I obviously was just kidding myself by saying I was going to work other books in between Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou’s Case File: Compendium series. With the fifth novel already at my doorstep, I immediately grabbed the fourth volume off of my bookshelf and dove in head first.
Similar to the other entries, there are a lot of really graphic sex scenes throughout this novel, but this time around He Yu is really grappling with why he’s so obsessed with Xie Qingcheng. He still vehemently claims that he is straight, but that Xie Qingcheng is special because he is his first in a lot of respects. I know that their prior relationship as doctor and patient does not help matters. Especially given how abruptly Xie Qingcheng left He Yu back then. Surely He Yu felt abandoned by this person who seemed to understand him better than anyone else in his life.
And on the heels of the last novel, where both men were facing death by drowning in a tank of a building, Xie Qingcheng suddenly has a change of heart and offers up his life’s story to He Yu. In his youth, after his parents were mysteriously murdered, Xie Qingcheng went out looking for answers and very nearly got himself killed. It was at this time that he encountered his mentor. They fostered a father-son type relationship, so naturally Xie Qingcheng’s mentor would go to extreme lengths to see him live. That’s when he was administered the full dosage of RN-13. He is in fact patient zero, so everything he’s endured over the years to help other patients is why his body has taken such a beating.
In order to protect his mentor, Xie Qingcheng publicly disgraced mentally ill patients at the expense of his reputation. It’s after this revelation that He Yu realizes that Xie Qingcheng has given all of himself to everyone in his life, including the blood squeezed from what was left for He Yu. After learning this, He Yu regrets what he’s put Xie Qingcheng through, but he’s also come to realize that his feelings are indeed love. Something he never thought he was capable of. He also believes that Xie Qingcheng is fully incapable of reciprocating those feelings. Frustrated, He Yu smothers these feelings while fanning the flames of his illness in the process. Though Xie Qingcheng still wants to distance himself from He Yu, he finds himself more apathetic to him than ever before.
Just like all of the other entries from this novel, it ends with a life or death action sequence as the two search for answers of who recently administered an altered version of RN-13 to Xie Xue. Xie Qingcheng protects He Yu this time, and though he claims they are now even, I know it won’t make a lick of difference for He Yu. He will continue to pine and mentally deteriorate, so it will be interesting to see if his feelings are ever revealed to Xie Qingcheng. And would it even make a difference? There’s still plenty left to happen in this series – I believe there are at least four novels left, so much to learn!