Chapter 122

After Bai Xuechao sent the message, as expected, it wasn't long before "The other party is typing" flickered intermittently at the top of the chat box. He could almost envision how Yu Ruolan was holding her phone, typing out a string of words, only to hesitantly delete them and then start typing again.

He waited patiently.

Xiao 6 popped up, scattering virtual little red hearts in Bai Xuechao's field of vision, its tone overflowing with emotion, "Aiyo~ aiyo~ Little Yu-jiejie's heart has been struck by your concern, keep fishing~"

"Concern?" Bai Xuechao chuckled. "You've got the wrong point, you fool."

Xiao 6 was dumbfounded, "Huh?"

Yu Ruolan's reply revealed the answer: [You have a fever? I'm sorry, it's all because you saved me.]

Bai Xuechao's fingertips gently tapped on the words "taking fever medicine" as he said to Xiao 6, "See that? That's the correct point."

He knew that Yu Ruolan would definitely notice this and feel guilty.

"You're so scheming, so you didn't really want to show her concern!" Xiao 6 stopped scattering the virtual little red hearts, but as Bai Xuechao typed his reply, it displayed a large red heart. "But since you're willing to put in the effort for her, what does it matter if you're scheming? Wu wu, the candy is so delicious!"

Yes, it still had that love-brained flavor.

At this moment, Bai Xuechao seemed to hallucinate those people who say, "Why would they deceive others, but they only deceive me?"

"Go dig up some electronic wild vegetables to calm yourself down." Bai Xuechao said to Xiao 6 as he clicked the send button.

[Why are you apologizing? I went into the water to save you voluntarily, you don't have to blame yourself. It's just a fever, I've already taken medicine for it. Even if the fever doesn't go down today, I'll take another dose when Yuan Lan comes back from the lab tonight, and it should be gone by tomorrow.]

"You're even gently comforting her~" Just as Xiao 6 was about to raise the red heart, it suddenly thought of something and whispered, "Did I get the point wrong?"

Bai Xuechao said, "You did. Why would I wait for Yuan Lan to come back to take my medicine?"

"Because that fever medicine needs to be taken at least 12 hours apart—" Before Xiao 6 could finish, it suddenly realized and its tone became as excited as an elementary school student eagerly raising their hand in class. "I know! You're trying to tell her that Yuan Lan has gone to the lab and won't be back until tonight, so you're alone in your room today!"

Bai Xuechao "hmm"-ed and said, "You were finally smart for once."

"Ying, I've always been very smart!" Xiao 6 said.

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Really? I don't believe you.

At the top of the window, "The other party is typing" flickered intermittently again.

Yu Ruolan seemed even more conflicted, and the waiting time was exceptionally long this time.

To prove that it was a smart system, Xiao 6 fired up its CPU and analyzed frantically, answering before Yu Ruolan could reply, "You want her to come and see you!"

"Something like that," Bai Xuechao said.

He wanted to use Yu Ruolan's guilt to get her to "take care" of him, and then he could keep her there.

This way, he would have enough time to interact with Yu Ruolan.

Hearing it was something like that, Xiao 6 cheered, "Yay!"

By now, Bai Xuechao had been waiting for almost five minutes, and Yu Ruolan was still hesitantly typing.

Because of the high fever, Bai Xuechao's eyes felt sore and dry, his whole body was uncomfortably hot, and there was a dull ache in every bone. On top of that, due to the combination of his illness and the medicine, he also felt very sleepy, so he decided not to wait for Yu Ruolan's reply anymore.

He took the initiative and sent another message.

[I'm going to sleep for a while. If you need anything, you can still send me a message. I've set an alarm for 12:30, and I'll reply to you when I wake up.]

This time, Yu Ruolan replied quickly: [Mhm.]

Then, she sent a sticker of patting a little cat's head, which was very cute.

"It's settled." Bai Xuechao really did set an alarm for 12:30, put his phone on silent mode, and placed it by his pillow.

After closing his eyes, he asked Xiao 6 one more thing, "What's my temperature now?"

Xiao 6's cute and soft voice echoed in his mind, "39.6 degrees. Just 0.4 degrees more and I'll sound the alarm... Yesterday, your highest temperature was 39.8 degrees, so it's dropped a little bit now."

"Got it." After Bai Xuechao said that, he didn't speak to it anymore.

He quickly fell asleep and didn't wake up until the 12:30 alarm on his phone went off.

He felt dizzy when he woke up. He picked up the phone by his pillow, turned off the alarm, and saw that Yu Ruolan had sent him a message a minute ago.

Bai Xuechao opened the message, and the content was pretty much what he had expected.

[I've brought some porridge for you, may I come in? I'm sorry for making a decision for you without asking. If there's anything else you want to eat, you can tell me and I'll bring it for you again.]

—Yu Ruolan had come to bring him food on her own initiative.

Bai Xuechao didn't delay. He propped himself up on the edge of the bed and went to open the door for Yu Ruolan.

A girl with long, loose black-purple hair was standing outside the door. Perhaps for the convenience of taking care of a patient, she wore a hoodie and sweatpants that were easy to move in, and a pair of clean white shoes on her feet.

She held her phone in her right hand, likely waiting for a message at any moment. In her left hand, she carried a basket woven from bamboo. The basket was covered with a floral-patterned cloth, so he couldn't see what was inside, only a few mutated flowers peeking out from the edge of the basket. After opening the door, a rich floral fragrance wafted over.

Hearing the sound of the door opening, her lowered eyelashes lifted, and her violet eyes, clear and bright, looked over, filled with a look of worry and a little surprise.

"...Why are you out of bed." She raised her hand as if she wanted to help Bai Xuechao, but then lowered it and asked softly, "May I come in?"

"You may." Bai Xuechao took a step back to make room for her. "I just got up, I'll go wash up."

Yu Ruolan nodded, "Okay."

She came in quietly and closed the bedroom door.

When Bai Xuechao came out of the bathroom after washing up, he saw Yu Ruolan sitting obediently on a chair by the window.

The curtains were half-drawn, and the warm sunlight streamed through the window, falling on the bamboo basket placed on the small round dining table beside her. The floral cloth had been lifted, revealing mutated flowers and fruits inside, as well as a forehead thermometer.

In addition, there was a small light pink thermal pot on the table, which seemed to have been taken out of the bamboo basket.

Seeing Bai Xuechao come out, Yu Ruolan opened the thermal pot and said in a low voice, "The porridge is just ordinary millet porridge... I read online that it's better for patients with a fever to have millet porridge. I also prepared some chopped mutated plants, which I've already blanched. You can sprinkle them in the porridge."

She took out the stainless steel food container from the top layer of the thermal pot. The left half of it contained chopped mutated plants, and the right half contained minced mutated animal meat. It was clear that she had deliberately chosen the more appetizing parts of the mutated plants, which looked no different from ordinary vegetables and meat, without any strange structures.

Finally, she pushed the thermal pot in front of Bai Xuechao. The inner pot contained ordinary millet porridge, still steaming.

"Thank you." Bai Xuechao took the spoon that Yu Ruolan handed him.

Special ability users didn't feel full from eating ordinary food, but the other effects were still there. Millet porridge was nutritious and easy to digest, so it wouldn't be a burden on Bai Xuechao's stomach.

He used the spoon to sprinkle some chopped mutated plants into the millet porridge, then slowly started eating the still-hot porridge.

Yu Ruolan sat quietly opposite him, watching him eat.

"By the way, I wanted to ask—" Bai Xuechao raised his pigeon's blood ruby-like eyes and met Yu Ruolan's gaze. "Did you know that there were mutated creatures in that lake yesterday?"

He wanted to confirm whether Mu Xinyue had intentionally not told him.

"Ah, that one... I knew." Yu Ruolan immediately added, "But that one is usually very docile. I feed it every two or three days, and after eating, it rests in the sand at the bottom of the lake? Sleeps? Anyway, it basically never shows up on its own. I went to feed it yesterday, and after I was done, I sat on the bridge for a while..."

Remembering yesterday's unpleasantness with Mu Xinyue, she couldn't help but explain to prove Mu Xinyue's innocence, "I really did fall on my own. Mu Xinyue didn't even notice me. I was in a daze at the time and suddenly felt someone behind me. I was startled and, and just fell..."

From Mu Xinyue's perspective, it was quite baffling.

She was just walking across the bridge with the medicine for Bai Xuechao when Yu Ruolan suddenly fell on her own. She only realized it after hearing something fall into the water.

"I know, I've always believed what you said." Bai Xuechao comforted her. Seeing that Yu Ruolan still looked a little uneasy, he had to add, "Yuan Lan believes you too, so don't worry. No one has misunderstood Mu Xinyue."

Sure enough, mentioning Yuan Lan put Yu Ruolan at ease, and she responded with a low "mhm."

Bai Xuechao took a sip of the warm millet porridge and continued to ask in a seemingly casual tone, "Did Mu Xinyue know that you were going to feed that mutated creature yesterday?"

"She only knew that I feed them, but not which day or what time." As if to prove Mu Xinyue's innocence, Yu Ruolan explained in detail, "We raise many mutated creatures, quite a few of which are level 4 or above. The servants are all ordinary people, and it's too dangerous for them to feed those mutated creatures. My presence is low, and I'm a special ability user, so it's more convenient for me to do the feeding."

It was common knowledge that ordinary people could handle level 2 mutated creatures bare-handed. A trained person with a knife could handle a level 3 mutated creature, which was the upper limit for a non-special ability user fighting a mutated creature. Once a mutated creature reached level 4, it required thermal weapons or a special ability user.

Yu Ruolan's words continued, "I feed different mutated creatures every day. Mu Xinyue didn't know which one I was going to feed yesterday."

"So that's how it is," Bai Xuechao said. "It was just an accident."

Yu Ruolan nodded, "Mhm."

Bai Xuechao thought to himself, that mutated creature usually sleeps soundly at the bottom of the lake, so it was reasonable for Mu Xinyue to think that there was no need to remind him.

But besides the fact that the supposedly sleeping mutated creature had appeared, Mu Xinyue's choice to cross the bridge was also intriguing.

He had seen yesterday that there were two paths leading up the mountain from the foot of the mountain.

The stone path that Yu Ruolan had taken him on to the garden in the afternoon was the closest and most direct route. To cross the bridge, Mu Xinyue had to take the other, longer path.

Was all of this really an accident?

What if... Yuan Lan had orchestrated it?

As Bai Xuechao slowly drank his millet porridge, he considered this possibility and felt that it wasn't impossible.

Since he could do it, Yuan Lan could definitely do it too.

First of all, Yu Ruolan had grown up with Yuan Lan. Yuan Lan knew her personality and habits, knew which mutated creature she would feed that day, and that she might be in the habit of spacing out after feeding them, or that she was used to staying there for a while after feeding them. Yuan Lan also knew that Yu Ruolan was timid and would be easily startled, and that she might fall into the water.

As for why Yuan Lan was sure that Yu Ruolan would be feeding at that time?

It was simple. Yu Ruolan had taken him to the garden in the afternoon, but her hands were empty, so it was obvious she wasn't going to feed any mutated creatures, and in the end, she had been sent back with him by Yuan Lan.

When Yuan Lan said he was going to take him to the lab and was about to part ways with Yu Ruolan, he had asked, "Can you manage on your own?" It was possible he was asking if Yu Ruolan could feed the mutated creatures by herself. After all, if Yuan Lan wanted to maintain his friendship with Yu Ruolan, he had to invest time and effort, so he probably often, or at least occasionally, accompanied her to feed the mutated creatures.

Yuan Lan also knew how long it took to feed the mutated creatures, so it wasn't difficult for him to know that Yu Ruolan was still there at that time.

Even if Yuan Lan didn't know where Yu Ruolan was, he could still see her location through her phone's positioning function.

After all, his phone had a positioning function, so Yu Ruolan's probably did too.

Bai Xuechao remembered that Yuan Lan had sent two messages in the lab in the afternoon in front of him. It wouldn't have been difficult to check Yu Ruolan's location while sending the messages. And after he left the lab, Yuan Lan had enough time to check.

Once Yu Ruolan's whereabouts were confirmed, the next step was Mu Xinyue.

Controlling Mu Xinyue's movements wasn't difficult. As long as Yuan Lan sent a message or called Mu Xinyue after he left the lab and made up some excuse to make her take a detour, it would be fine.

The most difficult part should have been his whereabouts, but it wasn't particularly difficult either.

He had gone to the garden with Yu Ruolan in the afternoon, and it was possible that he would go again after leaving the lab. Moreover, with his "curiosity" about the Apocalypse Society, he would definitely explore the places on the island he hadn't been to yet. Besides, Yuan Lan had also told him, "There are many mutated creatures on the island, you can go see them if you want," so he would definitely go.

The whole thing was probably a spur-of-the-moment idea of Yuan Lan's.

At the very least, he had only started planning it after finding him and Yu Ruolan. It couldn't have been any earlier, as the conditions for this to happen were random.

If Yu Ruolan hadn't been startled and fallen into the water, if he hadn't happened to encounter it, if he had been a little earlier or a little later, he would have missed it.

Thinking about it this way, Yuan Lan's tight grip on his wrist was intentional.

He had been in a coma on the night he was brought back to the Apocalypse Society, so Yuan Lan must have known about his physical condition through Mu Xinyue.

The next day he was at the Apocalypse Society, he had a fight with Yuan Lan in the coffin.

Yuan Lan had used so much force then, yet there were no marks on his body, which meant that his blood indicators were normal at that time. If he wasn't mistaken, it was because of Mu Xinyue's "potion" that his indicators had temporarily returned to normal.

But after a day, his platelet count had dropped. Perhaps Yuan Lan wasn't sure to what extent it had dropped, which was why he had put on that show in the lab.

Then Yuan Lan had controlled Mu Xinyue's speed by having her get the medicine, so that they could meet at just the right time.

It was a good plan, and a bold one.

If there had been even a slight deviation in time, the whole thing would have been for naught. But Yuan Lan wouldn't have lost anything either; at most, it would have been a wasted arrangement.

Bai Xuechao needed to verify his idea.

He had drunk half of the millet porridge in the thermal pot. Although he wasn't full yet, he felt that he couldn't drink any more, so he put down his spoon and said, "Thank you, I'm full."

He picked up the food container and stacked it in the thermal pot, preparing to clear the table.

"I'll get it!" Yu Ruolan quickly took the thermal pot from his hands, picked up the lid on the side and put it on, then quickly wiped the not-so-dirty tabletop with a tissue.

After everything was tidied up, she took out the forehead thermometer from the bamboo basket and said softly, "Let me take your temperature."

"Okay," Bai Xuechao lifted the hair from his forehead. "Sorry to trouble you."

"No trouble," Yu Ruolan replied in a low voice.

She held the forehead thermometer and approached Bai Xuechao's forehead. Because there was a table between them, Bai Xuechao also leaned forward cooperatively.

Yu Ruolan's gaze unconsciously fell on Bai Xuechao's beautiful face.

The young man's lips were thin. Because he had just finished the porridge, his lips were not dry from his illness, but rather had a moist look. Moving her gaze upwards, his nose was well-defined. Because he had a fever, his once pale cheeks were flushed with a sunset-like blush.

Continuing her gaze upwards, beneath the snow-white long eyelashes, the red-plum-like red eyes were quietly gazing at her.

And so they made eye contact.

There was the awkward feeling of being caught secretly looking at someone.

The forehead thermometer beeped, signaling that the temperature had been taken. Yu Ruolan's gaze quickly retracted as if burned and moved to the displayed temperature.

"Ah!" Yu Ruolan exclaimed in surprise, "39.7 degrees!"

Bai Xuechao thought to himself, how could it be higher than before I went to sleep?

Yu Ruolan had originally wanted to peel some fruit for Bai Xuechao, but now that she saw this, it was better to let him rest as soon as possible.

She hesitated and said, "Shall I help you lie down?"

Bai Xuechao had thought he could walk back to the bed on his own, but since Yu Ruolan had rarely offered to help him, he agreed, "Okay, thank you."

Yu Ruolan came to Bai Xuechao's side and helped him by the arm as he slowly walked towards the bed.

Bai Xuechao only let Yu Ruolan support him symbolically, without putting his weight on her.

"Do you often space out after feeding mutated creatures?" he asked as he walked, as if he had just suddenly thought of a question.

"Ah... I guess so?" Yu Ruolan let go after helping Bai Xuechao to the side of the bed and watched him lie down. "I like to sit there for a while after feeding mutated creatures. Sometimes Brother Lan keeps me company, and when Brother Lan isn't there, I space out."

As expected, it was just as he thought.

Yu Ruolan's answer confirmed Bai Xuechao's thoughts.

Yuan Lan knew Yu Ruolan's habits like the back of his hand.

Bai Xuechao lay down on the bed, and Yu Ruolan helped him cover himself with the quilt. He suddenly felt a little sleepy.

...Is this bed magic?

"Are you sleepy?" Yu Ruolan squatted by the bed and looked at him, her voice quiet as if afraid of disturbing his rest. "If you're sleepy, just sleep. You need to sleep a lot to get better quickly."

Bai Xuechao forced himself to stay awake and said, "I'm a little sleepy, but I can't fall asleep."

If he fell asleep, how could he get closer to Yu Ruolan?

Yu Ruolan thought for a moment and said with a blush, "Then... shall I sing to you to help you sleep?"

Bai Xuechao: "?"

How old does she think I am?

"...Alright." Bai Xuechao wouldn't refuse.

Yu Ruolan said, "Close your eyes."

Bai Xuechao cooperatively closed his eyes and heard the sound of Yu Ruolan moving the chair from beside the small round table to the side of the bed. The chair was about half a meter away from him.

"Upon that silver sea, a dream woven by whom..."

Yu Ruolan's voice was soft and gentle, and the melody of the song she sang was also gentle, making one feel drowsy just listening to it.

As Bai Xuechao listened to her sing, he thought about what Yuan Lan's purpose was in creating that "accident."

He carefully recalled what had happened yesterday, especially Yuan Lan's every move after he had pulled him and Yu Ruolan out, and came to a conclusion.

If he wasn't mistaken, Yuan Lan wanted to test his current combat strength. He wanted to see if he could deal with the mutated leech at the bottom of the lake while wearing the black ring, and if he could use his special ability, and to what extent.

He had been very close to the surface of the water at that time, and it was perfectly clear from the bridge.

At that time, Yuan Lan must have seen the water blade he was holding in his hand and knew that he could deal with the mutated leech, which was why he pulled him up.

Heh, that dog.

Bai Xuechao thought, Yuan Lan must have guessed that Yu Ruolan would come to see him today. Yesterday, when he intercepted Yu Ruolan from draping her clothes over him, he probably sensed his intentions.

Since Yuan Lan wasn't doing anything to stop it now, it meant he had tacitly agreed, so he had to seize this opportunity.

After Yu Ruolan had sung a few songs, she noticed that Bai Xuechao hadn't moved at all and called out to him in a whisper, "Bai Xuechao?"

Bai Xuechao was pretending to be asleep and didn't respond.

Yu Ruolan thought Bai Xuechao must be asleep and continued in a very low voice, "I'm going to feed the mutated creatures. I'll be back with dinner around five or six o'clock..."

Of course, Bai Xuechao couldn't let her go.

If she left now, she wouldn't be back until five or six o'clock, and a little later, Yuan Lan would be back too.

Yu Ruolan waited for a few seconds. After confirming that Bai Xuechao wasn't responding, she got up on tiptoe, went to the window to pack the bamboo basket, gently placed the mutated flowers and fruits she had brought on the table, then put the thermal pot into the bamboo basket and prepared to leave quietly.

Just as she reached the foot of the bed, she suddenly heard the faint sobs of a young man, and the source was none other than Bai Xuechao.

Yu Ruolan was startled and craned her neck to look at him.

The white-haired young man on the bed had his eyes tightly closed, his delicate brows furrowed together, and tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes, as if he were trapped in a nightmare.

Yu Ruolan quickly put down the bamboo basket, ran to Bai Xuechao's bedside, and called out to him in a low voice, "Bai Xuechao? What's wrong?"

Bai Xuechao didn't wake up and still had his eyes closed, but his head had turned to the side, facing Yu Ruolan by the bed.

Snow-white strands of hair were scattered on Bai Xuechao's face. The exquisite, art-like face was flushed from the high fever, and the corners of his eyes were also tinged with a faint red from his crying in his dream, looking extremely pitiful. Tears slowly flowed from his tightly closed eyes. Because his head was tilted to the side, the tears from the upper eye pooled at the bridge of his nose until it could no longer hold them, and they flowed down across his prominent nose.

Yu Ruolan went to get a tissue and gently wiped away Bai Xuechao's tears.

But she didn't dare to wake him up directly, only murmuring to herself in a soft voice, "What's wrong? Are you having a nightmare?"

"Sister..." Bai Xuechao's nose was also red from crying, and with the high fever that wouldn't subside, his originally pale face was flushed everywhere.

"Sister?" Yu Ruolan repeated with some curiosity. Seeing him cry non-stop was too pitiful and a little cute. She couldn't help but pat his head soothingly and ask in a soft voice, "Do you miss your sister?"

Bai Xuechao just kept murmuring, "Sister..."

As if sensing someone gently stroking his head, Bai Xuechao moved his head slightly, as if he were actively nuzzling Yu Ruolan's hand.

Feeling the soft and smooth touch of his hair in her palm, Yu Ruolan's eyes widened. She quickly covered her mouth with her other hand and stroked Bai Xuechao's head a few more times. Seeing that he had quieted down and was no longer calling for his sister, she gently lifted her hand, intending to withdraw it.

Who knew that Bai Xuechao would suddenly move.

His hand fumbled out from under the quilt, his long and beautiful fingers grasping at something in the air by the bedside, and he sobbed and murmured "sister" again.

Yu Ruolan had no choice but to put her hand back and stroke his head, saying, "Sister is here."

But Bai Xuechao's hand was still moving from time to time.

Seeing that Bai Xuechao seemed to be looking for something, Yu Ruolan subconsciously extended her hand next to his fingers and was weakly grabbed by him.

"Sister..." Bai Xuechao's voice was nasal from crying, and tears flowed out again.

Yu Ruolan hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm here."

As if hearing these words in his dream, Bai Xuechao's furrowed brows relaxed and he became calm, as if nothing had happened. Only his red eyes and nose, and the faint traces of tears on his face, showed that his crying just now was not Yu Ruolan's illusion.

Yu Ruolan stared at Bai Xuechao in a daze, feeling for the first time—

So she could also be needed by others.

This feeling was like injecting energy into Yu Ruolan's body, driving her to maintain this posture for more than half an hour. It wasn't until her arm was sore that she, as if startled from a dream, realized what she had been doing.

She looked at the clock in the bedroom and found that it was already two o'clock in the afternoon.

"I... I..." Yu Ruolan tried to withdraw the hand that was on Bai Xuechao's head. Even though she knew he was asleep, she still explained in a very low voice, as if he could hear her, "Sister is going to feed our family's pets... I'll be back in an hour at most, I promise!"

Bai Xuechao didn't respond.

Yu Ruolan slowly and gently withdrew the hand that was being held. Seeing that Bai Xuechao still didn't react, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"One hour, I'll definitely be back," Yu Ruolan said again, her tone firm, as if she had made a promise.

She tiptoed to pick up the bamboo basket on the floor and left.

When Yu Ruolan had gently closed the bedroom door, Bai Xuechao opened his eyes.

Xiao 6 slowly clapped and exclaimed, "Awesome, awesome... You didn't see it, but when Little Yu-jiejie saw you cry, that expression looked like it was about to overflow with motherly love."

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Bai Xuechao didn't take its bait. He turned over, found a comfortable position, and asked, "Has the manga been updated?"

"Yes, it was updated at ten in the morning," Xiao 6 said.