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

Morning light filtered through the gaps in the curtains, drawing pale golden lines on the cement floor. The air still carried the lingering smell of iodine and disinfectant, mixed with the crispness unique to the morning.

Bai Ye sat on the edge of the bed, not yet wearing his training uniform, the few pieces of gauze on his body standing out conspicuously in the morning light.

He hadn't had time to comb his hair after showering last night before going to sleep, and he tossed and turned in bed for half the night. He also got into a fight in the alley and was grabbed by the man in black. Now, several tufts of hair were sticking up on his head, and one tuft stood up straight, swaying gently with his breathing.

He himself was clearly unaware, his eyes lowered as he looked at the bruises on his knees from kneeling on the gravel the night before.

Li Mo leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed, the bandage on his right arm bulging unnaturally inside the sleeve of his training uniform. He didn't speak, and neither did Bai Ye. The two remained silent.

After a long time, Li Mo raised his hand and pinched the space between his eyebrows.

"white night."

Bai Ye looked up at him.

Li Mo straightened up from leaning against the door frame and walked up to Bai Ye.

"If you can't sleep next time, wake me up. I'll go for a walk with you."

Bai Ye blinked. He opened his mouth to say no, but before he could speak, Li Mo interrupted him.

"Don't go out alone in the middle of the night. You think the base is safe, but last night's events proved otherwise. If I hadn't rushed there last night—no, you don't need to ask ifs. I did. So there are no ifs. But I need you to know that no matter the reason, wake me up next time you can't sleep. No matter how late, no matter what I'm doing, wake me up. I'll go with you. I'll walk as many laps as you want on the training field, I'll walk with you if you want to practice sprinting, I'll practice with you even if you don't want to say anything. But don't go out alone in the middle of the night again."

Looking at Li Mo's face, Bai Ye felt that his brows seemed more furrowed than usual, and his speech was also faster than usual.

"Understood," Bai Ye said, his voice neither too loud nor too soft, exactly the same as when he usually reported training data.

"You always say that. Back in recruit training, you promised to tell me immediately if you felt unwell, but you ran until your knees hit the ground before you stopped." Li Mo said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You're just like your brother. You say you know everything, and then—"

"Brother," Bai Ye suddenly spoke, interrupting him.

Li Mo stopped and looked at him.

"They've been running laps for a while now," Bai Ye said, standing up and picking up his training uniform jacket from beside his pillow. He put it on quickly, but when he got to his left arm, the injury on his arm caused it to get stuck slightly. He paused for a moment, then pulled the sleeve up forcefully. "Go check if they're slacking off."

Li Mo looked at Bai Ye's even smaller frame after he put on his training uniform, sighed, reached out and ruffled Bai Ye's hair, pressing down the most unruly tuft of hair.

"Let's go."

On the training field, the sun had already risen, casting a white glow on the gravel on the track.

Xie Ran and Shen Zhuo ran side by side ahead. Both of them were quite fast, but they were bickering as they ran. Xie Ran said that Shen Zhuo's running posture was like a crane with its feet burned, while Shen Zhuo said that Xie Ran's steps were so heavy that it felt like he was going to sink the track by three centimeters.

Lu Xiao ran not far behind them, his pace steady, with a smile that said, "I'm used to it." He heard the two people in front of him still arguing about what happened last night, occasionally chiming in to stir things up.

Xie Huai'an was running at the back, not fast, but his breathing was steady. He heard Lu Xiao fanning the flames, saying from behind, "If you say that again, I won't write your report next time." Lu Xiao immediately made a zipping motion over his mouth.

Xuanxiao ran ahead of the group alone.

No—he wasn't running; he was competing with himself.

He ran several kilometers straight from the moment he left the dormitory building, without slowing down at all. He maintained a pace much faster than he usually trained, as if he was punishing something with physical exhaustion.

His training uniform was completely soaked and clung to his skin. Sweat streamed down his forehead, his lips were pale, and his breathing was heavy and rapid, but his strides were still large, and he stepped hard with each step.

His heart was burning like a fire—not because he was punished to run, but because of the man in black, because all four stabs were made on Bai Ye's body, and he was sleeping on the top bunk, completely unaware of it.

What if Li Mo hadn't arrived in time? What if he had been a few seconds later? What if the knife had been plunged more precisely and deeper—

When Bai Ye and Li Mo walked over from the direction of the dormitory building, everyone's eyes turned to them.

Xie Ran ran around the bend and saw Bai Ye standing by the track. He immediately waved in his direction and shouted, "Little Cabbage, are you feeling better?!"

Shen Zhuo caught up from behind and slapped him on the back of the head, saying, "Shut up, the captain will add you to the laps if he hears you."

When Lu Xiao ran up to them, he slowed down, glanced at Li Mo's face, said nothing, but the corner of his mouth curved slightly.

Xuan Xiao didn't look at Bai Ye. He kept his head down and continued running forward, the force of his feet crushing the gravel even greater than before.

He didn't know why he was running like this; it was a punishment run, not self-punishment. But he couldn't stop. With each step, the image in his mind changed—Bai Ye's back as he turned into a dark alley, the gauze below Bai Ye's collarbone, the two bruises on Bai Ye's knees, and Bai Ye's indifferent tone when he said, "I'm fine."

Bai Ye stood by the track, watching Xuan Xiao run from a distance and then run back.

Xuan Xiao's face was as white as paper, his lips were dry, and his breathing was completely erratic. Every step he took seemed like he was forcing himself to move forward. His legs were visibly trembling—not the kind of trembling caused by muscle soreness, but the kind of uncontrollable trembling that comes with pushing himself to his limit. Yet he continued to accelerate.

Bai Ye frowned. He turned around, walked up to Li Mo, stretched out two fingers, pinched the cuff of Li Mo's uninjured left arm, and gently tugged at it.

Li Mo looked down at him. Bai Ye didn't speak, only glanced at him, then tilted his head towards the track. Li Mo paused. Then he raised his hand and gestured towards the track.

Lu Xiao was the first to stop, panting heavily with his hands on his knees. He straightened up and looked at Xuan Xiao, who was still running ahead of him, and shouted, "Xiao-zai—stop! Your brother Ye pleaded for you!"

Xie Ran and Shen Zhuo stopped, supporting each other. Xie Huai'an walked over from behind and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Xuan Xiao staggered several steps before stopping. He bent over, his hands on his knees, panting heavily, sweat dripping from his chin onto the gravel, splashing up fine dust. After catching his breath for a while, he finally raised his head and looked at Bai Ye with reddened eyes.

Bai Ye stood by the track, a tuft of hair still sticking up on his head. His face was expressionless, but he stood there, deliberately tugging at Li Mo's sleeve, and didn't look at anyone else.