You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 39: About to Be Crushed by the Progress of the Era

Chapter 39: Chapter 39: About to Be Crushed by the Progress of the Era

This was actually the first time Le Yuxin had ever heard about someone else’s tribulation.

In Huiyao, a tribulation was extremely private information—a secret that couldn’t be shared, not even between spouses or close family. "It was easy enough to see why," "tribulations involved one’s growth in spiritual power, and if someone figured it out, it instantly became a weakness they could exploit."

For example, Qian Yuliu’s tribulation: "Have dinner with Qian Yuya, with a maximum interval of 120 hours."

For tribulations that required a unique person, that person became the Tribulation Crosser’s "Tribulation Master," holding enormous significance to them.

If Qian Yuliu failed to cross the tribulation entirely, and Qian Yuya got kidnapped, causing him to miss a meal with her within 120 hours, all of Qian Yuliu’s accumulated progress would go up in smoke, a total loss.

Worse yet, if someone fought Qian Yuliu and simply slit Qian Yuya’s throat, it wasn’t just a psychological blow; it could break him spiritually—for real. "When an Awakener saw their ’Tribulation Master’ maliciously killed by someone else, making it truly impossible to complete their tribulation, their spiritual power cap would drop sharply, maybe even permanently ruin them, and their combat strength would plunge."

Using a "Tribulation Master" to lure and kill someone was a classic plot device in this world. The Statistical Department had used it before. As far as Le Yuxin knew, Lan Yan kept a list of Tribulation Masters, and the Statistical Department could go after anyone they wanted—this list had played a huge role in that.

That was why no one would ever reveal their own tribulation or their "Tribulation Master" to anyone else, and as long as Awakeners kept their mouths shut, it was almost impossible for outsiders to guess who their Tribulation Master was.

History was dotted with blunders, like someone thinking a guy’s loving wife was the Tribulation Master, only to find out it was actually his mistress; or assuming a man’s only son was the Tribulation Master, but surprise, it was just the beggar kid at the door...

This circle was a goddamn mess.

Sometimes the "Tribulation Master" was straightforward—the person that mattered most to the Awakener. But sometimes, it was the opposite; it turned out to be the one the Awakener hated most.

When Le Yuxin heard that he was actually Qian Yuya’s Tribulation Master, he knew there was no way he’d be able to talk her out of anything from now on.

Awakeners couldn’t just distance themselves from their "Tribulation Master." It wasn’t a physical force—more like a psychological mapping. "To the Awakener, the Tribulation Master was someone they were afraid to get close to but even more afraid to be far from. It wasn’t that an Awakener physically couldn’t leave a Tribulation Master—it’s that some specific person became someone they could never let go of, so they became the Tribulation Master."

Qian Yuya finished everything she had to say in one breath, exhaled in relief, picked up her basket, and got ready to leave. Le Yuxin looked at the sky; it was already deep violet night outside, with thousands of homes lighting up against the darkness.

He suddenly called out, "Is the Medical Officer there?"

"I’m here!" The female Medical Officer immediately opened the door, "Do you need something?"

You opened the door that fast, it’s honestly hard for me not to wonder if you were eavesdropping... Le Yuxin asked, "Can I be discharged?"

The female Medical Officer picked up a small notebook from the rack by the door, and after glancing at it, said, "Mr. Qian, you have another phototherapy session scheduled for tomorrow morning. Plus, your body is still recovering, and any activity might tear your freshly healed wounds..."

"What if I use a wheelchair?"

The female Medical Officer thought it over, "If you only stick to paved stone roads and avoid bumps, it should be fine."

Le Yuxin suddenly got out of bed and stood up, making both the Medical Officer and Qian Yuya jump. But he just waved them off, sat down in the wheelchair, and said, "Let’s go home. I’ll come back to the Medical Bureau for phototherapy tomorrow morning."

Qian Yuya didn’t object. She pushed him out of the Medical Bureau, and they headed home along the lamp-lit main road.

"One gold yuan for a night’s stay in the Medical Bureau’s phototherapy room, just gone down the drain," Le Yuxin sighed.

"If you’re worried about me getting home safe at night, you don’t really have to go back with me. I could just sleep in the phototherapy room."

"Where would you sleep then?"

"On the floor."

"Actually, that bed is pretty big. You could squeeze in with me."

"No way. ’I just feel this grossed-out feeling inside.’"

This little sister was getting more and more blunt... Le Yuxin shook his head internally, wondering what it would really take to get Qian Yuya to leave.

Even though Qian Yuya hadn’t spelled out her exact tribulation, based on how well Le Yuxin knew her, it was probably something like "make Qian Yuliu abandon the darkness for the light," "make Qian Yuliu retire from crime," or maybe "make Qian Yuliu die a glorious death."

Clearly, so long as Qian Yuliu stayed anywhere in Star Engraving County, it didn’t matter if you tempted him or tried to reverse-psych him—there was no swaying Qian Yuya’s determination.

She was absolutely hell-bent on witnessing Qian Yuliu’s fate with her own eyes.

But even after Le Yuxin and Qian Yuya made it home, he hadn’t come up with any good solutions.

"I’ll talk it over with Yin Yinyin tomorrow..." Le Yuxin lay on his bed, thinking two heads were better than one, and besides, Yin Yinyin looked like a world-class schemer—maybe they’d have some crazy ideas.

It was like a failing student racking his brain over which honor roll kid to copy homework from tomorrow. Instantly, Le Yuxin’s worries faded, and he slept soundly through the night.

...

...

The next morning, Le Yuxin got up and stretched a bit. "Even though he couldn’t really feel any pain, from the feel of his wounds, he figured he could manage a few steps without the wheelchair."

He left his room and saw Qian Yuya eating breakfast downstairs. She noticed him walking and didn’t seem surprised, just asked, "Want me to walk you to the Medical Bureau?"

"No, I can go by myself."

They ate in silence. Qian Yuya finished first and picked up her bag to leave. At the door, she paused suddenly, and after a few seconds, she said, "I’m heading out."

Le Yuxin blinked, hurriedly chewed and swallowed his bun, and almost choked on it.

"Take... take care out there."

Qian Yuya went off to school looking totally content. Le Yuxin sat there, staring at his bun for a bit, then suddenly covered his face and let out a long sigh.

"That bastard Yin Yinyin totally called it!"

"Qian Yuya probably really doesn’t want to leave her brother now!"

After yesterday’s heart-to-heart, Qian Yuya’s view of Qian Yuliu had basically shot through the roof.

Sure, to Qian Yuya, her brother was still a "vicious lackey" working for the Statistical Department, but what’s that saying, "When a saint does bad, he’s damned; when a sinner does good, he’s a saint"?—Le Yuxin’s attempt to persuade her to go to Yanjing last night had seriously maxed out her brother’s approval rating.

"Even though Qian Yuliu’s a bad guy, he’s honestly really good to me."

This was basically the ultimate deadly combo of devil-may-care and hopelessly devoted—catnip for girls!

Le Yuxin groaned and mumbled, finished his breakfast, then took the wheelchair back to the Medical Bureau. He could have kept it, but Qian Yuliu’s rep was already bad enough; Le Yuxin figured he didn’t need an extra strike for "stealing a wheelchair" on the record.

Along the way, Le Yuxin noticed people moving about nervously, a lot of anxious faces hurrying by, but there were also folks excited out of their minds. Like when Le Yuxin passed the coffin shop, the boss called out to him as if he really expected Le Yuxin to give him business.

When Le Yuxin got to the lecture plaza, he finally figured out what was up with the weird vibes in the street.

"From this day forward, Star Engraving County is entering a state of emergency. The city is sealed. All six gates are shut!"

Below the Hui Bell Tower, a teacher on stage shouted, "Everyone, please stay calm. This is just a technical adjustment for Star Engraving County; it won’t affect your daily lives. Other than not being able to leave or enter the city freely, nothing about your daily routine will change..."

Lockdown order!

Even Le Yuxin, who had grown up in peaceful times, instantly understood something huge was coming. City passage meant commerce and production; just one day of lockdown would cause massive losses—the county office had to know that. But even with that risk, they still issued the lockdown order!

And they hadn’t even said how long it would last!

Even Le Yuxin felt uneasy. For the average person living through these chaotic times, they were already bracing for the disaster that would crush their peaceful lives—

War!

Le Yuxin was still pondering all this when he arrived at the Medical Bureau, only to find Chen Fu waiting for him at the door.

"The Director asked me to let you know, you need to return to your post immediately after treatment. We’re all about to get very busy."

"What the hell happened? Why are we on lockdown?"

Chen Fu looked around to make sure no one was watching and then lowered his voice, "The Linhai Army fractured. Part of it supports Chenfeng District’s governor, Lv Zhong; the rest back our Governor Ding. It’s not exactly new—Governor Ding’s only managed to stand his ground in Chenfeng District because he had the army and the local merchant lords. Usually, the Linhai Army just had friction behind the scenes, but this time, they’re openly split. Now Lv Zhong and Governor Ding have really gone at it. War could break out any minute."

The army split?

Political struggle between the governor and the administrator?

War at any moment?

What was I supposed to do?

Would Qian Yuya even be able to leave Star Engraving County?

Were all my little schemes just going to get steamrolled by the times?

"All sorts of worries jammed Le Yuxin’s mind at once." He thought silently for a long time before finally letting out a deep breath.

"Why the hell am I worried about all this crap? This isn’t supposed to be my problem..."