In the novel "Joy of Life," the protagonist wakes up at Li Chengze's residence.

"You...you're poisoning yourself? There's no need to rush..."

Tao Jingyang's eyes flickered slightly as he observed the man's reaction closely, so that he could administer the antidote in time.

At first, Li Chengze didn't feel anything, until a slightly metallic taste rose in his throat, and then a sharp pain spread throughout his body like lightning.

"You should take the antidote." Tao Jingyang came to him and rummaged through his sleeves.

Li Chengze let her turn it over, allowing himself to savor the pain brought on by the poison.

Pain is like an invisible hand, gripping every inch of skin on the body.

The pain is excruciating, but even more so to the heart.

He only cared about Tao Jingyang, who had suffered the same pain as him; his voice was broken and intermittent.

"Jingyang...you really know how to endure pain." It hurts so much, and you've endured it all day as if nothing's wrong.

The unspoken words remained stuck in his throat, and with a spurt of blood, they landed on the carriage floor.

Perhaps because the bright red color was too eye-catching, Tao Jingyang inexplicably felt a little uncomfortable in his chest.

The striking red seemed to pierce my heart, flowing down my eye socket.

"It's okay, there's an antidote," she murmured to herself, as if trying to comfort herself.

He caught Li Chengze's falling body, supported his head with his shoulder, and calmly suppressed the turmoil surging in his heart:

"Where did you put the antidote?" she asked, frantically searching Li Chengze's entire body.

If it's not in the sleeve... then it must be in the collar...

Tao Jingyang reached into Li Chengze's shirt and searched around, but couldn't find it anywhere.

Where did I put it? Damn it, why didn't I bring the "Antidote for All Poisons" that Fan Xian gave me today?

At this moment, Tao Jingyang felt that the person leaning on her seemed to have stopped moving, and the anxious atmosphere made her overlook some details.

For example, the way that person quietly raised his hand, and his somewhat disordered and heavy breathing.

She pushed Li Chengze down onto the couch and saw that he was quietly "closed" his eyes, his face was pale, and there was only the red of blood between his lips.

At this point, she had no other thoughts; she was only thinking that since there were no cuffs or collar, the only option was the waist.

When Tao Jingyang placed his hand on Li Chengze's waist, the man lying on the couch, who had seemed to have "fainted," trembled uncontrollably.

Even if Tao Jingyang was anxious at this moment, this big move was hard to ignore.

At this moment, her frozen fingers stopped at Li Chengze's waist.

Looking at Li Chengze's current state, it's as if her intelligence has suddenly returned.

Is he... faking it?

A sudden sense of unease, along with another unnamed emotion, is quietly transforming within me.

With a wicked thought rising in his mind, Tao Jingyang quietly moved his hand upwards, and when it reached Li Chengze's abdomen, he pinched him unexpectedly.

!

"Hey!" Li Chengze exclaimed suddenly, this spot had never been touched like this before.

In an instant, Li Chengze could no longer pretend. He bent over, touched the spot where he had been pinched, and sat up.

There was a hint of unease on his face, as if he'd been caught acting, but he still pretended to be calm.

"When did you take the antidote?" Tao Jingyang asked with a forced smile, glancing down at his disheveled appearance.

The outer garment was nowhere to be seen, and the layers of inner lining were also messy and turned inside out. The chest, which had never seen the sun for many years, looked snow-white.

Her waist was loose and baggy, with several waist ornaments hanging down to the ground along with her belt.

Li Chengze spat out the blood that remained in his mouth and wiped the corner of his mouth with his hand.

She caught a glimpse of Tao Jingyang's somewhat ambiguous expression, pursed her lips, and raised the corners of her mouth, revealing two small dimples.

He raised his hand, shook the ring on his index finger, and smoothed his disheveled clothes with his right hand:

"I ate it while I was leaning on your shoulder."

"So, were you scared when we couldn't find the medicine?"

Li Chengze's face was pale, his hands were behind his back, and he was leaning on the couch. After saying this, he spat out another mouthful of blood.

Tao Jingyang had no time to argue with him. Suppressing his emotions, he moved closer to him, took his pulse, and began channeling his inner energy into him.

The two were so close that their breaths almost mingled.

Theoretically, I'm not afraid. After all, I have plenty of life-saving tools. It would be quite difficult for Li Chengze to die under my nose.

But... even knowing you wouldn't die, just now...

In the blink of an eye, Tao Jingyang's hand, which was holding Li Chengze's, was suddenly gripped in return, and she felt a slow flow of true energy being channeled into her meridians.

“You’ll feel pain too,” he said.

She looked at Li Chengze in surprise, then lowered her gaze to her wrist, which he was holding tightly. Feeling the gentle flow of internal energy through her meridians, Tao Jingyang thought:

Although I know I won't die, I'm still...very worried.