Escape Plan, Xie Tu's Heart Stirs

Shen Yu looked up at Xie Tu, the faint pink in the corners of his eyes not yet faded. His tense expression made Xie Tu's stomach tighten, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily. He shifted his gaze past Shen Yu and looked at the head nurse: “Yes.”

He answered decisively.

The head nurse was tongue-tied. After all, this was something she couldn't control. She never expected that someone would have the mind for romance in this place; in truth, she had underestimated Shen Yu.

“Well, it's almost time for dinner. Let's stop here for now and head back together.” Fearing that Shen Yu would do something bad after she left, the head nurse decided to keep a close eye on him as they left.

Shen Yu thought of the item still hidden beneath him; he certainly couldn't stand up under the head nurse's watchful eyes. He bit his lip, turned, and gave the head nurse an embarrassed smile: “The fire of passion hasn't died down yet. Please wait for me to take it slow.”

The head nurse was so angry her head felt like it was about to explode: “Five minutes! In five minutes, you had better bring the patient back!”

“Sure, take your time.” Shen Yu waved his hand at her, and his hand gripping Xie Tu's collar loosened. Seeing her walk away, Shen Yu finally let out a heavy sigh of relief, slumping down, before looking up and whispering to Xie Tu, “Thank you for being willing to help me.”

Xie Tu blinked and lowered his head. Shen Yu's lips were still red and plump, but his eyes no longer held the burning passion from just now. So, it was just an act.

But Xie Tu still lingered on those soft, warm lips. He lowered his head, intending to kiss him, but Shen Yu tilted his head to avoid it. Xie Tu froze.

“I was almost scared to death, but I didn't expect Mister Xie to be the sincere one...” Shen Yu climbed down from Xie Tu, then bent over and reached out. Through the plastic bag on Xie Tu's lap, he gently pressed down with his finger.

Immediately after, Shen Yu took the plastic bag and gave Xie Tu a warm, somewhat mysterious smile, adding, “The fire of passion indeed hasn't died down yet.”

Xie Tu said nothing, keeping his head lowered, his neck flushing red.

Shen Yu walked behind Xie Tu to push him back. The person in the wheelchair curled his fingers. The spot where the plastic bag had pressed down rose unusually, and even the wind couldn't make it subside.

.

As soon as Shen Yu returned to the hospital, the others rushed over. Yu Chengyi was the first to hug Shen Yu, crying as he said, “You have no idea, that woman wanted to find you, and we couldn't stop her even if we tried. When she came back, she was absolutely furious, scaring me to death. When you didn't return, I thought something had happened. I almost went after you.”

Yu Chengyi's words made him laugh. Shen Yu smiled: “Aren't I fine now? I just did some things, and thanks to Mister Xie's help, the head nurse didn't make things difficult for me.”

“Why did you insist on staying over there?” Zhuang Jie didn't care much about how Xie Tu had helped Shen Yu. After all, she had always felt that the way Xie Tu looked at Shen Yu was unusual, unlike how an NPC should behave. But Zhuang Jie didn't care about this either.

These past few days of getting along had made Zhuang Jie realize that Shen Yu's ability and charm far exceeded his appearance, and even his courage was beyond that of ordinary people.

“It's not convenient to talk with so many people around. Let's go to the cafeteria and explain.” It was indeed almost dinnertime, and gathering at the cafeteria entrance would easily arouse suspicion.

Wang Jiaxin quickly nodded in agreement: “Shen Yu is right. Let's all go eat first.”

The group dispersed, each leading their patient into the cafeteria.

After settling the patients, only Wang Jiaxin and Zhuang Jie gathered. Wang Jiaxin saw Shen Yu looking for Yu Chengyi, so she explained, “Fearing someone might come, Brother Yu said he would keep watch at the door, and Chen Shuang said he wanted to go with him.”

Shen Yu didn't object: “I went back to the corpse pit to cut the names off the clothes of those corpses.”

As Shen Yu spoke, he took out the plastic bag from his person, which contained over a dozen names.

“Zhuang Jie, keep this. The head nurse is wary of me, and I'm afraid she'll send something to search me tonight,” Shen Yu said calmly to Zhuang Jie.

Wang Jiaxin immediately said with concern, “Nothing will happen, right? Is *that* thing coming to inspect?”

“Probably. If they want to search, they'll definitely send something thorough. I haven't violated any rules, so they have no reason to kill me,” Shen Yu said lightly, as if the person in danger tonight wasn't him.

Zhuang Jie's curiosity grew even stronger. According to what she had pried from Yu Chengyi, Shen Yu was just a newcomer who had only passed one dungeon, but he deliberately didn't look like one.

“Alright, Shen Yu, be careful,” Zhuang Jie put the plastic bag away.

Shen Yu nodded. Zhuang Jie suddenly thought of something and said to Shen Yu, “Oh right, the newcomer in room 204 told me that the head nurse notified his patient to stop taking medication and fast from food and water tonight, saying it's to prepare for the patient's surgery tonight.”

“He asked the head nurse, and she said there are temporarily no new patients, telling him to rest well...” Regarding this, Zhuang Jie couldn't figure it out either. Just then, Yu Chengyi's loud sneeze echoed, clearly a signal that someone was coming, so the three of them could only temporarily disperse.

Shen Yu's doubts were likely the same as Zhuang Jie's.

Since there were no new patients, and Zhuang Jie had overheard during the day that all patients would begin preparing for surgery, did that mean once the patients' surgeries were over, they would successfully pass the stage? Obviously, Shen Yu didn't believe this dungeon was that simple.

They could only take it one step at a time.

.

As night fell, Shen Yu finished bathing, finally washing away the unpleasant smell from his body.

While drying his wet hair with a towel, he looked for Xie Tu. Xie Tu was leaning on the bed, holding the photograph obtained from Xie Tu.

Hearing the movement, Xie Tu looked up at Shen Yu.

The white shirt Shen Yu wore was loose, revealing a large patch of fair skin. His skin, flushed from the warm water, and his wet hair dripping water made him look incredibly alluring just standing there.

Xie Tu lowered his head and put the photograph away.

Shen Yu didn't notice Xie Tu's abnormality. Instead, he approached and asked, “You keep staring at this photograph. Have you figured something out?”

“No,” Xie Tu shook his head decisively.

“Haha...” Shen Yu let out a somewhat mysterious laugh and turned toward the cabinet.

Since Xie Tu didn't want to say much, there was no point in asking. Shen Yu dried his hair with a towel in one hand while looking for a hair dryer in the cabinet with the other.

With one hand raised to his head, his shirt rode up slightly with the movement of his arm, revealing half of his firm waist, the curve of his waist exuding a seductive scent.

Having just bathed, his white shirt was damp and clung to his body. Xie Tu could even see Shen Yu's perfect shoulder blades, beautiful like butterfly wings.

The tentacles behind him disobediently reached toward Shen Yu's waist, but were slapped away by Shen Yu the moment they touched him. The tentacles quickly retreated behind Xie Tu's back, and Shen Yu said, “I'm drying my hair, don't mess around.”

The rising steam from the warm water made Shen Yu's voice soft and damp.

Xie Tu stared blankly, his gaze hot yet sincere. He felt a rush of blood to his nose, which Shen Yu was completely unaware of.

With both hands raised to dry his hair, his waist became even more defined. Xie Tu felt a cold sensation in his nose. Looking down, he saw pea-sized bloodstains on the white blanket. He frowned but didn't care, raising both hands to cover his nose while continuing to watch.

He remembered the feel of that waist. When held, it was soft and delicate, so slender that it could be enveloped by a single hand, as if it had no bones—perhaps that was how it should be described.

While drying his hair, Shen Yu felt something was off. He didn't know if it was because Xie Tu had lost too much blood, or if Xie Tu's blood was different from others'. First, Shen Yu smelled the scent of fresh blood from the warm air of the hair dryer. Doubting he had smelled wrong, Shen Yu deliberately turned off the hair dryer and leaned in to listen.

It wasn't the hair dryer. Shen Yu turned around, preparing to ask Xie Tu if he smelled it, only to see Xie Tu covering his nose, staring intently at him. Nosebleed seeped through his fingers, unstoppable, staining the blanket.

Shen Yu: ...

Xie Tu: ?

“Xie Tu!” Shen Yu didn't even put down the hair dryer before rushing to the edge of the bed. He knelt by the bedside, reached out to grab the roll of toilet paper on the nightstand, and clumsily tore off a long strip of paper to wipe Xie Tu's nosebleed. He pulled away Xie Tu's hand that was covering his nose and crumpled the paper into a ball to temporarily plug the nosebleed.

Shen Yu was usually lazy, but this was the first time he had encountered such a scene. He unconsciously used some force while wiping the blood for Xie Tu.

“Why did you suddenly get a nosebleed out of nowhere?” Shen Yu was clearly and genuinely concerned about Xie Tu. He leaned in close to Xie Tu's face, asking once he saw the blood had stopped flowing.

Despite the nosebleed and his nose being stuffed with paper, Xie Tu could still smell the faint fragrance lingering on Shen Yu after his bath.

So sweet. Xie Tu looked up in surprise, meeting Shen Yu's concerned eyes.

Thump, thump, thump-thump-thump.

A heartbeat.

Xie Tu opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.

Shen Yu hastily leaned down, placing his ear close to Xie Tu's mouth.

This time, he heard clearly. Xie Tu said, “Heartbeat...”

Shen Yu was confused. He pressed, “Heartbeat? What about it? Is something wrong?”

As he asked, he placed his hand over Xie Tu's heart. It was a slow but powerful heartbeat, nothing unusual.

“Shen Yu, listen, heartbeat...” Xie Tu's voice trembled as he used his blood-stained hand to carefully cup Shen Yu's face, forcing Shen Yu to look at him.

Because of this movement, Shen Yu let go of the hand covering Xie Tu's nose. Seeing that the nosebleed had stopped, he let out a soft sigh of relief.

But in return, he looked at Xie Tu's eyes with confusion—those eyes that held an indescribable attraction.

But in the next second, Shen Yu was startled, his pupils widening.

In Xie Tu's eyes, there was trembling, surprise, and joy, an expression incredibly like a child who had received candy. Following this, a pea-sized tear fell from the corner of his eye, landing precisely on the back of Shen Yu's hand.

The tear hitting Shen Yu's hand actually made a soft splat.

Shen Yu's hand, struck by the tear, trembled slightly.

“M-Mister Xie...” Shen Yu called out softly.

Xie Tu placed his hand behind Shen Yu's back, pulling him into his embrace. Shen Yu pressed against his chest, listening to his clumsy heartbeat.

He held him so carefully.

It wasn't an illusion before; it turns out I really have a heart...

Regarding this, Xie Tu felt both fortunate and pained.