The sickly one in F4 was the group's darling.

Shen Tinglan took the tube of ointment Ji Huaizhou had given him and went upstairs. He didn't plan to go back to his room to apply the ointment; the red marks on his hands were nothing, and he was used to this kind of burning pain.

He walked to the door of Bai Ci's room and stopped.

The lights were off inside.

The space under the door was pitch black; even the usual bedside lamp wasn't lit. He listened intently, but there was no sound at all—it was eerily quiet. Bai Ci always slept curled up in a ball, breathing very lightly, and occasionally muttering a few words in her sleep. But tonight, the room was so quiet it was as if no one was there.

He stood at the door, motionless. He used to come here without hesitation. He'd knock, wait for a reply, then push the door open and casually pull the blanket back up for him. Back then, Bai Ci wasn't afraid of him; hearing the knock, she'd softly reply, "Come in," her voice hazy and sleepy. But now, he raised his hand, his knuckles almost touching the door, then slowly lowered it again.

He was actually afraid to knock on the door.

In the past, Shen Tinglan himself would never have imagined this. He had never been afraid of anything in his life. When he was a child, he was thrown into the back mountain of the Shen family, where there were snakes, insects, and miasma, but he was not afraid; when he followed his clansmen through the thick fog, where there were white bone flowers everywhere, he was not afraid; later, when he was sent out to live, and his clan cut off most of his original life force, he was not afraid.

But now, he fears that this knock on the door will shatter the last bit of trust between them.

He understood Bai Ci's current situation.

Today's standoff in the fog, the unconsciously manipulated dream, the forcibly erased traces—fear has truly taken root in Bai Ci's heart. In Bai Ci's eyes, he is no longer the Shen Ge who would only indulge him and protect him; he is someone who can easily invade his consciousness, control his dreams, and possess countless unknown methods.

In the middle of the night, a person was standing outside the door.

A hasty knock on the door would only create a silent disturbance, causing Bai Ci, who was already under immense pressure, to instantly fall into a state of panic and stress.

Inside the room, darkness enveloped Bai Ci.

The bitterness from my conversation with Xiaoqi was still lingering in my heart, and my nerves were on edge. Not long after, physical discomfort swept over me.

His head throbbed violently, his temples pulsating with a dull, lingering pain. A wave of weakness washed over him, and a slight palpitation kept rising within him, making him afraid to even breathe heavily. His limbs were chilled to the bone, his fingertips numb with cold.

He shrank back onto the bed, buried his head, and swallowed all his groans.

[Bai Bai, your health stats are dropping, you must be feeling really bad.] Xiao Qi seemed to have been holding back for a long time before daring to speak, afraid of startling him, yet also afraid that he wouldn't say anything.

"It's nothing... Don't worry about it for now," Bai Ci replied silently to herself, her head feeling extremely dizzy. "I'll lie down for a while longer and see."

The prolonged silence outside the door made Shen Tinglan increasingly uneasy.

Through the door, he lowered his voice and asked softly.

"Bai Ci, are you alright?"

The question traveled through the door and into the dark room.

Bai Ci froze instantly. It felt as if an extremely thin ice needle had pierced straight into the back of his neck and slid down his spine. His heart skipped a beat, his breath caught in his throat, and he dared not even let his eyelashes tremble. He had a premonition that someone was outside, but the moment he actually heard the sound, he still couldn't help but tense up.

He wasn't well. He had a migraine, heart palpitations, cold hands and feet, and was sweating profusely. He was terrified. But Shen Tinglan stood outside the door, deliberately speaking softly, only daring to cautiously ask him if he was alright.

Bai Ci felt a sudden pang of sadness. He feared the unknown and unpredictable nature of Shen Tinglan, but he had always known that this person was always doing everything in his power to protect and accommodate him.

He couldn't pretend to be deaf and dumb, nor could he adopt a cold and distant attitude. The tenderness and reluctance in his heart prevented him from betraying the silent concern outside the door.

The headache was churning her nerves, and her heart was pounding wildly. It took Bai Ci a while to finally regain her composure.

"I'm fine, Brother Shen."

His voice was soft and weak, the last syllable lingering in the air like frost slowly melting. He deliberately tried to make his tone flat, as if he were speaking normally, but the more he suppressed it, the more he couldn't hide the lingering unease that came with his illness.

Shen Tinglan didn't move. He could tell that Bai Ci was afraid. So afraid that she even held her breath, just hoping she wouldn't stand at the door any longer.

"I'm just a little tired and I'm resting. Don't worry about me."

She added another sentence. Too sensible, too distant. Every word seemed to say: I'm fine, you can go now.

Shen Tinglan stood outside the door, his Adam's apple bobbing slightly. He didn't ask, "Are you feeling unwell?", nor did he say, "Open the door so I can take a look," and he certainly didn't push the door open and go in as he usually did. He knew that pushing the door open now wouldn't be considered caring by Bai Ci, but rather another intrusion.

He simply lowered his eyes in the darkness.

"Okay," he replied. "Then I'll be going. You get some rest."

After saying that, he turned around and took two steps.

He walked a little heavier than usual, as if intentionally wanting the person inside the door to hear him. He walked to the middle of the corridor, stopped, leaned against the wall, and didn't go far after all.

He held the ointment in his palm, and the tube became deformed.

in the door.

Bai Ci only slowly exhaled when the footsteps faded into the distance. He loosened the clenched and wrinkled hem of his clothes, feeling as if all his strength had been released from a confrontation, and slumped limply. He had been too tense just now, and now a wave of pain surged up from the back of his head, his temples throbbed, and even his eyes began to sting.

He buried his face in the pillow and suddenly felt wronged.

Shen Tinglan is really gone.

He desperately wanted him to leave. But once the footsteps faded and the entire corridor fell silent again, he felt a terrifying emptiness in the room, as if something had been pulled away, leaving him alone, lying in the darkness, his head throbbing so badly that even breathing was difficult.

He bit his lower lip, burying his face even deeper, but a cough still escaped his throat. It started as a very soft cough, then, as if he couldn't stop, he coughed several more times in a row, his shoulders shaking, his whole body curled up into a ball. After that coughing fit, his breathing became erratic, short and rapid, as if a wad of wet cotton was pressing on his chest, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get a full breath.

He knew he shouldn't be like this. If he kept coughing like this, Ji Huaizhou would hear it, Shen Tinglan would hear it, and they would all know he hadn't slept well. But he couldn't control himself. He gritted his teeth, pressed his face tightly against the pillow, and only let out extremely soft, whimper-like breaths.

The corridor outside the door.

Shen Tinglan leaned against the wall, not moving.

He heard it. Those suppressed coughs, like needles, pierced his ears one after another. He closed his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbing very slightly. He gripped the tube of ointment in his hand tightly, the tip of the tube embedded in his palm.

He wanted to push the door open and go in to see what was going on.

But he can't.

Bai Ci said, "Don't worry about me." Those four words were like an extremely light and thin door, blocking his way. If he pushed it open, Bai Ci wouldn't make a fuss or hide; she would just quietly look at him with her light brown eyes, like a small animal cornered and resigned to its fate.

Shen Tinglan couldn't stand that look in his eyes.