The rabbit got tricked

"Of course not! Don't twist my words!"

Seeing Gu Cheng get flustered, Ye Ruan tried to hold it in, then laughed, a glint of mischief flashing through his eyes.

"Well, well. Are you a fox or a rabbit?"

Gu Cheng pinched Ye Ruan's cheek. "You're learning bad habits, little rabbit!"

"Mmph... don't pinch my cheeks..." Ye Ruan protested indistinctly.

Fang Ci sighed. "You scared me to death. I thought you were crying."

He could hardly be blamed for worrying. The little rabbit looked so pitifully delicate, his cheeks so fair and tender that even a light pinch left a red mark.

Those glistening eyes fluttered, always moist. His smile had a fragile quality, and seeing him cry would make anyone's heart ache.

Ye Ruan's rabbit ears stood up and twitched twice. With a hint of pride, he said, "I haven't cried in ages. The tears just won't come."

Gu Cheng chuckled and took a sip of water, his Adam's apple bobbing. His voice was very low. "Now that you've said that, I actually want to make you cry and see for myself."

Ye Ruan found nothing wrong with that remark. "Maybe I'll make you cry first."

That adorably haughty expression, paired with his upright, fluffy rabbit ears...

The sight sent an itch through Gu Cheng's heart, and his wolfish paws couldn't resist wanting to rub those ears.

Fang Ci suddenly smiled and said gently, "Stop arguing. How about I cry first?"

As though all three had been struck by the same joke, Ye Ruan turned away to suppress his rising smile, but his shoulders still trembled slightly.

Gu Cheng reached out and gave Ye Ruan's head a vigorous rub.

Suddenly, Fang Ci slammed on the brakes!

The momentum threw them forward, and Gu Cheng and Fang Ci both reached out to protect Ye Ruan.

Ye Ruan reacted extremely quickly, turning back into a lop-eared rabbit with a pop and landing safely on the seat.

The other two slammed straight into the windshield!

Ye Ruan: "..."

Gu Cheng straightened up, grimacing and clutching his head. "Fang Ci! What the fuck are you doing?!"

"I didn't fucking do it on purpose!" Fang Ci covered his nose and mouth, blood dripping between his fingers.

"I saw a kid. Looked human."

Even looking at him made Ye Ruan's nose ache in sympathy. He hurriedly returned to human form and took out some tissues to hand him.

Gu Cheng looked outside, puzzled. "Whose kid is this?"

A child stood beside the Biohazard Vehicle-a little girl with straight bangs and worn clothes. She was very thin and looked malnourished.

But her eyes were clear.

Gu Cheng said, "I'll get out and have a look."

The little girl wasn't afraid of strangers. When she saw Gu Cheng and Ye Ruan, she held out her hand for food instead.

Gu Cheng raised an eyebrow, took a packet of biscuits from his pocket, and offered it to her.

The little girl didn't take it, gazing hopefully at Ye Ruan.

"Do you want me to give you some?" Ye Ruan crouched down, his red eyes looking even clearer and brighter in the sunlight.

The little girl nodded and asked timidly, "Can you...?"

"Of course."

Ye Ruan never lacked food, and he carried a wide variety of snacks.

With a rustle of plastic, Ye Ruan took out a large bar of chocolate and waved it in front of the little girl.

Her eyes lit up.

Ye Ruan gently offered, "Tell me why you're here, and I'll give you this chocolate. All right?"

The little girl glanced back at the road behind her. After hesitating for a while, she said:

"A lot of us live in a farmhouse up on the hillside. Daddy went out on patrol. I ate breakfast, but I'm still hungry."

The little girl pouted. "My tummy's so hungry... it's growling."

Gu Cheng suddenly leaned close to Ye Ruan's ear and murmured, "She's not as good at acting cute as you."

Ye Ruan frowned and glared at him, pinched Gu Cheng's arm, then quickly withdrew his hand.

"Ouch. Spoiled rotten!"

Ye Ruan ignored him and put the chocolate into the little canvas bag slung over the girl's shoulder.

The little girl smiled. "Thank you, big brother!"

Ye Ruan rubbed her hair and was just about to stand.

Suddenly, his nerves went taut, a black arrow reflected in his red eyes as it hurtled toward him!

Gu Cheng swept an arm around Ye Ruan and rolled sideways with him in his arms. The arrowhead grazed his arm, slicing it open!

"Gu Cheng!" Ye Ruan touched the arm of the man above him, getting blood all over his hand.

"I'm fine."

Gu Cheng still had one hand cushioning the back of Ye Ruan's head.

He drew a gun from behind his waist, chambered a round one-handed, and aimed its dark muzzle at the waist-high grass beside the road a short distance away!

"It's my daddy!" The little girl picked up the fallen arrow.

"My daddy came to get me!"

Gu Cheng's finger paused briefly on the trigger. He shifted the muzzle slightly and pulled the trigger!

At the same time, Gu Cheng covered Ye Ruan's ears, shielding him in his arms.

The little girl burst into tears at the deafening gunshot. The man who had fired the arrow from the grass stood up with both hands raised.

He shouted, "Brother! Don't shoot! I mean no harm!"

Gu Cheng stood up with Ye Ruan in his arms and drew him behind himself.

Seeing this, several members of the First Team grabbed submachine guns and stormed out of the vehicle, their muzzles all trained on the man nearby.

"No harm?"

Gu Cheng's gaze was icy. "If that arrow had been a little faster, it would've gone straight through my teammate's head!"

They had clearly shown goodwill by giving the little girl food, yet that arrow had still been fired without mercy.

They had simply wanted to kill them and steal their supplies.

The little girl's father wasn't the only person in the grass, either.

The moment the man stood up, Ye Ruan understood what was happening.

Ye Ruan reached out and took the bawling little girl's hand, patiently wiping away the two tears she had squeezed out.

"Don't cry if you can't manage it."

Ye Ruan bent down, took out a dagger, and held it before the little girl's eyes for her to see, threatening her softly:

"You lied to me. I'm very angry."

This time, the little girl really cried.

She cried out of fright.

Fat tears pattered down her face.

After seeing all this, the little girl's father couldn't help fearing the worst. He hurried out of the grass in a panic, both hands raised above his head.

"I'm sorry! We lost our heads! Don't shoot! We can talk this out!"

Half an hour later.

Gu Cheng sat on a chair, bare from the waist up, watching Ye Ruan treat his wound.

"The wound's deep..."

Ye Ruan cleaned the dried blood from the wound. "It must really hurt, right?"

"It does."

Shamelessly, Gu Cheng seized the opportunity to wheedle some affection out of him.

"It hurts like hell. I've barely been injured in my twenty-odd years of life. It really hurts..."

"Then... then should I blow on it for you?"

"Hmm? How? Where are you going to blow?"

Gu Cheng grew rather excited.

Ye Ruan had no idea what he was so excited about. Resting a hand on Gu Cheng's shoulder, he leaned down and blew gently on the wound on his arm.

That little breath... made half of Gu Cheng's soul go numb.

"Oh, taking advantage of the little bunny again?"

Yu Jingjing opened the door and walked in, exposing him:

"Captain, since when were you so delicate? Back when a bullet went through your stomach, I didn't hear so much as a peep out of you!"

Gu Cheng said, "...You fucking..."

Yu Jingjing was thoroughly amused. "Once you're done taking advantage of him, hurry out. That guy's waiting to apologize and make it up to us!"

The farmhouse resort was built on a hillside and occupied quite a large area. The buildings were very new, as though they had only recently been completed.

Several prefabricated cabins stood in the yard as well. There were quite a few people, chickens and ducks, and a large vegetable patch out back.

After Yu Jingjing finished stirring up trouble and left, Gu Cheng instructed him in a low voice, "Bunny, stick with me. The people here aren't simple."

Ye Ruan was still a little angry that Gu Cheng had tricked him. He nodded without saying anything.