Chapter 5: It’s Got That Vibe!
With extreme care, Hè Chí used a pair of tweezers to place the Fire-Figured Beetle into a transparent glass dish.
The man’s voice was deep as he said, “Perhaps you should really come see its form, try to feel the beauty of life. It’s composed of trillions of tiny cells.”
Hè Chí was truly only interested in this kind of nature-related research. He was already looking at a successful specimen. It was difficult for him to hide his inner ecstasy, that exclusive and ultimate pleasure.
Although Mǐ Qiū sat quietly on a chair to the side, she could still faintly sense the excitement and thrill deep within him. Fortunately, it wasn’t directed at her.
She really couldn’t resist his enthusiasm and ended up looking at the Fire-Figured Beetle under the microscope.
She watched as the veins beneath its body gradually came into view. Even though it wasn’t alive, Mǐ Qiū felt her stomach churn with a wave of nausea. Seeing its thousands of legs and antennae purely triggered a kind of physiological revulsion.
She tried hard to mentally block out that part. Finally, she felt a little better.
Hè Chí didn’t stop what he was doing as he spoke to her. “How about this Sunday? I’ve been too busy these past few days to get distracted. I’m hoping I can get a good night’s sleep that night.”
Before she left, he called out to her. Hè Chí turned his head and said, “By the way, that star candy is indeed very delicious, but I still prefer the ‘Insect Mother’ dried mango.”
Given his hobbies, it didn’t seem strange that he would like the “Insect Mother” dried mango.
Back in her own cabin, Mǐ Qiū was browsing the Star District shopping site when a news alert popped up. It was about the Fire-Figured Beetle. She initially had no interest, and if the news hadn’t popped up, she never would have clicked on it.
It turned out that the Fire-Figured Beetle was a type of “love bug.”
In short, people who enjoyed raising these insects would often cultivate them like one would raise gu poison-insects. They would treat them as partners in a sense, to satisfy a certain pathological need. From time to time, the Fire-Figured Beetle would connect with its “mate,” releasing a hormone that had a bewitching effect on the other party.
For this reason, many buyers sought them out. She seemed to recall the obsessed expression on Hè Chí’s face just now…
Could it be that he treated the Fire-Figured Beetle as his lover and had made it into a specimen?
But… he was just conducting an experiment. He probably wasn’t quite the same as those who kept them as a hobby.
Still, a chill suddenly ran down Mǐ Qiū’s spine, and she didn’t dare to think about it too deeply. Once she entered their dreams, she would be able to learn more about the most secret corners of the Sentinels’ hearts and observe the secrets hidden there.
The reason she was browsing the Star District shopping interface was to buy some new clothes. She didn’t own a wetsuit, and even if she didn’t use it, she might need things like hiking clothes in the future. Besides, she was running low on some daily necessities.
A blue chiffon dress with puffy sleeves, a violet gradient handbag, rose-gold plated earrings…
Before he left, Officer Hè had transferred a sum of basic living expenses to a five-star bank card he had given her. The purpose was to allow her to settle in and do a good job of soothing the guests.
It was over twenty thousand Star Credits. Mǐ Qiū took the opportunity to pick out some decorations for her room, like a small orange-shaped lamp and a rabbit plushie. It would be fun when they arrived!
She shopped until her eyes were sore before she finally “stopped.”
One U-shaped pillow, one pair of teddy bear cotton slippers, one bohemian-style blouse, one pot of pothos, one pot of aloe vera, one raincoat, one umbrella… there were many things she needed to prepare in advance.
All the items she ordered arrived the next day at a drop-off point outside the wooden cabin.
On an island that was almost completely cut off from the outside world, transporting goods was not easy. The reason they could arrive so quickly was thanks to an intelligent aerial vehicle, which was an upright robot.
After the robot delivered the goods to her door, Mǐ Qiū had to follow the on-screen prompts and tap a red heart. Here, a red heart meant a positive review, orange was average, and blue was a negative review. The efficiency was fast and the service was good, so of course she would give it a little red heart! She even wrote a string of positive comments below.
There were sixteen boxes in total. She would just have to move them back one by one. But why was the very first one she tried to lift so heavy?
She peeked her head into the main hall to see if anyone was around.
Only Zhù Shāngchén was in the hall.
Mǐ Qiū had no choice but to approach him. “Can you help me move a box? Just for a second. I can use my hands and feet to move the rest in myself!”
Zhù Shāngchén lifted his eyes slightly. When he heard her speaking to him, a strange emotion flickered in his pupils. It was gone in a flash.
He didn’t say anything unnecessary. He simply lifted the approximately 15-kilogram box in front of her in an instant, and effortlessly at that.
Mǐ Qiū had struggled and only managed to move it an incredibly difficult one meter forward. The difference in their physical strength was forcing her to recognize reality.
As they were moving the boxes, Mǐ Qiū decided she should be the main one doing the work and not trouble others. So she picked up a cardboard box that felt a bit strenuous for her and began to drag her feet forward.
Before she even got inside, Zhù Shāngchén, who was walking ahead of her, paused slightly.
Mǐ Qiū didn’t stop at all. More importantly, she couldn’t hold onto the things in her arms, and in a few clumsy steps, she twisted her ankle.
Her entire body fell straight onto him, and the box in her arms dropped to the side…
Her current position was identical to the one in the hypnotic dream.
If she tilted her head up slightly, she could see the man’s handsome jaw.
Their gazes met. Zhù Shāngchén’s dark eyes were still watching her coldly. His blue eyes made her feel as if she were sinking into a vast, azure ocean…
The pose didn’t last long. He supported himself with one hand on the ground, the blue veins on his arm bulging prominently.
Mǐ Qiū knew she couldn’t maintain this position with him for too long.
She got to her feet and quickly checked the cardboard box that had fallen nearby. The outside wasn’t broken, so the contents should be fine, but it was just too heavy for her to lift.
Pain! Oww, it hurt so much!!
She had just accidentally knocked her elbow on the ground.
Zhù Shāngchén explained why he had stopped.
“Do you need help carrying it to your room? I thought I should ask for your opinion.”
Mǐ Qiū said, “You can just leave the others at the door. This one is quite heavy, so you can help me carry it inside.”
Mǐ Qiū moved the rest of the boxes back one by one herself, but they were all lighter ones, so it wasn’t too much trouble.
She had just sat down on the edge of her bed and hadn’t even had a chance to catch her breath when there was a knock on the door.
Mǐ Qiū opened it. It was Zhù Shāngchén again.
He placed a band-aid in her palm.
He said in a very official tone, “Military-grade waterproof band-aid. Your wound is superficial. It should be completely healed in about two days.”
She had only felt that her right elbow hurt; she didn’t know if she was actually injured. It was only then that she saw blood trickling out.
Ahhhhh! There’s real blood!
Seeing the blood continuously drip from her right elbow, she was so scared she nearly burst into song. She was terrified of pain. He asked her if she had a first-aid kit.
“Yes, the first-aid kit is on the bedside table.”
The words had barely left her mouth when Mǐ Qiū thought, He’s not going to help me apply medicine, is he? And use alcohol to disinfect it?
She waved the band-aid in her hand in front of his eyes.
“I can just stick this on and it’ll be fine.”
“I looked. The floor doesn’t have much dust, it’s not dirty, so the wound won’t get infected or anything. I don’t think we need to go to the trouble…”
Zhù Shāngchén clearly didn’t have much patience. “Stay still.”
Usually silent, his expression was now exceptionally serious. His tone had also become firm.
Mǐ Qiū thought to herself that she couldn’t escape the fate of having her wound treated after all! Thus, she resigned herself to her fate and let the ointment enter her wound, grimacing and whimpering from the pain.
After Zhù Shāngchén finished applying the medicine, Mǐ Qiū thought he was quite a meticulous person, and his bandaging technique was very practiced.
Zhù Shāngchén was very calm, his voice faint. “On the training grounds, there are countless ways to get injured. Practicing bandaging is routine.”
Mǐ Qiū said, “So you must get injured often, too?”
Zhù Shāngchén replied, “Only the weak get injured often. I don’t belong in that category.”
Mǐ Qiū: “…”
Finally, the moment of pain was over. She had to be more careful in the future. Otherwise, it was either near-drowning or an injured arm. The best solution was probably not to take a single step out of her room.
At ten o’clock sharp on Sunday night, Mǐ Qiū was once again faced with a pitch-black room.
Could Hè Chí be conducting another experiment? The Fire-Figured Beetle experiment, or something else?
She tried to soften her footsteps, entering very quietly so as not to disturb him. She looked around the room. Hè Chí was lying on the bed. At 1.87 meters tall, the bed seemed a bit too small for him. The only light in the room came from a small table lamp that emitted a faint yellow glow.
Mǐ Qiū walked closer. Could he have fallen asleep already? The room was very dark, and Hè Chí hadn’t made a sound for a while, so Mǐ Qiū really thought he was asleep.
She began to apply the purple deep-sleep agent to the hypnotic sensor clips. It could serve a partial role in sedation and soothing.
“Guide Mǐ Qiū.”
So he was still awake. That was good. It would be convenient for her to go over the precautions with him beforehand.
Just as Mǐ Qiū was about to speak, he slowly said to her, “I’m very curious. Will this hypnotism really be effective?”
Mǐ Qiū replied, “We’ll only know if it’s effective after we try.”
“Actually, if you could turn off the light, I think the hypnosis process would go more smoothly.”
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