An Unusual Fever

“Alright, then I’ll take a set too.” Yu Cheng Yi didn’t say another word, immediately choosing a down jacket that fit him. As he tried it on, he asked, “Should we tell Wang Jia Xin and Lu Cheng to get one too?”

“That’s fine, you can tell them.” Shen Yu nodded.

“What are you talking about?” As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Jia Xin’s gentle voice, like water, rang out. The two turned to look.

They saw some medicines in Wang Jia Xin’s shopping cart.

“I went to get some medicine. These are for colds and injuries; after all, getting injured here is common.” Wang Jia Xin showed them the medicines in the cart.

Shen Yu lowered his eyes and glanced. “You’ve worked hard.”

“It’s nothing.” Wang Jia Xin looked at him, smiling faintly.

Yu Cheng Yi suddenly appeared in her line of sight, his large figure almost completely obscuring Shen Yu. “Sister Jia Xin, come here, pick a down jacket to wear. Shen Yu says better safe than sorry!”

“Is that so?” Wang Jia Xin reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then offered a gentle, intellectual smile. “Okay, let me see.”

Shen Yu glanced at Wang Jia Xin’s fair hands and suddenly asked, “Don’t you feel cold here?”

Wang Jia Xin froze, her fingers recoiled slightly, then she said unnaturally, “It is a little cold.”

“You wait a moment, I’ll go check over there.” Shen Yu’s expression was very calm, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking. Then he turned and left.

Wang Jia Xin gripped the shopping cart tightly, she lowered her head, using her long hair to cover her face, preventing others from seeing her expression, then went to choose clothes.

Unfortunately, Yu Cheng Yi was too carefree and didn’t notice this small detail.

——

Although this supermarket provided free items for them, there was still a cashier at the exit.

“Hello everyone, may I see the items you’ve chosen?” The cashier’s uniform was brand new, her hair neatly combed, making her look very energetic.

“Sure.” Yu Cheng Yi placed all the items from his shopping cart onto the counter. Most of it was food, in addition to a few thin clothes, a down jacket, two pairs of shoes, and a few pairs of socks.

The cashier merely glanced over them and handed him a few plastic bags.

The others followed suit, placing their goods on the cashier’s counter. The cashier also just glanced over them and handed them plastic bags.

The last person was Shen Yu. His items were the fewest, only a few compressed biscuits and some sugar, plus a fruit knife and clothes.

When it was Shen Yu’s turn, the cashier spoke again. “Is that all you’re taking, sir?”

Shen Yu didn’t understand, but still answered honestly, “I don’t want anything to eat, and besides clothes, I can’t think of any other necessities I’m missing.”

The cashier smiled, personally taking the plastic bags for his items, then said, “Mr. Xie asked me to send his regards to you. All the items you all took from the supermarket today were paid for by him.”

The ‘Mr. Xie’ she spoke of was none other than Xie Tu.

It seemed Xie Tu even knew the path he was about to take. Yu Cheng Yi’s mouth hung so wide open he could almost fit an egg in it. “Huh? Xie Tu? Which Xie Tu?”

Wang Jia Xin’s expression was a little unnatural; she lowered her eyes, silent.

Lu Cheng looked up and asked, “Xie Tu? Who is that?”

Yu Cheng Yi immediately exaggeratedly said, “He’s a very formidable person, in short…”

He suddenly stopped there, as if introducing Xie Tu was best left for Shen Yu to do himself.

“What’s wrong?” Shen Yu’s lips curved slightly, his eyes holding a hint of a smile; he didn’t mind much.

Yu Cheng Yi grumbled, “You tell him yourself, you’re close to him.”

“Forget it, you don’t need to tell me. Anyway, thank you, Mr. Xie, for paying.” Lu Cheng truly wasn’t interested in these matters. He picked up his items, waved his hand with his back to them, and left.

Yu Cheng Yi clicked his tongue. “So cold.”

“And when did you and Xie Tu get close?” He asked another question.

Shen Yu shrugged, saying vaguely, “Who knows.”

The three carried their items and left. When they reached the door of their rooms, since they were adjacent, Wang Jia Xin’s room was right next to Shen Yu’s. As she opened her door, Wang Jia Xin suddenly asked, “Brother Shen, have you and Xie Tu known each other for a long time?”

“Not really, didn’t we meet at the welfare institute?” Shen Yu raised an eyebrow, not understanding Wang Jia Xin’s meaning.

Wang Jia Xin immediately offered a standard, gentle smile. “I was just asking, please don’t overthink it. I just feel he’s very good to you.”

“Is that so…” Shen Yu opened his door, leaning into the room. He didn’t say anything more to Wang Jia Xin.

Wang Jia Xin pouted, then returned to her own room.

The night wind was especially strong, but the room was quite well-equipped with air conditioning, and the windows were sealed, so it remained very warm inside.

Shen Yu leaned against the window, looking down at the scene downstairs from above. There weren’t many people, and the courtyard was very quiet.

He slightly raised his head, lifted his eyelids, and swept his gaze outwards, looking into the distance. Where would they have to go this time?

——

At the top floor of a certain conference building, it was pitch dark outside, but inside, the lights were brightly lit.

Downstairs, neon lights of various colors illuminated the area, making people dizzy.

People were already seated in the conference room. Except for the stern-faced man in the main chair, everyone else wore heavy expressions.

“So, someone blew up your welfare institute, and rebelled in your hospital?” The man spoke. He looked up, his face finally no longer hidden in the shadows.

One could see he had an extremely sharp face, deep eye sockets, dark pupils, and clear facial features, exuding the arrogance of a ruler.

He looked at the two men in front of him, slowly asking.

Those two were Director Bi and Chen Yuan Sheng.

Both their faces had bruises. They glanced at each other, then covered their painful spots and groaned.

“Yes…” Both opened their mouths fearfully.

“Ha—” The man tilted his head back further.

“How interesting. The Cube hasn’t even been found yet, and you two keep causing me trouble.” Hearing these words, one knew who he was: the supreme ruler of the third world, titled ‘Mister’.

“Mis- Mister, I think we can be more ruthless with them…” Someone suggested.

‘Mister’ glanced at him. “What did I say? I told you to find the Cube for me, find the Cube! I want the Cube!”

The man got angry, throwing the glass in front of him to the ground.

“Understood, understood…” A group of people echoed.

The meeting ended in such a situation. Xie Tu, sitting at the very end, also prepared to leave with them.

‘Mister’ suddenly called him back. “Puppet, your master’s work is truly excellent.”

Xie Tu stopped, then turned around and stared at him, saying each word distinctly, “Master does everything correctly.”

After speaking, he lifted his foot and left. The man sneered, muttering, “Mad dog.”

Leaving the conference room, they heard people whispering.

“How decisive the Cube was when he escaped, directly going back to headquarters to erase his data. If we hadn’t discovered it in time, we might have forgotten about this person.”

“Exactly! Now we only know this person exists, but no one remembers his face, not even ‘Mister’ remembers, yet he makes us go find him…”

That year, when the Cube escaped, he originally intended to completely erase his data from the headquarters’ database, but ‘Mister’ discovered it in time, so the erasure was incomplete.

The incomplete erasure led to them only remembering that this person existed, but no one remembered even his appearance or looks, and even the ‘puppet’ he created for life suffered a similar situation.

And ironically, ‘Mister’ had a great obsession with the Cube. Some said it was hatred, others said it was love, but those were all just rumors. ‘Mister’s possessiveness towards the Cube had become an illness, incomprehensible.

Finding the Cube seemed to have become his obsession.

——

Early the next morning, the group finished breakfast and returned to the bus.

This time, it wasn’t as cold outside. Yu Cheng Yi yawned repeatedly as he climbed onto the bus, leaned against Shen Yu, and continued to sleep.

After all, he had rested quite well last night, so it was unclear why Yu Cheng Yi was still so sleepy. But there was nothing to kill time on the bus, so sleeping was also an option.

The bus had to travel for two days; the loudspeaker announced they wouldn’t arrive until late at night, telling them to wait patiently.

At this moment, Shen Yu felt that this bus also had a bit of humanity, as it probably feared everyone would be bored, so the loudspeaker suddenly played folk songs.

They were all folk songs of various ethnic groups; those who didn’t understand the ethnic language didn’t know what was being sung, but fortunately, the melodies were melodious and pleasant to listen to, not to the point of being annoying.

Shen Yu took out that photo again. He leaned back, curled up in his seat, holding the photo, this time no longer looking at Xie Tu.

But staring at the person in the front row.

He held the photo above his head, and through the warm light, he still couldn’t discern any clues. The more so, the more it aroused his curiosity.

——

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but Shen Yu woke up from a dream. He lowered his head to look at the watch on his wrist, only to find that it had run out of battery at some point, the hands stopped at four o’clock.

He rubbed his eyes, pulled back the window curtain, and looked outside. It wasn’t very bright, but he could clearly see a snowy landscape outside.

The static of the folk song radio suddenly grew louder, no longer pleasant to listen to.

Shen Yu sobered up. Yu Cheng Yi next to him was still sleeping soundly, his sleeping posture restless, looking as if he was having a nightmare, his face covered in sweat, his mouth muttering something unintelligible.

Shen Yu was startled and reached out to push him, only to find his arm burning hot, a symptom of fever.

“Yu Cheng Yi? Yu Cheng Yi?” Shen Yu’s voice called out urgently.

Yu Cheng Yi didn’t respond, but he attracted Wang Jia Xin’s attention. She leaned over and grabbed Yu Cheng Yi’s other arm. “Brother Yu? Brother Yu, what’s wrong with you?”

“He seems to have a fever.” Shen Yu’s voice was calm but urgent.

“Fever?” Wang Jia Xin was still doubtful. She reached out and touched Yu Cheng Yi’s forehead. “No, he doesn’t.”

The back of her hand felt a normal body temperature.

Shen Yu frowned. He also reached out to touch, finding Yu Cheng Yi’s forehead temperature completely normal. He then turned to touch Yu Cheng Yi’s other arm, which also had a normal temperature.

Then why was his right arm so hot?

Shen Yu didn’t have time to think much. He grabbed Yu Cheng Yi’s right arm and rolled up his sleeve. The spot where the needle had been inserted was ulcerated at some point, and his entire arm was red and swollen.

“Brother Yu said he was given an anesthetic injection, but he didn’t pass out at the time so he didn’t pay attention.” Seeing the needle mark, Wang Jia Xin quickly explained the origin of the wound to Shen Yu.

“The anesthetic couldn’t have worked; that night when I went in to place the recorder, I swapped the anesthetic for pure water.” Shen Yu recalled.

Wang Jia Xin asked worriedly, “Then his arm turned out like this… could there be something wrong with the syringe?”

“Not sure, let’s cool his arm down first.” Worry was clearly visible in Shen Yu’s eyes. He asked, “Did you get alcohol at the supermarket?”

“I brought some, I brought some.” Wang Jia Xin didn’t delay, quickly returning to her seat to rummage through her bag for alcohol and povidone.

At this moment, the folk song radio suddenly experienced interference. Amidst the static of the electricity, the folk song, which was originally incomprehensible, suddenly transformed into another song that had never appeared before…