Scarred Hearts — A Girls' Love Tale - Chapter 66

There were faint sounds coming from the jungle, and soon, the same sounds appeared from all directions.

Yan Shaoqiu crouched down and tied up the person on the ground tightly, while the others stayed alert, aiming their weapons toward the source of the sounds.

“Let’s talk this out,” a voice came from the jungle. After a moment, they all appeared. The narrow animal path, which wasn’t very wide to begin with, suddenly felt very crowded.

Ying Sha glanced at their outfits with a serious expression, not revealing what he was thinking. Luo Qinghan gently nudged Yan Shuangfei and whispered, “Aren’t these mercenaries?”

It was obvious. The group of about ten people was a mix of different equipment, looking like a random bunch put together. Various skin tones—Black, Asian, White—and their clothes were tattered, without any identifying marks.

Yan Shuangfei sighed, annoyed. Mercenaries like these had a bad reputation. It was normal for them to switch sides on the battlefield. Judging by their appearance, this group wasn’t a well-known mercenary team, but their reliability was still somewhat acceptable. Most likely, they were thrown together temporarily, probably with members working on their own, maybe even fighting among themselves over interests.

Ying Sha approached Yan Shuangfei and asked, “Should I handle how to deal with them?”

Yan Shuangfei was eager to pass this mess to Ying Sha and nodded quickly, almost pushing him forward to face the group.

In terms of combat power, these mercenaries weren’t actually very strong. Their biggest problem was they lacked teamwork. But in some aspects, they were quite skilled. Ying Sha thought it might be better to just buy them off with money. Fighting them now wouldn’t benefit their side.

After all, as long as you have money, mercenaries will come.

Ying Sha walked over and spoke to them for a while. The group was sweating under the hot sun. The doctor went over to the tied-up person, squatted down, and checked on him.

The man groaned softly and twisted his body. His clothes were torn by thorns and nettles along the way. Small cuts bled, filling the nearby air with a thick metallic smell.

“Hey, speak up,” the doctor said in English, patting the man’s face. But when his hand touched sticky bl00d, he quickly pulled back. He pushed aside the man’s messy hair, which was almost covering his eyes, and saw a deep wound exposing white bone underneath.

The doctor roughly took out his medical kit, quickly cut off the man’s tangled hair, and treated the wound.

“No anesthetic. Just bear with it,” the doctor said, stuffing a wad of gauze into the man’s mouth. The man didn’t resist but coughed violently before biting down on the gauze.

The doctor stitched the wound with a blank expression. At the same time, Ying Sha had finished talking with the mercenaries. A muscular black man smiled at Ying Sha, showing white teeth, but his eyes were cold and hostile like before.

“Captain,” Yan Shuangfei glanced at a short Asian man and said, “Not bad.”

The group moved forward in a big procession. They’d figured out roughly who the mercenaries were.

They were a small squad hired by the government military. After being surrounded, they lost contact with their main force and met a lone anti-government soldier in the jungle. They chased him all the way here.

The short Asian man casually brushed off his shoulder epaulet and said to Yan Shuangfei, “I got this before we left—just pinned it on. Makes it easier to get things done with a rank.”

Yan Shuangfei was speechless—apparently, it was really casual.

Yan Shuangfei was following the trail of the Han family based on prior intel, feeling uneasy. She knew this mission was likely a trap, but the current situation forced her to take the risk.

It seemed the opponent understood her personality well. Yan Shuangfei was sure it wasn’t Han Yu. Han Yu was ambitious and scheming but didn’t understand human nature well. He was ruthless but weak-minded, a troublesome enemy but not capable of causing major trouble.

This mission gave Yan Shuangfei the strange feeling that someone was guiding her, knowing the risks but still willing to test them.

Who was the leader of those foreigners she saw in the Han building? Who was behind Han Yu pulling all these tricks?

“Still worried about unknown dangers? Or that Han Yu might use dirty tricks behind your back?” Luo Qinghan quietly touched on Yan Shuangfei’s worries. As night approached and the group prepared to rest on the spot, Luo Qinghan sat beside Yan Shuangfei without caring about the ground, watching her frown deeply, clearly troubled. She instinctively reached out and gently massaged Yan Shuangfei.

Caught off guard, Yan Shuangfei didn’t deny it and silently confirmed her thoughts.

“Now that things have come this far, don’t think so much. The Han and Yan families are destined enemies—either you die, or I do. Various forces are stirring. If you don’t act, the smaller factions will see Yan family as weak and turn to Han family. At this point, no matter what schemes come, you have to face them. The Han family won’t openly fight Yan at home because their backers might swallow Han too. But abroad, their influence is weaker. The game is different,” Luo Qinghan calmly explained.

Yan Shuangfei placed her hand on Luo Qinghan’s shoulder, tilted her head with a slight smile, and asked, “What about you? If other forces think the Yan family is easy to bully and rush to befriend the Han family, will you do the same?”

Even though she was sure Luo Qinghan wouldn’t, Yan Shuangfei still asked, feeling her love deepen by just asking.

Luo Qinghan leaned close to Yan Shuangfei’s ear, her breath trembling as it touched her, “Of course I’ll survive or die with you.” Then she lightly kissed Yan Shuangfei’s cheek.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Ying Sha was sharp-eyed, pointing at them. “Are you two putting on a reality show?”

Yan Shuangfei pretended to glare at Ying Sha. Ying Sha pretended not to see but as he turned, a faint flash caught his eye. He touched his waist with his left hand, took aim, and a series of bullets zipped past Yan Shuangfei toward the back. Gunfire immediately broke out.

Yan Shuangfei grabbed Luo Qinghan and dropped to the ground, waiting for the right moment, then rolled with her into the bushes to hide.

But Ying Sha didn’t move. Instead, he headed toward the firefight. Bullets flew everywhere, and there was hardly any cover nearby.

“What are you doing? Come back!” Yan Shuangfei shouted.

Ying Sha’s voice lost its usual calm and trembled with worry through the radio into Yan Shuangfei’s ear.

“Orange is still there.”

The doctor was still there fixing the machinery.