Taken hostage

The Scallion Oil Noodles at lunch were especially fragrant. When Ye Ruan finished eating, he had a ring of sauce around his mouth. Gu Cheng couldn't stop laughing and took the little bunny outside to wash it off.

"Why does this feel like looking after a kid?"

Once his mouth was clean, Gu Cheng wiped away the water with a towel and kissed Ye Ruan's cherry-red lips.

"Come on, baby. Call me hubby."

Ye Ruan kicked him in the shin. "Shameless."

"How am I shameless?"

Gu Cheng scooped Ye Ruan up and ducked into a corner, slipping his hand under his shirt to tickle the little bunny's lower back.

"If you won't call me hubby, big brother works too."

Ye Ruan blinked his red eyes twice, then couldn't resist leaning over to bite Gu Cheng's bare arm, leaving a round ring of teeth marks.

"Ow, those little bunny teeth are that sharp?"

Gu Cheng pinched Ye Ruan's chin. "Open up. Let me see."

The bunny was still innocent enough to think Gu Cheng really envied his fine set of teeth.

His bunny teeth were straight and white. Even after eating so much candy, he didn't have a single cavity.

Ye Ruan parted his lips, showing off. "Then look."

A little while later, Ye Ruan's eyes were half closed.

Gu Cheng picked him up. "Lazy bunny. All you do every day is eat and sleep."

Ye Ruan leaned languidly against his shoulder. "The autumn air is nice and crisp. With a full belly... it's perfect for sleeping."

"Fair point."

They went back to their room. Gu Cheng lay down with Ye Ruan in his arms for a while, only getting up to leave after he had fallen asleep.

Alone and undisturbed, Ye Ruan stayed wrapped in the quilt and slept until dusk.

He had sweated and felt uncomfortable.

So he got up, grabbed a change of clothes, heated a pot of water on the little stove in their room, and went to the washroom for a quick bath.

Back in the room, Ye Ruan thought for a moment, then dug out the underwear Gu Cheng had changed out of yesterday, tossed it into a basin, and washed it while he was at it.

Outside the washroom was a small terrace with a clothesline strung across it. As Ye Ruan hung up the bright red underwear, he looked up at the sky.

It looked like rain again. The wind had picked up, with dark clouds in the distance on one side and, when he turned his head, the sunset's glow on the other.

"I'll let it dry for a bit before coming back for it."

Ye Ruan stretched, his sleeves pushed up to his forearms, exposing his delicate, snow-white wrists.

The second floor where they were staying was quiet now. It seemed Ye Ruan was the only one there.

A flurry of frantic footsteps echoed up the stairs, accompanied by urgent panting.

Ye Ruan walked over and asked in surprise, "Feifei, why are you back?"

Ren Fei'er's face was full of panic. "Big brother! Something happened to Li Tuantuan!"

Ye Ruan crouched and steadied her with both hands. "Don't panic. Tell me slowly."

Ren Fei'er wasn't in good health. Running all that way had left her face deathly pale, and she only spoke again after catching her breath.

"Li Tuantuan and I were playing a game, and Auntie called us over to eat. That little bridge was between us at the time."

"When I turned back to look at her, Zhao Quan had already picked Li Tuantuan up with his hand over her mouth. He said you had to go alone to the little warehouse by the back gate."

Ren Fei'er clutched her chest and said with difficulty, "He also said you can't tell... tell Captain Gu or the others, or he'll kill Li Tuantuan."

"All right. I understand."

Using his pocket as cover, Ye Ruan took out a little bottle of milk, opened it, and handed it to her.

"Drink this, then stay in my room and lock the door from the inside. Don't come out until I get back. Understand?"

Ren Fei'er gripped the little bottle tightly and nodded hard. "Be careful, big brother."

"Good girl."

Ye Ruan gently patted Ren Fei'er's head, then turned and vaulted over the stair railing, jumping straight down to the first floor.

By the time he was almost at the little warehouse by the back gate, the sky had grown dark. Ye Ruan glanced back at the dormitory building where they had spent the past two days.

All he could see was the rooftop above the fifth floor.

Ye Ruan slowed his steps.

"You're finally here."

Ye Ruan looked toward the voice.

A figure stood by the window of the rundown little warehouse, half of Zhao Quan's face hidden in darkness.

Ye Ruan walked over. "Where's Li Tuantuan?"

Zhao Quan chuckled hoarsely. "Don't worry. She's fine. Though that might not be true in a little while."

Ye Ruan raised his eyebrows slightly, walked inside, and shut the warehouse door behind him.

He looked around. Li Tuantuan was tied to a chair with black tape over her mouth, her face covered in tears and snot. When she saw Ye Ruan approach, she cried even harder.

"Let her go. A child that small isn't much of a threat to you."

Zhao Quan looked at him with a trace of surprise. "You're... different from usual."

Ye Ruan nodded. When he looked up at Zhao Quan again, his face was full of fear, his shoulders hunched as he asked in a small voice,

"What exactly do you want?"

Feeling that Ye Ruan had put on an act to fool him, Zhao Quan cursed furiously. "You're a fucking lunatic! Not one of you monsters is normal."

Ever since Gu Cheng had brought Ye Ruan back, Zhao Quan had taken a particular dislike to him.

Tang Yi's failed attempt to seduce Gu Cheng had only made Zhao Quan angrier.

"You've got a dick, and you're screwing around with a man. You two are fucking disgusting!"

Zhao Quan glared, pulling out a dagger and pressing it against Li Tuantuan's chubby cheek.

"If you want her alive, throw down every weapon you've got and kick your gun over to me!"

Ye Ruan burst out laughing, as though he had heard a joke.

His ruby-red eyes glanced indifferently at Li Tuantuan. "What makes you think she's important to me?"

"She isn't?" Zhao Quan laughed. "You're a special person, and so is she, right? This kid has horns growing on her head."

Ye Ruan's pupils abruptly contracted. He hadn't expected Zhao Quan to know so much!

Seeing his expression change, Zhao Quan laughed and said,

"Captain of the Third Team, I don't want to hurt you. I just want your armored Biohazard Vehicle, along with your guns and bombs."

Ye Ruan said, "But I don't have the keys."

"Of course I know that!" Zhao Quan said. "So drop your weapons, kick the gun over, and come here with your hands above your head."

Ye Ruan looked hesitant.

Zhao Quan kept glancing out the window and urged him impatiently, "Hurry up! Or I'll kill her!"

Li Tuantuan trembled nonstop in terror, fat tears pattering down her face. With tape over her mouth, all she could do was make muffled cries.

Ye Ruan immediately did as Zhao Quan said, taking off his jacket and tossing it aside.

The jacket hit the ground with a dull thud.

When he had changed earlier, he had put both the dagger and the gun in Gu Cheng's jacket.

Apart from his underwear, nearly everything the bunny was wearing now belonged to Gu Cheng.

Under the thick jacket, Ye Ruan wore only a loose white T-shirt. The two bruises on his exposed wrists stood out starkly.

Ye Ruan lazily lifted his thick lashes and raised both hands above his head, approaching Zhao Quan step by step.

Soon, Ye Ruan stood in front of Zhao Quan.

One.

Ye Ruan silently counted in his head.

Zhao Quan moved the dagger away from Li Tuantuan's plump cheek.

A smile curved Ye Ruan's lips as he heard slow, steady breathing that ordinary people couldn't detect.

Two.

Zhao Quan brought the dagger toward Ye Ruan's neck and reached into his pocket with his other hand, taking out a disposable syringe.

Three.

Ye Ruan suddenly turned sideways, precisely dodging the coldly gleaming needle!

At that very instant, as Ye Ruan turned aside,

The junk piled in the warehouse scattered across the floor with a crash!

A figure shot forward like lightning and seized Zhao Quan's forearm.

-Crack!

Gu Cheng snapped Zhao Quan's bone outright.