Chapter 39: I Have Nowhere Else to Go

Qin Hao Bei felt as if his entire body had fallen into a bottomless ice cellar, with only a small stove held in his arms. That little stove was warm and very soft, like some kind of furry little animal, or like a small fireball constantly emitting heat.

Qin Hao Bei couldn't help but groan comfortably and hugged it tighter with his arms. Just then, the little fireball in his arms suddenly jumped away abruptly.

Qin Hao Bei opened his eyes in dissatisfaction, only to see a little girl with a panicked face grabbing a blanket from the ground to wrap her body, jumping away like a startled little cat, and hiding behind a large tree not far away.

A cold wind blew with a "whoosh," and Qin Hao Bei looked down to see himself lying on the ground completely naked.

Qin Hao Bei:...

"Little Limpy? Can you leave me a blanket!"

"Your clothes are roasting on the fire, put them on yourself," a muffled voice came from behind the large tree.

Qin Hao Bei curled his lips secretly. Seeing this situation, he had already guessed what had happened just now—he had lost blood and suffered from hypothermia, so the little girl must have used her own body to hold him and help him warm up.

"Did you bandage me?"

Qin Hao Bei observed the wound on his shoulder while putting on his clothes, seeing that the wound was bandaged very carefully, and the technique was very professional.

"Your technique is actually quite good, thanks!"

At this time, Shi Yi also walked out from behind the large tree. As soon as she came out, she saw Qin Hao Bei putting on his clothes. His physique was very good, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs, perfect proportions, and solid eight-pack abs on his abdomen. Thinking of the skin-to-skin contact between herself and this man just now, Shi Yi's face couldn't help but burn.

"Are you... how are you, is your body feeling better?"

Shi Yi tried hard to suppress her breathing and said as calmly as possible.

Qin Hao Bei turned his head and saw the moonlight spilling down bit by bit. A flush of red appeared on the girl's pale cheeks, and there was a bit more shyness in her amber eyes, like a hibiscus flower that hadn't yet bloomed.

Qin Hao Bei's heart stirred, and he remembered the warm and secure feeling of holding her just now. For a moment, he even wanted to step forward again and pull this Little Limpy into his arms fiercely.

"Much better, I'm fine now. But... you should tell me your name now, right?" As he spoke, Qin Hao Bei had already put on his clothes.

Shi Yi pursed her lips, showing a helpless expression, and then walked to the campfire and sat down. Qin Hao Bei followed and sat beside her.

The campfire crackled and burned, and the night flowed quietly.

Shi Yi still didn't answer him. She took a bag of dried mangoes from her pocket, ate them by herself, and looked into the distance, "Why were they chasing you?"

Qin Hao Bei looked at the dried mangoes in Shi Yi's hand with longing, swallowed his saliva, "Give me a piece, and I'll tell you."

Shi Yi:...

Shi Yi handed a piece of dried mango to Qin Hao Bei irritably. Qin Hao Bei put the dried mango into his mouth while taking out a rectangular metal object from his pocket and showing it to Shi Yi: "What they want is this."

Shi Yi looked down and frowned, "Is it... a hard drive? What's inside?"

Qin Hao Bei shook his head, "I don't know either, but I know this is an important piece of evidence."

"What evidence?"

Qin Hao Bei turned his head to look at Shi Yi, his eyes as bright as the stars in the night sky: "Do you know about the Ebola virus?"

Shi Yi nodded, "Of course, our trip to the refugee camp this time is to deliver the antiviral serum for this virus. However, all the members of our Chinese medical team have been vaccinated against this virus, so we shouldn't be infected."

"Hmm, this virus first appeared in the Sozali Republic in April last year, and since then it has spread rapidly across this land. The Ebola virus has a very high mortality rate, reaching 37%. In just over a year, it has taken the lives of nearly 30,000 people in this country. And our peacekeeping forces, as well as your international medical team, came here to suppress the spread of this virus and maintain international order. But... have you ever thought about where this virus actually came from?"

Shi Yi shook her head, "The origin of the virus is a complex issue... I don't know either."

Qin Hao Bei clenched his fists and snorted coldly, "Hmph, it's not complex at all. This virus was deliberately released by the governments of the US and Sozali colluding together! The goal was to completely eliminate the rebel army in Sozali, and the price was the lives of countless innocent people in Sozali!"

Shi Yi's heart gave a sudden jolt, "What did you say, deliberately released?"

Qin Hao Bei nodded solemnly, "Hmm, the hard drive in my hand contains the key evidence exposing the US and Sozali governments. I received instructions from my superiors in the Chinese military to deliver it to a safe place. It's just that... this news was leaked, which is why they wanted to kill me."

Shi Yi finally understood why the soldiers chasing Qin Hao Bei were wearing the same peacekeeping force uniforms, and why they spoke fluent English.

"So, for such a dangerous mission this time... is it just you alone?"

Shi Yi asked cautiously.

Qin Hao Bei nodded, "Hmm, just me."

"But, but why did you take on such a dangerous mission?! You're the young master of the Qin family, why not stay home? You came all the way from China to here, aren't you afraid of leaving your life here?! Do you know, just now, you almost, almost..."

Thinking of the situation just now, Shi Yi couldn't continue. She truly didn't understand why this person would take such an extremely dangerous action!

"Are you afraid I'll die?"

Qin Hao Bei looked into Shi Yi's eyes, a faint light flickering in his own.

Shi Yi hurriedly explained: "Dr. Chen told me to take good care of you, how could I let you be in danger! If something really happened to you, Dr. Chen and Xiao Manjie would definitely peel my skin off..."

Looking at the girl's somewhat panicked and nervous expression, a warm current surged in Qin Hao Bei's heart, and a trace of faint pride rose as well.

"Don't worry, I won't die. What about you? Why did you come here? This place is so dangerous, it's not a place for a girl to come."

Shi Yi was stunned for a moment. She turned her head to look at Qin Hao Bei, "You mean... me?"

"Hmm, how did you think of coming to Sozali?"

Shi Yi raised her head, her gaze fixed heavily on the distance, and at some point, a trace of loneliness had stained her voice: "I have nowhere left to go."

Qin Hao Bei's heart trembled: "Why?"

The next second, Shi Yi turned her head and suddenly curled her lips into a smile, "Nothing, I was joking. I came here, of course, to make money, and to have a better development when I return to the country later."

This was the first time Qin Hao Bei had seen the girl smile. She looked very beautiful when she smiled; her eyebrows were curved like a new moon, and there were two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth.

But for some reason, Qin Hao Bei always felt that her smile hid a lot of loneliness and detachment, as if she were a wounded little animal.

"Little girl, still stubborn!"

"Don't you want to know my name?"

Shi Yi looked up, the brilliant starry sky reflecting in her amber eyes at this moment. She said slowly:

"My name is... Shen Xingyao."

"Xing as in stars, Yao as in distant." ===== CHAPTER 40 =====