Bengtie: My death fueled their madness.

Peaceful and regular days cycle by, and time moves on quietly, never stopping for anyone.

More than four years have passed since Qi Zhimu and Ruan Mei returned home.

After a period of continuous treatment and conditioning, his height finally returned to normal, and he began to look like a teenager, rather than a child who never grew up.

Although she still looks rather thin, at least she doesn't look lifeless or weak; instead, she exudes the vitality that comes with her age.

No longer needing to stay in the intensive care unit for extended periods, they now have their own private room.

When Qi Zhimu woke up as usual, he didn't hear the familiar sounds of busy activity.

The kitchen was empty. After thinking for a moment, he turned and walked towards the closed laboratory, where he found Ruan Mei as expected.

Ruan Mei lay on her side on the sofa in the laboratory, which was used for resting. Her eyes were lightly closed, her breathing was even, and her long eyelashes cast faint shadows in her eye sockets.

She fell asleep.

Qi Zhimu dared not make any big moves, quietly turned around and left, returning to the room to bring back a soft blanket.

He tiptoed back to Ruan Mei and gently covered her with the blanket.

He then walked a short distance away and brought up the monitoring progress bar.

...Just as I expected.

My sister didn't sleep a wink again last night; less than two hours had passed since she lay down to sleep.

For the past five days, apart from her usual cooking, she has spent the rest of her time in the lab.

Qi Zhimu turned his head to look at the dense, complex data on the screen beside him, which looked like a book written in the sky.

Although his sister didn't say it, he knew that these data were related to his body.

This isn't the first time my sister has been busy for several days in a row, but this is the first time she's gone to bed without even having breakfast after finishing her work.

She must have been extremely tired to act like this...

Qi Zhimu couldn't bear to wake Ruan Mei and quietly left the laboratory.

……

When Ruan Mei woke up, her hand reached out unconsciously and suddenly touched something with a familiar feel.

Turning my gaze, I saw the boy resting his arms on the edge of the sofa, taking a nap with his eyes closed.

As she cast her gaze, Qi Zhimu, who hadn't really fallen asleep, immediately woke up and looked up to meet her eyes.

"Sister, you're awake."

"Why are you sitting or lying here? The floor is cold." Ruan Mei frowned slightly.

It should be noted that the boy's body was not fully recovered.

"It's not cold." Qi Zhimu tilted his head, but quickly realized something was wrong.

Oh right... it should be cold...

After all—it's winter now.

Ruan Mei also realized something was wrong. The special antibacterial metal floor in the laboratory was so cool that even if you sat on it through thick pants, it would still feel cold.

Ruan Mei's sleepiness vanished instantly. Her slender white fingers wandered over different sensory areas of his body, and her indifferent expression was replaced by seriousness.

Are my hands warm or cold?

During the physical examination conducted by Ruan Mei, Qi Zhimu was stunned from the beginning and subconsciously answered the questions asked.

"Sister... I didn't feel anything when I was touched..."

Ruan Mei's expression turned slightly serious. She immediately took Qi Zhimu's hand and led him to the inner experimental facility area to conduct a thorough and detailed inspection.

More than three hours passed before the isolation chamber door slowly opened.

Ruan Mei was stunned by Qi Zhimu's first words.

"I'm sorry, sister..."

"Why apologize?"

"My sister has been working tirelessly for years to cure me, often going for days on end without sleep..."

Qi Zhimu hung his head, his guilt clearly visible on his face.

"I finally got to rest for a while today, but now I have to work hard again because of new health problems."

"You are my experimental subject. Clearing the virus from your body is a long-term project for me. It's not tiring at all, so relax."

That's what she said, but deep in Ruan Mei's eyes, a gentleness that even she herself couldn't perceive flashed.

"Compared to the virus in your body, the new problem is not difficult to solve. Go wait for me over on the sofa."

"OK."

Qi Zhimu had no suspicions and obediently went to the sofa where Ruan Mei had been resting and sat up straight.

Ruan Mei's gaze fell on the soft blanket that hadn't actually been there, and a slight feeling stirred within her.

A long, long time ago... only family members would do these things for her.

That's care, that's love between family members.

Unexpectedly, the child she took in also knew how to care for and be considerate of her.

Ruan Mei quickly gathered her thoughts and focused her attention on the test report.

She quickly reached a conclusion.

The earlier statement that it would be easy to solve is now questionable, as Qi Zhimu's body contains more than ten viruses that have successfully undergone new mutations.

It won't kill him directly, but it will affect Qi Zhimu's peripheral nerves, causing him to lose different senses.

Right now, I only feel warmth, touch, and pain.

Yes, besides being unable to feel temperature and touch, Qi Zhimu has also lost the sense of pain, the impact of which can be significant.

Based on the data analysis, it can be predicted that the sense of smell, pressure, and other senses will also be lost in the future...

If it cannot be stopped in time, vision and hearing will inevitably be damaged, until they completely lose their original functions.

Most importantly, the mutated new virus became a seventeenth virus, independent of the original sixteen, and became a compatible one.

The currently used drugs and antibodies are completely ineffective against the new mutated virus.

Yu Qingtu, in reality, saw and understood those data clearly, and couldn't help but sigh.

"If it were the current Aruan, she could probably heal Xiao Mu in just a dozen seconds, but unfortunately, she didn't have enough resources back then."

"I understand."

Black Tower leaned back in his chair, unusually refraining from making any sarcastic remarks.

Even geniuses need time to mature.

She had no objection to Ruan Mei from thousands of years ago.

--temporary.

In the simulated universe, Ruan Mei stared at the various data for a long time, pondering the pros and cons.

After more than four years, she successfully found the equilibrium benchmark under pharmacological interactions, and it was only a matter of time before the virus in Qi Zhimu's body was cleared.

Adding new pharmacological components to a new virus would increase the computational workload and clinical trials exponentially, requiring a significant amount of time.

Problems that can be solved with time are not problems; she is an immortal being and can afford to wait.

However, Qi Zhimu didn't have that much time.

She couldn't have her cake and eat it too, so she had to choose the most pragmatic solution, a temporary fix.

First, suppress the proliferation of the new virus and restore Qi Zhimu's physical sensations. After completely eliminating the first sixteen toxins, then deal with the new ones.

…This child's fate has been truly full of twists and turns.

Ruan Mei used the same trick again, calmly extracting the mutated virus strain and injecting it into her vein without hesitation.

Developing targeted drugs to suppress the virus is not difficult.

As night fell, a special medicine was prepared.

The needle tip was inserted into the boy's vein and slowly pushed in, allowing the medicine to spread rapidly along the bloodstream.

"If you feel unwell in any way, tell me immediately." Ruan Mei gently held Qi Zhimu's hand.

A moment later, the medicine took effect, and the missing sensations returned like a tide.

Feeling the warmth from his palm, Qi Zhimu's slightly pale face broke into a warm smile.

"...My sister's hands are so warm."

After confirming that all indicators had returned to normal, Ruan Mei nodded slightly, let go, and stood up.

"Are you hungry? Wait a moment, I'll go make some food."