The wind howled through Wei Zhuo’s mind, the rest of his thoughts a blank sheet of white.
The Joint Military Academy was located in the suburbs of the imperial capital. Outside came the sound of birdsong on the mountain slopes and flowing water in deep ravines. If not for being in such a situation, this would undoubtedly be an ordinary and wonderful night.
Xin Hexue’s expression changed.
His eyelashes trembled like convulsing butterfly wings, fluttering down, and his lips, once full-shaped, tightened into a straight line. This meant he was uncomfortable. He felt offended by Wei Zhuo’s accusation, even hurt.
Wei Zhuo admitted that for a moment, a twisted, vengeful satisfaction arose in his heart, forcing his wife to painfully admit to his fickle and promiscuous sins.
But after only a second, he regretted saying those words.
Why rip apart the peaceful facade so cruelly?
Not for a single moment had Wei Zhuo forgotten that He Boatian and Xin Hexue were once a pair of lovers who had made everyone envious, a true couple, while he had merely been a mutual good friend beside them. Now, he was just a lucky one who had ridden a time machine.
His hand retreated from the soft, snowy white belly. He lowered his head, avoiding Xin Hexue’s gaze.
‘Apologize.’
Wei Zhuo thought.
But… Why should he?
Even at this very moment, Xin Hexue was still his fiancée. Should he apologize for his wife’s infidelity?
He had been out running around all day, only to come back and discover that his wife was covered from head to toe in the scent of having been licked by a stray dog. Should he apologize for that, gently turning the page with a mask of peace?
Just imagining what might have happened between He Boatian and Xin Hexue in this dorm room during the day, a flame of jealousy and hatred rampantly leaped up to his temples, his nerves throbbing violently with pain.
Wei Zhuo lifted his gaze slightly, his focus landing on his lover’s lips. The sheen on the lips trembled as they uttered words, “…What did you just say?”
He lowered his head onto Xin Hexue’s shoulder, took a deep breath, his senses enveloped by the fragrant scent he cherished, “I’m sorry, I lost my composure.”
“Forgive me, I just missed you too much,” Wei Zhuo’s jaw gradually clenched. “And I am too jealous of him. Obviously, this time, we are the…”
His words gradually trailed off, swallowed in his throat, so the other party didn’t hear him.
Xin Hexue lowered his eyes, his emotions restrained, lost in thought. But a moment later, he stroked the short hairs behind Wei Zhuo’s ear. His temperament was too harmless and gentle. From a third-person perspective, he looked like a mother responding to a child’s unreasonable tantrum. “What are you jealous of him for?”
“I’m jealous that he gets to be with you all day. I’m jealous of his unbridled interactions with you. I’m jealous that your gaze lingers on him longer than it does on me,” Wei Zhuo said.
Xin Hexue was surprised he could say so much in one breath. The sentinel before him had always been a man of few words in his eyes.
It wasn’t until Wei Zhuo looked up that he saw his eyes…the eyes of a man driven mad by jealousy, the intense emotions within them bursting forth.
Xin Hexue no longer doubted Wei Zhuo’s feelings for him. Instead, a great sense of satisfaction arose spontaneously. It sounded as if he was taking pride in being able to control a sentinel’s heart and mind, but in fact, he was simply feeling a familiar sense of security from Wei Zhuo’s gaze.
These eyes seemed to have appeared in his recurring dreams, the sentinel who kept calling his name in those dreams.
This dream troubled him persistently, reminding him, making him vaguely uneasy, wondering if he had forgotten something, as if a huge hidden danger lurked in the shadows.
Now, looking into Wei Zhuo’s eyes, it felt as if he was anaesthetized by such love, and his uneasy nerves eased for a moment. Xin Hexue stopped overthinking, raised his head, and gave a light kiss. “I’m glad you can be so honest.”
His waist had unknowingly arched up, his legs hooked around Wei Zhuo’s body. His toes, taking on a lustrous sheen under the incandescent light, scraped teasingly against the black leather belt.
Wei Zhuo’s breathing hitched, his abdomen tensed, and he had a conditioned reflex reaction.
Xin Hexue smiled softly, a light laugh escaping him. The scarlet tip of his tongue brushed over his pearly teeth, shimmering with moisture. “Husband, I missed you too.”
“—Ah Xue.”
Wei Zhuo called his name, his voice hoarse.
They tumbled together, kissing and clinging. Even at the peak of their passion, Wei Zhuo called out his name, dazed and confused. Xin Hexue was completely filled, leaving nothing back. He no longer doubted the person who called him in that dream.
Their limbs entangled, they lay together, soaked wet, and when they looked at each other, they were both amused by their own disheveled state.
It was him.
His beloved, only death will permanently separate them.
Wei Zhuo lowered his head and kissed Xin Hexue’s smooth forehead. Their relationship was repaired in this sticky and inseparable night.
The glow of the streetlamp at night fell on the floor from outside the window. The leaves of the trees swayed, flickering like ghostly shadows.
—
He Boatian seriously suspected he had acted the role of a lubricant.
Obviously, this engaged couple had many emotional issues. They had secrets between them, were together less often than apart, a political marriage…
He Botian believed that if things continued to develop this way, he could soon become the third party.
No.
Strictly speaking, Wei Zhuo was the third party.
But now, on another night when Wei Zhuo was out on a mission, Xin Hexue actually explicitly indicated that he wanted to keep his distance from him.
“What do you mean?” He Boatian couldn’t accept it. “I thought we could always maintain a negative distance.”
Xin Hexue was drinking water and choked at his words. He Boatian, with quick eyes and deft hands, picked up a handkerchief to wipe him, but Xin Hexue refused. “Please don’t say things like that anymore.”
He Boatian was stunned for a moment, and his hand was pushed away by Xin Hexue. He watched helplessly as the other party pulled out a few tissues to wipe his wet collar. The emerald gem on the brooch sparkled brilliantly, capturing He Boatian’s attention so that when he heard Xin Hexue’s voice, it was as if through a veil of mist.
“I am already engaged to Wei Zhuo, Senior He.” He Boatian felt as if he had fallen into a fog, looking lost at those opening and closing lips. “If you remember this, you will understand that what happened between us before was only because I was helping you alleviate the suffering caused by the pollution.”
But He Boatian acted as if he hadn’t understood anything, staring straight at the brooch. “Did he give that to you?”
Xin Hexue looked down. It was indeed the gift Wei Zhuo had given him the morning after he returned last time. He smiled. “Yes.”
“It’s the 100th day of our engagement anniversary.”
Xin Hexue’s face overflowed with sweetness.
It seemed this engaged couple was experiencing a rekindled romance after a short separation. He Boatian completely realized his position in this relationship; a nameless, lubricating oil with no status.
Why?
He Boatian could feel that in their previous interactions, Xin Hexue’s attitude had been wavering. It seemed like it was about to tilt towards him, but now it had completely swung to Wei Zhuo’s side.
He didn’t know which step he had gotten wrong.
A wave of pent-up frustration that had been lodged in his heart since his rebirth rushed backwards up to his head, choking his lungs and spleen until they ached, finally triggering an explosive eruption.
He Boatian grabbed Xin Hexue’s shoulders, trapping him firmly on the sofa. He knew the body beneath his hands was thin, but he couldn’t help raising his voice. “Do you think I’m a dog that’s easy to fool? Whatever you say goes. When you want me, you come calling happily. When you don’t, I should just find a trash can and lie down? Am I really that cheap, that worthless?”
Xin Hexue was about to say something, but He Boatian had already snatched the conversation, his angry gaze heavy. “No, I am not.”
His emotions were so intense that even his strength was out of control, and a pained expression appeared on Xin Hexue’s face. “Ugh… calm down.”
“I won’t give up just like that. Nothing you just said can hurt me.” He Boatian straightened up immediately, releasing Xin Hexue and stepping back two paces. “You don’t know me well enough yet, Xin Hexue. And I am not as easy to defeat as you imagine.”
What was left for Xin Hexue was his back and the loud slam of the door.
Raising his hand to rub his shoulders, Xin Hexue withdrew his gaze from the door panel, his eyes lowered in thought.
Although He Boatian insisted that his words hadn’t hurt him, his behaviour just now was unconvincing. Xin Hexue guessed that in the short term, He Boatian would probably be immersed in silent grief.
It was his fault. He had originally caught a sense of familiarity from his dreams in He Boatian, so he had easily transferred the feelings for the person in his dreams onto He Boatian.
Xin Hexue pressed a hand to his heart, his expression dazed. Thinking of the person in the dream whose face he couldn’t see clearly, he could feel that this person was his boyfriend, his husband. To him, this should be the closest person in the world. A kind of belief pulled at him, insisting he must find him.
And then, on that night, he had fully felt it from Wei Zhuo.
It was this person.
Xin Hexue stopped overthinking. Regarding the disastrous consequences he had caused and the resulting situation, he could only compensate He Boatian in other ways…whether reputation, honour, or power, he had fairly good resources in his hands.
He sighed, thinking that this absurd matter was officially over.
But Xin Hexue had definitely underestimated an undefeatable sentinel.
*
An incident occurred during this year’s winter study tour. An extreme antisocial element had infiltrated the hotel where the sentinel and guide joint military academy’s teachers and students were staying.
By the time he was discovered, he was fully dressed as a waiter, pressing a knife against a young guide’s lower back, his other hand strangling the hostage’s neck with unimaginable force, causing the guide’s face to turn purple-red.
The turmoil was quickly brought under control, after all, there were many excellent combatants among the travellers.
The guide who had been held hostage was not seriously injured and was immediately sent to a nearby hospital for examination. According to eyewitnesses, this guide had accidentally been caught because he noticed the waiter carrying a prohibited weapon.
When the military and police personnel tore off the assailant’s human skin mask, the face revealed and various biological characteristics were undoubtedly consistent with the wanted criminal from the beginning of the year.
He was a sentinel who had retired due to injury. Without timely treatment, his sea of consciousness had been permanently damaged. In the three months of the previous year, he had brutally murdered two guides. Due to his counter surveillance skills, he had not been apprehended for a long time.
No one expected him to appear in this remote Western Frontier and to explode so suddenly. Personnel from the White Tower, representing the prosecution, had already arrived. He would pay the due price for his evil deeds.
From the very beginning of the chaos, He Boatian had been scanning the crowd. The figure he was looking for was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where is Xin Hexue…’
‘There!’
Spotting a familiar face, he strode forward, then slammed to a halt two steps later…
Because someone had reached Xin Hexue faster and received his welcome.
“Where did you just go?” Wei Zhuo’s face still held traces of anxiety, his brow deeply furrowed.
Xin Hexue patted his neat outer shirt. “I accidentally got my clothes dirty while drinking a beverage, and a waiter in the lobby led me to the changing room.”
He looked up and saw how serious Wei Zhuo’s expression was. “What’s wrong? As I came over here, I heard there was an extremist attack?”
Wei Zhuo nodded.
He was about to go out and survey whether the boundaries of the folded zone were safe, to ensure the teaching activities for the first-year teachers and students could proceed normally. That was why he was still wearing the combat uniform of the legion’s internal operational team. With one arm around Xin Hexue’s shoulders, he walked him back with a protective posture, pulling down his cap with the other hand. “I’ll tell you on the way. Now, I’m taking you back to your room to rest. They’re still sweeping the scene, it’s uncertain if there are accomplices. Don’t just open the door after you get back to your room.”
“The school authorities will probably arrange for you to see a specialized psychological counselor tomorrow. The plans for the external fieldwork activities might be postponed.”
“Is that so?”
“Mm. Go back, take a shower, sleep well, and wait for me to come back.”
Watching them walk away while talking, He Boatian couldn’t help but feel a weight on his heart, unable to lift it or let it go.
He turned his head to look outside the courtyard. The criminal had dark circles under his eyes, his true face showing signs of exhaustion. He was being escorted all the way onto a police car. His expression was dazed and absolutely insane. “It’s mine! It’s mine!”
“Guide”, “you all”, “us”, “go to hell”…
He Boatian heard a few more incoherent words from his mouth.
It was unimaginable that such an extremist actually believed in the doctrine that people go to hell after death.
He thought of Xin Hexue who had left, feeling restless. His gaze drifted vaguely in the air, then suddenly locked onto a faint reflection on the lawn. His expression turned serious, and he quickly walked out of the lobby.
The evening sunlight had shifted westward, which was why this overlooked evidence was reflecting light on the grass.
He Boatian put on gloves and picked up a transparent plastic bag. The red seal was tightly closed. Sealed inside the bag was a green powder.
What was this?
*
A hallucinogenic drug widely sold in the border underground markets, its target audience being low-class sentinels who couldn’t afford suppressive drugs. The good news was that it was almost non-addictive. The bad news was that the list of side effects accompanying this drug could fill a long scroll.
But for those sentinels on the border who muddled through each day and were on the verge of mania, those side effects that slightly damaged the body were almost negligible.
To them, this was a rare, beautiful, and cheap product. One dose during their break, and they’d quickly obtain the dopamine to keep them from living like the walking dead and thinking about hanging themselves every second.
That’s what the inspection personnel told He Boatian.
The criminal was also one of its consumers. It wasn’t unusual for him to carry such illegal drugs on him. Ultimately, this sealed plastic bag of powder remained in the police station as one piece of evidence.
He Boatian returned to the hotel, where everything had returned to calm. The spotless lobby showed no sign of the vicious incident that had occurred in the afternoon.
He stood in front of Xin Hexue’s door and knocked on the door panel.
No response.
“It’s me.” He sighed. “He Boatian.”
Knock, knock.
He Boatian lowered his head, staring at the two slivers of light coming through the gap at the bottom of the door. He looked utterly dejected. “I have something I want to say to you. Let me in, alright? I promise I won’t misbehave.”
The moment he still didn’t receive a reply, He Boatian’s expression changed instantly.
—I accidentally got my clothes dirty.
—A waiter in the lobby led me to the changing room.
The guide who had already been sent to the hospital was merely the trigger for the criminal’s explosion. So who was the criminal’s initial target?
Two minutes later, He Boatian climbed over a balcony from the upstairs room. After landing, he rolled and smoothly dispersed the force.
The action of this drug was like boiling a frog in warm water. Initially, core body temperature rose. Ordinary people would only think it was a low-grade fever.
He Boatian climbed inside. The first thing he saw were water droplets on the clean floor of the bathroom. Trails of water sinuously overflowed from the bathtub and spread to the outside of the bathroom door.
The soles of his shoes stepped into the puddles. Two steps away, he could see that the drawer of the cabinet outside the bathroom was open. A blister pack of capsules lay inside.
After the confusion of thoughts is attributed to a low-grade fever, the brain would gradually succumb to eerie hallucinations.
A half-wet bath towel was draped over a chair. He Boatian avoided the scattered feathers on the floor and finally saw the bulging quilt in the center of the king-sized bed, showing the shape of a person. The tips of tail feathers hung down from the edge of the quilt.
Wei Zhuo had booked a king-sized room for Xin Hexue and a room for himself next door. He had climbed over from two floors away.
He Boatian didn’t even need to think about whether Wei Zhuo was targeting him; the answer was obvious.
“Xin Hexue?” He saw the quilt trembling. The person inside must be shaking, and his heart couldn’t help but clench into a knot.
The other party still seemed able to perceive outside sounds and gave him a vague response.
He Boatian lifted the suffocating corner of the quilt. Xin Hexue’s eyes were tightly shut, his face showing a morbid flush.
He was both angry and guilty, lowering his voice. “I’ll take you to the hospital now.”
The sick person’s lips and teeth were moist. He opened his mouth slightly, releasing a gasping breath.
He Boatian instantly felt something was wrong and abruptly pulled the quilt down.
Huge wings encased him like a placenta, and Xin Hexue was curled up inside, naked like a newborn.
Those hands, hidden year-round in black leather gloves, rarely seeing sunlight, were exceptionally white. Now, they were embedded between his legs, soaked and absorbed by the moist reddish flesh.
The feathers pressed beneath were too wet to fly.
Xin Hexue was—
He Boatian’s brain crashed. In a fluster, he tried to stop him. “Wait, no, no, no, no. Can you put these wings away? You, you, you, stand up first. Let me put clothes on you.”
“Mm…?”
His prayers were answered. Xin Hexue’s tightly closed eyes lifted a narrow slit, looking towards the sentinel crouching by the bed.
He Boatian didn’t know who he was in Xin Hexue’s hallucination, but he clearly observed that the moment Xin Hexue saw him, his pupils contracted sharply, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying. Then, his pupils rapidly dilated and unfocused…
It was too late.
Liquid splashed onto He Boatian’s face.
