Chapter 809: The Story of Ling and Heng (72)
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Qiao Fei watched her. Feng Ling’s gaze was fixed on the sky dyed grey by the thick smoke, but she did not speak further.
In fact, there was a lot he wished to ask her. For example, as a young girl, how on earth had she managed to live in XI Base with all these men for so long. After all, previously, he was in a separate team from Feng Ling. It was only during various missions and examinations that he noticed this beautiful and attractive teen.
At that time, she had already left a lasting impression on him.
Afterward, when he was transferred into the sniper team, he was further attracted to her.
At the time, it was simple because this teenager was too young and too outstanding; she captured all of his attention. He could not help but constantly wish to care for her and give her advice. He even wondered if he had truly developed feelings for a beautiful man. It was only now that he understood that it was but normal attraction between opposite sexes. Even if she had concealed herself perfectly, she was still a girl underneath. It was unavoidable that he would be drawn in.
He truly could not imagine; as the only girl in such a place, she must have met with countless inconveniences. How on earth had she managed to hold on?
More importantly; she had actually never been discovered.
It was one thing if the rest were oblivious. But their Boss Li, who was always composed and unbelievably observant, actually never discovered her?
However, when he thought about this carefully, he realized that Boss Li had left for two years in between. He had barely spent less than four months interacting with Feng Ling, and they were only ever together for training. In that case, it wasn’t that strange for him not to notice…
“What’s the situation like over there now?” Feng Ling asked hoarsely as she faced the shoreline not far away: “There are so many terrorists there. Are you sure there won’t be any problems? We don’t have an advantage in numbers. The enemy has also hidden.”
“You should save your concerns for yourself. If the people from our base are defeated by those terrorists, it’s likely that the two of us won’t be able to leave this island either. First of all, you’re injured, and second of all, there’s quite some distance between that shoreline and where we are right now. No matter how adept we are in the water, we won’t have the stamina to make it back.” Qiao Fei sighed with a smile: “Which means we can only starve to death here. And your lungs also require medical attention. There won’t be any good for you if we stay here for too long.”
Feng Ling did not look away from the shoreline. She reached up and touched her own chest and did not reply.
“Set your heart at ease. It’s rare for Boss and Han Jin to participate in missions together, and even rarer for our Boss to personally lead the team. There definitely won’t be any problems. The entire elite team from XI Base are here. If there are still any problems, our base won’t need to make a living anymore. Everyone should just be terminated and sent home.” Qiao Fei watched her movement. “What’s wrong? Does it hurt very badly?”
Feng Ling shook her head. “It’s all right. I’ll be fine in a while.”
Even though she was still a little girl, her composure and apathy was a complete mismatch with her age. It was one thing to endure through common storms, but even now, she did not seem to hold any resentment or fear. If this had been a normal girl, it was likely she wouldn’t even be able to rescue anyone; even falling into the ocean would leave her scarred.
Qiao Fei took off his jacket and spread it out behind Feng Ling. “If you’re really uncomfortable, why don’t you lay down first?”
“There’s no need. I’m fine.”
“In this situation, there’s really no need to force yourself. Even a big man would have been unbearably hurt by that explosion. You’re a young lady…”
Feng Ling directly turned to look at him; her gaze was composed: “Drillmaster Qiao, please pretend as though you didn’t discover anything. I’m still a boy; a member of the XI Base. I’m not a young lady.”
Qiao Fei sucked in a breath. He saw that eyes held determination and sighed slightly: “All right. Lie down first.”
“We’re the same as the past; you’re the vice-drillmaster and I’m a member of the sniper team. You’re my superior. There’s no need to treat me like this,” Feng Ling spoke softly and hoarsely. “There’s nothing different between me and the others.”
He understood that Feng Ling wished that none of this had happened; if it had been anyone else who had discovered her gender, it was likely she would have directly killed them to prevent this from leaking.
Yet, the person who had found out was actually her vice-drillmaster. Aside from nagging at him like this, there was not much else she could do.
Although Feng Ling appeared calm on the surface, it was likely that she wasn’t doing as well internally and was concerned that this would spread. He took her internal struggle into consideration and did not make things difficult for her. He raised his arm and slapped the back of her head with force, using the same amount of force he applied when dealing with those little brats. “Already, quit nagging. My lips aren’t that loose. I can’t possibly chase away the most attractive member on our team just because I want to share this secret, don’t you think so?”
Feng Ling did not feel much pain from his slap. However, her damp hair was now clinging against her skin. She shook her head with force and tossed her short hair back.
As Qiao Fei watched this, his mind was immediately filled with an image of Feng Ling with long hair. His thoughts drifted and he wondered how she would look dressed up like a normal girl.
With Feng Ling’s clean and attractive face, she was already unbelievably charming dressed in their rough uniform. If she returned to dressing as a woman…
He thought about the way Feng Ling typically trained in the mud with K and the other brats, and recalled the image of them rolling around.
Those smelly little brats didn’t even know that they had experienced such a benefit.
All of a sudden, a large explosion could be heard from the abandoned warehouse where those terrorists were situated. Feng Ling and Qiao Fei immediately turned to look in that direction.
The explosion enveloped the air with black fumes; the flames were even more out of hand than the earlier explosion from the cruise ship. It spread toward the ocean and was gradually swallowed up by the water.
Amidst the black fumes, three helicopters flew in their direction. Underneath, two rafts on the water were being tugged along. They couldn’t see clearly from this distance, but it was clear that after the XI Base had discovered their disappearance, they had immediately sent people out to search.
Feng Ling and Qiao Fei’s position on the skerries were very prominent. The helicopters pierced through the thick smoke and immediately discovered the small island nearby. They immediately flew over.
Finally, as the helicopters leaned close and was about to descend, the enormous propellers urged the wind into motions. The helicopters descended firmly and all of the members alighted.
Feng Ling turned back to watch the helicopters. Li Nanheng was completely uninjured. He led all of the men as he approached them. At this moment, Feng Ling could not properly describe the emotions in her heart. She was even more agitated then when she had escaped death, but she could not comprehend what this was—