I Really Didn't Intend to Pick Up the Black Lotus Omega - Chapter 6

The summer sun blazed like a reflecting mirror, its harsh glare searing the ground.

It dwarfed humanity, casting a contemptuous gaze upon all that transpired below. Jiang Nianyu’s desperate pursuit from the hospital room seemed like a scene replayed endlessly within those walls.

Familiarity bred indifference; no one paused for her.

Except Yu Qing.

They stood so close that the sunlight filtering between them cast only a thin line on the ground, as if either of them could cross it with a single step.

Yet even then, Jiang Nianyu halted.

She felt unworthy to cross that line between herself and Yu Qing.

The corner of Yu Qing’s shirt, clutched in Jiang Nianyu’s hand, was now crumpled and damp with falling tears.

Each drop struck Yu Qing’s eyes, causing her pupils to tremble slightly as she stared at Jiang Nianyu in disbelief.

This was the first time Yu Qing had witnessed such raw emotion from Jiang Nianyu during their time together.

Her voice was loud, each word hammering into Yu Qing’s ears.

From her pale lips, she uttered three words: “Don’t abandon me.”

Jiang Nianyu’s ragged breaths filled Yu Qing’s ears, a testament to how long she had been running to catch up.

She clutched at Yu Qing’s sleeve, just as she had on their first meeting.

Yu Qing felt her heart pounding faster than ever, as if it were about to burst from her chest.

She realized Jiang Nianyu needed her.

And Yu Qing had always been someone who needed to be needed.

The midday sun beat down in relentless waves, scorching their heads and weakening their resolve.

Yu Qing felt the clarity she had clung to since leaving the hospital room slipping away. She couldn’t ignore Jiang Nianyu’s desperate gaze.

Nor could she ignore her bare feet, blistered and red from running across the sun-baked road.

How far had she run like this?

Yu Qing’s brow furrowed with concern. Unable to bear the sight, she reached out and grasped Jiang Nianyu’s arm. “Why aren’t you wearing shoes? You almost stepped on my foot.”

Though Yu Qing’s palm was far cooler than the sun, the moment she touched Jiang Nianyu, the shivering in her cold body stopped.

Jiang Nianyu stared at Yu Qing’s foot with disbelief and longing. The sharp line of sunlight on the ground was clear as day, and she had just stepped right over it.

Jiang Nianyu stepped over the line.

“No one will abandon you, and neither will I.”

The familiar voice, the familiar scent.

Jiang Nianyu still hadn’t fully processed crossing that boundary when Yu Qing’s voice reached her ear.

“I promised I’d come back tomorrow, and I will. Don’t be afraid,” Yu Qing said again.

Can I?

Can I truly feel safe?

Jiang Nianyu’s emotions quickly stabilized, gradually returning to calm.

Her gently fluttering eyes, still glistening with unshed tears, repeatedly scanned Yu Qing’s face.

Perhaps Omegas were inherently prone to insecurity. Past memories and Yu Qing’s recent departure made it even harder for her to feel at ease.

If only there were a way to never be separated.

“We found her! We found her!”

Just then, the Head Nurse rushed over with nurses and police officers.

Their faces were etched with anxiety and fear. For them, a patient’s disappearance was more terrifying than the sky falling.

Yu Qing immediately understood the situation and apologized to the Head Nurse, “You must have been so worried.”

“It’s fine if I get scared, but if the patient runs off and something happens, that’s a real problem,” the Head Nurse said, dismissing her earlier frantic running. Her primary concern remained Jiang Nianyu.

She quickly noticed Jiang Nianyu’s bare feet resting on Yu Qing’s shoes, her brow furrowing instantly. “Oh dear, why aren’t you wearing shoes? Does it hurt? Come back with me, and I’ll check your feet, okay?”

The nurse took Jiang Nianyu’s hand, coaxing her back to the ward as if she were a child.

Jiang Nianyu obediently followed.

However, she also dragged along someone’s clothing.

The poor hem, which had just been crumpled, suddenly tightened taut.

Yu Qing was caught off guard. She exchanged bewildered glances with the Head Nurse and the police officers before realizing that Jiang Nianyu’s hand had never released its grip on her clothes.

“What’s this…?” the police officer asked, confused.

Those baby-blue eyes, though cold, radiated a stubborn determination.

Jiang Nianyu looked at the surrounding figures and declared stubbornly, “Wherever Yu Qing goes, I go too.”

The sky was a brilliant blue, and thin clouds drifted like cicada wings across the view from the window.

The hospital ward’s conference room was divided into two sections. Jiang Nianyu sat quietly outside the glass door, accompanied by a nurse. A tray resting on the chair beside them held several bl00d-stained cotton swabs, the distinct scent of iodine filling the air.

Jiang Nianyu had run barefoot so far earlier, the gravel and debris on the road had cut her feet, and small stones were even embedded in the wounds.

The nurse knelt beside her, carefully examining the injuries on the soles of Jiang Nianyu’s feet, trying to figure out how to remove the stones without causing her pain.

But some of the stones were lodged in awkward places, requiring the nurse to use tweezers to dig into the flesh to extract them.

The trickles of bl00d made the nurse frown, but Jiang Nianyu seemed oblivious to the pain, her expression remaining cold and detached.

Due to her amnesia, a childlike innocence had layered itself over her usual aloofness.

Her gaze remained fixed on the frosted figure visible through the glass door to her left, her eyes never leaving the silhouette.

Earlier, downstairs in the hospital ward, Jiang Nianyu had refused to leave Yu Qing’s side. It wasn’t until the police insisted on questioning Yu Qing alone, and the Head Nurse pleaded with her while finding this conference room where she could vaguely see Yu Qing, that she finally relented.

What were they saying inside?

Would they make things difficult for Yu Qing?

Jiang Nianyu’s eyes strained to see through the glass, but not a single sound escaped the conference room.

She couldn’t hear the police officer’s sigh: “Given the current situation, this young lady seems unable to leave your side.”

If Yu Qing weren’t a Beta, but an Alpha…

If the Head Nurse hadn’t explained that Alphas and Omegas, during vulnerable moments like differentiation, often develop imprinting-like attachments to those who support them, Jiang Nianyu’s memory loss might have triggered this mechanism, causing her to see Yu Qing, who had saved her, as her anchor of dependence.

The two police officers were beginning to suspect Yu Qing of using illicit methods to manipulate the amnesiac Omega for her own purposes.

Yu Qing hadn’t anticipated things escalating this far. Every heartbeat she felt for Jiang Nianyu, who had run toward her, now had nowhere to go. She tentatively asked the Head Nurse and the police, “What should we do now?”

The police officers mistook Yu Qing’s question for genuine concern. “Don’t worry,” they assured her. “We’ll send Omegas like her—amnesiac and unable to contact family—to the Shelter.”

Hearing this, Yu Qing’s tentative heart immediately tensed. “Is there no alternative to sending her to the Shelter?”

“That Shelter isn’t a good place. She’s an Omega, and she’s lost her memory. She has no way to protect herself…”

Yu Qing’s voice grew increasingly agitated, which the police officers clearly disliked. One of them abruptly cut her off. “Miss, this is the city’s standard procedure for managing the homeless. Please comply.”

Yu Qing had no intention of complying with what seemed like an unreasonable rule. Her fists clenched. “But—”

“Excuse me for interrupting, but I have a suggestion. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to voice it.”

Just then, the Head Nurse’s voice interjected at the opportune moment.

Her hands, weathered by time, were both soft and strong as she gently brushed the young woman’s shoulder and smiled at the two police officers.

Whether she felt awkward or not, the Head Nurse’s position and seniority gave her the right to speak up, and the officers couldn’t easily dismiss her. “Please proceed,” one of them said.

“Could we perhaps allow this child to stay temporarily at Miss Yu Qing’s home instead of sending her to the Shelter?” the Head Nurse proposed.

The police officers were taken aback by the suggestion.

Yu Qing was equally surprised.

The Head Nurse explained, “This child is not only an Omega, but she’s also suffering from amnesia. The law provides many protections for vulnerable groups, and I don’t think sending her straight to a shelter would be the best course of action.”

“The hospital has a precedent for this. Some patients in the Endocrinology Department may appear to have recovered, but due to their unstable pheromones, they require volunteer caregivers for an extended period after discharge. They live together in off-site accommodations, and the hospital conducts regular check-ups and maintains detailed records.”

The Head Nurse spoke in a gentle, measured tone, describing the hospital’s established protocol.

No one seemed to notice her subtle substitutions: “off-site accommodations” instead of “patient’s home,” and “volunteer caregivers” instead of “family and friends.”

In essence, this was a plan the hospital had already implemented with positive results.

It seemed particularly well-suited for Jiang Nianyu, who was still clinging tightly to Yu Qing’s sleeve, refusing to let go.

“This…”

The proposal did, however, conflict with the police’s standard operating procedures.

The Head Nurse didn’t immediately seek the police’s approval. Instead, she turned to Yu Qing. “Xiao Yu, what do you think?”

“Me?” Yu Qing paused, surprised to be asked first.

To be honest, when she had stepped out of the hospital ward earlier, she had suddenly felt a wave of disorientation.

Gazing at the diverse crowd around her, she felt utterly unfamiliar with the world beyond the hospital doors.

She had said that Jiang Nianyu wasn’t the only one in this world who had lost her memories.

She had too.

Looking back at the hospital building, Yu Qing suddenly realized that the sense of familiarity she had built with this world over the past few days had vanished the moment she left the hospital. She couldn’t take anything with her.

But now the Head Nurse was telling her she could take something after all.

Yu Qing’s heart began to race.

A gentle breeze drifted through the window, lifting strands of her hair with each gust.

The air was thick with the sun-baked, stuffy scent, which involuntarily reminded her of Jiang Nianyu, who had stepped on her foot earlier.

She was so light, it felt like only a feather had landed on her foot.

And humans have an innate instinct to chase after things that float in the air.

Yu Qing saw nothing wrong with Jiang Nianyu. She was quiet and obedient, with a cool and aloof demeanor. She didn’t talk much and wasn’t a picky eater.

Moreover, Jiang Nianyu was the first person Yu Qing had met in this world.

Compared to the countless people she would undoubtedly meet in the future, the person who took her from zero to one would always hold a special significance.

Without hesitation, Yu Qing firmly raised her hand. “I agree.”

She was confident she could take good care of Jiang Nianyu.

The Head Nurse smiled and raised her hand as well, turning to the two hesitant police officers for their opinion. “Comrades, the hospital agrees, the patient agrees, and the brave young lady who helped her agrees. What do you say? Will you agree as well?”

The Head Nurse, skilled in appealing to both emotion and reason, added a particularly tempting offer: “If we do this, the child becomes the hospital’s responsibility, and we’ll handle all the regular follow-up visits.”

The two police officers, already wavering, exchanged glances and simultaneously raised their hands, declaring in unison, “We agree too!”

The shadow of the sun slowly traced its path across the glass door of the conference room. Just as it was about to touch the door handle, the door opened from the inside.

Though the door made no sound, Jiang Nianyu, who was on the verge of falling asleep, suddenly snapped her head up.

The air carried a familiar scent.

Several emergency patients had just arrived, and the nurse accompanying her had hurried away.

Jiang Nianyu was now alone in the vast conference room, watching the sun blaze fiercely, then soften into warmth, before finally setting in the west.

Twilight painted a golden layer across the glass door, though the color wasn’t pure, tinged with a hint of orange.

Jiang Nianyu’s indifferent gaze instantly ignited with anticipation as she watched Yu Qing emerge.

Yu Qing was alone.

Despite Yu Qing’s attempts to conceal it, Jiang Nianyu noticed through the closing door that the Head Nurse and the police officers were still talking.

She saw each of them clutching a file, except for Yu Qing. Her expectant expression immediately dimmed. “Did I cause you trouble?”

“No,” Yu Qing shook her head.

Seeing the smile in Yu Qing’s eyes, Jiang Nianyu knew she was telling the truth.

She couldn’t help but feel hopeful about tomorrow. “So tomorrow, you’ll come here to find me again, right?”

“No.”

To her surprise, Yu Qing shook her head with a smile.

Thump! Thump!

Jiang Nianyu’s heart began to race wildly.

She was stunned and panicked, desperately trying to maintain her composure, just as she had when Yu Qing was applying the medicine. But her eyes were already starting to redden as she spoke.

How could she?

How could she still be smiling?

“Jiang Nianyu, look at me.”

At that moment, Yu Qing knelt down in front of her.

The woman who had been half a head taller was now a head shorter, looking up at her and taking her cold hand in her own.

In the dim twilight, Yu Qing’s eyes still held a bright smile.

Her expression turned serious and solemn as she pulled a document from behind her back. “Come home with me, Jiang Nianyu.”