Chapter 113: I’ll Keep Your Secret for You
Zhou Qian only laughed for a moment before he had to restrain himself again, his face tightening.
Because his whole body—head, face, even his hands—hurt like hell.
And also…
“Why am I tied up?”
“Oh! Oh, right!” Huai Yu snapped back to attention and quickly untied the ropes around his wrists, explaining as she did so, “The spider’s neurotoxin amplifies pain. I was afraid you’d hurt yourself while you were disoriented, so I had to tie up your hands—and even gagged you at first.”
That made sense… but now that his mind was clear, didn’t that mean the toxin had worn off? Even though the pain was still intense, it wasn’t enough to confuse him anymore, right?
Why was he still tied up?
Huai Yu kept her head down, pretending to fuss with the rope, not daring to say a word.
Why, you ask?
Because aside from his underwear, she had cut open everything on Zhou Qian’s body.
And that eggshell knife of hers was really sharp. While it completely expelled the venom from his wounds, the flesh had been sliced and twisted. Now, even after the bleeding stopped and the injuries soaked in medicinal liquid, the skin looked pale and terrifying.
The scars… might end up permanent.
Zhou Qian hadn’t realized it yet—probably because it was the middle of the night. The solar lamp hadn’t been charged in days, so the lighting was weak.
But if he so much as felt it…
“Little Yu, where are my clothes?”
Huai Yu: …
She tried to stay calm. “You’re soaking in a medicinal bath, of course you don’t have clothes—Brother Zhou Qian, are you tired? Want to take a nap?”
“You can’t eat yet either. I don’t know if your digestive system can handle it, so try to hold on a bit longer.”
Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow—hiss! Even a tiny movement like that made it feel like his face was splitting open.
In the dim light, Huai Yu didn’t notice his discomfort. She only heard his calm voice: “I clearly remember being on the verge of death when we met. But now I’m still alive… Little Yu, you saved me, didn’t you?”
“You saved me and you’re not even being cocky about it. Still calling me ‘big brother’ so sweetly—how did you save me? No one else knows, right?”
In the dark, Zhou Qian was gritting his teeth, face twitching in pain—it even hurt to talk. What did she do to his face? Did a turtle claw at him?
Huai Yu: …
She puffed out her cheeks.
The dim room was dead silent, and as Zhou Qian adjusted to the darkness, he started to make out the messy outlines of the room.
—The floor was soaked. The air was thick with medicinal scent. The bed in the corner was neatly made, clearly untouched. But the table had a water jug and cup that had soaked part of the surface.
The bath barrel still had warm medicine in it. The stove still radiated heat. And a towel rested on the water’s surface.
And Huai Yu herself—wearing wrinkled clothes, hair a mess, face pale with bloodshot eyes.
Zhou Qian silently slowed his breathing. He didn’t press her further. Instead, he quietly asked, “How long was I asleep?”
Huai Yu thought for a moment. “Since we met in the med pod, it’s been… one day and… no, two days and two nights. It’s early morning on the third day—”
She glanced at her watch. “It’s 3:30 a.m.”
Zhou Qian slowly relaxed, tried to stretch his limbs. The pain hit again like a truck, but he gritted his teeth and endured it.
What he couldn’t endure was how stiff and numb he felt from staying curled up—like his whole body was being chewed by ants.
Still—
“Little Yu,” he murmured as he adjusted his posture, “go get some sleep.”
“I don’t have any powers, but I’ve been through disasters. My body’s tougher than average—cold water like this won’t make me sick.”
“So just sleep for a bit.”
“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it in daylight. I’ll keep your secret—trust me.”
—He was never cut out to be a proper defense soldier anyway.
Years ago, he hurt two teammates because of the already-dead Zhou Ning. Now, even though Little Yu wasn’t Zhou Ning… she was just a lonely girl. And if she risked her life to save him, wasn’t she also gambling on the future?
In the darkness, Zhou Qian stared at the ceiling and slowly closed his eyes.
Huai Yu stared into space. After a long pause, she let out a heavy sigh, like a thousand-pound weight had fallen from her shoulders.
Then she softly said, “Mm. Thank you, brother.”
Zhou Qian laughed silently inside. After all the effort she went through to save him, he should be the one saying thank you.
…
They were both truly exhausted.
Zhou Qian had lost too much blood and was gravely wounded. His body had entered a forced recovery hibernation during treatment. Huai Yu was just plain worn out.
So when a loud car horn blasted outside and the sun was already high, she sat up in bed in a daze—eyes blank like a zombie—before she remembered, “Huh? Why are there car horns again…?”
As her memory caught up, the voices of the two defense soldiers echoed in her mind, “His belongings and points—we’ll return in three days…”
!!!
Huai Yu jumped up, pacing the room in panic.
“What do I do? How do I explain that Zhou Qian’s still alive? Why is he alive? What method saved him?”
And those terrifying scars…
Zhou Qian slowly opened his eyes, dazed by her frantic muttering.
He thought quietly for a moment, then curled his lips—only to instantly regret it from the pain.
Trying to keep his mouth from moving too much, he said: “It’s fine. If anyone asks, I’ll explain it myself. You just say you don’t know.”
He hadn’t figured out a flawless excuse yet.
Luckily, whoever came probably wasn’t high enough rank to interrogate him deeply. There was still time.
He relaxed and nodded at Huai Yu—hiss! Why did his neck hurt too?!
“Go. Just tell them I didn’t die. Keep it simple.”
His rare commanding tone made Huai Yu instinctively obey and dash outside.
The door flung open, sunlight poured in. Zhou Qian squinted, then glanced at his arm resting on the tub’s edge—and fell silent.
His palm, back of his hand, wrist, forearm, elbow…
Covered in overlapping scars.
Deep, flesh-twisting slashes.
This was her so-called “a little bit”?
…
Meanwhile, Huai Yu—still in her pickle-roll of an outfit, hair wild, face pale and green with exhaustion—looked so wrecked that the two defense soldiers who’d arrived couldn’t help but soften, “You don’t need to be so heartbroken…”
But before they could continue, they straightened up solemnly. “These are Captain Zhou’s belongings. Has he been—”
“Oh,” Huai Yu interrupted quickly, “He’s not dead.”
Defense soldiers: ?!!
Seeing their silence, she hurriedly added, “He came back to life. He’s alive again.”
“But wait here, I’ll figure out how to drag him out to you.”
Defense soldiers: ??? Drag out? Return him? What?
Before they could ask more, Huai Yu ran back inside in a panic.
Now the question was: How to get Zhou Qian out?
…
“I can walk myself?” Zhou Qian propped himself on the tub’s edge, looking at Huai Yu.
But Huai Yu was blunt, “You’ve only got one leg now. You haven’t even learned how to use it yet, have you?”
Oh.
Zhou Qian belatedly realized—he’d been amputated.
That should’ve devastated him. But somehow, after enduring the venomous nerve pain and watching everything Huai Yu had done to save him… it didn’t seem so bad anymore.
He gritted his teeth. “Let me try—”
“Don’t rush!” Huai Yu blocked him three times in a row, then rolled over a stretcher cart with large, smooth wheels. She parked it by the tub.
Pointing at the nearby bed, she said: “If you’re about to fall, aim for the bed. If you make it there, I’ll reposition you slowly and pull you out.”
Zhou Qian: …
No matter how strong-willed he was, his injured body was just too weak.
Not to mention, every movement made his arm wounds feel like they were splitting open.
He struggled pointlessly in the tub—until Huai Yu rolled up her sleeves. “The floor’s waterproof. I could just tip the tub over, and you crawl out…”
“That’s how I got you in, by the way.”
Zhou Qian fell silent.
He imagined the scene… then suddenly pushed himself—stab of pain—and flopped onto the stretcher.
After a moment, Huai Yu came over, gently lifted his leg, and moved him onto the cart.
Then said, “Hold tight… actually no, your arms are injured. I’ll tie you down.”
With the straps fastened, she pushed the cart.
“Let’s go.”
…
At the edge of the corridor, the two defense soldiers grew increasingly uneasy.
They still held his “remains” and “points,” but the longer they waited, the more nervous they got.
Then—finally—Huai Yu appeared, dragging a stretcher with a man barely recognizable: scarred all over, missing a leg.
Why wasn’t he buried?!
Oh right, she said he wasn’t dead. But how was he alive?!
More importantly, what happened to him?!
The two soldiers straightened up, nervous and on edge, eyes scanning for answers.
The cart rolled over grass and stone, Zhou Qian’s bare chest rubbing against the restraints, pain blooming again.
But his gaze drifted to the sky, dazed.
—When the banyan’s roots had slammed him, shattering his leg, he’d glimpsed that same brilliant sky through the canopy.
He never thought he’d see it again.
And yet…
He took a deep breath and whispered from the heart, “It’s good to be alive.”
The cart rattled toward the defense soldiers.
They tensed more with every step, until Huai Yu crossed the line—then they immediately rushed over.
One of them nervously placed the belongings back on the cart and asked Huai Yu, “What happened to Captain Zhou?”
Huai Yu—looking pitiful and exhausted—put on an innocent face, “I don’t know.”
She looked like a helpless little deer who’d just woken up.
Zhou Qian, lying on the cart, watched in silence. He finally understood why he’d thought she was delicate—and still did.
She looked so easy to underestimate.
But no matter what, being alive was an enormous stroke of luck.
The soldiers’ eyes turned red. They leaned in, “Captain Zhou… are you awake?”
“…Mm.”
Zhou Qian slowly opened his eyes, his voice hoarse. “It’s complicated. Huai Yu can’t explain it. Take me to the camp—I’ll explain everything.”
“No, you need to go to Flower City Hospital right now!” one soldier insisted. “We can file a report afterward. You look really—”
He wanted to say “really terrible,” like someone who’d been tortured.
Zhou Qian paused, then nodded weakly. “Alright.”
They rushed to load him into the vehicle—only to discover the stretcher didn’t fit.
Thankfully, the seats were removable. After fumbling around, they managed to fit the stretcher in.
Huai Yu glanced at the time—almost noon.
As the door closed, one of the soldiers solemnly thanked her. “No matter what happened, thank you. But about the property transfer—”
Huai Yu nodded, then looked at the car. “I’m just grateful he’s alive. Nothing else matters. If there’s any news about his condition, could you let me know?”
“I’m really worried about Brother Zhou Qian.”
Zhou Qian, hearing this from inside the car, couldn’t help but smile through the pain.
“…Hiss…”
Still no mirror. Just how many times had she slashed his face?
—
Author’s Note:
Good news: Promoted to “Great God”!
Bad news: So happy I barely wrote anything today. This chapter took all day. Gotta stay up late for the next one…
Goodnight.
