Chapter 21: A Mutual Journey

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Hearing Shen Xing say that, Yang Qing indeed felt much more at ease. Her gaze toward Shen Xing now held a trace of a smile.

“You speak so seriously, yet your actions just now were anything but. Weren’t you going to call me sister? Then why did you stick out your tongue?”

Shen Xing replied matter-of-factly, “But if I didn’t, it would be kind of funny to keep sticking so close, don’t you think?”

“...” Yang Qing looked at him and sighed softly. “Sometimes I find people really strange, able to make decisions that affect their entire lives in such a short time. Honestly, until now, I’ve never really thought about love. Year after year of training, always striving for the best performance. Day after day of work, putting life and death aside. I’ve worked so hard for so many years, yet I gave it all up in just one afternoon. Shen Xing, what does that make this?”

Shen Xing took her hand firmly and said earnestly, “It’s destiny.”

Yang Qing pondered that word for a moment and seemed somewhat pleased. She didn’t ask what would happen to Shen Xing’s fiancée, nor did she question whether Shen Xing felt the same intense affection for her. She only knew that Shen Xing liked her—she had seen it clearly since yesterday.

At that time, she felt the same way about him, yet it left her even more melancholy because she was wearing Ouyang Lin’s face that day. It would be perfectly normal for a man to be attracted to that face. She hadn’t slept all night, foolishly entangled in that question: if he saw her true self, would he still look at her with those loving eyes?

By dawn, she had no answer. She wanted to stop agonizing and bury these feelings deep inside, but no matter what, she felt unwilling to let go. After all, it was her first time falling for someone, and no matter how bad it was, she wanted at least a clear outcome. At worst, she would never make the same foolish mistake again.

So she took the initiative to go with Ouyang Lin to the Tang family. And there, she took a risk and called Shen Xing out. She wanted an answer.

Fortunately, the result was far better than she had expected. Though Shen Xing was surprised, the unmistakable affection in his eyes did not diminish. When he looked at Ouyang Lin at that moment, it was not the same. He liked her—Yang Qing herself—not Ouyang Lin’s face.

That conclusion made Yang Qing quietly happy, though there was no one to share it with, and she couldn’t reveal it. For the first time, she entertained the thought of starting a romance.

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But once she thought of her profession, that thought turned into a farewell as soon as it left her lips. Yang Qing was truly prepared to say goodbye. Yet it took tremendous courage. So when she realized she had to contact Shen Xing again, she already knew she was doomed. She could no longer be so cruel to herself a second time. She could no longer ignore these feelings.

“If we get through this safely, let’s be together, even if it’s just for a day,” Yang Qing said, her cheeks flushed.

Shen Xing smiled and held out one finger. “It’s a promise—pinkie swear.”

“If you lie and break your word, you have to swallow a thousand needles, understand?” Yang Qing also extended her finger, sealing the promise with Shen Xing.

Having shared their feelings, Shen Xing felt their distance grow smaller.

Turning his attention back to the current situation, Shen Xing was not optimistic.

“Honestly, I don’t think we stand a chance... I’m just dead weight. You’re alone against so many—won’t you be overwhelmed in the first round of concentrated fire?”

Yang Qing chuckled softly. “You think highly of me. Of course, it’s not just the two of us. The reinforcements are a bit late, but they should be arriving soon.”

Shen Xing was about to ask more when a peculiar, muffled noise came from afar.

“Helicopters?!”

Shen Xing stared in shock at four helicopters rapidly approaching.

“Qing, what kind of friends do you have to have this kind of firepower?”

Yang Qing’s cheeks flushed again at the nickname, and she scolded, “Why do you have to call me that?”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“...It just sounds a bit weird.”

“Then how about ‘Ah Qing’?”

“That’s even worse. Never mind, call me whatever you like. Those arriving now are all from ‘Dawn.’”

“Oh.”

Shen Xing didn’t immediately grasp it, but two seconds later, he looked at Yang Qing incredulously.

“You went that far? You defected to the enemy camp? This isn’t a game!”

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Yang Qing smiled gently.

“Don’t be so nervous. Do I seem like such a foolish woman? I didn’t leak any intelligence. But I know tonight’s operation plan will definitely be exposed. Have you forgotten the ambush the other day? There’s definitely at least one mole inside our ranks. Something this important, Dawn must know about it.”

As she spoke, the helicopters hovered nearby, gradually lowering their altitude. Armed combatants poured out in orderly fashion, jumping down directly.

The two sides met without any communication and immediately engaged in combat. From the very start, it was a fight to the death.

Fierce firepower and warriors' full-force clashes lit up the night sky brilliantly.

“Looks like Dawn was given deadly orders too—they’re holding nothing back, trying to kill on sight. So your plan is to play the mantis stalking the cicada while the oriole waits behind?”

Yang Qing countered, “Do you think it’s feasible?”

“There’s some possibility, but... it’s like grabbing chestnuts from the fire. With a battle this intense, I’d expect blood to splash even at a distance, let alone sneaking in quietly to fish in troubled waters.”

Shen Xing remained skeptical.

“I’m more optimistic than you—maybe because I’m used to risking my life. Now, as long as there’s even a ten percent chance of success, I think it’s workable. Listen to my plan carefully. When I tell you to do something, don’t hesitate. Then we might just be the last ones laughing!”

Yang Qing encouraged him confidently.

Shen Xing nodded. “Alright! I’ll follow your lead.”

The battle ahead quickly escalated to a fever pitch, with both sides suffering casualties at an alarming rate.

Faintly, Shen Xing thought he heard Ouyang Lin’s angry shout. When he looked, he saw a weary middle-aged man beside her.

He was short, even shorter than Ouyang Lin, scruffy, and dressed in tattered clothes.

Without prior knowledge, Shen Xing wouldn’t have believed such a man, looking like a beggar, was a pharmacist capable of inadvertently concocting such terrifying potions.

Ouyang Lin tossed the man to others behind her to care for and leapt forward to confront the Dawn members herself.

With her joining, the pressure on their military district lessened significantly.

“Dawn looks like they’re about to lose. Those people don’t seem to be Ouyang Lin’s match,” Shen Xing said, watching intently and sharing his guess.

“It won’t be that simple. Dawn isn’t that weak. Now that even you think they’re losing, it only proves there’s another plan unfolding in secret.”

Yang Qing was less convinced by this view.