The moment Dailina reached the door, Xi Ya barely managed to dive under the covers, his back facing the entrance.
His heart pounded wildly, ears perked up as he listened intently for any sound outside.
For some reason, he now felt like he was back on Blue Star, sneaking a late-night phone session as a kid, only to hear his parents checking in on him and frantically diving under the covers to fake sleep, guilty as charged.
The footsteps outside stopped.
Xi Ya’s body tensed immediately, not daring to move.
Here she comes, here she comes!
“Classmate Xi Ya?”
Dailina’s voice came from outside the door.
Xi Ya didn’t dare answer, even holding his breath.
‘I’m asleep!’
Before he could figure out his next move, a wave of excruciating pain surged through his entire body.
Ow!
Pain, pain, pain, pain, pain!
Xi Ya gritted his teeth, the muscles in his face twitching uncontrollably.
He had forgotten that his entire body was covered in wounds from the Blood Fowl’s claws.
That series of rolling, sprinting, and diving under the covers had practically torn every single wound open again.
“Classmate Xi Ya, are you in there?”
Hearing no response, Dailina quickly pushed the door open.
When she saw Xi Ya lying on the bed, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
‘Thank goodness, just like classmate Duoluolisi said, he came back…’
As she thought this, Dailina noticed that Xi Ya, wrapped in his blanket, seemed to be trembling.
“Huh?”
Under the covers, Xi Ya was fighting through intense pain.
It felt like he had been stabbed countless times all over his body, a piercing ache everywhere, especially the two deepest claw marks on his back, which made his vision go dark from the agony.
‘I can’t take it, I can’t take it! Pain, pain, pain!’
“Mmph…”
He couldn’t hold it in and let out a sound.
Dailina sensed something was wrong.
She walked over to the bed and found Xi Ya drenched in sweat, his body shaking violently.
“Classmate Xi Ya! What’s wrong?”
she asked anxiously, reaching out to touch his forehead to check his temperature.
“I’m fine… hss… just a bit sore…”
Xi Ya’s teeth were chattering uncontrollably, his voice trembling.
“What? You’re injured again?! Let me see!”
Without a second thought, Dailina reached for the blanket.
“Wait, hold on!”
Xi Ya tried to stop her, but Dailina’s hand was already there.
He had no choice but to grit his teeth, extend his left hand, and lift the corner of the blanket himself.
The moment the blanket was lifted, Dailina gasped.
Xi Ya’s clothes were soaked in blood, his body covered in a dense array of wounds.
The most horrifying were the two claw marks on his back, which had cut deeply through both fabric and flesh, stretching from his left shoulder all the way to his waist.
The blood on them had already dried into a dark red, sticking to his clothes, making it impossible to tell where the wounds ended and the fabric began.
“Mmph! How could…”
Dailina covered her mouth with both hands, staring at those shocking injuries, feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt.
‘What was she doing last night?’
Xi Ya had been wounded this badly, waiting in the room for someone to treat him.
And her?
Her mind had been completely filled with Duoluolisi—thinking about her body temperature, her scent, her blushing face…
She hadn’t even noticed when Xi Ya came back.
It was very likely that Xi Ya had waited for her all night, while she had been lost in her fantasies about Duoluolisi…
How could she be like this?
Dailina hastily reached out, wanting to touch Xi Ya’s wounds, but just as her fingertips were about to make contact, she pulled back.
‘No, I don’t have any mana left to treat classmate Xi Ya. I need to find the village physician quickly.’
“Classmate Xi Ya, hold on! I’m going to get the physician! Wait for me here!”
Ignoring her own exhaustion, she turned and rushed out the door.
Only Xi Ya was left in the room.
“Hss~~~mmph… Ah! It hurts so much!”
Xi Ya couldn’t help but cry out.
When he had climbed back through the window and changed forms earlier, he hadn’t felt much pain—like he had been numbed.
But as soon as he lay down on the bed, the pain flooded back all at once.
He gritted his teeth, wanting to reach for a healing spell, but the pain was so severe he couldn’t muster his mana.
He could only wait for the physician.
Time slowly passed.
Every second was agony for him.
After what felt like an eternity, Dailina’s voice finally came from outside the door.
“Physician, please take a look! My classmate is seriously injured!”
Dailina led the village physician into the room.
The physician was a middle-aged man with a bulging satchel slung over his shoulder.
“Is this him? Come on, young man, let me see your wounds.”
The physician set down his satchel and walked over to the bed.
When he saw the extent of Xi Ya’s injuries, he couldn’t help but suck in a cold breath.
“Holy cow, what happened? How did you get hurt so badly, young man?”
Xi Ya was in too much pain to speak.
“Alright, I’ll treat your wounds first.”
Without pressing further, the physician quickly opened his satchel and took out bandages, alcohol, and herbal medicine, preparing to dress Xi Ya’s wounds.
Over the next ten-plus minutes, Xi Ya experienced what hell on earth felt like.
The moment the alcohol touched his wounds, he nearly bounced off the bed.
The bandaging was finally done.
Xi Ya, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, slowly sat up, looking like a mummy.
“Young man, your injuries look very similar to someone I treated before. You’re not going to…”
The physician hesitated, looking nervous, trailing off.
“These were all caused by those monsters, but I already used magic to cleanse the toxins. I won’t get infected,” Xi Ya explained.
He knew what the physician was worried about.
He had been scratched by a Blood Fowl, just like the previous case of Wei Luo, who had been scratched by a Blood Eagle and turned into a vampire.
The physician feared he would turn into one of those creatures too.
“Phew, that’s good. I was worried you might turn into that kind of monster,”
the physician said, visibly relieved.
“Physician, thank you for bandaging my wounds. Please accept this…”
Xi Ya reached into his pocket to get some money, but found that his pocket had a hole in it—everything inside was lost.
‘Ah, this is awkward…’
“No, no, no,” the physician waved his hand.
“Yesterday you helped me clean out my chicken coop. I should be the one paying you. I can’t take your money.”
“Alright.”
Xi Ya didn’t insist and pulled his empty hand out of his pocket.
Once the physician packed up and left, the room fell silent again.
Xi Ya looked up and saw Dailina standing by the door, head bowed, silent.
“Classmate Dailina?”
Dailina raised her head, her eyes still filled with guilt.
“Classmate Xi Ya, where did you go last night?”
“I went out to investigate on my own…”
Xi Ya confessed truthfully.
He had already planned what to say on the way back.
He intended to directly admit that he had gone to investigate that cave.
“Why did you go alone? That’s too dangerous.”
“Sorry.”
“I should be the one apologizing. Actually, last night, after I noticed you were gone, I also ran out by myself, and I was…”
Dailina’s eyes darted to the side.
“I was caught by a vampire.”
“You were caught by a vampire? Are you okay?”
Xi Ya stood up abruptly, putting on an extremely worried expression.
But the sudden movement pulled at his wounds, making him wince.
“I’m fine. Classmate Duoluolisi saved me…”
“The one you mentioned before, from the Gorge.”
Dailina added, afraid Xi Ya might have forgotten.
“Her again?”
Xi Ya rubbed his chin, pretending to think for a moment.
“Phew, good thing you’re okay.”
“Mhm…”
“But my investigation last night yielded great results. Not only did I find out who the culprit is, but I also discovered the real source that brought the infection here—it was a Blood Eagle.”
Xi Ya changed the subject, his tone turning serious.
“Huh?”
“I also found a cave, and inside I discovered this.”
Xi Ya reached into his pocket as he spoke.
‘Huh? What? Where is it?’
Wait, he hadn’t stuffed the diary in his pocket.
He had been in such a hurry that he just instinctively tucked it into the waistband of his clothes…
‘What the hell?!’
Had he been carrying the diary there the whole way?!
“Classmate Xi Ya?”
Dailina watched Xi Ya’s expression suddenly change, worried that something was wrong again.
“Oh! Oh! It’s right here. Sorry, my pocket’s torn, haha…”
Xi Ya laughed awkwardly as he fumbled under the hem of his shirt and pulled out a crumpled little notebook, handing it to Dailina.
“… Ahem, this is it. This is the diary of the culprit.”
Dailina took the notebook and flipped through a few pages.
“I’ve basically figured out the whole story. The culprit is the husband of the woman who was burned at the stake in the village. He wanted to revive his wife…”
Xi Ya continued explaining, but Dailina noticed a familiar scent.
She brought the notebook closer to her nose—a faint, lingering fragrance of lily.
‘Huh? Why does this notebook have classmate Duoluolisi’s scent?’
She brought it even closer to check again, but realizing what she was doing, she quickly pulled the notebook away.
‘What’s wrong with her? Was she already bewitched by classmate Duoluolisi?’
No, her sense of smell must be off.
Dailina flipped through a few more pages.
When she reached one page, her eyes widened.
“… Also, I found the three missing villagers in the inner cave… Classmate Dailina? Are you listening?”
Xi Ya paused mid-sentence, noticing Dailina seemed stunned, her eyes a little vacant.
‘What’s wrong with her? Why does she look dazed?’
“Classmate Dailina?”
Xi Ya called again.
This time, Dailina finally moved.
She pinched something between the pages of the diary.
Xi Ya looked closely and saw it was two strands of silver hair.
‘Wait, those couldn’t possibly be…’
“Huh? Why are there strands of classmate Duoluolisi’s hair here?”
Xi Ya’s heart skipped a beat.
‘When did those fall in there?’
He saw Dailina holding the two strands, staring at him with a puzzled expression.
‘Oh no, oh no. Is it about to be exposed?’