Chapter 135: “I feel like someone’s watching me.”

The rescue operation was wrapping up, so Gu Jianing and the others no longer needed to stay in the disaster area.

Since the vehicles were being used to transport the wounded, they had no choice but to walk back. Fortunately, it wasn’t too far—a little over half an hour on foot.

Zhang Shuwan linked arms with Gu Jianing as they walked together.

As they walked, Gu Jianing suddenly glanced back, her eyes scanning the surroundings as if searching for something.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Shuwan asked.

“I feel like someone’s watching me.” But when she turned around, she didn’t see anyone.

“Maybe you’re imagining it?” Zhang Shuwan looked around too, but didn’t notice anyone suspicious.

“Maybe.” Gu Jianing kept walking with Zhang Shuwan, but she didn’t really believe she was mistaken. She was sure she’d felt someone’s gaze on her just now—and it hadn’t been friendly.

Ever since her rebirth, Gu Jianing had become more sensitive to these things.

Still, her malice detector hadn’t gone off, so it was probably fine.

Back at the military compound, Gu Jianing didn’t go to the hospital for work. Old Chen had told them that, after working nonstop on rescue for a whole day and night, they deserved a break. They were given the day off to rest at home.

Gu Jianing was indeed exhausted. After eating at Zhang Shuwan’s place, she went home, lit the kang, and curled up for a deep sleep.

After rescuing people for a day and a night, Gu Jianing was truly worn out—especially since she was pregnant and prone to drowsiness. She’d been running on willpower alone.

Now that she could finally rest, her nerves relaxed completely and she drifted off.

She slept deeply.

But she did have a dream. In it, she saw Sheng Zexi and his comrades weaving through a hail of bullets. Many of them were wounded. Even though she knew it was just a dream, Gu Jianing couldn’t help but worry...

At that very moment, Sheng Zexi was bandaging an unconscious, bleeding comrade. Around him, several others were also injured.

They hadn’t expected the enemy to learn their route and set up an ambush along their path. The ambushers were numerous, and many of Sheng Zexi’s comrades had been wounded—some seriously, on the verge of death.

Sheng Zexi thought, maybe this was what Ningning had seen.

Fortunately, he’d brought bandages. Now, hidden from view, he was tending to his gravely wounded comrades, hoping desperately that they would survive.

As many as went out on the mission, that’s how many he wanted to bring back!

The less-injured soldiers were also tending to each other’s wounds, while analyzing what had gone wrong.

“Someone must have leaked information.”

“Yeah, definitely. Otherwise, how could they have predicted our route so precisely?”

“But who was it?”

Sheng Zexi agreed with this assessment. After finishing the last bandage, he saw his comrade’s breathing steady and let out a sigh of relief. “It’s unlikely there’s a traitor among us. The most likely scenario is that someone leaked something by accident.”

“You’d better think hard—did any of you mention our mission to anyone?”

He looked around, but none of the conscious soldiers showed any sign of guilt. Sheng Zexi’s gaze shifted to those who were unconscious from their injuries. Could it have been one of them, leaking information unintentionally, only for someone else to exploit it?

“What do we do about the mission now? With so many wounded, I don’t think we can continue,” someone said, looking at the large number of injured.

Sheng Zexi made a decision. “Let’s get the wounded to the hospital first. We’ll deal with the rest later.”

Soon, the seriously injured were taken to the hospital, and the rest found a place to rest in the nearby county town.

That night, after everyone had fallen asleep, Sheng Zexi—who had been sleeping as well—suddenly opened his eyes.

In the darkness, he moved like a shadow. After leaving a message, he grabbed his gear and slipped out, heading toward the mission’s objective.

This mission was critical. If there was any chance, he had to give it his all.

His comrades were all injured, some gravely. The enemy had superior numbers and equipment.

Sheng Zexi thought, right now, the only one with a real shot at completing the mission was him—protected head-to-toe in an invisible bulletproof suit. No matter how many bullets the enemy fired, he’d be fine.

He would complete the mission!

Ningning, it won’t be long. I’ll be back soon!

With that, Sheng Zexi melted into the night, becoming one with the darkness...

—

Gu Jianing had no idea how long she slept.

When she woke up, it was already dark, and she was hungry.

At first, she’d dreamed of Sheng Zexi. But after that, she didn’t dream anymore.

Sitting on the kang, she recalled the dream—Sheng Zexi, alone, charging into enemy territory through a hail of bullets, countless rounds flying toward him...

She didn’t know what happened after that.

Seeing all those bullets flying at Sheng Zexi had startled her awake.

After that, she slept deeply, dreamless.

Hugging Sheng Zexi’s pillow, Gu Jianing patted it a few times. “Why aren’t you back yet? You’ve been gone for over a month. My belly’s showing now. Don’t tell me you’re going to wait until I give birth before you come back.”

“You’ve been gone so long, this pillow doesn’t even smell like you anymore.”

“Sheng Zexi, if you don’t come back soon, I’ll forget what you look like...”

Had she really forgotten? Of course not. Gu Jianing just missed him, worried and longing for him so much!

No matter how much she muttered, Sheng Zexi still hadn’t returned.

The next day, Gu Jianing went back to work at the hospital. This time, Old Chen was there too. It was only yesterday that Old Chen, Dr. Zhou, and Dr. Lu found out Gu Jianing was pregnant.

When they learned she’d worked tirelessly on rescue while pregnant, saving patients for a whole day and night, they were full of admiration. If they’d known sooner, they would have tried to take on more themselves.

But, they thought, even if they had, there probably wouldn’t have been much they could do. After all, Dr. Gu’s medical skills far surpassed theirs. Yesterday, she’d saved countless critical patients they’d thought hopeless.

With no patients at the moment, Old Chen sat down to discuss the treatment of the seriously injured with Gu Jianing. Dr. Zhou and Dr. Lu joined in, eager to learn and occasionally offering their own thoughts.

The discussion lasted all morning. Gu Jianing lost count of how many cups of water she drank—otherwise, her mouth would have gone dry.

As for Old Chen, the more Gu Jianing spoke, the brighter the admiration in his eyes."