Xie Ji felt dizzy and unsteady, and his body uncontrollably tumbled off the bed.
He had been burning up all night, his clothes were soaked with sweat, and he looked as if he had been pulled out of the water. His face was covered in sticky sweat, and his already pale skin now had a sickly flush, making him incredibly alluring.
Lu Xunji caught his falling body, his warm, dry embrace carrying a faint, cool fragrance, his arms wrapping around him from behind.
Xie Ji opened his eyes, and what he saw reflected in his burning red eyes was Lu Xunji's hand.
His hands were very sexy, with prominent knuckles and wrist bones. Clear blue veins meandered up the back of his hands. At first glance, one could tell that the owner of these hands was someone with a pathological desire for control and possession.
When Xie Ji saw these hands, he couldn't help but recall the scene from his dream.
Those hands were holding his slender waist, their palms calloused and rough, gently caressing his skin inch by inch, from his waist down his legs, before easily lifting his bare, pale ankles and placing a passionate kiss on his calf.
Xie Ji felt his body, which had just recovered, start burning up again.
Ji Shi's muffled voice reached her ears. "Is that doctor even working? He's been on an IV drip all night, why isn't the fever going down?"
Lu Xunji pursed his lips tightly, holding Xie Ji without saying a word.
Xie Ji's fever was indeed dangerous. After he fainted from the fever last night, the doctor arrived and examined Xie Ji's body. Apart from the fever, there was nothing wrong.
There was no source of the heat; it was as if the fire had inexplicably started burning inside Xie Ji's body.
Unable to find the source of the fever, the doctors tried various methods to bring it down, but none of them worked. It seemed that if the fever continued, he might become mentally impaired, and there were no proper medical facilities on this deserted island.
The clinic in the town closest to the deserted island was less effective than the doctor the production team found.
It's too late to send Xie Ji to a hospital in a big city now, so the doctor could only grit his teeth and give Xie Ji antibiotics.
As expected, the burning, hazy Xie Ji finally awoke this morning.
Ji Shi marveling at how antibiotics were truly humanity's greatest invention.
Before I could even finish lamenting, the Xie Ji were lit again.
The fever seems determined not to go down.
Lu Xunji picked Xie Ji up, removed the pillow from the back of his hand, and said in a deep voice, "Get the director over here. He can't afford to have his fever go up any further... Find a way to get a vehicle that's fast enough. Xie Ji needs to be in the hospital today!"
Shang Yan came in, glanced around, and took his phone from the director. "Having the Shang Group's speedboat take Xie Ji to the nearest major hospital by water should still be in time."
Lu Xunji tightened his grip, his breathing rapid, and whispered, "As fast as you can."
After Xie Ji fainted, he didn't return to the bed where he was lost in the erotic slumber, but was directly teleported into the system space.
Little Black appeared in front of him, hissing and flicking its tongue.
"What's going on?!" Xie Ji saw the situation outside through the projection on the wall. "Am I going to die?"
"Thanks for the invitation, but I'm just barely surviving." Little Black hovered and jumped onto his head, shaking its head smugly. "This is your punishment for recklessly eating the Divine Sense Fruit... The residual karma in the Divine Sense Fruit is eroding your mind. This karma will melt when it encounters high temperatures, so I can only mobilize your bodily functions to keep your body temperature around fifty degrees Celsius. Don't worry, under this high temperature, the karma won't last long."
Xie Ji's soul floated in mid-air, looking at his pale face, and asked Little Black with a sincere question, "Have you ever thought that my body won't be able to hold out for long in this high temperature?"
The Little Black snake paused, its tail twitching.
Oh no, after being a snake for so long, I almost forgot that humans are warm-blooded animals and can't be like them. It's not a big problem for our bodies to change with the ambient temperature.
Faced with Xie Ji's innocent gaze, the Little Black snake-tail scratched its pointed head guiltily, and after a long while, it managed to stammer, "I admit there was an element of gambling involved..."
Xie Ji smiled and asked, "What are we betting on?"
"The dissolution of karma comes a little faster than your death."
Xie Ji grabbed Little Black by the neck and said in a sinister tone, "You wouldn't be holding a grudge because I almost boiled you last time, and you're planning to roast me now, would you?"
Little Black flicked its tail. "No, host! Calm down, the karma is almost dissipated, I'll... I'll bring your body temperature down right now!"
"Hurry up!"
Little Black quickly broke free from Xie Ji's grasp and exclaimed, "Turn it down! Turn it down!"
Xie Ji glanced at the temperature being lowered and his vision blurred. "Thirty degrees? Why don't you just turn it down to twenty-six degrees? Bring my corpse back and use it as your air conditioner, you damn rag doll!"
"It's been adjusted, it's been adjusted." Little Black was so busy, his snake tail slithering around. "It's all your fault, why were you yelling at me? If you hadn't yelled at me, would I have been able to adjust it?"
"I think you really want to die."
Little Black carefully adjusted its host's body temperature back to normal, then pitifully wiped away imaginary tears with its tail. "You've really changed. Before, when you needed me, you called me 'Little Baby,' but now, just because I made a small mistake, you call me 'Ragged Strip'!"
Xie Ji covered his forehead and said, "You were having too much fun, look how scared you've made Lu Xunji."
Little Black then remembered to pay attention to the target's emotions.
He held Xie Ji, his eyes bloodshot, the veins on his arms bulging. He wanted to hold the person in his arms tighter, but he was afraid of losing control and strength, so he could only keep reminding himself of the pain.
The wound on his forearm hadn't healed for long before it reopened, and blood seeped out, smearing onto Xie Ji's pale face. His hands trembled as he gently wiped away the bloodstains little by little with a clean, damp wipe.
Seemingly to exacerbate the pain, he pressed the alcohol swab directly onto the wound, which would both stop the blood from splattering onto Xie Ji and keep him conscious.
The Shang Group's speedboat arrived quickly. Lu Xunji carried Xie Ji inside, the mechanical roar exploding in their ears, while the body temperature of the person in their arms continued to drop.
Lu Xunji originally thought Xie Ji's fever was going to subside, but he found that not only had the fever subsided, but the normal body temperature that should have been maintained had also failed to be maintained, and the warm body quickly lost its temperature in his arms.
This was clearly beyond his comprehension; if a person's body temperature had already begun to drop to room temperature, it could only prove...
Lu Xunji dared not think about it and pulled Xie Ji even closer into his arms.
He leaned closer, his nose touching Xie Ji's, feeling his faint breath, and called his name in a trembling voice, "... Xie Ji."
Her fingernails pressed against the alcohol swab, digging deep into the wound and tearing the flesh apart, causing blood to gush out.
Xie Ji took a deep breath and suddenly opened his eyes.
Her misty blue eyes suddenly met those deep, purplish-red pupils, and a single hot tear fell without warning, landing on Xie Ji's eye.
It's so hot.
Xie Ji blinked.
The tear slid down his cheek and down his neck.
Xie Ji rubbed his eyes and coughed softly, " Lu Xunji..."
Lu Xunji didn't say anything, just stared at him, blood dripping onto the ground like beads. He was stunned for a long time before responding softly, as if nothing had happened, "Hmm."
Xie Ji was about to break free from his embrace to check his wound.
Lu Xunji reacted instinctively and grabbed his chin.
Xie Ji fell back into his arms, the smell of blood lingering around his nose, and a warm, wet touch on his lips.
His eyes widened.
Lu Xunji licked his lips, then let out a trembling laugh, "I want to..."
Xie Ji, puzzled, asked, "... What... are you thinking about?"
"I'll sleep with you."