Chapter 13: Shooting Range
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
The door was lightly knocked twice.
Huo Yan didn’t lift his head and said, “Come in.”
Zhang Qian entered, holding several reports in his hand, and placed them in front of Huo Yan. He briefly reported the progress of several important tasks he was handling.
Zhang Qian was always efficient and reliable in his work, and Huo Yan didn’t have any objections after listening. He tossed the documents onto the desk.
He raised an eyebrow and suddenly asked, “How many years have you been at the base?”
Zhang Qian bowed and replied, “Five years, Commander.”
Huo Yan’s fingers lightly tapped on the desk rhythmically. After a while, his sharp eyes glanced at him, and he said, “Prepare yourself; I’m promoting you by one rank next month.”
Zhang Qian’s eyebrows raised, and he immediately stood straight, “Thank you, Commander.”
Huo Yan continued, “You should have been promoted earlier. Being too outstanding at such a young age isn’t always a good thing.”
He leaned back heavily in his leather chair, clasping his hands together, and a faint smile curled on his lips, “Congratulations, my junior.”
The two of them attended the Federal Military Academy together, but Huo Yan was three years ahead of Zhang Qian, serving as his senior. To groom his successor, the Huo family naturally didn’t disclose Huo Yan’s identity to the school authorities. He entered the academy under the guise of an ordinary student. It wasn’t until he began to shine in the military and political sphere after graduation that his former classmates realized that the star of their Military Academy training, who had trained and studied alongside them, was actually the influential Huo family scion.
Huo Yan had always consciously cultivated trusted subordinates to prepare them for taking over military responsibilities. He also brought along a group of individuals from the Military Academy when he assumed his role. Zhang Qian was one of them. Up to this point, besides He Yinsheng from the Military Security Center, Zhang Qian had risen the highest among this group. Of course, starting next month, Zhang Qian’s rank would surpass even that of He Yinsheng.
As Zhang Qian was about to take his leave after finishing his tasks, he was stopped by Huo Yan.
“By the way,” Huo Yan thought of something, “when you have some free time, teach Wen Mo how to use a gun.”
Zhang Qian’s back muscles tensed up instantly, and he swallowed hard, maintaining a restrained and composed demeanor. He replied, “Understood.”
Considering Wen Mo’s apprehension towards him, Huo Yan decided to give a few more instructions. “I know you’re strict and don’t tolerate any nonsense, but my Omega is a soft-hearted person. Be gentle when teaching him, don’t scare him.”
“Understood,” Zhang Qian nodded once more.
Huo Yan patted his shoulder in satisfaction and left the room.
*
After returning from Huo Yan’s place, Zhang Qian had been waiting for the Omega to call him. He knew that all of this was his idea, and since he could be so bold, he didn’t mind one more call.
He spent the entire day waiting for when he would entice him to come over, but as night fell, that number never appeared in his call history.
Zhang Qian endured until the next day, and finally, with a cold expression, he called Wen Mo himself.
The two of them arranged to meet in the afternoon.
Zhang Qian drove an SUV, heading up a mountain road to a shooting range he frequently used.
At this moment, the sun had hidden behind the clouds, and the mountain air had turned a bit chilly. However, Zhang Qian still rolled down the car window, allowing the cool air to hit him. He tugged at his collar, feeling a bit overheated.
This heat had actually been building up for a long time, and there was no way to cool it down.
He had already admitted it. That Omega was special, different from anyone else. In Zhang Qian’s life philosophy, he didn’t want to be an adventurer, but he couldn’t help it when it came to that beautiful Omega, who was both dangerous and adrenaline-inducing. He couldn’t read him completely, but he knew that he always saw one layer deeper than anyone else. At least, he knew that beneath that dignified and gentle exterior——it wasn’t him. At least, he understood him better than his superior did.
Zhang Qian didn’t want to categorize their relationship in terms of morality and self-judgment. After all, it was just an Omega kept by the Huo family, and that wouldn’t give an elite Alpha much of a guilty conscience. But Zhang Qian was well aware that this Omega would eventually belong to himself – Commander Huo wasn’t a person who stayed committed for long.
He had finally convinced himself to approach the situation with a sense of calm.
When the car stopped in the garage, he couldn’t wait to head to the shooting range.
This place was originally an abandoned shooting range of the military, which Zhang Qian had taken over and transformed into his own dedicated space. He always preferred solitude when practicing shooting, so besides the routine maintenance personnel, there was only one security guard on site. Today, however, Zhang Qian had given the security guard the day off.
Zhang Qian pushed open the door, someone was already practicing inside. The person seemed to have come directly from the office, he was still dressed in military uniform. At this moment, he was wearing noise-canceling earmuffs and holding a black Colt, shooting at a distant circular target.
Zhang Qian immediately felt the heat in his chest intensify. His throat moved up and down, and he walked briskly over to him. He grabbed the hand that was on the trigger, and his long, stern eyes narrowed slightly. Three shots in a row hit the bullseye.
The gun was effortlessly disassembled by Zhang Qian, and then his ten fingers firmly pressed against the barrier. Zhang Qian impatiently sealed his lips with a kiss, but in the next moment, he was pushed away. Zhang Qian, displeased, then pressed him down onto the shooting platform, but Wen Mo resisted fiercely – it wasn’t a tactic to loosen the reins only to grasp them better.
Zhang Qian stared at him, dissatisfied.
Wen Mo suddenly said, “Help me kill someone.”
Zhang Qian didn’t pay attention to him, his eyes became more sinister. With a crisp sound, all the buttons on Wen Mo’s military uniform fell off and scattered around. He let Zhang Qian roughly undress him, only keeping his eyes fixed on Zhang Qian’s eyes. He said again,
“You have to help me kill someone.”
Zhang Qian’s actions finally stopped. His gaze slowly grew colder. Wen Mo lay back, his lips slightly swollen, his clothes in disarray. He just watched Zhang Qian quietly. He saw the coldness in his eyes reach its peak, and finally, a hint of mocking smile appeared.
Wen Mo stared at him for a long time, and he finally lowered his eyes. “Alright, I understand.”
He sat up, putting on the disheveled coat that hung on his arm. Most of the buttons on the coat had been torn off. Glancing at them, Wen Mo decided to just take it off and toss it aside. He straightened his shirt, sighed, and then jumped down from the shooting platform.
He put the noise-canceling earmuffs back on, picked up the handgun again, and stood on the same firing line as before. He quickly loaded the bullets into the magazine, but it was evident that his marksmanship was poor as he only hit the eight-ring with one shot.
Zhang Qian’s expression darkened as he coldly watched Wen Mo’s back.
Wen Mo removed the empty magazine, and with a snap, he replaced it with a new one. He continued to fire rapidly.
As the magazine next to him emptied, Wen Mo finally fired the last bullet in his gun.
Wen Mo, with an air of disappointment, rested his hands on the shooting platform. After a while, he finally stood up, pocketing the one unused magazine that remained. He safely engaged the gun, wiped it down with a piece of cloth, and placed it in his pocket as well.
He put on his coat, draping it over his elbow, and then headed towards the door without looking back. As he passed by Zhang Qian, he was forcefully pulled back. Zhang Qian had an angry and icy expression on his face as he retrieved the gun from Wen Mo’s pocket.
“So do you want to do it yourself?”
Zhang Qian understood that this had been a trap from the beginning. No matter what motives this Omega had, he shouldn’t have gotten involved in this mess. Yet, he couldn’t help but grab Wen Mo, almost gritting his teeth as he demanded, “Speak!”
However, the moment Zhang Qian grabbed him, he was prepared for the other party’s high-handedness.
Yet, it didn’t happen. For the first time, Zhang Qian saw the vacant look in his eyes, like a lost animal. His throat moved as he held onto him even tighter.
He knew it was impossible for him to commit the foolish act of helping him kill someone. He reasoned with himself, saying that he had a duty to stop him.
Zhang Qian finally found enough excuses, pulling the person heavily into his arms and demanding, “What are you trying to do?!”
The person in his arms shook his head and clung to him tightly.
In Zhang Qian’s private shooting range, he witnessed for the first time the madness of this Omega. The shooting platform, chairs, and even the dirty carpet bore witness to their absurdity. He seemed tireless, as if the end of the world was imminent. He shed tears in torrents, seeking kisses relentlessly, refusing to let Zhang Qian release him.
Kisses were indeed a superfluous action for them.
Eventually, tired and sleepy, Wen Mo fell asleep again. Zhang Qian gently lifted him and carried him to a nearby rest area not far from the shooting range.
Sitting by the bedside and looking at the Omega sound asleep in the bed, Zhang Qian lit a cigarette.
When Wen Mo woke up, it was nearing dusk, the surroundings were dimly lit. He rubbed his eyes, gazing in confusion at the man beside him, who was smoking, there were already quite a few cigarette butts on the floor.
Zhang Qian noticed the movement and lowered his head to glance at Wen Mo. He reached out to tousle his hair and said, “You can rest a little longer.”
Commander Huo had a reception in the neighboring city today and wouldn’t be returning to the base so soon.
As he was about to raise his hand, Wen Mo was quicker. He grabbed the remaining half of the cigarette from Zhang Qian’s lips and brought it to his own mouth for a drag. He propped himself up slightly and exhaled a plume of white smoke, which wafted gently onto Zhang Qian’s face.
Zhang Qian furrowed his brows.
Wen Mo chuckled, his eyes carrying a hint of playfulness. He said, “I’ve never seen you smoke before. How did you start?”
Zhang Qian smirked and looked into Wen Mo’s eyes. Then he gently pressed the back of Wen Mo’s head and gave him a remarkably tender kiss—a sight that was quite unusual.
“Which military school doesn’t have students who smoke?” he said as he caressed Wen Mo’s face. The smile on his face gradually faded, and he softly asked, “Who is it?”
Perhaps years later, Zhang Qian would regret his actions at this moment, but at least not at this moment.
Wen Mo’s eyes flickered for a moment. He picked up the cigarette, took a deep drag, and then flicked the remaining stub to the ground, where a wisp of light smoke dissipated into the air.
His gaze lowered, and he stared at the fading cigarette butt with a somewhat distant expression, as if recalling a long-lost memory. He said, “It was my first man.”
He smiled, raised his eyes to look at Zhang Qian, and continued, “I lost my virginity at the age of seven.”
“If you like what I’m doing please show your support by donating me a cup of coffee through Kofi, or join membership tier to get access to 5 early chapters every month!’
<Previous Chapter<Table of Contents>Next Chapter>
