Chapter 59: Five Senses
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After the examination, everyone else left one by one. Soldier 1 also didn’t linger, bidding farewell and disappearing with his Big Sword. An Bu didn’t even have the chance to say thank you.
In the ward, only Jian Ningxuan and An Bu remained. Jian Ningxuan took off his wrinkled shirt, rolled up his sleeves, and picked An Bu up from the bed.
“What are you doing?” An Bu asked.
“Bathing.” Jian Ningxuan carried her into the bathroom, placed her on the prepared soft chair, and began helping her undress.
Although both of them were thoroughly familiar with each other, undressing had always been done during various activities. Doing it in a serious and straightforward manner like this was the first time.
“I haven’t reached the point where I can’t take care of myself…” An Bu watched him strip off her clothes one by one, trying to fight for her right to do it herself.
“Your wounds can’t touch water.” Jian Ningxuan half-knelt on the floor, carefully inspecting the scars on her body, his eyes showing a hint of distress.
An Bu was quickly reduced to only her underwear, but Jian Ningxuan had no thoughts of indulgence. He used a warm towel to wipe her body, avoiding her wounds as much as possible. The soft light poured down from above, casting a shadow on his stern face. His lips, tightly pressed, seemed somewhat dry, as if he hadn’t drunk water for a long time.
“Mr. Jian.”
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry for making you worry.”
Jian Ningxuan paused in his actions, sighing with a mix of helplessness and concern, “An Bu, why do you always end up with so many scars on yourself?”
To live better. An Bu silently replied.
Saving people was the only way to offset death energy. She didn’t want to be consumed by death energy, so she could only keep saving people. Despite being the inheritor of the Book of Life and Death, she didn’t have any special abilities. In fact, she needed to put in more effort than ordinary people to acquire enough knowledge and power. If she stopped, she would quickly regress, and all her previous efforts would be in vain.
The only thing An Bu felt guilty about was concealing her identity from Mr. Jian. As a living corpse, she had no sense of pain; no matter how severe the injuries, she wouldn’t feel any pain. Mr. Jian didn’t need to worry about her suffering.
Jian Ningxuan gently held An Bu’s ankle, which was covered in bruises and scratches. He couldn’t help but recall the moment he dug her out of the coffin. She not only didn’t shed a tear but even smiled at him. Didn’t she feel pain or fear? In that desperate situation, how did she manage to endure? If it had been a few minutes later, he might have lost her forever.
His fingers trembled slightly, and Jian Ningxuan’s eyes felt a bit hot. He didn’t want to experience that bone-deep fear again.
Lost in his thoughts, he accidentally applied too much force and poked An Bu’s wound. Jian Ningxuan quickly regretted it, released his hand, and was about to apologize when he saw that An Bu’s face showed no sign of discomfort, as if she hadn’t noticed someone touching her wound.
Jian Ningxuan furrowed his brow, feeling a hint of doubt. Even if she wasn’t afraid of pain, the body should still have natural responses to external stimuli, such as muscle spasms, avoidance, or at least a flinch. But An Bu showed no reaction.
“What’s wrong?” An Bu couldn’t help asking as Jian Ningxuan kept staring at her.
“Nothing,” Jian Ningxuan collected himself, carefully cleaned An Bu’s body, dried the water droplets, changed her into a clean patient gown, and settled her back onto the bed.
“I’m going to buy some food. Don’t move around; just lie in bed,” he said.
“Okay~~” An Bu obediently agreed, hugging a chubby white pillow.
Jian Ningxuan looked at her with concern, cast one more glance, then turned and walked out of the ward.
Instead of immediately returning to the ward, Jian Ningxuan went straight to Fangcun’s duty room after calling his assistant to bring two nutritious meals.
At this moment, Fangcun was studying An Bu’s examination report, attempting to find the reason why a corpse could move around like a living person.
Hearing a knock, Fangcun quickly put away the materials, stood up, and smiled, “Come in.”
Jian Ningxuan entered, and Fangcun immediately felt a wave of heat hitting him. The room’s temperature seemed to have risen by ten degrees.
Huh? Before, he was too focused on An Bu, but now it seemed that this man in front of him also had a unique physique.
“Mr. Jian, do you need something?” Fangcun stood up, welcoming him.
“I want to know if there are any other symptoms in An Bu’s body,” Jian Ningxuan asked straightforwardly.
Fangcun fell silent. In fact, there were no other symptoms; that was the scariest part.
“Why are you asking?” Fangcun probed. “Did you notice anything unusual?”
Jian Ningxuan replied, “She seems to have a delayed reaction to pain.”
Much more than a delayed reaction—she doesn’t feel it at all, okay?
Fangcun looked at the man in front of him, not knowing how to answer. He could only ask, “Apart from that, did you notice anything else?”
Jian Ningxuan replied with four words, “Color vision impairment.”
Fangcun fell silent again.
Jian Ningxuan stared at him without blinking, “I know she has hidden something from me. I can overlook other things, but if it involves her physical health, I hope you can tell me the truth.”
Fangcun thought that An Bu preferred to reveal her identity to him, an outsider, rather than to this man, probably because she was afraid of being disliked and rejected by him. Not everyone could accept that their loved one was a corpse. However, with constant companionship, he would inevitably discover anomalies sooner or later.
After considering for a moment, Fangcun said, “Actually, there’s nothing to hide. Sister An not only has color vision impairment but also suffers from CIP, congenital insensitivity to pain.”
This was not a fabrication; it was a reasonable deduction from the examination. An Bu had no metabolism, and Fangcun didn’t know how she maintained vitality. In his view, she was a freshly made corpse. The fact that a corpse could move freely was already bizarre, and in terms of other senses, she definitely couldn’t compare to a real living person.
Jian Ningxuan took a deep breath, disbelievingly murmuring, “Congenital insensitivity to pain…”
Congenital insensitivity to pain meant that she couldn’t make any emergency response to pain. Even if someone stabbed her in the heart, she could still walk like an ordinary person until she died from a ruptured heart, several tens of seconds later.
No wonder she always seemed indifferent to injuries because she couldn’t feel pain at all.
Jian Ningxuan’s eyes turned red, his face iron-gray, standing stiffly at the door.
Fangcun sympathetically looked at him, wondering if he would suffer a greater blow after learning An Bu’s identity. This secret, he would definitely not reveal it.
Leaving Fangcun’s duty room with heavy steps, Jian Ningxuan coincidentally met Little Liu, the assistant, who was delivering the meal.
“Mr. Jian, the nutritious meals you requested.” Little Liu glanced at the ward and asked, “Is Miss An okay?”
Jian Ningxuan didn’t answer. He took the bag from Little Liu and was about to enter the room when suddenly a thought crossed his mind. Considering what Fangcun had mentioned earlier about An Bu’s heightened sensitivity in all senses, apart from congenital analgesia and color vision impairment, were there any other issues?
With this in mind, he placed the bag containing the meal box on the bench next to the corridor. He opened it, took out several packets of mustard powder, and after tearing one open, he poured it into one of the cups of juice.
Little Liu stared at him in astonishment, “Mr. Jian, what are you…” Are you planning to prank Miss An? She’s an injured person. Please be merciful!
After finishing all this, Jian Ningxuan repackaged everything, then carried the bag and walked into the ward. Little Liu originally wanted to follow and take a look but was heartlessly shut out of the door.
“Mr. Jian, you’re back. What delicious food did you bring?” An Bu leaned against the pillow, looking at him with a cheerful smile.
Jian Ningxuan laid out the meal boxes from the bag one by one. Finally, he picked up the cup of drink, hesitated for a moment, and handed it to An Bu.
An Bu took the drink cup without any suspicion and took a big sip, showing no abnormality on her face.
Jian Ningxuan felt a pang in his chest. “Is it good?” he asked.
“Mm,” An Bu casually responded.
At this moment, a large hand reached over, took the cup from her hand, and replaced it with another.
An Bu looked at him strangely. “What’s wrong?”
“I want to drink from your cup,” Jian Ningxuan calmly said.
An Bu laughed, “Ah, an indirect kiss~”
Jian Ningxuan glanced deeply at her, lifted the cup lid, tilted his head, and took a sip of the juice. Immediately, he felt a pungent taste rushing to his head. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and a few veins popped out.
An Bu: “…” Does an indirect kiss make you feel so uncomfortable?
Forcing himself to finish the juice, Jian Ningxuan sat on the bed as if nothing had happened, joining An Bu for the meal.
Seeing him with reddened skin, sweating, and hair almost standing on end, An Bu was puzzled. Wasn’t it just a cup of juice? Why did it feel like he had drunk poison? Could her saliva be poisonous? It shouldn’t be; they kissed every day…
“Mr. Jian, are you okay?” An Bu asked with concern.
Jian Ningxuan, with red eyes, whether from the spiciness or emotional discomfort, could only blame his assistant for adding wasabi. Did his ordered nutritious meal require wasabi?
“I’m fine.” Jian Ningxuan drank some soup and took a while to recover.
After confirming An Bu’s loss of pain sensation and color vision impairment, it was now confirmed that she had also lost her sense of taste.
Among the five senses, the only one that seemed normal was hearing, with no apparent obstacles to daily communication. As for the sense of smell, Jian Ningxuan spoke up, “The hospital’s bedding has a strange smell. I’ll get you a new one tomorrow.”
“Weird smell?” An Bu sniffed, “Hmm, it’s the scent of Carp Brand laundry detergent, 8 yuan for a large bag, a popular and affordable laundry product.”
Jian Ningxuan: “…I’ll change it for you tonight.”
His cleanliness obsession acted up again.
After finishing the meal, Jian Ningxuan tidied up the table, went to fetch water for An Bu, walked out of the ward, closed the door, and suddenly raised his hand, smashing a punch into the wall.
Five senses, three deficiencies.
His An Bu had been living in a world without color, taste, or pain…
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