But she quickly caught the distinctive smell of disinfectant in the hospital, and her mind cleared instantly as she asked, "Ah Jin, is this... a hospital?"

Qi Jincheng thought she had been frightened earlier and hadn't recovered after waking up.

"Don't be afraid, it's alright." Qi Jincheng held her tightly in his arms, comforting her repeatedly, "It's alright, it's alright..."

As he spoke, he blamed himself, "It's my fault for not protecting you properly, I almost..."

"I'm not dreaming, am I?" Qiao Xi interrupted him, asking with a look of surprise on her face.

Hearing her question, Qi Jincheng's face showed even more guilt and self-reproach. Qiao Xi noticed this and, not knowing what was wrong with him, asked with concern, "Jincheng, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's all my fault." Qi Jincheng couldn't express his apology to her in words. It wasn't just an apology; it was a mistake that he... he could never make up for in his lifetime.

Qiao Xi gently cupped his face and carefully asked, "Are you talking about the cold storage?"

"I'm sorry, I failed to protect you."

"How can it be your fault?" Qiao Xi immediately comforted him. Well, it wasn't exactly comforting, because the one who was at fault wasn't him, it was her. "The one who was at fault was me. I should have told you right away."

"I promise it won't happen again." Qiao Xi solemnly assured him.

Qi Jincheng didn't blame her at all, and hugged her tightly with a face full of doting affection, "Silly girl."

"Besides, you've already rescued me," Qiao Xi added.

Qi Jincheng suddenly said with a serious expression, "It wasn't me."

"Huh?" Qiao Xi looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Qi Jincheng said slowly with a serious expression, "When I found you, you had already been taken out of the cold storage. I saw you at the entrance of the cold storage."

Qiao Xi's confusion deepened, but she still asked about Jun Jiuge's situation first, "Have you seen Ninth Master?"

Qi Jincheng was unfamiliar with this title, so Qiao Xi immediately explained to him, "Jun Jiuge."

After a brief silence, Qi Jincheng gave her a positive answer, "She's fine."

Upon hearing this news, Qiao Xi immediately breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that you're alright."

Qi Jincheng didn't tell her about Jun Jiuge's departure for the time being, because he was afraid she would worry. He knew that she and Jun Jiuge had a good relationship, otherwise he wouldn't have followed her and risked his life to save her.

"Xi'er, do you remember what happened?" Qi Jincheng asked her cautiously.

Qiao Xi thought for a moment and organized her thoughts before slowly saying, "I saw Jun Jiuge being taken into a van near the school, so I followed them all the way to that abandoned warehouse. They tied Jun Jiuge up there and asked her what she wanted."

"I don't know the exact time or anything; she didn't tell me." Qiao Xi was also very interested in that item, but she couldn't get any information from her.

Moreover, judging from the scale of the event, that item must be quite extraordinary.

Qi Jincheng knew what had happened before, and he found the place by following the clues from that van.

As for what she said...

Qiao Xi continued, "Later, a man named Ma Qianbang came. He was the one who instructed that group to ask Jun Jiuge for something."

"Later we caught him and tried to use him as a hostage to break through the encirclement, but suddenly another person appeared and ambushed us from behind. Jun Jiuge was injured, and we were powerless to fight back. Then we were locked in the cold storage."

That's how it happened.

Qi Jincheng roughly understood the situation; it all stemmed from this 'thing'.

But that's not what he cares about. He only cares about Xi'er's safety. No matter what the reason is, he will never let Xi'er get away with it.

Qiao Xi suddenly remembered what he had just said and asked, "By the way, you said you were looking for me at the entrance of the cold storage?"

"Mm." Qi Jincheng nodded slightly.

Qiao Xi's mind had cleared up by now, and she remembered some of the things that happened before she lost consciousness. Based on her memory, she said, "I think I saw someone in a daze."

"Who is it?" Qi Jincheng asked, following closely behind.

Qiao Xi tried hard to recall what the person looked like, but still had no impression of him. "I didn't see him clearly. I was very confused at the time. I only know that he must have brought us out."

Qi Jincheng considered that she had just woken up and didn't want her to think too much, as it would be too tiring for her.

He gently cupped her face and said softly, "Rest well, leave the rest to me."

"Which ward is Ninth Master in? I want to go see her." Qiao Xi was still a little worried about her, after all, she still had an injury on her arm.

But just as she was about to get out of bed, Qi Jincheng stopped her, saying, "You should rest first. It's not too late to see her later."

"It's alright, I'll just go see her for a bit and then come right back." Qiao Xi insisted on going to see her, so Qi Jincheng could only tell her the truth, "She's gone."

"She left?" Qiao Xi's wide eyes showed a hint of worry. "She didn't go to that Ma Qianbang to take revenge, did she?"

But she quickly dismissed the idea, comforting herself, "It shouldn't be. They outnumber her and she wouldn't act so impulsively after being injured."

Although Jun Jiuge has a strong personality, she is not without reason. Moreover, she is injured, so she certainly wouldn't act impulsively.

She was in such a hurry to leave that she probably didn't want to implicate her, or... there might be another reason.

Qiao Xi felt inexplicably worried that she might never see her again.

"Ah Jin, can you help me find her? I'm a little worried about her," Qiao Xi pleaded with Qi Jincheng.

Qi Jincheng agreed without hesitation, and gently pressed Qiao Xi back onto the bed. "Leave it to me. What you need most right now is to rest."

Qiao Xi felt that her body had recovered and she no longer needed to rest, so she sat up again, not cooperating with the situation.

Qi Jincheng immediately said to her in a firm tone, "Be good, listen to me."

Qiao Xi knew he was doing it for her own good, but she didn't want to stay lying there any longer; even if she wanted to rest, she wanted to go home.

"Can I go home and rest?" she asked, looking aggrieved.

Qi Jincheng hesitated for a moment before replying, "I'll have Qin Yang come over and check you out. If he says you're alright, then we'll go home."

"No need for that trouble." Qiao Xi immediately objected. She didn't know what time it was, but since Dr. Qin was resting, she shouldn't disturb him. She wasn't seriously ill.

"Look at me, I'm full of energy, I don't look unwell at all." As she spoke, Qiao Xi even got out of bed and spun around in place, almost as if she was about to give him a little performance.