a moment of stunned silence, the man spoke in a quiet, raspy voice. "…What's... your name… and your age?"
"Uh… it's Li Shen… I'm 17 years old… I'm from China. Um… my parents… are they here? I'm sorry… I've caused you… some… trouble…"
Li Shen had said "I'm sorry" so many times in his life that it should've come naturally.
But now his dry throat made the words come out rough and weak.
That, somehow, made it feel even worse.
And the pain… the pain was getting to be too much.
His body couldn't take it anymore.
He didn't even know why this was happening to him. Confused and scared, his vision began to blur as the anxiety rose up like a wave.
Oh no… I'm going to cry…
Just before his self-hatred hit its peak and the tears came, something warm and gentle covered his eyes.
It was a hand.