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

After running 30 kilometers, Li Mo gave himself a 20-minute rest period.

Xie Ran and Shen Zhuo, as usual, squatted by the track, playfully bickering about whose running form was uglier. Xie Huai'an leaned against the horizontal bar, drinking his water. Lu Xiao found a shady spot and comfortably stretched out his long legs to watch the spectacle.

Bai Ye was forced to sit on the concrete platform beside the track by Xuan Xiao. His right calf muscle was still twitching slightly. Although it was much better than when he had just finished running, the soreness made him feel like he was stepping on cotton instead of the ground with every step.

He himself didn't think it was a big deal—he could crawl back even with a broken leg during a mission in his previous life, so this kind of muscle fatigue was nothing to be alarmed about. But Xuan Xiao obviously didn't think so.

Xuanxiao squatted down in front of him, pulled his right leg straight and placed it on his knee, then placed both hands on his calf and began to massage it.

His technique was surprisingly professional—he applied force with the heel of his palm, pushing from the ankle towards the knee with even and rhythmic pressure, clearly showing he had practiced. However, the words he spoke were completely at odds with the gentle movements of his hands.

"Look at your legs, the muscles are as hard as rocks. Did you not stretch properly before running? How many times have I told you to warm up properly, and you just ignored me?" Xuanxiao scolded without looking up as he rubbed the legs. "If you can't handle it, don't push yourself. Just tell me your legs are sore, and I'll carry you instead. You had to push yourself until your knees hit the ground. Do you think it sounds good when your knees hit pebbles? You think you've created a rhythm?"

Bai Ye looked down at him, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something—he wanted to explain that his cardiopulmonary endurance had decreased due to his injury, that his right leg was experiencing instinctive spasms caused by the combination of old injury and new load, rather than him bragging, and that he would definitely be able to run in the standard time next month. But Xuan Xiao didn't give him a chance to speak at all.

"Also, by the time you reached 25 kilometers, your breathing was completely erratic. Your exhalation rate was at least 1.5 times faster than your inhalation, which means your core strength couldn't keep up—you think I didn't know? I wanted to tell you to stop then, but you were still gritting your teeth and pushing on. Who were you trying to impress? Me or the team leader?"

"I didn't—"

"You said you didn't do anything wrong? You said you weren't being stubborn? Your face is so white it's almost the same color as the whitewashed wall, and you still say you weren't being stubborn?" Xuan Xiao's grip didn't stop, but his tone became increasingly aggressive. "Do you know what the medic said when you broke your leg last time? Even though the bone has healed, muscle strength recovery needs to be gradual. And you, on the first day, you went through the 30 kilometers like nothing happened, pushing yourself to the limit. Do you want to ruin your leg? What if you break it again—"

"Xuanxiao".

Lu Xiao stood up from the shade at some point, walked behind Xuan Xiao, raised his hand and slapped him on the back of the head. The force was not heavy, but the point of impact was extremely accurate, hitting the most vulnerable spot on the back of Xuan Xiao's head and making a crisp sound.

Xuan Xiao stumbled forward, nearly knocking Bai Ye's leg off his knee. He whirled around, clutching the back of his head and glaring at Lu Xiao: "Vice Captain, what are you doing?"

Lu Xiao stood behind him, hands back in his pockets, a standard Lu-style smile on his face. He slowly tilted his head to the side and pointed in a direction with his chin: "If you keep talking, the captain's face will turn as black as the bottom of a pot. I'm saving you."

Xuan Xiao turned his head to look in the direction Lu Xiao pointed.

Li Mo stood by the track, arms crossed, his face expressionless. But it was precisely this lack of expression that was more frightening than any other expression—his jawline was taut like a knife, his lips were pressed into a straight line, and his gaze was fixed on Xuan Xiao's hands, which were still resting on Bai Ye's legs.

Xuan Xiao's smile froze on his face for about two seconds. Then, with an extremely smooth speed, he switched his expression and tone, turned back to face Bai Ye, and the force in his hands instantly dropped from "professional therapist" to "careful massage," while his tone changed from scolding to a deliberately low and gentle one.

"I was just kidding," he said, his voice even carrying a deliberately chuckled tone. "Our little cabbage is the best. She almost finished the 30km run on her first try, and she didn't even complain when she hurt her knees. Her willpower is top-notch in the entire Pokong team. Don't take what I just said to heart, I was just being cheeky—you know I'm cheeky, right? You've known that since the first day of recruit training."

Bai Ye sat on the cement platform, looking down at Xuan Xiao's face, which changed as quickly as turning the pages of a book.

He slowly raised his left leg and kicked Xuan Xiao in the chest. The force wasn't great, but the kick landed precisely in the middle of Xuan Xiao's sternum, causing him to lean back slightly and only manage to stay upright by bracing himself on the gravel.

"Don't call me Little Cabbage."

Xuan Xiao pushed himself up from the ground, looked down at the clear shoe print on the chest of his training uniform—enough to serve as evidence—and his expression shifted from obsequious to incredulous: "You kicked me? I was kind enough to massage your legs and you kicked me? You were on my back just now, and I carried you for two kilometers, and you didn't even say thank you before kicking me? Fine, Bai Ye, you're something else—"

Bai Ye looked at him calmly.

"You responded when Xie Ran called you 'Little Cabbage,' you responded when Shen Zhuo called you 'Little Cabbage,' and you didn't even flinch when Huai'an called you 'Little Cabbage'—why can't you do the same to me? Are you targeting me?"

Bai Ye thought for a moment.

When Xie Ran called him "Little Cabbage," he did respond. When Shen Zhuo called him that, he responded too. When Xie Huai'an called him "Little Cabbage," he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

But when Xuanxiao called out, the tone, rhythm, and the sticky, intimate feeling in his voice were completely different from others. He didn't know how to explain this difference.

"You're calling it differently," he said.

"What's the difference? Is it the pronunciation or the number of words? We're using the same word, right? Why can others say it but I can't?"

"You're just different."

Before Xuanxiao could continue asking questions, a hand reached out from behind and firmly gripped the back of his collar. The hand wasn't very strong, but the grip was extremely precise—right at the most strained spot on the collar of his training uniform. With a pull, Xuanxiao was lifted up.

"Rest time is over." Li Mo's voice came from above Xuan Xiao's head, calm and brief. "Extra training. Shuttle runs, forty laps."

"No—Captain—I—"

"Fifty trips."

Xuanxiao opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, but in the end he didn't dare to say another word.

He was pulled by the back of his collar by Li Mo and walked towards the track. After a few steps, he turned back to look at Bai Ye, his eyes filled with accusation and resentment.

Bai Ye sat on the cement platform, watching Li Mo carry him away like a bag of potatoes, and the corners of her mouth curved up very slightly.