Cooperation

Yu Jing's mind was in disarray as he tucked the hand axe back into his belt. He needed to bandage Jiang Tian's wound and stop the bleeding as soon as possible, but treatment was absolutely impossible in such a narrow passage.

"Jiang Tian, can you still move?!"

Yu Jing shouted loudly, afraid that the woman would pass out from the pain.

"It hurts...!"

Hearing Jiang Tian's weak voice, Yu Jing immediately urged, "Crawl after me. There'll be a small room once we crawl out of here! As long as we can stop the bleeding, you'll survive."

"Okay."

Jiang Tian's will to survive was unexpectedly strong. With Yu Jing dragging her along, she used every ounce of strength in both hands to crawl forward.

The blood left along the way had already stained the entire ventilation duct red.

"We're here!"

When Yu Jing's body left the duct and the light shone on Jiang Tian's face, she revealed a faint smile before passing out. There was no color left in her face; the blood loss had already reached a lethal level.

"Why hasn't any testing staff come here?!"

Yu Jing Did Not Dare leave the room rashly, lest he draw the Dangerous Object from his own Testing Area over here. He stood and waved both arms around the room, signaling in every direction. He thought that if a staff member saw his cries for help through the cameras, they would surely come to assist. After all, a life was at stake.

A life was at stake? All seven of us testers came from low-ranking county towns. They took our identification during the test, and even if we died, the institute might easily be able to cover it up... This was a death test conducted with our lives on the line from the start. Could that be it?

Having reached that terrifying conclusion, Yu Jing stopped calling for help. He immediately took off his coat and tore the T-shirt underneath into strips to help Jiang Tian stop the bleeding. But no matter how tightly he bound her thigh, blood still surged from the artery in the massive wound.

"No, this is completely useless... Right, the medical spray I got from the room at the beginning!"

Yu Jing held the small bottle of spray in his hand. Though he thought it probably would not do much, he could only try anything now. He aimed it at the shattered opening in Jiang Tian's lower leg and sprayed.

The liquid in the small bottle was used up in less than three seconds, but something resembling a miracle happened before Yu Jing's eyes.

The moment the spray adhered to Jiang Tian's wound, it stopped the bleeding. More than that, it seemed to activate cells, continuously regenerating flesh before Yu Jing's eyes until the missing limb had been completely restored.

"This spray... There couldn't possibly be such a medicine in any of the knowledge I've learned. Immortal Brew Jade Liquid?!"

A brand-new lower leg and foot were rebuilt from cells and restored. Even some color returned to Jiang Tian's face during the process. She immediately came out of her unconscious state and slowly opened her eyes.

"I... I'm not dead?"

Jiang Tian stared at her left foot in disbelief, moving her lower leg without feeling the slightest discomfort. Then, after a second of stunned stillness, she turned and tightly embraced Yu Jing, the man who had saved her life. She even pressed her full lips to Yu Ming's lips in repayment.

A young man born in the countryside, someone who did not Attract Attention, had been invaded by such a mature woman during this test.

The two slowly separated after half a minute had passed.

"You..." Though Jiang Tian's makeup had washed away, she was still quite attractive. Yu Jing's face turned completely red from that kiss.

"You saved my life, and a kiss from a hostess like me isn't worth much anyway. If we can get out alive, I'm willing to give you more. I never thought I could really survive... Sob!"

Jiang Tian's somewhat explicit words seemed to come from the heart. Although she had a pretty face and a good body, her humble origins had driven her to sell her body in order to live well. As a pitiful sex worker, Jiang Tian believed that offering her body was the only way she could repay others.

It was also because of this helplessness that two streams of tears rolled down Jiang Tian's cheeks.

"Miss Jiang Tian, now isn't the time for us to rest. My situation is also quite dangerous... Could you take off your sweater? I don't mean anything else by it. In my Testing Area, the Dangerous Object is extremely sensitive to blood. The smell of blood on you could easily expose our location."

"Okay."

Jiang Tian completely obeyed Yu Jing's words. She wiped the tears from her face, then took off her bloodstained sweater with both hands, revealing a thin, tight white undershirt beneath it.

"How about taking my coat? If you don't mind that it's dirty." Yu Jing looked away as he handed her his hooded sweatshirt.

"What will you wear?"

Yu Jing had torn his T-shirt into strips to wrap the wound, and without his coat, his upper body was completely bare.

"I remember there's a set of clothes in the wardrobe here."

From the wardrobe where he had previously found the medical spray, Yu Jing took out a clean set of work clothes.

Looking at the uniform, Jiang Tian spoke softly. "My pants have blood on them too. How about I wear this whole set? I don't mean to look down on your clothes. What happened when we first met was my own problem. Actually, I was born in a Class C rural town too, just like you. I was sick of the contemptuous looks from everyone else. I'm sorry."

"It's fine. In that case, wear this set."

Yu Jing did not know what else to say, so he handed her the clothes. Jiang Tian changed without any concern in front of him, leaving him no choice but to turn away politely.

"My body isn't worth anything. You really don't need to do that."

Seeing Yu Jing avert his eyes, Jiang Tian spoke with a self-mocking tone. After changing into the slightly oversized work uniform, she had lost some of her glamour but gained a great deal of innocence.

"Looks like both of us need to find somewhere with water and clean the mess off our faces."

Jiang Tian's blood had splattered across Yu Jing's face, while Jiang Tian also needed to wash away her smeared makeup.

"Haha, I look awful now, Right?" Jiang Tian mocked herself, but her smile was quite happy.

"No. I think you look much better than you did at the beginning. Back to the point—what exactly was that blood just now?" Yu Jing shifted the subject back to something Jiang Tian Did Not Dare face.

"I don't know either. This ring brought all of it here." Jiang Tian showed a frightened look and tried to remove the ring from her finger, but she could not.

"Don't be afraid. That blood probably can't invade my Testing Area, or it would have come already. For now, act together with me in my Testing Area."

"But only one person can pass the test." Jiang Tian immediately raised this extreme issue.

"It's fine. From what happened in your Testing Area, we can basically see how dangerous this test is. And I've figured out why those researchers set up the 'Interactive Area' for us! One person basically can't eliminate a Dangerous Object, and the chances of being killed are extremely high. Cooperation is necessary. The two of us will cooperate, and whoever kills it in the end will be the one who passes. I won't have any complaints."

Jiang Tian replied, "Do you think I'd go back alone just to die? Let's work together. Is three and a half million that important to you?"

"I guess so." Yu Jing merely smiled faintly and offered no further explanation.

At that moment, Jiang Tian revealed a heartfelt smile. Then she stretched out both arms and tightly embraced Yu Jing.

"We have to survive."