He quickly summoned his Qi and conjured his flames then he directed it at the thousand layers cauldron, his mind wasn't concentrated on the cauldron, all he could think about is Huo Ying, he wanted to speak but he didn't know what to say and judging from how she has ignored him, she might not want to speak to him.

Not concentrating his mind on the cauldron means that his flame might backfire on him, he knew this so he tried to keep his mind concentrated on the cauldron so that the flames can pass through the cauldron until it reaches the inner part of the cauldron.

​​

She waved her hands in the air again and pushed them towards the cauldron to increase the intensity of the flames, she kept her mind concentrated on the cauldron so as to finish the job as fast she can to escape being in the same room with him.

He could feel that the hotness of her flame has increased so he was worried about her, increasing the hotness of her flame means using more internal force and this will cause her energy to deplete faster.

He looked at her with worry, wanting to warn her of the danger, he couldn't hold it anymore...

"Young mistress, If you continue intensifying the hotness of your flames, your energy would be depleted," Huo Qiang warned, his voice showed concern but also too formal unlike how he normally speaks to her, she frowned at his tone of speaking.

{Young mistress...you are even calling me that again,}

Ever since she told them not to call her young mistress again, they haven't called her that but hearing him call her young mistress even though he is worried about her made her angry to the bones, her mind is now distracted, she was now filled with anger and the urge to beat him hard, she was already fuming inside.

"Young mistress..." Huo Qiang stressed again, seeing her increase the intensity of her flames again even after he warned her, he knew that the danger is already approaching her and if she doesn't stop, it would bring about dire consequences for her.

{What is wrong with them, why wouldn't she listen to him,}

Huo Mei who has been watching them from outside the refining room pondered, she had thought that Huo Qiang must have done something mild to annoy her but their arguments has never lasted this long, at least, they haven't spoken to each other in a friendly way since they returned from the wind sect.

{This won't do, at this rate, she will injure herself,}

She took a step forward but she paused, she turned away from the door to prevent them from seeing her.

"If I go in now, wouldn't I be running their chance of making up," she whispered to herself in thought, then she decided to wait back until something serious happens then she will interfere.

"Young mistress, you need to stop now," Huo Qiang warned again, he had an alarming look on his face, the intensity of her flames is now ten times higher than what she started with and it meant that her internal energy is depleting, she was now sweating on her forehead.

"Huo Ying!"

"Leave me alone!" she roared, with her mind fully distracted from the thousand layer cauldron, the cauldron started shaking, the both of them quickly turned to it with their eyes widened, it seemed to them that the cauldron will overturn any time soon.

Huo Mei who was still thinking of how to mend the duo wasn't looking towards their direction so she wasn't aware of it.

"oh no..." Huo Ying mumbled, the cauldron had already started inclining towards her and the chances of her escaping it was too slim, Huo Qiang looked at her in fear then he quickly dashed to her front, standing in front of her, the cauldron finally tipped falling towards him, Huo Ying widened her eyes in fear, she didn't expect him to try to take the hit for her, the cauldron lightly grazed his back.

He held her hand and pulled her to his back while he stretched both hands forward to hold the cauldron up, the cauldron according to its name is too heavy for one man to hold, he gritted his teeth while he struggled to hold it up.

Huo Ying stood behind him in a daze, he had just pulled her and almost took the hit for her even though it already grazed his back and he might still have to take the hit if he is unable to hold the cauldron up, she now has many questions and things to say to him.

{Why...why is he doing this}

She was now confused, he was confusing her but she didn't have any time to waste in thought.

"Hold on, I will go get help," She said and was about to run out of the room but he called her to stop.

"Don't, if they find out about this, you will be punished again,".

More confusion, he would rather suffer for her than let her call some disciples or the elder to help him all because he doesn't want her to get punished again, she scoffed this time in disbelief, he was toying with her emotions but she remembered at that moment that he has always been that way.

Worried about her, scolding her when she does something wrong and taking blames for her, she realized that was thinking too much of his actions, it has always been that way even when they were still little kids before he became a guardian.

She decided that she would let him suffer it, she was angry with him, she stood at the edge of the refining room with a cold look in her eyes, she wanted him to suffer a little for making her feel this much pain all because she loves him.

Huo Mei turned to peep at them again but the sight her eyes caught terrified her, his shoulder was now strained and blood was dripping from his sleeve but Huo Ying failed to notice this.

"Huo Qiang!" Huo Mei shouted then she ran into the room.

She quickly summoned her Qi and used her internal force to support him, she didn't think that the situation would have escalated to that point while she was distracted, she didn't see what happened at the end but she could see that he is now standing in the position where Huo Ying was standing so he must have tried to take the hit for her.

"Huo Ying, what are you doing, won't you join in?!" Huo Mei shouted, seeing that Huo Mei was now in, she reluctantly joined them in holding it up, after some minutes, they managed to return the cauldron to its original erected position.

The three of them heaved a sigh of relief then they turned around to see if there was anything destroyed or implicated, since there was nothing, they were relieved.

Then Huo Qiang suddenly felt a sharp pain in the middle of his back, he remembered that the cauldron had lightly grazed his shoulder but with its weight, the injury on his back must be serious, he didn't want Huo Ying to notice this so he silently walked out of the refining room.

Huo Mei looked at Huo Ying angrily then she followed after him, she was sure that neither of them had noticed the bleeding on his shoulder, she didn't want others to see it since that would implicate Huo Ying.

She quickly caught up with him.

"Your shoulder..."

He glanced at his shoulder then he discovered that sleeve was dyed red with his blood, he looked around to make sure that no one had seen it, both of them sneakily walked to his quarters.

"I will take care of it myself," Huo Qiang said as they got to his quarters.

"That doesn't seem like a small injury, let me treat it for you unless you want others to discover that she is responsible for your accident," Huo Mei threatened, she has always watched their hide and seek game from the sidelines.

Even though Huo Ying has always denied that she has feelings for him, she has never managed to convince Huo Mei of it, but she has discovered all along that Huo Qiang also feels the same way about her so she can only use it to convince him this time.

"Alright," he reluctantly answered.

He sat down on the chair while she instructed a disciple to bring a medical box to the Huo Qiang's quarter, She removed his cloth to see the wound on his back but was stunned to see a large scale wound on his back with blood continuously coming out of the wound, she couldn't imagine how much pain he must be feeling even though he seems to be holding it in, she brought her hand forward to touch the sides of the wound in order to examine it more carefully but he winced in pain with just a slight touch and clenched his fist on his table to help him endure the pain.

"Fool! why did you let yourself get this injured," Huo Mei scolded with worry written on her face, she has always been the mother among the guardians and the doctor and seeing one of them injured makes her feel sad and worried just like a mother would.

Huo Qiang smiled and replied, "didn't you do the same in the wind sect?", she pressed the side of his wound to punish him for bringing back what has passed.

"that's different, if the cauldron completely fell on you then you would have turned into a pancake," Huo Mei said with a hint of a joke, making his smile broader than it was.

"I am here with the medical box," a voice shouted from outside his room, Huo Mei quickly went out to collect the box from the disciple but she was surprised to see that the disciple she sent wasn't the one who returned with the medical box but Huo Ying, she frowned upon seeing her.

"Why are you the one who returned with the box," Huo Mei asked coldly which is quite unusual of her.

"I, I just wanted to see how he is doing, is the injury very bad, is he in pain?" She inquired with her face filled with worry and guilt, she felt guilty thinking that she actually didn't support him before because she wanted him to suffer even though he was trying to help her, she felt vicious.

Huo Mei scoffed and shook her head, "When you were being careless, why didn't you think about him, his injury and the pain he must be feeling,"

"I...I didn't know that was going to happen," Huo Ying responded with a voice that showed that she might burst into tears at any moment but Huo Mei didn't intend to butter her up.

"I am not angry with you because you caused the accident, I am angry with you because he warned you of the danger but you wouldn't listen, you even went as far as standing in the sidelines when he was struggling to save you, what exactly was your intention?" Huo Mei questioned in anger and disappointment, she doesn't mind getting injured or even dying for her but she didn't think that it would be good for her to continue indulging her recklessness, her anger episodes are still understandable because she is out of control during those times but this time, it was very clear that she knew what she was doing.

"It wasn't my intention, I was just...just, I don't know, I am sorry," Huo Ying pleaded she didn't know what excuse to give since she couldn't tell Huo Mei that she wanted to punish him for not reciprocating her feelings.

"Tell that to him, when you see him," Huo mei replied coldly jacked the box from her hand before retreating back to the room, judging from her tone, she knew that she was telling her not to come in, her shoulders slumped in the disappointment of herself.

Thinking back on what she did, she felt regret, she shouldn't have done that but she wanted to see him to be sure that he is alright, she climbed the stairs leading to his room and peeped through the door but she could only see Huo Mei's back since she is treating his wound.

She was about to leave when Huo Mei moved away from his back to get water, she looked back into the room but gasped at the sight of the wound, she covered her mouth with both hands in fear of what she had caused.

The tears she has been trying to hold in rolled down her cheeks without any control, she sniffed her nose to send back the tears but it just wouldn't stop, she felt like a knife has just been stabbed into her chest seeing his bloodied injury, she couldn't bear to look at it anymore os she quickly ran out of his quarters.

"I heard you talking to someone when you went out, who was that?" Huo Qiang asked, as she dabbed his wound.

"No one, you don't have to worry about that," Huo Mei replied, knowing Huo Qiang, he will surely run after her if he knows that she was talking to Huo Ying.

"What in the world went wrong between both of you in the wind sect, I have noticed that you have been avoiding and ignoring each other since you returned?" Huo Mei questioned, her urge to know what caused their beef was very obvious in her tone.

"It is nothing, just a measly argument," Huo Qiang replied

"a measly argument....both of you have always argued but it has never lasted this long since she always ends up conceding to you and this time she didn't even try to help you when you were struggling with the cauldron, tell me the real reason and don't try to lie to me," Huo Mei responded, he didn't know if it was right to tell her that he disrespected her but he really wanted to tell someone about it so he can get a solution on how to solve the situation.