The border war had yet to subside. As a second-echelon officer preparing for the front lines, Chen Qilan had long undergone professional training, including instruction on the despicable tactics enemies used, such as turning women into weapons.
He was not foolish enough to think Qin Shuyao was deliberately seducing him. He clearly realized that the woman behind him had likely been drugged.
Without hesitation, he restrained Qin Shuyao’s hands, lifted her easily with one arm, and rushed straight to the large water vat behind the door.
With a loud splash, Qin Shuyao was thrown into the water. The shock of the cold instantly pulled her scattered consciousness back together.
She remembered what she had just done to Chen Qilan and was overwhelmed with shame and humiliation.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to seduce you. I… I really couldn’t control myself.”
The numb, tingling sensation rising from deep inside made her whole body burn, as if tiny insects were gnawing at her skin. Even her legs trembled uncontrollably.
“It’s alright. I know this isn’t your fault. None of this is on you.”
Chen Qilan looked at Qin Shuyao, submerged in the water with only her head exposed, his expression unusually complicated.
Her entire body was soaked. Wet strands of hair clung messily to her face, yet her stunning beauty was in no way diminished.
As if possessed, Chen Qilan reached out and brushed aside her damp hair, gently tucking it behind her ear.
When his slightly cool, rough fingers touched her earlobe, Qin Shuyao let out an uncontrollable sound, soft and kitten-like.
Tender and alluring, like a pear blossom just about to bloom outside the window, stirring a man’s heart on this spring night.
Chen Qilan felt a flicker of restlessness, but it lasted only an instant. He straightened at once, because another furtive shadow darted across the courtyard again.
Chen Qilan had just won first place in the military district’s grappling competition. He did not claim to be invincible, but his skills were certainly formidable.
Earlier, he had let the suspicious figure spying from the wall escape only because Qin Shuyao had hooked his waist. This time, he would not miss.
Within minutes, he dragged two men into the courtyard, limp as dead dogs.
One was the groom, Zhang Baogen. The other was the small-time hooligan Qin Shuyao had kicked in the groin, nicknamed Lao Pi.
“You’re a soldier. How dare you hit me? Believe it or not, I’ll report you to your unit and have your superiors kick you out of the army.”
Lao Pi was still shouting when a military boot smashed into his mouth. Blood covered his nose and face. After coughing a few times, he spat out two blood-stained teeth.
At once, the bastard quieted down, curling up in the corner with his head hugged tight, not daring to make a sound.
“Will you tell me yourselves, or do you want me to make you talk?”
Chen Qilan looked down at the two men, his presence oppressive and terrifying.
Before long, the air filled with the stench of urine. Zhang Baogen’s crotch was soaked. He had been frightened into wetting himself.
“It was Lao Pi. It was all his idea,” Zhang Baogen blurted out, shaking like a sieve. “He said he’d get justice for me and help me get Qin Shuyao. So… so…”
His words tumbled out chaotically. “The drug was put into Qin Shuyao’s drinking cup. He put it in himself. I didn’t do anything.”
The moment he heard the word “drug,” Chen Qilan’s heart jolted.
Almost at the same time, the sound of splashing water came from inside the house, mixed faintly with Qin Shuyao’s pained gasps.
“What drug? How much did you put in?”
Chen Qilan demanded sharply.
Zhang Baogen trembled violently. “It was medicine the town vet uses for breeding livestock. Just… just a pinch like this.”
He grabbed a pinch of dirt to illustrate, then added, “Lao Pi said it was the dosage for a horse. He was afraid it wouldn’t work if there wasn’t enough.”
Breeding drugs meant for a horse weighing several hundred jin used on a woman weighing less than a hundred. How was that any different from murder?
Chen Qilan could no longer restrain his fury. He swung his fists and smashed them hard into the two beasts. In that moment, he forgot his identity and wanted nothing more than to kill them.
Until a wet hand suddenly grabbed his fist before it could fall.
“You can’t kill them.”
It was Qin Shuyao, barely able to stand. Her clothes were completely soaked. In the bright moonlight, with his excellent night vision, Chen Qilan could clearly see the curves of her body rising and falling.
“Killing them will ruin your future.”
Even under the effect of a massive dose of veterinary drugs, barely able to hold on, she still used her last shred of consciousness to stop him from destroying his own future.
It wasn’t worth it. Truly not worth it.
Ruining his bright future for a woman as insignificant as dust like her was not worth it.
Chen Qilan stared at Qin Shuyao, emotions surging in his chest, impossible to put into words.
This woman, barely able to protect herself, was still trying to protect him. She was truly a fool.
“Chen Qilan, tie me up. I’m afraid I won’t be able to control myself…”
Qin Shuyao looked as if she had a fever. Her cheeks were flushed like clouds at sunset. As she looked at the man before her, her mouth went dry. The demon inside her clamored and tempted her, urging her to draw moisture from his handsome, thin lips.
She could not help but lean toward his mouth, yet with her last bit of willpower she turned her head aside, pressing her burning forehead against his shoulder. Her scorching breath penetrated his thin shirt.
When Chen Qilan was very young, he had seen the village vet breed cattle. One time, because something went wrong, the cow did not mate. Drugged, it screamed until midnight and then died.
The vet said the cow had been suffocated to death.
Even strong livestock could not withstand the torment of veterinary drugs, let alone the frail and slender Qin Shuyao.
Thinking of this, Chen Qilan fetched a rope, tied up the unconscious Zhang Baogen and Lao Pi, and threw them outside.
He bolted the wooden door. When he turned back toward Qin Shuyao, his eyes shimmered with emotion.
Bending down, he lifted her with the gentlest, most reverent movements, rubbing his cheek lightly against her burning forehead.
Qin Shuyao clung to him like a koala, greedily drawing in that bit of coolness. Soon, she was no longer satisfied with the barrier of cloth. Her boneless hands wandered, slipping into Chen Qilan’s shirt.
The west room was Qin Shuyao’s bedroom. It was simply furnished yet neat. Even the coarse cloth sheets, patched in places, carried the clean scent of soap pods, without a single wrinkle.
When Chen Qilan and Qin Shuyao fell onto the bed together, the thin wooden frame let out a dull creak, shattering the cool, round moon hanging beyond the window.
All night long, the sounds from the west room did not cease. Only when dawn began to break did the small courtyard finally grow quiet.
Inside, everything was steeped in desire. Even the air carried a breathless heat. The bed was in complete disarray.
The wooden bed pressed against the earthen wall was on the verge of collapse. A dent had been knocked into the wall by the bed frame.
Chen Qilan lay on his side at the outer edge of the bed, propped on one arm, watching the woman sleeping soundly in his embrace.
Tears that had not yet dried clung to her face. On the porcelain-white skin exposed beyond the blanket, marks of passion were scattered everywhere.
He licked the corner of his slightly aching lips and tasted a hint of blood. The skin had been broken when Qin Shuyao bit him in the throes of passion the night before.
His heart felt full in a way it never had before.
He knew Qin Shuyao was utterly exhausted and asleep. He knew she could not hear him. Still, he kissed her cheek, kissed the curve of her ear, and made a vow that would never change in his life as a soldier.
“I will love you for a lifetime and treat you well for a lifetime.”