Prisoners and Solitary Courage

The battering sounds outside the door were still continuing.

Thud! Thud!

With every single strike, the thick metal door was shaken until it vibrated minutely.

Xia Mianyue sat with her back pressed against the door panel, her chest rising and falling violently.

The protective suit on her body was sliced open, and the wound on her back had torn open once more; the blood and cold sweat matted together, the pain causing her fingertips to go numb.

Yet she could not attend to herself at this moment.

Pei Jin leaned against the metal wall not far away, his entire person appearing to have been burned to his limit by the high heat.

His forehead was covered entirely with sweat, the corners of his eyes a scarlet red, and his breathing was heavy to an unrecognizable degree.

“Don’t come over.”

Pei Jin opened his mouth once more.

Xia Mianyue clutched the water bottle, half-kneeling upon the ground, not retreating.

“If you do not drink water, the efficacy of the medicine cannot rise.”

Pei Jin raised his eyes to look at her; beneath the dismal white battery lamp, within those eyes of his was suppression, clarity, and also a certain danger that was about to tear through his reason.

“Xia Mianyue, I said, don’t lean too close.”

Xia Mianyue’s heart tightened; she naturally was afraid.

Afraid of the infected outside, afraid of Rawlinson, and also afraid of Pei Jin’s current state that bordered on losing control.

Yet he was burning to this extent; she could not hide away.

She unscrewed the bottle cap, delivering the water before his lips.

“I will only feed you two sips, and will retreat once you finish drinking.”

Pei Jin stared at her, not moving.

Xia Mianyue’s fingers were trembling, yet she still stubbornly held the water bottle up.

After stalling for a few seconds, Pei Jin finally lowered his head, taking two sips from her hand.

When his lips touched the mouth of the bottle, Xia Mianyue uncomfortably turned her profile away.

Too close.

Close to the point that she could see his Adam’s apple rolling, could hear his heavy wheezing suppressed within his chest cavity, and could also feel that scorching wave of heat upon his body rushing over.

The refrigeration bay was clearly cold enough to make one shiver, yet her cheeks burned up bit by bit.

Pei Jin suddenly turned his head away, closing his eyes.

“Headache,” his voice was very low. “Like someone is using fire to burn it.”

Xia Mianyue immediately set down the water bottle: “I will change to a fresh cold compress towel for you.”

Just as she was about to stretch out her hand, Pei Jin violently clamped onto her wrist bone.

The strength was very heavy; Xia Mianyue lightly took a sharp intake of breath from the pain.

Pei Jin seemed to be startled awake by this sound of hers; he stared at his own hand, a flash of disgust crossing the depths of his eyes.

Not toward her, but toward this out-of-control self.

In the next second, he let go of her, his gaze falling onto those several rolls of thickened cargo box binding straps in the corner.

“Tie me up.”

Xia Mianyue was stunned.

“What?”

Pei Jin propped himself against the wall, his breathing growing heavier and heavier, the veins at his forehead throbbing violently.

“While I am still clear,” he raised his eyes to look at her, his gaze not looking like a joke. “Secure me onto the metal hanging rings over there.”

Xia Mianyue’s train of thought was complicated.

“But…”

“Hurry up.”

Pei Jin’s voice plunged abruptly.

“Don’t wait until I truly lose control, and cause you to regret getting close to me.”

As these words fell, the atmosphere within the refrigeration bay grew even more oppressive.

Xia Mianyue stared at him; this man who refused to bow his head at any time actually actively delivered himself to her at this moment.

Not because of weakness, but merely because he did not want to harm her.

Xia Mianyue’s eyes turned somewhat hot.

She picked up the binding straps, walking to his side.

“I will be a bit lighter.”

Pei Jin sneered.

“Pull it tight.”

Xia Mianyue bit her lip, not speaking.

She wound the binding straps past his wrists, then through the metal hanging rings by the side of the wall.

Even when her fingertips touched him across her gloves, she could feel that abnormal heat.

She did not dare to use too much strength; Pei Jin consistently stared at her.

“Xia Mianyue, don’t be soft-hearted.”

Her fingers trembled, yet in the end she still violently tightened the binding straps.

Click. The buckle locked.

Pei Jin’s hands were secured at his sides, his range of movement shrunk to the absolute minimum.

He leaned against the icy metal wall, his shirt disheveled, his bangs soaked through, his wrists pulled into deep marks by the straps.

Clearly wretched to the absolute limit, yet that pair of eyes still carried sharpness, like a trapped beast voluntarily entering a cage.

Xia Mianyue lowered her head; she did not dare to look more, afraid she would feel heartache. And also afraid she would birth thoughts she shouldn’t have at a time like this.

The battering sounds outside the door gradually weakened down.

Perhaps the infected had been drawn away.

Perhaps it was merely a temporary pause.

No one dared to relax.

Xia Mianyue dug out the gauze, wanting to properly treat the wound on her back for herself again.

The wound happenly lay toward the side of her lower back; trying a few times with her hands stretched out, she was in too much pain to reach it.

Seeing her movements, Pei Jin furrowed his brow minutely.

“Come over.”

Xia Mianyue shook her head: “No need, I can do it myself.”

“You cannot see it.”

“I…”

“Xia Mianyue,” Pei Jin’s voice cooled down. “The protective suit is torn; if the wound is exposed to infection, how much longer do you think you can hold out?”

This sentence was more effective than any command.

She fell silent for a few seconds, and in the end still sat down with her back facing him.

“Then you be a bit lighter,” her voice was very small.

Pei Jin did not answer.

With his hands tied, he could only move within a limited range.

Xia Mianyue had no choice but to lean very close, close to the point that she nearly sat before his knees.

She nudged the torn protective suit a bit to one side, only exposing that wound on her lower back.

The cold air pressing against her skin, she could not help but shudder.

Pei Jin deliberately controlled his breathing; that slash was more serious than just now.

The gauze was soaked wet with blood, the edges already appearing somewhat red. Her skin was inherently white; the bloody color falling upon it was sharp enough to make one annoyed.

“If it hurts, say so.”

He slowly removed the gauze that had been scribbled on just now, picking up an iodophor cotton sheet to wipe the wound.

The instant the stinging pain exploded open, Xia Mianyue twisted once, nearly biting through her lip.

Pei Jin’s movements paused.

“Does it hurt?”

“It’s fine.” Her voice shook obviously.

Pei Jin did not expose her, only making his movements even lighter.

His fingertips were very hot, while the iodophor was cool.

One cold and one hot alternated upon the edge of her wound, causing Xia Mianyue’s entire person to stiffen severely.

She could feel Pei Jin’s breathing falling behind her back, separated by a bit of distance—burning hot, suppressed, and contained

At this moment, neither of them spoke.

Something invisible between the two of them wound tighter and tighter.

Pei Jin pasted the hemostatic gauze well for her, then used medical tape to seal the tear of the protective suit.

“Leave it like this for now,” his voice was deep. “Treat it anew after going out.”

Xia Mianyue kept her eyes lowered, saying softly: “Thank you.”

Pei Jin looked at her back.

“This wound, I will return it.”

Xia Mianyue turned her head to look at him.

“You shouldn’t always think of returning it.”

She paused, her voice very light.

“I didn’t do it to cause you to owe me.”

Pei Jin did not speak, only looking at her.

The emotion within his eyes was too deep—so deep that Xia Mianyue’s heart trembled, hurriedly lowering her head to pack the water bottle and medicine away anew.

Right at this moment, the phone inside her pocket suddenly vibrated once.

It was Pei Jin’s phone.

The signal was very weak; the screen flashed several times before popping out an audio file sent by Pei Xubai.

Xia Mianyue clicked it open immediately.

After a chaotic static sound, Qin Shuyao’s nearly crumbling voice traveled out.

“Search! The Zone B old line must have an entrance!”

“That specimen box has an automatic activation program; if it isn’t placed into the B7 freezer within half an hour, the people of the entire ship will have to be buried along with it!”

Within the audio, Rawlinson’s angry cursing sound quickly traveled over, along with a bout of chaotic footsteps.

The recording stopped abruptly, and the refrigeration bay fell into dead silence.

Xia Mianyue’s hand holding the phone slowly tightened.

“Specimen box?”

Pei Jin raised his head.

“At the card game, Zhou Ziqian carried a silver box.”

Xia Mianyue looked toward him.

Pei Jin closed his eyes slightly, slowly recalling.

“Not large, a biological refrigeration box.”

Zhou Ziqian thought that was money that could trade for his life.

Qin Shuyao thought that was a bargaining chip to threaten the Pei family.

But looking at it right now, that simply was not a bargaining chip; it was a bomb.

Right at this moment, an extremely light electronic beep suddenly traveled from the depths of the refrigeration bay.

Beep—

Xia Mianyue violently turned her head back.

Within the originally pitch-black corner, a row of dust-covered old freezers suddenly lit up with a faint green light.

The freezer numbering manifested bit by bit.

[No. B7: Highly Dangerous Biological Specimen Transit Bay]

Xia Mianyue’s pupils abruptly shrank; Pei Jin obviously also saw it.

He struggled against the binding straps, his voice sinking down.

“Untie me.”

Xia Mianyue did not move immediately.

Because not far by their feet, a concealed secret compartment also followed by popping open a crack.

The cold air overflowed from inside.

Within the secret compartment, a small silver box lay quietly.

The red numbers at the top of the box were frantically jumping.

00:29:59 00:29:58 00:29:57

Xia Mianyue’s entire body went cold.

The virus specimen.

It was right beside them.