IRAJAS Chapter 128

Thank you to Hide for the ko-fi~

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Xiao Shengjing ran breathlessly in the heavy rain, water dripping down his hair and splashing onto Lin Lan’s face.

Lin Lan rarely saw Xiao Shengjing in such a distressed state, looking disheveled in the pouring rain, stepping through puddles one by one. His usually composed gaze now appeared frantic as he repeated his words over and over again: “I’ll take you to the ambulance. You’ll be fine, Lan Lan, don’t be afraid. It won’t hurt once it’s bandaged…”

He carried him all the way to the vehicle, refusing any assistance, only setting him down once they were inside.

The nurse conducted a simple examination of Lin Lan, finding that his injuries were not severe, the worst being the bruising on his neck.

When the nurse mentioned it “might affect his vocal cords”, Xiao Shengjing tightly squeezed Lin Lan’s hand, then rested his chin on top of his head, whether to comfort him or himself, it wasn’t clear: “It’s okay, don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Every time he patted his head, Lin Lan felt comforted.

The next most serious injury was a cut on his palm, left from when he had scraped himself with an iron piece while cutting the rope.

As the nurse tended to his wounds, the smell of disinfectant filled the ambulance.

Lin Lan relaxed completely, leaning heavily against Xiao Shengjing’s chest, feeling drowsy. Through the blurry window, he saw the nearby ambulance flashing its emergency lights, and everyone making way for it without obstruction as it sped away.

The two nurses who had gone to help came back, gathering together to quietly discuss the severity of Xie Zilu’s injuries.

For some reason, after experiencing life and death, Lin Lan felt that many things were no longer important. His prejudices against Xie Zilu seemed to slowly dissipate.

He tried to prop himself up slightly to ask about Xie Zilu’s injuries, but speaking made his throat hurt. Xiao Shengjing touched his face, indicating for him not to speak, and asked on his behalf, “How are the people in the next ambulance doing?”

The nurse sighed, “The wounds are not too severe, nothing fatal. But there’s excessive bleeding leading to symptoms of shock. It’s hard to say if they can be saved.”

Would Xie Zilu die? Lin Lan suddenly felt that people were truly fragile. Even someone who seemed to tower above everyone else could be so close to death.

Xiao Shengjing patted his head, comforting him and wrapping him in his embrace. The air was filled with dampness, and Lin Lan, for the first time, found the smell of disinfectant reassuring as he drifted off to sleep in Xiao Shengjing’s arms.

At the hospital, Lin Lan remained in a semi-conscious state, his neck and hand bandaged. Despite the nurses saying his injuries weren’t severe, just the thought of getting scolded for hurting his hand made him want to bury his head in the blanket.

His throat hurt, and his voice was soft as he tugged at Xiao Shengjing’s sleeve from beneath the blanket. “Captain, promise me, don’t tell the teammates about this…”

Xiao Shengjing looked puzzled as he raised his head. “But I already did.”

He showed Lin Lan his phone, where he had posted a photo of him curled up on the hospital bed, looking as if he were about to die. The group immediately exploded with inquiries, asking which hospital he was in.

Lin Lan wanted to scold him, but he couldn’t speak.

Not long after the message was sent, his teammates formed a group to visit him at the hospital. They surrounded his bed, chattering away, each one insisting on getting the full story.

Lin Lan’s throat was too sore for him to speak.

Xiao Shengjing handled everything.

He only recounted what he had observed: “I messaged Lin Lan, and it showed ‘typing’ for a while, but no message came through. I looked out the window for a bit and didn’t see anyone. When I called, no one answered. I had a feeling something had happened to Lin Lan, so I went downstairs and looked around, but I didn’t find him. I only found two crushed boxes of chewing gum on the ground.”

“Then you guessed Lin Lan was kidnapped?”

“Damn, Captain’s predictions are too accurate! How did you even realize that?”

Xiao Shengjing nodded. “Because I only eat plain flavor and Lin Lan likes the orange flavor, so he always buys these two flavors. When I saw the chewing gum, I immediately thought something might have happened to Lin Lan. So, I checked the supermarket’s surveillance footage. The other party had planned it well; before the car even stopped, a balloon flew up to block the camera. When the balloon floated away, the car and Lin Lan were gone, leaving only these two boxes of chewing gum.”

Upon hearing this, everyone began to imagine themselves in the situation, becoming increasingly nervous. “Did you call the police?”

Xiao Shengjing shook his head. “I didn’t have direct evidence, and it hadn’t been 24 hours since he went missing, so the police wouldn’t take the case.”

How did he manage to get the police to the scene then? Lin Lan was also curious, propping himself up to listen along with everyone else.

Xiao Shengjing poured a glass of water for Lin Lan before continuing. “I saw two cars parked at the intersection and thought their dashcams might have captured something. So, I called the owners and asked them to move their cars. Then, I told them my sister was missing and asked if they could check their dashcams. It took some time, but luckily, we found a corner that confirmed Lin Lan was indeed kidnapped.”

Xiao Shengjing: “I immediately reported the video to the police, and they quickly accepted the case. However, the other party was very cunning, with strong anti-surveillance abilities, knowing how to exploit blind spots in the cameras. It took us a lot of time to pinpoint the abandoned factory. It was raining heavily at the time, which made deployment much more difficult. I was anxious and couldn’t wait for their deployment, so I went in first to find him.”

Xiao Shengjing: “Fortunately, I got there first and saved Lin Lan.”

Lin Lan could still recall the scene vividly now. He felt like he was just one step away from death. When Xiao Shengjing hugged him, there was a feeling of being pulled back from the edge of death.

As everyone couldn’t contain their curiosity anymore, they bombarded with questions. Since Lin Lan’s throat was sore and he couldn’t speak, everyone speculated based on bits and pieces of information from the outside.

As the conversation went on, it became more and more absurd. Lu Shi even thought that Xie Zilu was in cahoots with the other side and fabricated a scenario where Lin Lan fought bravely against three opponents, just like in a video game.

Lin Lan thought to himself that he had only managed to kick the opponent twice throughout the entire ordeal, mostly just being a bystander. He silently buried his head in the blanket.

Were they exaggerating his abilities too much?

In reality, when it came to combat, he was just a weakling. He couldn’t knock someone down with a single punch like Xie Zilu could.

“Oh right, Lin Lan, is your hand okay?”

Lin Lan raised his hand, shaking his head to indicate he was fine. Xiao Shengjing also chimed in to explain, “It’s just a superficial wound. Two weeks of rest will do the trick.”

“That’s good, that’s good.”

“Alright, let’s not disturb Lin Lan’s rest anymore. If there’s anything, we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”

“Okay, okay. We’ll come back tomorrow then.”

After seeing off their teammates, Lin Lan slept fitfully throughout the night, while Xiao Shengjing stayed awake, keeping him company.

During this time, Lin Lan, accompanied by Xiao Shengjing, visited Xie Zilu’s room several times. The corridor outside his room was crowded with people. Lin Lan only managed to steal a few glances from afar. He overheard nurses discussing that Xie Zilu was fortunate; each stab had missed vital organs. It was just excessive blood loss. After receiving fluids, he was transferred to a regular ward.

After hearing this, Lin Lan felt a twinge of sympathy. It seemed like villains really did have a knack for surviving.

But what about Tai Zhen and Tai Yuan? Lin Lan wondered what their fate would be.

The next day, Lin Lan was discharged from the hospital. His throat gradually improved. During his stay, he cooperated with the police to reconstruct the events of that day. From the police, he learned that the Tai brothers had committed serious crimes. They were now facing prosecution by the highest prosecutor’s office, which would reopen multiple cases to conduct a comprehensive investigation into them.

Moreover, according to incomplete statistics, the Tai brothers were implicated in at least three homicide cases.

Upon hearing this, Lin Lan felt relieved.

With such serious charges, even if they didn’t die, they would likely be imprisoned for life.

Later, as Xie Zilu’s injuries gradually improved and he regained mobility, he sent Lin Lan a message on the day he became active again: What a pity.

Lin Lan: What do you mean?

Xie Zilu: It’s a shame we didn’t die together.

Lin Lan: Are you out of your mind?

As days passed, Lin Lan’s throat and hand injuries fully recovered. When the case finally concluded and became public, Lin Lan never imagined that he would gain such notoriety in this way.

The process of being kidnapped and rescued by Xiao Shengjing had been turned into a story akin to a top-level maneuver in a game, where Lin Lan was surrounded by two opponents, only to be saved by the captain’s extraordinary awareness.

Reflecting on it, the thrilling kidnapping case had become incredibly exhilarating.

Moreover, the process of their escape with Xie Zilu was described as a “battle of wits against serial killers”, and the only two kicks Lin Lan landed became the most crucial part of it.

The community exploded instantly. Everyone talked about him with admiration, seeing it as a reversal of the image of a gaming addict.

Nobody even mentioned how he was kidnapped, beaten, or terrified to death.

What’s even more absurd is that despite Lin Lan’s life-threatening injury being on his neck, just a hair’s breadth away from death, the focus of the comments section was nowhere near there.

[Damn, injured his hand?]

[Ahhh how did he injure his hand!]

[My god, these two thugs are too ruthless!]

[Execute them! These two murderers must be executed!]

[Help. Why do I care more about his hand than Lin Lan’s safety?]

[I only want to care about his hand, is that normal?]

[You’re not alone, buddy.]

[I’m different. I only care about his face. As long as he’s still handsome, I’m relieved…]

Seeing the focus of the comments section, Lu Shi laughed so boldly and loudly. It was clearly a very tragic event, so why did it turn out to be so funny?

Not only did Lu Shi want to laugh, but other teammates often couldn’t help bursting into laughter like geese.

Later, when Lin Lan was live streaming, he personally complained about this: “I feel like you guys don’t love me at all. You only love my skills.”

The barrage laughed even louder: [Oh my god, how could you think like that? We definitely only love your skills!!!]

Lin Lan was infuriated by the barrage, so he ran to complain to Xiao Shengjing.

Xiao Shengjing pulled him into his arms, smiled lightly, and kissed his lips gently, “It’s okay. As long as I love you, that’s enough.”

Lin Lan’s ears suddenly turned red at his words, “Why are you… suddenly so sentimental?”

Xiao Shengjing sighed, pulling Lin Lan into his arms tightly, “I didn’t want this either. Whenever I think about you getting into trouble and almost dying, there are so many things I’m afraid I won’t have the chance to say later.”

He didn’t suddenly become sentimental.

He had always been sentimental, just suppressing it until after that incident. He couldn’t suppress it anymore.

Before that, he had never thought that Lin Lan would almost disappear just by going to buy water.

After that, he would watch Lin Lan even when he went to the bathroom, feeling very anxious whenever he wasn’t in his sight.

There was something he had never told Lin Lan. He also had a strong possessiveness towards him.

Just like the Xiao Shengjing in that world, he had thought about tying Lin Lan to himself, keeping him by his side alone, and had many inappropriate desires.

But he deliberately suppressed them, afraid of scaring him…

Lin Lan’s phone which was placed nearby, suddenly lit up, showing an incoming call from Xie Zilu.

He’s been calling and texting Lin Lan for no reason lately, reporting trivial matters and showing no boundaries at all.

Xiao Shengjing’s gaze darkened and his hand on Lin Lan’s waist became bold. Suddenly, while Lin Lan was speaking, he leaned down and kissed his lips, deliberately nibbling on them.

Lin Lan quickly hung up the phone, realizing that their posture had become awkward. His clothes were pushed up to his waist by Xiao Shengjing, and his hand on Lin Lan’s waist was moving restlessly upwards.

Lin Lan: “What are you doing?”

Xiao Shengjing remained silent, kissing him again. His eyes cast a dark light as he looked up. “When did you become so close to Xie Zilu?”

“It’s just occasionally exchanging a few words, nothing close.” Lin Lan suddenly realized, “Are you jealous?”

The phone rang again, still Xie Zilu calling, “Why did you hang up on me? I haven’t finished speaking…”

“I’m busy, don’t bother me for now.” Lin Lan hung up. But Xie Zilu persistently called again and again, then switched to bombarding with text messages.

The phone kept vibrating incessantly, making Lin Lan so angry he wanted to block the person.

Suddenly, his body was lifted up by a pair of hands. Xiao Shengjing lifted him onto a high table, embracing his waist and giving him a deep and lingering kiss.

In this suffocating kiss, Lin Lan couldn’t hear the vibrations of his phone, nor did he have time to think about Xie Zilu’s trivial matters.

He felt his emotions being stirred, his body being soothed. When Xiao Shengjing kissed him, he would use his palm to support the back of his head. Xiao Shengjing’s fingertips would sink into his hair, massaging his scalp, bringing an indescribable tingling sensation. Lin Lan felt every part of his body was exceptionally comfortable, sometimes even curling his toes and his hands would unconsciously wrap around the other’s neck.

Lin Lan didn’t know when he became closer to Xiao Shengjing, as if it was normal for them to do intimate things.

Although Lin Lan had the body of an 18-year-old, his soul was already 24. Men always have desires in this regard, especially every time he was treated like this by Xiao Shengjing.

As the kiss ended, Lin Lan’s consciousness became a bit blurred.

Xiao Shengjing cupped his face, looking down at him with a seductive expression, then earnestly asked him in a low, hoarse voice, “Do you feel it now? Do you want me to help you?”

Lin Lan’s face flushed red instantly, and he kicked his legs, “No need. Just put me down.”

This kick made the two of them even closer. Lin Lan was panting. He could clearly feel that it wasn’t just himself who was feeling it, Xiao Shengjing felt it even more.

It felt like their bodies were merging into each other’s blood and bones, enveloping each other. It was a shameful yet intimate, heart-throbbing, most primitive sense of pleasure.

Lin Lan was being driven crazy by this feeling. Hesitatingly, he asked, “H-How do you want to help me?”

“With my hands. Is that okay?”

“…”

“Mm.”

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