Meanwhile, Ye Jie was at the Star Emperor Hospital with Azalea. Ru had been coming every day to take care of Azalea for more than 10 days and after her frequent visits, Azalea had shown better progress in her health.

  Now, she could walk around slowly without feeling too much strain on her muscles. Ru was even now serene and cautious while she held Azalea’s calf in her hand to massage it.

  After getting done with it, Ru stood up from her squatting position and asked Azalea, "You should focus on exercise for a month or so and the stiffness will be completely gone."

  "You’re an amazing person." Azalea marveled as she swayed her legs like a little kid with her toothy grin.

  Ru awkwardly pulled the hood further down her face and said, "I’m not amazing. It’s your own will to survive which is amazing."

  Azalea pondered for a minute while tapping her finger at her chin and pointed out, "You don’t like compliments. Right?"

  Ye Jie noticed the way Ru didn’t reply to Azalea and added, "Zelie, don’t ask questions. Ru can answer you anything as long as your question doesn’t involve her own self."

  "If the compliment was based on my reality, I’d have gladly shown my gratitude for it. But your compliment was based on what I showed you not on what I really am." Ru’s voice deep and hoarse but brimming with compassion.

  "What do you mean?" Azalea questioned with a frown etched between her brows.

  "You really are too young and innocent." Ru noted and went on, "Little girl, we live in the world filled with humans- humans that are hypocrites. We all like to hear the truths even when we have built our own lives at the quicksand of lies. But who cares?" Azalea kept staring at Ru’s green eyes hidden below her hood. "We all say that truth is what we all want, but in reality, all we want to hear is a lie that doesn’t hurt us and doesn’t let that castle sink in."

  Ru leaned ahead to come face to face with Azalea and added, "We are all like those peacocks that like to display their extravagance feathers while they always hide there ugly feet from the world. You only saw me as I showed you. The day, you’ll get to see the real me, you might never want me around yourself ever again." The strange certitude and elusiveness in Ru’s voice made Azalea’s heart skip a beat in fear.

  "Can you stop scaring my sister?" Ye Jie came behind Ru and slapped the back of her head making her glare at him viciously.

  "I’m not scaring her. I’m showing her the reality of the world which her parents hid from her. She grew up in a very protected world. But she needs to learn that the world is an ugly place and only by wearing a mask of ugliness can you survive in it." After saying her words, Ru punched Ye Jie in his stomach making him wince in pain. "This was a light punch for the slap you delivered earlier." With that, she took a step intending to leave the hospital room.

  She halted and again looked at Azalea. "Also remember, as a human, we all like to say that people changes…… Time changes…… But we all forget that we our own self also change with time and people. Do you know what is the thing we all need but we don’t have?"

  Azalea shook her head.

  "It’s understanding. We all need others to understand the pretext behind our change but none of us wants to understand the same pretext from someone else." She punched Ye Jie again and left.

  Ye Jie rubbed his stomach where she hit twice. Even though he knew it himself that it was one of the softest punch she could deliver. But it still hurt.

  "Bro, are you alright?" Azalea inquired anxiously as she saw the way Ye Jie’s face was scrunched up.

  He tried to smile and assured her, "Absolutely fine. You get ready. We’re leaving for home now."

  Azalea excitedly walked away to change her clothes and Ye Jie ran outside to the corridor to look for Ru.

  "Are you looking for me?" He heard her voice the instant he walked out of the room. He turned a bit and saw her leaning against the wall right beside the door with her arms crossed before her chest.

  "Are you gonna stay?" He inquired trying to look for something in her green eyes.

  "Since I’m already here, I don’t plan on leaving that soon. I’ll be in Imperial City if you want to reach me." She retorted.

  Noticing his piercing gaze at her own face, she sighed and stood straight. "What do you want?"

  "An answer. Can you give it?"

  "No…… I’m not in the mood at the moment." She calmly answered. "I’ll see you soon. For now, I have things to do." She patted his shoulder before walking away from him. Ye Jie followed her frame until she disappeared at the corner.

  Azalea came out and announced, "Jie-Ge, I’m all set." Her voice broke Ye Jie line of thoughts and he turned to Azalea and passed a smile to her.

  "Okay, let’s go then." He picked up her small bag and led her out of the hospital. He had already done all the necessary process for checkout. And he specifically asked Lin Shen to hide the fact that Azalea is awake from Xu Mey since he wanted to surprise her.

  While he was driving the car, he saw the way Azalea was fidgeting while beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. Now he believed Ru’s words when she said, "Try to pay attention to her. She had been in a severe accident and it might have left its marks on her memory. Although I hope that I’m wrong, I think that she might be afraid of car rides from now on."

  He pulled her hand and held it in his own saying, "Zelie, I’m right here. Ge is not gonna let anything happen to you. Just have faith in your Ge-Ge?"

  He felt her muscles relaxing under his touch and smiled. She nodded her head and said, "Bro, you won’t leave me right?"

  "Never ever……" he replied making her feel completely relaxed.