He just broke up with his girlfriend and is already living with the devilish rich girl.

This is Zheng Yueyao's third time being hospitalized this month.

The first time was in the warehouse, the second time was on the bridge, and I almost got stabbed through by a werewolf.

Now I'm lying here again.

Night fell outside the window, and warm lights illuminated the empty IV stand and the glass of cold water that had been sitting on the bedside table for who knows when.

And each time, she was rescued by someone.

That time in the warehouse, someone suddenly appeared out of nowhere and single-handedly defeated that Rank A Hyena.

On the bridge, the white wolf rushed in when she was stabbed, and used its back to take all the attacks for her.

But... why can't I remember that figure from behind the first time in the warehouse?

The more she tried to think about it, the more her memories seemed to be erased with an eraser.

She couldn't recall the person's voice, height, or features.

Zheng Yueyao rubbed her temples and looked at the bedside table.

There was a letter on it; it was there when she woke up.

There was no signature on the envelope, but she recognized the handwriting all too well.

She opened the envelope and pulled out the thin piece of paper.

You haven't met my requirements yet.

Under the same training conditions and with the same instructors, Zhao Qing, who joined the team at the same time, has already been promoted to Rank A operator and has led three independent purges.

You're still stuck at rank B, and every mission you go on goes wrong.

If things continue like this, you won't be worthy of the position of squad leader in the Demon Slayer Team, nor will you be worthy of my expectations.

There wasn't a single word of concern in the entire piece.

Zheng Yueyao clutched the letter in her hand, her knuckles turning white.

Of course she knew her father had come that morning.

The nurse told her that a middle-aged man in a suit stood outside her ward for a while, but didn't come in, and left in less than five minutes.

Zheng Yueyao folded the letter one last time and put it back into the envelope.

Just then, the ward door opened.

"sister."

Zheng Xingguang walked in, still wearing the same casual clothes he wore last night, his hair half-wet from the rain.

He had clearly jogged all the way here. Seeing his sister leaning against the headboard, he noticeably slowed his pace and stopped by the bedside.

Zheng Yueyao quickly stuffed the letter under her pillow and wiped her eyes with her hand.

"Xiao Guang? It's so late, why are you here...?"

"I just finished a mission and thought I'd come see you."

Zheng Xingguang sat down on the chair by the bed, his gaze sweeping over the empty bedside table and then over his sister's pale face, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"Sister, did Father... come by this morning?"

Zheng Yueyao paused for a moment, then forced a smile.

"Yes, the nurse said he came by. He was probably busy, so he didn't come in."

Zheng Xingguang remained silent for two seconds.

He knew his father wasn't "possibly" busy; he simply had no intention of coming in.

But looking at his sister's face, which was trying so hard to maintain a smile, he swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.

"Sister," he suddenly said.

Do you remember when you were last hospitalized?

"What?"

"Just last month, that incident in the port area." Zheng Xingguang lowered his eyes, his tone very flat.

"When you were injured and hospitalized, I made more than a dozen calls to my father asking him to come back, but he didn't answer any of them."

Zheng Yueyao gripped the corner of the blanket tightly.

"He...he's very busy, Hikaru...and...I really disappointed him..."

"Sister, that's not what I wanted to talk about."

Zheng Xingguang looked at his sister intently.

"You might not remember, sister, but... Father personally participated in this annihilation operation, and he was the first to charge in."

Zheng Yueyao looked at her younger brother in disbelief.

"He...he's the commander, how could he possibly participate in the operation personally?"

"It's true, sis. Those people used you to threaten him, and he just charged in single-handedly, the first one there. He even said, 'If you dare touch my daughter, I'll make sure you die a horrible death!'"

Zheng Yueyao couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Don't imitate me! Don't imitate me... Your tone is so similar, hey, how many times did you practice?"

Zheng Xingguang's ears turned bright red from her laughter, and he pursed his lips without saying a word.

After laughing enough, Zheng Yueyao leaned against the headboard and looked down at her bandaged hand.

After a long while, she spoke softly, "Actually, Father... he just didn't know how to express it."

"Who knows him? He's a lousy old man." Zheng Xingguang shrugged.

Just then, Zheng Xingguang's communicator on his wrist vibrated.

He glanced down at the screen, stood up, and said, "Sis, I have a mission to complete, I'm leaving now."

"So hasty? You just—"

"The finishing touches are not dangerous."

He had already reached the door and glanced back at her.

"Sis, you should rest well and not wander off."

The door closed.

The ward fell silent again.

Zheng Yueyao leaned against the headboard and stared at the closed door for a long time.

Then she pulled the letter out from under her pillow and read it again from beginning to end.

It's the same old lines.

Your swordsmanship is not refined enough, your leadership skills need improvement, and you still fall short of my requirements.

But this time, after she finished reading, she didn't clutch the letter tightly anymore.

"Dare to touch my daughter, and I'll make sure you die a horrible death..."

She repeated the sentence softly, then chuckled softly.

She already knew what she had to do.

Just then, a commotion came from outside the ward.

It's very light.

Xiao Guang? Did he forget something?

But Zheng Yueyao immediately realized something was wrong.

The footsteps were deliberately concealing their presence.

Zheng Yueyao's expression changed instantly.

Her fingers tightened slightly, and her ear twitched almost imperceptibly.

Such light and agile movements... not an ordinary person.

And there's more than one.

Although the sounds in the hallway outside were kept extremely low, a deep-seated subconscious alertness allowed her to keep track of the other person's movements.

There are at least twelve.

Her gaze swept over the wall clock in the ward.

It was exactly midnight.

Visiting hours in the intensive care unit end at 6 p.m., and nurses on this floor will not make rounds during that time.

Thinking of this, Zheng Yueyao's gaze turned cold.

The next second, the door to the ward was kicked open.

More than a dozen fully armed masked men burst in, moving with lightning speed, pointing guns and long knives at the hospital bed simultaneously.

But the bed was empty.

The man in the lead turned to the wide-open window, the curtains fluttering in the night wind.

Tsk.

He clicked his tongue in displeasure.

"She's still injured, she can't have gone far, chase after her."

The group filed out, their footsteps quickly fading into the distance in the corridor, and after a moment, there was no sound at all.

The only sound in the ward was the wind blowing through the curtains.

About thirty seconds later.

Zheng Yueyao then crawled out from under the bed.

She was barefoot, one hand covering the wound under her ribs.

I moved too violently when I crawled in, and something warm has seeped out under the bandage.

Someone wants to kill me...?

She propped herself up on the edge of the bed, with only this one thought in her mind.

She could see it clearly.

The formation of those people when they rushed in: gun-wielding cover and knife-wielding assault.

This isn't an assassin; it's the Special Administration's indoor assault team.

Someone from the Special Administration Bureau wants to kill her...?