Once Jill was fully armed, the two of them left the room to further explore the mansion.
Upon exiting, Shen Ye quickened his pace and walked directly in front, a move that immediately displeased Jill, whom he had pushed aside.
This strong-willed woman believed Shen Ye was deliberately trying to show off, so when they reached a corner in the corridor, she sped up to get ahead of him.
Shen Ye paused, looked back, and then quietly asked, "Ms. Valentine, what is the meaning of this?"
Jill had already reached a room door and was using her inherited expert lock-picking skills to open it. Hearing Shen Ye, she retorted exasperatedly, "You just acted like a rooster trying to court a hen."
A rooster… trying to court a hen?
"It seems you've misunderstood me, Ms. Valentine, though you are stunningly beautiful," Shen Ye said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He realized his earlier actions had led Jill to a strange conclusion.
He wasn't trying to show off in front of Jill; rather, he knew that after Alpha Team split up in the mansion, their captain, Wesker, had been secretly monitoring them, and might even be following them now.
Shen Ye didn't want to be suddenly shot in the back by Wesker, as to Wesker, he was a bug that had unexpectedly entered his pre-written script.
Clearly, Jill didn't understand Shen Ye's meaning.
Shen Ye was too lazy to explain further. Seeing Jill open the door lock, he extended his hand and, like a gentleman, gestured for her to enter.
Her response was a big eye-roll.
Upon entering the room, the two began searching. Of course, compared to Jill, Shen Ye seemed uninterested, merely flipping through a few things before leaning back with his gun, staring at the ceiling.
This place looked somewhat familiar to him!
He thought for a moment, walked to the door, opened the door that Jill had closed when they entered, and leaned against it with his gun.
Just then, Jill made a new discovery. In a small side room within the main room, she found a fully loaded Remington shotgun in a display case.
"Shen, look what I found?" From across the room, Jill excitedly waved the newly found shotgun at Shen Ye.
But her joy was short-lived as she suddenly heard a soft "click" sound in the room, startling her completely.
"Did you hear that, Shen?" Jill asked Shen Ye.
"Of course." Shen Ye nodded. He patted the door he was leaning on and said, "You probably triggered a mechanism in the room."
"A mechanism?" Jill cautiously rushed out of the small room and peered into it, but nothing in the room had changed. No paintings suddenly dropped, no walls suddenly cracked; it was just as it had been when they first entered.
"It seems… nothing has changed," Jill said, somewhat uncertainly.
"Indeed, nothing's changed. Looks like you're lucky; the mechanism failed," Shen Ye said with a grin.
"Really?"
Jill looked at the shotgun in her hand with a hint of doubt, but she didn't think much of it, assuming that, as Shen Ye said, the mechanism had failed.
So, she left the small side room feeling satisfied. Although Shen Ye had already given her a shotgun, she wasn't one to turn down another.
As she passed Shen Ye, Jill handed him the newly acquired shotgun.
"I'll find a rifle to give you back," Jill said before walking out of the room.
Watching Jill's retreating figure, Shen Ye shook his head and followed her.
However, no sooner had he left than the door he had been leaning against suddenly slammed shut behind him, followed by the sound of gears grinding in the room.
The mechanism had been activated…
Jill, who was about to enter another room, was startled by the sound. She glanced at the expressionless Shen Ye walking towards her, then at the room they had just left, and a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.
"He saved me."
"I almost became a sandwich."
…
Although Shen Ye couldn't directly reveal the plot, he could still avoid some dangerous events that occurred in the story.
But this made Jill certain that he knew the mansion's secrets.
Even after they had searched several rooms, Jill continued to relentlessly question him.
Shen Ye consistently replied that he had simply stumbled upon a functional diagram of some of the mansion's mechanisms on a computer in another room.
Jill, of course, didn't believe him. Just as she was about to ask for the tenth time, her walkie-talkie suddenly crackled.
A mature male voice came from the walkie-talkie: "Jill, where are you now?"
Hearing this voice, Shen Ye, of course, knew who it was: Barry, who had been coerced by Wesker with threats to his family and became an informant.
"I… I'm still inside the mansion, where are you?" Jill glanced at Shen Ye and replied, not revealing his presence to Barry.
"That's good, Jill. Stay safely in the mansion. Do not go to the small cabin next to the mansion; there are very dangerous monsters there. Don't…" Barry's words were cut off as the communication ended.
Jill anxiously called Barry's name into the walkie-talkie several times but received no response. She suppressed the urge to throw the walkie-talkie, cursing, "Damn it, I've always said those procurement guys should be dragged out and shot."
Then, turning to Shen Ye, she said, "Shen, it seems Barry is in trouble. I think…"
Originally, she didn't need to say it like that, but remembering that Shen Ye might have just saved her, the respectable policewoman suddenly felt a little embarrassed.
"You want to find him, right?"
Jill nodded, "Of course. You don't have to come. I think staying in the mansion is safer."
Indeed, aside from the mechanisms that hadn't been triggered yet, most of the zombies and BOWs in the mansion had been dealt with, making it a very good place to stay.
However, how could Shen Ye give up the opportunity to accompany Jill? He patted his rifle and said, "I'll go with you. Two heads are better than one, aren't they?"
Jill looked at Shen Ye, a touch of emotion appearing on her face. "Shen, no matter what, my trust in you has increased."
"Thank you very much, Jill," Shen Ye smiled slightly, changing his form of address.
Next, the two prepared to leave the mansion and search for the cabin's location.
In fact, they didn't need to search at all. As soon as they exited another entrance of the mansion, they saw a narrow path, and then they noticed that at the end of the path there seemed to be a small cabin.
Shen Ye knew what was there, so his expression became serious at that moment. He began to check his firearms and ammunition, ensuring there would be no mistakes when the fighting started.
Jill looked at him with some curiosity. While in the mansion, Shen Ye had never been so serious. Even when surrounded by zombies, he could calmly pull the trigger.
When Jill couldn't help but voice her doubts, she received an unexpected answer:
"I don't want to be a male mom."