Chapter 5: My Personal Privacy

Chapter 5: My Personal Privacy

Yue Yan didn't realize he was frowning. When Bai Wei reached out to carry him, he subtly shifted his face into Yi Yang's embrace, discreetly refusing, and then murmured, "I want to get down and walk by myself. I can walk."

If he didn't find a chance to leave now, once they reached the summit and met Dr. Zhou, Yue Yan's lie would be exposed...

"The team doctor is ahead at the fork; she'll check your injuries first. I'll let you down if you can walk, okay?" Yi Yang glanced at Yue Yan, then at Bai Wei, who was burly with a crew cut and not-so-friendly face, and said, "I'll carry him to avoid any hassle. We don't know if he's injured his bones. It might hurt him more if we're not careful."

"Right."

Only Yue Yan agreed with Yi Yang's words.

Sincerely and gratefully.

Bai Wei thus gave up, folding his arms and occasionally glancing at Yue Yan, who, despite not uttering a word, felt immensely guilty.

Overwhelmed by guilt and unsure how to exonerate himself, he turned his face away to escape reality.

After about ten minutes, Yue Yan heard faint, fragmented voices. Roughly five or six minutes later, a group of people waiting at the fork in the woods approached them.

Yue Yan, reluctant as he was, had to cooperate with the team doctor's examination. Sitting on a small stool, he quietly observed more humans around him...

The team doctor, a woman wearing a police uniform with a white coat over it and a mask, revealing only her eyes, examined Yue Yan briefly, saying, "The bones seem fine, just some superficial wounds. Just need to clean and disinfect them."

Yi Yang added, "What about his feet? They look pretty bad." Yue Yan's fair skin, contrasted with the mud, appeared even whiter, making even a small amount of blood seem alarming.

The team doctor rinsed Yue Yan's feet with a bottle of mineral water, finding that the large bloodstain was caused by a cut on the top of his foot, not deep, just requiring some disinfection and a bandage.

Yi Yang then asked, "He rolled down the mountain, could he have hit his head?"

The doctor leaned in for a closer examination, finding no external injuries, "He's fine, but just to be safe, we should do a CT scan of his head later."

During this time, Yue Yan didn't dare say a word. He complied with every instruction, lifting his foot when asked, remarkably obedient.

Without shoes, the team doctor took a pair of black rain boots from someone's backpack and handed them to him, "They're a bit big, but better than being barefoot."

"Thank you," Yue Yan put on the boots and wiped his face clean with a wet wipe.

Yi Yang was giving instructions to others nearby. Yue Yan watched him intently, hesitating whether to run away right then.

As he pondered, he practiced the idea, stepping back several steps in his oversized boots.

The coat Yi Yang had put on him was a bit too large; Yue Yan's hands were deeply buried in the sleeves, with the hem reaching down to his thighs.

He now resembled a dwarf rabbit who had sneakily donned an adult's clothing…

As a human, Yue Yan didn't feel particularly short among men; he was at least of average height. The issue was Yi Yang's exceptional height, towering over everyone in the team!

Yue Yan sighed, turned around, and decided to run with all his might.

Yi Yang, who appeared out of nowhere, grabbed his arm and said, "It looks like it might rain. It's safer for you to stay with us. We need to meet up with Dr. Zhou and the others. They'll be worried if someone goes missing without reason."

Yue Yan: "I was thinking..."

About walking on his own.

But Yue Yan, against his inner feelings, inexplicably nodded: "Oh."

Bai Wei and the team doctor headed in another direction, while Yue Yan found himself walking beside Yi Yang. Having been silent all the way, Yue Yan could now focus on walking and searching for the whereabouts of the letter.

Yi Yang, perhaps realizing the oversized clothing was inconvenient for walking, lifted Yue Yan's arm to help roll up his sleeves, asking, "Did you already go to the summit?"

"I did."

Finishing with one sleeve, Yue Yan extended his other arm, "There's a big pit at the summit, surrounded by remnants of experimental reagents, which are toxic. You need to wear a mask if you go up there."

"Toxic?"

Yue Yan: "Maybe it is, maybe it's not…"

The toxins don't affect Leyan, but they've killed all living things around him. Unsure of the differences between ordinary humans and other flora and fauna, he remains cautious.

"What are you looking for?" Yi Yang asks again, this time fastening the buttons of Leyan's coat.

The wind picks up.

"Looking for..." Leyan starts to feel angry again.

It seems like this officer is only pretending to be nice to him, probably knowing something and maybe even testing him now. If he tells a lie, the handcuffs that are usually on Yi Yang's waist might end up on his own hands!

"Hmm?" Seeing Leyan hesitate, Yi Yang continues, "Are you looking for a rabbit?"

As expected, that makes the rabbit even angrier.

"I'm not sure if it's true or not, I was just asking," Yi Yang says. "Being part of their team, you must know more than I do."

"Does everyone know that the underground lab was researching rabbits?" Leyan asks.

"Not really, it's just my guess."

"Why guess rabbits and not pigs, dogs, cows... What if it were sheep, or even likely mice?"

Yi Yang laughs heartily, slinging his arm around Leyan's shoulder, explaining, "Every year, at least a thousand rabbits are sent up the mountain. If it’s not rabbit research, what else could it be?"

"Oh."

So that's how it is.

Yi Yang asked him, "Where did you live before moving to Yuhua Mansion?"

The rabbit was taken aback. Was this a professional habit? Interrogating in such a manner that made it impossible not to answer.

After giving Yi Yang several careful looks, he said with dignity, "This isn't an interrogation room, and your question is about my personal privacy, which I choose not to answer."

"Then, the apartment you live in, was it purchased by you or your family, or is it rented?"

The apartment belonged to Dr. Shen's private property. When Shen Qing gave Yue Yan the backpack, aside from the letter, it contained various identity documents wrapped in a black plastic bag, each labeled with instructions for use, and a set of jangling keys.

The keychain had a tag – Yuhua Mansion, Block A, Building 6, Room 401.

The teacher had warned that mentioning his name after leaving would bring trouble and danger.

This thought terrified Yue Yan, who stared blankly at Yi Yang.

"Bought by my family," Yi Yang answered for him, "In recent years, I haven't seen that apartment listed for rent."

This policeman was simply too intimidating, making Yue Yan feel utterly exposed!

Pressed down by Yi Yang's arm on his shoulder, Yue Yan was constantly distracted and nearly lost his shoe. Bending to avoid Yi Yang's hand, he also pulled his shoe out of the mud, clenching his toes to keep it from falling off again.

It was during this bending motion that he glimpsed something yellow in the grass on the slope.

The envelope!

A clap of thunder sounded, and the team members started distributing disposable raincoats. Seizing the moment, Yue Yan climbed up the slope, stretched out his hand, grabbed the envelope, then quickly crumpled it and stuffed it into his pocket like a thief.

Yi Yang saw this but said nothing, handing him a raincoat when he returned, "It's starting to rain, put this on quickly."

"Okay." Yue Yan's heart was pounding furiously; he took deep breaths, silently urging himself not to be nervous.

Now that he had found the letter, there was no need to follow them up the mountain anymore, right?

Yue Yan felt helpless.

He realized that in these deep woods, Officer Yi would never let him wander off alone. Even if he tried to sneak away, Yue Yan would be outnumbered.

There was no escape.

--------------------

The Rabbit thought: Why does Yi Yang always try to pry into my privacy?