Chapter 28 – Faith

T/LN: Here’s a long chapter as a new year’s gift for all of you :> And with that, I’ll be back to posting half chapters a week. Have a pleasant new year everyone!

The roaring got louder and louder but instead of landing, the helicopter hovered above their heads, making it unclear what they were trying to do. 

The sounds coming from the forest also became more chaotic and Luo Yi listened quietly for a while before he came forward and helped Long Junhao. “It’s better if you return to Su Cong’s side. Just in case Gu Chen and the rest can’t fight them off and they all come pouring in… knives and guns don’t have eyes¹innocent onlookers may get hurt by mistake, Your Highness…”

Long Junhao looked back at the long haired beauty and turned his head back to stare at Luo Yi. He thought for a moment before asking weakly, “…are you really Chu Jian’s subordinate?”

“Yes, I am. I really am,” Luo Yi replied but added on again after seeing that Long Junhao wasn’t convinced, “come on, there’s no reason for me to lie to you.”

“How would I know,” Long Junhao spat out, “when you first came here, you lied to us saying that Chu Jian was your senior.”

“It’s true though,” Luo Yi innocently replied, “Chu Jian was already working there before I came so it’s natural for me to call him my senior.”

“He was already working there?” Long Junhao looked at him up and down, “aren’t you older than him?”

Luo Yi sighed, “I only recently decided to do this line of work.”

“Oh…” Long Junhao subconsciously answered and scratched his head, and suddenly asked, “no wait, then what did you do before? How do you know about Chu Jian’s situation? Isn’t his information classified?

“I’ll just tell you this,” Luo Yi laughed, “it’s considered being transferred to a lower unit.” 

Long Junhao pondered for a moment, “so you got demoted?”

“……” Luo Yi said, “it’s okay if you understand it that way but the reason why I went after him is precisely because I knew about his situation. He’s someone I really look up to.”

Long Junhao stared at him, “but it looks like he’s not someone you merely look up to though?”

Luo Yi sighed once again, “as expected, being too smart is not a good thing.”

“Am I invisible to you people?! What kind of nonsense are you guys talking about?” Taoist Master Chu who had been held down from the beginning till now was very dissatisfied and struggled harder, “let go of me, I have to catch the evil spirits! They’re too insolent and even dared to attack me! I will not be able to live in peace if I don’t get rid of them!” He turned his head to glare at the half-crippled mercenary, “bold evil spirit, how dare you grab onto me. What are you going to do? You should know that flattery won’t work on me!”

The big and tall mercenary immediately let go and retreated. He looked down at his own body before he weakly asked the two men, “do you have a mirror, I need to see…”

Luo Yi tried to comfort him, “don’t worry, you can’t flatter anyone with that face,” immediately after that, he hugged Chu Jian and began crying, “Master, this disciple really won’t be able to make it this time. Please, you must take good care of yourself…”

Taoist Master Chu stopped struggling to look at him, “exactly where are you hurt? Your master has an elixir here.”

“It’s no use…” Luo Yi continued crying, “that evil spirit said that there was no cure. But if I can find a powerful taoist master within one day and hug him for three days and three nights, I’ll be able to survive.”

Long Junhao’s mouth twitched and black lines appeared on his head. He silently took a step back, “…you can do it like that too?”

“What do you know, it’s fine as long as it works,” Luo Yi said, sounding experienced. He continued hugging Taoist Master Chu, “it’s impossible to find a powerful taoist master in one day, that’s why this disciple of yours is definitely going to die. In the future, please take in another good disciple…waah… Master, I don’t want to leave you!!!”

Taoist Master Chu patted his shoulder comfortingly, “don’t worry, you can still be saved.”

Luo Yi blinked his kind and honest eyes, and deliberately asked, “…Master, what do you mean?”

Taoist Master Chu raised his head proudly, “the powerful taoist master it was referring to is obviously me~” 

“……” Long Junhao and the mercenary once again took a step back and silently looked at them as Luo Yi exclaimed, “that’s great! I’m saved! I didn’t know that Master’s skills have reached such a high level already, this disciple of yours is lucky to have you as a master!”

Long Junhao’s mouth dropped open in shock. That’s a talent right there.

It was obvious that the taoist master liked what Luo Yi had said and he patted him on the shoulder. After that he looked at the forest in front of him and slightly frowned before sighing, “it looks like we’ll have to spare those evil spirits today…”

This time, Luo Yi was really happy. He repeatedly nodded his head, “yes, master, so let’s go back? Okay? Let’s go back?”

Taoist Master Chu nodded regretfully, “that’s all we can do now.”

Long Junhao shifted his attention to the chaotic situation further away before weakly asking, “…what about me?”

Luo Yi gestured with his head at Su Cong who was a few meters away, “go to him. Don’t worry, you’ll be very safe if you follow him.”

Long Junhao stiffly turned his head to look at the smiling and seemingly weak beauty before he stuttered out, “…I-I don’t think he looks very r-reliable.”

The mercenary saw them making a move to leave and also decided to make his move. He turned back to the forest and started walking. Long Junhao couldn’t help but to remind, “hey, your arm is broken…”

“It’s fine,” the mercenary didn’t bother looking back, “the other one can still be used.” After that, he continued walking. But it was at this moment that once again, an explosion sounded from within the forest and shook the ground beneath their feet. The mercenary’s expression darkened and he swore a few words before he rushed in.

Long Junhao watched the figure disappear and he looked at the dense forest with a heavy heart. Gu Chen said he’ll bring me out to live together so he definitely won’t die, he definitely won’t. 

After hearing the explosion, Taoist Master Chu, who was about to leave, stopped and looked back at the forest. With a face full of pity, he said to his disciple, “your master really can’t bear to see them suffer anymore… my disciple…you…“ He stared at Luo Yi for a very long time before he sighed out, “your sacrifice won’t be in vain…”

Luo Yi’s expression immediately twisted.

Taoist Master Chu peeled off Luo Yi’s rigid hands and made a move to rush back into the forest but Luo Yi reached out again and cried out, “master, your disciple still has some last words to say. It’s not too late to go in again after listening to me!”

Taoist Master Chu thought for a moment before he nodded, “go ahead, I will listen to you.” 

The sound of the helicopter above their heads was getting closer and closer. Long Junhao couldn’t hear what they were saying so he ran over and shouted at Luo Yi, “hey! What’s wrong with you again? What did he say?”

“He said I should sacrifice myself…”

Even though the roar of the helicopter was increasingly getting louder and muffled out Luo Yi’s voice, Long Junhao heard him and patted his shoulder comfortingly, “then just sacrifice yourself…”

“……”

Long Junhao lost interest in him and turned his attention to the sky.

He squinted his eyes against the strong wind and saw two helicopters. One of them flew down the mountain while the other approached them. A rope was thrown out from the helicopter and well-equipped soldiers slid down from it and onto the ground. The moment all of them got into position, they rushed in, their figures quickly disappearing from Long Junhao’s view. With their prompt execution of actions, it was obvious that they had already planned beforehand.

Chu Jian also had his attention on them. He noticed their quick movements, their equipment, and the symbols on their arms and he became extremely confused. He looked at them dazedly, as if watching a black-and-white silent film, as if he’d seen this scene countless times before and even experienced it first hand. It was such a familiar feeling that he subconsciously…wanted to cry. 

Luo Yi looked at him without blinking. His always gentle eyes slowly darkened and sank into a deep and bottomless pit. He stretched out his hand to hug Chu Jian from behind and used his other hand to cover his eyes before kissing his ear, “it’s okay, don’t look, don’t look…”

Chu Jian was frozen to the spot and didn’t seem to see the hand in front of him. Long Junhao could see his slightly trembling lips and his pale face. He looked up at Luo Yi and saw that he had returned to his original state but Long Junhao knew that he had dropped his facade just now. 

With shivering hands, Chu Jian reached out to move Luo Yi’s hand out of the way. He didn’t use much strength but Luo Yi couldn’t help but to let him push away his hand. The soldiers were long gone and the helicopter had already flown to the pad behind them and landed. Chu Jian looked at the forest in front of him and a scene replayed countless times in his mind. The roaring sound, the task, the screaming, the blood… The scenes continued to change and he saw a light and an extravagant life, the cold wind of the night and a warm embrace, and finally, it all slowly ended with gunfire in an abandoned warehouse.

It resounded loudly in his ears, and immediately broke him away from his thoughts.

He slowly held onto his head, tears immediately filling his eyes as he asked in a trembling voice, “who… are they…”

Luo Yi immediately hugged him tighter, “they’re…” he said quietly, “they came from Mountain Shu to catch the evil spirits.”

Chu Jian still held onto his head and Luo Yi wasn’t sure if he had heard what he said or not. The disturbance in the forest grew louder because of the new additions and Chu Jian suddenly lifted his head to stare into the trees, his face pale, “…gunshot?”

Long Junhao opened his mouth, “…is this normal?”

Luo Yi looked down at Chu Jian and touched his head. He said nothing and the last light in his eyes was gone.

The atmosphere around him grew chilly.

“Shit…” Just then, several people slowly walked out of the forest. Long Junhao looked back and saw that it was Gu Chen and the others. They were all battered but most only had light injuries. The seriously wounded were carried out along with them. He turned his attention to Gu Chen and saw that his white coat had already disappeared, and there seemed to be a wound on his arm.

He asked, “are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Gu Chen walked over to his side and was relieved to see that Long Junhao was all right. He turned back and asked the assistant to take them down for treatment before making a few calls. After that, he noticed Chu Jian’s state, “what’s the matter with him?”

“I don’t know,” Long Junhao touched his nose, “he’s been like this ever since he saw those people.”

Gu Chen’s hand holding the phone paused slightly and he looked up at Luo Yi, “it’s best if you take him back now.”

“I know…” Luo Yi slowly said, his voice had no emotion in it, it was just calm and cold, “I know…but…”

Gu Chen raised his eyebrow at him, “you want to take the risk?”

“”There’s always a chance…” Luo Yi looked down at Chu Jian who was staring into the forest. His face was very white and he was looking extremely confused.

Gu Chen glanced at Chu Jian and quietly said, “it’s better to be crazy…than to remember certain things.”

Luo Yi chose to keep quiet and kissed Chu Jian on his head instead. He asked, “who were they?”

“Drug lords.”

“Drug lords…” Luo Yi sneered and looked at Yu Ao, “why would drug lords come here for no reason?”

Gu Chen also looked at Yu Ao who wasn’t far away. The latter noticed their eyes on him and started walking towards them with a smile, looking very innocent, “what are you looking at me for?”

Long Junhao, who had been listening to their conversation, bit on his finger and thought before weakly asking, “so these people were actually led by Lei Yan? He wanted to…uh, make someone else do the dirty work?”

Luo Yi stared at him and shook his head, “didn’t I say that being too smart is not a good thing…”

Long Junhao turned his head to look at Yu Ao. The latter smiled and said, “what are you looking at me for? The boss only told me to observe. He didn’t ask me to kidnap anyone so relax, relax.”

Long Junhao backed away and pulled on Gu Chen’s arm. “I think Lei Yan is really too scary. He can think of such wicked moves, and what exactly did he use to let those drug lords come here?”

Yu Ao smiled, “this shows that the boss is powerful, and if you think about it another way, he’s actually removing these threats to the country. Anyway, these drug lords were originally being arrested and now we can just capture them in one sweep. So, do you want to go back to the organization or not?”

Long Junhao’s mouth twitched, “I’d rather not be in such a sinister group.”

Yu Ao shrugged, “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” he looked at the woods, “it looks like it’s over so I’ll go back now. My baby is still waiting for me.”

Long Junhao’s mouth twitched again and he turned his head to look at the forest. He pulled Gu Chen’s sleeve and whispered, “hey, aren’t the guns illegal? Will you be taken away?”

“No,” Gu Chen whispered back, “Li Xuan will deal with it.”

“He can deal with this too?” Long Junhao tutted, “Li Xuan really is a pervert.”

“……”

Chu Jian stared at the people coming out of the forest with the drug lords in their hands and subconsciously wanted to go forward. Luo Yi immediately released his hold of him and watched him from behind. His eyes were very solemn and nobody knew what he was thinking.

Long Junhao watched Chu Jian walk in front of them and couldn’t help calling out, “hey, Chu Jian…”

The leader of the group who had already walked past Chu Jian immediately stopped at that moment. He suddenly looked back at him and his teammates following behind were baffled, “captain, what’s the matter?”

Captain… Chu Jian frowned and his face turned paler.

One of his teammates couldn’t help but to say, “captain, he’s already… it’s just someone else with the same name…” 

The captain waved for them to go back to the helicopter and looked at Chu Jian’s unfamiliar face without blinking. He waited for the others to leave before he tentatively called out, “Captain Chu…”

Chu Jian suddenly stepped back, looking extremely confused. He frowned and looked at him for a long time before suddenly, pain shot at his head. He breathed in heavily, his heart beating anxiously as those scenes once again flashed in his mind. Finally, it all ended with that sound, that sound…

The man wanted to say more but he suddenly saw a person coming out from the side of the forest and raising his gun at a drug lord not far away. His shoulder moved and fired in an instant. 

Bang!

Chu Jian quickly looked over and saw the man who was shot in the chest, slowly falling down. His blood stained a large area around him.

The scene immediately coincided with his memory and Chu Jian couldn’t help but to scream out in pain, “ah—!!!”

Gu Chen’s pupils shrank, “enough!”

Luo Yi was immediately behind him and instantly struck down on his neck. Chu Jian couldn’t defend himself at all as his mental state had already collapsed so he blacked out and fell forward.

Luo Yi then grabbed him and held him in his arms so tightly that the veins on his arm looked like they were about to burst. His face was still emotionless but the expression in his eyes were so dark it was as if there was a wounded beast hidden in it.

The captain wanted to come forward as well, but Gu Chen blocked his way and shook his head slightly.

He stopped and looked at Gu Chen and Luo Yi before finally taking a longer look at Chu Jian who had already fainted. He didn’t say anything else and turned away.

The roar of the helicopter covered the sky again and Gu Chen went to pull Long Junhao’s hand, “alright, let’s go too.”

Long Junhao turned back to see Luo Yi. The latter held Chu Jian in his arms and came over. He looked between the two of them and couldn’t help but ask, “what happened when he went undercover? Where did he go?”

“It was a gang.”

Gu Chen was about to answer but Luo Yi interrupted, “a century old mafia family,” he slowly continued, “he went to be a lover for the master…”

“Ah, lover?”

“Yes,” Luo Yi said lightly, “to collect data so that we have solid evidence. Then even if it isn’t a death sentence, he’ll have to be in jail forever.”

“And then?”

“Then…” Luo Yi clenched his fist, “then that man didn’t want to go to court. He said that if he wanted to die, he wanted to die in Chu Jian’s hands.”

Long Junhao was about to ask more but Luo Yi continued, “after that, Chu Jian shot him in the heart and killed him.”

Long Junhao asked, “did Chu Jian like him?”

Luo Yi didn’t answer his question but said, “then Chu Jian became like what you see now.”

Long Junhao slightly trembled. Chu Jian wouldn’t have gone crazy if he didn’t love him with all his heart. He couldn’t help but to say, “then why did he still shoot…”

“He’s,” Luo Yi repeated quietly, “he’s…”

Long Junhao looked down at Chu Jian and listened as Luo Yi continued speaking, “the important thing is that his mind now abides by a belief that he shouldn’t change because of emotion, shouldn’t be at a loss because of difficulties…even if he has fallen to this point…he is still a respectable person.”

Long Junhao was silent for a long time before he asked, “the person who ordered him to go undercover…was it you?”

“No,” Luo Yi said, “but it doesn’t matter anyway, the person who ordered him…is already dead.”

Long Junhao suddenly felt shivers and he blurted out, “did you kill him?”

“That’s impossible,” Luo Yi slowly smiled, “killing people is against the law so how can I do that? It’s just that the man was pretty unlucky. People sometimes have sudden changes in fortune, you know.”

While talking, they reached the area where the path branched off and Luo Yi left with Chu Jian in his arms. Long Junhao looked at them and asked Gu Chen, “do you believe he died because of bad luck?”

Gu Chen looked down at him, “what do you think?”

“You don’t believe it, do you…” Long Junhao recalled Luo Yi’s smiling face and immediately shivered, “you really can’t judge people by their appearances…”

Gu Chen patted his head with a smile and didn’t answer.

“Hey,” Long Junhao suddenly looked up at him, “there’s a lot of things that you haven’t told me.”

“Right, let’s go back and talk about it.”

Long Junhao nodded his head, satisfied, before he looked back and realised something was wrong, “where did Su Cong go?”

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t you two have feelings for each other? How can you not know?”

“…who said so?”

“He said so.”

“……”

On the mountain, a breeze blew and lightly rustled the leaves in the forest. Su Cong was still standing at his place and smiling when a nurse came up to him, her face pale, “master, let’s go back?”

Su Cong looked at the forest in front of him with a smile, “do you smell it?”

He used his original talking voice to speak, which was very beautiful. The nurse couldn’t help but be stunned, “…what?”

“The smell of gunpowder blowing in the wind… tinged with blood.”

The nurse looked at the gloomy forest and stammered, “n-no…”

“Then forget it, let’s go back…” Su Cong said and started walking back but as he looked up at the people in front, he suddenly asked, “hey, have you heard an old song before?”

“Huh?”

“Today is no longer yesterday, and that relationship is no longer what it was. Hidden in your eyes are two oaths, which have already changed before you say it…” Su Cong slowly sang, “one person holds half of the string and disappears into the night of your dream. Once you look back, that familiar face can never be seen again…”

He seldom sang anything else except opera so the nurse couldn’t help but to be drawn into his singing.

“The love of this life goes far away, making the pain of the future come first, the wind and rain say goodbye, and the heart is deeply trapped by the fog…” Su Cong looked at the several people separated in the distance and turned his eyes to Luo Yi. At this time, Luo Yi was turning the corner and Su Cong could easily see Chu Jian in his arms.

“The love of this life goes far away, making the pain of the future come first, for him who lost time…let him dream…”

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  innocent onlookers may get hurt by mistake ↩︎