Chapter 586: Hei Niu's Call for Help

Chapter 586: Chapter 601: Hei Niu’s Call for Help

Jiang Xia kept trying to find the right words to talk An Ning out of this idea.

“Today’s incident was mostly the owner’s fault for neglecting safety inspections and the problems from the gas leak. The restaurant is also to blame. Why would they decorate with hay and candles for no reason? Isn’t that a natural fire hazard?!”

Jiang Xia went on and on, from the storefront to the pipes, from the pipes to the fire hazards. His argument boiled down to one thing: ‘You’re not jinxing me; it’s the fault of the external environment.’

“Do you understand?”

“Mhm.”

An Ning’s simple “mhm” allowed Jiang Xia to finally let out the breath he’d been holding.

Looking at the anxious Jiang Xia, An Ning had only one thought. ‘Even if I am a jinx, I still want to be with him.’

“Jiang Xia, I actually wanted to say—”

“An Ning! I finally found you.”

An Ning felt a sense of inevitability, as if this was fated to happen. She looked at Director Zhao, who had come in person, and asked in confusion, “Didn’t you go abroad?”

“If I leave, does that mean I can’t come back?”

Director Zhao didn’t elaborate, but An Ning understood he had returned for her.

She and Director Zhao discussed the matter of the armor—whether to announce it publicly or suppress the news.

“Actually, while it’s high-tech, it’s not impossible to replicate. And I think I can start developing similar products to give frontline rescue workers an extra layer of protection for their lives.”

“Alright!”

A thousand words of gratitude were condensed into that single word.

An Ning and Jiang Xia were taken to the hospital through a special access route and underwent examinations.

An Ning was almost unharmed, with just a few external scrapes that would heal in a few days. Jiang Xia, however, had a cracked rib. While not a complete fracture, it still required bed rest.

An Ning forced Jiang Xia to be hospitalized, and a private room became his temporary workplace.

After getting Jiang Xia settled, An Ning prepared to leave. Just as she was opening the door, Jiang Xia called out to her.

“An Ning, what were you trying to tell me earlier?”

Jiang Xia felt that what she had been about to say was important, and he wanted to know.

An Ning turned to look at Jiang Xia lying on the hospital bed and smiled faintly. “I wanted to say that even if I am a jinx to you, I’m not leaving.”

With that, An Ning opened the door and left, leaving Jiang Xia to grin foolishly on the bed by himself.

‘Maybe, just maybe, this isn’t unrequited love after all.’

‘Heh heh, is it possible she has feelings for me too? It can’t all just be a ‘best buds’ thing, right?!’

‘Then again… if one of my bros said that, I guess I’d answer the same way.’

Jiang Xia was conflicted once again.

He even concluded that this was the downside of becoming good friends first.

For the moment, An Ning was unaware of Jiang Xia’s inner conflict. After this incident, however, she felt that poaching from her own backyard might be a bit more rewarding than she’d imagined.

‘His feelings for me have to be more than just being ‘best buds’ or good friends, right?’

The reason she hadn’t confessed directly in the hospital room was that An Ning wanted to go home and look through her master’s books to confirm something first.

Every time she wanted to confess to Jiang Xia or define their relationship, something would always happen.

But if they were just casually spending time together, nothing would ever go wrong.

It was as if the heavens themselves were trying to stop her, an outsider, from putting down roots.

Yu Zheng drove An Ning home. After washing up thoroughly, she sat on the floor, surrounded by ancient books and handwritten notes.

After a whole night of searching and research, An Ning came to a conclusion.

She was fated to be rejected by this world.

But as her merit—that is, the more good deeds she performed—increased, this rejection would most likely lessen.

The things she desired would be met with tribulations, much like the pilgrimage for scriptures in *Journey to the West*. It would be dangerous, but as long as she passed the trials, everything would be smooth sailing.

‘Merit?’

Everything An Ning was doing now was increasing her merit. Perhaps she needed to do even more.

After putting away the books on the floor, An Ning first went to the hospital to see Jiang Xia.

Although Jiang Xia was hospitalized, he was still very busy. An Ning didn’t stay long. After promising to visit him again tomorrow, she left.

After leaving, An Ning was walking down the hospital corridor when she passed a room and heard a news report on the television.

She stopped.

The news was reporting on yesterday’s accident. The preliminary investigation concluded it was a gas leak; an initial explosion had ignited a section of pipes, causing a larger blast radius.

The report didn’t just cover the cause; it also made a special point to mention the armored person from yesterday.

The official story was that the armor was Huaxia’s latest scientific achievement… yesterday was its first field test… the operator was risking their life… and she rescued people in order of the severity of their injuries….

This news report served as a public explanation for why the people An Ning rescued first were all alive, while later she only emerged carrying bodies.

After leaving the hospital, An Ning went straight to her research institute to begin a new round of design work.

Every morning for the next month, An Ning would visit Jiang Xia in the hospital. After leaving, she would rush to the research institute and work until late at night before going home.

By the time a month had passed, Jiang Xia had long since been discharged.

An Ning’s research was also in its final stages. After being the talk of the town for a week, the explosion was forgotten by the public.

For those not directly involved, life went on. For the victims of the explosion, it might take a lifetime to move past the event; the outcome was unknown.

After his discharge, Jiang Xia returned to his company and started a routine of bringing An Ning breakfast every morning.

An Ning, on the other hand, was invited by Beijing University to teach a class and supervise a few doctoral students.

Just as An Ning was settling into her nine-to-five routine, she received a distress call from Hei Niu.

The line was full of static, and Hei Niu sounded like she was injured.

After asking for her general location, An Ning decided to head south to investigate.

Decisive as ever, An Ning took a flight to the city closest to Hei Niu.

She rented an SUV and drove into the mountains alone.

The southern forests were quite different from those in the north. There was a lot of mist and many more venomous insects.

Fully equipped, An Ning found the starting point of the mountain trail Hei Niu had mentioned and began her search.

Using her spiritual power in conjunction with infrared reconnaissance drones, An Ning scanned and cleared one area after another.

“Doukou ni daneng?”

“Gali nasi—”

‘The R language?’

An Ning quickly hid herself, climbing up a large tree.

A moment later, four men carrying weapons passed under the tree. The occasional phrase in the R language made An Ning frown.

‘Are they looking for someone?’

An Ning’s intuition told her they were probably looking for Hei Niu.

She just couldn’t understand how Hei Niu had gotten mixed up with people from R Country.

Regardless, An Ning dispatched two miniature drones to follow the four men while she continued her own search for Hei Niu, trying to find her before they did.

Fortunately, Hei Niu had also prepared ahead of time, leaving signals for An Ning.

The two of them had spent years hunting in the mountains and shared a few small signals known only to hunters. An Ning spotted them and followed the trail.

After crossing a river, she finally found a trace of Hei Niu amid a pile of rotten logs.

“Hei Niu?”

“An Ning! Quick, save him!”

An Ning followed Hei Niu’s gaze and saw someone completely unexpected.

Hua Cheng!