Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

Group A's morning run is a must. Everyone is on the track.

Except for one person.

Xuanxiao knelt in the snow outside the runway. The snow was above his knees, and the cold seeped up from the soles of his combat boots, making his calves numb.

He didn't know what Li Mo would say when he called him out for a private talk, but he knew that in Li Mo's eyes, he had probably died several times over this morning.

Li Mo stood before him, looking down at him. The morning light shone from behind him, casting interplay of light and shadow on his face, making his already angular jawline appear even more austere.

He had been standing there for quite a while without saying a word. This silence was more unsettling to Xuan Xiao than any reprimand—he could hear the rhythmic footsteps of his teammates on the track behind him and the occasional chatter, but he dared not turn around, dared not move, and dared not even lift his knees off the snow.

"Captain—" He finally couldn't take it anymore and broke the silence, his voice dry like sandpaper rubbing against sandpaper, "I really didn't do anything. He just shared half of the bed with me—I had a nightmare last night, I woke up in a cold sweat, and couldn't fall back asleep, so I just wanted to find someone to sleep with—it really was just sleeping! Nothing! Just sleeping in the literal sense! I swear!" By the end, his voice had taken on a tone of sincerity bordering on tragic.

Li Mo remained expressionless. He slowly crouched down, meeting Xuan Xiao's gaze as he knelt in the snow.

This distance was even more dangerous than before—Li Mo raised his right hand, fingers spread, and gripped Xuan Xiao's neck. The force wasn't great; it didn't actually constrict the trachea, but the web of his hand was positioned just above the Adam's apple, his thumb and forefinger pressed against the carotid arteries on either side. It was the kind of precise force that, with just a little more pressure, would make the other person feel the threat of death.

Xuan Xiao's breath caught in his throat. He could feel the temperature of Li Mo's fingertips—icy cold, carrying the chill of a Gobi morning, pressed against his carotid artery like five iron clamps. His Adam's apple bobbed, and Li Mo's fingers slid slightly with his movement, but did not loosen.

"If you dare to bully him," Li Mo's voice wasn't loud, there was no angry roar, no threatening through gritted teeth, every word was as calm as presenting data in a meeting, but that calmness was more chilling than any roar, "I'll take your life."

Xuanxiao wanted to cry but had no tears.

He wanted to say, "Captain, I really didn't have that thought. I know very well what kind of person Bai Ye is. He's completely clueless. I just want to take care of him, protect him, and see him eat more and sleep more. I have no ulterior motives—okay, that morning erection doesn't count."

But as he opened his mouth, he realized that what came out was different from what he really thought: "Captain, believe me—Bai Ye is like that, he doesn't understand anything at all—even if I have a thousand ideas, he can shut me down with just one sentence. Really, I swear to God, if I did anything I shouldn't have done to him, you don't need to lift a finger, I'll bury myself myself."

Li Mo's fingers tightened even more.

His eyelids narrowed slightly, and his thumb pressed gently on Xuan Xiao's neck, as if measuring his pulse, or as if reminding him that he could press harder at any time.

Just then, a series of light footsteps approached from the direction of the track.

Bai Ye was the first to finish his morning run and was walking this way. He stopped beside the two of them, looked down at Xuan Xiao kneeling in the snow, and then at Li Mo squatting in front of Xuan Xiao, his expression showing a hint of confusion.

"What are you doing?"

Li Mo released his grip on Xuan Xiao's neck and stood up.

His movements were natural and fluid. As he stood up, he naturally positioned himself between Xuan Xiao and Bai Ye, one hand in his pocket and the other hand reaching out to straighten the zipper pull on Bai Ye's training uniform collar, which had been blown askew by the wind.

He looked down at Bai Ye, his expression switching completely in a very short time—he was a cold-blooded killing god when he was squatting in front of Xuan Xiao, but when he turned to face Bai Ye, he had become his usual calm and gentle self.

"It's nothing," he said. "Just explain today's training schedule to him."

Bai Ye glanced at Li Mo, then turned his head to look at Xuan Xiao kneeling in the snow. There were still a few faint red finger marks on Xuan Xiao's neck, his knees were stuck in the snow and he couldn't pull them out, and he forced a smile that was more like a grimace on his face.

Bai Ye's gaze lingered on the faint red finger marks for a moment before returning to Li Mo. His expression clearly said—does explaining training arrangements require choking?

"It's really nothing," Li Mo gently ruffled Bai Ye's hair, a stark contrast to when he had choked Xuan Xiao earlier. "Are you done running? Go to the cafeteria first. Old Zhou made your favorite blueberry tarts this morning, but Xie Ran snatched them all if you're late."

Bai Ye hummed in response, but didn't move. He stood there, glancing at Li Mo and then at Xuan Xiao, seemingly hesitant about whether to press for answers.

Xuan Xiao's eyes lit up when he saw that Bai Ye hadn't left. He opened his mouth as if to say something. He had a lot of grievances to tell Bai Ye—the captain almost strangled me to death just now. My knees were almost frozen from kneeling in the snow. This morning I really just had a nightmare. The captain said that if I had any thoughts, he would kill me.

He only needed a glance, a word, or a simple "Are you alright?" from Bai Ye to pour out all his bitterness and come back to life. His mouth was already open, and the first word was already on his tongue.

Then he met Li Mo's gaze.

The meaning behind those eyes was clear: if you dare to complain to his face, let him know what happened, or make him feel uncomfortable or embarrassed, you'll spend the rest of your life on the training field.

Xuanxiao closed his mouth again after opening it.

He swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue, forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace, and said in an extremely insincere tone, "It's nothing, it's nothing. The captain is instructing me on training—weighted kneeling endurance training, which is an extra exercise for this morning's run. You see, kneeling in the snow can train core strength and willpower. The captain personally demonstrated it, and I benefited a lot."

Bai Ye glanced at him, then looked back at Li Mo. After a two-second silence, he didn't press further and turned to walk towards the cafeteria.

Li Mo waited until Bai Ye's figure disappeared at the cafeteria entrance before turning back to look at Xuan Xiao kneeling in the snow.

Xuan Xiao was startled by his gaze and quickly scrambled up from the snow. Snowflakes fell from his knees, and the knees of his training pants were soaked and stuck to his skin, making him grimac and wince from the cold.

Li Mo didn't say anything more, only glanced at him, then turned and walked towards the cafeteria. The meaning in that look was clear—the conversation was over, but this matter wasn't.