"When is he going to wake up?"

"Soon. He’s responding well to the treatment."

Wenzhi didn’t like the alert spike that immediately jolted through his system. The voices were familiar, Doctor Ruixin and Chenxi, but they had his survival instincts screaming.

Every muscle in his body coiled tight, ready to spring, his mind instinctively tracking the room for the nearest heavy object he could weaponize to protect himself.

As his senses cleared, the rhythmic, light beep of a monitor reached his ears. He forced his eyes open.

He was lying in a small, cramped room. The setup made it glaringly obvious that the medical equipment and IV stands hadn’t originally belonged here; they had been hauled in and assembled in a frantic hurry.

Right in the doorway stood Chenxi, his dark hair thoroughly ruffled as if he had just dragged himself out of a deeply exhausted sleep. Doctor Ruixin stood directly beside the mattress, adjusting a fluid line.

Sitting in a chair right next to the bed, arms crossed tightly over his chest, was Gu Luhan.

Wenzhi’s eyes met Luhan’s first. The Guide’s eyes widened in genuine, startled surprise. He clearly hadn’t expected Wenzhi to wake up so suddenly.

"He’s awake," Luhan announced, his voice cutting through the room.

Doctor Ruixin stepped forward instantly, Chenxi moving in right behind her.

"Wenzhi?" Ruixin murmured, immediately unclipping a small penlight to check his pupillary response.

Wenzhi hissed at the sudden brightness, a sharp pounding vibrating through his skull as he jerked his head back slightly. "Fuck... I’m fine, I’m fine...."

He cut himself off as his memories before his blackout came rushing back like a wave. He had been in the back of a car. Xinyuan had taken him out of the cell....

"Yes," Doctor Ruixin breathed, a wave of relief washing over her face as she clipped the light away. "You are going to be fine."

Wenzhi didn’t care about his vitals. He aggressively pushed himself upright, ignoring the dull ache in his stomach. "Where’s Xinyuan?"

The question instantly drained the energy from the room.

The expressions on everyone’s faces shifted. Chenxi and Doctor Ruixin both suddenly looked away, their jaws tightening as if they were physically rehearsing how to avoid answering.

The heavy silence lasted only a second before Gu Luhan spoke up. "Xinyuan completely destroyed the Old Blood city. Afterward, he fled straight into the deep Red Zone. It’s an absolute disaster out there right now. Faction scientists are reporting that his energy signatures match a catastrophic, full-scale berserk state, one that might affect all of us very soon. The only twisted silver lining is that, right now, he’s killing off every single mutated monster in his path."

Wenzhi stared at him. He thought it was a sick joke. He shot Luhan a deeply questioning, defensive look before snapping his head around to glare at Ruixin and Chenxi, demanding the actual truth.

"I do not understand," Wenzhi rasped, his throat still tight. "I thought we made it out. Why would he go back to... Wait. Is Jiang Zhaohe here?"

"No. We managed to successfully separate from her, and she has absolutely no idea you are currently with us," Chenxi explained quickly. He stepped closer to the bed, his expression grim. "Xinyuan brought you to Sector 18 himself. He made sure we found you first. Wenzhi... he killed Wu Youran and four other Disaster-Class Espers before he leveled the entire Old Blood city."

Wenzhi slowly raised a hand to his face, his mind racing. Could he truly trust the people in this room?

They had stabilized his body. They had hidden him. And more importantly, Xinyuan had trusted them enough to hand him over.

Trust. Trust. Trust.....

"Zhaohe is Old Blood," Wenzhi said, his voice slightly muffled as he pressed his palm hard against his mouth, forcing the words out through the sheer absurdity of the situation.

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, aggressively pushing himself up. "She is the mole. She was the one who stabbed me at the camp and handed me straight over. She also helped Jingxin escape. The bastard isn’t really dead."

Doctor Ruixin didn’t even look surprised. Without a word of protest, she reached forward and cleanly slid the IV out of Wenzhi’s arm, pressing a piece of gauze over the small bead of blood.

"Xinyuan already told Chenxi, who told the rest of us," she said gently, applying a fresh piece of medical tape over the gauze on his arm. "You need food, water, and rest, Wenzhi, if you intend to go after him."

She gave him a small, quiet smile. The kind of smile that tried to say, You can trust me.

"You guys were really close. It’s a shame," Gu Luhan muttered, shaking his head as he rose to his feet.

Wenzhi shot him a sharp, warning glare. "I do not need to be pissed off right now, Luhan."

Luhan immediately raised his hands in a defensive surrender. "I’m just consoling you. Oh, and you should probably know, it’s been four days. Xinyuan has already completely wiped out eight full sectors that were once designated Red Zones according to the global radar map. Even with that soul bond thing you two have going on, you aren’t going to be able to just stroll in and reach him in that state."

Wenzhi gritted his teeth, his knuckles turning white against the edge of the mattress. "Four days?"

He actually felt admiration for Xinyuan’s restraint. Four whole days in a catastrophic, unguided berserk state, and the entire world hadn’t been cracked in half yet.

He was also deeply impressed that the Esper had managed to entirely level the Old Blood city without getting caught in their siphoned-energy trap. Perhaps he had severely underestimated the raw instinct hiding behind that dimpled smile.

Wenzhi leaned back against the frame of the bed, letting out a heavy, exhausted sigh as he eyed the Guide. "You actually sound like you are more worried about me than him."

Gu Luhan rolled his eyes dramatically, crossing his arms back over his chest.

Meanwhile, Chenxi let out a dry, amused scoff from the doorway. "What are you planning to do after we get him? The Old Blood city has been completely leveled, but we all know those roaches will eventually rebuild. The High Families are called high for a reason. They have deep roots. And with Zhaohe still out there, she’s going to catch on to our location eventually."

Wenzhi breathed slowly, his chest tight. His fingers twitched automatically; he desperately needed a cigarette, but he wasn’t about to break his hard-fought lollipop streak now.

"We stand our ground," Wenzhi grumbled. "We can’t know for certain if there are more rats hiding in our ranks, but we have a faction, remember? We are going to keep expanding it, building our forces until those High Families are nothing but insects to us."

"Fu Muhan, Duan Ze, Ru Yi, and Hanmei have been flagged as missing," Doctor Ruixin suddenly interjected, stepping back to analyze his vitals on the screen. "But seeing as you haven’t mentioned them, and judging by your story about Zhaohe... they weren’t with Old Blood, were they?"

Wenzhi blinked, looking at her like she was speaking a completely foreign language. "What? They weren’t... wait, what?"

"Yes, they are completely off the grid," Chenxi confirmed, his expression darkening. "Kaiwen, Yuzhen, and Zhiyao went out into the field to search for them, and we haven’t been able to establish a stable communication with them since."

Wenzhi’s mind stalled. There were too many moving parts. Too much going wrong. "Kaiwen wouldn’t let anything happen to Duan Ze. And Fu Muhan is more than strong enough to protect them. We just have to hope they are all together out there."

"So you already knew about the explosion, boss? Because you are being way too calm about all of this," Gu Luhan noted, studying Wenzhi’s stoic face.

Wenzhi didn’t actually know if he was being calm. The truth was, his brain simply didn’t care about anyone or anything else but Shao Xinyuan right now.

Ah...

A quiet realization settled into his chest. He didn’t just care about Xinyuan because of the imprint. He wasn’t thinking about the Esper out of a fear that he might destroy the world.

Wenzhi did not give a single shit about the world. It could burn to a cinder for all he cared.

But he actually liked Xinyuan. Truly, selfishly liked him.

He pushed himself completely off the bed. "Please, get me whatever food and water we have. I’m tired of passing out."

"I’ll go get you something to eat." Chenxi pushed off the wall and left the room, Doctor Ruixin following after him, leaving Wenzhi alone with Gu Luhan.

Luhan moved closer to the bed.

Wenzhi immediately gave him a look.

Gu Luhan sighed. "You know, I saw your results last night."

Wenzhi’s eyes narrowed.

Luhan folded his arms. "It says you’re an S-rank guide. Is that something you’ve been hiding?"

Wenzhi didn’t feel like answering that. Instead, he frowned. "Why were you checking my results?"

Luhan didn’t look guilty. "Because I wanted to make sure you were healthy enough to bring Xinyuan back."

That answer made Wenzhi pause.

Luhan reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone, handing it over.

Wenzhi took it and stared.

His phone.

"It’s nice," Luhan said after a moment, "watching you two try so hard to save each other all the time."

Wenzhi looked up at him, grey eyes sharp despite how exhausted he was. "Are you really sure you’re not interested in me, Gu Luhan?"

Luhan’s face darkened instantly. His brows furrowed hard, like Wenzhi had insulted him.

Without another word, he turned and walked straight out of the room.