Qin Rui first clenched his teeth until they ached. Then he bit his tongue, and the taste of blood did not calm his agitation; instead, it made his nerves extremely active.
In the end, Qin Rui couldn't hold back any longer and lowered his head to bite his arm hard.
He found this state terrifying; he was not like a human being, but like a mad beast, irrational and completely out of control.
The image of sharp claws tearing through a cavity suddenly flashed before his eyes, and Qin Rui trembled all over, clenching his teeth even tighter.
At that moment, a voice filled with surprise and doubt suddenly rang in Qin Rui's ears: "What are you doing!"
Then came the cool breeze brought by the person next to me lifting the blanket.
Oh no, Qin Chu has been woken up.
Qin Rui wanted to give in, but he couldn't control his body at all. He struggled for a moment, and even let out a beastly whimper.
The next instant, Qin Rui felt himself being lifted up, his chin gripped by a strong hand, forcing him to loosen his teeth. Blood seeped from Qin Rui's mouth as he nearly bit Qin Chu's finger.
He tried to control himself, and his entire thin body trembled.
"Brother, I...I didn't mean to." Qin Rui looked up at Qin Chu's serious face, feeling flustered and scared. "Brother, I...I'm trying to fall asleep. Please don't abandon me."
Even though he knew in his heart that Qin Chu liked him very much and that Qin Chu had promised not to send him away, Qin Rui was still terrified at this moment. His nerves were stretched to the limit, and he was on the verge of snapping at any moment.
"It's okay, I don't mean I don't want you."
Qin Chu quickly wrapped Qin Rui in a blanket, picked up the child, and started to walk out.
Doctor Su is dead, but there's still a military doctor in the camp, though he's a bit far away. Qin Chu picked up Qin Rui and tried to find the doctor, but Qin Rui was very uncooperative, clinging to his neck and crying, "No, brother, I won't go! I'm not going anywhere!"
He was making a huge fuss, and at the slightest disagreement, he would lower his head and hurt himself again, so Qin Chu could only hold him and stay in the tent.
Having no other option, Qin Chu dragged Noah out late at night: "Quickly take a look at him, see what's wrong, and see if there's any way to fix it?"
Noah had finally managed to take a short nap, but seeing how anxious Qin Chu was, he had no choice but to force himself to adjust his state and check Qin Rui's data.
After reading it, he yawned: "What else could it be? Sleep deprivation, withdrawal symptoms. He used to be able to sleep well, but now he suddenly can't sleep, which is similar to the state of drug addicts who have to stop taking the drugs."
Qin Chu pursed her lips.
Noah didn't need to say anything; he could tell just by looking at Qin Rui's condition.
Qin Chu had seen similar reactions many times, most of which were the result of drug abuse. Qin Chu himself had once needed to use a special drug due to a serious injury. He managed to pull through after being forced to stop taking it, but he never touched anything that could potentially be addictive again.
But what did Qin Rui do wrong? All he needed was the sleep that everyone else has.
He not only cannot enjoy this simplest of needs, but also experiences such a painful reaction afterward...
Seeing that he was in so much pain, and fearing that the child would bite his tongue, Qin Chu put his own wrist directly into Qin Rui's mouth.
He asked Noah, "Is there any way to solve this? He's too young; he can't keep going like this."
“He needs rest. If possible, give him a sedative injection,” Noah replied.
There are no conditions whatsoever; saying that is as good as saying nothing at all.
Unable to do anything else, Qin Chu fixed his gaze on Qin Rui's neck and pressed his other hand directly against the vein in his neck. Qin Rui's tense body immediately went limp and he curled up in a small ball on Qin Chu's lap.
Slightly relieved, Qin Chu wiped his forehead and realized that he had actually broken out in a sweat over such a small matter.
Fearing that Qin Rui would catch a cold, he quickly carried the child back and placed him on the bedding.
As Qin Chu straightened up, he saw that Qin Rui was still biting his arm. The child was biting him tightly, but was pushing his wrist away with both arms.
He pulled his wrist away, looked at Qin Rui who had been knocked unconscious, and sighed.
Since Dr. Su passed away, Qin Chu had been observing Qin Rui's condition, but these past few days Qin Rui had been able to run and jump during the day, so he was a little relieved.
But to my surprise, this kid was just faking it all.
Qin Chu sat there watching Qin Rui for a while, then asked Noah in his mind, "How is he now?"
"It's good. The mental fluctuations are stabilizing. If you pinch me like this, it should last for a few hours," Noah replied.
But knocking people unconscious all the time wasn't a sustainable solution. Qin Chu made up his mind and asked Noah, "Is there any way to capture a game player?"
Noah was stunned: "You really want to use the players as sleeping pills?"
Qin Chu: "...Catch him first and then we'll talk."
Unfortunately, Noah rejected Qin Chu: "It's not that this can't be done, it's that it can't be done. When I discovered that Doctor Su was a player, I also discovered something else: the border region where you are has been sealed off, and no more players will be deployed here."
"And no players wanted to come to this godforsaken place before, so..."
Therefore, with Dr. Su's death, Qin Rui's illness was truly beyond cure.
Qin Chu didn't reply. He frowned and thought for a while before lying down in his bedding.
Qin Rui didn't wake up until noon the next day.
He groggily lifted the covers and saw Qin Chu lifting the tent flap and bending down to walk in.
"Awake?" Qin Chu brought in lunch.
"Brother..." Qin Rui rubbed his eyes first, then suddenly remembered something and immediately climbed out of the bedding, "I still need to go to the kitchen!"
He had actually woken up once in the morning, but Qin Chu wanted him to rest properly, so she knocked him unconscious again.
Qin Chu hadn't expected him to be so dedicated to this job. Qin Rui was too young; if it weren't for the special circumstances, Qin Chu wouldn't have let him work in the kitchen.
Qin Chu stopped Qin Rui, who was in a hurry to run out, and pointed to the lunch on the table, saying, "Eat first, there's no rush for the rest."
Qin Rui still remembered what happened last night, and was a little afraid that Qin Chu would be angry, so he didn't say anything and obediently went to eat.
After Qin Rui finished eating, Qin Chu asked him, "Are you still sleepy?"
Qin Rui quickly shook his head: "I'm not sleepy at all."
He seemed afraid that if he said he was sleepy, Qin Chu would hand him over to some other doctor.
Qin Chu glanced at him: "Tell the truth."
That look seemed to see right through Qin Rui. Qin Rui clenched his fingers and whispered, "I'm not sleepy now."
"Did you fall into the basin of water yesterday because you were sleepy?" Qin Chu asked again.
Qin Rui was surprised; he hadn't expected that Qin Chu would still find out even though he had hidden it so well. He felt a little embarrassed, but also happy about this rare show of concern. He slowly moved closer to Qin Chu before nodding.
Seeing his cautious demeanor, Qin Chu couldn't help but sigh.
He reached out and touched Qin Rui's head, then lowered his voice and said, "I've already spoken to the kitchen staff. You don't need to go over today, and you don't need to go over to help anymore."
Upon hearing this, Qin Rui's reaction was noticeably strong.
Before he could speak, Qin Chu pressed down on his shoulder and explained, "Listen to me, it's not that I think you did a bad job that I'm not letting you go, it's just that you're too young. I wasn't planning on letting you go in the first place, I just had no other choice at first."
Besides, given Qin Rui's current condition, Qin Chu was really worried about letting him go over there again. Last time he only fell headfirst into a basin of water; who knows what would happen if he plunged into a fire.
"Then... what should I do?"
Qin Rui was clearly at a loss. He didn't care about the job or what others thought. What he cared about was Qin Chu, and he was afraid that if he did nothing, he would hold Qin Chu back.
Qin Chu stared at Qin Rui for a while, then asked, "What are you afraid of?"
Qin Rui was speechless, but subconsciously grabbed Qin Chu's hand.
Qin Chu had little experience with children, but he finally noticed that something was wrong with Qin Rui. The child was with him, laughing and making noise when he should, but he was always easily startled.
Just like last night, even though she was in so much pain, she still hesitated to apologize to herself. Qin Chu couldn't quite understand. Although he was also orphaned as a child, he was naturally carefree and had never experienced anything like this before.
Qin Chu waved to Qin Rui, looked at the child standing in front of him, and said earnestly, "You don't need to be afraid if you come with me. I will protect you no matter what happens."
Qin Rui lowered his head and gently squeezed Qin Chu's fingers.
This is what he fears most.
Qin Chu was so good to him, and he couldn't help but worry about what would happen if Qin Chu didn't want him anymore, what would happen if Qin Chu disappeared, what would happen if... Qin Chu found out about his past.
Just as he was hesitating, Qin Rui heard Qin Chu say to him as if he knew what Qin Rui was thinking, "I won't abandon you. I said I wouldn't give you to someone else, and I definitely won't do that."
Qin Rui's eyes welled up with tears. He bit his lip, took two steps forward, and hugged Qin Chu.
Qin Chu stroked the back of his head: "You can come with me to the training ground to learn some things. I will teach you to recognize characters when I have time in the evening, and you can also stay in the tent to practice writing during the day."
Qin Rui nodded; he also wanted to stay with Qin Chu.
But after thinking for a while, he still said, "If I'm not feeling unwell while you're busy, can I help out in the kitchen?"
The kitchen was a place with many people and a lot of chatter, and it was also the place in the entire military camp where you could hear the most news, especially news from the capital, which you could always hear in the conversations of the cooks.
Qin Rui didn't want to let such an opportunity slip by.
Seeing his insistence, Qin Chu didn't say much, only saying, "I can agree to your request, but you also have to promise me one thing. You can't hide your discomfort from me in the future, understand?"
Qin Rui nodded quickly.
He snuggled in Qin Chu's arms for a while, but couldn't help thinking that he could tell Qin Chu if he wasn't feeling well, or if he couldn't sleep, even though these things would make Qin Chu feel sorry for him.
But there are some things he would rather never let Qin Chu know.
Otherwise... Qin Chu wouldn't like him.
Qin Rui had already discovered this. Although Qin Chu knew he was the eldest prince, he was completely unaware of the rumors circulating about him in the palace. They didn't stay in the capital for long either, and soon arrived at the distant border.
This made Qin Rui feel a sense of relief.
When they first met, he didn't care at all whether Qin Chu knew about those things or what his opinion would be if he did.
But now, he hopes that Qin Chu will never know.
He is different from his brother.
After Qin Chu left, Qin Rui rolled up his bedding and sat on it, staring blankly at the top of the tent.
Although Qin Chu was cold and aloof, Qin Rui knew that his brother was actually very gentle and a soldier who protected his country. Qin Chu was a good person; he was even kind to a bad kid like him.
But what about himself? He was an absolute monster, born with a mistake that no one could tolerate.
Sometimes Qin Rui thought that he shouldn't exist.
Many people in the palace thought so, including his blood relatives.
But now Qin Rui is very grateful, because if he didn't exist, he wouldn't have met such a wonderful Qin Chu.
He will live well, hiding his most sordid side, and use it to deal with anyone who wants to harm Qin Chu.
With Dr. Su gone and no other players around, Qin Chu's plan to capture a player to use as sleeping pills was temporarily shelved.
He was worried that Qin Rui's withdrawal symptoms would be too severe, so he would knock Qin Rui unconscious every now and then so that he could rest properly. But fainting and sleeping are obviously different, and Qin Chu was concerned about potential side effects, so he had Noah monitor Qin Rui's physical condition each time.