I'm the doctor, you're the patient

Song Shiya's pupils abruptly contracted.

Her body instinctively recoiled.

Her wrist struggled wildly in Shen Ye's grasp, her feet pushing against the pedals as she tried to pull herself free. Her other hand even groped for the door handle.

As she struggled desperately, Shen Ye's other hand had somehow already closed around the hilt of the Ghost Head beside him.

His fingertips trembled slightly, his fingers alternately loosening and tightening, as though he were fighting some invisible force.

At the same time, Song Shiya saw his lips move.

No sound came out, but she understood what he mouthed.

"Get out."

Those words clearly weren't directed at her.

They were directed at himself.

Then his hideous expression began to change.

It didn't return to normal. Instead, it twisted into an expression of extreme agony.

It was as though someone were tearing at every muscle in his face. He kept struggling with all his might.

Veins bulged across Shen Ye's forehead, and sweat rolled down his cheeks.

His breathing grew heavy and rapid, his chest heaving violently. Every exhalation came with a low, muffled groan.

Just as the Ghost Head's blade was about to touch Song Shiya's smooth neck-

That murderous intent abruptly vanished.

Shen Ye's hand slipped from the hilt. His pupils gradually returned to normal, and the blood-red tint faded from his eyes.

In its place came profound exhaustion and a barely perceptible trace of embarrassment.

He released Song Shiya's wrist.

The movement was gentle, yet deliberately restrained.

It was as though he feared that touching her for even another second would bring back the impulse he had just suppressed.

Song Shiya pulled her hand back and rubbed her reddened wrist.

Her breathing was somewhat hurried too, but the fear had already left her round, almond-shaped eyes. In its place was a complicated emotion she couldn't quite put into words.

She looked at him.

He didn't look at her.

Silence lingered inside the vehicle for a long time.

"Are you all right?"

Despite being the victim, Song Shiya was the one who expressed concern for him.

"For now." Shen Ye's voice was hoarse and dry, revealing his deep exhaustion, but he felt a warmth in his heart.

"Looks like satisfying my appetite can't resolve this side effect."

As he spoke, he stared at his right hand.

The hand that had uncontrollably reached for the hilt just moments ago.

The blisters left by the hot grease on the back of his hand still throbbed faintly, but what he felt now was a different, deeper kind of burning.

That desire was still distinctly buried within his body.

It hadn't disappeared.

He had merely suppressed it.

But he knew perfectly well that he could suppress it for a while, not forever.

The next episode would only come sooner than this one had.

Can I really only get rid of this side effect by killing someone? he wondered.

"Then... you're not really going to kill someone, are you?" Song Shiya's expression became extremely complicated.

But faced with that question, Shen Ye shook his head almost without hesitation.

He might not have been a good man, but he certainly wasn't someone who killed indiscriminately.

If he turned his blade on the innocent people in the Dawn Convoy, how would he be any different from Zhao Biao, that man who was worse than a beast?

Whether it would remove the side effect was another matter. Doing something like that would certainly haunt him.

Just then, someone knocked on the window.

It was He Yumin, his face wreathed in smiles.

He first glanced at Song Shiya in the driver's seat, then turned his gaze to Shen Ye. "Captain Song, Captain Shen, why did you suddenly stop?"

Song Shiya raised her hand and checked the wristwatch Song Lei had left her before he died. It was already past five in the morning. Dawn would probably break soon.

Besides, Shen Ye was in no condition to keep moving.

Right now, he was effectively a bomb that could explode at any moment.

He posed a danger, to varying degrees, both to himself and to everyone around him.

So before Shen Ye could finish coming up with an excuse, she answered first. "It's almost dawn, and there aren't any Eldritch chasing us. Have everyone take a break for now."

Though puzzled, He Yumin immediately nodded and bowed. "Of course. I'll get right on it."

Once he had walked away, Song Shiya asked again, "Is there really no other way to deal with this?"

Shen Ye rubbed the stubble on his chin, which he hadn't shaved in several days, and put on a thoughtful expression.

Suddenly, inspiration struck, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. "Actually, there might be."

"What?"

"According to the description of the side effect in my subconscious, satisfying one primal desire will remove it. But it never specified which primal desire."

"So aside from hunger, the human urge to reproduce should count too, right?"

It sounded like a rhetorical question, but there was a hint of suggestion in it as well.

Although Song Shiya had never had sex, her roommates had talked about such things often enough after lights-out in college. As a medical professional herself, she understood immediately.

Unlike some innocent, sheltered girl, she neither blushed nor became flustered. Instead, she asked outright, "Like what you did with Lin Wanqiu earlier?"

The question left Shen Ye completely stunned.

Before doing it with Lin Wanqiu, he had specifically asked her about that. She had said Song Shiya was sleeping soundly and couldn't possibly know about their deal.

But in the end, he had underestimated Song Shiya.

When Song Shiya got into the vehicle, she had caught a lingering trace of the scent unique to Lin Wanqiu.

Then there was the black lace "battle outfit" in the corner.

And the Volvo Lin Wanqiu had suddenly received from Shen Ye.

She didn't even need to guess to know what had happened between Shen Ye and Lin Wanqiu.

But her use of "like" clearly reflected a misunderstanding.

She assumed Shen Ye had made that sort of deal with Lin Wanqiu solely to remove his Sequence's side effect.

What she didn't know was that Shen Ye had only swallowed the Blood Crystal and awakened the Butcher Sequence after finishing his deal with Lin Wanqiu.

He really couldn't be sure whether doing that would remove the side effect.

Faced with her eyes fixed intently on him, he braced himself and nodded anyway.

After receiving Shen Ye's confirmation, Song Shiya actually looked relieved.

Before he could ask why, Song Shiya took the initiative and said, "Then I'll help you!"

"What?"

Her utterly serious response caught Shen Ye off guard.

Their eyes met, and he couldn't tell whether she really meant what she said.

Song Shiya, however, replied casually, "What's the big deal? Don't forget, I'm a doctor."

"To me, this is no different from treating a patient. You're a grown man. Why are you being so bashful?"

Her words brought Shen Ye fully back to his senses, and he asked again to be sure. "You're not joking?"

Song Shiya adopted the manner she used to have at work, looked into Shen Ye's eyes, and answered seriously:

"From now on, you're the patient, and I'm the doctor, until we've resolved your side effect."