The end of the world is approaching, I'm handing myself over to the country.

The mother's hand froze.

The plate of freshly cooked, steaming greens hung suspended in mid-air.

The warmth on her face vanished instantly.

Instead, what replaced it was a coldness and alienation that Zhang Heng had never seen before.

"Come in quickly."

She slammed the plate on the table with a loud thud.

"Wash your hands and eat."

She turned away and didn't look at Zhang Heng again.

It was as if the mother who had been so devoted to him just moments before was merely an illusion.

The topic was abruptly cut off.

Normally, Zhang Heng would immediately lower his head and silently do as he was told, swallowing all his questions and grievances.

But today is different.

He didn't move; he just stood at the doorway, staring straight at his mother's back.

"Why can't we mention him?"

The woman's body visibly stiffened.

"He's not just your husband, he's my father too!"

In Zhang Heng's words, the grievances and confusion that had been suppressed for more than a decade suddenly burst forth.

Why are you always running away?

"Over all these years, we don't even have a single decent photo of him in our home!"

"Even when others ask, you always say he passed away early, and you never mention anything about him!"

"Mom, what are you so afraid of?!"

"My dad is a hero, he's not a bad guy, why are you afraid?!"

He practically shouted the last sentence.

Snapped!

The crisp sound of a slap echoed in the small space.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

Zhang's mother was stunned.

She unconsciously opened her mouth, staring incredulously at her slightly trembling right hand, then suddenly looked at the red five-finger mark that quickly appeared on Zhang Heng's face.

Her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she couldn't utter a single word.

Zhang Heng was also stunned. His face stung with pain, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.

It is the pain of being completely rejected by the person closest to you in the most brutal way.

"Everyone else has a father, but I don't. Do you know what people say about me behind my back?!"

"Do you know how tiring my life is every day?"

"You're only concerned with completing your own task, and I am your task!"

"You've never cared about my thoughts, you've never truly cared about me, never!"

Zhang Heng covered his face, his chest heaving violently, and roared out these words with all his might.

He could no longer stay in that suffocating home.

She turned around abruptly, opened the door, and rushed out without looking back.

"Bang!"

The door was slammed shut, completely isolating the small home from the equally bewildered woman inside.

The night was deep, and the streetlights cast a dim yellow glow.

Zhang Heng didn't know how long he had been running, nor where he had ended up.

He only stopped when his legs felt as heavy as lead and his lungs felt a burning pain, leaning against the wall and gasping for breath at the entrance of a dark alley.

A cold wind blew, and the tear stains on my face felt icy.

From birth to now, for nineteen years, his mother, though strict, has never laid a hand on him.

Today, I clearly brought good news home.

Why?

"Why exactly?"

"What are you so afraid of? Why don't you ever tell me!"

He could sense that Zhang's mother was afraid, but what exactly was she afraid of?

What is there to be afraid of?

"Why do you always treat me like an idiot!"

Bang--!!

Zhang Heng slammed his fist into the lamppost.

Just as his thoughts were in turmoil, several menacing figures emerged from the depths of the alley and surrounded him.

The leader was a blond-haired man with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking him up and down with a thuggish air.

"Hey, isn't this Zhang Heng?"

"Haha, what a coincidence, I actually ran into this guy here."

"What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

Another tall, thin man circled Zhang Heng, chuckling maliciously, "Hahaha, the son of a hero, is this all the cowardly stuff you've got?"

Zhang Heng's heart sank suddenly.

He recognized these people; they were notorious thugs in the park, and they wouldn't dare to commit murder or arson.

But people tend to be bolder when they gather together.

"What do you want?" He clenched his fists, but his body trembled slightly uncontrollably.

Yellow Hair spat out his cigarette butt, ground it with his toe, and slowly walked up to him.

"I don't want to do anything." He patted Zhang Heng's face, the force not too light or too heavy, but extremely insulting.

"I just want to ask you for a favor: talk to your 'big shot' friends and ask them to release my brother."

brother?

Zhang Heng understood instantly.

It was that troublemaker who was taken away by the soldiers in the canteen that afternoon.

Whether or not to release them is not a decision I can make.

Zhang Heng turned to leave, but was stopped by the blond-haired man as soon as he made a move.

"Is that so?" The blond-haired man's face instantly darkened.

He grabbed Zhang Heng by the collar and slammed him against the wall.

"I'll give you one more chance to rephrase your words."

"Don't think you can do whatever you want just because someone is protecting you. Those guys are human too, and they'll always have moments when they let their guard down."

The blond-haired man's face was almost touching the tip of his nose, and his mouth reeked of cigarette smoke.

"Tell those guys to release my brother."

"Otherwise, don't blame us for being rude to you!"

I heard a "crackling" sound of bones snapping behind me.

That familiar, deep-seated fear swept over me once again.

As with countless times before, Zhang Heng's mind went blank, and he had no intention of thinking about whether the other party was bragging or telling the truth.

Zhang Heng's body was stiff, and apart from trembling, he could not react at all.

But as if possessed, he looked up and gazed at the open space at the alley entrance illuminated by the streetlights.

Will they show up again this time?

Probably not.

It's so late after all.

They need to rest too...

Just then.

A beam of light shone directly on the group.

The blond-haired man blocked the light with his hand: "Who the hell is so rude! It's not like you can't see, why the hell are you using your high beams?!"

The blinding light made it difficult to open one's eyes.

Zhang Heng stared wide-eyed at the beam of light, warmth washing over him once more.

Following the blinding lights was the sound of a car door opening.

Crisp and crisp.

A group of uniformed figures filed out of the car, their movements perfectly synchronized and their landing silent.

They held the truth in their hands, which gleamed with a cold, metallic sheen under the lamplight.

Until a handful of truths came directly to them.

The roguish air on the faces of the blond-haired men froze instantly, then crumbled completely.

He abruptly released his grip on Zhang Heng's collar as if he had been burned.

His lips trembled as he watched the group of people silently approaching, exuding an invisible sense of oppression, and his legs went weak.

With a "thump," he was the first to kneel on the ground.

The other thugs weren't much better off; the cracking sound of their knuckles snapping abruptly stopped, replaced by the chattering of their teeth.

They didn't even see how the other person moved; they only felt a chill on their necks, followed by a strong force that pushed them uncontrollably to the ground.

My cheeks made intimate contact with the cold, rough cement floor.

They met only once.

The thugs who were so arrogant just moments ago were now like chickens waiting to be slaughtered, pinned to the ground and unable to move.

Captain Li, who was in charge, strode up to Zhang Heng.

He glanced at the group of people howling on the ground, but didn't linger, focusing all his attention on Zhang Heng.

She reached out and straightened his wrinkled clothes.

"Are you alright?"

Zhang Heng shook his head slightly, still in a state of extreme disbelief and daze.

They really came.

Again.

When he was most helpless and in need of help.