Doctor Lu Always Wants To Steal My Baby! Chapter 29
byChapter 29: Wolf Ears (Part 2)
His ear itched. He Chen sensitively stood up and took a step back, staring at Lu Changqing: “You—”
After saying “You,” he felt something was wrong. He touched his original ears, then, his expression stiff, reached toward the top of his head.
His expression grew even stiffer.
“Wait, wait a minute.” He Chen looked at the calm—and composed—Lu Changqing, enduring the gaze fixed on his head. He took stiff but extremely quick strides toward the bathroom.
Closing the bathroom door, isolating himself from Lu Changqing’s sight, he frantically touched his head again while walking toward the mirror.
In the mirror, his unremarkable face was reflected, but when his gaze moved upward, He Chen took a deep breath:
Sure enough, there were two extra damned ears!
Lu Changqing waited five minutes before He Chen finally shuffled out of the bathroom, a comical white towel wrapped around his head.
Lu Changqing’s eyes narrowed slightly: “Do you know the meaning of ‘protesting too much’?”
He Chen remained silent: He was illiterate about such things; he didn’t know.
“It’s normal for this to happen if you use too much force during your Riot Period. I told you to come to me for treatment every day.”
“Gleeful schadenfreude is impolite.” He Chen glanced at him, his ears moving slightly inside the towel, beyond his control.
He Chen didn’t dare to continue speaking. He walked straight to his suitcase and pulled out an inhibitor.
“Using these causes too many side effects. The appearance of beast ears might be related to those side effects,” Lu Changqing reminded him flatly.
He Chen’s hand froze.
He hadn’t used them sparingly lately.
But, “I haven’t heard of that side effect?”
“Do you trust others or me?” Lu Changqing said, walking over and reaching for He Chen’s wrist. “Let’s do a treatment and see if they disappear.”
He Chen opened his mouth but didn’t refuse.
Fifteen minutes later, Lu Changqing finished the treatment and looked at the top of He Chen’s head.
He Chen hesitated for a moment, then proactively removed the towel: “Are they gone?”
Lu Changqing didn’t speak. He reached out and touched them again. He Chen suddenly retreated—they were itchy, and they hadn’t disappeared!
“I need to check why they haven’t disappeared. Don’t be so sensitive,” Lu Changqing said, rubbing his fingers behind his back.
“You… you can check, but keep your hands to yourself,” He Chen tried hard to maintain a serious expression, projecting the aura of a Fleet Commander.
“How can I check without touching?” Lu Changqing said, turning on the desk lamp on He Leyan’s table and calmly looking at He Chen. “Come here.”
He Chen stood in the shadows for a while, reluctant, but finally shuffled over.
Lu Changqing moved He Leyan’s small stool for He Chen to sit on, then had him lean his head sideways on He Leyan’s small desk. Lu Changqing sat on the other stool and parted He Chen’s hair under the lamplight to examine him. “Has this ever happened before?”
“It has, but it was controllable.” He Chen replied. When a Warrior actively chooses to merge with their Mental Avatar, some beast-like features can appear. He Chen was referring to that.
“Can you summon your Mental Avatar normally?”
“Yes.” He Chen summoned the Big Wolf. The Big Wolf looked energetic. Although injured, with an ugly bow-tie bandage tied around its hind leg, it showed no sign of weakness—because the bow-tie bandage was tied by little Leyan!
Lu Changqing casually gave the Big Wolf another treatment and told He Chen to recall it to his Mental Domain.
“How severe is the sensory overload? Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
“I have sensory overload, but it’s not severe.”
Not severe? Lu Changqing removed the towel covering his eyes. He Chen immediately squeezed his eyes shut.
Lu Changqing covered him with the towel again. However, He Chen grabbed the towel, sat up straight, and said earnestly, “I want to ask the Medical Academy to perform a comprehensive check-up.”
“We are already doing one.”
“Not this kind, a full comprehensive check.” He Chen’s gaze was steady. “Check if there is anything else inside my body.”
“What kind of thing?” Lu Changqing looked at him, his tone growing serious.
“Nothing specific, just check if there is any accumulation of toxins.” He Chen replied.
“You suspect someone poisoned you?”
“Not… exactly, but that interpretation works. Leyan needs a check-up too.”
Lu Changqing glanced at him: “Leyan has been at the Medical Academy. I guarantee his diet is safe.”
“I’m not suspecting the Medical Academy,” He Chen said straightforwardly.
He was recalling the cryptic words of Rupert of the Celestial Wolf tribe.
Although the alien’s words might not be trustworthy, if there truly was something—for example, some trace element in the Celestial Wolf Lake water that unknowingly entered his body and caused some effects—then this unknown “thing” could very likely affect Leyan too. He Chen couldn’t ignore it.
Right, his eyes…
He Chen suddenly leaned closer to Lu Changqing: “Can you help me check if there’s anything wrong with my eyes?”
“What’s wrong?” Lu Changqing paused for a moment, raised his finger, and pulled open his eyelids to check, his voice slightly grave. “Are you having trouble seeing? Is it blurry or something?”
“No. It’s just that sometimes the colors look off.”
After Rupert said those ambiguous words, He Chen had carefully examined his own eyes. Whether it was psychological or a genuine issue, sometimes he felt the color of his pupils was wrong—they looked blue.
Lu Changqing also noticed something amiss: there was a spreading patch of deep blue in He Chen’s eyes, occupying about one-fifth of the pupil area. It was hard to detect without close inspection.
“It does look like a toxin,” Lu Changqing released his hand. “We need a more detailed examination.”
He stood up. “I’ll go get the car.”
“Now?” He Chen was startled. “No need right now. Leyan is sleeping, and I don’t have severe symptoms.”
Well, except for these two ears.
Lu Changqing looked at him for a moment, judged that he was indeed fine, and stopped moving.
“If you’re not suspecting the Medical Academy, are you suspecting that someone at Han River Base or in the He family poisoned you and your son?” Lu Changqing asked after a calm analysis.
He Chen paused, then nodded: “Yes.”
Lu Changqing observed his reaction and asked, “What kind of poison would cause you to beast-ify?”
“I don’t know,” He Chen replied. “I’ll rely on your examination.”
“I’ll pay,” he added.
“Money is not the issue. Tell me what you suspect, and I’ll have a direction for investigation,” Lu Changqing said.
“I suspect it’s a… trace element dissolved in water. It might show no early symptoms upon entering the body. Also, I’ve been having occasional fevers recently. I don’t know if it’s related.”
“Fever?” Lu Changqing glanced at He Chen’s slightly flushed face and briefly placed the back of his hand on his forehead.
“You have a fever right now.” Lu Changqing opened his terminal, used some program to measure He Chen’s temperature, and checked his throat and skin. He then told He Chen to wait, brought some medicine, and gave it to him.
“I’ll arrange for a detailed check-up tomorrow.”
“And Leyan,” He Chen emphasized.
“I know.” Lu Changqing seemed to have something else to do. He watched He Chen take the medicine and placed a cup of water on the table. “Drink plenty of water, go to bed early, and call me immediately if you feel unwell.”
“Thank you.” Afraid of waking Leyan, He Chen kept his voice low. After thanking him, he looked at the water cup: it was a thermos cup. Did Lu Changqing think he was some delicate Therapist?
While thinking this, He Chen touched the cup and watched Lu Changqing walk toward the door, then suddenly called out, “Senior Brother—”
“What is it?”
“I won’t… turn into some kind of monster like that, will I?” He Chen asked, his tone almost joking, but a hint of nervousness hidden in his eyes.
“I can’t guarantee it,” Lu Changqing said. Seeing He Chen’s face instantly change color, he added unhurriedly, “However, given the current state of your Mental Domain, as long as I’m alive, you won’t change.”
He Chen’s pale face relaxed.
“The prerequisite is that you seek treatment from me, not Wen Yi.”
“…I will definitely seek Senior Brother’s help from now on,” He Chen said, knowing when to be pragmatic.
“Then you’d better start queuing now,” Lu Changqing said flatly. After enjoying He Chen’s stiff expression for a moment, he finally said, “Just kidding. Go to sleep.”
It wasn’t until he entered his study that he dropped the faint smile on his face. He pondered He Chen’s symptoms, looked down, and began searching for data.
He Chen waited for him to leave, picked up the water cup, and took a sip. Thinking of Lu Changqing’s definitely intentional smile, for some reason, he felt his body grow even hotter.
It must be the hot water.
He Chen unbuttoned a few buttons, lay down beside He Leyan, pressed against Leyan’s slightly cool little hand, and watched his sweet sleeping face. Finally, he calmed down and fell asleep.
*
When He Leyan woke up the next morning, he saw He Chen sitting by his bed, holding a wet towel—no wonder his face felt cool.
“I called you three times, and you didn’t wake up,” He Chen explained why he had the towel.
He Leyan didn’t fuss or cry. He rolled over and sat up in bed, staring blankly at He Chen.
“What’s wrong?” He Chen asked.
He Leyan shook his head.
He Chen understood: the person was awake, but the soul wasn’t…
It wasn’t his first day being He Leyan’s father, and he was used to this situation now—though he still found the cub too adorable and wanted to kiss him twice.
“Get dressed. We’re going to the Medical Academy to find your Papa today.”
He said this, lifted the cub’s arm, took off his pajamas, and changed him into a small hoodie.
The small hoodie was taken from the closet. The clothes in the closet must have been matched by Lu Changqing; which top went with which pants was carefully considered. In this regard, He Chen had to admit that He Leyan’s life had definitely been downgraded since being with him, but in other aspects—
But in other—
He Chen tried to find an aspect that hadn’t been downgraded but couldn’t think of one.
He Leyan snapped out of his daze then: “Find Papa?”
What a long reaction time… “Yes, find Papa.”
“Why are we finding Papa?” He Leyan asked.
“Finding Papa… no matter why, aren’t you usually happy when you hear we’re finding Papa? What’s wrong today?”
Oh, right. He Leyan didn’t know what was wrong with himself; he wasn’t very excited to hear about finding Papa.
He Chen looked at him seriously: “Leyan, are you still scared about what happened yesterday?”
“No.” He Leyan shook his head, looking at He Chen. “You’re fine, aren’t you? And those strange people were caught, right?”
He had been scared yesterday, but after a solid night’s sleep, he wasn’t afraid anymore. He Leyan was lifted up by He Chen to change his pants. While He Chen wasn’t looking, his little nose sniffed He Chen’s sleeve. Papa must have slept with him last night; his dreams were filled with this secure scent.
Being caught was a lie for children; they hadn’t been found yet, but he himself was indeed fine.
“Of course I’m fine,” He Chen said. “You have to remember, Leyan, Papa is very powerful. With Papa here, you don’t have to be afraid of anything.”
And me—the Big Wolf flashed out from behind He Chen, poking its head out.
He Leyan’s expression visibly brightened. He finished pulling up his little pants, jumped off the bed, ran to the Big Wolf, and touched its paw.
So, was he completely bypassed once the Big Wolf was involved?
He Chen’s face darkened, but a wave of comfort transmitted from the Big Wolf made him forget to complain. He looked down:
He Leyan’s small hand was placed on the Big Wolf’s injured hind leg, giving it treatment. The Big Wolf hummed comfortably, sweeping its big tail, wrapping the child in the middle like a white cotton mountain, monopolizing him.
“Your Papa already treated it; you don’t need to,” He Chen said, feeling both touched and nervous—afraid that He Leyan was too young and would tire himself out by outputting Mental Power like this.
“I like treating it,” He Leyan said, raising his small head to look at He Chen, then suddenly froze: from this angle, he saw something strange.
“Are you cold? Why are you wearing a hat indoors?” he asked, staring at the top of He Chen’s head.
“Cough!” He Chen covered his mouth and coughed twice. “I have a bit of a cold.”
A cold? He Leyan stood up, his voice tender and his expression concerned, “Are you uncomfortable?”
“Not uncomfortable,” He Chen quickly shook his head.
When he shook his head, He Leyan couldn’t help but stare at his hat again: “Is your hat not on properly?”
Why was it bulging in two places?
“No, it’s just made like that,” He Chen said, tightening the drawstring of the hood and tying a knot under his chin, covering his head completely. “Come on, brush your teeth and wash your face. Your Papa must be getting impatient.”
He Chen said, walking toward the bathroom first.
“Why is Papa waiting for us?”
“You have two more check-ups to finish. We’re going to do them today.”
“Oh.” He Leyan replied while following He Chen, involuntarily staring at He Chen’s back.
Was he very cold?
After brushing his teeth, He Chen went to fetch breakfast, but He Leyan rummaged through his small medicine box.
Hmm, which one was the cold medicine?
He Leyan couldn’t read all the words on the medicine boxes. Finally, he called Papa, and under Papa’s guidance, he took out a cartoon fever-reducing patch, intending to put it on He Chen.
“I’ll put it on myself!” He Chen was both touched and hesitant to move. Finally, under He Leyan’s watch, he carefully pulled back the hat a little and applied the fever-reducing patch.
Strange.
He Leyan found his clumsy father’s secretive movements very odd, but he didn’t know why, so he just assumed he was unwell.
Because he was so focused on how He Chen was doing, He Leyan kept looking up at him during breakfast.
After watching and watching, he finally noticed something wrong: “Your hat, why is it moving?!”
“…It’s not moving. You’re seeing things. I told you you’re still small and shouldn’t use Mental Power randomly!” He Chen said quickly, standing up and clearing the table without question. “Let’s go, we need to hurry and find your Papa!”
He needed to hurry and ask Lu Changqing why these damned ears hadn’t retracted yet!
*
“The fever is gone, but that’s due to the medicine. If, as you say, you get a fever periodically, you might have an active phase, and this one is likely not over yet.”
After sending He Leyan into the examination room, He Chen stood outside the glass window with Lu Changqing, listening to Lu Changqing’s explanation.
“Senior Brother’s treatment doesn’t work either?” He Chen asked.
“My treatment is only for the mental domain. If the problem is caused by some kind of toxin, mental soothing has limited effect.”
Lu Changqing said, walking over to the instrument and looking at He Leyan’s body scan data.
“Is there an abnormality?”
“No.” Lu Changqing pulled up another set of examination data and compared it with the current one. “The Medical Academy gave Leyan a full check-up just before he was sent to Han River. You can see for yourself, both checks are normal.”
“Maybe there’s something hidden very deeply that this kind of check can’t find?” He Chen asked, leading the conversation.
“Maybe,” Lu Changqing said, looking at him. “But perhaps a certain father has paranoid delusions and thinks the whole world is full of bad guys.”
“…”
He had heard his subordinates at the base complain about this, but He Chen believed his mental health was sound.
At least right now, it was definitely not paranoia.
Lu Changqing stopped joking and motioned for He Chen to lie down on the adjacent scanning machine: “Leyan is afraid of radiation, but you are not. I will turn the gain up to maximum. If there is any abnormality, it should be exposed.”
“Good. If we still can’t find anything, you can draw more blood from me to check.” He Chen said. Then he added, “Don’t draw Leyan’s blood. I’ll take his place.”
“This is not something you can substitute for,” Lu Changqing said, personally attaching various wires to his body.
His shirt was lifted, and a cool sensation hit his waist, followed by Lu Changqing’s fingers pressing down. He Chen felt a little uncomfortable, his body both cool and hot, as if he was starting to run a fever again… He endured the discomfort and changed the subject: “Have you found any trace of the Beast-men?”
“No.”
“Still no?” He Chen looked at Lu Changqing suspiciously, observing his expression. “You have so many methods, and you can’t find a single trace?”
“How many methods do I have?” Lu Changqing glanced at him indifferently, his fingers undoing the first button of He Chen’s examination gown and attaching an electrode patch below his left rib.
“You know everything that happens thousands of miles away. In Star Capital, on your private territory, you can’t find the whereabouts of a few Beast-men?” He Chen asked.
“You suspect I found them and am deliberately concealing it?” Lu Changqing said unhurriedly, pinching his chin to make him turn his head, and attaching another electrode to his neck. “Do you also suspect that I created those Beast-men and deliberately had them attack you?”
“That’s too much. I didn’t say that,” He Chen said in a low voice.
“You just thought it?”
“…No, I didn’t,” He Chen said, suddenly sucking in a breath—his sensitive, furry new ear seemed to have been scraped.
“Don’t move. Just taking a sample,” Lu Changqing said flatly.
“Are you… professional?” He Chen felt Lu Changqing was fiddling with his ear, and he was quite suspicious: what kind of sample could a Therapist take?
“My expertise is broad.”
Lu Changqing finished attaching the last two electrode patches behind He Chen’s already slightly feverish wolf ears, finally retracting his long fingers.
“Your suspicion is not outrageous. There are indeed signs of human manipulation regarding those Beast-men, otherwise, they couldn’t have disappeared so completely. If you have time, think more about whether you have any enemies.”
He said this, pressed a button, and sent He Chen, who was about to say something, into the scanning machine. He then walked to the terminal displaying the scan results, examining the data, and slowly furrowing his brow.