Qixian's eyes fluttered open to the rhythmic, jarring sensation of being carried. He was slumped against a warm back, his small arms draped over a pair of strong shoulders.
"You're awake?" the woman asked, her voice a strained whisper above the sound of her own heavy breathing. "You passed out back there. I had to scoop you up, the catchers are gaining on us, and we can't afford to stop."
"Catchers?" Qixian murmured, his voice sluggish and thick with the remnants of the sedative.
"Did you forget?" The woman offered a small, forced smile over her shoulder. "We're playing the world's longest game of hide-and-seek. They're 'It,' and we're the hiders. We just have to find a really good spot before they see us."
Qixian stared at the side of her face, his gaze uncharacteristically cold for a fourteen-year-old. "That's a lame excuse, Miss. I would have actually trusted you if you'd just told me the truth—that we're being hunted."
The woman's smile faltered, replaced by a playful, disappointed pout. "So you knew? And here I was hoping the Red Serum had at least muddled your memory enough to keep you a child for one more night."
"Tell me the truth, Miss," fourteen-year-old Qixian demanded, his voice cracking with a mix of exhaustion and resentment. "What exactly is that Red Serum? Did you even care that it's tearing me apart? Did you ever stop to consider that I'm just a kid?"
The woman didn't break her stride, her expression calm and matter-of-fact. "Why the complaints? If I hadn't given you that serum, you'd be a memory by now. You would have died on the spot."
"Wouldn't that have been better?" Qixian muttered, his gaze darkening with a bitter, adolescent edge. "My family only has eyes for my older brother anyway. They don't even look at me. No one even bothered to believe me."
"But I did," the woman countered, her face breaking into a vibrant, defiant smile. "And don't you dare talk like that. You're still a child, you'll find plenty of beautiful things as you grow. Just wait."
"Really?" Qixian asked, his voice dripping with heavy, youthful disbelief.
"Yes! One day, everything you've endured will be paid back in full," she promised cheerfully. "That serum made you strong—strong enough that no one will ever be able to bully you again. It's laced with the essence of a poisonous flower, the Spider Lily. With that inside you, no one will dare to hurt you."
She paused, her eyes shining with an intense, protective fire. "So live. Live and hone that power, even if you are an Omega. Because an Omega doesn't have to be the victim. They don't always have to be the prey."
Qixian looked at her, his expression unimpressed and sharp. "You speak as if you're an Omega yourself, Miss, when you're very clearly an Alpha."
"Of course I can say it! I can say whatever I want!" The woman laughed, the sound echoing off the water as she finally came to a halt beside a rushing river.
After walking in a long, comfortable silence, Bo Wenxian finally slowed her pace. "We're far enough from them now," she said, her voice dropping into a relieved sigh. She shifted Qixian's weight on her back, pointing toward the shimmering expanse of the lake. "We can find food here."
Qixian looked at the vast, empty water and then back at her, his expression unimpressed and flat. "Food? Where exactly is the food, Miss? All I see is a very large empty river."
"There's fish beneath that surface, and I happen to know exactly how to catch one," she countered, gently lowering Qixian onto a mossy rock.
Qixian watched her with a newfound, quiet curiosity. "Tell me, Miss… did whoever named you intended for you to be this… resourceful?"
"My name?" She beamed, her face lit up with a radiant, infectious pride. "Of course! It's the coolest name you'll ever hear. Do you want to know what it means?"
Qixian offered a small, hesitant nod.
"Bo Wenxian!" She announced, standing tall against the backdrop of the water. "Bo as in Boshuai, for a broad and learned mind. Wen as in Wenyi, representing the arts and culture. And Xian from Xianfa—the constitution and the law. It means I strive to be someone deeply educated, but also someone who lives by a firm set of principles."
Qixian stared at her. "That's… amazing," he murmured, his voice a mix of genuine amazement and a sudden, sharp pang of sadness. He realized then that she wasn't just a nurse, she was a woman with a soul as vast and structured as her name.
"And what about yours? What's your name?" Wenxian asked, her voice gentle as the water. "What does your name mean?"
"Qixian. Zhou Qixian," he murmured, his gaze fixed on his own reflection in the lake. He reached out, his finger breaking the surface and sending a series of ripples across his reflection. "I don't know. No one ever bothered to tell me."
"Don't look so tragic," she teased, her eyes twinkling with a sudden, bright idea. "How about I tell you what it means instead?"
Qixian's head snapped up, his eyes lighting up with a rare, childlike hope. "Really? You'd do that for me?"
"Only on one condition," Wenxian countered, wagging a playful finger. "You have to stop calling me 'Miss.' From now on, it's 'Older Sister.'"
Qixian hesitated, the word feeling foreign and precious on his tongue. "Older Sister…?" He tried it out, "But I only call someone a sister if we are blood related but miss we aren't blood related..." With that Wenxian let out a puppy eyes, "Okay then..." a small, shy smile tugging at his lips. "Then… can you please tell me, Older Sister?"
"With pleasure!" she chirped. She leaned in, playfully poking his nose as she spoke. "Your name, Zhou Qixian. Qi as in Jíxiáng—representing luck and all things auspicious. And Xian as in Xiánhuì, meaning virtuous and kind. Your parents must have hoped you'd be a source of peace for everyone you meet. A wise, worthy leader who brings a sense of serenity and good fortune to the world."
"Kind? Lucky?" Qixian repeated, his voice heavy with a bitter, youthful skepticism. "I don't feel lucky. And I'm certainly not a source of peace. If I were… people wouldn't be in this much trouble. You wouldn't be hunted right now, Older Sister. All of this is happening because you chose to save me."
"Don't you dare say that, Qixian," Wenxian whispered, her voice thick with a sudden, fierce tenderness. She reached out, her hand calloused but gentle as she caressed his cheek. "A fourteen-year-old shouldn't carry the weight of the world on his shoulders like that."
"Come here," She moved closer pulling him into a protective embrace, her scent wrapping around him like a shield. "Look," she said softly, pointing toward their reflection on the lake. "See your reflection? It's so clear, it's as if the water has etched your features onto itself. It's showing you the truth, that you are still a child. You haven't even begun to see everything this world has to offer."
"What do you mean, Sister?" Qixian asked, his curiosity momentarily overriding his grief.
Wenxian turned him to face her, her expression radiant with a soft, steady conviction. "I'm saying… when you grow up, strive to be as pure and transparent as that water. Become the wise leader who brings peace to others. Don't become a mirror of the ones you've met. Instead become yourself." She offered him one last luminous smile before springing to her feet. "Alright! Enough talk. I'm going to catch us some dinner!"
Qixian turned his head to catch one last glimpse of Wenxian's radiant smile, but the sunlight on the water suddenly fractured and bled into darkness. The peaceful lake was replaced by the crunched rhythm of snapping twigs and the frantic rustle of a forest being torn apart, and her beautiful smile being replaced by her exhausted face.
They were running again. The air was thick with the scent of ozone and damp earth. His lungs burned, and his heart hammered in a beat of pure terror against his ribs. He gripped Wenxian's hand as if it were his only anchor to the world, but his foot caught on a slick root. He went down hard, the forest floor scraping the skin from his knees in a jagged, stinging burn.
"Qixian!" Before he could even cry out, Wenxian had scooped him up, ducking into the shadowed hollow behind a massive, big tree.
"Leave me, and run, Sister…" Qixian pleaded, his voice fractured and thin. He could hear the heavy, methodical footsteps of the catchers closing in. "Just go. Save yourself."
Wenxian didn't even acknowledge the suggestion. Her expression was a mask of steely, desperate focus. With a sharp, decisive tug, she tore a strip of fabric from her own clothes.
Despite the tremor of panic in the air, her hands remained steady and sure as she wrapped the makeshift bandage around his bloodied knee—treating his wound with a gentleness.
As soon as the makeshift bandage was secure, Wenxian reached into her bag. Her hands moved with a harrowing, clinical speed as she pulled out a small, pre-loaded syringe.
Before Qixian could even gasp, she pressed it into his thigh. It was a high-grade paralytic—designed to freeze a child's body and voice for three agonizing minutes.
Qixian's world stiffened into stone. He couldn't move, couldn't scream, and his voice was stuck in his throat.
"You're still just a kid, Qixian. You have a whole life ahead of you," Wenxian whispered, her voice thick with a final, desperate love. "I've already lived mine... But before I go I have to tell you a secret… the man who tortured you in that lab? He's my father." Wenxian leaned in, her tears falling onto his cheeks as she pulled him into a crushing, final embrace. "So hate me, Qixian. Hate me so it's easier for you to forget me. Don't you dare cry for me."
'No!' Qixian screamed but no voice came out. 'No... even if you are his daughter, I could never hate you! You're the only person who showed me the one I crave the most my entire life! Please, don't go! Sister, please stay! Please!' But his lips wouldn't move. His throat wouldn't even follow his command. The only thing he could offer her were the silent and hot tears streaming down his face.
"You probably hate me now, don't you?" she asked, her voice breaking as she pulled away.
'No! I don't! I don't! Sister, please!' Qixian tried to move his hand but to no attempt it won't move.
"Don't go!" Qixian's hand suddenly shot forward, his fingers clawing at the empty air. She was gone. The forest was gone. The scent of ozone was replaced by the stale, poisonous smell of a hotel room.
He collapsed back onto the sweat-soaked pillows, his body wracked with a fresh wave of agony. "I'm sorry," he choked out, his voice a raw, broken whisper. "I'm so sorry, Sister. I was too weak… I couldn't save you. I'm sorry…" He repeated countlessly as he cried, his tears falling uncontrollably that almost all the pain from his heat and suppressants are forgotten, replaced by grief, and intense sadness.