Snowy Night

Meeting Jiang Xue for the first time could be called a hero saving a beauty.

It was a snowy night two years ago. Heavy snow fluttered down, and all of Shanghai had donned silver attire. Between heaven and earth, there was nothing but silver.

That day was Li Yang's first day after being recruited into Security Bureau Group 9 and assigned to Shanghai! That day, the Tan Family Five Brothers, Tian Lin, and the others went to a restaurant to welcome Li Yang. Around midnight, the Security Bureau brothers finally emerged from the restaurant one after another. The restaurant was not far from their assigned residential compound, so they walked.

The heavy snow drifted down like goose feathers. With snowflakes filling the sky and it being around midnight, there were few people in this suburban area. Li Yang was the most sober of them all. After all, every soldier in the special forces was a skilled drinker. The little alcohol from the restaurant was nothing to him.

Li Yang instantly discovered someone being robbed in an alley, and by then the robber had already drawn a dagger. Li Yang immediately sent out a flying knife, shooting through the robber's right hand. Then he rushed over and helped the person being robbed up from the ground. Only afterward did Li Yang realize that the victim was a girl, a somewhat delicate-looking girl.

"Thank you!" The girl looked at Li Yang and said gratefully.

Li Yang immediately called 110, then kept the girl company. That time, Li Yang escorted the girl home.

When Li Yang left, he did not notice that a girl was standing at the doorway, watching his departing figure all along. Only long, long after Li Yang had vanished at the end of the street did she return home, feeling lost and forlorn.

It was then that Li Yang learned the girl's name was Jiang Xue.

From that day onward, Jiang Xue's figure often surfaced in Li Yang's mind during training. Yet Li Yang merely laughed at himself. He was a member of a special national department. Ever since entering that department and taking on that honorable profession, he had given his life to the country. How could he entertain such wild thoughts? Besides, there was no use thinking about it.

But Jiang Xue, this young girl, often thought of the prince charming who had saved her. Girls Jiang Xue's age loved to dream, and she too was dreaming beautiful dreams...

Their second meeting was when Jiang Xue saved Li Yang's life!

That day was also a snowy night, at around midnight.

That time, Li Yang went out to carry out a mission. His target was a Golden Flower-ranked assassin from the Chrysanthemum Group of Twin Flowers, one of the world's three major assassin organizations.

Of Twin Flowers' two major assassin groups, the Cherry Blossom Group consisted of warriors, while the Chrysanthemum Group consisted of ninjas! Within Twin Flowers, Copper Flower rank meant a Level Two Master, Silver Flower rank meant a Level Three Master, and Golden Flower rank meant a Level Four Master! A Golden Flower-ranked ninja was roughly equivalent to an Innate Stage master. Moreover, ninjas appeared and vanished like ghosts, making them extremely difficult to deal with.

At the time, their leader Meng Tian was carrying out another mission against a different dangerous criminal, so this mission was assigned to Li Yang, whose offensive power was the strongest. Besides, Li Yang had once been an elite of Dragon Fang, the ace combat unit of the special forces, and was very familiar with such matters.

At the time, the Security Bureau had received the information too late to send anyone else, and Meng Tian was carrying out another mission. Left with no alternative, they gave this extremely dangerous mission to Li Yang.

"To die for the country is loyalty unto death!"

Li Yang accepted the mission directly. He had already prepared himself for sacrifice. He had possessed that awareness ever since joining the special forces. For the country to remain peaceful, some people had to dare to sacrifice themselves so that others could live peaceful lives.

At around midnight, Jiang Xue had just gotten off the night shift and, by sheer coincidence, witnessed a battle beyond anything she could have imagined...

Figures that vanished in a blur...

Blade Energy that flashed past in an instant...

And the face of the prince charming she had imagined in her heart countless times, filled with determination. A streak of Blade Energy, blood blooming...

The Golden Flower ninja died. Li Yang was grievously wounded!

Li Yang had been very lucky. That ninja had reached Golden Flower rank, meaning he was comparable to an Innate Stage master. Li Yang should have had no chance of survival. Yet when he was gravely wounded and on the brink of death, his miraculous Flying Dagger Mastery took effect. In the final instant, the flying dagger suddenly changed direction, catching the Golden Flower ninja too late to react and piercing straight through his throat. But Li Yang's life was also hanging by a thread.

Jiang Xue first gave Li Yang some simple protective treatment. If not for those basic life-saving measures, Li Yang would never have lasted until the hospital could treat him.

Li Yang had already fallen unconscious when Jiang Xue arrived. Before losing consciousness, he had only vaguely seen a beautiful angel radiating light come to his side. That angel was very beautiful, and the light she gave off made Li Yang feel warm... Then he lost consciousness completely...

Li Yang's injuries were severe, extremely severe. He recuperated in the hospital for an entire month, then spent another two months recovering in his own villa.

"Brother Yi, it's time to take your medicine!"

"Brother Yi, let me tell you a joke. Once upon a time, there was a little monk. One day, he went down the mountain..."

During his time in the hospital, Jiang Xue had taken care of him. Her concern had been meticulous in every detail. Li Yang still remembered the beautiful angel from the instant before he lost consciousness. He had fallen in love with Jiang Xue. He did not know why, but whenever he saw Jiang Xue, the calmness forged through special forces training would disappear, and his heart would beat faster. Sometimes, when the two drew close, he even felt the tips of his ears grow hot.

"Brother Yi, I like you!" After witnessing that battle, Jiang Xue knew Li Yang was no ordinary person. When she learned that Li Yang would leave the hospital in one week, she feared that she might never see Brother Yi again. Unable to suppress the feelings in her heart any longer, she finally blurted them out.

Li Yang froze, then shook his head and said mercilessly, "I'm sorry!"

After that rejection, Jiang Xue never mentioned confessing her feelings again. She simply treasured every remaining moment Li Yang spent in the hospital so she could be with him. Jiang Xue cared for him even more meticulously and became even gentler, completely lacking the spoiled temper of an ordinary twenty-year-old girl.

The day before Li Yang was discharged, in his hospital room.

Jiang Xue's face was somewhat pale, and her eyes were a little red and swollen. She had not slept at all the previous night. She had suffered from insomnia.

"Brother Yi, if I can't be with you, I'd rather never marry and remain alone in loneliness!" Jiang Xue spoke with great determination. She was a gentle girl and rarely spoke with such firmness. This was the decision she had reached after thinking all night. She had decided to make one final effort. At the same time, it was what she truly felt in her heart.

Li Yang trembled. He recalled the beautiful angel radiating light when he had been unconscious, and he also recalled Jiang Xue's meticulous care over the past month, every gesture brimming with deep, rich affection...

All at once, Li Yang seemed to feel the solid ice in his heart shatter with a bang, like glass breaking apart...

"If you want to be with me, then you must get used to loneliness," Li Yang said calmly.

Jiang Xue was stunned for a moment, then her smile bloomed, sweet beyond measure. "I know Brother Yi has his own secrets. No matter when it is, I'll wait for you!"

"Two years. If you wait for me for two years, I will definitely marry you!" Li Yang said firmly, then turned and left.

Sitting in the car sent by the Security Bureau, Li Yang opened the farewell gift Jiang Xue had given him. It was a music box, and the music inside was Butterfly Lovers. Listening to the melody of Butterfly Lovers, Li Yang remembered what Jiang Xue had said when she saw him off: "I believe our love will be like the love in Butterfly Lovers. Even life and death cannot keep us apart!"

From those words alone, it was clear that Jiang Xue was still at an age when she loved to dream. Or perhaps her heart had remained at that age.

Thinking of those words and recalling Jiang Xue's expression at the time, Li Yang's heart was far from calm. But then Li Yang smiled. Perhaps she was only acting on a moment of impulse. After two years, Jiang Xue might already have someone else. I belong to the country. Love is a luxury beyond reach! That beautiful angel I saw while unconscious was nothing more than a beautiful dream...

Li Yang was wrong. Jiang Xue had not acted on impulse. She had been serious. Their half-hour phone call every day always felt so brief to both Li Yang and Jiang Xue.

Call after call, Li Yang increasingly felt himself sinking deeper and deeper into the mire. He had already realized that he could not leave Jiang Xue, but he belonged to the country.

Yet Security Bureau Group 11 was a good opportunity. Almost all the members of Security Bureau Group 11 had families. If he entered Security Bureau Group 11, Li Yang could be with Jiang Xue while still serving the country.

Li Yang looked forward to the happy days he would spend with Jiang Xue, while becoming even more eager for the assessment. If my Internal Energy were stronger, wouldn't I be more certain of passing? Curse it, I began cultivating internal arts too late. My meridians have already taken shape!

"Work hard, work hard! From now on, I must cultivate even harder. Even if I enter Security Bureau Group 11 and can be with Xue, I will still have to go out on missions about once a year. And once I become a Group 11 member, every mission will be a major one. If I die during a mission, what will Xue do? Cultivate hard. Only by becoming stronger can I live longer, survive mission after mission, and spend more time with Xue!" Suddenly, Li Yang stopped beside a streetlamp. "Meridians... fixed meridians are the greatest obstacle to improving my strength! If I had cultivated internal arts from childhood, the power of my flying daggers would have increased severalfold by now. Meridians, meridians! How hateful!" Li Yang slammed his fist into the streetlamp pole by the roadside, and a faint fist mark immediately appeared on it.