"If you need anything next time, you don't have to come find me in person. Just give me a call. Wendy should have told you all, right?"
At the door of Himeko's apartment, Wende spoke to the embarrassed-looking Fu Hua.
"Yes, Wendy already gave us your phone number. She said we could call you if we weren't feeling well."
"Good. Then I'll be heading back."
"Take care, Dr. Wende."
"I will."
Watching Wende's retreating figure, Fu Hua couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
She returned to Himeko's bedroom and looked at the woman, who was flushed pink from head to toe and radiating heat. She shook her head helplessly.
It seemed... they had gotten a bit carried away.
---o---
Half an hour later...
Himeko sipped on a cold fruit juice Fu Hua had prepared, lying exhausted on the living room sofa.
"I'm sorry, Himeko. I didn't expect Dr. Wende's massage technique... to be so..."
For a moment, Fu Hua couldn't think of an adjective to describe Wende's god-like massage technique...
Was it supremely skilled... or was Himeko just...
Ahem, ahem, no, she couldn't continue down that train of thought.
A blush crept up Fu Hua's ancient face as she forced herself not to think about the rather intimate scene from just now.
"It's alright, Fu Hua. Dr. Wende is truly incredible. Right now, I just feel... completely soft all over, like I'm about to float away... Ah, I think I'll go take a nap later..."
Himeko's eyes were hazy. It was the first time in her life she had ever felt this way...
"Himeko, are you really okay?"
Looking at the strange state Himeko was in, Fu Hua was very skeptical.
"Of course. Not only that, but my ankles are completely healed. I have to say, he's really amazing..."
Himeko looked down at her feet with a sigh of admiration.
When she learned that Fu Hua wanted to test this Wende, she had deliberately created a reason for her. She had put on a pair of high heels she couldn't even manage, successfully and artificially spraining her ankle, just to have a legitimate reason for him to come and treat her.
But now it seemed the therapeutic effects were a little too good...
The thought of those warm, large hands kneading her body with even, powerful pressure made Himeko's face turn red once again.
"Fu Hua, is the medical technology of your Shenzhou... really this incredible?"
Recalling Wende's skilled hands, Himeko couldn't help but ask Fu Hua.
"Er... maybe, probably, perhaps?"
Fu Hua answered evasively. After all, in her memories... strange... she couldn't remember...
"Sigh, it would be so great if you knew how to do this, Fu Hua. You could give me a massage when there's nothing else to do."
Himeko shook her head with a sigh.
"Well... we have this Wende now, don't we?"
"That's true..."
---o---
"I'm back."
Wende pushed open the door and spoke to Wendy, who had already changed her clothes.
"Mm! Welcome back!"
Wendy, who was sitting on the sofa holding her phone, looked up at Wende and gave him a smiling nod.
"What are you doing?"
Wende hung his coat on the rack, sat down beside Wendy, and picked up a comb from the table to brush her soft, short hair.
"Playing Star Rail! Wende, you're so hard to pull."
Wendy held her phone up to Wende's face, her own little face full of frustration. She had already dumped all her Stellar Jades into the standard banner, but the five-star Wende just wouldn't show up. Not only that, but the four-star Wende was the same...
To this day, her four-star Wende was still at Eidolon 0, and she didn't even have his signature Light Cone...
"Don't worry about it. Since it's the standard banner, he'll come out sooner or later. Besides, Wendy, you shouldn't waste your energy getting hung up on this. Even without the [Five-Star Wende], you can still have a lot of fun playing the game, right?"
Wende smiled and comforted her.
"Mmm-hmm."
Wendy unconsciously leaned into Wende's embrace and continued with the Xianzhou storyline on her phone. Seeing the in-game Wende comfort her, a smile unconsciously lifted the corners of her mouth.
This child...
Looking at Wendy in his arms, Wende felt a bit helpless. She was literally leaning against the real person, so why was she smiling at his in-game version?
Hmm, so this is what it feels like to be a digital pet. You really can only understand it after experiencing it firsthand...
---o---
Another night passed. Himeko lay in bed, sleeping soundly. After Wende's massage, the quality of her sleep had improved by more than just a single notch. She slept deeply, without dreams.
In the hidden recesses of her body, an invisible power was quietly nourishing her Honkai-affected physique, repairing the latent injuries within.
This was the [Power of Abundance] that Wende had infused into Himeko, with a bit of Yang Qi added in to help her body repair itself better...
The [Yang Qi] roamed through Himeko's limbs and meridians. Not only did it help repair her injuries, but it also brought her body to an unprecedented peak condition.
A wisp of Yang Qi was wandering through Himeko's body when suddenly, it seemed to notice something. It headed deeper into her physique.
[?]
The Yang Qi had no consciousness; it only acted according to its own principles. But upon seeing the mass before it, it did hesitate for a moment.
Hmm... a bunch of purple aura surrounding something that looks like a kind of [Path]...
[emmm]
The Yang Qi seemed to ponder for a moment, then drifted over to the cluster of purple aura. It casually swatted the purple aura away. After circling the trembling [Path], it left on its own.
"Ngh..."
In her sleep, Himeko unconsciously shrugged her shoulders, as if her back was uncomfortable. But she didn't wake up, merely shifting from lying on her back to her side...
In doing so, she revealed a patch of her pajamas that looked as if it had been scorched away. Through the burnt hole, one could only see the smooth, fair skin of Himeko's back.
---o---
"Mmm, morning, Fu Hua."
In the early morning, Himeko walked out of her bedroom with a yawn, lazily greeting Fu Hua, who had just finished making breakfast.
"Morning... Himeko...?"
Fu Hua rubbed her eyes, staring in shock at the woman before her, whose entire aura had changed. What happened? How does Himeko seem so different?
Her hair was glossier, her skin seemed smoother and more supple...
What on earth happened in just one night?
Fu Hua was completely baffled.
"Hm? You look so strange. Did something happen to me?"
Sensing Fu Hua's confused expression, Himeko also suddenly felt that something was amiss.
"This... Himeko, you should see for yourself."
Fu Hua handed Himeko a small makeup mirror that was on the coffee table, one she usually used before going out...
"Th-this is..."
Looking at the reflection in the mirror, which looked as if she had returned to the age of eighteen, Himeko was instantly stunned. And in the mirror, her eighteen-year-old self made the exact same motion.