Lu Feng jumped forward to catch him, and his vines exploded from his left arm, forming that strong cocoon again to defend themselves. His right hand was holding the small waist, but An Zhe’s body seemed heavier this time as if he lost consciousness. A faint grunt came from his throat, but Lu Feng had no time to check the wound because more and more shots were coming.

     The staircase wasn’t wide enough for two people, so it took some time for the soldiers to get up. They probably entered the room at the worst possible moment: when An Zhe spared him.

     This wasn’t the first time for Lu Feng to kill people, but he didn’t feel much when he did it for the first time. Now… he was swallowed up by raging emotions, from fear and worry to anger and shock, and he had no time to dismantle them all. He had to focus: his main goal must be to take An Zhe out of here.

     There was no other way down, he had to go through the soldiers. He could use his vines to grab the magnetic pole under that iron bridge… but there were not many gaps to hold onto, and the helicopter could be still there. This building was different from every other one he knew about. He needed the staircase to escape if he wanted to make it out alive, and protect An Zhe.

     He didn’t kill everyone; his thorned tendrils suffocated and pierced the ones in the small room, but once he got out of the door, he avoided the others. Holding An Zhe in his right arm, he used his left; his vines burst out once more, stretching and jumping, clenching on the iron staircase, and he jumped down. Hanging on his branches, sliding through the air downwards, he landed on the lower parts of the steps, avoiding the soldiers' small team upstairs.

     They were still shooting him, so he had to form his right arm eventually, making a strong shield, but not a cocoon this time; Lu Feng had to keep his head out of his protection to see where to go. But he could protect An Zhe with it, so he didn’t care.

     He was correct: the rain made the iron steps slippery. When he landed, his legs suddenly folded under him, and he began sliding down. He called back all of his branches to grab onto the iron structure’s other parts, while An Zhe was leaning on his chest.

     It was a painful experience in many ways.

     Not minding the pain, he tried to jump out of the staircase again, using his vines to control his direction. He was low enough to see the streets below, only a couple of dozen meters high. He saw another group of soldiers waiting for them around the gate, so he had to take a detour; getting momentum from hanging, he forced his body to move in the other direction, almost flying through the air.

     His tendrils suddenly lost their grip before he made it closer to the ground; as a result, he fell down a few meters above the street. His legs were strong enough to withstand the impact, but the extra weight in his arm made him kneel with the momentum. At last, he landed in a narrow, empty alley.

     The alley was dark, but as soon as he came to his senses and stood up, he heard the loud, chaotic boots-steps running towards them. He quickly moved away, turning himself into vines here and there, yet almost getting lost while he tried to shake off their persecutors.

     He was out of air. Every breath he took hurt his lungs. His legs were shaking, and his whole body started feeling the pressure of exertion he put himself through. He had to stop at some point, hunching down in a gateway of a smaller building. He still could hear the steps, but not from so close anymore…

     He sat down in the shadows. The gate wore a small cap over it, so it blocked the rain, even the wind couldn’t get them easily, and it seemed like the soldiers went in another direction. He had a few moments to compose himself.

     Considering that this was the first time he ever used his tendrils as a grappling hook, without any preparation, he was proud of himself, especially with only using one arm.

     Lu Feng looked down at An Zhe. His arm already turned back to human form, and it slipped upwards on the boy’s back. The rose felt the hot liquid on his forearm, where the blood had soaked his sleeves.

     After some gentle tapping, it turned out, the bullet only reached An Zhe’s left shoulder, and not even too low. That was a bit relieving. An Zhe puffed out fast and small mistballs. His eyes were shut, and it wasn’t clear to Lu Feng if he fainted or was just in a delirious state. In the dark, he couldn’t see him well, but he felt like he was burning when he put his face on the young man’s forehead.

     This wasn’t a good sign. He had to find a shelter. Wounded humans would not do well under the rain. They need warmth… and presumably, he needed medication too. But Lu Feng doubted he could just go home with him. Even if most of the soldiers were following them, surely they will send some to the residential building where they lived. And his office wasn’t a good hiding spot either, ruling out the Twin Towers too.

     Lu Feng didn’t want to let An Zhe go, so he awkwardly struggled to find his communicator. Even if there was a chance that the military would spy on his calls, he couldn’t avoid this.

     When he unlocked it, the small screen dimly lit up. He saw a new message from Dr Ji, but he didn’t have time to open it. It was late night already, so the doctor was probably at home… but he asked Lu Feng to make a call before he would go there.

     So he made a call.

     The communicator rang for a while before a hurried voice spoke up on the other side.

   “Sorry, I was in the shower. Have you seen…”

   “Doctor, I need your help.”

     Maybe it was the small shaking in his voice that made Dr Ji shut up immediately, and the blond man quickly realised this was an emergency. Lu Feng didn’t wait for his approval.

   “An Zhe got shot. He… is losing blood. Can I come to you?”

     Dr Ji only fell silent for a second.

   “Can you bring him here, or should I get you?”

   “Stay where you are, and… please, don’t watch any news, and don’t open the door to anyone else.”

   “Oh, God… Hurry up.”

     This was a bit harder than it sounded. Lu Feng temporarily left An Zhe in the gateway to climb up on the side of the building. He didn’t hear their pursuers at this moment, he deemed the situation safe enough to part ways for a second – even though he regularly looked down to see the young man’s body lying in the gates.

     He quickly realised he wasn’t very close to Dr Ji’s flat, and the rain made his vision blurry. Despite the streetlamps, everything was dark and formless, hazy from the pouring water. He didn’t see where the soldiers could be either. Thinking of that, he thought, maybe they have dispersed exactly to those places where Lu Feng could go, and there was a small chance that even Dr Ji’s apartment would be targeted. But having no other choice, even with Lu Feng’s smart brain, he couldn’t think of anything that would save An Zhe’s life at the moment.

     He broke into a car. He put An Zhe in the backseat, lying him down on his not-wounded side, and securing him with the seatbelts. His ID card still worked, but he wasn’t sure for how long that would last. Once the military figured out everything, he suspected that they would close down the Main City, and cut all the access he had.

     He might have to escape from the city tonight.

     This idea gave him a small headache.

     The seeds were at his house… somehow he needs to get them, but with An Zhe, he cannot move freely and quickly.

     He didn’t want to leave An Zhe with the humans. The soldier who shot him probably let him live purposefully; from a hiding stance, they could just kill him with a headshot. Maybe they wanted to imprison him or tear down his titles and send him back to the Lighthouse… but maybe not. Maybe they would just torture him before killing him. Who could stop them?

     Lu Feng couldn’t let that happen.

     But for now, he pushed this problem to the back of his mind. One step at once. First, they needed to treat his wound.

     Fortunately, the streets in the researchers’ residential area were peaceful in the night rain. Nothing seemed to attack them; all cars were empty, no soldiers or armored vehicles, no boots knocking on the pavement, just the yellow, dim streets, with wide houses and black windows, empty cars neatly lined on the side of the streets, and the curtains of rain that made everything sparkle and blurry, as if they were in a dream.

     He parked as close to the doctor’s building as he could, and took An Zhe in his arms, carrying him up to the elevator.

     Dr Ji was waiting for them at the elevator’s door. When he saw Lu Feng and An Zhe’s state, he paled very quickly, and led them back to his flat.

   “What the heck happened?” He was shouting quietly as soon as he slammed the door, and closed it securely. “Go, take him to my lab… Who shot him? So they finally decided to hunt him down?”

   “It’s… a long story.” Lu Feng said. He didn’t care to act anymore, but he didn’t want to expose himself as a xenogenic just yet. He was afraid the doctor would change his mind, and wouldn’t help An Zhe if he told him the full story. So he only told the half of it: he saved An Zhe from committing suicide, but then someone attacked them. It wasn’t the best story, and the doctor was quite quick-witted to find out he was lying, but he was busy with the wound, so he didn’t ask for more details.

     An Zhe’s coat and shirt had been taken down, and they carefully removed his necklace. His wound wasn’t that big, but he bled too much in the rain, and the coldness and his depressive mental state didn’t help him stay healthy. He had a fever already. His chest was delicate and incredibly white, his veins were faintly visible on his skin at his joints, like blue rivers on a map.

   “The bullet exited his body, so it’s not that bad.” Dr Ji said, forcing himself to calm down. His hands were steady while examining the wound and An Zhe’s pulse and blood pressure. “I will stitch him up, and give him some injection… But… what’s next? If he was targeted… and you escaped with him…”

   “We’re leaving the Northern Base.” Lu Feng said calmly, but with a small hoarseness in his voice.

     He felt much calmer once he had placed An Zhe in capable hands. The room was welcomingly warm, and Dr Ji was reliable, so he no longer had any worries; he was simply tired. The blond doctor seemed momentarily speechless, which gave Lu Feng the perfect opportunity to share his plan with him.

   “I will go back to my apartment for something in half an hour. I will leave him here. I’ll come back… and… I guess, I need another car. Mine is at the Magnetic Field Center. I don’t want to take yours… I will take someone else’s. But I don’t know, where I can get food and water. Can you help me prepare some?”

   “Slow down, you jerk.” Dr Ji scolded him weakly. “Are you telling me, I have to lose both of my friends in one night?”

     Lu Feng paused; he didn’t have the time to think about this more deeply yet, and now he felt bad, but he couldn’t do anything to lessen the doctor’s pain. An Zhe had no place here, the Northern Base chased him into giving up his own life… what’s the difference from the wilderness, then? At least, out there, Lu Feng maybe can do something more to protect him – against human weapons, he wasn’t invincible, but against other monsters or plants, he would have a better chance. And the rest… they can figure out later.

   “Do you disagree with me?” He still asked; if the doctor would have any more ideas, he would be open-minded towards him, so he wanted to give him a chance.

     But Dr Ji deflated like a balloon, and looked lost.

   “No… Let me… think about…” His words were interrupted by a harsh knocking sound.

     They both stiffened, and Lu Feng instinctively stood beside An Zhe.

   “Stay here.” Dr Ji whispered, and rushed out, but before he went to the door, he pulled out a curtain from the side of the wall, which meant to hide his laboratory. It was a weak protection, but more than nothing. Lu Feng couldn’t see anything anymore, just the wrinkles of the brown fabric. His heart rate increased a bit, and he looked down. On Dr Ji’s metal table, An Zhe was lying, still in a delirious state, but he didn’t let out any sound.

     Lu Feng couldn’t help but caress the sweaty forehead. It seemed like An Zhe felt his touch because his face wasn’t grimacing so hard when the fingers swiped through his skin. He was slightly pale, but red on his cheeks from the fever.

     Dr Ji opened the door.

   “Ah… Seraing… How come you came here so late?”

     Lu Feng abruptly looked up.

   “Doctor, you may not know yet, but there was… an accident tonight.”

     Accident? – Lu Feng thought, and Dr Ji asked the same. The rose was quite proud of him because the doctor sounded genuinely puzzled.

   “The Arbiter had been shot while he was with a suspected xenogenic.”

   “A suspected xenogenic…?” This time, Dr Ji’s wasn’t just mimicking his confusion. Lu Feng’s stomach jumped, and he realised, this might be it. Dr Ji had already told him, he values his life the most. If he was directly confronted… and now, that he knew, Lu Feng wasn’t a human… he wasn’t obligated to help them anymore, of course.

     Lu Feng was too careless.

     He hurriedly began dressing An Zhe up, as gently as he could, and looked around. Dr Ji had already taken out some medicine he wanted to use. He could steal them… With one ear, he was still listening to the slightly muffled voices outside the lab.

   “The xenogenic kidnapped the Arbiter, and has been hiding with him somewhere since then. We need to check every place. I came to your place because we know each other. I’ll ask you to let me check your flat. If you don’t want to, it’s fine, but others will come, and they would not be that patient.”

     Adjutant Seraing was fair. He was also just doing his job. As a Judge, he lived by the same principle as An Zhe. But Lu Feng wanted him to be a bit less attentive… just as long as he escapes with An Zhe. Lu Feng tried to imagine the apartment again. He remembered the windows’ position. It was almost impossible to sneak out of the lab without the talking parties’ notice, and Dr Ji might be just giving them up right away… Still, if they could run out and use the windows somehow… Maybe aiming for the rooftop, and getting down that way. But if the Judge brought others, it was still risky. An Zhe… An Zhe wasn’t in the best shape… and the rain didn’t even stop yet. And the seeds…

     He started to panic before he could take a deeper breath.

     Which was stuck in his lungs right away, when he heard the boots coming closer to the lab. What? What did he say? Lu Feng lost his attention only for a moment…

     He grabbed the pistol on his belt, right when the curtain was jerked aside, and the glass door opened up…

     Two black muzzles were facing each other in the very same and steady way. Lu Feng was slightly faster than Adjutant Seraing, but neither fired yet.

     The brown-haired man was just as pale and wet as Lu Feng and An Zhe. But his face was much more stern than the last time they met… unlike Dr Ji, who accepted him right away when he asked for his help, the Judge hardened his heart.

     Until the man’s eyes lowered, and looked aside, noticing his boss lying on the metal table.

     At that point, his expression wavered, and his softness brought up his worry for the person he served. Lu Feng couldn’t afford to put down his own weapon, even when Adjutant Seraing lowered his.

   “Please… let’s take a breath here.” Dr Ji’s loud voice cut into the tense scene, and he squeezed himself into the lab beside the adjutant, with both of his hands grabbing their wrists to press down their pistols. “Let’s not kill anyone in my apartment, please… Seraing… your boss had been shot. What do you think of it? You know, that Lu Feng saved him, right?”

   “He is not Lu Feng.” Adjutant Seraing stated firmly. Dr Ji trembled, and hung his head before he looked up at Lu Feng with the question in his azure eyes.

   “Are you…”

   “Please, don’t… don’t fight now…”

     The weak voice shook all of them by surprise.

     An Zhe opened his eyes, and tried to sit up. All three of them jumped for his help, but Lu Feng was the fastest. An Zhe’s light eyes were a bit unfocused and hazy, but he recognised him, and with his healthy hand, he clenched his fist on Lu Feng’s arm. Lu Feng pulled him into a sitting position, but An Zhe couldn’t hold himself, and leaned against him. So he stayed there, standing as a picket stuck next to a sapling.

   “An Zhe, don’t exert your strength.” Dr Ji hurriedly stepped to him as well. “Okay, first and foremost, it’s time for the operation. You two, talk it out in the meantime, but I have a job to do. An Zhe, lay back. I will give you an anaesthetic.”

     An Zhe wasn’t in a position to argue, and when Dr Ji injected him, he kind of sank into his delirious state again.

   “Better this way.” Dr Ji murmured under his nose. “Sewing him wouldn’t be painless even with the anaesthetic. He needs rest. Lu Feng, could you wait a bit with your escape plan? I really don’t think An Zhe will be able to hold onto his dear life if you’re on the run.”

   “Escape?” Adjutant Seraing interjected, and shot a sharp gaze at Lu Feng.

     Lu Feng scrutinised him for a while. The Judge stood against his gaze, but his fiery eyes toned down, and soon, he uncertainly looked around between all of them.

     After a few minutes, Lu Feng decided to tell him what he was planning to do. Only when the officer understood that he was still trying to save An Zhe, he started to warm up to him, although his trust wasn’t the same as before. Currently, Lu Feng couldn’t do much about it.

   “Hold on.” Adjutant Seraing said after hearing him out, and thinking for a few moments. Dr Ji was yet done with An Zhe, but there was no more bleeding at least. “The doctor is right. With that wound… he needs a night, at the very least, under a safe roof. Also, if you go out to the wilderness, do you think you could hide him from people? How far do you think we chased your mother and her bee swarm? And you plan to go on foot? Even if you go with a personal car, armored cars are much faster on the field.”

     Lu Feng was a bit at a loss. His brain froze, and he couldn’t answer.

     Adjutant Seraing finally put away his pistol, and while he did it, he sighed deeply.

   “Let me help then.” The brown-haired man looked right into his eyes. – Just for you to know… I’m not trusting you… But I… I also don’t think that this place is safe for him right now. They didn’t shoot him dead, and this only means one thing: they planned to interrogate him about you. They were just waiting for any reason to attack and restrain him, even though he didn’t do anything against the rules. I also dislike this system… And many of my colleagues feel the same. Not everyone liked him at first, but now we do very much like him… I think if I’m not telling them every detail, I can get some more help. Let me take care of this… and then you can leave… by tomorrow evening. Is that okay? I can’t assure you that nothing will get in your way though.”

     Lu Feng’s body briefly relaxed. He tried to ignore it the best he could, but he was extremely tired already, and the thought of escaping didn’t fill his heart with too much hope. Seeing that Seraing would not only cover for them, but help them, assured him that he doesn’t have to force himself.

   “Your escape plan is full of flaws anyway.” The officer murmured, but this time, a very subtle smile’s shadow appeared in the corner of his mouth. “Let’s think about it more. I will lead them away. And when the searching would focus somewhere else, I will contact you. Or not you… doctor, if you would not mind…”

   “Mn, mn…” Dr Ji looked just as exhausted, leaning against his desk with his waist and crossing his arms. “Another sleepless night, what it is for me… I was made of stone, I don’t need sleep.”

     Seraing left after this. Lu Feng forgot to thank his help, he started to get dizzy himself. He never had such a physically challenging day before, it drained him too much. How did he even think about escaping? He would collapse right outside the base… it would be a death for both of them.

     When An Zhe was completely treated and cleaned, Dr Ji advised him to take him to the sofa, but Lu Feng already lifted the young man in his arms.

   “He needs to be kept warm. Good thing you’re here, and didn’t…” Dr Ji murmured, massaging his brows, zoning out a bit with unfocused eyes until he actually understood what Lu Feng was doing. His eyes widened, and the words stuck in his throat.

     Lu Feng finally removed his coat, throwing it to the armrest of the sofa, but he removed his shirt and undershirt too – not only because the rain soaked through the layers of his clothes to his skin, but because his sleeve was painted red by An Zhe’s blood. With that, he also removed his boots, and while An Zhe was already resting peacefully on the sofa, Lu Feng joined him. When he made himself comfortable in a position, in which they both could sleep, he drew An Zhe into his arms, offering his own body temperature to warm him up. An Zhe shivered, and unconsciously noticing the warmth, he nested closer to him, pressing his face to Lu Feng’s chest. Lu Feng looked up at the doctor, and reached for the blanket that the blond man prepared for them.

     Dr Ji’s fingers slid off the fabric, not showing any sign of strength, and he just stared at them in silence.

     Then, he clicked his tongue.

   “You are an eyesore…” He said with resentment. Lu Feng knew that things had returned to normal because he didn’t understand what he was saying. “If you’re going to be this lovey-dovey, you can leave… do you like rubbing salt into people’s wounds?”

     Lu Feng frowned, looking at An Zhe’s shoulder. Did he hurt his wounds? He tried his best not to touch the injured part, and An Zhe’s face wasn’t showing distress now.

     Dr Ji only got angrier.

   “Well, at least you’re not having sex in front of me, that’s an improvement…” He complained, and turned away. “I’m putting my single ass to bed now, lonely and freezing, thank you very much. If you need food or drink, serve yourself from the kitchen.”

   “Good night, doctor.” Lu Feng said, and his answer just a murmured ‘night’ was from the blond man, who strode to his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

     The world had gotten quiet for once. The night wasn’t completely dark, a lingering, dim light emitted from the streets passed through the curtains of rain, and some things in the doctor’s lab still had their neon light on, not too distractive, just painting the room in a faint blue hue. The rain’s small, buzzing sound was now peaceful – it reminded him of those rainy nights he spent in the wilderness as a rose, soaking all night, taking all the nutrients and liquid he could, knowing that it would help him live a long life.

     Maybe because of this feeling, or the small person warming up completely in his arms, he finally relaxed enough to hibernate, and charge up for tomorrow.

*

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