translator: xiin
editors: apricot & juurensha
As his spiritual power slowly spread to the surrounding areas, Bai Jing clearly felt that there were several spiritual fluctuations in the air. He carefully shielded his own aura, feeling secretly alarmed. At the end of the day, they were still military who kept a strict guard. Today, if it hadn't been for that group of people acting as a cover for them, it would have been much more difficult for Zhang Qiucheng's subordinates to make their move.
Noises reached his ears, so Bai Jing divided his mental power into several strands, carefully sifting out useful news…
Suddenly, the sounds of a quarrel drifted over.
“General, the events today were suspicious. I suspect there's a traitor.”
“Xu Boyuan, don't talk nonsense. Who are you calling a traitor?"
“Humph!” Xu Boyuan sneered coldly, “How would I know who it is? Today's events were too much of a coincidence. How could it have happened without a traitor?"
“This is something none of us expected. It could be one of the General's enemies who wants control of the army."
“What kind of enemies could there be in the world now? Everyone's too busy. And it's not just the General's enemies who would covet the army."
“You've forgotten our destination. It's hardly a surprise that some people would be scared.
“You've also forgotten what the situation in the Capital is like right now. All the factions are in a state of chaos and are only looking out for themselves. Other than traitors, who else would have the ability to make an underhanded move against the General?"
“This… Anyway, I don’t believe that there's a traitor.”
“Okay, okay. Stop arguing. Xu Boyuan's words have some logic to them." Another voice spoke up.
The first person was still a little angry, but he was also a bit incredulous, "Cai Xiu, why do you also feel this way?"
Cai Xiu answered coldly, “Isn't it the case? We should've dealt with that group of people who came over today sooner. If you and Zuo Mao hadn't blocked us, they wouldn't have had any opportunity to set up an ambush."
“We're soldiers…” That person roared. His voice was angry, but it was also mournful.
Unfortunately for him, Cai Xiu didn't appreciate it, “Stop being such a hypocrite. You've killed quite a few people too."
“You…”
“Enough. All of you, stop arguing. Strengthen the guard outside. Regarding Zuo Mao… we'll keep watch over him for now. As for you, Ji Tong, we've worked together for many years. I know your character, but sometimes, you need to tone down that pointless sympathy. Think about your aunt - she's still waiting for you in City B."
“…” Ji Tong opened his mouth, closed it, and said nothing more.
After guessing these people's identities, Bai Jing withdrew his spiritual power. He felt quite disdainful of these people. Sure enough, disagreements arose anywhere people were gathered. However, Ji Tong's intuition had been quite accurate. At the end of the day, he and Xiao Sa really were Yan Gang's enemies.
Bai Jing opened his eyes. Feeling vexed, he inwardly cursed at Zhang Qiucheng. Although they were able to cause trouble for Yan Gang today, it had also had the effect of beating the grass to scare the snake. If it weren't for the fact that his spiritual strength was several times more powerful than ordinary ability users, it would have been very difficult to investigate the situation within the camp. They had set up three layers of protection inside and outside, and their precautions were even more comprehensive than when they protected the former head of state.
Seeing Xiao Sa looking at him, Bai Jing implicitly understood his intentions and laid a barrier around them.
“What's the situation?”
Bai Jing pouted, "Yan Gang really values his own life. He has many ability users around him, and the camp is heavily guarded. There are a lot of soldiers patrolling, and if I'm not wrong, they have a level-one ability user amongst them. I sensed several strong power fluctuations, but fortunately they're not from a psychic ability user." Otherwise, he might not have been able to pull back safely.
Xiao Sa’s expression sank slightly. "That's not surprising. There are researchers in the army. Someone must have discovered how to improve the ability users' powers."
Bai Jing was silent for a moment as he carefully recalled the events of his past life. It seemed that the place where the ability users first appeared was also in the army. Perhaps it had been Yan Gang who had discovered them.
“Don’t think too much. It’s still early; we'll act just before dawn." That time was when the human spirit was the most relaxed.
Bai Jing nodded quietly and began to discuss details with Xiao Sa. As time went by, the night gradually became still, and the voices in the camp became quieter and quieter. Only the light from the bonfire was left, along with whispers from two or three of the guards and the echoes of footsteps from patrols.
Most people had already gone to sleep. Bai Jing and Xiao Sa looked at each other simultaneously; neither of them delayed, and quietly slipped into the dark night.
They drew closer and closer to the camp. The two of them lurked by the roadside. Falling Wind Canyon was flat, and although it was very suitable for setting up camp and resting, there was only one road. People could leave, but cars were blocked. Xiao Sa first placed his attention on the car; Bai Jing approved, but he himself would rather target the supplies.
Bai Jing’s spiritual power spread out as he paid constant attention to the surrounding situation. He was different from Xiao Sa, who was a pure metal ability user. After being transformed by the spring water, his spiritual power and five senses were particularly sensitive, and although he was not as good at it as the psychic ability users, small-scale explorations weren't an issue.
Xiao Sa frowned tightly and looked probingly in the camp's direction. Assassination was easier said than done; the soldiers were patrolling too frequently. There were more than ten people in each patrol team, and they had no chance of getting in like this. If they stirred up even the smallest amount of fuss, he believed that the people from the army would immediately attack them in droves. Although he was a second-level ability user, he was not confident that he would be able to cope with a giant wave of 80,000 people.
“Wait a minute.” Bai Jing’s eyes lit up with a flash of cunning. After speaking, he set up a space shield and teleported away from Xiao Sa before reappearing a few seconds later with two sets of clothing in his hands.
Xiao Sa’s expression was dark as he glared fiercely at Bai Jing, his lips pressed together tightly without saying anything. Heaven knew that his heart had almost jumped out of his chest just now. Despite knowing that Bai Jing never did anything he was uncertain about, when he disappeared so suddenly, acting without a word, Xiao Sa felt like those short few seconds were longer than a lifetime, and filled with a mix of anxiety, nervousness, fear, and terror.
Bai Jing's smile froze on his face, his gaze flitting around as he instantly started to act pitiful, pulling at the corner of Xiao Sa's clothing with one hand while his other proffered up the clothing he'd stolen. He blinked his wide eyes at him, his small face filled with grievance.
“In the future, let me know what you're doing ahead of time." Xiao Sa sighed fiercely and put some force behind his hand as he rubbed Bai Jing's head. He was powerless against his lover's wilfulness and could only caution him again and again, letting him know how he felt, "I'm not trying to stop you, but I'm very afraid when you suddenly vanish. I don't know how long you'll be gone or what you want to do. It makes me very worried and uncomfortable.”
Bai Jing suddenly understood, and his grievance disappeared. He thought about it from another perspective and could only blame himself. If Xiao Sa disappeared all of a sudden without a word or any sort of explanation, he would feel the same kind of fear and worry from not knowing what was going on.
“It's my fault. I won't do it again in the future." Bai Jing spoke in a small voice, his head hanging slightly as his gaze unconsciously landed straight on Xiao Sa's body.
Xiao Sa felt helpless seeing his current appearance. He didn't have the heart to blame him any further; Bai Jing's kitten-like voice tickled his heart, but unfortunately it wasn't the right time or place.
Bai Jing really understood that he'd been wrong at this moment, but if he knew what Xiao Sa was thinking, he would probably explode directly and scold that his sperm had affected his brain.
Speaking of which, Xiao Sa was really unlucky. He finally managed to taste his lover once, but never had a chance to revisit the experience before they became busy. Perhaps if he hadn't eaten such delicious seafood before, he could just endure for a bit before it passed. However, he had clearly experienced this soul-penetrating taste, and his lover was right by his side, but he had no opportunity to have it again. It was really hard on him!
The two men quickly changed clothes. Considering their figures, body proportions, and the way they held themselves, it was perfectly believable if they claimed to be special forces. The credit for this belonged to Cao Lei and Wang Xuebing - heavens knew how much homework Xiao Sa had done in order to learn how to act like a member of the army. Unexpectedly, it came in handy even after they had left the base.
The two men crept out of the forest they had been hidden in and removed the space shield. They didn't get far before they were discovered.
Over a dozen patrol soldiers quickly surrounded them and observed them warily. They did not relax their vigilance at all despite the pair's military uniforms.
“You and you, why are there only two of you?" The leader of the patrol team looked at them sternly.
Bai Jing’s heart was tense; he had been careless. He should have realised this earlier. The army enforced strict discipline with ten to fifteen people in each patrol. The fact that there were only two of them was their plan's greatest flaw.
Bai Jing stiffened. He didn't have any time to react before his body was shifted, and he suddenly found himself in Xiao Sa's arms. Xiao Sa's temperament was now gave out a sense of wicked delinquency, and he appeared every inch the rogue soldier. He seemed to mistake the soldiers' guarded gazes for antagonism, "What are you guys looking at? Shift your gazes away for me. Little Jing'er is this big brother's person." He even tried to pinch Bai Jing's buttocks as he spoke.
The soldiers suddenly seemed to come to a realization, and the atmosphere relaxed. The caution in their eyes turned into mischief, and a few of them looked Bai Jing up and down with no small amount of envy.
“Brother, you're really something." A rugged soldier gave Xiao Sa a thumbs up, but his tone was sour and his eyes were cold, filled with jealousy for the forbidden fruit.
“Haha, of course.” Xiao Sa’s face was arrogant, puffing his chest out as he touched and pinched Bai Jing without any consideration for his dignity.
The soldiers were now red-eyed with jealousy and somewhat resentful as they gazed at that white skin and slender waist. How come they didn't have a little beauty in their team? They also wanted to steal a taste, then exchanged looks with each other. Ah, forget it. With their hard bodies and thick skin, how could their teammates turn them on?
Bai Jing’s face was red, then white (from anger), and he simply buried his head in Xiao Sa’s chest. He was afraid that he wouldn't be able to restrain himself and would end up killing someone. He had never thought that Xiao Sa would really use this kind of move.
“By the way, which battalion do you guys belong to, and who's your division leader? Your faces aren't familiar." Envy was envy, but the soldiers didn't forget to do their jobs. They wouldn't dare be careless since they were still in a state of emergency from the trouble that morning.
Xiao Sa didn't know what to say, but it didn't show on his face. He thought of killing them to keep them quiet and calculated how good their chances were of doing it without causing a disturbance or alerting other psychic ability users.
Bai Jing raised his head dispiritedly. He pinched hard at Xiao Sa's waist before glancing coquettishly at the group of soldiers, "We report to Division Leader Xu, Battalion 315. My cousin is Tang Yongping. You guys should shut your mouths and keep quiet for me."
With that, there was no need to ask any further. Turned out they were Tian Yongping's, Division Leader Xu's mistress' people. The soldiers' gazes all cleared up in understanding that quickly turned to disdain and contempt instead. It was clearly better not to deal with such people, so the soldiers simply let them pass.