The man’s voice was low and magnetic, his breath hot like fire.
It sprayed against her ear, like an ant biting lightly.
Jiang Fuyue instinctively shrank her neck and mumbled, “If you’re looking for someone to blame, what’s it got to do with me?”
Xie Dingyuan sighed softly, his eyes dazed. “Of course it has to do with you. It’s your fault for being too beautiful.”
Jiang Fuyue, rarely blushing, suddenly shut her eyes. “I’m sleepy.”
“Mm. Sleep well. Tomorrow we can get out.”
“What if we can’t?”
“We will.” His steady voice had a calming, reassuring magic to it.
“Okay.”
…
Tourist area, main hall.
Uniformed police officers lined up in two rows, with police dogs on standby.
The entire special ops team from Linhuai North District was mobilized. At a single command, the search began swiftly and efficiently.
Soon, they vanished into the vast night.
Civilian rescue teams also took their positions. Though lacking the uniformed discipline of the police, their tools and equipment exuded professionalism.
“Let’s get to work, brothers!”
“Yes!”
Three teams split in three directions: southwest, northwest, and due west.
“Holy cr*p, who are these two missing people? Even the special forces are dispatched!”
“I heard it’s Professor Xie.”
“Which Professor Xie?”
“Who else? The one behind the Nova virus research and the C99 vaccine.”
“D*mn! It’s him? Nothing must happen to him—he’s irreplaceable. Whether it’s biological defense or chemical warfare, he’s holding up half the country!”
“Exactly. If anything happens to him, the whole nation will be shaken.”
“Let’s work hard to find them quickly. Do something for our country and our people.”
“Then let’s go!”
“Move out!”
Both teams mobilized simultaneously.
Ling Qingzhou stood by the window, taking in the scene below.
Yi Hansheng said, “Don’t worry. With Xie Dingyuan there, she’ll be fine.”
After a pause, Ling Qingzhou finally replied with a soft “Mm.”
“And the three little ones?”
“Followed the teams to help out.”
Ling Qingzhou frowned. “Ridiculous.”
Yi Hansheng scoffed. “Easy for you to say. You try stopping them—think you can?”
“…”
“As the saying goes, it’s better to guide than to block. Rather than letting them sneak off, better to let them go—maybe they’ll even be helpful.”
“I just worry they’ll make things worse.”
Yi Hansheng rolled his eyes. “Your son’s more capable than you think. You’re not the only one who can carry a load—those kids are sharp too.”
…
In the second half of the night, the temperature kept dropping.
Jiang Fuyue curled up against the man’s chest. Her previously relaxed sleeping posture slowly tensed up, until she’d tucked herself into a tight ball.
The man, a light sleeper, suddenly opened his eyes to find the girl in his arms trembling.
His gaze sharpened. “Jiang Fuyue?”
“…” No response.
“Jiang Fuyue!” he called again.
Still no reaction.
“Jiang Fuyue! Can you hear me? Wake up!”
Finally, “…Mm? What is it?”
“Open your eyes and look at me.”
She struggled to lift her eyelids, pupils unfocused. “You… called me?”
“You’re shivering.”
“It’s okay, I’m just… a little cold.”
The man instinctively held her tighter, then his expression shifted—“You’re burning up!”
“No wonder I feel so weak and limp.”
“Don’t fall asleep yet.” Xie Dingyuan started to rise.
Jiang Fuyue instinctively grabbed his waist, like someone clutching a hot water bottle on a freezing winter night or the last popsicle in scorching summer—more reflex than reason.
“What are you doing?”
His eyes filled with helplessness. “I’m not leaving. I just want to check your leg.”
If the fever was caused by an infected wound, they were in trouble.
“What, can’t bear to leave me?”
Jiang Fuyue sullenly pulled her hand back. “I just don’t want to lose your warmth.”
“Oh? So you do care about me.”
“You… shameless.” Her voice was weak, the insult powerless.
Xie Dingyuan chuckled, eyes soft. “Honestly, you’re even prettier when you’re being contradictory.”
Jiang Fuyue: “…” Is this something a proper professor should be saying?
The academic mask was totally shattered.
Xie Dingyuan moved to her feet. Her pant leg only rolled up so far, making it hard to see the full extent of the injury.
He feared there might be other wounds. After a silent moment, he said, “Can you take your pants off?”
Jiang Fuyue was half-asleep again, but the moment she heard that, she jerked awake—eyes wide. “What did you say?!”
“I can’t see your whole leg like this. I need to check the whole thing, not just your calf.”
“Do I have to take them off?”
“Mm.”
“…Then you do it.”
The man froze. “Me?”
“Yeah, look at me right now. Think I can take them off myself?”
“…Oh.”
Ten minutes later, he carefully pulled her left leg from the pant leg.
Snow-white skin, smooth lines, no excess flesh.
If not for the bruised knee and swollen red ankle, it would’ve been a work of art.
His fingertips felt her warmth—soft and delicate.
He examined every inch closely. Only when he confirmed there were no visible wounds did he finally breathe a quiet sigh of relief.
Jiang Fuyue lifted her head slightly. “Well?”
“It’s not infected. Just a regular fever.”
She sighed too—she knew all too well how dangerous an infection could be in these conditions.
In severe cases, it could lead to delirium, or even amputation.
“Then help me put my pants back on.”
“…Okay.”
He patiently dressed her again, hands light and careful to avoid her injury.
As he pulled them up, his fingers accidentally brushed her thigh.
Smooth and slippery.
It was freezing, yet a layer of sweat suddenly formed on his back.
“…Done.”
“Thanks.”
“…”
She hugged herself, shivering from the cold. Seeing him frozen like a brick, she couldn’t help but prompt, “Come back and lie down.”
Xie Dingyuan’s body jerked.
Jiang Fuyue looked puzzled. “?”
What’s he doing?
He finally calmed his breathing and returned to lie beside her.
She naturally snuggled into his arms.
As soon as the warmth enveloped her, she let out a sigh of satisfaction.
Then…
His just-relaxed body tensed again.
Though the injury wasn’t infected, the fever remained.
Jiang Fuyue’s eyelids drooped uncontrollably. Xie Dingyuan kept talking to her: “Don’t sleep. Let’s keep chatting, okay?”
“…”
“Jiang Fuyue?!”
“…”
“Open your eyes.”
“Xie Dingyuan, you’re so noisy.”
He exhaled in relief. “Can you smooth all the hairs on a coconut?”
“…What?”
“Imagine a hairy ball. Can you comb all the hair flat, without any cowlicks or swirls?”
Jiang Fuyue blinked. “…No.”
“Why not?”
“I guessed.”
“You guessed right.”
“Why can’t you smooth it all out? Something to do with topology?”
“Mm. The hairy ball theorem. Heard of it?”
“Brouwer?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “Mathematically speaking, you can’t have a continuous unit vector field on the surface of a sphere. In even-dimensional spaces, such vector fields don’t exist.”
“So in meteorology, since wind speed and direction on Earth’s surface are continuous, there must always be a point with zero wind speed.”
Xie Dingyuan: “Which is why cyclones and eyes of storms are inevitable.”
“Your turn,” he said softly.
Jiang Fuyue shook her head. “Let’s stop. Warm my hands instead, okay?”
“Okay.” He agreed instantly.
He took her bloodstained, muddy hands in his warm palms, held them to his mouth, and gently blew.
She instinctively shrank back. “Wait, my hands are dirty…”
He looked at her. “I don’t mind. Why should you?”
“…”
His warm palms blew and rubbed. “Warmer?”
“No.” She shook her head.
So he kept going, again and again, tirelessly.
Each time, he asked her again. Only when she replied would he continue.
She knew—he was trying to keep her awake.
“…Now?”
“Mm, warm.” She nodded, eyes twinkling with a soft smile.
…
Time passed, the moon tilted, and the temperature in the cave dropped again.
For someone with a fever, it was brutal.
Jiang Fuyue’s cheeks were flushed with unnatural color.
“Cold?” Xie Dingyuan asked—who knew how many times now.
“Yes.” She nodded, eyes crinkling into a smile.
“You’re smiling?”
“What, should I cry instead?”
“…”
He chuckled, then pulled her in tighter.
“I want to sleep a bit. Okay?” Her watery eyes blinked slowly, unusually obedient.
His heart softened. “Okay. I’ll keep watch.”
She smiled faintly and closed her eyes, slipping into sleep.
It wasn’t restful—frequent startles, grogginess, strange dreams.
But every time she opened her eyes, she met those dark pupils—watching, guarding.
In those moments, all fear and unease melted away, replaced by a rare peace.
Jiang Fuyue had never said it, but Xie Dingyuan had beautiful eyes.
Black and white, like day and night, deep and sharp—an exquisite fusion of contrast and calm.
In a daze, she held his hand.
And murmured, “Xie Dingyuan, after the college entrance exam…”
He paused. “What?”
But she had fallen asleep again.
After the college exam… what then?
What did she plan to do?
…
She woke again to blinding white light. Jiang Fuyue squinted from the sting.
“Awake?” A familiar voice rang in her ears.
She looked up and saw the man’s smiling gaze.
“What time is it?”
“Ten in the morning.”
“I slept that long?!” She gasped.
“Not too bad.”
“So right now…”
“The fever’s gone. Your ankle’s no longer swollen. You’re in good shape.”
She tried to sit up, and he supported her lower back.
“Huh? There’s something on that rock wall… looks like writing? But vines are covering it.”
He helped her sit properly, then walked over to check.
“What is it?”
“A charcoal drawing. The vines protected it from wind and sun, so it’s well preserved.”
“A drawing?” she echoed. “Who had time to draw here?”
“What’s the drawing?”
“Wait, let me finish looking…”
Ten minutes later.
Jiang Fuyue was itching to know. If she could walk, she’d have gone herself.
“Done looking?”
Xie Dingyuan turned around.
Maybe it was her imagination, but his eyes seemed brighter than before.
“What is it?” she asked.
He sat down and patted his right shoulder.
“…What?”
“Lean on me,” he said.
“…Fine.” She leaned over again, same as before.
“Now tell me—what’s on the wall? A treasure map? Martial arts manual? Secret medical formula? Earth-shattering secret?”
He twitched. “You’re overthinking.”
“Then what?”
“A story.”
“?”
“Many years ago, a man and a woman were also trapped in this kind of cave. It was cold. The woman had a fever. The man kept talking to keep her awake…”
“That sounds like us!”
“Cough… kind of. But that woman had a worse injury—she was bleeding.”
“And?”
“To keep her from falling asleep, the man told her a ghost story.”
Jiang Fuyue’s scalp tingled.
“Scared?”
“You’re the one scared.” She pouted. “Why not tell another story—why a ghost one?”
“No idea. The mural doesn’t say.”
“And then?”
“That’s it.”
“…That’s it?”
Felt like a waste.
“What’s the ending?”
“They escaped. They named the cave and left behind a legend.”
“What name?”
“Yin-Yang Cave.”
“And the legend?”
“It says, any couple who enters it together will have lasting happiness.”
