Regardless of the circumstances, one can’t make bold moves without facing consequences.

When Li Jiu, covered in blood, crashed into Shi Anzhi’s shabby little house, the only thing ringing in his head was: “Debt comes quickly.”

Shi Anzhi’s reaction was actually calmer than he expected. Though his face went pale, his hands didn’t shake at all. He cleaned Li Jiu’s wounds and applied medicine with steady hands, even using nylon fishing thread to stitch up the huge wound on his shoulder, deep enough to see the bone.

Li Jiu’s face was deathly pale, sweat dripping down his face. In his agony, he ripped a chunk off the table corner, unable to focus on anything but the pain. Once everything was taken care of, Shi Anzhi finally asked, “Who did this to you?”

“Fuck Wang Weiguo! Lucky that damn firestick of his ran out of fuel.”

Wang Weiguo was the rebel leader Li Jiu had chased and tried to kill.

Shi Anzhi didn’t say anything. He gathered up the blood-soaked clothes, shoved them into a corner, hiding them.

Li Jiu looked at him, hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke in a small voice, “Xiao Shi… I’m a little cold.”

“Mm, I’ll get you a blanket.”

Shi Anzhi spent the night holding the slightly trembling Li Jiu. He knew that people who had lost too much blood were prone to these kinds of symptoms. The fact that Li Jiu didn’t die on the way here was already the ninth greatest miracle in the world.

In the middle of the night, Li Jiu spiked a high fever. First, his body was icy cold, then suddenly he burned up with heat, before finally starting to mumble nonsense.

“I’ll fucking kill you, you son of a bitch…”

“Still chasing? Still chasing?”

“This is Master Jiu’s meat! No one’s allowed to touch him.”

“Grudges should be resolved… debts should be settled…”

In the end, Li Jiu muttered, “Mom… where did you go, Mom…”

Shi Anzhi lay awake, holding him through the night. The last words Li Jiu muttered brought tears to his eyes. He pulled him closer, his heart aching, pressing his face gently against Li Jiu’s feverish forehead. In a whisper, he said, “I… I can’t find my mom either.”

Li Jiu’s fever still raged, and just as his pain lingered, the enemies came knocking.

Shi Anzhi drifted in and out of sleep until the sound of light footsteps roused him, well past noon. The dilapidated shack he called home had once been an abandoned house, now handed over to the students sent down here. The smarter boys and a few girls had found excuses to pick slightly better places, leaving this one for Shi Anzhi. The door had a large crack, the corner of the window let in the wind, and calling it a house was an insult to pigsties or chicken coops, which were sturdier.

But this time, it was the broken window corner that saved their lives.

Li Jiu had lived his life on the edge of a blade. Despite being near death’s door, his animal instincts snapped into action, sharpening his sixth sense. Shi Anzhi had been sitting by his side, reading a book, when a sudden shift in the air made him freeze. In the next instant, Li Jiu, who had been sleeping with flushed cheeks and uneven breaths, suddenly opened his eyes. With one fluid motion, he rolled off the bed, dropped to the floor, and crawled toward the window, desperately trying to peer outside.

Shi Anzhi was about to speak, but Li Jiu turned and signaled for him to stay silent and crouch down. Confusion flickered in Shi Anzhi’s eyes, but before he could react, Li Jiu bared his teeth menacingly. Panic gripped his heart, and he instinctively slid off the bed, crouching down.

At the same time, vague shapes appeared on the window paper, their outlines blurred, as though a shadow was forcing its way inside to peer through. Shi Anzhi clearly saw a damp finger push through a small hole. He could almost feel that something terrible was about to happen.

He watched, wide-eyed, as Li Jiu drew the gun from his waist, the one he had refused to take before. His grip was weak at first, but quickly, the muzzle pressed steadily into the gap at the corner of the window. Shi Anzhi had patched that crack before, and from the outside, it seemed fine. But inside, a large piece of plaster had recently peeled away, leaving only a thin layer of wall between them and the outside.

Just as an eye lined up with the hole in the window paper, Li Jiu shot. The yellowed paper suddenly splattered with red mist, and a sharp scream followed.

“Ah—!”

“That bastard Li is here! Be careful, he’s got a gun!”

“Take him out first, then we’ll deal with the pretty boy!”

With the shouts growing louder, a massive machete suddenly slashed through the fragile window paper. The bloodstained patch tore open, and someone was about to force their way in. Shi Anzhi’s heart raced as he suddenly understood why Li Jiu, despite being severely wounded, had come to find him.

Then another gunshot rang out. The machete was yanked back, and with another cry of pain, the encirclement outside broke apart.

Li Jiu was taut like a bowstring, his back arched like a wild beast ready to strike. Shi Anzhi shrank down, crouching beneath the window in a defensive stance. Then, gunshots rang out, one after another, not fast but almost rhythmic. With each shot, the outside world erupted into chaos, with screams rising and falling, curses being shouted, and the clamor growing louder.

Shi Anzhi held his breath, counting each shot as Li Jiu fired five in total. After the fifth, an unsettling silence fell. The air, heavy with the scent of blood, felt suffocating. Then, hurried footsteps rushed toward the door, and the shouts outside picked up again.

“Li Jiu’s out of bullets!”

Shi Anzhi glanced at Li Jiu, whose eyes were fixed on the door. His feverish face, once flushed, now twisted with fury. He looked like a blade unsheathed, bloodied and razor-sharp.

With a loud crash, the wooden door was kicked open. Of the two men who rushed in, one was unharmed, while the other, bleeding from a shoulder wound, had blood dripping down his side. His eyes were bloodshot as he raised a massive machete and charged straight at the bed where Li Jiu lay.

Shi Anzhi huddled in the corner between the bed and the wall, hidden from the two intruders who rushed toward the bed, unaware of his presence. His body trembled as he heard the whoosh of the machete slicing through the air, heading straight for Li Jiu. Panic surged through him like never before. Gripping the scissors tightly, he scrambled to his feet and lunged, aiming for one of their backs.

What happened next was a blur to Shi Anzhi.

It all ended with the sixth shot. Li Jiu kept Shi Anzhi’s hands clean, finishing the job himself. With the machete he’d wrenched from the intruder, he hacked into the man’s neck. The blade sank deep, blood spraying in a vicious arc, coating the floor and walls as the man collapsed.

This bloody fight was covered up under the excuse of cracking down on the “theft of socialist construction achievements.” Li Jiu had teamed up with a faction of rebels who wanted to rise to power. He wiped out one side and helped the other. His ruthless, cunning nature, quick reactions, and clear sense of who owed him and who he owed helped him thrive in chaos. With his brains and skills, he also carved out his own place.

During this period, Shi Anzhi’s life improved significantly. After all, he was under Li Jiu’s protection, and everyone knew it. Li Jiu was happy about this and would occasionally bring things from the town that weren’t available in the countryside. Each time, he would ask, “Will you come with me to the town?”

Shi Anzhi shook his head. At first, he refused to accept anything. Later, Li Jiu slammed the table, and only then did he reluctantly take the things, though not happily. Li Jiu scolded him, saying he was foolish from reading too many books. Why reject food and clothes? Was he looking down on him and his gifts?

Shi Anzhi shook his head again. It took a long time before Li Jiu finally understood why.

Those rumors must have reached Shi Anzhi’s ears. Gossip was spreading in the village and town, painting a picture of Shi Anzhi as Li Jiu’s kept man. They claimed the two of them did all kinds of shameless things, wild forests, haystacks, seventy-two positions, thirty-six variations. Li Jiu overheard this in a small teahouse, listening with growing interest. It wasn’t until one of the men began describing Shi Anzhi’s body, his ass and thighs, that Li Jiu lazily cleared his throat and asked, “Have you seen it?”

The idler, growing more animated in the middle of his chatter, was clearly annoyed when interrupted by such a sharp remark. He shot a glare at the unfamiliar young man. “Who hasn’t seen it?” he snapped. “That student, when he starts yelling, his ass, like white tofu, just wiggles like this—tch, tch, tch…”

Li Jiu chuckled angrily and kicked the stool out from under the idler. The man fell to the ground with a thud, crying out in pain as he jumped up, forgetting what he had been talking about.

A muscular bald man suddenly burst into the teahouse, shouting, “Master Jiu!” His voice echoed through the room.

Li Jiu stretched out his arm, effortlessly pinning the idler’s upper body. The man, still struggling, tried to straighten his arm and kick Li Jiu. But before he could make a move, a bald man appeared, stopping in his tracks with eyes wide in surprise. “What’s going on here? Someone looking for trouble?”

“No,” Li Jiu said, casually releasing the man. He walked toward the door, but not before delivering a punch to the idler’s cheek. The impact knocked out two or three teeth, but it was all in a day’s work. “But the story was bad.”

That night, Li Jiu hadn’t planned on going to the countryside to find Shi Anzhi, but for some reason, once he lay in bed, sleep just wouldn’t come. He tossed and turned, restless, until he finally got up, hopped on his bike, and rode off with a clatter.

When Shi Anzhi sleepily opened the door, Li Jiu’s eyes glowed brightly in the pitch-black night, shining like a wolf’s. They circled around Shi Anzhi, taking in every inch of him.

Shi Anzhi was only wearing a stretchy tank top, the fabric clinging tightly to his broad shoulders and narrow waist. His cotton sleep pants, softened from countless washes, hung loosely, making it hard to see his slim, toned waist. But his proportions were flawless, and Li Jiu’s eyes immediately traced the graceful lines of his long legs.

He swallowed, the sound quiet in the still night.

Still drowsy, Shi Anzhi’s voice was soft and nasal as he asked, “Hmm?”

Li Jiu’s heart seemed to flutter at the sound of that soft, drowsy voice, a wave of warmth spreading through him.

Shi Anzhi, still half-asleep took a half-step back, a silent invitation for Li Jiu to come in. The gesture was casual, but it felt like a quiet, unspoken command.

Li Jiu didn’t move, though. His feet felt heavy, his mind spinning, and his heartbeat was erratic. There was a strange tension in the air that made him feel like he was standing on the edge of something, unsure whether to take the next step.

Shi Anzhi, puzzled by the silence, let out a soft yawn. He blinked, still groggy, before turning away and heading inside, leaving Li Jiu standing at the door.

As Shi Anzhi turned, the loose fabric of his sleep pants shifted, faintly outlining a round, firm ass. Li Jiu’s mind buzzed, a sudden echo of the words from earlier ringing in his head: “…that ass, like white tofu, just wiggles like this…”

Before he could even process the thought, his body moved on its own. In an instant, he lunged forward, wrapping Shi Anzi in his arms.

Shi Anzhi turned his head, thinking Li Jiu was just up to his usual playful tricks. With a laugh, he struggled lightly in Li Jiu’s arms and said, “Cut it out—”

Shi Anzhi had only managed to say few words before he froze.

Something hard was pressing against his ass.

Li Jiu’s face was buried in the nape of his neck, his breath hot and heavy, his skin burning just as fiercely. He held onto Shi Anzhi tightly, without saying a word or making a single movement. If one paid close attention, they would notice that he was trembling.

Should Shi Anzhi fail to understand what this meant, it would be a waste of his twenty years as an adult man.

He froze for a few seconds, barely managing to steady his breathing. This man is Xiao Jiu.

“Xiao Jiu…”

Li Jiu answered with a muffled hum. After a while, he spoke as well.

“Xiao Shi, I…”

Shi Anzhi’s forehead began to bead with sweat. He tried to struggle free, but the hard, alarming bulge pressing against the cleft of his ass left him in a panic. Finally, he couldn’t help but grab at Li Jiu’s hands, which were tightly holding him. At the same time, Li Jiu’s deep, muffled voice sounded in his ear.

“I… like you.”

Shi Anzhi abruptly broke free from his embrace, turned around to face him, his face flushing red one moment and pale the next, struggling to form words.

“I’m a man.”

Li Jiu stiffened, his expression darkening as a deep frown settled on his face.

“So what if you’re a man? It’s not like I’m asking you to have kids.”

By now, Shi Anzhi had calmed down. He shook his head at Li Jiu, slowly but firmly repeating himself.

“I’m a man. Xiao Jiu, don’t be ridiculous.”

For a brief moment, a fierce light flashed in Li Jiu’s eyes as he glared at Shi Anzhi with a vicious intensity. Shi Anzhi’s face paled, but despite that, there was an unexpected air of refinement and elegance about him, as if…

As if it were ten years ago, when a young scavenger had first met the pampered young master of a prominent family.

Li Jiu suddenly turned away and rushed off into the vast, dark night.