Wild Creatures

Chapter 33

Wei Ying closes his eyes as Wen Qing takes his blood.

Lan Zhan is right by his side, holding his hand.

"How did you find that out, anyway?" Wei Ying asks her, by way of distracting himself from what she's doing. "The fact that his venom seems to be helping me?"

"Well, you know I said the samples were contaminated?"

Wei Ying nods, trying to ignore the pinching in his arm, and the sound of tiny glass vials clinking as Wen Qing fills one after another, almost gleefully.

"A-Ning was testing them when...when he was interrupted." Her tone became sharper.

"Why? What happened?" Wei Ying wishes he could turn around.

"Wen Chao. The little shit has taken to bullying him. Whenever he's around, he makes a point of coming here, just to rile him up. A-Ning never says anything..." She sighs. "And I know...they're doing that to send a message...to me."

Wei Ying gasps and turns around, jerking the needle, and then wishing he hadn't.

"Stay still!" Wen Qing warns him.

"Is that why you have to stay here?" Wei Ying asks her, putting two and two together.

In the past, when Wen Qing was tired, she used to often complain about people taking liberties...but Wei Ying had assumed she was talking about the hospital job.

Not this...not this second job that he had no idea about until today.

And while he didn't want to think this...he was now worried about her, and for her.

Whose side was she really on?

And worst case scenario...if it came down to it...if it ever came down to a choice between himself and her blood brother...who would she pick? How much could Wei Ying trust her?

"I thought it was my venom helping him not to bleed. It seems to have obliterated everything inside my body." Lan Zhan says.

"Well, technically, you're not wrong. Your venom is helping his white blood cells become even stronger. That's all we've discovered so far. I would really like to explore all possibilities in both of you, separately and together, really from a scientific point of view." Wen Qing says, glancing at him.

"But what about his dizzy spells?" Lan Zhan's tone becomes a little harder. "That was the original point of giving you his blood."

"Yes. I apologise. That was our intention, and then accidentally we found out so much more about him. And you." She sounds excited. "I promise, we'll make it a priority now."

"You knew about the venom...?" At the last second, Wei Ying lifts his voice, making his statement sound like a question.

Not so accusatory. But he feels like he has to know.

Wen Qing doesn't say anything at first.

The steady clinks of bottles being filled is the only sound in the room, and Wei Ying thinks she's not going to answer.

Just as she opens her mouth to say something, both her and Lan Zhan whip their heads up at the sound of the external door opening.

Wen Qing swears under her breath.

Oh no...that can't be good, Wei Ying thinks.

Suddenly, she's a whirlwind of action.

She tapes a cotton wool piece to the puncture wound on his arm and says urgently, "when I tell you to, walk out and head straight for the exit. Do Not Make Eye Contact with him." She orders.