He saying nothing was better, but it made Meng Jingwei notice the tie wrapped around his hand, a makeshift bandage on his wound.
"What happened to your hand?"
Meng Jingwei, full of questions, walked up to Qing Muye and took his hand, examining it closely. "Did I do this earlier?"
"It's nothing."
He pulled his hand away, not wanting Meng Jingwei to worry too much, nor wanting to see her feel guilty and remorseful because he was injured.
However...
Qing Muye had thought too much.
"Serves you right!"
She snorted, "You were only bitten by me. Back then, you forced me to..."
The memory of her miscarriage surfaced, and Meng Jingwei couldn't help but feel a surge of anger.
That miscarriage had caused her to bleed profusely, nearly costing her life. If she hadn't been so resilient, she might have already been dead.
But the past was the past, and Meng Jingwei didn't want to dwell on it.
She glanced at the two bowls of bloody water. "Mark this spot. After we get out, have someone test these to see what's in them."
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
Qing Muye's voice was exceptionally gentle.
Perhaps sensing the unfinished words Meng Jingwei had spoken earlier, the man felt a pang of guilt and self-reproach.
"Let's go."
Meng Jingwei turned and walked out of the study, Qing Muye following closely behind.
As they walked through the vast secret chamber, no, rather than a secret chamber, it was more like an underground palace.
It contained numerous rooms, including a large conference hall, a study, bedrooms, and a pharmacy. To their surprise, as they explored, they even found an armory.
However, most of the weapons were from the Ming and Qing dynasties. They were historically significant but too recent to fetch a good price if sold.
After walking for an unknown duration, Meng Jingwei finally reached her limit. She waved her hand, "I can't anymore, I'm too tired, I need to rest."
With no drinking water and nothing to eat, Meng Jingwei's energy was depleted. She collapsed onto the ground, heedless of the dust, and lay down to rest.
"It's very dirty here. Let me find you a room to rest in."
Qing Muye squatted beside her and said softly.
"No, I'm too tired, I don't want to move."
Meng Jingwei closed her eyes and waved her hand, wanting nothing more than to sleep.
Seeing her so haggard and weak, Qing Muye felt a surge of concern. He patted her shoulder. "Come on, get up, I'll carry you."
He turned his back to Meng Jingwei and said to her.
The woman, who had felt utterly exhausted moments ago, lazily opened her eyes. "Are you really going to carry me?"
"Yes."
Qing Muye gestured with his eyes, inviting her to get on.
Meng Jingwei looked at his broad back, a hint of slyness flashing in her eyes. She sat up and climbed onto Qing Muye's back. "Since you're so eager to carry me, I'll reluctantly oblige. But I'm warning you, you're carrying me willingly. If I bump or get hurt later, don't blame me."
Regardless of whether Qing Muye was a soft-hearted fool or genuinely cared for her, she wouldn't miss an opportunity to be lazy.
Although their phones couldn't connect to the outside world, their watches were less affected.
It was already three in the morning since they had fallen into the secret chamber.
They had been walking for a full twelve hours, exhausted and thirsty, unable to continue.
Lying on his back, the man slowly got up. He didn't feel her weight as burdensome; rather, he felt she was quite light. Her slender frame indeed needed proper nourishment.
Qing Muye cupped her hips with his hands, and Meng Jingwei wrapped one arm around his neck while holding a palace lantern with the other.
In the underground palace, after several searches, they found more candleholders with lampshades, so the candlelight wouldn't flicker due to the slight breeze generated by their movement.
Leaning against his sturdy back, Meng Jingwei closed her eyes in contentment. "I really don't know when we'll be able to leave this place. If we can leave, I swear, I'll be a good person and do good deeds for the rest of my life."
"Do you know the saying 'a wicked person lives to a thousand'? Someone like you won't die."
"Hahaha, right? I think so too."
Hearing his teasing, Meng Jingwei's mood instantly lifted.
However, perhaps due to the more than ten hours of continuous walking, Meng Jingwei fell asleep on his back shortly after.
The hook of the palace lantern in her hand was caught on her hand, and the lampshade rested against Qing Muye's body, allowing them to move forward.
The woman on his back swayed her head, almost falling off occasionally.
Finally, Qing Muye found a bedroom. He gently placed the woman on a bare stone bed, carefully protecting her so she wouldn't bump or scrape herself.
The stone bed was dusty, but given the difficult circumstances, Qing Muye had to let her make do. He immediately covered her with his suit.
Watching her sleep soundly in exhaustion, Qing Muye left a lamp by her bedside, then lit another palace lantern and began searching the vicinity for a water source and an exit.
Worried that Meng Jingwei might wake up at any moment, he opened his phone's memo app and typed a message: "I'm going to find water. Don't wander off when you wake up."
He set his phone to no password, leaving the memo page open so she could easily see his message.
Meng Jingwei slept for a full eight hours.
During this time, she didn't wake up, no matter how much Qing Muye called her.
Qing Muye, concerned about her physical condition, frequently felt her forehead and checked her breathing, as if fearing some accident might occur.
As they were underground, it was the middle of the night, and the temperature was very low.
Qing Muye searched the area, found a water source, and brought back water in a container, placing it by the bedside.
After waiting and waiting for her to wake up, and seeing her huddled in a ball from the cold, Qing Muye had no choice but to lie down beside her and pull her into his embrace.
...
Meng Jingwei woke up again at noon the next day.
She opened her eyes and saw Qing Muye's enlarged face beside her. However, his usually handsome and good-looking features were now somewhat pale.
As he held her, Meng Jingwei could clearly feel the heat radiating from his body.
"Qing Muye?"
Meng Jingwei called out, but Qing Muye didn't respond.
Her heart sank, and she felt that something was not right.
She reached out and touched his forehead. As expected, he had a fever.
Meng Jingwei immediately checked the wound on the thenar eminence of Qing Muye's palm, which she had bitten. It was still bleeding profusely, with no scabbing or healing.
"This is bad."
Meng Jingwei knew that Qing Muye was likely suffering from a fever caused by an infection in his wound.
She sat up from the stone bed and looked at the unconscious Qing Muye, her heartstrings taut with worry.
If they couldn't leave the underground palace within a short period, Qing Muye wouldn't last a few days.
If the infection continued, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Meng Jingwei anxiously ran her hands through her hair, feeling utterly powerless and despairing.
They had searched the underground palace for a long time, but they hadn't found an exit!
Or, it was highly possible that they had found the location of an exit, but it was protected by a mechanism, so even standing beside it, they couldn't get out.