Finally, about five minutes later, Jiu Yi arrived back at the parked car, having successfully navigated the danger.
Seeing them return covered in snow, Xin Tang felt Jiu Yi looked incredibly pitiful. She couldn’t help but cast a resentful glance at Leng Xuelang, unable to comprehend why she had to cause such a fuss.
Did she think their boss was an easy target to bully, which was why she chose to torment her like this?
But remembering that Leng Xuelang might have blocked a bullet for her boss, her anger dissolved.
Leng Xuelang caught Xin Tang’s gaze and knew she was feeling protective over Jiu Yi, which made her feel oddly uncomfortable for some reason.
How should she describe this feeling?
She couldn’t quite understand why Jiu Yi managed to make everyone who approached her like her, regardless of their status or background. It seemed as though no one could dislike her.
Yet, she just didn’t want to like her, and she even wished fewer people liked her, as it only made her own behavior seem even more unreasonable.
Of course, even knowing she was being unreasonable, Leng Xuelang didn’t care much. One couldn’t expect a snake to fully comprehend human ways, could they?
She was a cold-blooded predator. It was already a miracle she hadn’t swallowed Jiu Yi whole.
“Drink some hot tea.” Jiu Yi eventually sat in the back seat with Leng Xuelang. The moment she entered the car, her legs began to spasm violently, the side effects were massive.
But she did her best to hide it, acting completely unfazed while making sure Leng Xuelang was taken care of first.
Leng Xuelang felt a bit awkward after getting in, reluctant to accept her kindness. Especially seeing the un-melted snow still lingering in Jiu Yi’s hair, her mood grew incredibly complicated, unable to understand why she had to be subjected to emotions she shouldn’t have to bear.
It truly wasn’t endearing.
Jiu Yi’s lingering presence remained on her lips, and the taste of the blood was sweet, which made her feel ill at ease again.
“Hurry up and take a sip to warm your body,” Jiu Yi reminded her upon seeing her dazed state.
Leng Xuelang didn’t actually feel cold. Despite causing a scene in the snow for so long, her body was flushing with heat, and her gland was surging with a strange sensation she didn’t want to admit.
She thoroughly hated this feeling of losing control.
Worse still, Jiu Yi had zero intention of marking her. Her swollen gland was… practically driving her mad with frustration.
Was she really that pathetic? Was she that repulsive to her? What right did Jiu Yi have to despise her like this?
The more Leng Xuelang thought about it, the angrier she became. She deeply regretted coming back with her so easily, it was a total mistake.
She wasn’t afraid of bears at all, nor was she afraid of the cold. She wasn’t afraid of anything, so why did she yield?
【Leng Xuelang’s disgust meter +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1 +1……】
Jiu Yi: ?
She was exhausted. The physical torment made it impossible for her to delve into Leng Xuelang’s thoughts any further, leaving her with no choice but to let it be.
She felt that if this world collapsed, it might actually be a good thing. She could simply choose a new target to romance next time, which sounded quite nice.
【Host, are we about to die, boohoo~】 The system couldn’t take being jerked around by Leng Xuelang anymore, crying out in misery.
“We won’t die.” Jiu Yi had completed so many missions, she naturally possessed some life-saving measures, though she felt there was no need to deploy them just yet.
【But your current health bar has dropped to 50. If this continues, you might die before the world even collapses.】
“Then let it be. It doesn’t matter.” Jiu Yi truly didn’t care, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t died before.
【But you still have so much money… boohoo, you haven’t even properly enjoyed it, you don’t have your own child, and it’s all going to benefit someone else… No, no, just thinking about it breaks my heart ahhh…】
Despite the system’s frantic venting in her mind, Jiu Yi didn’t offer a single word in response.
Looking closer, the system realized its host had quietly drifted into unconsciousness. Her forehead was covered in cold sweat, and her body jerked occasionally from spasms. Her entire face was deathly pale, her blood-stained lips tightly pursed, making for a truly heartbreaking sight.
Looking back at Leng Xuelang, she was sitting with her head lowered, holding the cup of hot tea without moving a muscle, looking equally worrisome.
Sitting so close to Jiu Yi, she surprisingly hadn’t noticed her condition. Yet, Jiu Yi had ended up like this entirely because she had gone out to find her. If it weren’t for that, she wouldn’t have had to take such a massive risk.
At this moment, the system felt a genuine trace of resentment toward her. This particular target was truly a handful; none of the previous ones had been this difficult.
But as a mere system, it couldn’t do anything to her.
Suddenly, Leng Xuelang’s tail, which had remained wrapped around Jiu Yi, jerked away as if it had received an electric shock. It began to hiss frantically, conveying the urgency of the situation.
“What? She fainted? She’s near death? And she has no body heat?”
Leng Xuelang snapped out of her thoughts instantly. She turned to look at Jiu Yi sitting beside her, seeing her eyes tightly shut, her forehead drenched in cold sweat, and her lips unnaturally red. Touching her body, she felt her trembling violently before collapsing directly against her.
Leng Xuelang was entirely frightened out of her wits. “Jiu… Jiu Yi…”
“Oh no, Director Jiu… the worst-case scenario has occurred.” The doctor was sitting in the front passenger seat. She had initially breathed a sigh of relief seeing Jiu Yi seemingly fine, figuring they could handle it once they returned to Jiu Yi’s villa.
But seeing her now, she realized the situation was far more severe than she had anticipated, realizing things had taken a terrible turn.
Fortunately, she had anticipated this possibility and immediately began preparing an injection to see if it could stabilize her condition.
“What… what happened to her?” Leng Xuelang was genuinely panicking now. Her own body was clearly so hot, yet she couldn’t impart even a fraction of warmth to Jiu Yi. She could only feel her temperature slipping away, filling her with absolute dread.
“Director Jiu took a powerful temporary antidote just to find you quickly. The side effects are hitting her now, compounded by the poison already in her system…”
The doctor glanced at her but chose not to elaborate. She could tell Jiu Yi treated Leng Xuelang differently, so further words were unnecessary.
“But… but…”
“Cough, cough, blurgh!”
Before Leng Xuelang could finish her sentence, Jiu Yi vomited a mouthful of blood even while unconscious. It splattered directly onto Leng Xuelang, causing her eyes to widen in shock as her heart hammered frantically, completely lost in this sudden surge of emotion.
“She… she…” This time, Leng Xuelang truly believed Jiu Yi’s body couldn’t hold out much longer. Her heart raced violently, entirely unfamiliar with what she was feeling.
【Bam!】
Before the doctor could administer the shot, the car suddenly jolted violently. Another vehicle had rammed into their rear side out of nowhere, forcing their car to slide several meters sideways, entirely unable to brake!
“It’s those people! They still won’t give up!”
Xin Tang was furious. She was the one driving this time. Seeing her boss fail to wake up even through such a violent impact, a chill ran down her spine.
She couldn’t help but glance back at Leng Xuelang. If it weren’t for that gunshot earlier, she wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from wondering if Leng Xuelang was an insider working with those criminals to get her boss killed.
She had followed Jiu Yi ever since graduation, and she knew exactly how much danger and chaos they had navigated to reach this point. Her boss had barely established her achievements and status, yet she was being targeted so ruthlessly before she could even solidify her position.
Xin Tang was enraged to the absolute limit, there was no way she would let Jiu Yi fall into the hands of these thugs!
With an almost impossible display of driving skill, she managed to stabilize the vehicle. She noticed in the rearview mirror that Leng Xuelang still possessed enough conscience to shield Jiu Yi firmly in her arms, though her feelings remained deeply conflicted.
Right now, she didn’t have the luxury to think further. She swerved sharply, dodging a second incoming ramming attempt.
The other vehicles escorting Jiu Yi finally reacted, moving in to flank the rogue vehicle that had attacked them, managing to stabilize the immediate threat.
However, Xin Tang soon discovered an even worse development. She didn’t know if someone had tampered with the car, but the brakes had completely failed!
And right ahead was a cliff. If they went over… death was certain.
Jiu Yi remained deeply unconscious, completely unaware of the peril as her body grew increasingly frail.
Xin Tang didn’t have much time to think. Putting everything on the line, she urged Leng Xuelang. “Miss Leng, please hold our Director Jiu tightly, open the door, and jump. Otherwise, we’re all going to die here.”