Chapter 356 - 318: His Heart Is Still Beating
Chapter 356: Chapter 318: His Heart Is Still Beating
This thing... It nearly got Philinos killed!
Gu Ning furiously tried to pry off the Silver Armor. But the thing was practically fused to her skin—smooth, flexible, yet hard. She had no idea what material it was made from and fumbled with it for ages, unable to find any purchase.
"Don’t touch that. I just shielded it," Wanai said, tilting his head slightly in warning. "I’ll help you figure out how to remove it later. If you activate it, those people will follow the signal right to us."
Gu Ning wasn’t wearing her translation earpiece, so she couldn’t really understand him. She could only guess his meaning based on the few words she recognized, gathering that he didn’t want her to touch the Silver Armor.
Besides, she couldn’t get it off anyway. Wet and cold, she shiveringly pulled on the dry clothes.
The Leopard had given her just a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. Oh, and a pair of men’s underwear.
Gu Ning picked up the underwear, unfolded them for a look, and immediately put them down.
...’I’m not wearing these. They’re so big I couldn’t wear them even if I wanted to.’
Once dressed, Gu Ning hiked up the waistband of her pants and squatted by the small fire, warming her hands by turning them over the flames.
"Dressed?"
Wanai asked.
Gu Ning looked up at the Beastman, whose back was turned to her, and replied with an "mhm."
Wanai turned around and stared at her for a moment. He then bent down, picked up the bag on the ground, and tossed it next to her, saying something.
Gu Ning didn’t understand what he said, nor did she get why he had thrown the bag at her. Before she could ask, the Leopard turned and strode away.
She watched him open the container’s metal door. He slipped out and shut it behind him before the cold wind had a chance to pour in.
Gu Ning stared blankly in the direction he’d gone for a moment, then rubbed her arms. Once she felt some warmth return to her body and her fingers weren’t so stiff, she moved to Philinos’s side and deftly began undressing him.
The Combat Suit was a bit complicated. On top of the belt, there was a mess of shoulder and chest buckles. Since Philinos was completely unconscious, getting it off him was a struggle.
Once she got the Little Fairy Bird’s Combat Suit jacket off, the tight-fitting t-shirt underneath was much easier to remove.
The t-shirt was white, but it was almost completely soaked in blood. In the firelight, the overlapping web of old and new wounds on the Little Fairy Bird’s chest looked even more shocking.
Gu Ning’s nose stung—
"ACHOO!" She let out a huge sneeze.
Gu Ning rubbed her itchy, stuffy nose with the back of her hand and quickly got to work on Philinos’s wounds.
She didn’t have any proper tools on hand, so she used the damp t-shirt to slowly wipe the blood from his chest.
Thankfully, the wounds had stopped bleeding. After managing to wipe his chest clean, Gu Ning gave him an injection of Healing Agent.
Spotting the large backpack by the fire, Gu Ning paused. She walked over and opened it, wanting to see if the Leopard’s bag contained any medical supplies to treat Philinos. His wounds couldn’t be left exposed.
Rummaging through the bag, Gu Ning found a small medical kit. Inside were items she recognized, like Healing Potions and Inhibitors.
She didn’t touch them, taking only gauze and disinfectant.
After cleaning and bandaging the wound on Philinos’s abdomen, she looked down at the pants he still had on. Gu Ning touched the fabric—it was cold and damp. Besides, she didn’t know if he had other injuries.
She squatted beside the Bird Team leader, hesitating for a few seconds before pulling off his pants, leaving him in his underwear.
His legs were uninjured.
Gu Ning did her best to ignore a certain... conspicuous part of the Bird Team leader. After a thorough inspection, she felt a small sense of relief, put the medical kit back, zipped up the backpack, and returned it to its original spot.
Once all that was done, she shivered. Only then did she realize how cold and exhausted she was.
The small fire in front of her was just an alcohol lamp; it didn’t provide much heat. The loose clothes she wore threatened to slide off with the slightest movement and barely served to cover her body.
Gu Ning tugged at the collar slipping off her shoulder. Huddling in front of the alcohol lamp, she tried to use her terminal to contact Barto and the others.
Unsurprisingly, there was no signal.
Gu Ning anxiously ran a hand through her damp hair. The thought of her terminal only made her more miserable.
Not only had she turned her terminal off, but she had also tucked it into her jacket. Now, both were at the bottom of the lake.
If she hadn’t, she could have used the app Alex installed on her terminal to see how far apart they were. Then, Alex might have been able to find her quickly.
She had no idea what was happening with him and Barto. Were they looking for her, or were they tangled up in a fight with those winged Bird Clan Orcs?
Gu Ning stared at the flame for a moment, then looked up to survey her surroundings.
She was inside a shipping container. Outside seemed to be an abandoned area, something like a logistics hub.
’I wonder what that Leopard went out for,’ she thought. ’Did he leave for good, or will he be back?’
’I don’t really want him to come back.’
’Even though he saved me and Philinos, I’m still on guard around him.’
’Not only did this Leopard attack me and Philinos that night in Zone 15, I also ran into him before in Zone 19, back when I was living on the fifth floor with Cook.’
’If he hadn’t looked like he was about to kill Philinos that night in Zone 15, I might have been able to trust him a little. But now, I’m completely suspicious of his motives.’
’If our encounters in Zone 19 were just coincidences, then the targeted attack in Zone 15 and this meeting now are definitely not.’
’Even if he isn’t in league with the Black-winged Beastmen, based on his actions, he’s definitely not on the same side as Alex, the Wolf Team, or the Bird Team.’
Gu Ning contemplated her situation for a moment, then picked up the damp clothes she’d changed out of and wrung the water from them.
Seeing it would be hard to dry the clothes by the small flame, she looked around the container. In the back, she found two square wooden crates that had been pried open.
The crates were waist-high and had clearly been used for storage, but they were now empty.
Gu Ning pushed the crates next to the alcohol lamp and draped her and Philinos’s clothes over them.
With that done, Gu Ning sat down and leaned against Philinos.
’I can’t contact Alex and the others, and Philinos is severely injured and unconscious. I have no choice but to stay here for now. I’ll wait for him to wake up. I need some rest, too.’
His skin was feverishly hot. Gu Ning gave up on the idea of huddling by the alcohol lamp for warmth. Instead, she curled up, half-leaning, half-lying against his body—a natural furnace.
’Much warmer now.’
Gu Ning let out a long sigh and placed her cool hands on Philinos’s chest.
’His heart is still beating.’
.
By the time Wanai returned, having taken care of the young female’s scent in the surrounding area and found some more supplies, she was already asleep in that bird’s arms.
He paused at the doorway for a moment. Wanai gently set down the items he was carrying and quietly walked to her side.
His gaze swept over the wooden crates by the alcohol lamp, clothes draped over them, before settling on the two figures lying together.
’In such a short time, she’d not only put the clothes out to dry but also treated the bird’s wounds.’
Wanai took an old overcoat from the supplies he’d gathered and draped it over the young female. He added more fuel to the alcohol lamp, then opened his backpack.
The water and food inside hadn’t been touched.