Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

At 9 p.m., the lights in Class 1's dormitory were still on.

The new recruits were sprawled out haphazardly in various places.

Zhao Xiaohu lay face down on the bed, his arms dangling over the edge, like a flattened frog. Qian Duoduo sat against the wall, completely slumped over, too weak to even turn over. The others were either rubbing their shoulders, massaging their legs, or simply lying on their backs staring blankly at the ceiling, their eyes empty as if they had reached the end of their contemplation on the meaning of life.

Bai Ye sat on the edge of the bed, unbuttoning his training uniform.

Just then, a hand reached out from the side and precisely pressed down on his shoulder.

Bai Ye's body tensed reflexively—his back was the most vulnerable spot, and exposing it to another person was, in his instinct, tantamount to surrendering his life. He turned his head sharply and met Xuan Xiao's face, which was inches away from his own.

"What are you doing?" Bai Ye's voice was flat, but his brows were already furrowed.

"Don't be nervous." Xuanxiao pressed him down on the bed. "Let me massage you. If your arm stays tense any longer, you won't be able to hold a gun tomorrow."

"No need." Bai Ye propped himself up on his elbows, trying to get up.

Xuan Xiao didn't let go. He gently massaged the inside of Xuan Xiao's shoulder blade with his thumb, precisely relieving the sore muscles. A sensation that was both sore and numb yet comfortable spread along the shoulder blade and down the entire spine.

Bai Ye's support with her elbows suddenly weakened by a third, and she let out a muffled groan before burying her face back into the pillow.

"You say no, but your body says yes." Xuan Xiao chuckled.

"Shut up."

Xuan Xiao shut up. Before he did, the curve of his lips deepened even more.

His fingers began to massage along the muscle lines of Bai Ye's shoulder.

Bai Ye's shoulders were as hard as a rock. Due to three consecutive days of high-intensity shooting training, the muscle fibers of his deltoid and trapezius muscles had been in a state of tension and contraction, and lactic acid had accumulated inside without being expelled, making his entire shoulder feel hard and stiff to the touch.

Xuanxiao's thumb found the hardest muscle bundle, pressed down, and slowly pushed it away.

Bai Ye's fingers gripped the corner of the pillow.

"pain?"

"...It doesn't hurt."

"Why are you shaking if it doesn't hurt?"

"It's not shaking."

Xuan Xiao didn't expose him. He lightened the pressure in his hands a little, changing from pressing to kneading, his palms pressed against his shoulders, using his body heat to slowly soften the stiff muscles.

Bai Ye's resistance crumbled little by little in this warmth; her fingers, which had been gripping the pillow, loosened, and her shoulders stopped shrugging.

Xuanxiao's hand massaged from the shoulder all the way down to the middle of the shoulder blade. The heel of his palm pressed against the erector spinae muscles on both sides of the spine, pushing upwards segment by segment.

When the massage reached the Dazhui acupoint, Bai Ye's back suddenly went limp, and her whole body relaxed from the tension. She buried her face in the pillow and made a very soft sound.

Xuanxiao's fingers paused for a moment.

"Comfortable?"

Bai Ye didn't answer, but she didn't deny it either.

Xuan Xiao's mouth was practically stretched to his ears in a wide grin. He didn't stop, continuing to press down along the spine.

Zhao Xiaohu lay on the opposite upper bunk, chin resting on the edge of the bed, his round eyes fixed on them for quite some time. Seeing Xuan Xiao massaging Bai Ye's shoulders with such earnestness, he finally couldn't resist.

"Brother Xiao, where did you learn this skill? It's even more professional than the back scrubbers in the bathhouse."

Qian Duoduo poked his head out from the lower bunk and added, "The dignified young master of the Xuan family actually has a day when he has to give massages."

Xuan Xiao turned his head and glanced at them. The smile on his face didn't fade, but his eyes held a sharp edge—not fierce, but enough to send chills down one's spine.

Zhao Xiaohu and Qian Duoduo shuddered at the same time, lowered their heads at the same time, and began to examine the floor.

"This floor..." Qian Duoduo stroked his chin, his tone deep, "is so white."

"Yeah, yeah, I've never noticed the floor was so white," Zhao Xiaohu agreed, rubbing his forehead.

Xuanxiao's hand continued downwards.

His palm traced the curve of the spine down to the waist. Bai Ye's training uniform was rolled up, revealing a small patch of skin on his lower back. Xuan Xiao's fingers crossed the edge of the fabric, his thumb pressing against the area around his waist.

Bai Ye's reaction came very suddenly.

His body reacted as if struck by a weak electric current—his waist arched suddenly, his spine changed from a straight line to a taut arc, his shoulder blades squeezed together, his legs involuntarily twitched, and his toes curled up on the sheets.

Then a sound, more pronounced than before, escaped his throat. It was a slightly unexpected tremor.

The entire dormitory fell silent.

Xuan Xiao froze on the spot. His thumb was still pressing on Bai Ye's lower back, and he could clearly feel the temperature of the skin under his palm, as well as the slight spasms of the muscles caused by sensitivity.

Bai Ye's waist was very slender. Even slenderer than I had imagined. His thumb rested perfectly in the hollow of her lower back, the heel of his palm against the curve of her spine—this position, this angle—

Xuanxiao felt a little heat under his nose.

Zhao Xiaohu stared at him for a few seconds, his expression shifting from shock to a complex mix of schadenfreude. He pointed to his nose and said, "Brother Xiao, you're bleeding from your nose."

Xuan Xiao looked down, and a drop of red liquid landed on the back of his hand. Then another drop fell.

He raised his hand and touched his nose. His fingers were covered in blood.

"Hold."

He stood up abruptly and turned to walk towards the bathroom. His steps were long and hurried, and his knee hit the ladder next to the bed with a dull thud. Without even flinching, he rushed into the bathroom, slammed the door shut, and then heard the faucet being turned on full blast.

The dormitory was silent for three seconds.

Qian Duoduo pulled his head back from the edge of the bed, his expression quite subtle: "He can even get a nosebleed from a massage, Brother Xiao's mental fortitude is lacking."

"What kind of mental fortitude is this? This is called a lack of composure."

"What do you think he was thinking just now?"

"How would I know? But it's definitely not something serious."

The two men exchanged a glance and let out a series of very quiet, sly laughs.

Bai Ye rolled over in bed and sat up, smoothing out his crumpled training uniform and pulling down the rolled-up hem. The spot on his lower back where he had been pressed was still slightly warm. He looked at the closed bathroom door, his expression calm, tinged with a hint of confusion.

Why did Xuanxiao suddenly have a nosebleed?

Zhao Xiaohu leaned halfway down from the upper bunk, his round face bearing the inscrutable air of someone who had been through it all, and said in a low voice, "Brother Ye, don't you know yourself...?"

"What?"

Zhao Xiaohu opened his mouth, glanced at Bai Ye's exquisitely handsome but now blankly bewildered face, and swallowed his words. He lay back down on the bed, buried his face in the pillow, and his shoulders trembled.

"Never mind, it's nothing."

"explain."

"It's really nothing." Zhao Xiaohu's voice was muffled by the pillow. "It's just that next time Brother Xiao massages you, um, pay attention to your lower back."

Bai Ye's brows furrowed even deeper.

The sound of running water was still coming from the bathroom.