Chapter 226 Relief

Chapter 226: Chapter 226 Relief

Stefan knelt beside Jack and carefully checked his breathing, then placed two fingers against his neck. For several seconds he remained motionless, concentrating on what he could feel beneath his fingertips, before looking towards Ling Xuan.

"He’s breathing," Stefan reported, relief briefly softening his expression. "His pulse is there too, but he’s unconscious."

Tina began crying again when she heard him, though this time there was relief mixed with her fear. "I told him to wake up," she said, looking between Stefan and Ling Xuan. "I called him so many times, but he wouldn’t answer. I thought..." Her voice broke before she could finish.

Ling Xuan gently released her shoulders and moved towards Jack, while Stefan shifted aside to give her room. She examined the boy without moving him unnecessarily, noting the blood along his back and the bruising visible near his shoulder. His breathing was shallow but regular, and although she could not determine the full extent of his injuries in the darkness, the blood and his prolonged unconsciousness were enough to make her cautious.

"He protected her from the collapse," Stefan murmured, looking at the dried blood on Jack’s clothes.

Ling Xuan’s expression tightened slightly as she examined the boy’s injuries. Jack was still a child, yet he had carried Tina after her knee was injured and then used his own body to shield her when the ceiling came down. She had seen grown soldiers abandon their companions under far less terrifying circumstances, and the thought of this quiet boy refusing to leave Tina behind made her regard him with a respect she would never have expected to feel towards someone so young.

Laurel’s voice echoed in Ling Xuan’s head. ’How bad is he injured?’

’Let me check,’ Ling Xuan answered, carefully checking whether Jack showed any obvious signs of further injury. ’He needs proper treatment. We cannot determine everything here.’

Stefan watched her examination before glancing towards the collapsed passage. "I can take us back to the fortress, but I don’t think I can manage several more jumps without resting."

Ling Xuan considered the problem. The children needed medical attention, particularly Jack, but Stefan had already pushed himself close to exhaustion, and another poorly controlled teleportation would endanger everyone. She looked towards Tina, who was watching them anxiously from where she sat, then returned her attention to Stefan.

"Rest for a few minutes while I prepare them," Ling Xuan instructed him. "We are not moving Jack until we can support his injuries properly."

Stefan nodded and sat back against the wall, closing his eyes briefly while he tried to steady his breathing. "I’ll be ready."

Ling Xuan turned towards Tina and noticed that the child was struggling to remain upright, her earlier relief apparently giving way to exhaustion now that she no longer had to keep herself alert for danger.

"Tina," Ling Xuan called, moving back towards her. "I need you to tell me whether you can feel your injured leg."

Tina nodded weakly. "I can feel it, Aunty Laurel. It hurts when I move."

Ling Xuan examined the swollen knee carefully, checking for bleeding and obvious deformity before allowing the child to rest against her. She could not know whether anything was broken without a proper examination, but Tina was conscious, able to answer questions and capable of moving her toes when asked.

"You did well," Ling Xuan told her after finishing the examination. "You stayed with Jack and waited for us."

Tina looked up at her with red eyes. "Jack did better. He carried me even when he was tired, and when the monsters came, he kept telling me not to be scared." She swallowed before looking towards the unconscious boy. "He said we had to find a way back because his mother would be waiting."

Ling Xuan followed her gaze, remembering Ida’s injuries and Stefan’s promise to bring the children home. She had already decided that Jack deserved proper treatment, but Tina’s words made the urgency feel more personal than she wanted to admit.

"Then we’ll take him back to her," Ling Xuan answered, adjusting Tina’s position so the child could rest more comfortably without putting pressure on her knee.

Tina leaned against her, still watching Jack as though afraid he might disappear if she looked away. After a while, she reached for Ling Xuan’s hand and held it tightly.

"Aunty Laurel," Tina whispered, her voice growing drowsy, "you won’t leave us again, right?"

Ling Xuan looked down at the small hand wrapped around her fingers. She had spent years teaching herself that attachment weakened judgment, yet here she was, sitting in a ruined underground passage with an injured child leaning against her and another unconscious nearby, feeling a quiet determination that had little to do with duty or strategy.

"I won’t leave you here," Ling Xuan answered, tightening her hold on Tina’s hand just enough for the child to feel it. "You and Jack are coming home."

Tina’s shoulders relaxed, and although she continued fighting sleep for several minutes, exhaustion eventually overcame her. Ling Xuan kept her supported while Stefan recovered enough strength to stand, then looked towards Jack and considered how best to move him without worsening his injuries.

Outside the collapsed passage, the monsters they had killed remained scattered among the rubble, while farther away the ruined platform stood silent beneath the approaching morning light. None of that mattered to Ling Xuan now. For the first time since learning Tina was missing, they had found both children alive, and although Jack’s condition remained uncertain, she finally had something she could act upon rather than merely uncertainty.

Stefan crouched beside Jack, waiting for Ling Xuan to tell him how to lift the boy without worsening his injuries. He had recovered enough strength to stand without support, but his complexion remained pale, and every movement revealed how much the repeated teleportations had drained him. Beside the wall, Tina had finally fallen asleep against Ling Xuan’s shoulder, although her fingers were still curled around the fabric of her aunt’s sleeve.

Ling Xuan looked between the two children and then towards Stefan. She had already examined Jack as carefully as she could, but the boy had remained unconscious for an unknown length of time after being struck by falling debris, and the blood covering his back made it impossible to determine the extent of his injuries without a more thorough examination. Tina’s swollen knee and head injury also required attention, particularly since she had lost consciousness during the collapse.

Inside their shared consciousness, Laurel had reached the limit of what she could bear simply watching.

’Sister Ling Xuan, let me take over,’ Laurel said, her attention fixed on Jack’s motionless figure. ’I need to examine him properly before anyone moves him.’

Ling Xuan’s gaze settled on the boy. ’We need to leave before more monsters arrive.’

’I know, but if he has a spinal injury, lifting him incorrectly could make things worse.’ Laurel’s voice remained strained, although she was making an effort to control herself. ’And Tina struck her head too. I can’t tell you they’re safe just because they’re breathing and conscious. Let me assess them first, then we can decide how to move them.’