"I will send you off one last time" [Global Examination]

[80] Don't Close Your Eyes At Me: Old Friends

Zhou Qi's condition was indeed very bad.

Under her mask, her lips were chapped and pale and the lower half of her face that was revealed was flushed red.

Zhao Jiatong winced slightly.

Zhou Qi really didn't look like she was doing too good...

She really hoped that it wasn't anything too serious, because, for one... Zhou Qi not being awake to do anything would make it impossible for her to complete any requests made by the Duke... and the Duke would definitely be all too happy to take it as a reason to punish both her and You Huo...

After all, he was targeting You Huo, and this would just make it way easier for him... At least, if her partner wasn't You Huo or Qin Jiu, the Duke might actually see reason, and let Zhou Qi off the hook if he was informed ahead of time that she was sick.

She was moved onto the bench by Zhao Jiatong and was wrapped tightly in several layers of clothing and blankets.

Zhao Jiatong returned and touched her forehead: "Here, it's burning hot."

"... So... a fever?" Someone asked.

"She didn't catch a cold, though... she wasn't sick when the exam started either..."

"The food wasn't weird either... or everyone else would have gotten sick..."

You Huo and the other men naturally couldn't touch her, but they didn't need to either. They could tell just by looking that her fever was very high.

Everyone shared a worried glance.

They just hoped that maybe Zhou Qi was just too sensitive to changes in their environment... but in that case, Zhou Qi would have fallen sick in the previous exams, and if it was as bad as this, without any invigilators or great masters who were willing to take her under their wing...

Zhou Qi would be seen as an easy target, and she would have been done for; they doubted she would actually be able to get this far if she really fell sick upon entering every single exam.

"What happened?" Gao Qi asked.

Zhao Jiatong replied: "How should I know? I'm also confused. She was fine the first half of the night. Although she was a little scared, there was nothing wrong when we chatted. I have neither heard her sneeze or cough or even mention anything about being too hot or cold. She fell asleep before me and I even deliberately chose a spot away from airflow from the balcony."

"You think sleeping on the floor can cause something like this?" Someone asked.

"If it was a wood or stone floor, maybe... but it is a carpet..." Another tilted his head, "I don't think sleeping on the carpet for a few hours can cause something like this..."

"No airflow, so there's no draft either..." Someone else winced.

They doubted that it was the cold weather that suddenly made Zhou Qi sick either...

"Then how did she become like this? When did this happen?"

"Just now."

Zhao Jiatong said: "She wasn't feeling well and huddled over. I was originally sleeping quite deeply and was woken up from my nightmare by her temperature. She was like this when I opened my eyes."

Some people frowned.

So, it was after her dream about her boyfriend, and she cried herself to sleep...