Xu Hang had a very long dream.
He had often had this dream before. It was a large peony garden with mist and flying butterflies. At the end of the dream, there was a gentle woman with a golden hairpin on her head, waving at him from afar.
He had the same dream again today. He went upstream until he reached the end of the flower fragrance. Instead of his mother’s familiar face, he saw a straight figure in military uniform.
Then he woke up.
When he woke up, he found himself lying in a bathtub, with hot water washing his whole body. The shackles on his wrists had been removed, leaving deep red marks. He felt a wave of heat coming from behind him, and a hand that did not belong to him was holding a handkerchief and gently wiping his chest and lower abdomen.
“Awake?” Duan Yelin found that Xu Hang had opened his eyes. He had been fighting drug addiction in the past few days and had not even been able to take a bath. Now that his condition was finally better, he asked Chan Yi to boil water for him to take a bath.
Xu Hang turned his head and saw the potted flower on the windowsill. The last time he saw it, it was just a bud, but today it has bloomed. It seems that at least four or five days have passed.
He had been in a daze for the past few days and had no self-awareness when he woke up, so he had no idea what had happened.
When he looked down at this moment, although he could only see Duan Yelin’s arms, but they were covered with bite marks, scratches, bruises, and wounds. Come to think of it, these few days must have been terrible.
“Uh… um!” Xu Hang wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he closed it again in pain, and his entire mouth felt sore and numb.
Duan Yelin whispered in his ear, “You’ve been biting the stick for several days, using all your strength. Your muscles are sore. Speak slowly.”
Then Duan Yelin moved Xu Hang to turn around and face him. Unlike Xu Hang, who was naked, Duan Yelin was only shirtless and still wearing pants.
Perhaps because he was too mentally tortured, Xu Hang did not feel much shame now. He just looked at Duan Yelin weakly while he wiped his face: “How long are you going to play this doctor-patient game?”
Duan Yelin wiped Xu Hang’s face carefully, not affected at all: “Until I don’t want to play anymore.”
Suddenly Xu Hang reached out and grabbed Duan Yelin’s wrist, leaning closer to him: “It can’t be that… you still like me, do you? Duan Yelin, wake up. I’m not grateful to you at all, let alone like you.”
Duan Yelin’s attention was focused on Xu Hang’s ten fingers, which were so slender that the shape of the bones could be clearly seen. His eyes moved: “Oh.”
It was like a punch on cotton, there was no reaction at all.
Xu Hang emphasized his tone a little: “Are you so despicable? As a commander, do you have to humiliate yourself in front of me? You…”
Before he could finish his words, Xu Hang’s chin was pinched, and Duan Yelin leaned over and kissed him. He didn’t simply kiss him but pressed him into the water until the water level covered his head.
It was a kiss that suffocated him in the water.
He can’t hear, see, or smell… all his senses are useless, only the friction on his lips was so vivid.
Xu Hang was gasping for air and wanted to push Duan Yelin away, but his arms were too weak, his hands merely rested on Duan Yelin’s shoulders, letting him bite and toy with him at will.
When he finally ran out of breath, he was suddenly pulled out of the water. Duan Yelin threw the handkerchief into the wooden tub, pulled out a clean, long towel, wrapped Xu Hang in it, and stood up from the bathtub.
He said, “Who is bringing disgrace upon oneself? Do you understand now?”
Xu Hang was speechless and held his breath until Duan Yelin put him on the bed and gave him a set of clean, new clothes.
Seeing the bruises on Xu Hang’s hands, Duan Yelin rubbed them gently.
“You can put it on yourself. I’m going to the study to take care of something now. I’ll be back in an hour. You’d better lie on the bed and wait for me to come back. Don’t do anything.”
Xu Hang stared at him without answering. Duan Yelin grabbed his face and said, “Speak. Don’t force me to handcuff you here like I did a few days ago.”
Thinking of the state a few days ago when he couldn’t move at all and was like a fish, Xu Hang frowned: “…I understand.”
Duan Yelin walked out after getting a satisfactory answer. Xu Hang didn’t even have the strength to put on his clothes. He fell on the bed, staring blankly with his eyes open.
After a long while, he stretched out a hand to cover his eyes.
Bastard.
He claimed he had something to attend to, but in truth, Qiao Song was delivering battle reports to Duan Yelin. Just like the intelligence previously provided by Kuromiya Keiko, the Japanese forces had positioned troops on three fronts, aiming to launch a simultaneous siege.
When headquarters received Duan Yelin’s message, it ordered the troops in the northeast and west to launch a preemptive strike, which proved highly effective. However, the Japanese forces had gone all out this time, likely aiming to bring the war in China to a decisive end with this battle.
It was a desperate battle, a fight to the death.
Come to think about it, the military force that Duan Yelin is about to face may be the largest among the three places.
“Have all the people been relocated?” Duan Yelin sat on a chair, his head tilted back, too tired to open his eyes. He hadn’t slept well in the past few days as he had been paying attention to Xu Hang’s situation.
“Everyone has been notified, and as of today, most of them have left Hezhou.”
Duan Yelin rubbed his temples: “No wonder it’s so quiet… is Zhanzhou back?”
He remembered that Duan Zhanzhou said that he wanted to borrow soldiers a few days ago. Qiao Song shook his head and said, “He came back, but he didn’t get many soldiers, so he recruited soldiers on the spot, he recruited 10,000 soldiers.”
“The war situation is tense everywhere, and there are not enough supplies. It is also difficult for him. I have thought of some strategies for defense and surprise attack in the past few days. I have recorded them here. You can deploy them later. This war is not easy to fight.”
When Qiao Song heard this, his eyelids twitched violently.
Seven or eight years ago, the Japanese army was rampant and pressed the city with three times the number of troops. However, Duan Yelin remained calm and defeated the larger force with a smaller one, thus defending the territory.
At that time, Duan Yelin had never said the word ‘difficult’.
But this time…
Suppressing his inner uneasiness, Qiao Song seriously discussed the details of the war with Duan Yelin.
They forgot the time during the discussion, and it was three hours later that Duan Yelin returned to the room. When he opened the door, he found Xu Hang lying on the bed obediently, and he felt relieved.
Xu Hang was naked, with his back to Duan Yelin, showing his bare shoulders and protruding bones. He was very quiet, and it was unclear whether he was asleep or in a daze. Duan Yelin tiptoed over and gently pulled up the quilt, trying to cover him.
He had only pulled halfway when Xu Hang grabbed his hands.
“Xu…”
Duan Yelin wanted to ask him if he was hungry, but Xu Hang pulled him. He happened to have one knee bent on the edge of the bed, and his center of gravity was unstable. Xu Hang only needed a light push to make him fall on the bed.
After the world spun around, he felt a weight on his waist. Xu Hang was riding on him naked, looking down at him without blinking.
The air in the room seemed to be stagnant, fixed at this second.
Then Xu Hang actually reached out and untied Duan Yelin’s belt. Duan Yelin frowned, pressed down his hand, and asked angrily, “Xu Shaotang, what are you crazy about?”
