EM Chapter 26. Entanglement

Xiao Mingxuan took only a few minutes to piece together what had happened. He looked at the two pitiful mice through the plastic bags, worn out after being handled so roughly, then picked them up and set them on the desk. After thinking for a moment, he asked,

“What do you think of Bai Xuyao?”

“He taught me how to fold a tofu block. He’s a good guy,” Song Feng said with approval.

Xiao Mingxuan gave him a skeptical look.
“That’s it?”

Song Feng had half his body sprawled over the desk, completely unconcerned about whether he was crumpling any of the paperwork beneath him. He propped his chin up with one hand, thinking back to Bai Xuyao’s pathetic state that morning. A smile spread across his face.

“He’s pretty cute.”

He had just taken a shower. His hair was still half-damp, and a trace of moisture lingered in his eyes. From such a short distance, Xiao Mingxuan stared into those striking pupils, reached out, and ruffled his hair.

“Cute?”

“Mm-hmm.” Song Feng nodded. Back in the U.S., he had been an instructor too. This one was worth training.

A not-so-innocent smile crept over his face.
“Just makes me want to pamper him a little~”

So the shameless bastard really was planning that sort of thing. Xiao Mingxuan ran his hand through Song Feng’s hair again. This was not what he had brought him here for. “This is a military base. Try to stay rational.”

“I know,” Song Feng said as he raised a paw in promise. “I won’t do anything excessive. You can relax.”

Xiao Mingxuan narrowed his eyes. “What exactly counts as excessive?”

“Breaking him or killing him.”

Xiao Mingxuan stared at him. His expression was completely composed, but his mood in that moment was impossible to describe in words.

Song Feng leaned in with a grin. “I’ll make sure he’s lively and healthy. That should be good enough, right?”

Good enough? Like hell it was. Xiao Mingxuan fell silent for a moment. “He wouldn’t let you.”

Song Feng’s smile was full of confidence.
“He would. I’ve got plenty of ways to make it happen.”

This scoundrel had far too much experience in this kind of thing. Xiao Mingxuan said nothing. Rationally, he knew Song Feng’s personal life had nothing to do with him. But emotionally, it made him deeply uncomfortable. Just the idea that it was “none of his business” was something he could not tolerate. It felt like something had started to drift off course, beyond his control.

Song Feng leaned in even closer. “Back to business. I need a cage.”

At this distance, the fresh scent of soap mixed with something distinctly his, drifting over in a clean, alluring way. Xiao Mingxuan steadied himself.

“You can’t keep mice in the barracks.”

“You all aren’t allowed to, but no one said I couldn’t,” Song Feng replied, all smiles.
“No one even said anything about the way I folded my blanket. Keeping a couple of mice for a few days won’t be a problem either, right?”

Xiao Mingxuan gave a nod. This man had always been quick on the uptake.

“So give me a cage.”

“There’s none,” Xiao Mingxuan said.
“No bottles either. You’ll have to find someone else.”

“I’ll come by after dinner, then,” Song Feng said, completely unbothered. “There’s a five-kilometer weighted run after that. I’ll need them.”

Xiao Mingxuan forced himself to push away the tangle of uncertain emotions in his chest and shifted to the practical side.
“He can’t even finish five kilometers?”

“He can,” Song Feng said with a sly smile.
“But I have other uses in mind.”

Xiao Mingxuan held back. Then held back again. “Can’t you tone it down a little?”

“I know what I’m doing. I already told you, I won’t cross any lines. It’s only for a few days. I just want to see how it goes.”

Song Feng grinned. Truthfully, he was certain they would pass the initial assessment, and with nothing else to do, he figured he might as well find someone to play with. “If you all still think he’s unqualified when the evaluation comes, then toss him. I don’t mind. Everyone has their own fate.”

That one could not be tossed. Central command had already made it clear: even if Bai Xuyao could not stay on the front line, he still had to be retained for logistics. Xiao Mingxuan paused.

“You really think you can bring up his physical fitness?”

“The key is whether he’s got the drive. I think he’s worth working on,” Song Feng said with a smile. “Anyway, I’m the one who picked him. If it works out, he’ll be a great prospect.”

Xiao Mingxuan’s focus drifted back to the conversation. There was still something bothering him, but he could not quite put his finger on what. Was it one of those two that rubbed him the wrong way? He thought about it. It could not be Song Feng. He would never feel annoyed with him. So was it Bai Xuyao? But he had barely even spoken to the man. There was no reason to feel anything at all… and yet, why had that guy gone and folded a blanket for this shameless idiot? Did he seriously have nothing better to do?

“That’s all then,” Song Feng said as he stood up. “I’ll leave the mice with you for now. Give them some water later so they don’t die.”

Xiao Mingxuan glanced at them, then looked at the towering stack of documents beside them. He figured if that stack tipped over, it could probably crush the two mice to death. But then again, even if they did die, Song Feng would just go catch more.

Song Feng waved lazily. “I’m heading out.”

Xiao Mingxuan looked over and reminded him, “You need to salute when you leave. And next time, report yourself at the door and salute before entering. This office isn’t just mine. It’s also used by the captain of Team One.”

Song Feng blinked. “How do I salute?”
He raised his hand and made a rough gesture. “Like this?”

Xiao Mingxuan shook his head. “Not even close.”

He stood up to demonstrate. If someone halfway decent-looking ended up teaching this scoundrel how to salute later, and it led to something inappropriate, that would be a disaster. He took hold of Song Feng’s hand and adjusted it.

“Your fingers go here.”

Song Feng was slightly shorter than him. He looked up and saw the bruise still lingering at the corner of Xiao Mingxuan’s eye. His mood instantly brightened. His pretty eyes sparkled with amusement. He reached out and poked at the bruise.

Xiao Mingxuan turned his head to avoid him. “Cut it out.”

Song Feng poked him again. “No one’s asked you what happened?”

“I was asked. I didn’t answer. Now, can you do the salute or not?”

Song Feng was quick on the uptake. He smiled and nodded. “Got it.”

“Good. Salute and go.”

Song Feng edged closer with a grin. “Do I really have to? We know each other. Come on, we’ve been through life and death together. You’re not even going to give me that much leeway?”

He reached out and slung an arm over Xiao Mingxuan’s shoulder. “After all, we’ve, you know, flipped clouds and stirred rain together… oh right, you still haven’t returned that box of condoms. When are you giving it back?”

Xiao Mingxuan stood still and let him lean. He had just meant to give him some basic military practice. He had not expected it to lead to that kind of comment. He raised a brow.

“You want me to return them so you can use them here in camp?”

Song Feng froze, then remembered that there was a decent chance he might end up with a guy. “That works too. Go ahead and hand them over.”

Xiao Mingxuan stared at him. “Are you really that desperate?”

“Not exactly…” Song Feng said, eyes shining with expectation. “Unless you’ve got someone to set me up with? The girl from the kitchen? Is she cute? What’s her figure like? Her chest better be at least a B.”

Xiao Mingxuan paused, then grabbed him by the back of the collar and tossed him out of the office. “Go to bed. Dreaming about it will be more productive.”

He shut the door behind him and took a deep breath. It was time to calmly analyze the situation.

Song Feng dragged himself back to the barracks, his energy drained. After the morning’s training, everyone was so exhausted they did not even want to speak. When he came in, a few people glanced up at him, but their expressions were tangled and complicated. No one dared question the rigor of this training anymore.

Bai Xuyao had been about to lie down. When he saw Song Feng enter, he immediately sat up and glanced toward his hands. He was not truly afraid of mice, but just seeing them gave him the creeps. Trying to keep his composure, he asked,
“Weren’t you going to get a cage?”

“Yeah,” Song Feng sighed with regret.
“The officer said you’re not allowed to keep mice on base.”

Bai Xuyao secretly let out a breath of relief, turned over, and closed his eyes to sleep.

Song Feng lay down on his own cot. He was a little tired too. A midday rest was important.

The afternoon training arrived quickly. They practiced arm strength on the training field, then were taken to the shooting range. The task was to fire a set number of rounds within a limited time. There was barely enough time to aim, especially since their hands were still stiff and unsteady from earlier training. Managing not to hit the wrong target was already lucky.

But before the next scheduled drill, there was a break, which meant they could stay behind to shoot a bit longer if they wanted. All training was self-driven now. The instructor would escort them to each area on time, but whether they trained or not was left up to them.

A row of guns had been laid out on the table. Song Feng glanced over them. Type 92 pistols, Type 95 automatic rifles, Type 88 sniper rifles… He picked one up at random and lifted it to fire. The first few shots were a little off, but he quickly adjusted. During missions, he had learned to use whatever weapon he could get his hands on. Sometimes he had no gun at all, only a piece of shattered tile to fight with in close quarters. He had long stopped being picky.

He cycled through each weapon, firing as he went, then strolled off cheerfully to watch Bai Xuyao. The instructor gave him a glance, then checked the numbers being reported through his headset. He could hardly believe what he was hearing.

Xiao Mingxuan was watching through binoculars from the main building. He saw Song Feng standing beside Bai Xuyao, chatting with him and grabbing his arm to demonstrate proper form. His expression was focused, his eyes soft with laughter. It was unbearable to watch.

He fell into a long silence.

Ever since their encounter in Malaysia, Xiao Mingxuan had known that this man would mean something special to him. And in those few weeks, Song Feng had saved his life twice, even risking his own in the process. That sense of significance had only deepened and sharpened, to the point that he could no longer imagine forgetting him.

But what if they parted ways? One day they would go back to living their own lives, build their own homes, be happy or miserable in places the other could not see. He took a breath and shut down the thought immediately. If he could leave, he would not have gone to the trouble of transferring Song Feng here in the first place.

He could not forget. He could not let go. He could not walk away.

The realization hit him with a jolt. Xiao Mingxuan was stunned by his own thoughts and did not speak for a long while.

Inside the office, two special forces soldiers were going over the latest training schedule, working to meet their goals while keeping safety in check. It was supposed to be Xiao Mingxuan’s task, but he had dumped it on them. Now he stood by the window, completely still, staring outside.

They assumed he was thinking up some devilish new way to torment the recruits and chuckled while flipping through the files.

A few minutes later, the door opened. Someone walked in and said, “Shit, these new recruits are on another level.”

Xiao Mingxuan snapped back to attention. The others immediately perked up.

“What, those two again? I think they could skip the preliminary screening entirely. Xiao Wang came back at noon, heard their results, and went straight to the training ground without saying a word. He was more fired up than during selection.”

“Those two are solid. Real talent.”

The man who had entered tossed a paper onto the desk. “Shooting scores. See for yourselves.”

“Holy shit, these scores could go head to head with the captain’s. How are we supposed to survive this?” one of them exclaimed.

Xiao Mingxuan gave it a glance. “They’re more than just promising recruits.”

Everyone looked up. “Vice Captain, who are they really?”

Xiao Mingxuan paused. He figured a little motivation might help. Not for the new recruits. It would only crush their confidence, but for these veterans, it might be worthwhile. He said, “They’re mercenaries.”

The group looked stunned. Xiao Mingxuan continued.

“They’ve been operating on the front lines for years. We’re from the last cohort. Think back. How many missions have we actually done since then?”

The room fell silent. The contrast was stark. Those two had been forged through real combat. If it was just a matter of time trials, they might not beat trained soldiers here, since they were often away on missions while others trained consistently. But if it came down to experience and adaptability in the field, they would have the edge. And what this unit valued most was combat readiness.

Xiao Mingxuan thought about saying that those two had likely completed more missions than the rest of them combined, but he held back. That kind of statement would do more harm than good. He only said, “So it’s not surprising they scored that well.”

The room stayed quiet. After a while, one of the men got up and left, most likely heading to the shooting range. The other two exchanged a look.

“It’s just too wild. That drug trafficker’s guy last time was a mercenary too, but he wasn’t like this. If all mercs were like that, what are we even doing here?”

Xiao Mingxuan’s expression remained unchanged, but the same question had been troubling him for a long time. Who had trained Song Feng? What had that man gone through before they met? There were still too many things he did not know.

Meanwhile, the one they had just called “too wild” was standing at the training station, watching someone else practice with a bright, cheerful smile.

“Hurry up! Did you skip lunch or what? You’re about to run over time, sweetie. Look, most of them already finished this station and moved on, sweetie.”

Bai Xuyao was drenched in sweat. His expression was firm, and the veins on his forehead stood out as he pushed himself harder.

Wei Xiaoyan sat off to the side, letting out a long sigh. “Did you just sleep and eat all day in your old unit?”

“No,” Song Feng said with complete sincerity. “He could also fold tofu blocks.”

Wei Xiaoyan nodded. “Got it. So he spent his days eating, sleeping, and folding tofu blocks.”

“Exactly.”

The veins on Bai Xuyao’s forehead twitched violently. With a roar, he surged forward again.

Song Feng and Wei Xiaoyan immediately lit up.

“There you go! Get it, get it!”

Bai Xuyao finished the final set and collapsed onto the ground.

“Shut the hell up, both of you!”

“Up you go, up you go,” Song Feng said as he hauled him up by the arm. “Come on. What’s next?”

Wei Xiaoyan checked the sheet. “Close-quarters combat.”

“Oh, hand-to-hand,” Song Feng said as he dragged him to the practice area, then waved casually. “Have fun.”

Bai Xuyao, still panting, rested for ten seconds or so. Then he turned back, surprised to see the two of them settling in to sit.

“You guys aren’t practicing?”

The two of them shook their heads in unison. Song Feng said in a weak voice,
“We… don’t know how…”

The truth was, they had long forgotten the formal routines. After years of surviving in high-risk environments, their minds and bodies had been trained to instinctively target the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Every move was meant to end a fight in one blow. Victory or death was decided in a single second. No matter the posture or position, their reflexes acted even faster than thought. Kill or disable first, ask questions later. That kind of conditioning had seeped into their bones. As for the proper techniques and forms, they were long gone.

Bai Xuyao stared at them. “You don’t know how?”

They nodded again.

Bai Xuyao sucked in a sharp breath.
Finally, his chance for payback had come.

He tried to keep his voice calm and pleasant. With a friendly smile, he said, “Come here. I’ll teach you.”

Song Feng shook his head. “No need. We’ll just watch.”

Wei Xiaoyan added, “We pick things up just by looking.”

“Watching isn’t enough,” Bai Xuyao said in a serious tone, acting like an instructor.
“You have to experience it for real to understand. Come on, everyone’s supposed to help each other. You guys helped me. It’s my turn to help you now. Right? Right?”

Song Feng: “…”

Wei Xiaoyan: “…”