Lin Qiye walked out of the shower, a white bath towel loosely tied around his waist.
An Qingyu brought over a cup of warm milk, his gaze deep.
“Qiye, milk helps with sleep. We’re taking action tomorrow, so you need a good night’s rest.”
Lin Qiye didn’t suspect anything. He took the milk and drank it in one go.
Soon after, he felt his eyelids grow heavy, his mind turning drowsy.
Staggering, Lin Qiye fell onto the bed.
“Qingyu… I’m going to sleep first…”
An Qingyu stroked Lin Qiye’s cheek, his tongue sweeping away the trace of milk left at the corner of the boy’s lips.
“Qiye, before bed, I need to have a feast.”
His heated fingertips brushed across the young man’s lips.
ᘻᘿᓍᘺ
The next day.
Lin Qiye opened his eyes and felt a cool sensation against his back.
Propping himself up, he realized the bedsheet beneath him was gone.
Before he could ask about it, he saw An Qingyu standing by the bed, smiling faintly.
“Qiye, when I was drinking water last night, I accidentally got the bedsheet wet.”
Lin Qiye didn’t pay attention to such minor details and got up to wash.
Lowering his eyes, An Qingyu shook out a brand-new bedsheet and spread it neatly over the bed.
Fortunately, he had removed the sheet in time before Qiye woke up.
Last night had ended rather late.
No, more precisely, it had only ended this morning.
After washing up, Lin Qiye walked to the door of the hospital room. He changed into a pair of white sneakers, ready to head out.
“Qingyu, I want to check out the specific layout of the Fasting Institute and come up with an escape plan while we’re at it.”
An Qingyu grasped his wrist.
“You haven’t exercised much this past year. Your limbs might have weakened a bit, I’ll support you.”
The scorching warmth of his palm covered Lin Qiye’s wrist. For some reason, Lin Qiye suddenly felt his legs lose strength, turning a little weak.
Noticing Lin Qiye’s reaction, a trace of a smile flickered in An Qingyu’s eyes behind his glasses.
“Alright, I’ll trouble you then, Qingyu.” Lin Qiye pulled himself together and forced himself to stand steady.
Strange.
Since when had his body become so sensitive?
It was only a touch on the wrist from An Qingyu, yet Lin Qiye felt a tingling sensation like an electric current spreading from the point of contact.
Looks like he needed to start training as soon as possible to improve his physical condition.
The two of them arrived at the outdoor area designated for free activity.
Quite a few inmates in black-and-white striped uniforms were moving about in the open yard.
Tall walls surrounded the area, and an electric fence had been installed to prevent prisoners from escaping.
Lin Qiye quietly memorized the surrounding layout.
“Qingyu, I want to run a few laps and try to restore my physical fitness as much as possible.”
An Qingyu released his grip on Lin Qiye’s wrist.
“Alright, Qiye.”
He curled his fingers slightly, as if Lin Qiye’s warmth still lingered in his palm.
An Qingyu rubbed the residual warmth in his hand, as though he were caressing Lin Qiye himself.
With his back to An Qingyu, Lin Qiye began jogging slowly before gradually accelerating.
He hadn’t exercised at all for an entire year, yet now he was suddenly engaging in intense activity.
And yet, he didn’t feel any discomfort at all.
“Looks like my physical condition isn’t bad,” Lin Qiye said with some pleasant surprise.
Completely unaware that, even while unconscious, he had already been put through plenty of “exercise.”
Lin Qiye ran freely along the track, beads of sweat dampening the loose strands of hair on his forehead.
Under the bright sunlight, his skin appeared even more cool and pale.
In addition to Lin Qiye’s striking features, his appearance quickly drew attention from the people inside the Fasting Institute.
“Hey, kid. Stop right there.”
Several burly men approached from outside the track, blocking his path.
Lin Qiye frowned slightly, his expression unchanged.
“What do you want?”
The man in the lead openly sized him up with his gaze, letting out a lewd chuckle.
“Kid, you’ve got a pretty face. Bet you’d be even more fun to play with than the last one.”
One of the lackeys beside him licked his lips.
“Brother Wang, look at that waist of his, so slim. Feels like one hand would be enough to grab it.”
“With so many of us, you think he’d break?”
“Heh heh, why not try and find out?”
The group of men burst into vulgar laughter.
Lin Qiye looked at them coldly, his gaze like ice.
From beneath the shade of a tree, An Qingyu stared at the group, his eyes filled with killing intent.
These disgusting pieces of trash actually dared to covet his Qiye.
An Qingyu clenched his fists, suppressing the urge to pull out his scalpel and dissect them on the spot.
With Lin Qiye’s strength, he could easily handle this bunch.
There were surveillance cameras here.
He couldn’t openly kill them with a scalpel.
Lin Qiye looked at the men before him, his expression unchanged, though the chill in his eyes deepened.
Just as one of the men reached out with a filthy hand toward Lin Qiye’s chest—
Lin Qiye grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it back with force. With a sharp crack, it broke.
“Damn it, he’s got a fiery temper. Beat this brat into submission first, I don’t believe he won’t give in.”
Brother Wang gave the order, and the men around them rushed toward Lin Qiye.
Lin Qiye moved cleanly and decisively. After delivering a heavy kick to one man, he followed with a punch straight into another’s eye.
Brother Wang and his lackeys were all severely injured, none spared.
They clutched their wounds and wailed in pain.
“How is this brat so good at fighting?”
“Damn it, there are so many of us and we still couldn’t beat him alone?”
Lin Qiye smoothed the wrinkles on his clothes and fixed his gaze on the so-called Brother Wang.
“Who sent you to test me? Speak!”
These men had come with a clear objective, they were obviously here to gauge his strength.
There had to be someone behind them pulling the strings.
Brother Wang held his broken leg and shuddered. “It was…”
“It was me.”
A burly man with a scar at the corner of his eye walked over.
He glanced at his injured underlings and said coldly,
“Useless trash.”
The man then turned back to Lin Qiye, his tone filled with disdain and contempt.
“I’m the boss here, Han Jin. So what if I was the one who sent them to test your strength?”
He didn’t choose to resort to violence immediately. Lin Qiye looked delicate and fair-skinned.
If he damaged him, it might ruin his fun later.
The scar on the man’s face made him look especially fierce.
“You’ve got a decent face, kid. I suggest you behave and focus on pleasing me. If I’m satisfied, maybe I’ll even protect you around here.”
Staring at Lin Qiye’s refined and handsome face, the man licked his lips.
If it weren’t for the surveillance cameras, he would have wanted to take the boy right there on the spot.
Sensing the man’s greedy, sticky gaze, Lin Qiye frowned in displeasure.
“Sorry. He’s not willing.”
At some point, An Qingyu had stepped to Lin Qiye’s side. His eyes were icy, brimming with killing intent as he swept a glance over Han Jin.
Although his words sounded polite, they were in fact laden with provocation.
“Looking for trouble, are you?” Han Jin felt that his authority as the boss had been challenged.
Bang—
The guards fired a shot into the air, stopping the fight that was about to break out.
Han Jin had no choice but to swallow his anger and glare at them.
“The guards are here. Consider yourselves lucky this time.”
Next time they met, he would definitely teach those two brats a lesson.
The guards, guns in hand, drove the inmates back toward their cells.
“Qingyu, let’s head back too.”
After the unpleasant incident, Lin Qiye had no mood to continue exercising.
An Qingyu carefully looked Lin Qiye over, making sure he wasn’t hurt before finally feeling at ease.
He kept his expression as calm as possible.
“Qiye, you go back first. I need to use the restroom.”
Lin Qiye nodded.
“Alright.”
He had only taken a few steps when something felt off. Didn’t their room have its own bathroom?
Perhaps An Qingyu simply wanted to use the one outside.
Suppressing his doubts, Lin Qiye climbed the steps and headed toward the ward.
An Qingyu watched the movements of the so-called Brother Wang. He was the one who had tried to lay a hand on Qiye earlier.
He followed Brother Wang into the public restroom.
There were no surveillance cameras there.