Wei Yenwu had no idea that, without having done anything at all, he had caught the attention of both his own niece and an outsider. Hoshino truly wanted to study what Ch'en's greatest desire was. Only in that frenzied state could she achieve her goal.
Wei Yenwu...
His strength was formidable. These old people had each lived longer than the young, turning themselves into banners beneath whose shadows all young people struggled to survive, climbing upward toward those banners.
"Go back. I'll keep an eye on you."
Hoshino gave Ch'en her word. Ch'en nodded in understanding. She trusted the shrine maiden fairly well; since Hoshino said she would watch over her, she truly would silently keep watch from the shadows. After thinking it over, Ch'en did not feel the usual disgust of being monitored. Instead, she felt as though she had gained another guardian deity. The more she thought about it, the happier it made her.
She turned and walked out of the shrine, setting off for work. The vermilion torii of Yae Shrine glowed beneath the morning light, lifting her spirits. Just as she was thinking about it, she received a work message from the Lungmen Guard Department infirmary.
"What happened?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to ask Inspector Ch'en whether you still need the bed. You still have half a bottle of glucose left unfinished."
"..."
Ch'en fell into an awkward silence. She had nearly forgotten about that.
After receiving the news, she had fallen unconscious. When she woke in the infirmary, she had rather fiercely pulled out her own IV needle, spraying crimson blood across the floor, then rinsed her arm under the tap and ran straight to the shrine.
"I don't need it."
She said to the person in charge of the infirmary, "Throw out that half-bottle