Yu Jing's mind was in a mess as he shoved the hand axe back into his waist. Right now, the priority was to bandage Jiang Tian's wound and stop the bleeding. But in such a narrow ventilation shaft, there was absolutely no way to treat her properly.
"Jiang Tian, can you still move?!"
Yu Jing shouted loudly, afraid that the pain might cause her to faint.
"It hurts… so much…"
Hearing her weak voice, Yu Jing urged her on. "Follow me, crawl after me! If we get out of here, there's a small room where I can at least stop the bleeding. You'll survive for sure."
"All right."
Jiang Tian's will to live was surprisingly strong. With Yu Jing's help dragging her along, she used all her strength to crawl forward.
Along the way, the ventilation duct was stained completely red with fresh blood.
"We're here!"
As Yu Jing pulled himself out of the duct, the light shone on Jiang Tian's face. She managed a faint smile before passing out. Her face was completely pale — she had lost a critical amount of blood.
"Why hasn't any test staff come here?!"
Yu Jing didn't dare to step out of the room carelessly, fearing the 'dangerous creatures' nearby. Standing up, he waved his hands and called out around the room, hoping that someone watching through the cameras would hear his cries for help. After all, this was a matter of life and death.
"Life and death? All seven test subjects here are from low-tier counties. When we were tested, our IDs were taken away. Even if we die, the institute probably has the means to cover it all up... This is a deadly test using human lives—could it really be like this?"
The terrifying conclusion struck Yu Jing, and he stopped calling out. Instead, he took off his jacket, tore the inner T-shirt into strips, and tried to bandage Jiang Tian's leg. But no matter how tightly he tied the wound, fresh blood continued to gush from the huge arterial cut.
"This won't work... Wait, the medical spray I found in that room!"
Holding the small spray bottle in his hand, Yu Jing was doubtful it would do much—but now, it was a last-ditch effort.
He sprayed the liquid on Jiang Tian's shattered leg.
In less than three seconds, the small bottle was empty. But to Yu Jing's eyes, a miracle seemed to happen.
The spray instantly stopped the bleeding at the wound and activated cellular regeneration. Before his eyes, Jiang Tian's flesh began to heal rapidly, rebuilding until the missing leg and foot were completely restored.
"This spray... based on everything I've studied, such a medicine shouldn't exist. Is this some kind of divine elixir!?"
A brand-new lower leg and foot reconstructed itself from cells. Even Jiang Tian's face regained much of its color. Her unconscious state lifted, and she slowly opened her eyes.
"I... I'm not dead?"
Jiang Tian stared in disbelief at her left foot and moved her leg with no pain. After a brief pause, she turned and threw her arms around Yu Jing, holding him tightly. Without hesitation, she pressed her full lips to his in a kiss of gratitude.
A young man from a rural background, unnoticed by most, was suddenly claimed by a mature woman in this deadly test.
After half a minute, they slowly pulled apart.
"You…"
Though Jiang Tian's makeup was gone, her natural beauty remained, causing Yu Jing's face to flush bright red.
"You saved my life. And a kiss from someone like me—a hostess—is worth nothing. If I can live through this, I'm willing to give more. I never thought I could actually survive... sob."
Jiang Tian's blunt words came from the heart. Despite her looks and figure, she had been born into poverty and sold her body to live a better life. To her, the only way to repay kindness was through her body.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Miss Jiang Tian, now is not the time to rest. Things are still very dangerous here... Can you take off your sweater? I don't mean anything by it. But in my test area, the dangerous creature is highly sensitive to the scent of blood. The smell from your blood could easily give away our location."
"All right."
At Yu Jing's words, Jiang Tian obeyed completely, wiping the tears from her face. She then pulled off her blood-stained sweater, revealing a thin, tight-fitting white shirt underneath.
"Why don't you take my jacket? If you don't mind it being dirty," Yu Jing said, avoiding her gaze as he handed over his hooded sweatshirt.
"What are you wearing?" Jiang Tian asked.
Since Yu Jing had torn his T-shirt into strips to bandage her wound, he was now without any outerwear, exposing his bare torso.
"I remember there's a set of clothes in the closet here," he said.
Yu Jing retrieved a neat work uniform from the same closet where he had found the medical spray earlier.
Jiang Tian looked at the clothes quietly and said softly, "There's blood on my pants too. How about I wear this whole set? I'm not trying to insult your clothes. Honestly, it was my problem when we first met. I was also born in a rural C-level county, just like you. I'm tired of being looked down on by others. I'm sorry."
"No worries. In that case, you can wear these," Yu Jing replied.
Not knowing what else to say, he handed the clothes to her. Jiang Tian changed right there in front of him, showing no hesitation. Yu Jing turned away awkwardly.
"My body isn't worth much. You really don't have to do this," Jiang Tian said with a trace of self-mockery, noticing Yu Jing's evasive gaze.
Now dressed in the slightly oversized work uniform, Jiang Tian lost some of her former glamour but gained a certain innocent charm.
"Looks like we both need to find some water to wash the dirt off our faces," Yu Jing remarked.
His face was stained with the blood Jiang Tian had spat onto him earlier, and her makeup had worn off and needed cleaning too.
"Haha, I must look terrible now, right?" Jiang Tian laughed self-deprecatingly but seemed genuinely happy.
"Not at all. I think you look much better than before. Anyway, back to the point — what exactly was that blood just now?" Yu Jing steered the conversation back to the matter Jiang Tian seemed reluctant to face.
"I don't know either. It all came from this ring," Jiang Tian said, her eyes full of fear as she tried to remove the ring from her finger but couldn't.
"Don't be afraid. The blood shouldn't be able to enter my test area, or it would have already come here. For now, stay with me and move within my test zone."
"But only one person passes the test," Jiang Tian immediately raised the extreme concern.
"It's fine. From what I've seen in your area, the dangers of this test are obvious. I also understand why the researchers set up this 'interaction zone'! One person can hardly eliminate the 'dangerous creatures,' and the chances of getting killed are very high. Cooperation is necessary. You and I work together — whoever ends up killed means the other passes. I won't complain."
Jiang Tian responded, "Do you think I'd run back alone to die? Let's cooperate. Is the three and a half million reward really that important to you?"
"I suppose so," Yu Jing said with a faint smile, offering no further explanation.
At that moment, Jiang Tian smiled sincerely, then stretched out her arms and hugged Yu Jing tightly.
"We have to survive."