More footsteps followed behind Meilan and her men, heavier this time and slower, measured in a way that didn’t match anyone I was familiar with.

That pretty much just left Commander Li’s men.

The man appeared at the top of the stairs, dressed in a white coat that screamed doctor. He had to be a medic of some kind.

He came down without hesitation, his attention already on us before he reached the bottom step.

He didn’t stop where Meilan had, and he didn’t keep his distance.

He walked into the room and crouched near Chenghai first, watching him for a moment before shifting his focus to Lingyun and then Zhenlan.

He didn’t touch them right away, just studied them quietly. "Fever," he said after a moment, his voice quieter than hers but more certain. "All of them."

No one argued with that, and no one needed to.

He reached out then, placing his hand against Chenghai’s forehead, then Lingyun’s, then Zhenlan’s, his expression tightening slightly each time he confirmed what he already knew.

He moved with purpose, like he was trying to understand something that didn’t make sense to him.

"At the same time," he added, glancing between all of us. "That’s not normal."

"It’s a coincidence," Meilan snapped from the stairs, her voice sharper now that she didn’t have an easy answer. "It has to be."

The medic didn’t respond to her immediately, and when he did, it wasn’t to agree.

"It looks like a severe cold," he said, standing slightly as he shifted his attention toward me. "Some kind of viral response, maybe. But for all of them to present symptoms this quickly—"

He stepped closer to me, his hand hovering for a second before he placed it against my forehead, his brows drawing together as he felt the heat there.

"You too," he said quietly.

I didn’t answer, I just raised a brow and looked at him. "We stayed out in the rain," I said at last, my voice so low and broken that he had to lean forward to hear it. "If you are brave enough, you should try it."

The rain was still pouring down from outside, the sun blocked just as the moon had been last night.

The medic studied me like he didn’t know what to make of my statement and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. "See if I ever help you again," I grumbled. This is what I got for trying to play nice with a man who hated Meilan as much as I did.

I thought the enemy of my enemy was my friend.. or was it my enemy? I don’t know. My brain was refusing to work.

I sank back down onto the sectional and let my head fall back. The movement sent another wave of heat through me, but I let it roll over me, refusing to fight it. It hurt, but not the same way it had before.

This time, I wasn’t a scared little girl all on my own. This time, I knew what was going on with my body, and that made it easier to let it happen.

But even with my begrudging surrender, it still felt like something inside me was being pulled apart and put back together, piece by piece. The pain stayed with me, but it was contained.

Something I could work around instead of something that controlled me.

I opened my eyes again and looked at Meilan.

She was still standing where she had stopped, her arms crossed now, her posture tight as she kept her distance like that would protect her from whatever we had. Her expression hadn’t softened, and she hadn’t connected anything yet.

Letting out another huff, I watched as she spun on her heels, going back upstairs with her men.

------

Commander Li looked up from the report that he had been reading when the door to their room opened.

Luo Xin walked in and stood just inside the room, his posture straight and his expression focused.

"Report," Commander Li said, putting down his report and giving the medic his full attention.

Luo Xin stepped forward, keeping his voice low and steady. "I went downstairs to get breakfast," he started, his brows furrowing as if he was trying to figure out the answer to a difficult question. "The original owners of the house were laying in the living room. All four of the men had a fever, and it is high. The onset was simultaneous, and there are no injuries or visible causes that would explain it."

Commander Li watched him without interrupting, his attention fixed on the details instead of the conclusion. "And the girl?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. "What about her?"

"She is in the same condition," Luo Xin replied. "Her temperature is just as elevated, and the symptoms are consistent."

Commander Li held his gaze for a moment longer before asking the next question. "Did she say anything?"

Luo Xin did not hesitate. "She said they were out in the rain last night, and she suggested that I should try it if I was brave enough."

The room fell quiet.

Commander Li shifted his attention toward the window, watching the rain strike the glass in heavy, continuous sheets. The pattern did not break, and the sound did not change, and the consistency alone was enough to mark it as something outside normal conditions.

"How quickly did the symptoms appear?" he asked.

"If they went out in the rain last night, it would have had to be within hours," Luo Xin answered. "The progression is too fast to match any known infection, and there is no external factor that explains it."

Commander Li nodded once, acknowledging the information without needing to comment on it further.

He looked back at Luo Xin. "Are they stable?"

"Yes," Luo Xin said. "The fever is high, but it is holding. There are no signs of immediate failure."

That was sufficient for him. The last time he had listened to her advice, he had saved both himself and his men. He would listen to her again this time.

Commander Li did not speak for a moment, the decision had already been made, and the conversation was simply the final step before action.

"Understood," he nodded after a moment.

Luo Xin remained where he was, waiting for further instruction, but Commander Li did not give him anything more than what was necessary.

"You stay inside," he said.

Luo Xin inclined his head once in acknowledgment, and he did not argue or attempt to add anything further.

Commander Li turned toward the door, his focus already shifting forward. His men had been listening, and they were already moving without needing to be told what came next.

No one spoke.

No one hesitated.

Commander Li stepped forward as they fell into place behind him, their movements controlled and efficient, each of them understanding the decision without needing it explained.

He passed the girl on the couch on his way to the door and looked over at her.

She looked at him with approval, like he had passed some test he didn’t know about it.

"Take off the extra clothes," she said, her voice breaking in the middle of her words. She licked her lips several times before she tried to speak again. Li didn’t rush her at all. "Don’t fight it."

Nodding his head, letting her know that he had heard her and understood, he reached the door and placed his hand against it for a brief moment. The sound of the rain had not weakened, and he couldn’t help but say a quick prayer to whomever was listening that he was doing the right thing.

Steading himself, he opened the door and stepped out into the downpour.

The rain hit immediately, cold and heavy, soaking through his clothes within seconds as it continued to fall without pause.

He did not slow down, and he did not look back.

And his men followed him into the storm without question as the door closed behind them.