In an instant, everything became clear in He Songming’s mind.

The attacker lurking in the corner, the flesh cut from his waist, Ruan Mobei’s strange reaction in the elevator, the many times he had pretended nothing was wrong, the request for him to stay at the doctor’s house last night… scattered pieces of information came together to form the cruel truth before him.

His face turned pale, and his body swayed unsteadily before he leaned against the doorframe.

So… this is what happened.

The doctor thought he had been scared by the description of the corpse and quickly said, “Take a break today. You’ve been on duty with me for the past few days. It’s been tough.”

He Songming nodded absentmindedly and returned to the study. He had always thought that someone he had wronged in the past had attacked him, but he had never imagined that it would be the high-ranking deputy executive officer.

He had lived in the West Zone for years and had never had any interaction with the deputy executive officer.

The boy lay back on the bed, turning on his side. He stared seriously at Ruan Mobei, his hand reaching out, brushing against Ruan Mobei’s fingers, gently gripping them.

Ruan Mobei “killed” the deputy executive officer.

These hands, clean and slender, always made He Songming unintentionally long for the peaceful times that had once existed.

Perhaps he had never stained his hands with blood personally, but Ruan Mobei had indeed punished that man, avenging himself.

He Songming’s nose tingled, a warm liquid swirling in his eyes. He had always prided himself on being a strong person. He never shed a tear even when his own flesh was cut off. But this defense, once so proud, crumbled before this person like paper, collapsing every time, leaving him unable to control his emotions.

— Why are you so good to me?

Ruan Mobei had never directly answered him, and now, He Songming no longer insisted on hearing an answer from him.

As long as he was by his side, that was enough.

The death of the deputy executive officer seemed to cause little stir.

His wife insisted she had encountered a ghost that night, crying out in terror. People simply assumed she was grieving too much and had fallen into a hysterical state. After all, who would believe in ghosts in this world?

The footprints near the base still appeared every day, like some kind of omen, and people grew more and more anxious. No one cared about the death of a high-ranking official. His death became nothing more than a topic of idle conversation, sighed over briefly, then quickly forgotten.

Ruan Mobei had consumed too much energy last night, and it wasn’t until nearly noon that he woke up. He Songming was curled up, asleep with his head nestled on Ruan Mobei’s shoulder. The boy’s dark lashes brushed against his cheek, and there were still traces of dried tears on his face.

Since then, neither of them had mentioned the deputy executive officer again. It was as if the man had never existed in their world.

The escape plan proceeded step by step. Ruan Mobei had already drawn up an accurate map of the base’s structure and located the control room. From days of eavesdropping on high-level conversations in the elevators, he had gathered quite a bit of information.

He Songming had been right. At this time of year, northern bases often migrated south to warmer areas, needing supplies along the way. This place served as a supply point.

A southbound team would arrive here in three days.

“Are you ready?” Ruan Mobei asked as he slipped the map, which he had spent two months preparing, into He Songming’s pocket. He repeated the plan one last time.

“After 4 PM, the maintenance will begin, and the ventilation system will shut down for two hours. Following the route I’ve marked, you’ll crawl from the -9 floor duty room all the way to the -11 floor. Wait at the designated spot. I will infiltrate the -13 floor control room and gather all the information about the migrating team.”

He Songming nodded. He had memorized the route long ago, and the map was just a backup. He purposely wore minimal clothing to make it easier to crawl through the narrow ducts.

“Make sure you move quickly. If we miss this chance, we’ll have to wait until next month.” Ruan Mobei patted He Songming’s shoulder for encouragement.

“Let’s go.”

The doctor went on rounds and wouldn’t be back to the duty room for a while. He Songming stood on the desk, and with Ruan Mobei’s help, he removed the vent cover.

Ruan Mobei supported his legs, helping He Songming climb up.

The air ducts were pitch black. He Songming turned on his headlamp and quickly crawled, using both his hands and feet. His stamina had improved greatly from training, and before long, he reached a vertical junction.

Next to the vertical duct was a narrow ladder, designed for maintenance, which He Songming climbed until he reached the -11 floor and the designated location. He sat down, panting heavily.

The boy leaned against the narrow duct, his feet pressing against the opposite wall, his body curled into a U-shape. The headlamp illuminated the surrounding area and Ruan Mobei’s face.

“I’ll wait for you to come back,” he whispered.

Ruan Mobei made an “OK” gesture and disappeared from He Songming’s sight in the blink of an eye.

The surroundings were eerily quiet, a little cold. He Songming exhaled into his palm and rubbed his face. He shifted his position, and the light from his headlamp brushed against the duct wall, making a loud echo that startled him.

He hugged his knees with both hands, burying his head in his arms, closing his eyes. In the darkness and silence, he counted the minutes and quietly waited for Ruan Mobei to return.

Infiltrating the control room was easier than expected.

After all, no security system, no matter how advanced, could stop a ghost. Ruan Mobei easily reached the control room, where administrative staff in uniforms sat at their desks, one of them was contacting the migrating team.

From the staff’s computer screen, Ruan Mobei clearly saw the scale of the migrating team, the supplies they needed, and the exact time of arrival. They had a total of 137 vehicles, and He Songming would only need to hide in one of the supply trucks to leave with them.

Ruan Mobei noted down this key information, confirmed everything was correct, and returned the same way.

When he got back, he saw He Songming sitting still in the duct, the headlamp’s light streaming from his arms. Ruan Mobei quietly approached and gently tapped his shoulder.

He Songming jumped in surprise, quickly looking up. When he saw it was Ruan Mobei, he sighed in relief. “That was fast.”

“It was much easier than I expected.” Ruan Mobei reached out and helped him. “Let’s go.”

He Songming awkwardly turned his body and adjusted to a four-point stance, beginning to crawl back.

He Songming waited for a while in the duct, taking advantage of the doctor’s trip to the bathroom to hurry out. Back in the duty room, he locked the door behind him, sitting down slowly against it, his heart pounding in his chest.

The adrenaline from the risky escape still surged through his veins. He Songming didn’t dislike this feeling. In fact, he found it somewhat addictive. Though it was dangerous, there was no risk of death, unlike many other times when he tried to escape, where the only thing that drowned him was endless fear.

He looked at Ruan Mobei, and without saying a word, they both smiled in unison.

He Songming’s face was dirty from rubbing against the duct walls. As he wiped the grime off and put on warm, thick clothes, he listened to Ruan Mobei tell him the fresh information.

“The migration team will arrive at 6 AM three days from now. They’ll rest here for a day, leaving at 9 PM the next evening. They have a total of 137 vehicles, with the supply trucks at the front and back of the convoy.

“There are two options: One is to leave when the team is about to depart, and wait on their main route, pretending to be refugees they save.

“The second option is to hide in the last supply truck, and wait until the convoy moves farther from the base before you come out. They can’t just send you back then. Which one do you think is better?”

He Songming scratched his chin, thinking seriously for a moment. “The second one. The first one feels too risky. We only have two legs, we can’t run far, and if they want to save time, they might just send me back.”

He Songming was only twelve, but his way of thinking was already very mature. Ruan Mobei nodded. “I’m leaning toward the second one too. We have two more days to prepare, so let’s consider all the possible situations and be ready to adapt.”

After many days and nights of anticipation, the escape was finally near. He Songming couldn’t help but feel excited, spinning around the duty room. He grabbed Ruan Mobei’s wrist and looked up at the much taller young man, bouncing with excitement. “Maybe we’ll see an ocean that hasn’t frozen in the south, flowers and grass like in the pictures, and maybe even some little animals. We could keep a rabbit.”

“We will. There will be more life in warmer places,” Ruan Mobei was also affected by his excitement. He adjusted He Songming’s collar and said, “There will be a whole new life waiting for us.”

“Mm!” He Songming bit his lip, trying to suppress the smile on his face. His head was full of dreams of the future, but just as the door behind him was suddenly knocked on, the boy jumped in shock.

“Is Xiao Ming in there?” A familiar senior sister shouted as she knocked on the door. “Can you quickly come to the operating room? Something happened!”

“Something happened?” Those three words instantly brought back many unpleasant memories for He Songming. People always shouted that something was wrong, then dragged him to the operating room, looking at him with desperate eyes, waiting for him to sacrifice himself.

The boy’s face paled slightly. He stood frozen, trying to remain calm despite the door separating them. “What’s wrong?”

“Just now, a pregnant woman who was two weeks away from her due date fell and broke her water. She needs to deliver early, but the baby’s position is wrong, and she’s having a difficult labor. There’s been a lot of blood!”

Just this brief explanation was enough to send a chill down anyone’s spine. Ruan Mobei had never witnessed the process of childbirth, but he knew how dangerous it could be. He furrowed his brow and asked in a low voice, “Do you want to go?”

He Songming didn’t answer. He lowered his head and stared at the doorknob, only leaving Ruan Mobei with the view of his head, topped with messy hair.

The senior sister waited anxiously outside. Her words were serious, but they didn’t even begin to describe the situation. The misplaced fetus was stuck in the birth canal, and just hearing the woman’s agonizing screams from afar made her legs go weak. There was the constant threat of massive hemorrhaging, like the sword of Damocles hanging over everyone’s heads.

She forced herself to breathe deeply, refraining from pushing too much, until finally, after a long two minutes, the door to the duty room opened.

The young boy stood before her, his face pale but composed. “Let’s go.”

The two of them—one human and one ghost—quickly ran toward the operating room. Even in the hallway, Ruan Mobei could hear the woman’s screams. It seemed like she was suffering a pain akin to being torn apart, her voice sharp enough to pierce eardrums.

He Songming trembled, and his steps quickened.

The boy entered the operating room, hurriedly changed into scrubs, and washed his hands with disinfectant. The woman’s voice had weakened, now mingled with the chaotic voices of the medical staff, signaling the beginning of a tragedy.

As soon as he stepped into the delivery room, the strong stench of blood assaulted his nose, and Ruan Mobei had to hold his breath. Everywhere he looked, he saw bright red blood, with basin after basin of blood being passed to the side.

“Can’t we do a cesarean?!” someone shouted in desperation.

“No, she’s already hemorrhaging!”

Three blood bags hung on the IV stand, pumping blood into the mother’s body, while the blood pressure on the monitor continued to drop. The doctor, supported by others, shouted, “Transfuse! Speed up the transfusion!”

“The blood bank doesn’t have enough!”

The doctor shouted, “Who’s type A?”

“I am!” A senior brother of He Songming raised his hand.

He Songming stood at the edge, his entire face drained of color. He had never before felt that blood could be so terrifying, gushing like a fountain from a person’s body.

No one seemed to notice him. All the attention was focused on the mother, who had already fainted, her belly swollen with a baby that could take her life at any moment.

The room was filled with a blinding red.

“Not enough! Is there anyone else with type A?”

“I’ll go ask outside!” someone ran out of the delivery room, shouting loudly.

He Songming took a step forward.

Through the gap in the crowd, he clearly saw the woman’s face.

He recognized her. She was the wife of the duty officer, who often came to deliver meals to her husband with her big belly. Whenever they met, she would smile and give him some snacks.

He had just seen her yesterday.

The boy staggered back, feeling lightheaded. Blood, screams, and life that struggled to be born or step toward death… shadows everywhere, destiny slipping toward an irreversible direction——

What can I do…?

But…

In his moment of hesitation, a pair of hands gently cupped his face.

Ruan Mobei knelt before the boy, holding his face in his hands, their foreheads touching. The black eyes reflected the boy’s wavering expression.

“Embrace your gift,” he whispered.

As the words fell, a flash of bright yellow firefly-like light suddenly burst from He Songming’s body, emitting a warm, radiant glow.

The tiny firefly circled around them affectionately for a moment before darting into Ruan Mobei’s forehead.

What followed was a flood of chaotic and complex images—

The stench of blood filled every inch of space. The fusion and breakdown of cells were violently intense. Strange bubbling membranes covered the walls, pulsating as if alive. Everything trembled in terror. Ruan Mobei clung desperately to the crazed body in his arms, using all his strength to scream.

“Embrace your gift!!!”

Ruan Mobei let go, and for a moment, everything around him became a blur. His own voice echoed in his ears, and something soft wrapped around his waist, caressing his skin beneath his clothes, whispering.

“███████”