Incurable Chapter 4 Part 1

Mu Wan was drunk.

Liu Qianxiu didn’t know her tolerance, but the sharp, heavy smell of alcohol on her made one thing obvious. She’d had a lot. Her wound had been treated that morning. The midday checkup had shown nothing serious, but a fresh injury came with rules, and one of them was simple.

No drinking.

He’d warned her. Clearly, she hadn’t listened.

He lowered his gaze to her face. He didn’t argue with her, didn’t lecture. He took out his phone and made a call.

“Bed thirteen’s patient is at Qingsong Pavilion. She’s drunk. I’m having someone send her back to the hospital now. Have someone meet us at the entrance. When she arrives, redo her wound care.”

His voice was flat and even, each word falling cleanly, like water dripping from an eave—no wasted emotion, no extra curve.

Mu Wan leaned against the wall and watched him finish the call with that same quiet calm. Liu Qianxiu put his phone away and looked down at her.

The long corridor lights fractured in his black eyes, turning them into something sharp and unreadable.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Mu Wan’s head felt too heavy for her neck. She met his gaze anyway, voice still hoarse from alcohol.

“So you always personally arrest your patients when you run into them outside?”

As she spoke, her head slowly tipped to one side, like gravity was winning. Liu Qianxiu didn’t move. After a moment, Mu Wan managed to steady herself and straighten again, stubbornly holding on to dignity by a thread.

“I’ve never run into one,” he said.

Mu Wan made a small sound, half a laugh and half surprise. Her lips parted slightly, and tiny bits of light lived in the curve of her eyes.

“So I’m the first.” She blinked at him, and then her smile turned playful. “What about next time?”

Alcohol kept spreading through her blood, loosening her senses, making her questions bolder and her words less clear.

“You’re drunk,” Liu Qianxiu said.

“I’m not.” She fought for balance, eyes full of certainty, like she could will reality into agreement. “I haven’t… I haven’t even shown my true form yet.”

He listened to her nonsense without the slightest ripple in his expression.

Mu Wan widened her eyes, suddenly very serious. “Do you want to see me… show my true form?”

She smiled, a small face full of mischief. Then she leaned forward and grabbed Liu Qianxiu’s shirt.

The cotton-linen fabric was slightly rough, a little stiff. It scraped against Mu Wan’s palm.

Liu Qianxiu’s gaze shifted, almost imperceptibly.

The corridor lights outlined his features in deeper shadows, but Mu Wan couldn’t see him clearly anymore. She let out a soft laugh, and warm breath spilled against the side of his neck.

Then she tightened her arms around his waist.

His body was lean and firm under her hands, the kind of strength that didn’t need to advertise itself. Mu Wan pressed her hot cheek to his cool chest and sighed like she’d found the perfect temperature.

Her eyes narrowed in contentment. Her voice softened, sweet and clingy.

“I turned into a cat.”

Liu Qianxiu returned to the private room.

Inside, Mei Yaozhi was waiting, playing on his phone. He had the kind of clean, handsome face that read as youthful, almost boyish. Big eyes, a bright, “little brother” vibe that made him look harmless even when he wasn’t.

He put his phone away as soon as Liu Qianxiu walked in.

“Where did you go?” he asked. “You were gone forever.”

They’d agreed to have dinner together. Liu Qianxiu had only said he needed to step out for something. Mei Yaozhi hadn’t expected “something” to take this long.

“I ran into a patient,” Liu Qianxiu said as he sat down. “Sent her back to the hospital.”

Mei Yaozhi blinked, sure he’d misheard. He studied Liu Qianxiu’s face, but the other man looked the same as always. Cold. Clean. Detached.

Mei Yaozhi rolled the chopsticks between his fingers, then asked cautiously, “A female patient?”

“Mhm.”

Mei Yaozhi stared.

Then he actually let out a dramatic little sound. “Wow.”

He genuinely hadn’t expected Liu Qianxiu to escort a woman back to the hospital during his personal time. It felt like watching a deity step down into the mortal world.

He lowered his voice, unable to help himself. “Was the female patient pretty?”

Liu Qianxiu lifted his eyes.

Just that.

Mei Yaozhi immediately leaned back, shrinking like he’d been scolded. They were cousins and in the same generation, but Liu Qianxiu had a way of making Mei Yaozhi feel as if he were sitting with a stern elder. It made no sense, considering Liu Qianxiu was only two years older.

Understanding that look meant “stop,” Mei Yaozhi smoothly switched topics.

“You’re going to Qingyuan Mountain tomorrow?”

Every month, Liu Qianxiu took four days off for retreat at Qingyuan Temple on Qingyuan Mountain, usually near the end of the month. This time, he was going early because his grandfather’s three-year memorial was coming up. The Liu family was old money, a true clan. On the day, the Liu relatives would all return to Xia City to pay their respects.

There would be work. There would be pressure. There would be eyes.

“Mhm,” Liu Qianxiu said. “Uncle Cai will come ahead of time.”

Cai Qingliang was the Liu family’s senior secretary, the one who helped Liu Qianxiu consolidate the business across the Liu auction empire. He usually stayed in Northern Europe, where the family’s headquarters was based.

Mei Yaozhi’s expression tightened slightly. “Liu Qingyuan’s side made a move?”

“On the twelfth, at the Austrian auction, a Song Dynasty bird-and-flower painting sold successfully. After the deal, the buyer claimed it was a forgery.”

Liu Qianxiu’s tone didn’t change, but the air around him did. Quietly darker.

Mei Yaozhi gave a low laugh. “So they’ve started.”

Liu Qianxiu set his chopsticks down and looked at him.

“Help me check someone.”

Mei Yaozhi, the second son of the Mei family, lived an enviably free life. His older brother handled the real responsibilities. Mei Yaozhi spent his days at parties and in circles where money opened doors. He was first-tier rich in Xia City, one of the “Four Young Masters,” with a network wide enough to make problems disappear.

“Who?” he asked.

“Mu Wan.”

Mei Yaozhi froze. “Today’s female patient.”

“Mhm.”

Mei Yaozhi went quiet.

He and Liu Qianxiu were close. But Liu Qianxiu was always distant, even with him. Sometimes Mei Yaozhi genuinely wondered if his cousin would live alone forever, cultivating until he became something beyond human.

But today, Liu Qianxiu had escorted a woman back to the hospital, and now he wanted her background checked.

Was the immortal really stepping down?

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