Chapter 5: Teacher Danheng's Kindness Leads to Mi's Taking and Eating...
Shen Mi supported Shavalei and they silently made their way to the medical room.
She knew that if Savare's wound wasn't treated promptly, the risk of infection was extremely high. However, when they arrived at the medical room, the guards at the door blocked their way.
"She's injured and needs treatment," Shen Mi said anxiously.
The guard glanced at Savare indifferently and replied calmly, "Medical resources are limited; only specific individuals can receive treatment."
Shen Mi's heart sank, but she knew that arguing here was pointless.
She looked down at the wound on Savare's hand; the blood had mixed with the dirt and formed a black scab. Shen Mi knew that without simple disinfection with water or alcohol, Savare might develop a fever that night.
Her mind raced, thinking of water.
Each person has a fixed amount of water, and resources are strictly limited in the mine. But even a single bottle of water is enough for her to help Savare with the most basic cleaning.
But she had no water.
Shen Mi gritted his teeth, his mind racing, and finally, a name emerged—Dan Heng.
She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and asked in a low voice, "May I ask where Manager Mei is now?"
The guard pointed to a building in the distance: "He should be in the office area."
Shen Mi nodded, helped Shavalei up, and walked quickly toward the office area.
That was her last hope.
Upon arriving at the office area, Chen Mi knocked on Dan Heng's office door. The door opened, and Dan Heng looked up, saw them, and frowned slightly: "What is it?"
Shen Mi bowed deeply and said earnestly, "Manager Mei, Savare was injured in the mine collapse, but we are not allowed to enter the medical room. Her wound needs cleaning, otherwise it may become infected. Could you please provide some water and basic medical supplies so I can give her some simple treatment?"
Danheng remained silent for a moment, his gaze lingering on Savare's pale face for a while. Finally, he sighed, stepped aside, and let them in.
“Come with me,” he said, a hint of helplessness in his voice.
Shen Mi was overjoyed and quickly helped Shavalei follow. Dan Heng led them to a storage room, took out a large water bottle and some simple bandages and disinfectant, and handed them to Shen Mi.
"Don't do anything too risky in the future. You never know if it will collapse again in the next second. You were lucky today." Dan Heng looked straight at her, and although his words were a warning, they didn't sound like a scolding.
"I... okay, Manager Mei." Upon hearing Dan Heng's words, Shen Mi had a fleeting urge to call out to him and acknowledge their relationship, but the words caught in her throat. How could she possibly explain that they knew each other?
In Honkai Impact 3rd: Star Core Spirit (the protagonist), the storyline begins when he boards the train, by which time Teacher Danheng has already been living on the train for some time.
However, she is currently unsure which period of the Amber Era she is in, or whether the storyline before or after Professor Danheng was recruited by Himeko is before or after Danheng boarded the train.
Shen Mi thought to himself. There was very little information available about the timeline; he could only accept whatever the system told him and take it one step at a time.
"Thank you, Manager Mei," Shen Mi said gratefully.
Dan Heng waved his hand, giving them a complicated look: "Handle it as soon as possible. You know the rules here, and there's very little I can do to help."
Shen Mi nodded, led Savare to sit down in a corner, and carefully cleaned her wounds. Savare gritted her teeth, enduring the pain without making a sound.
After treating the wound, Shen Mi thanked Dan Heng again, and then helped Shavalei leave the office area.
Walking back to her dormitory, Chen Mi was filled with mixed emotions. She knew that in this place, the value of life was infinitely diminished. To survive, they had to rely on themselves and support each other.
As night fell, the cold incandescent light shone from above, making Savare's face appear exceptionally pale. Chen Mi sat by Savare's bedside and gently wiped her forehead.
Shavalei looked like she was having a nightmare, her brows furrowed, muttering to herself. Chen Mi leaned closer to listen, trying to hear what she was saying: "Lila... Lila..."
"What?" Shen Mi tried to wake Shavalei.
A local aboriginal man, seeing this, couldn't bear it and suggested, "Water, Lila means water, she wants to drink water."
Water? Yes! In the afternoon, Danheng gave them a bucket of water, and Chenmi, afraid of being discovered, found a place to hide it.
Shen Mi leaned close to Savare's ear and whispered, "Savare, just bear with it, the water will be here soon."
After the dormitory lights were turned off, Chen Mi planned to take advantage of everyone's rest to quietly go out and move the hidden water bottle to the dormitory.
She tucked the blanket into Savare's bed, walked to the door, and just as she reached for the doorknob, she suddenly heard a faint scraping sound outside. The sound was like something being dragged, slow and irregular, with an eerie heaviness. Shen Mi's heart tightened, and it pounded faster. She immediately stopped, held her breath, and listened intently.
The sounds outside stopped, seemingly just occasional noises, yet this uneasy feeling made Chen Mi hesitate for a few seconds. She waited cautiously for a while, and only after confirming that there was no other movement around her did she quietly open the door and peek out into the corridor.
The corridor remained deserted, with only the lights flickering in the empty space, like a silent warning. Chen Mi breathed a sigh of relief, slipped past the patrolling guards, and quietly slipped out of the dormitory, silently praying that the water bottle was still where she had hidden it.
On a desolate night, yellow sand danced in the dim sky, as if an endless sea of sand had swallowed everything. A dry, astringent smell filled the air, and Chen Mi's breathing grew rapid. She stood in this boundless desert, surrounded by sand dunes, barren rocks, and shattered rings in the air... nothing else. The entire world was shrouded in a deathly shadow.
She bypassed the dormitory area and walked to where she had hidden the water bottle—a desolate mine. Using the reflection of the broken ring of sunlight in the sky, Chen Mi crouched down and, following the spot she had marked during the day, pried open the stones used for concealment. Like peeling an onion, she dug little by little, only to find the spot where the water bottle had been empty. A panic gripped Chen Mi, and she began frantically searching the ground and corners, muttering to herself, "Impossible…it was definitely here…"
Her fingers rummaged aimlessly through the dust and gravel, her anxiety growing. The disappearance of the kettle sent a wave of panic through her.
Chen Mi carefully examined every inch of the area where the kettle might be hidden, but still found nothing. As time ticked by, her anxiety grew stronger.
"Where could it go? It was clearly placed nearby. Did I come to the wrong place?"
Unconsciously, he walked further and further away, and when he came to his senses, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place. The huge broken ring in the sky remained in the same position. Chen Mi recalled his impression of the way he came, and it seemed that when he walked over, the angle of the broken edge of the ring was not so large.
Shen Mi turned around and saw that the wind had whipped up a sandstorm, erasing all traces of her footprints. Her heart began to pound; the surrounding silence weighed heavily on her. She looked down at the sand beneath her feet, a wave of helplessness washing over her. There were no landmarks, no road signs; it felt as if the whole world was mocking her isolation and despair.
Her once peaceful heart was now being eroded by an increasingly intense unease. The night wind whipped up sand, which stung her skin, making her feel uncomfortable all over, as if her entire being was being swallowed up by this desolation.
Shen Mi held her breath, her mind a jumbled mess. But just as her heart was about to explode, a deeper fear suddenly pulled her back to reality.
No wonder, I've never heard of anyone successfully escaping from a labor camp.
It wasn't because the guards were so strict, nor because the punishments were so terrible, but because this desolate planet itself was a silent prison.
All around was endless yellow sand, the night wind cut like a knife against the skin, there were no stars in the sky, and no road signs on the ground. Even if one escaped, it would only be stepping from one cage into another, more cruel and desolate, desperate situation.
There was no water, no direction, and no place to live.
In such a place, fleeing means a torment that lasts longer than death.
Chen Mi stood by the window, shivering from the cold sweat on his back. He realized that true despair wasn't found in high walls and barbed wire, but in a desolate wasteland where no one cared.
But she knew this couldn't go on. She couldn't just get lost in this desolate sea of sand. She had to find her way back. Shen Mi took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, but a wave of helplessness washed over her. She felt dizzy, and her mind began to race. The rings under the night sky seemed to be her only guide, but they were equally unreachable, hidden behind layers of sand.
She hesitated for a moment, then finally decided to move forward, trying to find a glimmer of hope, but she knew that every step in this desert was an unknown adventure.
Chen Mi stumbled and groped her way through the yellow sand. Finally, after circling around in circles, she saw the familiar barbed wire fence and the dilapidated, abandoned sentry tower. The labor camp. She breathed a sigh of relief, but her heart was still heavy.
Where am I? She looked around and realized that she was not back in the dormitory area, but on the other side of the camp. The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the howling wind and the faint rumble of machines running in the distance.
Just then, she saw a lone lamp shining in the distance. The light pierced through the yellow sand, particularly dazzling in the night. Shen Mi instinctively wanted to ask for directions, but after taking a step, she suddenly stopped.
Could this be someone on night patrol? What if they find out I sneaked out? How do I explain it? Say I came out to find water? I'd probably be suspected of trying to steal something before I even finished explaining.
She stood there, her hands clenched into fists, her mind racing. To go in or not to go in?
After some back and forth, Shen Mi decided to go around to the back of the house, look through the window to see who was inside, and then decide what to do.
Under the cover of night, she silently made her way around to the back of the hut, her feet crunching on the fine sand. The windowpanes were old, with tiny cracks at the edges, but the light inside shone through clearly. Shen Mi carefully tiptoed and peered inside.
Then, she froze.
Inside, a man stood in a steamy corner, brushing a strand of wet hair from his forehead with one hand. Water droplets slid slowly down his face and neck, tracing a path down his lean, muscular body. The lines of his back muscles were faintly visible in the light and shadow, and his pale skin appeared even more distinct in the dim light.
It is Danheng.
Shen Mi's mind went blank for a moment, and his heart suddenly started racing.
Her throat felt constricted; she dared not breathe or move, lest Dan Heng notice. Yet, the more nervous she became, the more she couldn't tear her gaze away from that figure.
The next second—
Dan Heng seemed to sense something, paused slightly, and suddenly turned his cold, handsome profile toward the window.
Shen Mi's pupils contracted, his heartbeat almost stopped, and he seemed to be nailed to the spot, completely motionless.
A note from the author:
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Hehe ...
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