HLLY Chapter 23

One minute later, Jiang Huan and the others met up with Zhong Yin. She immediately pointed out the location of the off-road vehicle and the direction in which the wild geese had fled.

Xu Ye was completely confused. “Why? What’s going on? Did you miss something?” Jiang Huan calmly analyzed, “The mutated wild geese wouldn’t leave for no reason. Considering their earlier reactions, it’s highly likely that they discovered something frightening, which made them flee immediately.”

“Something that could scare the wild geese?” Zhong Yin’s voice involuntarily carried a hint of tension. “Could it be… other more powerful mutated creatures? Like mutated bears or mutated willows?”

“Have Wu Fengge come back and inform everyone in the small building to immediately run to the assembly point for the vehicles at Shanhai. If we can successfully start Bellona’s vehicle, we’ll leave this place quickly,” Jiang Huan said, looking at Captain He Jingyang. “What do you think, Captain?”

“…” He Jingyang was momentarily taken aback. In his mind, he had expected a dangerous battle to retrieve the vehicle from the wild geese. Who would have thought that the wild geese would suddenly run off on their own?

All he could think of now were two words: Is that it?

Is that it? It is!

“Captain He!” Xu Ye called out again, and He Jingyang suddenly snapped back to attention. He quickly nodded, “I agree with Captain Jiang’s assessment.”

“Do you have the car keys? Start the vehicle.” Jiang Huan no longer looked at him.

He Jingyang nodded again, standing up first from behind the cover of the weeds and carefully observing the surroundings. The remaining four immediately followed suit, with He Jingyang, Xu Ye, and Zhong Yin facing three different directions, moving back to back, while Jiang Huan brought up the rear, his arm securely around Shen Shanwu’s shoulder.

They cautiously and quickly approached the vehicle. After checking the tires, engine, fuel level, battery status, and other conditions, Xu Ye successfully started the vehicle with the keys. Two minutes later, Wu Fengge jumped into the car, closing the door behind him, and nothing happened throughout.

“Take a detour; don’t go back the way we came,” Jiang Huan said. “The direction we came from is southeast.”

Zhong Yin couldn’t help but ask, “Did you notice anything unusual on the way?”

“…No.” The lieutenant turned the steering wheel. Not only was there nothing, but Jiang Tong was still there, crying and shouting. If there had been any mutated beasts lurking in the shadows at that time, they probably wouldn’t even know how they’d die.

Zhong Yin was like a startled bird, her nerves extremely tense as she scrutinized everything outside the window; even the frogs jumping in the pond made her jump. The more unusual the situation, the more it indicated the approach of danger. A dominant mutated goose suddenly fleeing was practically the top contender for this year’s list of anomalies.

In the entire vehicle, only Shen Shanwu seemed the calmest. He quietly sat next to Jiang Huan, no longer demanding to see the wild geese, and was as still as a chicken, embodying obedience.

Jiang Huan assumed this little rascal was just scared. He reached out to wrap his arm around Jiang Tong’s small arm, pulling him close to his side, and continually rubbed his palm in a comforting manner. “Don’t be afraid; nothing will happen.”

“…” He Jingyang’s gaze slowly shifted to Jiang Huan and Jiang Tong, filled with curiosity and calculation. He had thought that dealing with the mutated wild geese would take a long time, and that he might need to call for other team members or the battle team. In the meantime, he could slowly look for opportunities to get close to Jiang Tong and win his favor and trust… But who could have imagined that the wild geese would suddenly leave, disrupting his plans? Now, he had to achieve his goal quickly before parting ways with Shanhai.

Shen Shanwu didn’t like the look in his eyes, as if he could already see something. His narrowed eyes glimmered with a determination to succeed.

Before long, Xu Ye drove ahead and arrived at the assembly point first. The two vehicles from the Shanhai Unit were parked neatly under the trees, completely hidden by the dense branches.

“Although there were some unexpected circumstances, the rescue mission can be considered a success,” Zhong Yin naturally took on the debt collection task, her perpetually serious expression giving her an air of authority. “Captain He, it’s time to pay us the promised reward.”

“That goes without saying.” He Jingyang surprisingly agreed without hesitation, not using the fact that the wild geese had left on their own as leverage to bargain with Zhong Yin. He stepped forward a couple of steps. “Our Bellona will not default on this. All the food on the vehicle will be divided as previously agreed, three to seven with Shanhai. However, before that, I would like to speak with Captain Jiang privately for a few moments.”

“…” Zhong Yin turned to look at Jiang Huan, who had also heard He Jingyang’s words. Jiang Huan nodded slightly in agreement and then patted Shen Shanwu’s arm, signaling for him to stay with Zhong Yin near the vice-captain.

Before they had walked far, He Jingyang couldn’t contain himself and smirked, saying something baffling: “Captain Jiang, there are often rumors that you were once saved by a mutant in your childhood and followed that person for a while…”

Jiang Huan remained silent, listening as He Jingyang continued, “I always thought these were just slanderous tales concocted by jealous individuals to discredit Shanhai, trying to put the Shanhai Unit and the entire coastal base in the spotlight. After all, the rapidly growing strength of the coastal base is enough to make anyone envious… But seeing it today, it seems that the rumors might indeed have some basis.”

He Jingyang’s smile deepened, and his gaze became aggressive. “…Captain Jiang, what do you think?”

As his words slowly fell, the surrounding sounds faded into silence, and even the air seemed to freeze for a few seconds. After a long moment, Jiang Huan finally spoke calmly, “So what if it’s true? So what if it’s not? Captain He, just say what you want to say directly.”

“Ha…” He Jingyang’s tone turned serious. “The mutant who saved you back then was named Shen Shanwu, right?”

“…” Jiang Huan brushed off the nonexistent dust on his white gloves. “Is that all you wanted to say?”

“Please answer me.” He Jingyang emphasized each word.

“Still the same question: so what if it’s true? So what if it’s not?”

Jiang Huan’s nonchalant attitude truly annoyed He Jingyang. He forced himself to suppress the urge to curse and gritted his teeth, saying, “Captain Jiang, I have no hostility in saying this today. On the contrary, I would rather die than reveal your secret.”

He Jingyang paused for a moment and nostalgically continued, “Because the person who saved you is someone very important to me…”

“…” Jiang Huan’s little finger trembled slightly under his cloak, and the lingering displeasure in his heart intensified with He Jingyang’s words. He Jingyang sighed, “Jiang Tong really resembles Shen Shanwu too much. With the sudden appearance of this adopted son and seeing how much you care for him, combined with the earlier rumors, everything becomes quite clear.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Huan replied nonchalantly before shutting his mouth again. In fact, his ambiguous answer was already tantamount to acknowledging He Jingyang’s speculation; otherwise, he could have simply denied it.

Seeing that Jiang Huan maintained his aloof attitude despite his lengthy remarks, He Jingyang gritted his teeth and decided to lay his cards on the table. “Captain Jiang, why don’t you trust me yet? I definitely won’t do anything harmful to you because anything harmful to you would also be harmful to Shen Shanwu. I… I am Shen Shanwu’s lover; I could never hurt him.”

“Lover?” This time, Jiang Huan’s response came very quickly. He almost uncontrollably repeated those two words, and his upright posture wavered slightly.

“Yes… Shen Shanwu and I have been romantic partners since middle school,” He Jingyang said, a hint of shyness showing on his face. He pulled out an identification card from Anping Northern District from his gray uniform pocket, carefully extracted a photo tucked inside the cardholder, and handed it to Jiang Huan with the front facing up. “…This is a photo of us taken during our college festival. He told me he didn’t have enough fun and wanted to come back next year. Who would have thought that would be the last college festival…”

Jiang Huan didn’t reach out to take it, nor could he; the hand behind his back trembled uncontrollably, and just glancing at the contents of that photo felt like a searing pain, as if he had been burned.

In the image, Shen Shanwu had his arms around He Jingyang’s neck, their pose intimate, and he was laughing joyfully. Jiang Huan could hardly believe that this person was Shen Shanwu; he had never seen Shen Shanwu smile so genuinely before.

The Shen Shanwu he was familiar with was gloomy and indifferent, rarely laughing or joking, always facing everyone and everything with a wary and suspicious attitude. Jiang Huan had always thought he was the most special person to Shen Shanwu, believing that after spending a whole year together, day and night, he had finally opened Shen Shanwu’s heart.

Brother Shanwu would smile gently at him, would travel halfway across the country just to see the scenery he wanted, and would unconsciously pull him close in a half-dream, whispering, “Jiang Huan, stop messing around…”

But he never imagined that what he had fought so hard to obtain was merely a commonplace thing for another man.

He Jingyang carefully put away the photo and finally stated his true intention: “Captain Jiang, I believe Jiang Tong must be a relative of Shanwu’s. I once heard him mention having a cousin… So I hope you can transfer Jiang Tong’s guardianship to me. While the Bellona battle team may not match Shanhai’s strength, we are still respectable in Anping Northern District and will definitely not let Jiang Tong suffer any grievances. As Shanwu’s boyfriend, I believe he would be happy to see me adopt his cousin…”

“…You,” Jiang Huan struggled to suppress his breath, not wanting to reveal even a hint of his inner turmoil. He closed his eyes and forced out two firm words from his throat: “No way.”

He Jingyang’s eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting Jiang Huan to respond this way. “Captain Jiang, why…?”

“Jiang Tong is my adopted son and will only ever be my adopted son.” With an unwavering tone, Jiang Huan repeated in his heart countless times: Mine, mine… Mine!

“Captain Jiang.” He Jingyang’s tone grew colder. “If nothing unexpected happens, I’ll graduate and marry Shen Shanwu. Jiang Tong is effectively my cousin, so it makes more sense for me to adopt him, right? He would certainly prefer to be with his own family rather than a stranger.”

Jiang Huan didn’t want to discuss it any further and turned to leave, but He Jingyang quickly caught up to him. “I want to show the photo to Jiang Tong and let the child choose who he wants to be with!”

“There’s no need for that; he won’t want to go with you.” Jiang Huan struggled to suppress the boiling rage inside him and said coldly, “I won’t let him go with you.”

He Jingyang clearly sensed Jiang Huan’s hostility, but compared to the enormous benefits he could gain from having Shen Shanwu’s cousin, he immediately shot back, “Captain Jiang, what do you mean by that? You’re insisting on not letting me adopt Jiang Tong, and it seems you don’t even plan to tell him that I’m his cousin’s boyfriend… Should I have reason to suspect your motives for adopting Jiang Tong? Are you trying to hold Jiang Tong hostage to threaten Shanwu?”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” Jiang Huan gritted his teeth, his nails digging into his palm. If it weren’t for the gloves, he surely would have broken the skin.

He Jingyang was like a disgusting piece of chewing gum, clinging to him without letting go. He didn’t hesitate to use the ugliest suspicions to provoke Jiang Huan. He was confident that if he could just get Jiang Tong to see the photo and have a conversation with him, Jiang Tong would definitely choose to go with him.

Even if Jiang Tong wasn’t Shen Shanwu’s cousin, he could make him into Shen Shanwu’s cousin. Then, he could release that information…

“Captain Jiang, this isn’t nonsense; it’s a very reasonable suspicion. You—”

A clear child’s voice suddenly interrupted his words, “Captain, are you done?”

Jiang Huan and He Jingyang turned simultaneously to see Jiang Tong standing not far away, looking at them with an innocent expression.

 

 

 

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