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

Lu Xiao stood at the dormitory door, looking at Xuan Xiao's empty bed, and his lips twitched.

He turned and walked out of the dormitory. The lights in the corridor were all off except for the one at the end, the dim yellow light piling up in the corner into a blurry warm color.

Lu Xiao's training boots made rhythmic sounds on the cement ground. After a few steps, he understood—Xuan Xiao could only have disappeared to one place at this time.

-

Medical room.

Lu Xiao's premonition was confirmed the moment he pushed open the fire door in the medical room corridor.

"Bai Ye, are you really alright?"

"I'm really fine."

"Your arm is broken and you still say you're fine? The bone is sticking out—it's so long—" Xuan Xiao's voice suddenly rose half a beat before he forcefully suppressed it, probably gesturing to show the length of the bone and then realizing that gesturing like that wasn't appropriate.

"They've put a cast on."

"Even with a cast on, it still broke!"

"The doctor said it will take two or three months to get better."

"Two or three months! It's two or three months! Not two or three days!"

Lu Xiao walked to the door, but didn't rush in. He leaned against the door frame and looked inside.

Bai Ye leaned against the hospital bed, his right arm in a thick cast at his side, the steel nails of the external fixation brace wrapped in gauze, with only a few metal ends showing.

Xuan Xiao sat on a square stool beside the hospital bed. The stool was originally for the nurses on duty; it was hard and narrow, and he, a man who was 1.78 meters tall, was curled up on it, his knees almost touching the edge of the bed.

Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly.

This kid was acting all high and mighty in the dorm just now, but now he's sitting here like a quail.

"Bai Ye, I'm telling you, you're not allowed to do this again next time—" Xuan Xiao continued, his tone shifting from cautious to anxious and serious.

"How is it?" Bai Ye tilted his head.

"Just rush over and catch them! Third floor! Do you know how high the third floor is?!" Xuan Xiao's voice finally couldn't be suppressed anymore, rising a notch, but then it came down again, as if he suddenly realized that they couldn't make a lot of noise in the infirmary, "I'm not saying you did the wrong thing—you did the right thing—but you—your arm—what if you hadn't caught it? What if you had hit your head? What if—"

"I caught it," Bai Ye said calmly.

"you--"

"And I was directly below him. I calculated the distance and impact. A broken right arm is the worst-case scenario, but he wouldn't die." Bai Ye said this in the same tone as when reporting shooting data on the training field—calm, objective, and without any unnecessary emotion. "That recruit won't die, and neither will I. The outcome is acceptable."

Xuanxiao stared blankly at him, his mouth agape, as if he wanted to refute but couldn't find any compelling words to say in response.

Several seconds passed before he finally closed his mouth, his voice muffled: "Then from now on—"

"I'll still accept the calls in the future," Bai Ye interrupted him.

Xuanxiao stared at him, his expression shifting back and forth between "I want to curse you" and "I can't bring myself to do it," before finally settling into a complex silence.

After a long pause, he squeezed out through gritted teeth, "I knew you'd say that."

Bai Ye did not refute.

Then Xuanxiao did something very stupid.

He reached out his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then extended his fingers toward Bai Ye's right arm, which was in a cast.

"Does it hurt?" he asked, his voice muffled as if it were coming from under the covers.

"The anesthesia hasn't worn off yet," Bai Ye said.

"What happens when the anesthesia wears off?"

"It will hurt."

Xuanxiao's finger was still on the plaster cast, not withdrawn.

Lu Xiao leaned against the doorframe and stared for about ten seconds, realizing that if he didn't go in soon, the scene might spiral out of control. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and knocked twice on the doorframe.

"Cough cough."

Xuanxiao's body suddenly straightened up.

"Deputy Squad Leader!" His voice returned to normal volume, even a little louder than usual, as if he were using the volume to prove his innocence.

Lu Xiao's lips twitched.

"How are you?" Lu Xiao asked Bai Ye first.

"It's nothing." Bai Ye's reply was as concise as ever.

Lu Xiao nodded, then turned around, crossed his arms, and looked down at Xuan Xiao, who was sitting on the stool.

"So, what are you doing here?"

Xuan Xiao raised his chin slightly, his expression shifting from guilty to self-righteous in a mere second. He puffed out his chest and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "My partner is injured, shouldn't I come and check on him?"

"Leaving the team without permission after lights out and coming to the infirmary—you call that 'taking a look'?"

"He came over before lights out," Xuanxiao's voice lowered slightly, but his confidence remained. "And I just sat here, I didn't disturb his rest, I didn't touch anything, and I didn't—"

He wanted to continue speaking, and then he saw someone.

Li Mo walked over from the other end of the corridor, his pace neither fast nor slow, his training boots making a steady sound on the terrazzo floor. He stopped at the door, standing half a step behind Lu Xiao, his gaze passing over Lu Xiao's shoulder and landing on Xuan Xiao.

Xuanxiao's mouth was still open, but all the sound was stuck in his throat.

"Haha," Xuan Xiao chuckled twice, his voice completely devoid of any self-righteousness, "You're here too, class monitor."

Li Mo did not answer.

He glanced at Xuan Xiao, then shifted his gaze to Bai Ye—pausing for half a second as his eyes swept over Bai Ye's right arm, which was in a cast, before looking away—and then returning to Xuan Xiao's face.

Xuan Xiao stood up from the stool under Li Mo's gaze.

"I just came to see him," Xuanxiao's voice trailed off, "really, just to see him. I didn't do anything. I'm going back right away. Right away."

Li Mo took a step forward.

Xuanxiao took half a step back.

Just as the tension reached its peak, Bai Ye reached out his left hand, grabbed the cuff of Li Mo's training uniform, and pulled it down.

Li Mo stopped in his tracks.

He looked down at the hand clutching his sleeve, then turned to look at Bai Ye. Bai Ye's expression remained unchanged, but his fingers didn't loosen; he gave it another gentle tug.

Li Mo looked at Bai Ye and remained silent for about three seconds. Then he turned his gaze away from Xuan Xiao.

"Don't come over after the lights are turned off." Li Mo's voice was calm, but every word carried a weight that left no room for argument.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Xuanxiao nodded frantically.

"Go back now."

"immediately!"

His footsteps grew faster and faster in the corridor, finally disappearing in the direction of the fire door.

Lu Xiao watched as Xuan Xiao disappeared, then glanced at Bai Ye's hand still clutching Li Mo's sleeve, and a smile crept onto his lips.

He didn't say anything, but patted Li Mo on the shoulder, "I'll go and take that kid back, so he doesn't go off somewhere else on the way."

Li Mo didn't respond, but simply sat down on the chair on the other side of the hospital bed.