[Alert! Alert! Emergency! Male lead’s life is in danger!]
[Alert! Alert! Emergency! Male lead’s life is in danger!]
[Alert! Alert! Emergency! Male lead’s life is in danger!]
Just as Shen Yuqing reached the entrance of the residential area, the system’s urgent alarms blared in his mind. Startled, he quickly called out, “Pei Yiyan, wake up! Pei Yiyan!”
There was no response from the man on his back. Taking a deep breath, Shen Yuqing carried him to the roadside, intending to hail a taxi back. But as luck would have it, there wasn’t a single cab available at this hour.
Every three minutes, the system frantically sent out alerts. Shen Yuqing asked, [Plot the fastest route to the hospital for me.]
The system quickly mapped it out, even helpfully estimating the time—about twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes wasn’t too bad. Plus, with the system’s cheat-like assistance, carrying Pei Yiyan felt much easier than usual.
Gritting his teeth, Shen Yuqing realized that not only were there no taxis, but because it was Saturday, even the drivers had taken the day off to spend time with their families.
He called Pei Yiyan’s name a few more times, but there was still no response. There was no time to wait.
Shen Yuqing didn’t even have a moment to think about why Pei Yiyan’s condition had suddenly worsened. Not daring to waste a second, he hurriedly carried Pei Yiyan toward the hospital.
As he walked, he kept an eye on the passing cars—either they were already occupied, or the drivers took one look at Pei Yiyan’s unconscious state and refused to pick them up, afraid he might die in their car and bring them bad luck.
Shen Yuqing stubbornly carried Pei Yiyan nearly halfway there before asking through clenched teeth, [Can’t you just summon a car for me?]
The system replied, [No.]
Not only could it not, but because it had been helping Shen Yuqing carry Pei Yiyan more easily, its energy was nearly depleted. It urged, [Host, you need to hurry. I can only hold on for five more minutes.]
Five minutes!
Even if he ran there alone, it would be hard to reach the hospital in five minutes, let alone while carrying a full-grown man like Pei Yiyan.
Breathing heavily, he quickened his pace. But the more he panicked, the more chaotic things became. In his rush to get to the hospital, his foot caught on a small stone, sending both him and Pei Yiyan tumbling straight to the ground.
Because he was carrying Pei Yiyan, he couldn’t even brace himself for the fall—he just hit the pavement hard.
Shen Yuqing let out a muffled groan. He felt like he’d been thoroughly roughed up, especially his knees and elbows, which burned with pain. He didn’t need to look to know they were scraped and bleeding.
Before he could even catch his breath, the system in his mind urged him again.
[Host, get up quickly!] The system sounded anxious. [I’m almost out of energy.]
He really had the worst luck.
Shen Yuqing rolled Pei Yiyan off his back and onto the ground, got up himself, then hoisted Pei Yiyan back onto his shoulders.
The system encouraged him, [Host! Keep going! At this speed, you’ll get there soon!]
How soon was “soon”?
Shen Yuqing had no idea anymore.
He was starting to feel numb. Just as the system had warned, after carrying Pei Yiyan a little farther, he clearly began to struggle. When he called out to the system again, there was no response—it had run out of energy and forcibly shut down.
Shen Yuqing was now in a situation where heaven wouldn’t answer his cries and earth wouldn’t respond to his pleas.
Pei Yiyan’s life was entirely in his hands. He had considered that Pei Yiyan was the protagonist—how could a protagonist exit the story so early? But the system’s urgent alarm had been real, leaving no room for doubt.
Even when Song Wangzhuo had fallen ill, the system had merely asked if he wanted to accept a side quest—there had been no alarm like this.
By the end, Shen Yuqing was running purely on willpower. When he finally reached the hospital entrance and placed Pei Yiyan on the stretcher, his legs gave out. If not for the nurse catching him, he might have collapsed right there.
Pei Yiyan was wheeled into the emergency room, and Shen Yuqing sat on the bench outside, trying to steady himself. Only when he felt like he had come back to life did he realize his elbows and knees were still throbbing.
He rolled up his sleeves—his elbows were scraped and bleeding, though the wounds had already scabbed over. His knees were skinned, reddened, and likely to bruise soon.
Shen Yuqing exhaled and had a nurse tend to his injuries briefly. He wasn’t worried about Pei Yiyan—now that they were at the hospital, and with the protagonist’s halo, he was bound to pull through.
But the question remained—why had he suddenly collapsed?
Could that drug have been lethal?
No way. That Omega couldn’t possibly have that kind of capability.
So what had gone wrong?
With the system still silent, Shen Yuqing could only wait for Pei Yiyan to come out and ask the doctors.
About ten minutes later, a servant arrived with Pei Yiyan’s belongings. The moment he saw Shen Yuqing’s exposed knees and elbows, his face turned pale. “Young Master! Are you alright?”
Damn. The young master was definitely going to kill him.
Shen Yuqing glanced at him and said, “I’m fine. Don’t overreact.”
After a pause, he asked, “How did you get here?”
The servant replied, “It was impossible to get a taxi at this hour. I walked forever before finally finding one.”
Shen Yuqing frowned. Strange—why had it been so hard to hail a cab tonight?
Something about it felt off, as if some unseen force had been interfering.
But before he could dwell on it, the emergency room light turned off. The doctor stepped out and said, “We’ve stabilized him. Once the anesthesia wears off and he wakes up, he’ll be fine.”
Shen Yuqing pressed for details. The doctor explained, “He was already in a pseudo-rut state, and his pheromone levels were dangerously high. Unable to release them, combined with the head injury, it triggered unconsciousness.”
Shen Yuqing exhaled in relief. That made sense.
At the time, he’d only been focused on helping Pei Yiyan expend energy—he’d completely forgotten about the head injury. Now that he thought about it, it sent a chill down his spine.
He’d have to be more careful in the future.
With Pei Yiyan out of danger, Shen Yuqing’s tension eased. He followed the nurse to Pei Yiyan’s private VIP room, which resembled a five-star hotel suite—compact but fully equipped.
The servant, Xiao Zhao, left to report the incident to Shen Zhen, leaving only Shen Yuqing and Pei Yiyan in the room.
Shen Yuqing sat on the sofa, his legs still trembling slightly.
Shen Yuqing’s gaze lingered on Pei Yiyan, who was now wearing clean pajamas brought by Xiao Zhao, with a bandage wrapped around his forehead and medicine applied to the injured area.
Leaning back, Shen Yuqing finally found a rare moment of peace.
Soon, Xiao Zhao returned and said to Shen Yuqing, “Young Master, the driver is already downstairs. You should go back and rest first—I’ll keep watch here.”
It was almost one in the morning.
Shen Yuqing was indeed exhausted. He had barely gotten two days of rest when he first had to look after Song Wangzhuo, then was informed that Pei Yiyan’s storyline was about to begin, forcing him to rush back without pause. The chain of events had left him physically and mentally drained.
He nodded. “Then you take care of things here. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
After Pei Yiyan woke up, he would still need to stay in the hospital for further examinations. Shen Yuqing wondered whether the head injury would affect his eyes—whether it might even restore his sight.
At this thought, Shen Yuqing suddenly let out an inexplicable chuckle.
He really had watched too many TV dramas and read too many novels.
People truly do come up with the wildest ideas when they’re busiest.
