45: Chapter 45 Opening the Door, Presenting a Banner

Hu Gualing took a deep breath in front of the mirror, but he still could not suppress the nervousness in his heart.

He first pressed the wound on his back through the bandages.

However, he did not feel a hint of pain.

This caused him to knit his brows tightly. Making up his mind, he used both hands to untie the knot of the bandage and carefully tore it open, bit by bit.

The bandage was wrapped very tightly, and after a night had passed, the dried blood seeping from the wound had stuck the bandage to his skin.

Therefore, as he peeled it away, he could feel the stinging pain of the bandage tearing at his skin.

But what surprised him was that even with such forceful pulling, how could the injured area still have no reaction?

Carrying this doubt, he quickened his movements.

With a rip, the bandage was torn away, and the wound on his back was completely exposed to the air.

Hu Gualing immediately turned on the faucet, grabbed a piece of toilet paper, dampened it, and wiped away a small scab of dried blood from the wound on his back. He stared intensely at the reflection in the mirror—the place that should have been injured now had skin as intact as before!

"What the hell!" Hu Gualing shuddered instantly.

Anyone with a brain knew that a wound could not possibly heal overnight!

Yet, even though he rubbed his skin so hard the paper tore, he still could not see a single trace of an injury when he leaned close to the mirror.

"Could it be that I was not injured at all?" As soon as this thought crossed his mind, Hu Gualing dismissed it. If he was not injured, where did the blood on the bandages come from?

What on earth was going on? Could everything have been a hallucination?

Facing this clearly illogical situation, Hu Gualing suddenly felt his brain could not process it. Slap! He gave himself a hard slap across the face.

The crisp, loud sound startled Wu Yingying outside the door. She twisted the doorknob twice, but it would not budge, and she asked anxiously, "What happened to you?"

Hu Gualing forced himself to calm down and replied in as calm a voice as possible, "It is nothing, I was just swatting a mosquito."

"Be gentle even when swatting mosquitoes, be careful not to aggravate your wound." Wu Yingying said, part chiding, part reminding.

"Mm, I will be careful." As Hu Gualing responded, he looked at the red slap mark on his face in the mirror; a stinging pain radiated from the mark... This was undoubtedly telling him that everything before him was real.

His breathing became rapid—could it be that when he entered the game, his physical body actually entered as well? So, because he healed his wounds in the game, that was why he was like this upon returning to reality?

At this moment, Wu Yingying urged him from outside, not feeling reassured, "Are you not done yet? Do you need someone to help?"

"No, no, I will be done in a second." Hu Gualing quickly refused. He grabbed the bandage, rewrapped it, threw the blood-stained toilet paper into the toilet, and pressed the flush button. He watched the paper get washed away by the water before he felt relieved enough to turn the bathroom door handle and walk out.

"That took forever for a bathroom break," Wu Yingying squinted and yawned. When she opened her eyes and saw Hu Gualing's face, she exclaimed, "You—you used that much force to swat a mosquito? Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

"Oh, I did not pay attention, but it is fine." Hu Gualing touched his face and replied absentmindedly. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, "By the way, were you here all last night?"

Wu Yingying nodded, "That is right. From when you fell unconscious to being sent to the hospital for treatment, and then to this ward, I have been here the whole time."

Hearing Wu Yingying's answer, the hypothesis in Hu Gualing's mind was overturned again. If his physical body had really entered the game, then Wu Yingying, who had been guarding him all night, would have had no reason not to notice he was missing.

So, what on earth was going on?

Hu Gualing could not figure it out for a moment. It seemed the only way to know the truth was to find the company that made this game.

Burdened by his worries, he let Wu Yingying help him back to the bedside and subconsciously sat on the bed, preparing to lie down.

Wu Yingying was also truly sleepy; she covered her mouth and yawned again. When she lowered her hand, she noticed Hu Gualing was lying down with his back against the bed.

She panicked instantly and hurriedly reached out to pull Hu Gualing, "Get up quickly!"

Hu Gualing was confused, "What is wrong?"

"The wound! You are pressing on the wound!"

"Oh, oh, ouch—" Hu Gualing slowly turned over, realizing it a beat too late, and very cooperatively let out two sounds of pain.

Whether it was because his acting was realistic or because Wu Yingying was too worried to think straight, she hurriedly reached to press the call button by the bedside. Scared, Hu Gualing did not care about acting anymore and grabbed her hand, "What are you doing?"

"I am calling the doctor to see if you damaged your wound!"

"Don't you dare!" Hu Gualing was anxious. If the doctor were called over, unwrapped the gauze and bandages, and discovered the wound on his back had healed overnight without even leaving a scar, would they not treat him like a monster?

Wu Yingying sensed something was wrong with his mood and could not help but feel suspicious, "What is wrong?"

At this point, Hu Gualing had no other choice and could only bite the bullet, "Let me tell you a secret."

"Hm? Go ahead, I promise not to tell anyone else." Wu Yingying leaned her ear in very earnestly.

"Actually, actually..." Hu Gualing finally thought of an excuse, "Actually, my Physique has been quite special since I was a child. It mainly manifests in two points. The first is that I am quite good at fighting." Speaking of this, he paused.

Wu Yingying nodded in agreement at the right moment. She had seen with her own eyes that he was good at fighting; he was not just "quite" good, but exceptionally good! "And what is the second point?"

"The second point is that my recovery ability is exceptionally strong. When I get injured, I recover extremely quickly," Hu Gualing said.

"Recover extremely quickly? Then what about the wound on your back?" Wu Yingying seemed to have thought of something.

"That is what I wanted to say. Actually—" Hu Gualing drew out his voice, pretending to be mysterious, "The wound on my back has already healed almost completely."

"Such a severe wound, how could it?" Wu Yingying subconsciously did not believe it, because she had been the one to stop the Bleeding personally. She would never forget the scene of the wound Bleeding incessantly for the rest of her life.

"You do not believe me, right? Well, have you ever studied medicine?" Hu Gualing asked in return.

"No." Wu Yingying shook her head.

"Then have you ever cut your hand while chopping vegetables?" Hu Gualing asked again.

Wu Yingying still shook her head. She had never even held a kitchen knife, let alone cut her hand.

"Then that makes it easy." Hu Gualing muttered to himself.

"What is easy?" Wu Yingying looked blankly at him.

"Ahem," Hu Gualing coughed twice, "I meant that it is no wonder. You have not studied medicine and have not cut your hand, so that is why you cannot believe it. The wound on my back was quite long, and at first glance, it looked like a lot of blood was lost, which is why you mistakenly thought it was a severe injury. But in reality, it was not that deep. Strictly speaking, it could only be considered a superficial wound. Even for an ordinary person, it would heal in two or three days. And since I have had an exceptionally strong recovery ability since I was young, after one night and with the doctor's treatment, it is basically almost healed."

"Is that so?" Wu Yingying listened, half-believing and half-doubting, and then questioned again, "But your face was frighteningly pale at the time, and you even fell unconscious. Can that be considered a superficial wound?"

Hu Gualing said, "That was because the fight was too intense; the unconsciousness was caused by exhaustion."

After all, Wu Yingying had been pampered since she was a child; she had never been in a fight nor had she ever been injured, so she was very unfamiliar with these matters. After hearing Hu Gualing's series of explanations, she nodded, believing him to be true, "So that is how it is. But why hide it? If your wound is almost healed, you should tell everyone, so they do not have to worry about you."

He had finally managed to fool her! Seeing that Wu Yingying was finally no longer thinking about calling the doctor, Hu Gualing let out a sigh of relief in his heart, and his speech became more casual, "Besides you, Young Miss Wu, who else would worry about me? Besides, I have been working night shifts for half a month straight without a single day of rest. I might as well take this opportunity to get some rest."

Upon hearing the first half of Hu Gualing's words, Wu Yingying felt some sympathy, but she did not know how to comfort him. However, when she heard the latter part, she burst into a giggle, "Then set your mind at ease and get some good rest."

Hu Gualing did not know what was so funny, but after exchanging a glance with Wu Yingying, he could not help but chuckle along.

Just at this moment, there was a knock on the hospital room door.

"Is Comrade Hu Gualing here? We are here to deliver a banner."