Chapter 22: Big Brother Can Be Saved
This novel is translated and hosted on bcatranslation.
Lu Yan Shu slowly opened his eyes.
Within his gaze, there was only a profound stillness—no ripples, no emotion. He lay quietly on the bed, unmoving, just as he had for the past eight years of his paralysis.
“Big Brother? Big Brother, you’re not dead?! That’s wonderful, Big Brother! Wuwuwu, you scared me to death!”
“Where’s the servant? The Imperial Physician?” Lu Yuan Xiao hurriedly snatched away the shard of porcelain and flung it far, far away. But he didn’t dare to leave, terrified that his elder brother might attempt something extreme again.
“Big Brother, look at me! I’m Yuan Xiao, your third brother. You used to carry me when I was little. Big Brother, I’ve almost forgotten what you look like.”
Lu Yuan Xiao crouched beside the bed, desperate to draw his brother’s attention. His elder brother had once drowned for too long, and though he was revived through the miraculous use of golden needles, he had awoken paralyzed, unable to move.
Since then, he had been confined to bed, resisting even the occasional outings on a wheelchair pushed by a servant. His temper had grown erratic, violent, and utterly unpredictable. People had come to fear him as much as they pitied him.
In those eight years, the only progress was his ability to clench his hands—a strength he used for the first time to slash his own wrists.
Just recalling it left Lu Yuan Xiao breathless with dread.
“Big Brother, I-I’ll go fetch the Imperial Physician and find Mother. Can you…can you watch over Chao Chao for me?”
“Chao Chao is our little sister, the fourth in the family. She’s so tiny, soft, and fragrant. You’ll love her, I promise.”
Lu Yuan Xiao carried Lu Chao Chao over to his elder brother, but Lu Yan Shu didn’t even glance at her.
“No!”
The hoarse, grating voice cut through the silence, as if it hadn’t been used in years.
“No…no Imperial Physician.”
“No…don’t tell Mother,” Lu Yan Shu stammered. His voice was halting, every word scraping painfully from his throat.
Lu Yuan Xiao froze. “But your injuries…”
Yet seeing his elder brother’s resistance and impending anger, he dared not insist. Noticing how his brother’s complexion had grown rosier, he decided to clean the bloodstains himself. He fetched a basin of water and a cloth, kneeling to scrub the floor.
[No wonder my Big Brother is the tragic yet powerful villain…]
[At just nine years old, he became paralyzed after saving someone from drowning. Worse, that ungrateful person didn’t even call for help! He’s spent eight years in this state, and one day, he’ll witness our whole family perish before his very eyes. Even though he survives, he’ll battle the protagonists with his wits and strength, only to lose in the end.]
Lu Chao Chao blinked her wide eyes, shaking her head and sighing as she observed.
Lu Yan Shu’s lifeless pupils quivered faintly.
Using every ounce of strength he had, he turned his head, spotting his third brother—hunched over, scrubbing the bloodstained floor with his bottom in the air.
In the otherwise empty room, there was only a crawling infant, incapable of speech.
Sensing his gaze, the baby beamed, showing a gummy, toothless grin.
[Wow, my Big Brother is so handsome.]
Lu Yan Shu: Has his paralysis affected his hearing too?
The whole family… destined for tragedy?
And earlier… did his third brother say their father kept a mistress?
For eight years, Lu Yan Shu had shut himself off from the world, ignoring everything, even when their mother wept herself to death in his presence. But now…
Lu Yan Shu laughed bitterly to himself.
What could he possibly do?
He was a cripple—paralyzed, helpless. He couldn’t even care for himself, needing assistance for even the most basic tasks.
Suddenly…
His entire body trembled, suffused with despair and terror.
“Out!” His eyes widened as he clenched his teeth, veins bulging all over his body.
Lu Yuan Xiao, still scrubbing the floor, was startled by his brother’s sudden outburst.
“Big Brother, I-I’m not disturbing you,” he said meekly.
But Lu Yan Shu seemed to have descended into madness.
“Get out! Out! Get out now!”
“Leave me alone!” Lu Yan Shu’s rage was like a storm, his eyes filled with wild fury as he glared at Lu Yuan Xiao.
“If you consider me your brother, then leave this room and never return! I don’t want to see any of you. You disgust me!” His voice was hoarse, his fists clenched so tightly that the veins on his hands rose like rivers.
Lu Yuan Xiao froze, terrified.
He held Lu Chao Chao in his arms, tears welling in his reddened eyes. But before he could leave, an unfamiliar stench reached his nose.
The taut string within Lu Yan Shu snapped instantly.
His laughter was a mix of sorrow and mockery. He seemed on the verge of tears and yet close to bursting out in deranged laughter. He couldn’t even care for himself.
How laughable.
Once a dazzling prodigy—now bedridden, relying on others for every necessity. His pride was trampled underfoot, ground repeatedly into the dirt.
Lu Yuan Xiao seemed to understand something.
He said nothing, simply setting their little sister down gently on a stool. “Chao Chao, stay still,” he whispered.
He fetched a basin of clean water and fresh clothes. Despite his elder brother’s raging curses, he began cleaning him up.
Lu Yan Shu’s anger turned to desperate pleas, begging him to leave.
By the time he was washed and dressed in clean clothes, Lu Yan Shu was utterly broken. Once a boy as bright as the moonlight, admired by all, he was now a shadow of his former self.
He feared the eyes of others, refused all offers of help or kindness. He couldn’t bear for anyone to see him in this pathetic state—a man without dignity, unable even to control his own bodily functions.
“Big Brother, we are blood brothers,” Lu Yuan Xiao said softly. Despite being a pampered young master himself, he showed no disdain for his elder brother.
Lu Yan Shu turned his head away, shutting his eyes tightly.
[Such a good third brother. It’s a pity he’ll have his eyes gouged out, ears cut off, and limbs severed. He’ll be turned into a human swine, stuffed into a jar for others to gawk at.]
Both brothers shuddered simultaneously.
Lu Yan Shu’s eyes snapped open.
Lu Yuan Xiao was tired of hearing about his own grim fate. He had heard it enough to last a lifetime.
“Big Brother, the room is clean now. I’ll fetch your wheelchair. Let’s go outside and bask in the sun, shall we?” Lu Yuan Xiao asked cautiously.
The room had been sealed for years, suffused with a chill.
Lu Yan Shu said nothing, so Lu Yuan Xiao smiled and propped him up against the headboard. He placed their baby sister beside him.
[Ah, my brother will one day be humiliated further, fed urine, and forced to crawl. What a doomed family of cannon fodder!]
Lu Yan Shu’s expression remained impassive.
[Fortunately, I can heal my Big Brother’s legs!]
Lu Chao Chao was utterly delighted.
Lu Yan Shu: !!!!!
He began coughing violently, turning sharply toward Lu Chao Chao.
What had she just said?
Did she even know what she was talking about?
Lu Yan Shu began to question his sanity. Was he hallucinating? Hearing voices? But that faint sensation earlier—it had felt real.
Lu Chao Chao tilted her head and reached out her chubby arms.
Lu Yan Shu’s lips twisted into a mocking smile. He couldn’t even lift his arms. Eight years of recovery had only allowed him to clench his fists.
“Hug…”
“Hug…hug hug…” The baby’s garbled mumbling sent a jolt through him.
His fingertips trembled as he strained to lift his arm.
Sweat poured from his brow, and he barely managed to move his arm an inch.
But for Lu Yan Shu, it was almost enough to make him cry.
Eight years!!
In eight years, he had never moved his arm.
Today, he had managed to move it!