Blood Queen

September 14th, Saturday, the second day of the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday.

Near noon, with heavy traffic and bustling crowds on the city streets, two girls wearing matching denim dresses appeared at the entrance of C City First People's Hospital, each carrying a bag.

"I told you to rest in bed for a few more days. What are you following me for? Aren't you afraid of running into Shadow Arrow people?"

Jiang Yan looked coldly at Jiang Yao, who had chosen the same outfit as herself, feeling somewhat annoyed. She had the feeling that her companion's shameless insistence on coming today had impure motives.

"Hehe... anyway, I have nothing else to do. I've been lying down for so long, it's good to get out and walk around."

Jiang Yao played with her hair ends, somewhat playfully smiling. "Besides, I think Commander Meng isn't really a bad person. Although he's very cold, rigid, arrogant, and aloof... after what you said yesterday, I also think he's quite pitiful."

"Sigh, you're just wasting another external hormone suppressant. Brother Zhao Peng spoils you by not charging money... Never mind, just don't talk nonsense later."

Seeing her insistence, Jiang Yan could only nod helplessly.

One with black hair, one with light golden hair, identical denim dresses, identical ponytails. Walking through the First People's Hospital corridors, Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao's youthful sisterly appearance drew quite a high rate of turning heads from passing medical staff and patients. If their heights had also matched, it would have been perfect.

Probably having become familiar to the inpatient area nurses yesterday, Jiang Yan only needed simple registration before taking Jiang Yao into Meng Huai's room.

Pushing open the door and entering the room, both were stunned.

Meng Huai appeared to be no different from a normal person, at least on the surface. Even his hospital gown had been changed to a shirt and trousers, and he sat by the bed. But in front of him was an additional young man in a suit.

"Zhong... Zhong Jing?"

Jiang Yao looked in surprise at the two young men in the room, then at Jiang Yan beside her who was equally stunned, hardly believing her eyes.

Zhong Jing's expression at this moment was even more spectacular than the two girls', his gaping mouth unable to close for a long time.

All four stopped talking, the room fell silent, embarrassment and shock dancing together, bewilderment and helplessness coexisting.

"You know each other?"

Meng Huai frowned slightly, then stood up to take the fruit bag from Jiang Yan's hand.

"Jiang Yan... Xiao Yao... you know each other?"

Zhong Jing still hadn't recovered, asking foolishly.

"Mm."

Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao both nodded, not knowing whose question they were answering.

A hastily decided lunch was set at a Chinese restaurant near the hospital. In the private room, the four sat separately, the atmosphere still somewhat strange.

Except for Jiang Yan occasionally reaching out to rearrange the dishes, the scene was like four unrelated people randomly gathered at one table.

"Big brother, with your condition so serious, why did the doctor agree to discharge you in a few days?"

Seeing no one speaking, Zhong Jing thought for a moment and decided to speak first, while secretly glancing at Jiang Yao diagonally across from him who kept her head down eating.

"There's no major problem. Following the doctor's medical orders, taking medicine for adjustment and regular check-ups will be fine."

Meng Huai methodically ate his rice without lifting his head, then suddenly seemed to remember something and turned his gaze slightly toward Jiang Yan: "By the way, how do you know each other?"

Jiang Yan was still somewhat distracted, perhaps not noticing that he was asking her, only exchanging glances with Jiang Yao.

Seeing no answer, Meng Huai turned his head toward Zhong Jing, slowly putting down his chopsticks, a naturally imposing expression emerging.

Meng Huai was crystal clear about this half-brother's private life reputation. When he sensed that Zhong Jing seemed to have some kind of acquaintance with Jiang Yan and Jiang Yao, an indescribable tension actually appeared in Meng Huai's heart.

"It's been a while. We met at a bar club where they work... Oh, don't misunderstand, it's very proper!"

Perhaps this was the first time Zhong Jing had defended himself about his affairs in front of Meng Huai. In the past, the two brothers would basically never exchange so much information about any matter.

"A bar? Didn't you say you worked as a waitress at a hotel?"

Meng Huai caught something off and looked at Jiang Yan again.

"A place that serves alcohol isn't a hotel? Why do you care about this..."

No problem! Jiang Yao muttered softly from the side while using her soup bowl to block her face.

"Sorry..."

Although Jiang Yao's answer was absurd, Meng Huai also seemed to feel his reaction was abnormal and immediately fell silent.

"Does Mr. Meng dislike bars?"

Jiang Yan smiled and put down her chopsticks, looking calm, but feeling somewhat strangely uncomfortable inside.

In Jiang Yan's impression, Meng Huai didn't drink often but had an amazingly high tolerance, and his lifestyle was extremely disciplined—saying he had some mental fastidiousness wouldn't be excessive. Perhaps the words "bar" were always highly associated with some unsavory social concepts in his eyes.

"Never been to one."

Meng Huai's chopsticks froze in his hand. After a long while, he looked up and nodded lightly: "Where is it? I should go sit there sometime."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhong Jing, Jiang Yan, and Jiang Yao were all dumbfounded. Especially Jiang Yan, who thought she'd misheard, her hand reaching for soup frozen in mid-air for over ten seconds without moving.

"Oh right, I forgot earlier—Dad asked me to bring you some supplements, and I actually left them in the car trunk! Xiao Yao, are you done eating? Help me go get them!"

Zhong Jing quickly stood up. Jiang Yao on the other side also grabbed a napkin and stood up, eager to leave this scene immediately. The pressure from Meng Huai before her was simply too great. She suddenly regretted her decision to insist on coming with Jiang Yan today due to certain troublesome thoughts.

Watching the two quickly leave the private room, Meng Huai and Jiang Yan each turned their heads away, both falling into a strange silence.

"Meng Huai, do you find it very surprising?"

Without others present, Jiang Yan's inexplicable emotions began to surface. Or rather, her initial claim of working at a hotel carried some subconscious avoidance of self-verification.

"No."

Meng Huai responded quickly but didn't look up.

…

…

"My god, Meng Huai really is your brother! You two don't look alike!"

Standing at the restaurant entrance, Jiang Yao grabbed Zhong Jing's arm.

"Sigh, a child without a mother—it's a long story... Wait, that's not the main point! Jiang Yan actually knows my brother. When did this start?"

Zhong Jing took out a cigarette, also looking like he still hadn't digested certain information.

Hehe, more than just knowing... Damn it, Meng Huai is still our squad leader! But you, someone who plays smoothly between normal people and Blood Clan, are actually the younger brother of the Xuan Jia Squad boss!

Jiang Yao covered her face with one hand, not knowing how to describe the chaotic and bizarre identities and interpersonal relationships among the four of them now.

"I mean, that... Do you know what your brother does?"

Jiang Yao organized her words for a long time, then simply pulled Zhong Jing to a corner, showing a mysterious and nervous expression.

"Maybe I know, I just don't need to verify it... If he really is what Master hinted at, I wouldn't be surprised..."

Zhong Jing took a deep drag of his cigarette, showing a bitter smile: "This is getting interesting now—a wolf entering the tiger's den. Tell your sister to be careful... My big brother's single-minded personality is unpredictable."

"I think Meng Huai's attitude toward my sister is somewhat wrong. What should we do next?"

Jiang Yao also frowned. For her, this problem was seriously beyond her scope.

"How would I know... Never mind, let's go buy some supplements. I already said we would."

Zhong Jing helplessly dropped his cigarette butt, turning while giving the girl behind him a meaningful look.

"By the way, Zhong Jing, did you come when I was dormant?"

Jiang Yao followed behind Zhong Jing, and after walking more than ten steps, suddenly asked.

"Mm, you sensed it?" Zhong Jing smiled and looked back, slowing his pace. "I was like an idiot, talking to you. Your sister got tired of seeing me."

"No wonder it was so noisy sometimes, chattering away. I don't know what you said... seemed like suggestions about changing my hairstyle and clothing combinations?"

Jiang Yao stopped and looked toward a nearby shop's glass window. On the glass wall, the girl's lovely figure was faintly reflected.

"Topics full of life can help people relax more. Did it help you advance?"

"I... I simply can't communicate with you anymore. Your thoughts are so dirty. Can't our friendship be a bit purer?"

Zhong Jing smiled mischievously, recalling the scene of himself chattering away with a dry mouth for an hour that day.

"You still want to pursue me, right? Think I'm beautiful?"

Jiang Yao turned around, staring at Zhong Jing with complete vigilance.

Zhong Jing now looked completely deflated, seemingly internally injured by her words, with a sense of turning tables like a rogue: "I just think you should possess your own inner and outer beauty. So first, you could start with clothing and image!"

Jiang Yao touched her ponytail, still somewhat confused, obviously led astray by his topic again.

"Oh, I just need to change my hairstyle?"

"Many aspects. For example, you don't need to always maintain the same style as Jiang Yan. She's taller, a bit older than you, with different personality and emotions. She belongs to the somewhat aloof beauty type, similar to Sister Xiao Dong."

Once this topic started, Zhong Jing got excited, directly expressing all his opinions from top to bottom: "You and she are not the same type. You're young with more cute points, so in clothing you could consider different characteristic expressions..."

"Cute my ass... so you still want to pursue me?!"

Jiang Yao's mouth twitched as she widened her beautiful eyes. "Zhong Jing, I'm not stupid. I find you interesting, you find me interesting—that's enough. We're actually not the same type of people at all!"

"No one knows better than me the difference between you and me. Stop being narcissistic... Let's go, hurry up and buy things so we can go back!"

Looking at Jiang Yao's suddenly serious expression, Zhong Jing was silent for over ten seconds, finally grinning and patting her back before walking ahead again.

Zhong Jing and Meng Huai's personalities are vastly different. Brother always treats me like a child... I heard from Sister Xiao Ling and Sister Xiao Ping that Zhong Jing is a playboy, his family is super rich, he's hooked up with countless girls, but he's still Sister Wan's disciple. Really enviable...

Various chaotic thoughts surged in her mind. Jiang Yao didn't know how she ended up strolling down the street following Zhong Jing.

Zhong Jing was dashingly handsome, Jiang Yao pure and charming. The two maintained constant distance one after the other—neither close nor distant, silent, like a young couple who'd had a small argument.

Passersby of all ages gave the two quite a high rate of turning heads.

…

…

Army General Hospital.

Zhen Guangquan had just flown back to C City from Beijing. The first thing he did was rush to the Shadow Arrow Western Surveillance District Medical Support Center located at Army General Hospital.

Before boarding the plane, he had already learned about Meng Huai's physical deterioration and hospitalization.

"Xiao Zhen, this young comrade Meng Huai refuses to be hospitalized at Army General Hospital. Look, how should we handle this?"

Director Tang of the Medical Support Center, with graying hair, pointed at medical records on the desk with a troubled expression: "Although First People's Hospital's treatment and examination are acceptable, I still recommend he come here. After all, many details and truths are only known to us."

"Director Tang, wasn't Meng Huai only at stage two during his last physical? How did he suddenly reach stage three? During this period, he hasn't injected anti-blood infection immune medication!"

The person before him was one of the most senior medical experts in the Western Surveillance District and even the entire Shadow Arrow force. Zhen Guangquan was naturally a junior in his presence.

Zhen Guangquan frowned tightly, looking through the medical examination data sent by City First People's Hospital, somewhat puzzled.

"His situation was already very special. We record and track the physical conditions of all officers and soldiers in the entire Western Surveillance District. You laypeople just look at results. This young comrade Meng Huai is somewhat different from others."

Speaking, Director Tang extracted a file from Meng Huai's personal records and placed it on the desk: "Meng Huai has been officially on the team for almost eight years. According to statistics, including tests during training periods, he's injected anti-blood infection immune medication sixty-six times total."

Zhen Guangquan's pupils suddenly contracted. He grabbed the materials Director Tang handed over, his voice trembling: "Sixty-six times?! Are the statistics correct?"

"Yes. Do you think our Medical Support Center's data management is child's play?!"

Director Tang smiled helplessly and placed another document on the table: "This kind of data tracking began from the day anti-blood infection immune medication was officially put into use. Through long-term statistical analysis, people with rare blood types usually enter stage two after more than forty injections, and stage three is inevitable after more than fifty. Previously, no one who exceeded sixty injections could still be alive and kicking.

"Look, see your data from back then. Thirty times for ordinary blood types was already incredible, and you still had to withdraw from frontlines when reaching the stage two warning line, taking three full years of adjustment to barely pass. Otherwise, could you still be alive now?"

Seeing his silence, Director Tang stood up with a serious expression: "The Medical Support Department at headquarters has data for the entire army. I don't know if there are similar people. Looking only at our Western Surveillance District, Comrade Meng Huai is unique. Calling him a monster wouldn't be excessive. Moreover, some of his personal information is classified at headquarters' highest encryption level. I don't have clearance to access it, which makes me even more curious.

"When he initially joined Shadow Arrow, whether physical or psychological, all tests were excellent. But he's still mortal after all. If he hadn't pushed himself so hard, he might really have broken your record!"

"Thank you, Director Tang. I'll try to persuade him to accept follow-up treatment at Army General Hospital."

After a military salute, Zhen Guangquan left with Meng Huai's personal health records.