Su Wan shook her head.
"It's not that he's uncomfortable. The baby... he's responding to the energy stone. He's very active."
"It's just... I have an indescribable feeling. It seems like he is talking to me, and it seems like he is communicating with this stone."
She stroked her lower abdomen, her brows first furrowed, then relaxed.
A strange look came over her face.
A touch of tenderness that belongs only to a mother quietly melted the sharpness between her brows and softened the lines of her whole body.
Lu Shiyan's gaze shifted from her face to the energy stone in her palm.
"Don't worry, this is a good thing."
"The power of the energy stone is nourishing you. The fetus's perception will be more acute than yours."
His voice was deep and soothing.
Su Wan nodded. The increasingly clear wave of joy in her abdomen gradually dispelled her worries.
The atmosphere in the air-raid shelter was still depressing.
The wounds of the brothers Li Kui and Li Xinhu have been treated.
Li Kui wiggled his bandaged arm and sighed, "Those bastards under Scorpion were really ruthless! They almost broke my arm!"
As the elder brother, Li Xinhu also tried his best to hold on: "Take it easy. Brother Lu and his men just went through a big battle, and Sister Su Wan is still pregnant. We have to cheer up."
So the two of them volunteered to keep watch outside.
A'mo slept nearby, waiting for the shift change in the second half of the night.
Xiao Han sat alone on a broken wall outside the air-raid shelter.
The night wind, carrying the smell of scorched earth and blood, blew his messy hair.
Lu Shiyan's figure appeared silently behind him.
In his hands he was holding a bottle of strong liquor which he had gotten from somewhere, and two cups.
"Sit here and enjoy the breeze? Wait for Lei Lao Hu's men to shoot you again?"
Lu Shiyan's voice was calm, without any trace of blame.
Xiao Han's body trembled, and without turning back, he just said sullenly: "Whatever."
Lu Shiyan didn't say anything else and walked over to sit next to Xiao Han.
He unscrewed the bottle, poured two glasses, and pushed one to Xiao Han.
Xiao Han took the wine glass, but did not drink it immediately. He just held it tightly.
"Drink some."
Lu Shiyan said calmly, "Wake up."
Xiao Han raised his head suddenly and poured a glass of strong liquor into his throat.
The spicy liquor burned like fire.
He pointed at the bandages on his body and cursed, "Fuck you, I'm injured like this and you still force me to drink!"
Lu Shiyan glanced at him and chuckled. "That's more like you, Xiao Han."
Xiao Han glared at him: "Get lost!"
"You were too much to that kid Xiaolei." Lu Shiyan changed the subject.
Xiao Han's body suddenly stiffened. He turned around and stared at Lu Shiyan with confusion and vigilance.
Lu Shiyan picked up his wine glass and gently swirled the amber wine in the glass. His tone was deep, as if he could see through people's hearts.
"He cheated us, plotted against us, and almost took your life."
"But you never really killed him from beginning to end."
He paused, his eyes falling on the empty wine glass that Xiao Han was holding tightly.
"You protect him not because he is young, nor because you are a soft-hearted person."
Lu Shiyan's voice turned to Xiao Han, "Because he reminds you of another person."
"Someone...someone we both remember deeply, right?"
"Someone you owe, or rather, someone you feel you owe your life to."
Xiao Han's breathing suddenly became disordered, his pupils contracted sharply, and the blood color on his face faded completely.
He opened his mouth, but his throat seemed to be stuck by something and he couldn't utter a word.
Lu Shiyan's voice continued, calm but firm, ruthlessly tearing open the deepest scar in Xiao Han's heart.
"A brother who grew up with you, called you Brother Han every day, served in the army with you, and finally died for you."
"You dumped all your guilt towards him onto Xiaolei."
Xiao Han's body began to tremble, and the trembling became more and more severe.
He suddenly lowered his head, held his head tightly with both hands, and dug his nails deep into his scalp.
“That’s enough!”
"Stop talking!"
Lu Shiyan ignored his collapse and said, "You think that being nice to him can fill the hole in your heart."
"You are wrong."
“Everyone has his own destiny.”
Xiao Han's roar came to an abrupt halt as if someone had strangled him by the neck.
He suddenly raised his head and stared at Lu Shiyan with his bloodshot eyes.
"What makes you say that?!"
Lu Shiyan's expression was as cold as iron as he stared straight at Xiao Han.
"There are thirteen of us, and we grew up together in an orphanage. What should I not know?"
His voice was low, with a heaviness that only they could understand.
"The 'brother' you mentioned is not Xiaolei."
"Xiao Lei is not him either."
"You live in the past, living in the guilt for a dead person, and you can't get out of it."
"That's why you keep tolerating Xiaolei."
"You think you're making up for it, but Xiaolei is not him!"
Xiao Han's body seemed to have been drained of all its strength.
He leaned against the broken wall and slowly slid down to the ground.
Tears mixed with dust left several messy marks on his face.
"I……"
He let out a stifled sob and could say no more.
Lu Shiyan looked at him with a complicated expression, but soon he returned to his usual indifference.
"The past is past."
His voice rang out again.
"Those who are alive must look forward."
He poured himself another glass of wine and continued, "I know this is hard to accept, Xiao Han. But Xiao Lei...he finally made his choice in his own way. Perhaps, for him, that was the only way of redemption he could think of."
Xiao Han's breathing became heavy.
He slowly raised his head and looked at Lu Shiyan.
Lu Shiyan's words were calm but powerful, penetrating all his confusion and reaching the deepest part of his heart.
"Mo Yao's matter."
Lu Shiyan said calmly, "Don't get involved."
"Now that Scorpion is dead, the people under him won't be able to survive for many days."
"If Mo Yao is still alive, she will have a way to survive."
"You interfering may not be a good thing for her."
Xiao Han took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. All the depression and sadness in his chest seemed to dissipate with this breath.
His eyes were still red and swollen, but the pain and confusion in them had faded a lot, and instead revealed a sense of relief and clarity.
He pulled the corners of his mouth and forced out a smile that was uglier than crying.
That smile showed the relief of surviving a disaster.
"Ashi...you are right..."
He got over this hurdle.
As for Mo Yao, Lu Shiyan was right, he didn't need to look for her.
Lu Shiyan looked at him quietly. He didn't say anything else, but just drank the wine in his glass in one gulp. The spicy wine slid down his throat into his stomach, bringing a little burning warmth, but it couldn't dispel the heavy chill in his heart.
After a long while, Xiao Han slowly raised his head, his face full of tear marks, looking miserable.
He wiped his face with the back of his hand, his red eyes were full of bloodshot and his voice was extremely hoarse.
"Ashi, you... do you know how much I hated you back then?"
He grabbed the bottle of liquor on the ground that was only half empty, and without using a cup, he took a big gulp directly from the bottle.
The choking wine made him cough bitterly and his tears flow even more violently.
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