Chapter 41

Xun Yin paused, immediately understanding Pei Qingyu's intention. He opened his mouth to say something, but Pei Qingyu shook his head, signaling for him to let him finish first.

"I'll talk to Zhuo Wumian and provoke him. He's headstrong and conceited, so he may well pull back the gunmen and keep playing with us. That will buy us some time."

"All right, then, Captain, you..." Xun Yin waited a moment. Seeing that Pei Qingyu had closed his eyes again, he finally asked.

"I'll come find you. Don't worry."

Knowing there was no point in saying more, Xun Yin nodded and began carefully watching for any movement around them. The instant he sensed the gazes watching them suddenly disappear, he picked up the table and rushed out.

Pei Qingyu caught all of this out of the corner of his eye and relaxed slightly. Bracing himself against the wall, he stood and stepped forward without hesitation, but not in Xun Yin's direction. Just as his toes were about to touch the electric current on the floor, he seemed to catch sight of something else.

-The surveillance camera had moved.

The camera that had been tracking him all this time suddenly tilted up and down, then began blinking red at slow intervals.

-Had Song Ranran taken control of the surveillance cameras?

Pei Qingyu froze, hastily drawing back the foot he had been stepping toward the electrified area.

The condition Zhuo Wumian had given him was that he had to die. Pei Qingyu had intended to keep his promise and let Xun Yin escape alone. But... Pei Qingyu glanced toward Xun Yin. The man was watching him intently, clearly unaware of the change in the camera.

Pei Qingyu gritted his teeth, turned, and hurried toward Xun Yin again.

His heart had been racing all this time. Pei Qingyu tried to steady his increasingly rapid breathing, but as he reached Xun Yin, his legs suddenly gave way. His vision went black, and before he could say anything, he pitched forward, landing securely in Xun Yin's arms just as he had expected.

"Captain?"

Xun Yin called out anxiously. Before he could say anything else, Pei Qingyu's icy fingers suddenly gripped his wrist. Leaning close to his ear, he whispered, "Don't turn around. Song Ranran has probably taken control of the surveillance cameras. When you came over earlier, I put the two syringes in your pocket. Move closer to the window. In a moment... cough..."

Before Pei Qingyu could finish, a violent coughing fit cut him off. He lowered his head and clamped a hand over his mouth, seemingly struggling to suppress something. His trembling body suddenly went still. The next second, his chest heaved, and he finally turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Captain!"

Xun Yin panicked at once. He frantically searched Pei Qingyu for his medicine bottle, but found nothing.

"Captain, your medicine-where did you put it?" After asking, Xun Yin suddenly recalled the several times Pei Qingyu had resisted taking his medicine and abruptly realized something. "Is it... that you haven't had your medicine with you for a while?"

Pei Qingyu did not answer. Only after lowering his head and spitting out another mouthful of blood did he slump weakly back into Xun Yin's arms.

Zhuo Wumian watched Pei Qingyu, who had just finished coughing up blood, with surprise and uncertainty, lightly shaking the medicine bottle in his hand.

He exhaled a stale breath and thought for a while. Suddenly understanding something, he lowered his eyes and scoffed, then said slowly, "Captain Pei really is sparing no effort to escape. Even coughing up blood, he still won't tell Deputy Captain Xun the truth."

"You took his medicine." Xun Yin straightened and snarled at the camera, "Get out here."

"I'll come out. Don't rush." Zhuo Wumian replied carelessly, leaning forward slightly. "But I didn't take his medicine. Your Captain Pei gave it to me of his own accord-aren't you curious why?"

"Shut up..." Xun Yin had also begun to vaguely understand, but he had no way to stop Zhuo Wumian from saying those words.

"Because the condition I gave Captain Pei was-if he died, I would ensure you stayed alive. So he gave me his medicine. See? Letting him die in your arms is a pretty good choice too."

"You..."

Xun Yin was so furious he could not get a single word out. He shifted his arm, but something tugged at his sleeve-it was Pei Qingyu. Even unconscious, Pei Qingyu still unconsciously clutched Xun Yin's sleeve with one hand, his other hand gathered around Xun Yin's coat. Xun Yin gradually calmed down and stayed where he was in silence.

Zhuo Wumian paid no attention to Xun Yin's feelings and continued cheerfully, "See? You fulfilled my condition-killing the people here-and I kept my promise to you too-you got the syringes. The wager is complete. A pleasure doing business with you."

"Then let's make another wager," Xun Yin suddenly said. "My condition is that he lives. Let's make another wager."

"No. His life has already been exchanged for yours."

"Then trade my life back for his."

Zhuo Wumian burst out laughing. "That's not how this game works-but if you insist on betting, I don't want your life. I want you to love someone you can never have."

Xun Yin froze. Zhuo Wumian continued on his own. "You can love him, but you can't have him. That's my condition. Will you take the bet?"

Xun Yin said nothing. Zhuo Wumian curled his lips, then abruptly changed the subject.

"Do you know how he got those two syringes? I put the bullets and syringes on opposite sides of a balance scale. When one side was taken away, the other would fall into the electric current. But he still retrieved both-he calculated the maximum current he could withstand and thrust his hand straight into it the instant the syringes hit the floor to retrieve them. Why else would he have been trembling all over this whole time? Why else would he have coughed up blood just now?"

Xun Yin's eyes were bloodshot. He had indeed wondered how Pei Qingyu had obtained those two syringes, but his captain was far too strong-even before losing consciousness, he had still been giving him careful instructions. He had never imagined it would have been like this.

The electric current kept stimulating Pei Qingyu's fragile heart. Unconscious, he could no longer suppress the trembling of his muscles, and it finally developed into faint spasms.

"Your captain has nothing but cases on his mind. He doesn't spare his own life to solve them. Ultimately, that's why you argued with him too, isn't it?" As Xun Yin listened to Zhuo Wumian recount these things with complete accuracy, his heart sank slightly-he really had been listening in on Pei Qingyu all along.

"You care about his life, yet he doesn't care about it at all. Why don't you stop loving him too? Will you bet? Will you still take the bet? Hehehe..."