DA chapter 47

Yan Xu couldn’t fathom how the cat had lured the nurses away. However, since the cat belonged to Lin Jia, the situation somehow seemed to make sense.

Then, Yan Xu had another thought—when he first saw Lin Jia at the bounty counter, he immediately noticed Lin Jia’s gaze in the crowd. Afterward, Lin Jia threw the cat toward the man named Chen.

Yan Xu ran his tongue over his teeth. He had found Lin Jia’s flaw.

If the cat was truly that smart and spiritual, how could it have mistaken Chen? This made Lin Jia’s act of throwing the cat seem deeply suspicious.

Lin Jia…

What exactly was this person trying to do?

Thump thump thump—

Thump thump thump—

While on the way to the Fishman, Yan Xu, who had been distracted, suddenly heard footsteps in the distance. Two nurses walked side by side into the inpatient building through the entrance.

Yan Xu reacted quickly. He flashed behind a wall, his back pressed flat against it, hiding himself in the blind spot.

He raised his head. The blind spot wouldn’t last forever—it would disappear as the nurses approached. He had to find another hiding spot before they got any closer.

But before he could find one, he felt someone tug at the corner of his clothes. Reflexively, he twisted around and restrained the person.

“It’s you?”

Lin Jia’s right arm was twisted behind his back by Yan Xu, but he didn’t struggle. He only frowned lightly and turned faintly pale from the pain.

Yan Xu knew his own strength. His job involved this kind of thing. Inside Underwater Wold, even burly men could not move when he restrained them like this, much less Lin Jia.

He quickly released him.

He lowered his voice and said, “Why are you—”

Before he could finish, Lin Jia tugged at the corner of his clothes again. The chibi pattern on Yan Xu’s light gray hoodie distorted slightly from the pull.

Now the pattern became something even Yan Xu could no longer recognize.

The two nurses were approaching the wall. Lin Jia spoke briefly. “Go.”

His right arm had gone limp and was numb; it was likely dislocated by Yan Xu. He could only use his left hand to grab a corner of Yan Xu’s clothes and lead him toward the safe place he had chosen.

Fortunately, Yan Xu did not resist at that moment—perhaps because he had injured Lin Jia and felt awkward about resisting further. Lin Jia did not have to exert much effort to drag Yan Xu away from the wall.

The medicine storage room on the first floor was not far from the wall. Lin Jia pushed the door open, slipped inside first, and then reached inside and hooked his fingers into Yan Xu’s collar to pull him in.

Bang.

A soft sound as Lin Jia shut the door.

There were no medicines in the storage room, only many shelves. The room itself was small, with enough space for only one person to pass between the shelves.

Now, however, two people had squeezed into that narrow passageway meant for one.

The storage room lighting was dim. After Lin Jia closed the door, the room sank into darkness like sticky ink.

Yan Xu felt that he and Lin Jia were pressed together. He could hear Lin Jia’s restrained breathing.

A light intake of breath, then a light exhale.

“You…” Yan Xu had injured him, and no matter what, he felt somewhat apologetic.

Although Lin Jia was full of lies and seemed perfect, the real reason Lin Jia had invited Yan Xu to Fish Belly was to get Yan Xu’s protection.

But Yan Xu had hurt him.

Originally, he wanted to say: Why didn’t you make a sound?

Then, with the two nurses approaching, he thought again—only a fool would make a sound, like ‘Hey, I’m here, behind you.’

“Don’t touch me next time,” Yan Xu warned.

He had quick reflexes. Too many people in Underwater Wold wanted his life. If he could not subdue an attacker with one move, he would be the one subdued.

“Mm.”

A faint response came from beside him.

The light was too dim for Yan Xu to see Lin Jia’s expression. All he could make out was a vague, blurry outline.

But Lin Jia’s breathing near his ear remained clear. After responding to the warning, his breathing returned to restrained inhaling and exhaling.

Yan Xu heard something in that breathing and asked, “Does it hurt badly?”

A faint voice, slightly strained from suppressing pain, came out: “Doesn’t hurt.”

Yan Xu did not believe it. This person must be in a lot of pain—even his tone had changed.

He remembered how even burly men with thick necks would howl in pain when he restrained them.

“Where are you hurt?” Yan Xu asked awkwardly.

“Arm.”

“… ”

Yan Xu ground his teeth. “Dislocated?”

“Probably.”

Yan Xu reached out. Since they were standing so close, he quickly found Lin Jia’s arm, gripped his elbow, and located the radius.

“Bear with it.”

“Mm.”

Yan Xu pressed the radius with his thumb while externally rotating and bending Lin Jia’s arm with his other hand. After repeating this motion several times, a click sounded inside the storage room.

“Move it and see,” Yan Xu said.

He withdrew his hand from Lin Jia’s arm, but the warmth of another person remained in his palm.

After a while, Yan Xu heard Lin Jia’s calm voice say, “Thank you, Captain Yan.”

Yan Xu heard little gratitude in it. To him, it sounded more like sarcasm—after all, the culprit who had caused the dislocation was standing right there.

He himself was also annoyed, and repeated: “Don’t touch me casually.”

For now, at least, he did not want to hurt Lin Jia. Once he revealed what Lin Jia was hiding and uncovered his true intentions, he would properly settle the score.

“Understood.” Lin Jia said obediently.

Yan Xu: “…”

Yan Xu ground his teeth again. He was consumed by thoughts of how he would punish Lin Jia later, yet this person was showing astonishing obedience right now.

He opened his mouth. “You—”

“Shh.”

A faint, cool breath brushed against Yan Xu’s neck, and he froze.

“Someone’s coming,” Lin Jia said in a low voice.

Only then did Yan Xu realize that Lin Jia had previously been speaking with his head turned aside. Now, however, Lin Jia had straightened his head, causing his breath to land against Yan Xu’s neck.

Unaccustomed to it, Yan Xu frowned and raised a hand to push Lin Jia away.

Unexpectedly, as he lifted his hand, his little finger brushed against something—either Lin Jia’s cheek or the corner of his lips.

“Mm?” A soft, questioning sound, almost like a murmur, escaped the other person.

Yan Xu instantly withdrew his hand as if he had been struck by lightning. He pulled back so quickly that, for a long while afterward, he could not tell exactly where he had touched Lin Jia just now.

The footsteps outside were still there, yet Yan Xu was already feeling restless. He wasn’t sure if it was because of that accidental touch that had sparked like wildfire, but he could now clearly feel Lin Jia’s body pressed tightly against his own.

Lin Jia’s body was not soft. The fibers of his wool coat seemed to drill into Yan Xu’s nose. Everything felt wrong and extremely uncomfortable.

He forced himself to wait for the footsteps to fade away, but no matter how long he waited, they lingered nearby, much like Lin Jia’s breathing beside him.

Finally, Lin Jia noticed something was wrong and asked, “Captain Yan?”

After a while, Yan Xu replied, “If you hadn’t dragged me here, I would’ve already finished asking the Fishman questions by now.”

He blamed all his discomfort on Lin Jia.

But Lin Jia said, “I remembered.”

Yan Xu waited, but there was no continuation. He knew Lin Jia was deliberately trying to get him to continue the conversation, but he refused.

Silence.

Lin Jia asked, “Captain Yan won’t ask what I remembered?”

Yan Xu turned his head aside. Lin Jia’s words sent a faint current of breath over him again, and he quickly rubbed his neck, wiping away the tingling.

Only then did he ask indifferently, “What?”

Lin Jia replied, “The second half of what Captain Yan asked me in the ward just now—the words after ‘also need to.’”

Before leaving the ward, Lin Jia had said half a sentence: “I need to make sure my cat is safe and also need to…” After that, there was no continuation.

Yan Xu said, “Wait here for me?”

Lin Jia gave no clear response.

In any case, footsteps were still outside, and they could not leave the storage room at that moment. Yan Xu wanted to see what the second half of the sentence was that Lin Jia had deliberately withheld.

So he followed Lin Jia’s lead. “What did you want to say then?”

Lin Jia said, “First, I need to make sure my cat is safe. Then, I need to confirm Captain Yan’s safety.”

Yan Xu: “…”

Lin Jia added, “After all, I brought Captain Yan into Fish Belly. I have to be responsible for Captain Yan.”

Warm breath swept over him again. This time, Yan Xu did not allow it. He raised his hand and pressed both of Lin Jia’s shoulders, applying force and turning him around.

Now they were no longer pressed face to face, but Yan Xu was pressed against Lin Jia’s back instead.

Without the interference of breath, Yan Xu felt much better. He snorted coldly and said, “Keep those nice words to yourself. I’m not someone who gets dizzy from two nice sentences.”

Especially not from Lin Jia’s mouth. Yan Xu did not think Lin Jia would take responsibility. He knew very clearly that Lin Jia was deliberately approaching him and that he still had not figured out Lin Jia’s purpose.

This forced Yan Xu to remain cautious. He always felt that one careless move in front of Lin Jia would cause him to fall into a thunder pool from which he would never recover.

Yan Xu did not appreciate it, but Lin Jia laughed softly instead.

Yan Xu paused, displeased. “What are you laughing at?”

Lin Jia asked, “About the Fishman question—how does Captain Yan plan to ask it?”

Yan Xu replied, “Didn’t I already say?”

He had already said in the ward that he would ask questions related to doctor’s orders.

“That wasn’t specific.” Lin Jia said, “Specifically, how does Captain Yan plan to ask?”

He heard Yan Xu’s voice behind him, still uncooperative, saying, “I don’t believe you don’t know.”

Lin Jia had enough patience when facing prey. He said, “Just comparing answers.”

No sound came from behind him.

After a long while of silence, Lin Jia turned around and met Yan Xu’s scrutinizing gaze.

“Comparing answers is a small matter. Getting the same answer is something happy.” Lin Jia said calmly. “Does Captain Yan not believe me? Makes sense. He has been observing me all along, trying to find evidence that I’m plotting against him. Has he found anything?”

Yan Xu said nothing. He stared tightly at Lin Jia.

He could not read Lin Jia’s thoughts, yet Lin Jia could see right through him. This unequal relationship made Yan Xu sense danger.

“I’ll find it,” Yan Xu said.

Lin Jia only laughed softly, not arguing. The footsteps outside had finally faded away, and Yan Xu did not intend to stay in the storage room any longer. Though it was not completely dark, Lin Jia was still uncomfortable. If the light suddenly went out, he did not want to expose his weakness.

“Let’s go, Captain Yan. Time to compare answers.”

Lin Jia had pulled Yan Xu in, and he was the one who ended the conversation in the storage room. He pushed open the storage room door and stepped out without hesitation.

He did not wait for Yan Xu either. After confirming that there were no nurses on the first floor of the inpatient building, he quickly headed toward the consultation desk.

By the time he reached the desk, Yan Xu had followed him.

Lin Jia asked, “Are the doctor’s orders at Yile Maternal and Child Health Hospital unified?”

The Fishman said, “Yes.”

After receiving the Fishman’s answer, Lin Jia turned around and looked at Yan Xu.

Clearly he said nothing, asked nothing, yet Yan Xu saw in Lin Jia’s eyes what he wanted to say, saw the question he wanted to ask.

Captain Yan, are the answers the same?

The same.

Yan Xu had also planned to ask exactly that.

But he did not intend to answer. This wasn’t elementary school, where students check their answers. He didn’t believe Lin Jia would be happy just because they had the same answer. It was all just grand-sounding talk.

What was the point of comparing answers? What did Lin Jia want to do exactly?

Lin Jia parted his lips. “Captain Yan.”

Yan Xu said, “Enough. One—”

Lin Jia: “Let’s go find the doctor’s orders. The doctors’ office is on the second floor of the inpatient building.”

Yan Xu: “…”

Lin Jia brushed past Yan Xu. After walking a few steps, he turned back and looked at Yan Xu with a puzzled expression. He asked why Yan Xu was still standing there.

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