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

On the other side, the Sky-Breaking Base.

In the late winter and early spring of the Gobi Desert, the wind is still cold, but you can already feel a hint of warmth when the sun shines during the day. Most of the snow on the training field has melted, revealing the gray-brown gravel underneath. The horizontal bar beside the track sways slightly in the wind, and a thin layer of icicles still hangs on the iron pipes.

Xuanxiao was absent-minded all day.

He took the wrong route during his morning run and ended up at the shooting range. He only realized what was happening when Shen Zhuo called him back.

During the morning's tactical simulation, he drew three lines on the map with a marker pen. The pen remained still for a long time. When Xie Huai'an passed by, he glanced down and found that the location he drew was quite different from the actual terrain. Xie Huai'an tapped the table with the end of the pencil to wake him up.

At lunchtime, he stood by the window for a long time with his tray in his hand, and when Lao Zhou asked him what he wanted to eat, he didn't respond.

During the afternoon shooting practice, he lay prone at the target position, his trigger pull rhythm completely disrupted. His bullet dispersion was almost twice as large as usual, and one shot even missed the target entirely, hitting the metal frame at the edge of the target paper and sending out a spark.

Lu Xiao stood behind him for a long time, saying nothing, but his brows remained slightly furrowed.

Xuanxiao was thinking about Baiye. He had been thinking about her since he opened his eyes in the morning, on the training field and on the track, and even while staring at the empty seat opposite him at mealtime.

He knew perfectly well that Bai Ye had gone on a mission, that Bai Ye was strong, stronger than anyone else, and that he had promised to come back. But he just couldn't control the images in his mind—those scenes he had repeatedly rehearsed: Bai Ye being discovered, surrounded, injured, standing alone in some place he didn't know the name of.

It's not that he doesn't trust Bai Ye.

He believed in White Night more than anyone else.

He had seen Bai Ye steady his gun with one hand in the recruit training camp, seen him hit a hole with ten shots on the shooting range, seen him calmly report shooting parameters to Xie Huai'an in the rainforest factory, and seen him pick up a sniper rifle at the special forces base and force a lazy team member to run for his life with a single shot.

He knew Bai Ye was very strong. But he also knew that no matter how strong Bai Ye was, he was still just one person.

As evening approached, Xuanxiao emerged from the shooting range, carrying his gun case as he walked back. His pace was slower than usual, and the soles of his boots made a slight scraping sound as they dragged on the concrete.

Lu Xiao caught up from behind and patted his shoulder lightly, about the same force as when he joked around.

"What's wrong, Xiao? You've been acting like you've lost your mind all day. Missing the target like that is quite rare for you. I've known you for so long, and you've missed the target a handful of times. Tell me, what happened?"

Xuanxiao paused for a moment.

He glanced at Lu Xiao, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something but then swallowed it back. After hesitating for a few seconds, he finally spoke, his voice much lower than usual: "Vice Captain, I... I have a bad feeling. It's not that I'm not in good shape during training, it's not that I haven't slept well, it's just... it's that indescribable feeling, like something's blocking my way, I have a feeling that something's going to happen."

He took a deep breath, shifting his gaze from Lu Xiao's face to the darkening horizon above the distant mountains: "Is everything really alright over in Baiye?"

Lu Xiao's hand was still on his shoulder. When he heard the name, the smile on his face did not change, but the fingers on Xuan Xiao's shoulder tightened for a very short time before loosening.

"What are you thinking?" He patted Xuan Xiao's back, a little harder than usual, as if to bring him back to reality. "Don't you know what level Xiao Baicai is at? He's only been in Pokong for a few days and he almost strangled my neck in the combat room. Spending three months in Southeast Asia is nothing to him. Instead of worrying about him, you should worry about your own miss record today. Xie Huai'an has it all recorded. If you lose points because of this during the assessment, I won't be able to speak up for you."

Xuan Xiao's lips twitched slightly, but he didn't refute it. What Lu Xiao said was reasonable—Bai Ye was indeed very strong, so strong that he didn't need anyone to worry about him.

But the feeling in his heart did not subside; on the contrary, it became even stronger after Lu Xiao finished speaking.

"Alright, alright, get some rest today. I've already spoken to the team, they'll give you half a day off tomorrow, so get back into shape." Lu Xiao patted his shoulder and pushed him towards the dormitory building. "Don't overthink it, go back, take a shower, and get some sleep. You'll be fine tomorrow."

Xuan Xiao was pushed a couple of steps and glanced back at Lu Xiao. Lu Xiao was standing in the twilight waving at him, a smile as usual on his face.

Xuanxiao turned around and walked towards the dormitory building.

He quickened his pace slightly, but stopped at the corner of the corridor and glanced at the playground—the area where Bai Ye used to practice alone in the twilight was now empty, with only the sound of the wind blowing through the horizontal bar.

He continued walking forward.

After Xuan Xiao left, Lu Xiao's smile slowly faded.

He looked up at the sky—dusk pressed in from the mountains, turning the entire Gobi Desert into a dark color; there were no stars, and even the moon was hidden behind the clouds.

He felt the same way Xuanxiao did.

From the morning onwards, he felt an inexplicable sense of oppression, as if something was happening somewhere he couldn't see, and he couldn't reach out to touch it.

He walked to the corner of the corridor next to the dormitory building, took out his phone, and dialed a number. No signal. The Viper's communication window hadn't opened for its scheduled time yet. He put his phone back in his pocket and stood motionless in the twilight for a long time.

Xuanxiao did not turn on the lights after returning to the dormitory.

He entered the room and went straight to the lower bunk on the right side of the door.

The bed in the white night.

The bedding was folded neatly, the pillow was placed in the middle, the sheets were pulled up without a single wrinkle, and the communication encryption textbook that Bai Ye hadn't finished reading was still on the bedside table.

Xuan Xiao bent down and pounced onto Bai Ye's bed.

His face was buried in Bai Ye's pillow. The pillow had a very faint scent, the scent of blueberries. It wasn't laundry detergent, nor shower gel; it was the natural, sweet, and slightly cool fragrance of Bai Ye.

Even though the person has been gone for almost three months, the smell hasn't completely dissipated, as if it's been trapped by the fibers of the pillow.

Xuan Xiao buried his face even deeper. His voice was muffled inside the pillow, low and indistinct, as if he were talking to the pillow, or perhaps to himself.

"Bai Ye... you must come back safe and sound..."