Chapter 18: You Hurt Me

Ji Mingchen lowered his gaze and glanced at Wen Yao, his eyes filled with amusement as he looked towards the door: “She’s getting dressed, just wait a minute.”

The people outside fell silent at his words. Wen Yao, her attention diverted, lowered her hand.

She belatedly felt a strange sensation. She considered herself a calm person, someone who rarely displayed her emotions. Why was it that she always lost control around this man?

Wen Yao thought about it and decided it was probably a matter of habit. After all, they had encountered each other countless times on the ice-covered mountain, always in similar situations. Even though time had passed and things had changed, she couldn’t shake off the old habits.

She suppressed her expression, deliberately turning away and avoiding his gaze: “So you were lying when you said you wanted me to be your partner?”

“I was telling the truth.”

“…?”

Ji Mingchen, too lazy to straighten his shirt, stepped forward and opened the door. A man in uniform stood outside.

Seeing Ji Mingchen, the man respectfully reported: “The situation with Experimental Subject 067 is a bit unusual. Director Fei wants you to come over.”

“Let’s go.”

After saying this, Ji Mingchen casually grabbed Wen Yao’s wrist. Wen Yao looked up in confusion.

Before she could ask anything, she was pulled out of the room.

He Fengyan, seeing the two of them, one flushed and the other disheveled, quickly lowered his head, pretending not to see.

Wen Yao felt extremely uncomfortable. She tried to pull her hand away all the way.

When they reached the elevator, she couldn’t take it anymore and pinched Ji Mingchen’s arm.

She thought he would at least loosen his grip, but instead, he not only didn’t let go, but he also deliberately let out a soft “hiss” and then raised her hands above her head, pressing them against the wall. He gritted his teeth and said, “Little thing, you hurt me…”

“…”

The elevator “dinged” open. He Fengyan, looking at the two who were inseparable, felt a little awkward: “…Shall I go down first, Captain Ming?”

Ji Mingchen turned his head and smiled at him: “Don’t mind me.”

As the elevator door closed again, Wen Yao couldn’t hold it in any longer and angrily shouted: “Ji Mingchen, let me go!”

She even struggled a bit: “Let go…”

Ji Mingchen held her hands captive, leaning down towards her with a casual smile. His breath was soft and light, but his words were unusually serious: “You don’t believe me when I say you’re heartless. One second I save your life, and the next you’re attacking me and getting angry…”

“That’s because you…!”

As their faces drew closer and closer, their breaths mingling, Wen Yao’s unfinished words were cut short.

Her chest rose and fell, her cheeks flushed. Her shimmering eyes met the man’s dark, deep gaze, and inexplicably, her heart began to race.

This position…

Ji Mingchen’s lips still curved upwards, his breath gentle and playful, but his words were rare and serious: “The vaccine has been injected, the probability of mutation is zero. You’re safe now. Mei Ya Sha is in room 2024 on the second floor. Let her drive you back to Beizhou. Just say it’s my orders.”

Wen Yao looked at him with increasing strangeness. Ji Mingchen reached out a hand and pressed the button next to him: “Of course, if you want to stay, then your identity will be my partner, understand?”

When the elevator came back up, he released her hand and stood up straight, entering the elevator himself.

Wen Yao followed him in. After exiting the elevator on the second floor, she blushed and looked at the man’s departing figure in confusion.

There were a few people scattered in the castle hallway, passing by. Judging from their attire, they were probably team captains from the Fourteenth District base or researchers with some status.

These people, suddenly seeing such a beautiful woman in a white dress, couldn’t help but look at her. The bolder ones even whispered among themselves:

“Hey, who’s that over there?”

“I’ve seen everyone who lives in the castle villas, but I’ve never seen this beautiful girl…”

“Come on, let’s go chat her up!” The young man who spoke hadn’t even taken a step when he was pulled back by a hand:

“Are you tired of living? That’s the girl Captain Ming brought back. I saw it with my own eyes this afternoon…”

“Who? Captain Ming? I thought Captain Ming would be a couple with Miss Wei. I never expected…”

Wen Yao ignored everyone. She looked up at the room number next to her and then walked along the wide, curved corridor, following the number to find room 2024, where Mei Ya Sha was.

Along the way, she repeatedly considered what Ji Mingchen had just said.

It seemed he hadn’t brought her back to the Dongzhou base for no reason. He had done it to give her this blocking vaccine.

And now that she was safe, he had given her the choice to return to Beizhou or stay, completely up to her. He respected all her choices.

As for why he wanted her to be his partner, it shouldn’t be because he had impure intentions, but because… of her identity.

They might have a little bit of insignificant and shallow friendship, but there was none between Beizhou’s Thirteenth District and Dongzhou’s Fourteenth District.

How could she, a deputy commander from the opposing camp, smoothly join Dongzhou as a team member? Even if she did join, how could she gain the trust of others?

The only way was to first become his partner and stay by his side. After all, no one could interfere with the private life of a base commander, could they?

Perhaps this choice was a turning point in her destiny. In her dream, she had returned to Beizhou，but now, she had decided to stay.

…

Beizhou.

Shen Yichuan suddenly woke up from a nightmare. After waking up, he didn’t even know where he was. A severe headache made him furrow his brows. He couldn’t help but raise his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

Seeing this, Mu Shengsheng, who was sitting next to him, quickly unscrewed the bottle cap and handed it to the man, concerned: “Captain Shen, have some water…”

Shen Yichuan was dazed for a moment. He called out Wen Yao’s name to Mu Shengsheng, and only after his vision cleared did he purse his lips, take a deep breath, and close his eyes again.

Perhaps because of what happened on the snowy plain that day, he didn’t want to see Mu Shengsheng very much.

If it hadn’t been for her, Wen Yao wouldn’t have been injured. She wouldn’t have been scratched by the r-type mutant’s limb, and she wouldn’t have been injured by him.

“Didn’t find her?” Shen Yichuan asked in a hoarse voice.

He hadn’t slept for several nights and hadn’t rested properly. Even when he was exhausted and fell into a coma, he always had nightmares, all about Wen Yao.

Mu Shengsheng felt a little disappointed. She screwed the bottle cap back on and reported to the man in front of her: “No, we’ve searched everywhere we could. We only found an empty package, and then the blizzard got worse, and Captain Shen passed out. We didn’t have enough food, so we decided to go back.”

“But Captain Shen, don’t be too pessimistic. Maybe… maybe Deputy Captain Wen was rescued by a kind person?”

Although she didn’t believe her own words, where in the vast and sparsely populated Beizhou snowy plain could there be people? Even if there were, in this cruel world, how could there be kind people?

At this point, Shen Yichuan couldn’t say much.

Time was up, the person was not found, and for the sake of everyone, they could only return. Besides, life and death were unpredictable in the apocalypse. It was normal for anyone to die, and Wen Yao wasn’t special.

He lowered his eyelashes and rubbed his temples.

But perhaps because of those dreams, he, who was always calm and collected, felt like a piece of his heart had been ripped out.

Regret, like a flame, began to burn in a certain part of his heart…

…