Chapter 21: You’re Not Allowed to Get Hurt

On the 80th day of living together, Lin Xia received a temporary reassignment mission.

A squad was handling an escalating B-Class incident when the intelligence chain at the scene broke down.

They urgently needed an intelligence coordinator to fill the gap.

The nearest available coordinator happened to be Lin Xia.

The mission notice arrived on her phone at one in the afternoon.

After reading it, she set the phone down and walked to the cabinet, beginning to organize her equipment just like last time.

Yin Qi sat by the window watching her without speaking.

Lin Xia checked her tactical backpack, changed into her field operations uniform, took protective equipment from the cabinet, and put it on.

Then she stood in front of the mirror for a moment.

“I might be back pretty late this time,” she said.

“I’m not sure exactly when.”

“Mm.”

Yin Qi nodded.

“I’ve turned on the indoor surveillance system before leaving, so remember—”

“I know the rules,” Yin Qi interrupted.

“Go already.”

Lin Xia slung her backpack over her shoulder and left.

After the door closed, Yin Qi lowered her phone and gently extended her awareness in Lin Xia’s direction.

The emotions coming from Lin Xia felt somewhat tense.

But overall, she seemed stable.

Yin Qi picked up her phone again.

***

The incident happened at two-forty in the afternoon.

Lin Xia sat inside the mobile command vehicle, compiling real-time data from various squads.

Everything had originally been proceeding smoothly.

Then the Meme suddenly experienced emotional escalation during containment.

The result was a physical shockwave far beyond expectations.

Three squad members immediately lost communications.

The entire scene descended into chaos.

Lin Xia forced herself to continue reporting the situation to command while simultaneously attempting to reestablish contact with the missing team members.

Then the command vehicle’s door was yanked open.

It was the squad leader.

One hand braced against the doorframe, the other grabbing Lin Xia’s arm and pulling her outside.

His voice was urgent.

“Move!”

“This direction isn’t safe!”

Lin Xia didn’t have time to think.

She gripped the communicator tightly and followed him as they ran.

But before they had gone even 20 meters, the impact arrived.

It wasn’t a shockwave from some explosion.

It was a bizarre, source-less force.

A pure push that violently shoved everything in its path toward a single direction.

Lin Xia and the squad leader both lost their balance.

She only managed to put out one hand to brace herself.

Even so, she crashed heavily into the ground.

Her right shoulder hit first.

Then her side.

Then her face.

The squad leader’s equipment was far more complete than that of an intelligence officer.

He wasn’t affected much.

Lin Xia lay on the ground.

A sharp ringing filled her ears.

Her right shoulder hurt badly.

As for the command vehicle, it had already been overturned.

The squad leader’s judgment had been correct.

Compared to the center of the blast, this area had actually received a much weaker impact.

Yin Qi felt it.

The emotional presence she sensed from Lin Xia was like a calm lake struck by a massive boulder.

Violent ripples spread through it.

And this wasn’t ordinary nervousness.

Yin Qi could feel a trace of pain.

She turned off her phone and frowned while looking toward the distant direction.

She focused her awareness along that line.

Lin Xia was still conscious.

Though there was pain in her emotions, there was no despair.

The pain itself wasn’t particularly severe either.

It probably wasn’t a serious injury.

But Lin Xia had been hurt during a mission.

Yin Qi lowered her gaze toward the rings on her fingers.

The way she looked at them was different from her usual absent-minded examination.

This time, it looked more like she was already considering taking them off.

The afternoon sunlight was bright.

Cars occasionally passed below the apartment building.

The noise of tires drifted into the room from the street.

She reopened her phone.

But she merely stared at the default wallpaper on the home screen.

She couldn’t think of anything she wanted to do.

***

Lin Xia returned home around five in the evening.

The right side of her face was swollen and red.

The glossy shine made it obvious that medication had already been applied.

Her walking seemed normal enough.

Apparently she had only taken a hard fall rather than suffering anything more serious.

But the way she carried her bag with her right hand looked slightly unnatural.

Lin Xia changed into her slippers and stepped inside.

Then she stopped at the entrance to the living room.

Dinner was already sitting on the table.

Beside it were bruise ointment and a box of bandages.

Yin Qi sat on the couch.

When she saw Lin Xia enter, she stared at her face for a while before speaking.

“Come sit down.”

“How did you know…”

Lin Xia paused.

“Never mind. Thanks.”

She sat at the table.

As her right shoulder shifted, she frowned slightly.

Yin Qi stood up from the couch and walked behind her.

“Take off your jacket.”

“It’s already been treated.”

Lin Xia protested.

“There was a medical team on site…”

“Take it off.”

For some reason, Lin Xia’s face reddened slightly.

But she didn’t argue further.

She obediently removed the jacket little by little, exposing her shoulder.

Yin Qi lowered her head and examined it.

Then she gently pressed on the area.

“Does it hurt?”

“A little.”

Lin Xia nodded.

“I just fell. Nothing’s broken.”

Yin Qi picked up some ointment and lightly applied it to her skin.

Her movements were incredibly gentle.

Almost weightless.

Afterward, the dull ache seemed to ease slightly.

“Let’s replace the bandage on your face too,” Yin Qi said.

“The current one isn’t on properly.”

“I can do it myself.”

Lin Xia replied.

“Your right hand isn’t convenient right now.”

Yin Qi had already gone to get a fresh bandage.

She returned and crouched in front of Lin Xia.

Carefully removing the old one, she checked the wound before applying a new bandage.

“There.”

“Done.”

Lin Xia watched her kneeling in front of her.

For a moment, she didn’t say anything.

Yin Qi stood up and returned to the couch.

She picked up the book beside her and sat down.

“You should sleep early tonight.”

“…Okay.”

“And don’t get hurt again.”

Yin Qi’s eyes remained fixed on the page as she spoke.

“Do you hear me?”

***

That night, Lin Xia fell asleep.

Yin Qi sat in the living room for a long time.

Using her awareness, she checked on her once more.

Lin Xia was sleeping deeply.

Comfortably.

The pain was no longer as intense as before.

Yin Qi found herself thinking again about that moment from the afternoon.

When those emotions reached her, her first reaction hadn’t been to analyze them.

Nor had it been to judge the situation.

Her first reaction had been to go to her.

She suppressed those thoughts.

Then she stood, switched off the lights, and returned to her own bedroom.

She lay down on the bed.

‘It’s fine now.’

‘Let’s leave it at that for today.’