CH 194

Lin Chen felt that he should have fainted because that would be in line with the logic of the movie.

But he was always sober; whether it was the appearance of Xing Conglian, the movement of hugging him, or even the sentence “it’s me”; he clearly experienced it.

Because he had to stay awake so that his dreamlike reunion wouldn’t be fleeting. He clung to the collar of the rough combat uniform of Xing Conglian tightly, watching the blood flow out from the other party’s shoulder. His ears were extremely quiet, filled with the background noise of various gunfire and explosions. All these details seemed to be stretched infinitely.

Xing Conglian hugged him tightly and jumped down the stairs. They flashed around the corner, dodging a bullet, and then continued to run. From beginning to end, Xing Conglian’s face was as stable as his arms. The bitter wind, broken bricks, and dust blew across his cheeks. They rushed out of the factory building as smoke and dust filled the sky. He didn’t remember how far they ran, but for a moment, the entire space trembled, as if someone had pressed the pause button and all substances were backlogged, then suddenly released.

Xing Conglian seemed to perceive this, or perhaps the countdown in his earpiece had reached its final moments.

He held onto Lin Chen tightly and then suddenly rushed behind a pile of bricks, completely shielding Lin Chen underneath his body. He even used his arm as a cushion for Lin Chen’s head and neck to prevent him from being injured.

Facing Xing Conglian, Lin Chen only heard him say in a gentle tone, “Don’t be afraid.”

Then came a deafening explosion. It was only at this moment that Lin Chen realized that when he was so close to the explosion site, the sound could be this loud; as if everything in the world was collapsing and the shockwave seemed to shatter all his flesh and blood. Lin Chen held onto Xing Conglian’s back tightly, feeling the force of the shockwave knocking over the pile of bricks that fell onto Xing Conglian. This only made him cling to him even tighter.

At no time did he believe more than at this moment that they could survive.

……

When the factory exploded, Kang An was performing his cover mission in the designated area.

The countdown sound in the headset kept ringing, and he wished he could sprout wings and rush over to catch the man who was running fast, but he could only stay where he was, constantly pulling the trigger.

The time was getting shorter, but the distance wasn’t too close. The countdown sound finally stopped. After a loud explosion, the factory building collapsed, and most of the floors were blown into the sky. The shockwave and smoke forced him to fall to the ground. It took a long time before he could gradually hear the anxious voices in the headset.

“I see no one. Kang An, quickly report!”

“Where’s the Boss?! Have you seen the Boss?!”

“Are they safe? Kang An, you dumbass, talk to me!”

The sharp voice of Wang Chao was about to pierce his eardrums. Kang An vomited blood and barely propped up his body as he looked at the misty ruins.

The brown-gray smoke and dust made him almost unable to open his eyes. He could only narrow his eyes into a squint. One minute passed, then two, then five…

There was dead silence in front of him, and even the anxious voice in the headset channel became silent. Kang An covered the blood flowing between his lips and teeth, shouted, and rushed forward frantically.

At this moment, he saw a tall figure in a daze, slowly penetrating out of the layers of smoke and dust, walking out of the restricted area of death.

After seeing the figure clearly, Kang An took two steps back and almost fell on his ass.

Xing Conglian looked at his subordinate, who had almost rushed in front of him, and said to everyone in the channel in a calm tone, “Okay, laozi is still alive. Continue your work.”

“Boss!”

“Boss, it’s fine if you’re okay, but is my A’Chen Gege okay too? Is it really A’Chen Gege?” Wang Chao’s voice of concern came through.

Xing Conglian lowered his head while Lin Chen’s face was covered in gray dust, but he still gazed at him with dark eyes. Xing Conglian held onto his collar tightly, as if he were afraid Lin Chen would disappear if he let go.

Xing Conglian answered Wang Chao at the end of the channel, “It’s him.”

However, his answer seemed to make Lin Chen guess something. He obviously saw Lin Chen frowning and asked him, in a hoarse voice that seemed to have not drank water for days, “Is Wang Chao here too?”

After darting behind a wall, Xing Conglian took a breath and realized that Lin Chen was clearly worried about Wang Chao’s safety. Xing Conglian didn’t know what to say, so he weighed the person in his arms, who was almost weightless. He spoke coldly. “Stop worrying about others. Everyone is better than you.”

But if it were Lin Chen, as long as he was alive, he would think about these things all the time. Next, he heard Lin Chen nervously say, “Did the helicopter take off yet?”

“No.”

“Can I trouble you to save someone else?”

This sentence made Xing Conglian extremely dissatisfied. First, Lin Chen’s tone was too polite, and second, he immediately thought that the person Lin Chen wanted him to save must be that young man he had just forced away.

Probably because Xing Conglian didn’t answer and he felt that he was asking too much at this time, Lin Chen’s eyes flickered as he added, “Please.”

At this time, a sniper bullet passed them and hit an ambush point in the right rear.

The bullet hit the wall and made a tooth-aching sound. Lin Chen closed his eyes abruptly. Xing Conglian put him down, put one arm around his shoulder, took out a light gun, and began to use the brick wall as a bunker to fight back. After a few gunshots, there was no sound of bullets any longer. Xing Conglian turned his head, and for some reason, he saw the black ring on Lin Chen’s left ring finger at first glance.

Xing Conglian felt that the most glaring scene he had ever seen in his life, apart from Huang Ze’s stupid forced kiss on Lin Chen, was the black ring on Lin Chen’s ring finger.

“Who gave it to you?” After he asked this, he said to the channel, “Kang An, go and save someone.” After he spoke, he took off the headset and stuffed it into Lin Chen’s ear as he picked him up and continued to retreat.

Lin Chen was obviously taken aback.

“Tell them who you want to save.” Xing Conglian’s gaze fell to the ring that Lin Chen was wearing as he heard Lin Chen say to the person on the other end of the headset in an extremely calm tone, “Chinese. Name is Duan Yang. About 185 cm, big eyes, short hair. He just went toward the helicopter landing pad. It hasn’t taken off yet. Something might have happened. Please confirm whether Duan Yang is alive or dead.”

It was really Lin Chen. He was always sober, no matter what the situation was. Xing Conglian continued to retreat with Lin Chen in his arms. The path ahead had been cleared. Except for the sporadic bullets, they didn’t encounter too many obstacles along the way.

The smoke and dust were still heavy. Xing Conglian held his breath, but he heard Lin Chen say a few words into the headset. It was nothing more than soothing sentences such as “I’m fine” and “I’ll be there soon”. It must be Wang Chao he was talking to.

Xing Conglian looked at the person in his arms with dissatisfaction. Finally, Lin Chen seemed to notice his dissatisfaction. Suddenly, he put his hands around his neck, leaned on his shoulders, and said weakly, “What did you say?”

Xing Conglian pursed his lips, as if concentrating on running, without saying a word.

Soon, the sound of water was clearly audible. The ferry was within reach. He could even see the uncontrollable excitement on Wang Chao’s face.

“I’m sorry.” Just before boarding the boat, he suddenly heard Lin Chen continue to speak softly on the side of his neck.

Xing Conglian’s expression condensed as he stepped into the cabin with Lin Chen in his arms.

The first floor of the ferry had long been occupied by the terrified Gaomeng people. Wang Chao had already rushed forward, as if he had thousands of words to say to them. Xing Conglian shot a deathly glare at the teenager before going straight to the second floor. He kicked open the captain’s quarters and slammed the door shut, locking the chattering teenager outside.

He took off the headset from Lin Chen’s ear and threw it out, then put him down on the bed. With just such a simple action, he could clearly see the painful expression on Lin Chen’s face.

Lin Chen was so weak that he could hardly speak. Xing Conglian leaned down and got close to Lin Chen. He could feel the other party’s hot breath falling on his face. Xing Conglian felt that this was too much like a line that would be said in a third-rate TV series, but he couldn’t help asking, “Do you know what you did wrong?”

Lin Chen barely opened his eyes, and after thinking about it, he replied in a serious tone, “It’s too dangerous. I shouldn’t have let your men risk their lives to save my friend, but…”

“Lin Chen.” Xing Conglian called the other party’s name solemnly. He did his best to suppress all his emotions of fear, worry, tension, and heartache from the past ten minutes. He looked at the sky obscured by smoke and then down at the person on the bed who had become so thin and deformed in just a few days. He reached from Lin Chen’s waist to his shoulder blade with one hand, carefully but tightly embracing him, and said, “These are all small things. First, don’t talk to me in a pleading tone. I would do anything for you. You should take it for granted. Second…” He took a deep breath and said calmly, “When you pushed that something—Duan Yang—out of the door and locked yourself in to wait for death, did you ever think about what I would do?”

Lin Chen choked for a moment. His eyes were red, and the tears that had stopped flowing flowed from the corner of his eyes to his hair. He looked at Xing Conglian blankly and finally said, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry.”

As Xing Conglian looked at Lin Chen’s pale and bloodless face, the bloodstains caused by the abrasions on his face, and the tears rolling down Lin Chen’s soot-covered cheek, leaving a clear trail, he felt everything around him suddenly become quiet. All the smoke and gunshots seemed to freeze as Lin Chen hugged him tightly with both arms.

“Please think about one thing before you want to give up your life next time…” Xing Conglian kissed the hot skin on the side of his ear and said slowly, “What should I do if you die?”

Lin Chen instantly panicked. “I don’t know. I’m sorry. I don’t know…”

Xing Conglian just hugged Lin Chen tightly, trying to make his heart beat slower to a less deadly speed. Neither of them spoke.

“Why did you lose so much weight?” he asked softly.

“Because I miss you.”

“Lin Chen.”

“Hmm?

“You’re really thin.”

“Well, it’s because I really missed you.”