Chapter 60: Frightened

"Everyone get down! Now! Immediately!"

Three masked men rushed into the exhibition hall, holding machetes and handguns. The leader raised his gun toward the ceiling and fired a shot.

Gu Yan's heart stopped; before her body could react, Shen Yanhui pulled her behind him.

"Don't move." His voice was very low, his back to her.

"Shen..."

Shen Yanhui shook his head at her.

The four bodyguards moved instantly; two rushed in front of them to form a human wall, while two approached the robbers from the flanks. Their hands rested on their waists, ready to draw their guns at any moment.

The robbers clearly hadn't expected to run into such tough opponents and froze for a moment.

That one second of hesitation was enough.

Shen Yanhui didn't look back, only making a very subtle gesture.

The bodyguards struck simultaneously.

The nearest robber was kicked in the back of the knee, screaming as he fell to his knees, his gun sliding out of his hand. The second robber raised his knife to slash, but his wrist was precisely clamped and twisted; the crisp sound of bone dislocation was clearly audible.

The remaining one realized what was happening and aimed his gun at the bodyguards.

"Bang!"

Another gunshot rang out.

It was the robber who fell; the bullet grazed his arm, and blood splattered.

The entire process took less than twenty seconds.

The exhibition hall was deathly silent. Then, stifled sobbing began to sound.

Gu Yan looked out from behind Shen Yanhui's shoulder; the three robbers were already pinned to the ground, one of them still struggling, held down by a bodyguard's knee pressed firmly against the back of his neck.

Only then did Shen Yanhui turn around.

He cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing over her cold cheeks.

"Are you scared?"

Gu Yan's lips trembled; she wanted to shake her head, to say she was fine, but her legs suddenly went weak.

Her body slid downward uncontrollably.

Shen Yanhui reacted extremely quickly, his arm instantly wrapping around her waist and lifting her up. The next second, she was swept up into his arms horizontally.

"I..."

Gu Yan had just started to speak when he interrupted her. He gently touched his forehead to hers and whispered, "I know. Let's go back first."

Gu Yan murmured an "Mm" and buried her face in his shoulder.

Her heart was still pounding, a buzzing sound remained in her ears, and she was still shaken.

The bodyguards had already cleared a path. The other visitors were still lying on the ground, not daring to look up.

The gallery manager stood at the entrance with a deathly pale face; seeing Shen Yanhui walk out carrying someone, he opened his mouth but made no sound.

Shen Yanhui didn't look at him and walked straight toward the car.

The driver had already opened the car door.

Shen Yanhui bent down and carefully placed Gu Yan into the backseat. He didn't let go immediately, instead lowering his head to check her face.

"Is anything uncomfortable?" he asked, his voice even lower and softer.

Gu Yan shook her head, "It's just... my legs are weak."

"A normal reaction after a shock." He sat into the car and rubbed her head.

Gu Yan leaned on his shoulder, her fingers still clutching his shirt, the fabric crumpled into a ball in her grip.

"So embarrassing, my legs actually went weak," she whispered.

"It's not embarrassing. It's your first time experiencing a shooting at close range; it's already good that you could stand. You are very brave, Gu Yan."

"What about you? What about your first time?"

"Me?" Shen Yanhui thought for a moment. "The first time was in Congo Kinshasa. Local armed conflict spread to the mining area, and I and a group of Shen Corporation employees were trapped in a safe house. The gunfire was right outside, and it lasted for three hours."

"And then?"

"Later, when the conflict subsided, I walked out and saw blood and shell casings everywhere, and I vomited until I was dizzy."

What he didn't say was that besides the blood everywhere, there were also remains everywhere.

Gu Yan hugged his waist, her eyelids gradually growing heavy.

Shen Yanhui lowered his head and pulled her closer.

——

Gu Yan developed a high fever in the middle of the night.

At first, she only felt cold and burrowed into Shen Yanhui's arms. He was a light sleeper; feeling her body trembling slightly, he reached out to touch her forehead, which was shockingly hot.

He immediately turned on the light.

Under the light, Gu Yan's cheeks were flushed with a sickly red, her breathing was rapid and shallow, and her eyelashes fluttered uneasily in her feverish sleep.

"Gu Yan." He patted her cheek with a very light touch.

No response.

Shen Yanhui's expression darkened. He dialed Chang Su's number and, without waiting for the other to speak, snapped, "Call a doctor, now."

Chang Su startled: "Yes."

Ten minutes later, the doctor walked in quickly, carrying a medical kit. Shen Yanhui was wiping Gu Yan's face with a wet towel, his movements gentle, but his expression was chillingly cold.

"Mr. Shen."

"Take her temperature." Shen Yanhui stepped aside but did not leave the bedside.

The thermometer beeped, displaying 39.8°C.

The expression on the man beside her darkened by another degree.

Enduring the oppressive low pressure, the doctor braced himself and said, "It should be a high fever caused by shock; she needs a fever-reducing injection and intravenous fluids."

Shen Yanhui did not speak, only nodded.

When the needle pierced her skin, Gu Yan woke up in a daze and shrank into his hand: "It hurts..."

"It will be over soon, be good."

The man's voice instantly became impossibly gentle again.

"Next, we need to observe for two hours to see if her body temperature drops. Only when it drops can we consider her past the danger period," the doctor said.

Shen Yanhui waved his hand to make everyone leave, remaining alone to keep watch by the bedside.

The bedroom quieted down, with only the sound of Gu Yan's slightly hurried breathing.

He looked at her sickly sleeping face, a surge of violent, destructive desire welling up in his heart. Since becoming the person in power, he had rarely experienced such turbulent emotions.

Gu Yan's influence on him was deeper than he had imagined.

He recalled the first time he saw her; it was not at the auction house as she thought, but earlier.

Four years ago, Paris, a misty, rainy night...

Two hours later.

"Knock, knock, knock," the sound of knocking on the door rang out, and Chang Su and the doctor pushed the door open and entered.

Re-measuring her body temperature, the thermometer showed 39.5°C.

Two hours had passed, and it had actually dropped by only this much.

"The fever-reducing injection's effect is not ideal; we need to change the medication—" the doctor deliberated his wording.

"Not ideal?" Shen Yanhui raised his eyes.

That gaze made the doctor freeze in place.

Chang Su stood to the side, heart racing; he had never seen his master so visibly angry.

"I paid to have you come here, not to hear you say it's not ideal," Shen Yanhui stared at the doctor. "If her temperature doesn't drop within an hour, you can get out of Lagos."

The doctor's face turned deathly pale.

"Shen Yanhui..."

A weak voice came from the bed.

Gu Yan had woken up, her eyes half-open, her voice hoarse: "Don't... be fierce to the doctor..."

Shen Yanhui immediately returned to the bedside and took her hand: "You're awake? Do you feel uncomfortable?"

"Uncomfortable..." she frowned, "Don't scold people..."

"Alright, I won't scold." His voice softened instantly, his fingers gently stroking her feverish cheek.

The doctor hurriedly prepared new medication and added ice packs for physical cooling.

Half an hour later, her body temperature finally began to drop.

Until the horizon gradually revealed a bit of light, Gu Yan's body temperature finally dropped to 38.1°C.

The doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh of relief; at least now he didn't have to get out of Lagos.

Morning light seeped through the gaps in the curtains, landing on Gu Yan's face. The fever had broken, her face was no longer flushed, and her breathing had become long and steady.

Shen Yanhui sat by the bed and watched her for a long time.

Then he leaned over, his forehead gently resting against hers.

His voice was low and hoarse, carrying the exhaustion of a night without sleep: "I shouldn't have brought you here."