When I entered the room, the scene that met my eyes was chaos: the bearded man was loudly cursing as he led people in forcing everyone else out of the room.
Several black-clad men were pushing people toward the door with guns in hand.
Shen Feng, Jun Di, Xu Shu, and the others were all red-faced with anger, fiercely arguing back.
But none of them could overpower the bearded man's booming voice.
Shen Feng was the most emotional—even though he was still a bit of distance away, I could clearly see the veins bulging on his neck.
Suo Tian, who had come in behind me, paused for a moment.
Then, in a deep voice, he asked the group locked in a heated argument not far away,
"What's going on here?"
The bearded man, who had been shouting furiously at Shen Feng and the others, turned and saw Suo Tian.
His expression shifted slightly.
He then said to the hesitant-looking men in black,
"You hold them back,"
and began walking toward Suo Tian and me.
"Boss, that girl's not gonna make it. According to our rules, we have to deal with her."
I frowned and shot the bearded man a look.
I was just about to speak when he cut me off,
"Girl, don't you butt in. You women need to know what you should and shouldn't meddle in."
Suo Tian didn't reply.
He walked past both of us and headed straight toward the room.
As he passed the doorway, Shen Feng grabbed his shirt and, teeth clenched and voice filled with fury, growled,
"If you lay a single finger on Xiao Xue, I swear I'll kill every last one of you."
With Suo Tian's back to me, I couldn't see the expression on his face—I only knew he seemed to glance at Shen Feng, then stood there without moving.
It wasn't until Xu Shu and Jun Di stepped forward to pull Shen Feng aside that Suo Tian slowly turned his head back and walked into the room.
I froze for a moment, then quickly ran after him.
But just as I reached the doorway, I was blocked by one of the black-clad men —they wouldn't let me in.
After a round of shoving and pushing, the middle-aged man nearby frowned and said,
"Miss Chen, don't go too far."
I turned and glared at him furiously, my voice cold and sharp as I scoffed,
"Oh, I've gone too far? What are you gonna do about it?"
His frown deepened.
He looked at me twice, then simply chose to ignore me and turned to walk into the room.
The black-clad men held us firmly outside the door.
The more I pushed, the more furious I became.
In the end, I pointed at them and snapped,
"Are you all fucking dead inside? Is it not your sister lying in there?"
Clearly, my shouting was completely useless.
Looking at the unchanged expressions on those men's faces, I felt like everything I was doing at that moment was completely powerless—so weak and pathetic.
There was nothing I could do.
After Chen Pu came over and tugged my arm a couple of times, I could only step back in frustration and stand beside Shen Feng and the others.
Shen Feng hung his head low, staring blankly at some unknown spot.
Xu Shu and Jun Di both had furrowed brows, their eyes constantly shifting between the room and Shen Feng.
I let out a sigh, stepped forward, and patted Shen Feng on the shoulder.
"I don't even know how to comfort you. All we can do is hope things haven't gotten too bad."
Shen Feng only raised his head a little in response to my words.
I noticed that, in just the past few hours, his eyes had become bloodshot—clearly, the mental strain was on the verge of crushing him.
My heart clenched.
Was this still the same calm, gentle Shen Feng I had met before?
"Chen Yang, do you think… they'll do something to Xiao Xue?" Jun Di asked nervously from the side.
I looked at him and shook my head helplessly.
"I don't know. I'm not even sure what Xiao Xue's condition is right now."
Hearing that, Xu Shu started to speak,
"Xiao Xue's condition—"
But before she could finish, Shen Feng suddenly cut her off.
"Xiao Xue is fine!" he snapped, turning to glare at Xu Shu.
I quickly gave Xu Shu a look and patted Shen Feng on the back,
"She'll be okay, definitely. If they won't let us in, then we'll wait right here. Who knows—maybe Suo Tian will come out in a bit and tell us he's already treated Xiao Xue, right?"
Everything I had just said was purely to comfort Shen Feng—because Suo Tian had already told me clearly: he had no idea what was causing Xiao Xue's dangerous fever.
And if he didn't know the cause, there was no way he could treat it, even if he wanted to.
If Xiao Xue's condition took a turn for the worse... the people inside wouldn't hesitate to "deal with" her.
Shen Feng didn't have much of a reaction to my words.
Instead, he suddenly curled his lips into a faint smile.
Then he turned his head to look at me and asked in a trembling voice,
"Chen Yang, do you think Xiao Xue is going to die?"
His question hit me like a jolt.
I froze for a moment, then forced a smile and said,
"No way. Xiao Xue's one tough girl. Even if I died, she'd be just fine."
As I was thinking about what other lies I could make up to keep comforting him in case he asked more questions, we suddenly heard footsteps from inside the room.
One of the black-clad men came to the door and said,
"You can come in now."
None of us had expected that.
Just a few minutes ago, they were still physically barring us from even setting foot inside.
And now they were really letting us in?
For a moment, we were all stunned.
It wasn't until Shen Feng stumbled forward and rushed into the room that the rest of us finally came to our senses and followed him inside.
When we entered, Suo Tian was kneeling in front of Xiao Xue, his face grave as he pressed down on her chest.
Shen Feng froze in front of the bed the moment he saw what was happening.
His body stiffened for a while before he couldn't suppress the trembling that overtook him.
The rest of us also stood frozen in place, staring blankly at Suo Tian as he worked, and at Shen Xue, who lay motionless on the bed with a deathly pale face.
None of us were medical professionals, but we'd all seen this move countless times in TV dramas—an emergency rescue method.
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation ( CPR ).
Xiao Xue's face remained ghostly pale, completely unresponsive.
Suddenly, it occurred to me—they usually use oxygen masks during moments like this.
I glanced around the room and only then realized… there was no way we'd have an oxygen tank in a place like this.
Without hesitating, I moved forward.
I had learned a bit of first aid during swimming lessons back then, including how to perform mouth-to-mouth.
I rushed to the bedside, ready to lean down and try giving Xiao Xue artificial respiration—but just as I was about to lower myself, Suo Tian, who had been pressing on her chest, suddenly snapped at me:
"Chen Yang! What are you doing?!"
His sudden shout startled me.
Snapping out of it, I quickly pointed at Shen Xue and said,
"Artificial respiration!"
Suo Tian's expression changed instantly.
He turned to the middle-aged man beside him and shouted,
"Old Zheng! Get her out of the way!"
I opened my mouth, just about to ask why—when suddenly, Shen Xue, who hadn't reacted at all until now, began coughing violently.
Suo Tian froze for a second, pulled me back, and focused his gaze on Shen Xue, watching her coughing fit closely.
Shen Feng, who had been standing at the bedside in a daze, snapped back to his senses the moment he saw Xiao Xue start coughing.
In just a few quick steps, he rushed over and gently propped up her upper body, reaching out to lightly pat her back.
Xu Shu and Jun Di hurried over to help as well.
The bearded man off to the side immediately started yelling again,
"Stay alert! If there's even the slightest sign, shoot without hesitation!"
Xu Shu and Jun Di kept patting Xiao Xue's back.
She was coughing violently now, and from her throat came a choked, wheezing sound—as if something were stuck in her airway.
I listened closely.
It sounded exactly like the noise she had made the last time, after being bitten by Rongrong, when her throat had been full of blood.
I quickly turned my eyes to Xiao Xue's mouth—and right at that moment, her tightly shut eyes suddenly flew open.
The bearded man and the others immediately tensed and were about to make a move, but Suo Tian raised a hand to stop them with a firm gesture, signaling them to hold off.
The next moment, Xiao Xue's body pitched forward, and she let out a violent retch, vomiting out a large quantity of thick, black blood.
Some of it splattered onto the bedsheets, and some clung to the corners of her mouth.
The act was so agonizing that the veins at her temples bulged out from the strain.
That pitch-black blood, against her deathly pale face, was shockingly vivid.
Just as the rest of us stood frozen, stunned by what we were witnessing, Xiao Xue's body suddenly went limp again.
Xu Shu and Jun Di, who had been patting her back, were both stunned into stillness, not making another move.
Only Shen Feng kept trying to rouse her, gently shaking her body while using his sleeve to wipe the remaining blood from her mouth.
A long moment passed.
Xiao Xue on the bed showed no further response.
Suo Tian paused for a moment, then walked over to the bedside.
Shen Feng immediately raised his guard, reaching out protectively to shield Xiao Xue and snapped,
"What are you doing?"
"To see if she's dead."
Suo Tian's blunt reply clearly infuriated Shen Feng, who was already barely holding himself together.
He glared at Suo Tian with pure rage, then pulled Xiao Xue tighter into his arms, his hands trembling.
"She'll outlive you if anyone's dying."
I glanced at Xiao Xue, who lay limply in her brother's embrace like all the bones had left her body.
Her face was so pale it looked like a sheet of paper.
Even though now wasn't exactly the right time for such thoughts, I couldn't help but wonder—when I was bitten by Zhao Qiuting, that bite was way worse than the one Rongrong gave Xiao Xue.
So why did I make it through so easily, while Xiao Xue ended up like this?
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