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By noon, the sun had scorched the ground and the air was near boiling point. The distant ground seemed like it was melting into water. Only the research institute was shaded and cool in such sweltering heat. It was strange that a lush, tree-filled area devoid of cicadas left only a cool canopy above it.
Jing Xia had just stepped out of the institute when he received the news that Qi Yang had suddenly collapsed.
He hurried back and ignored the man who had been walking a meter behind him, brushing past him without a second glance as he rushed into the building. Seeing this, Ji Chuancheng slightly curved his lips while his fingers absentmindedly brushed against his lower lip.
A few minutes later, both of them were back inside the institute.
Most of the patients had been discharged by the end of last month, freeing up the once-crowded beds. When Qi Yang was brought in, the entire medical staff of the institute mobilized, even Professors Lu and Qi rushed over, only to be shooed away by Professor Wang with the excuse, "You're not medical professionals, go find somewhere cool to stay and stop getting in the way."
Despite all efforts, Qi Yang remained in a strange and dangerous condition. When Jing Xia arrived at the entrance, he saw Professors Lu, Qi, and Wang huddled in a corner while discussing the possible cause of the situation.
The area in front of the operating room was packed, with a crowd of mostly young faces in white coats blocking the two-meter-wide corridor. Jing Xia stopped at the front of the crowd, and before he could speak, Ji Chuancheng casually walked over. With just a glance, he made the young staff part ways.
Spotting a familiar face, Jing Xia strode over to Professor Lu. "Professor Lu, what’s going on? I just saw Qi Yang, and he was fine. How did this happen?"
Professor Lu with his face dark, covered it with his hand and sighed, "Oh, the world is changing, and so are people’s hearts."
Jing Xia was stunned, then turned to Professor Qi, who was also covering his face in shame. "You reap what you sow," the elderly man muttered.
Jing Xia: "..."
Seeing Jing Xia’s confusion, the usually thick-skinned Professor Wang laughed heartily. "It’s nothing serious. The little monster just licked something he shouldn’t have during an experiment. He’ll be fine. Qin Chu is in there, and he should be out soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, a soft creak echoed through the corridor.
Though the sound was faint, it was loud enough to draw everyone’s attention.
Qin Chu slowly removed the blue medical mask from her face then tossed it to an assistant with a look of disdain. "With Qi Yang’s physical condition, did I really need to wear that?" Her eyes swept the room and landed on Jing Xia. "You little rascal, what are you doing here?"
"I had some business at the institute, so I came to check," Jing Xia replied, noticing Qin Chu’s pale complexion. "Is he okay?"
Qin Chu’s delicate face, framed by beautiful eyes, now looked tired and slightly pale. "He’s fine. You know how it is—troublemakers live long. He’ll probably wake up soon."
Jing Xia nodded slightly. Before he could say more, Professor Wang rushed forward excitedly. "Qin Chu, what exactly happened? Our machines couldn’t detect anything wrong, only that his cell activity was excessively high and accelerating aging."
Once they confirmed Qi Yang was safe, Professors Lu and Qi quickly left with their assistants to continue their research, leaving only Jing Xia, Ji Chuancheng, Qin Chu, and Professor Wang in the now-cleared corridor.
Though she looked ill, Qin Chu patiently answered Professor Wang’s questions. "While using my healing ability, I noticed the same issue. I’m not entirely sure what caused it, but I did my best to stabilize him. His cell activity has returned to normal."
Professor Wang frowned. "He’s stable for now, but without knowing the cause, we can’t be sure if he’ll fully recover."
Qin Chu thought for a moment, then shrugged. "My abilities can only do so much. That guy’s pretty resourceful, right? Let him wake up and figure out his own cure. I don’t have time for this." With that, she turned and walked away, clearly wanting to leave as soon as possible.
As she passed Ji Chuancheng, Qin Chu paused briefly and called out, "Young Master," before quickening her pace. Professor Wang shouted after her, and the two soon disappeared down the corridor.
Watching Qin Chu’s slightly unsteady steps, Jing Xia frowned. "Is Qin Chu... not feeling well?"
Ji Chuancheng glanced at the retreating figures and nodded. "She overused her abilities."
Hearing this, Jing Xia began to understand the severity of the situation.
For Qin Chu to overuse her abilities, Qi Yang’s condition must have been extremely critical.
Qin Chu’s healing abilities were exceptional—her initial ability score was 210, and it was now close to 300. During a mutant beast attack two months ago, she had healed nearly a hundred people in a single day, earning her the title of a modern-day Hua Tuo.
And now, even with her enhanced abilities, she had overexerted herself just to heal Qi Yang.
This spoke volumes about the danger Qi Yang had been in.
With a heavy heart, Jing Xia entered the room.
Two assistants in white coats were tidying up, while the man lying in the center of the room remained peacefully asleep and uncharacteristically calm.
He was extremely thin and lying on the bed like a skeleton with his cheekbones prominent and his face gaunt. His pale skin and black hair falling over his forehead gave him a sickly appearance with faint marks from glasses on his nose.
For some reason, seeing Qi Yang so quiet and peaceful made Jing Xia feel a sense of unfamiliarity.
"I’ve never seen Qi Yang like this..." Jing Xia whispered before tiptoeing to the bed and stopping two meters away, as instructed by the assistants. "When did he get so thin? I remember when we were on the road with nothing to eat, he wasn’t this skinny. Is the institute mistreating him?"
He turned to Ji Chuancheng, who had been silently observing Qi Yang with a complex expression. Before Ji Chuancheng could respond, one of the assistants sighed. "No one dares mistreat Major Qi. Though he’s... um, a bit eccentric, he’s very dedicated and responsible."
Another assistant, adjusting a tube inserted into Qi Yang’s abdomen, chimed in, "Since Major Qi joined the institute, the research progress has nearly tripled. In the past two months alone, he’s studied over a hundred mutant beasts and worked tirelessly day and night."
Hearing this, Jing Xia looked at Qi Yang in surprise. Once the assistants finished their tasks, they left the room and left only Jing Xia, Ji Chuancheng, and the unconscious patient.
"I always thought... people at the institute wouldn’t like Qi Yang, like Yu Kai and Qin Chu," Jing Xia said with a sigh. "I didn’t know what he had done before, but I felt he wasn’t a bad person, so I didn’t mind him. I didn’t expect the institute to see him this way."
Ji Chuancheng’s deep gaze lingered on Jing Xia, whose handsome peach blossom eyes were now downcast while staring blankly at the floor. After a moment, Ji Chuancheng said, "I’ve told you before, Yu Kai and Qin Chu are a bit biased. Qi Yang hasn’t committed any major crimes—just made mistakes."
Jing Xia’s body stiffened slightly. After a long pause, he hesitantly asked, "What exactly did Yu Kai say... about him?"
To ensure sufficient lighting in the room, the windows in this medical building were exceptionally large.
The nearly floor-to-ceiling windows allowed ample sunlight to flood in that illuminated the room while keeping the heat outside.
Ji Chuancheng’s handsome face looked almost ethereal in the bright light. He stared intently at Jing Xia before finally speaking. "This involves high-level military secrets and... my father. All I can say is that Qi Yang made a mistake, but he’s not guilty. The severity of the mistake is debatable, and Professor Qi, representing the S City Base’s leadership, allowed Qi Yang to stay at the institute to make amends."
A dry sensation crept into Jing Xia’s throat, as if a heavy weight was pressing down on his shoulders and making it hard to breathe. Though Ji Chuancheng didn’t elaborate, Jing Xia understood that this was classified information he couldn’t probe further into.
He sighed softly. "Alright, I understand."
For a while, no one spoke.
The room was eerily quiet with only the two tall figures standing opposite each other and their long shadows stretching across the floor and onto the door—until it was suddenly opened.
"Pant... pant... What’s going on? I just got back to the institute and heard the news. What happened... Huh? Major Ji, Jing Xia? Why are you two here? Where are the other assistants?"
Zhang Bendan’s heavy breathing broke the silence as he rushed into the room, clearly having run here in a hurry. Wiping the sweat from his face, he approached and asked, "What did Major Qi do this time? He went in standing and came out lying down?! Major Ji, do you know—"
His urgent words suddenly stopped as he noticed Ji Chuancheng’s cold, indifferent expression. Zhang Bendan then quickly turned to Jing Xia. "Jing Xia, do you know what happened? Major Qi sent me out to gather some information earlier, and I just got back."
After recalling what Qin Chu and Professor Wang had said earlier, Jing Xia couldn’t help but cover his face with his hand. "He probably... brought this on himself."
Zhang Bendan: "..."