Chapter 52: I’ll Pull Them Out Like Nails

Chapter 52: I Will Pull Them Out Like Nails

The racket they made in the second half of the night was still just as intense.

Shu Hanqing was buried in the rumpled sheets, still not fully recovered from the previous round, when Lei Zheng pulled him in tight again.

Scorching kisses rained down on his sweat-soaked neck, and Shu Hanqing sank his teeth into the arm Lei Zheng had draped over him.

Lei Zheng hissed, then let out a low groan, and pulled him tighter into his arms. He drove his hips forward and kept going in that same position.

Shu Hanqing's mind was totally blank—he hadn't even come back to himself yet. How was he supposed to handle Lei Zheng's relentless stamina? His whole body shuddered with every thrust, his fingertips trembling.

Until the storm finally passed, the sky caught between light and dark.

When it was finally over, Lei Zheng still showed no sign of letting him go.

A long, slender hand came down with a sharp smack on his thoroughly wrecked ass, his voice dripping with that smug, satisfied tone. He clicked his tongue with fake seriousness and said the Thunder Mark really did run from his tailbone all the way down to his ass.

Shu Hanqing was so embarrassed he felt like he was on fire, his skin flushing a bright red. He buried his face in the crook of his arm, thinking miserably that passing out right now would actually be a blessing.

Less than two hours later, Shu Hanqing slowly came to.

The bed was hard and narrow, and in those two hours, he hadn't slept well at all. The second he moved, he heard a rustle beside him.

Shu Hanqing blinked his bleary eyes open.

The wall lamp clicked on, and the dim yellow light made him squint. He moved his aching waist and realized he was still wrapped in Lei Zheng's arms.

Lei Zheng's eyes were bloodshot—he clearly hadn't slept a wink.

Seeing the man in his arms was awake, Lei Zheng leaned in to kiss him, but Shu Hanqing shoved him away with his arm.

Lei Zheng didn't seem the least bit bothered by the rejection. He let out a low chuckle and pressed back in with a fierce, hungry urgency, biting Shu Hanqing's lips and sucking hard, all rough and possessive.

Shu Hanqing's ears went numb from the kiss, his whole body radiating heat like he'd just been pulled out of boiling water.

He turned his head away in self-defense, and a pitiful whimper finally squeezed out of his dry throat: "...Are you some kind of animal? Look what you've done to me."

Lei Zheng seized the chance to pull him even tighter from behind—no space left between them at all—and whispered shamelessly in his ear: "Baby, you clearly loved it. This body of yours was made for me."

As he talked, he grabbed Shu Hanqing's hand, brought it to his lips, and planted a loud kiss on the back of it.

Lei Zheng kept up his shameless spiel: "There's no one else in this world who can make you feel this good. That Rong Hua—a snot-nosed brat who hasn't even grown his baby hairs yet—what the hell does he know about passion? And Mu Ye, always walking around with that deadpan face—clearly a prude. And that science nerd Yan Shenyun? Don't even get me started—he'll probably die without ever knowing what sex tastes like. Listen, dump them all. We're the only ones made for each other."

Shu Hanqing was at a loss for words: "..."

Only Lei Zheng would have the nerve to so blatantly and without hesitation bring up the others in front of him.

Rong Hua and Mu Ye were one thing, but Professor Yan clearly had no personal connection with him at all—nothing beyond work.

Shu Hanqing really couldn't figure out how Lei Zheng's brain worked, to get so jealous over something so baseless.

"...Stop embarrassing yourself."

Shu Hanqing closed his eyes in exasperation, giving up on trying to talk to this shameless bastard.

After all that exertion, exhaustion hit him like a tidal wave. Acting on instinct, Shu Hanqing curled into Lei Zheng's solid, furnace-like embrace and finally sank into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning came.

Lei Zheng stood by the edge of the bed getting dressed, the crisp click of his metal belt buckle echoing in the room.

He was slowly buttoning his shirt when he turned to look—and his fingers froze mid-motion.

Shu Hanqing was still asleep.

Pale winter sunlight streamed through the dusty window, dappling across his messy black hair.

Since he was facing away from the light, the large expanse of fair, delicate skin on his nape was exposed to the morning glow—but that skin was now covered in the blue-and-red marks from the night before, so intimate it was shocking.

Lei Zheng's eyes darkened. He couldn't help reaching out to touch one of those red marks.

Shu Hanqing shrank back into the blanket. Lei Zheng didn't pull his hand away—instead, he bent down, pressing his straight nose against Shu Hanqing's neck, lingering there as he deeply inhaled the cool, clean scent of the other man.

His breath brushed against the sensitive skin, and the sleeping man finally couldn't help cracking an eye open. Annoyed, he grabbed the blanket and pulled it over himself, head and all, blocking everything out.

Lei Zheng looked at the lump curled up under the covers: "Still such a fan of sleeping in, baby?"

There was silence under the blanket for a few seconds.

Then a foot shot out from under the covers and kicked Lei Zheng hard in the leg.

A furious voice came from under the blanket: "...Try getting fucked all night and see how you feel."

Lei Zheng took the kick without a hint of annoyance, brushing off his pants: "My bad, my bad. Go back to sleep, baby."

Hearing that shameless nonsense, Shu Hanqing yanked the blanket off his head.

His handsome face still had the flush of just waking up. He asked what time it was.

Lei Zheng said, "You keep sleeping, it's fine. We're heading back anyway—nothing on the schedule today."

Shu Hanqing asked, "What about Shi Lei?"

Lei Zheng braced himself on the edge of the bed and planted a heavy kiss on Shu Hanqing's cheek: "Don't worry. I'll pull them out one by one like nails, and then..."

Shu Hanqing still refused Lei Zheng's half-sincere, half-joking attempt to keep him there and got up to leave.

As he got dressed, the pulling ache in his inner thighs and ass was impossible to ignore.

Shu Hanqing choked on a surge of anger and muttered under his breath: "I knew I shouldn't have trusted you."

That bastard Lei Zheng—a perverted old animal.

Lei Zheng followed unhurriedly behind him. He'd slept even less than Shu Hanqing, yet he was full of energy, like a peacock proudly fanning its tail in front of its mate.

"Baby, how can you say that? I genuinely meant to solve your problem," Lei Zheng said, savoring the memory. "But that Thunder Mark really did end up on your ass last night—it was so beautiful... I just couldn't hold back for a second."

How beautiful was it?

In the midst of the rocking motion, the lifeless Thunder Mark rippled and spread across the fair skin like waves on clear water—a sight so vivid and alluring that any man would find it a turn-on.

"You know, sitting in this position I'm in now, dealing with those messes day in and day out—how is that a job for a human being? I don't even have anyone at the base to talk to. At least in my last life I had you, so I had somewhere to put my energy. This time around, I'm still a virgin, you know. If you don't let me get some action, I'm going to go crazy from being pent up."

Shu Hanqing: "...Why haven't you died from the frustration already."

Lei Zheng met his murderous glare with a smirk: "You'd miss me too much, baby."

Shu Hanqing touched his lips. His mouth hurt as well.

After all their back-and-forth last night, his lips were clearly swollen and red. He remembered Lei Zheng's casual, blood-soaked threat from earlier, and Shu Hanqing said, "...Don't just go around killing innocent people."

Lei Zheng: "I know you've got a good heart, baby. I swear I'll do whatever you say this time, for real."

"I don't even listen to those old geezers—only you."

Shu Hanqing couldn't help cracking a smile at that: "Don't say that—what if some big shot takes a shine to you and wants to marry his precious daughter off to you? Wouldn't you hit the jackpot overnight as a live-in son-in-law?"

Lei Zheng: "If I was gonna say yes, I'd have done it ages ago. But right now? Sorry, I'm already taken."

Shu Hanqing's head throbbed. Just how many homes did he have at this point?

The military had gone through a ton of trouble to set up this superpower training camp, and the final prize was the superpower enhancement serum Yan Shenyun's lab had just cooked up—something every faction would kill to get their hands on. Most superpowered individuals had already worked with Yan Shenyun on some kind of fusion agent, but Shu Hanqing never had.

In the end, a few people died, and Rong Hua had easily been the best performer—yet now he was still lying unconscious.

Shu Hanqing said to Lei Zheng, "...Don't pull that again. Have a little self-respect."

Lei Zheng grabbed Shu Hanqing's wrist and slammed him hard against the door: "I've got no self-respect, baby. Just pretend I'm forcing you. If we're really keeping score, Mu Ye and Rong Hua both came after me. I won't force you to pick, but sooner or later you'll see that we're the ones who are truly meant to be."

Lei Zheng kissed him hard, ravaging his mouth without restraint, all rough and reckless.

The kiss went on for an almost unbearable stretch. Only when the man in his arms was bright red, chest heaving as he gasped for air, did Lei Zheng finally pull back, still hungry for more.

There was no way Shu Hanqing was sticking around Lei Zheng's place after that.

That place was a total den of sin.

He'd barely straightened his collar and stepped out of the building when he ran into Shi Lei at the corner of the hallway up ahead.

The sight of Shi Lei made Shu Hanqing feel complicated.

But Shi Lei still looked the same—honest and simple, tall and solid, with a sheepish smile on his dark face, like some quiet, reliable guardian beast.

He scratched his head and spoke up first: "Brother Shu, Professor Yan was just looking for you."

Yan Shenyun was definitely looking for him about the side effects of the superpower serum that had been injected into him.

He said okay, then glanced over Shi Lei and asked, in a casual tone, if his injuries from the other day had healed.

Shi Lei answered honestly: "Thanks to Rong Hua, I'm doing alright."

Hearing Rong Hua's name, a flicker of worry crept into Shu Hanqing's eyes, and he said softly, "If only he'd wake up soon."

Shu Hanqing said he'd head over first, and Shi Lei nodded.

Shu Hanqing hurried up the stairs to the second floor. As he passed a grimy window along the hallway, he slipped into the shadow of the wall and glanced down.

Shi Lei was still standing there, lingering for a long moment before slowly turning and walking off.

Shu Hanqing wondered: who were they, really? Who was pulling their strings? Why were they watching him so closely, so secretly?

Shi Lei had been around him for a long time and had never once shown any sign of wanting to hurt them. But this kind of harmless surveillance felt more like an invisible net—and he had no idea whose hands held the strings.

If Lei Zheng hadn't been sharp in his past life, how much longer would he have stayed in the dark, clueless and oblivious?

Shu Hanqing turned and headed upstairs, rapping his knuckles against the door.

A voice came from inside right away: "Come in."

Shu Hanqing stepped inside, and the moment his eyes swept the room, he saw someone else standing there.

Yi Ran.

When she saw Shu Hanqing come in, a soft smile spread across her delicate face, her eyes crinkling as she greeted him first: "Brother Shu."

Shu Hanqing responded: "You're here too."

Then he turned his focus back to Yan Shenyun, who was behind the desk.

Today, Yan Shenyun had a new pair of glasses perched on his nose. He was slightly hunched over, and the moment he heard the noise and met Shu Hanqing's eyes, he snapped the folder shut.

"Come here. How are you feeling today?"

Shu Hanqing walked over, and as Yan Shenyun stood up to meet him, he offered his wrist, letting the metal patches and sensors stick to his skin: "...Not bad."

Yan Shenyun fiddled with the testing device, watching Shu Hanqing sit there all serious. He noticed the man was wearing a uniform with a slightly raised collar, buttoned all the way up. But no matter how neatly the fabric covered him, it couldn't hide the splotchy marks behind his ear that showed whenever he tilted his head.

Instead, it only made it worse, giving off an indescribable kind of allure.

Yan Shenyun lowered his gaze coldly.

Once the baseline data was logged, Yan Shenyun stood up, took off his gloves, and said he'd take Shu Hanqing to the training ground.

"Give it a try." Yan Shenyun stood before the control console and raised his hand.

Shu Hanqing took his spot in front of a custom alloy steel target and spread his fingers slightly. The energy waves of a High-Level Ability User began to gather frantically in his palm.

A muffled boom cracked through the air, and the heavy target dozens of meters away blew apart in an instant. Metal shards rained down, still scorching hot, and one fingernail-sized piece of alloy rolled to his feet.

Shu Hanqing crouched down and picked up the fragment.

Staring at his hands, still warm from the surging power, he couldn't hide the excitement in his eyes. He turned, eyes bright with a spark, and looked at Yan Shenyun walking over: "...It actually works, Professor Yan. You're amazing—how the hell did you invent something like this?"

It had been so long since the serum was injected, and there still wasn't a single sign of rejection or discomfort. It was like his body had just accepted the superpower enhancement serum without a fight.

Yan Shenyun pulled a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to him.

Shu Hanqing took it and carefully wiped the black soot off his palm.

"Congrats." Yan Shenyun adjusted his glasses, his tone as calm as ever, but with a trace of warmth.

Shu Hanqing said thanks, then couldn't help asking when Rong Hua would finally wake up.

"Soon."

The two of them walked out through the quiet hallway.

The light outside the training ground was harsh, and Shu Hanqing squinted, his eyes landing on Yan Shenyun's profile.

Maybe from years of late nights and the grind of complex research, this young professor already had streaks of white in his hair: "Professor Yan, can I ask you a question?"

Yan Shenyun turned, his expression cool: "Ask away."

"Do you believe in destiny?" Shu Hanqing murmured, "...That someone's already written the ending of a person's life from the shadows. No matter how hard they struggle or fight back, in the end, they can never escape that set path."

Yan Shenyun's deep gaze settled on his face through the thin lenses.

As if sensing Shu Hanqing's anxiety, Yan Shenyun spoke softly, "...How could anyone possibly know the future before it even happens?"

Shu Hanqing said, "Before the apocalypse broke out, I once had a fortune-teller who set up shop under the overpass outside the university town read my fortune. He said my fate... might not be too good."

His voice dropped slightly as he spoke, carrying a soft, self-deprecating melancholy. The tone was like a slender willow branch dipped in water, casually brushing across the surface, sending ripples across a dead lake.

Shu Hanqing thought of his past and present lives—his luck really hadn't been great.

Yan Shenyun suddenly reached a hand out to him.

Confusion flickered in Shu Hanqing's eyes as he stared at him, baffled.

The next second, Yan Shenyun grabbed his hand, moving inch by inch along Shu Hanqing's thin wrist, his expression focused and serious, making Shu Hanqing freeze up. In the end, he could only instinctively go along with it, letting the other man gently massage the back of his hand and knuckles.

Yan Shenyun released his hand. "Believe it or not, I actually know how to read bones and tell fortunes too."

"You've got a great fate. How many people turned to dust the day the apocalypse hit? Yet here you stand, perfectly fine. And from now on, you'll only be better than you are now."

With those words, Yan Shenyun stepped forward first, flexing his fingers where no one could see.

Shu Hanqing stood there stunned for a long moment, then flexed the finger bones Yan Shenyun had just pressed. Watching that tall, solitary figure—young but already graying—gradually walk away, he curled a helpless smile.

For a guy who clearly didn't believe in any of that stuff, he'd still said something like that to comfort him.