The moment Xie Yi stepped into the room, he sensed something was wrong.
He strode quickly to the bedside and discovered Lin Zhiji curled up beneath the blankets.
Pulling them back, he saw Lin Zhiji’s cheeks flushed red, tears streaming from tightly shut eyes as though he were trapped in a deep nightmare, unable to escape.
Xie Yi lifted him into his arms and immediately felt the burning heat of his body. Even his pale skin had taken on a faint pink hue.
He had a fever.
Xie Yi ordered someone to fetch a physician while wiping away the tears on Lin Zhiji’s face.
“Zhiji, wake up…”
But the tears seemed endless, instantly soaking his palm.
Touching Lin Zhiji’s damp face, hostility darkened Xie Yi’s expression.
He had gone too easy on those two families.
Killing them was not enough.
They deserved to be sliced into a thousand pieces.
Yet when it came to Lin Zhiji, his gentleness stood in stark contrast to the murderous expression on his face.
He called Lin Zhiji’s name again and again while wiping away his tears.
…
It felt as though Lin Zhiji had returned to the hospital from his previous life.
Today was the day his parents were supposed to visit, so he had woken up early.
After finishing the breakfast brought by the caregiver, he went to the restroom and rubbed his face hard in front of the mirror. His pale cheeks turned pink, making him look a little healthier.
Only then did he relax and eagerly settle by the window.
From there, he could see the entrance to the inpatient building.
As soon as Mom and Dad walked in, he would see them first.
It somehow made the waiting feel shorter.
But from sunrise to sunset, his parents never came.
Anxiety gnawed at him as he nervously bit his nails.
Why hadn’t they come?
Had something delayed them?
Or…
He hurriedly shook his head.
No, no, no. Nothing bad happened. Don’t think unlucky thoughts.
Again and again, he opened his phone and clicked on his mother’s chat window, typing messages only to delete them.
He stared blankly at the screen.
The message he had sent at noon still had no reply.
Last week, they had not come either.
When he called his mother, she had spoken only briefly before saying she was busy and hanging up.
He knew how hard his parents worked to make money.
Especially after he became sick, when the medical expenses became overwhelming.
Back when he had first been diagnosed, his mother often cried behind his back. In just one year, she had visibly aged.
It made Lin Zhiji feel deeply guilty.
He always felt he was dragging his parents down.
I have to be good.
Once Mom and Dad finish being busy, they’ll definitely come see me.
He comforted himself like that.
Just then, he suddenly spotted his father hurrying into the hospital.
He shot to his feet, relieved.
He had counted before—five minutes from the entrance to the elevator. His room was on the sixteenth floor. The hospital elevators were slow, and with waiting time, it usually took about ten minutes.
Watching the clock, he waited fifteen.
But no familiar figure appeared at his room.
Maybe something delayed him.
Or maybe he had gone to talk to the doctor about his condition?
Thinking of that, Lin Zhiji could not sit still any longer and stepped out of his room.
But no one was in the doctors’ office. The nurses at the station had not seen him either.
Lin Zhiji stood in the hallway, confused.
He was certain he had not seen wrong.
How could a child mistake his own father?
Worried his father had gone to the wrong floor, he took the elevator down and searched floor by floor.
Because of his illness, his body was weak. He could only shuffle along while leaning against the wall.
As he searched, wild thoughts spiraled through his mind.
Why hadn’t Mom come?
Actually, the last time she visited, she had looked pale.
Could Mom be sick?
His thoughts tangled into panic.
Then suddenly, he heard his mother’s voice.
His eyes lit up, and he dragged his tired body toward the room.
Seeing his mother sitting on the hospital bed, his fear became reality.
Before he could even call out, “Mom,” he heard his father say:
“The doctor said you’re already showing signs of miscarriage. For this child’s sake, you can’t let your emotions be affected anymore.”
Lin Zhiji froze in the doorway.
Miscarriage?
Child?
His mother stroked her stomach, conflicted.
“But what about Zhiji?”
His father fell silent for a moment.
“We already did everything we could. We can only say his fate was bad.”
Lin Zhiji stood there alone in the doorway.
It felt as though a flood had torn through his mind, roaring endlessly.
They seemed to say more after that.
But he could no longer hear clearly.
He did not know how he returned to his room.
Or how he ended up lying back in bed.
Endless darkness swallowed him.
He had always been afraid of the dark before.
But now, darkness had become the thing that concealed his fragility and misery.
Familiar pain gnawed at him, accompanied by an unbearable cold.
So cold his teeth chattered.
He curled into himself like a fetus in the womb, as though that posture might shield him from the pain and cold.
But it still hurt.
So much.
Tears rolled down Lin Zhiji’s face.
Yet he did not know who he could cry out to.
Then, through the haze, he heard someone calling his name.
He opened tear-blurred eyes.
A crack split open the darkness, and a figure leaped down from the light.
Golden radiance spread behind him, driving away the cold surrounding Lin Zhiji.
Looking at the familiar face in the light, he suddenly felt unbearably wronged and sad.
“It hurts so much, Xie Yi.”
Lin Zhiji’s voice was thick with tears, pitiful and soft.
“What took you so long to find me…”
Xie Yi paused.
Then he pulled him even tighter into his embrace.
“My fault.”
Warm reassurance wrapped around him.
Lin Zhiji’s tears gradually stopped.
He moved closer on instinct, like an abandoned stray kitten finally finding its owner, like a wandering heart finally finding home.
He nestled against Xie Yi’s chest and murmured quietly,
“It’s okay… but next time, find me faster…”
Xie Yi fell silent for a moment.
Then solemnly promised:
“Okay.”
—
For the next stretch of time, Lin Zhiji remained feverish and half-conscious.
Whenever he briefly woke up, he was either drinking medicine or being dragged around by Xie Yi to complete missions.
It seemed this incident had truly frightened Xie Yi.
He cared even more about the missions than Lin Zhiji himself.
Because of this, during that period Luo Zhitang and the others often felt strangely disoriented.
Although their lord seemed far more human than before, he could still be terrifying at times.
They could only hope Young Master Lin recovered soon so their lord could return to normal as quickly as possible.
And after being groggy for nearly half a month, Lin Zhiji gradually recovered as well.
That day, while Xie Yi had gone out of the city to handle business, Lin Zhiji finally saw 03 again.
This was the first time they had met since 03 had suddenly gone offline.
The moment 03 appeared, he launched into a barrage of complaints.
Lin Zhiji felt a little awkward and muttered, [There was nothing I could do in that situation.]
03 sneered, [Nothing you could do? You just refused to listen to me and insisted on going against me. Now you know you messed up?]
Lin Zhiji immediately admitted fault.
[I know. I was wrong.]
03: […]
Now he was admitting fault this quickly?!
It left all the scolding he had prepared stuck in his throat.
Seeing 03 stop talking, Lin Zhiji quickly asked:
[But my points are already restored now, so why hasn’t my body recovered yet?]
03 let out a cold laugh.
[Who said it was because you overdrafted your points?]
Lin Zhiji froze for a moment before suddenly remembering something.
[Is it because I rejected the main quest?]
[Yeah.] 03 replied. [I told you already—rejecting a main quest has serious consequences!]
Lin Zhiji asked, [What kind of consequences?]
03 replied, [It’s… ugh, I can’t tell you. Anyway, just understand this—the main quests are extremely important. They don’t just determine whether you can successfully return to the Transmigration Bureau, they’re also closely tied to this body of yours. If you keep being this reckless, you might actually lose your life!]
03 might have been trying to scare him, but Lin Zhiji did not dare gamble on it. He quickly promised that from now on he would complete missions properly and never slack off again.
He had already suffered through illness once.
After finally regaining a healthy body, he had no intention of losing it again.
Only then did 03 leave in satisfaction.
And not long after he disappeared, a new task suddenly popped up on the mission list.
Cracking his knuckles, Lin Zhiji resolved to complete this mission properly.
Then he looked closely.
[Main Quest Four: Please take care of the injured villain.]
Wait.
Who’s taking care of who?
—
Lately, Xie Yi had been busy preparing for the possible locust plague, working nonstop.
But no matter how busy he became, every night he still returned personally to care for Lin Zhiji.
Yet tonight, when he returned, he found Lin Zhiji asleep against the headboard.
He looked especially obedient in sleep. Candlelight softly fell across his face, gilding even the fine fuzz on his cheeks with a golden glow.
The hand resting atop the blanket looked slender and fragile. Beneath pale skin, bluish veins were faintly visible, bones delicate enough to seem breakable with a single snap.
Xie Yi stepped forward, intending to tuck him back beneath the covers.
Lin Zhiji’s eyelashes trembled, as though a few strands of candlelight had shaken loose and fallen into his pupils.
Having just awakened, Lin Zhiji was still groggy.
Xie Yi smoothly pulled him into his arms.
“Feeling any better today?”
“Mmm…” Lin Zhiji responded vaguely, before suddenly remembering Main Quest Four. He instantly woke up.
“You lie down first.”
Xie Yi: ?
Though he had no idea what Lin Zhiji intended to do, he still obediently lay down.
Lin Zhiji awkwardly climbed off him.
The action looked simple, but for someone in his weakened condition, it was exhausting.
Now even moving left him breathless, forcing him to stop and rest.
His thin wrist braced against Xie Yi’s chest.
Beneath his palm was solid muscle—even through a layer of fabric, he could feel the tight firmness underneath.
Lin Zhiji felt awkward and hurried to get off him, but the more anxious he became, the more tangled his limbs turned.
Xie Yi hovered his hands near him protectively, yet fine beads of sweat gathered across his brow.
Every place Lin Zhiji touched burned unbearably hot.
Even though his body had tensed to its limits, he said nothing, allowing Lin Zhiji to do as he pleased with near indulgence.
When Lin Zhiji’s feet finally touched the floor, both of them quietly let out a breath of relief.
Lin Zhiji’s limbs felt weak. He had not expected such a small movement to nearly drain all his strength.
But remembering the main quest, he stubbornly walked to the table, shakily picked up a cup of water, returned to the bedside, and fed Xie Yi a sip.
Afterward, he waited expectantly for the task completion notice.
Yet the mission list remained completely still.
Was that too perfunctory?
Lin Zhiji thought hazily.
Or maybe…
Was it because Xie Yi wasn’t actually injured?
Xie Yi watched him greedily as he stared blankly into empty space, his brows furrowing one moment and relaxing the next, expressions finally lively again after so long.
Completely unlike the motionless figure who had lain in bed these past days.
The restlessness that had accumulated in Xie Yi’s heart seemed to ease little by little.
Then suddenly, Lin Zhiji grabbed his hand and lowered his head to bite down on his index finger.
Warmth and moisture instantly enveloped it.
Because of his low fever, his mouth felt hotter than usual.
Small white canine teeth pressed into skin. Yet rather than pain, the sensation felt almost unbearably ticklish.
The feeling spread from fingertip to spine.
“Mmph.”
Xie Yi exhaled sharply, his gaze darkening instantly.
Lin Zhiji had little strength in his body, and even less in his bite.
After struggling for a long while, he failed to leave any mark on Xie Yi’s finger. Instead, his own cheeks began to ache from exertion.
A miscalculation.
Lin Zhiji tried to spit the finger out, only for Xie Yi to grip his jaw instead, leisurely brushing that finger along the inside of his mouth.
His lips were forced apart, flushed pink and glistening faintly with moisture.
The rough calluses on Xie Yi’s fingertip brushed over his soft tongue, leaving him utterly defenseless. Even the corners of his eyes turned faintly red.
Lin Zhiji whimpered and tried to retreat, only to be pulled onto Xie Yi’s lap instead.
The finger withdrew trailing silver strands, but before Lin Zhiji could even catch his breath, lips replaced fingers.
Xie Yi wrapped him tightly in his arms.
Only half of Lin Zhiji’s pale face remained visible, though it quickly turned pink as well.
Candle wax dripped.
Leaving behind only strained swallowing sounds.
These past nights, Xie Yi had slept beside Lin Zhiji every evening.
When asleep, Lin Zhiji became especially dependent on him, curling into his arms like an insecure kitten.
Xie Yi was neither a eunuch nor a saint.
It was impossible for him to feel nothing.
He had only restrained himself out of concern for Lin Zhiji’s health.
But he had never expected Lin Zhiji to recklessly provoke him.
Lowering his head, he bit lightly at Lin Zhiji’s collarbone.
He had not even applied force yet, but Lin Zhiji already shrank backward, pitifully whining that it hurt.
Xie Yi left behind only a faint bite mark before replacing it with a gentle kiss, snorting softly.
“So delicate.”
Lin Zhiji glared at him.
But eyes damp with tears and heavy with exhaustion held no threat whatsoever.
Instead, they only stirred something more dangerous.
Xie Yi’s Adam’s apple bobbed heavily.
“Don’t tempt me.”
Lin Zhiji: …?
Then he watched as Xie Yi pulled out a dagger and sliced open his own finger.
As though feeling no pain, Xie Yi kept his gaze fixed on him.
His voice rough as he said:
“Apply medicine for me.”