Chapter 54 Sunflowers in the Smoke
The scorching sun in the Golden Triangle was blindingly bright. The sunflower fields behind the former medical camp were a dazzling expanse of gold. The petals were slightly curled by the sun, but their shadows still danced on the ground into tiny spots of light.
There were a few faint marks of wooden stakes on the open space where the tent was set up. Wild vines climbed towards the sky along the marks, but were squeezed to the edge of the flowerbed by the sunflowers.
Ruan Xingchen stepped on the soft soil, the sunlight fell on her face through the gaps in her straw hat, so warm that it made her eyes hot.
"Xiaohan, look!" She bent down and stroked the disk of a flower blooming in the sun, her fingertips stained with golden pollen. "It's just the same as I remember."
This was the first time she called him that, omitting the "brother" suffix and without the fear or hesitation hidden in her tone in the past.
Mo Xiaohan stood three steps away, the ring on his left ring finger catching the sunlight. He'd changed into a light-colored linen shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing those hideous scars—but now, stained with sunflower pollen, they seemed strangely tender.
"Yeah, the same as before." He stared at her profile, his voice so soft as if he was afraid of scaring away the butterfly resting on her shoulder.
Although her PTSD has reached the clinical recovery standard, the traumatic memories no longer intrude into her consciousness, the avoidance behavior and hypervigilance symptoms have all subsided, and her social function and daily adaptation have returned to normal.
But Mo Xiaohan knew that those nerves soaked in trauma were like butterfly wings that had been exposed to dew and then dried in the sun. They looked intact, but there was a hint of fragility at the tips of the wings, which would tremble slightly at the slightest breeze.
On the way to the transfer station, Ruan Xingchen leaned against the car window and fell asleep.
"Khun Sa's men have already gathered with Ruan Wenxiong's former death squad." A Tai, who was in the passenger seat, suddenly turned around and handed the tablet to Mo Xiaohan in the back seat. He lowered his voice and reported, "The reward for Miss Ruan has been updated on the dark web."
On the screen was a candid photo of Ruan Xingchen standing in a flower field, her profile facing the light, a defenseless smile. Below it was a staggering number: $8,000,000, the capture amount prominently doubled.
Mo Xiaohan turned off the screen and glanced at the sleeping person beside him: "Let's go to the safe house instead."
Those nerves that had been made sensitive by trauma had finally relaxed in the stability of day after day. He would never let any tension of impending storm or any hidden danger signal pull her back into that vigilant shell.
The bumpy sound of tires rolling over the gravel road woke Ruan Xingchen. She opened her eyes dazedly and found that the scenery outside the window had changed from a city to a dense forest.
"Where is this?" She rubbed her eyes and sat up straight.
"A temporary rest stop." Mo Xiaohan's voice was unremarkable, but his fingers had silently clasped the handle of the gun under his shirt. "There's a beautiful lake there."
Ruan Xingchen looked at the layers of tree shadows outside the window and suddenly asked softly, "Someone wants to kill me, right?"
The air in the car froze instantly.
Mo Xiaohan tightened his grip on the gun handle, his thumb rubbing the trigger: "Who told you that?"
"I saw the wanted poster." She turned and looked him in the eye. "It's in the shredder in your study."
His eyes suddenly darkened, and the surging undercurrent instantly drowned all his emotions, leaving only the low roar of the engine in the car.
In the basement of the safe house, Mo Xiaohan was checking weapons.
Ruan Xingchen stood at the stairs, watching him load bullets into the magazine one by one. The sound of metal colliding was particularly harsh in the enclosed space.
"You're going to kill them all, aren't you?"
Mo Xiaohan paused: "Hmm."
"Including those who just do things for money?"
"Um."
"Even if they beg for mercy?"
With a click, the last magazine returned to its place.
Mo Xiaohan raised his head, the scar on his left eye looking particularly hideous in the dark: "Xingxing, this isn't something you should be involved in—"
"I want to know." She suddenly stepped closer, her fingertips stained with sunflower pollen pressing against the back of his hand, where veins bulged. "What is your world like?"
The coldness of the gun contrasted sharply with the warmth of her fingertips. Mo Xiaohan held her hand in his backhand and pressed it against his heart: "Half of this is a beast." His heartbeat vibrated her palm, "but the remaining half..."
Ruan Xingchen suddenly stood on tiptoe and kissed him. The moment their lips touched, they were filled with the bitter scent of sunflower.
When they separated, her eyelashes brushed his cheek: "I know."
Late at night, the infrared alarm in the monitoring room suddenly sounded.
When A Tai arrived with a team of armed guards, Mo Xiaohan was staring at the thermal imaging screen. In the woods three hundred meters away, a dozen flashing red dots were approaching in a fan shape.
"Khun Sa's death squad." A-Tai handed over the night vision goggles. "They used a feint to the east and attack in the west strategy. The main force was feinting in the front. Their real target was—"
"They're infiltrating from the cliffs behind the mountain, heading for the stars." Mo Xiaohan sneered and quickly put on his tactical vest. "Take her to the underground bunker and heavily guard the entrance."
He turned to leave, but Ruan Xingchen grabbed his wrist: "Are you going to kill someone?" This was not a question.
In the moonlight, Mo Xiaohan's silhouette was like a cold statue: "Yes."
She loosened her hand and suddenly took something out of the drawer and stuffed it into his pocket - it was a candy paper boat that she had just folded today.
"My wish today is..." her voice was so soft it sounded like a sigh, "I hope you can come back in time to have breakfast with me tomorrow morning."
The battle lasted all night.
Mo Xiaohan stood among the corpses, his magazine empty and his dagger stained with sticky blood. The last enemy knelt on the edge of the cliff and begged for mercy, his face covered in snot and tears: "I only did it for money! I have another at home-"
The knife flashed.
The plea for mercy stopped abruptly and the body fell into a deep cliff.
As the sun rose, Mo Xiaohan returned to the safe house and rushed into the kitchen with the smell of gunpowder and blood on his body.
Ruan Xingchen sat at the dining table with two fried eggs in front of him.
"If it doesn't taste good, don't force it." He frowned and was about to throw it away.
She, however, was the first to fork over a piece of burnt egg white and put it into her mouth. She frowned at the bitterness, but still swallowed it. "This is your world... I have to try it."
Mo Xiaohan froze in place, the sunlight filtering through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the two rings leaning against each other.
She thought this was her entry into his world, that they would walk side by side through the deepest nights. However, she had no idea that the darkness before her was only the beginning, and that beneath the surface of his world lay an even deeper abyss, far darker than what she could see now.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
