Chapter 106: Awakening
Yan Gui Xing had so many injuries that Mu Mu, a complete novice, became a skilled hand after cleaning and bandaging his entire body. By the time he finished, Mu Mu was drenched in sweat, his light blue shirt clinging to his skin and a darker, mottled blue. Lying on the bed, Yan Gui Xing was wrapped in white bandages from his neck to his ankles, looking at a glance like a precious mummy from ancient Earth.
But it wasn’t completely over yet. Mu Mu remembered Xiaoting telling him that the most dangerous part was the high fever that came from infection. On any other planet, Yan Gui Xing could have been put in a repair pod and fully healed in four hours. Failing that, a treatment pod would take twice as long but still cure him completely. The problem was on the Frontier Star, where all medical facilities had been destroyed and not yet rebuilt. Any injury or illness had to be treated with primitive methods. A high fever, which wouldn’t even be considered an illness anywhere else in the galaxy, could be fatal here.
After a few minutes, the sweat on Mu Mu’s body evaporated, and he started to feel cold. He tugged at his shirt and stood up. He was afraid Yan Gui Xing would develop a fever, so he pressed his forehead to Yan Gui Xing’s to check his temperature. Feeling that it was normal, he pulled the quilt provided by the landlady over him.
Mu Mu squatted next to his small suitcase, looking for a change of clothes. With Yan Gui Xing on his mind, he didn’t go to the bathroom right away. Instead, he went back to the bed to check on him. He gently stroked Yan Gui Xing’s injured face and suddenly remembered Achi. Mu Mu slapped his forehead hard. “Oh no! How could I forget to tell Achi I found Gui Gui! Mumu is such an idiot to forget something so important!”
Mu Mu quickly put the clothes on the bed, took his terminal off his wrist, found Achi’s contact, and initiated a video call. The monotonous “beep, beep” rang for a long time until it automatically hung up without an answer.
“Is he busy?” Mu Mu scratched his face and tried two more times. Still no answer. He had no choice but to send a message instead. After sending it, Mu Mu set the terminal on the bed, picked up his clothes, and went to take a shower.
Although it was summer, the daytime temperature on the Frontier Star was only as warm as late spring, cool enough to warrant a thin jacket. By nightfall, the temperature dropped sharply, feeling more like early spring. The makeshift house had no heating, and the doors, windows, and walls were drafty. There was no water heater in the bathroom. After quickly rinsing off the sticky sweat and blood with cold water, Mu Mu walked out of the bathroom feeling a chill.
He picked up his terminal and turned it on. There were no new messages or missed calls. Achi hadn’t seen his message. Mu Mu was worried there was a bug in his terminal, so he opened the message history with Achi, but it was still showing only the message he had sent ten minutes ago. He backed out and was about to put the terminal down when he realized something was wrong. His terminal had been too quiet these past few days. While his terminal was always quiet, Zheng An would send him messages. And with him being on the Frontier Star, it was completely out of character for Zheng An not to send him messages. Yet, after his first contact with Zheng An after getting off the spaceship, there had been no messages or video calls. It was very strange.
Mu Mu fiddled with his terminal, but he couldn’t figure out the reason, so he gave up. He put the terminal on the nightstand, curled up next to Yan Gui Xing, hooked his finger around his, and leaned his head on his shoulder, falling asleep.
As midnight approached, Yan Gui Xing developed a high fever. It made sense; he was covered in wounds that had festered and were coated in dirt from lying in a filthy puddle. It would have been a miracle if they hadn’t gotten infected. It was also that filthy puddle, though, that had allowed him to survive for twelve days without food. Yan Gui Xing had actually had a few fevers during that time, but he had managed to tough it out with his strong body. However, even the toughest person couldn’t withstand the constant assault of severe injuries and high fever. If Mu Mu hadn’t found him that day, Yan Gui Xing would have likely died in that puddle.
Mu Mu was woken up by the heat radiating from Yan Gui Xing, who felt like a furnace beside him. He opened his eyes, groggy, and for a moment didn’t know where he was. The room was too cold; his nose was freezing. He instinctively sought out the source of the heat, pressing his hands and feet against the motionless body. Just as he was about to close his eyes and go back to sleep, he jolted awake. He quickly reached out from under the blanket and placed his hand on Yan Gui Xing’s face. The skin under his palm was burning hot. He didn’t need a thermometer to know he had a high fever.
Mu Mu shot up, not even bothering to grab a jacket. He grabbed his terminal from the nightstand and jumped out of bed. He turned on the terminal, his bare feet hitting the cold floor as he rushed to his open suitcase. He pulled out the fever reducer and grabbed his thermos before returning to the bed. Mu Mu lifted Yan Gui Xing, letting his head and shoulders rest in his arms. With one hand, he squeezed Yan Gui Xing’s jaw to open his mouth, shoved the pill in, and quickly poured some water into his mouth.
Mu Mu had no experience with giving medicine or water. Most of the water he tried to give Yan Gui Xing ran out the side of his mouth. He wasn’t sure if Yan Gui Xing had even swallowed the pill, so he gave him two more sips of water. Convinced that Yan Gui Xing had taken the medicine, he wiped the water from his face and gently laid him back down. Mu Mu had no idea that the pill hadn’t gone down. Instead, it had gotten wet and stuck to Yan Gui Xing’s tongue, clinging there until it dissolved into a bitter liquid and slid down his throat.
Mu Mu didn’t dare to sleep again. He went to the bathroom, soaked a cloth in water, and placed it on Yan Gui Xing’s forehead. When the cloth dried, he would re-wet it and put it back on. He kept this up until dawn, when Yan Gui Xing’s fever finally broke. Mu Mu felt Yan Gui Xing’s forehead, now at a normal temperature, and let out a long sigh of relief. He leaned over the bed, holding Yan Gui Xing’s left hand, which was wrapped in bandages save for his fingers. He closed his eyes and whispered, “Gui Gui, when are you going to wake up? Mumu is so scared. Please wake up, okay?”
Mu Mu had been on edge all night, and now, with the tension gone, exhaustion washed over him. He fell asleep without even realizing it. In his slumber, he felt his fingers being gently squeezed. He didn’t even fully open his eyes, but his head snapped up. In his blurry vision, he saw a pair of lake-green eyes filled with a gentle smile. Yan Gui Xing was awake!
“Gui Gui, you’re awake?!” Mu Mu cried out in surprise and joy, throwing himself forward. When he saw Yan Gui Xing’s pale, cracked lips part and a small nod, tears streamed down his face. Mu Mu crawled onto the bed and sat cross-legged beside Yan Gui Xing, sobbing loudly, as if releasing all the emotions he had been holding in. Yan Gui Xing’s eyes were crinkled in a smile, and he used his one good hand to pat Mu Mu’s hand in a comforting gesture. When Mu Mu was done crying, he curled up beside him, holding his finger and rambling on about Wangwang, Zheng An, the convenience store business, and how worried he had been.
Mu Mu was interrupted by the rumbling of his own stomach. He let out a little “ah,” and remembered that Yan Gui Xing hadn’t eaten in so long and must be starving. He casually wiped his face, apologized softly to Yan Gui Xing, and climbed off the bed to find nutrient fluids. Yan Gui Xing turned his head slightly, his eyes filled with undisguised love and heartache as he watched Mu Mu’s thin back.
Looking back, Yan Gui Xing woke up so early not only because of his own tenacious vitality and strong will to live, but probably because the pill was just so bitter.
Xiaoting had packed two whole boxes of military-grade nutrient fluids for Mu Mu. These had a special body repair agent researched by the Military Headquarters and were exclusive to the Legions, not available on the market. Their main purpose was to help soldiers recover physical strength and injuries faster, and improve their mental focus. In short, it was a medical stimulant that was harmless to the body. This amount of nutrient fluid was enough to last Mu Mu a good half a year on the Frontier Star, or enough for both of them for three months. Given Yan Gui Xing’s current weak condition, this nutrient fluid was the best supplement to help him recover quickly.
However, Mu Mu didn’t know the difference between the fluids in his box and the ones he usually drank. He was afraid Yan Gui Xing’s body couldn’t handle too much, so he only gave him three tubes at a time. Yan Gui Xing was too weak to speak. Even if he wanted to tell Mu Mu that it was safe to drink more and that it would help his wounds heal faster, he couldn’t.
And so three more days passed in a daze. During this time, Mu Mu tried to contact Achi, Shaxia, and Liang Yi, but he couldn’t get through to any of them. Three days later, Yan Gui Xing’s complexion had improved a lot. He could talk and sit up, and Mu Mu leaned against him, telling him how he couldn’t get in touch with anyone. Yan Gui Xing looked down at the terminal in Mu Mu’s hand. In a voice as raspy as if it had been scrubbed with sandpaper, he said, “Try using my terminal.”
Yan Gui Xing’s terminal and dog tag were on a silver chain that he had been wearing around his neck when he escaped the mecha. Mu Mu had taken them off and put them on the table when he was cleaning his wounds. Now, Mu Mu obediently picked up Yan Gui Xing’s terminal and sent messages to Achi and Shaxia. The result was the same; the messages were like pebbles thrown into the ocean without a sound.
Yan Gui Xing looked at the terminal’s screen thoughtfully. “Back out of the contact list,” he said. “Tap the little robot in the bottom right corner and leave a message for Xiaoting. Tell it that you can’t contact anyone.” Mu Mu did as he was told. Yan Gui Xing then had him find the emblem of the Fourth Legion on the terminal and tap it.
Recommended Reads
