Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin took turns carrying Qi Xia back toward the prison. By the time the sky had completely darkened, they had barely reached the main gate.

Standing guard at the entrance today were Zhou Liu and Luo Shiyi. The moment they saw Qi Xia’s condition, they immediately panicked.

Zhou Liu was the first to rush forward, checking Qi Xia’s condition. “Tsk, what happened to this guy?”

“I really don’t know…” Chen Junnan panted as he lowered Qi Xia from his shoulder. “Come quickly and give us a hand. We’ve been carrying him for over three hours… We’re exhausted to death…”

Luo Shiyi hurriedly took over Qi Xia and carried him on his back again. “I’ll go put him on the bed first… You guys come in quickly too. We need to rest well today. Damn it, tomorrow there’s a ‘Heavenly Horse Moment.'”

The group passed through the prison’s exercise yard and office area, entering the cells one after another.

Although Qian Wu had arranged cells for everyone, Chen Junnan and Qiao Jiajin insisted on checking on Qi Xia’s condition and wouldn’t leave until they confirmed he was fine.

The young man they’d met earlier, Zheng Yingxiong, had also been waiting in Qi Xia’s room the whole time. He looked like he hadn’t gone anywhere, just resting here.

After hearing Zhou Liu’s message, Qian Wu also came to the cell. Only after inquiring and confirming that Qi Xia wasn’t injured did he feel relieved.

“Are you sure he doesn’t need a new body?” Qian Wu said. “How could a perfectly fine person faint on the street?”

“Probably don’t need to change it…” Chen Junnan also said somewhat uncertainly. “This guy’s body really isn’t injured. It’s probably his brain that crashed.”

“His brain crashed?” Qian Wu frowned at Chen Junnan’s words. “If you said someone else’s brain crashed, I could believe it, but this is Qi Xia.”

“It’s precisely because he’s Qi Xia that his brain crashes easily.” Chen Junnan waved his hand. “Everyone who came to watch the excitement, if there’s nothing else, please leave first. Visiting hours end here today. You’re all gathered here and the patient can’t breathe.”

After sending away all the “Cat” team members, he and Qiao Jiajin sat down in the cell.

This was a double cell, with Qi Xia’s bed on one side and Zheng Yingxiong sitting on the other.

“Junnan boy… has the liar boy ever fainted before?”

“Before?”

“I want to know… did he have some kind of condition before coming here?” Qiao Jiajin still felt somewhat uneasy. He had known Qi Xia for a while now, but had never seen him faint from pain.

“Probably not?” Chen Junnan said. “You’re asking me, but I’m confused too… He didn’t even have headaches before. How would I know what’s wrong with him now?”

While the two were at an impasse, a faint voice came from beside them.

“His scent has changed…”

Chen Junnan looked toward the sound and found Zheng Yingxiong staring intently at Qi Xia on the bed, muttering to himself.

“Changed smell?” Chen Junnan was shocked and quickly checked Qi Xia’s breathing. “Kid, don’t talk nonsense! The person isn’t even dead, how could he stink?”

“No…” Zheng Yingxiong shook his head. “His ‘Echo’ is emitting a strong odor…”

As his words fell, a crimson stream of blood flowed straight down from Zheng Yingxiong’s nose. “Can you smell it… When a fragrance reaches a certain level, it transforms into a stench.”

“So he does stink…?” Chen Junnan stepped forward to wipe Zheng Yingxiong’s nosebleed. “Don’t you have any pain sensation, child? Don’t you know your nose is bleeding?”

Zheng Yingxiong nonchalantly wiped his nose with his sleeve, his pair of childish yet profound eyes continuously fixed on Qi Xia, saying bluntly: “Guess what kind of dream he’s having…”

“What… dream…?”

“Knock knock knock!”

“Knock knock knock!”

Qi Xia kept hearing sounds by his ear, but his eyelids felt extraordinarily heavy, and he couldn’t open them no matter what.

He felt so relaxed… Every pore on his body was stretching out, as if he hadn’t been this relaxed in many years.

Why was this?

Qi Xia moved his hands and feet slightly and found that he seemed to be lying down.

“I… how could I be lying down?”

Sensing something was wrong, Qi Xia suddenly opened his eyes, only to see beside him a face smiling sweetly.

“An…?”

“So Qi Xia is home!” Yu Nian’an bit her lip, then smiled with a “pfft,” extending her slender fingers to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “Sleeping so soundly, I called several times and you didn’t answer. I thought Qi Xia wasn’t home.”

“I…” Qi Xia’s eyes flickered slightly. “I’m home?”

He looked around. This was indeed his own shabby, dilapidated little home.

With bare walls and hardly any furniture, this room only had one table and chair set, and he was lying on the floor inside the room.

“If you’re not at home, where would you be?” Yu Nian’an reached out and touched Qi Xia’s forehead. “Do you have a fever?”

Qi Xia’s eyes stared tightly at Yu Nian’an, then he slowly stood up. This really was his home, but why was he here?

“What do you want to eat today?” Yu Nian’an asked.

“Want… want to eat what…?” Qi Xia still couldn’t quite grasp his current state. He felt that today his condition was different from usual.

Normally, his mind was constantly calculating many things, but now his brain was actually blank.

Seeing Qi Xia’s appearance, Yu Nian’an couldn’t help but laugh until she doubled over. “Oh my god! Xia, are you still half-asleep?”

Qi Xia’s eyes slowly dimmed. He felt very sad, but had no idea where this sadness came from.

“An, guess what I want to eat right now?”

“How would I know?” Yu Nian’an asked puzzled. “Am I the worm in your stomach?”

“You… don’t know?” Qi Xia was stunned. “What I’m thinking in my heart… you don’t know?”

“If you keep this up, I’m going to get angry.” Yu Nian’an pouted. “I just wanted to ask you what to eat, and you keep not saying… Then I’ll go make something myself, I won’t worry about you anymore.”

She turned around somewhat angrily and walked all the way to the kitchen, busying herself.

Seeing this scene, Qi Xia frowned and shook his head, always feeling something was strange about himself, but he couldn’t think of anything.

He turned his head to look at the sky. Outside was the smell of decay filling the streets.

Several zombie-like people wandered continuously in the street, the stench drifting in from outside the window.

That dark red sky was like a blood-stained sunset. There wasn’t even a single cloud in the sky.

A huge earth-yellow sun hung directly in the middle of the sky, with threads of black lines around its outer edge, constantly spreading inward.