A Cruel Romance

Chapter 19

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For some reason Niluo’s home page is currently inaccessible. Before you start to worry, I did manage to find some mouldy old .txt version of the fic on my hard drive. They’re weirdly formatted, but I’m sure I can still work with them. I do hope this is just a technical thing and not another censorship crackdown D:

Night Raid

Hsiao-Hu stepped into his courtyard and spotted Commander Ho sitting on a log of wood, staring into s.p.a.ce.

He had transported the countless spoils he’d acquired from the train to his little village, with no regard to their actual usefulness. Among them he’d located Commander Ho’s clothes, so that the Commander didn’t have to suffer in the nude.

Although Commander Ho cared little for his attire, Hsiao-Ho didn’t have the heart to put him in rags. Commander Ho was currently dressed in black shoes and slacks, with a black silk shirt b.u.t.toned firmly up to the collars. It wasn’t his usual style.

Hsiao-Hu sauntered towards him feeling quite pleased, though he refused to let it show. “Sunbathing?”

Commander Ho glanced up at him, and rose slowly to his feet.

At his full height, he still stood slightly taller than Hsiao-Hu. His figure was like a mannequin’s, filling his clothes with an upright poise.

Hsiao-Hu wore an impish smile. Like a wide-eyed child he rubbed his hands together in excitement, and reached out to pinch Commander Ho’s face.

Commander Ho jerked away, taking a few steps back.

Hsiao-Hu grinned widely, for a moment looking guilelessly simple. He leaned forward and pulled Commander Ho in by the collar. “Why did you back away? Feeling shy?”

Commander Ho was hunched a little forward in Hsao-Hu’s grasp. His eyes were lowered and his face expressionless.

Used to seeing him like this, Hsia-Hu paid it no mind and leaned in to steal a kiss on his cheek. “Commander? Ji-Ching? Can I call you Ji-Ching?”

Commander Ho blinked. Abruptly, he grabbed Hsiao-Hu’s wrist and gave it a violent yank. “Let go!” he snarled.

With his powerful build, Hsiao-Hu appeared every bit a grown man, but his temperament still retained traces of a child. Commander Ho didn’t manage to yank his hand away. At his reprimand, Hsiao-Hu almost did let go, purely out of habit, but he quickly remembered that things were different now. He was no longer obliged to follow Commander Ho’s orders; in fact, he could even push him around a bit. Now that was interesting!

As interesting it was, it placed a curious itch in his heart, like a soft feather tickling at his spine on a bright sunny day.

Latching onto Commander Ho’s collars, Hsiao-Hu pulled him in closer. “Ji-Ching? Ho Ji-Ching? Ho Ji-Ching…”

The words seemed honeyed as he chewed on them with fascination, turning the syllables in to a chant. Commander Ho listened with cold indifference. The young body pressed up against him intimately, and he noted with both alarm and disgust that a burning erection was forming between Hsiao-Hu’s legs.

Hsiao-Hu chanted Commander Ho’s name ceaselessly, finally letting out a bark of laughter. Without warning, he reached down and hauled up Commander Ho by the waist.

Hsiao-Hu tied Commander Ho’s hands behind his back and positioned him in his lap with his legs spread far apart, and forced him down with a firm grip on his waist. The enormous shaft sank slowly and painfully into Commander Ho, but he made no sound. His head bowed, he breathed heavily as he tried his best to relax.

Afterwards, Commander Ho lay on his back, pinned under Hsiao-Hu. Hsiao-Hu teased his swollen nipples with his fingertips. “I’ll be good to you, Commander—no, Ji-Ching. Why don’t you cheer up a bit?”

Commander Ho remained silent.

Hsiao-Hu lowered his head and sucked gently on an erect bud. “I’ve always had a thing for you,” he said, looking up. “When Li pulled me out of the corpse pile, I was so starved I could barely see. But somehow, even that far away, I saw you clear as day. You were wearing your beige uniforms and a black cloak, your face was like white jade. Com—Ji-Ch’ing, why don’t we make up? I’ll be good to you, I’ll do everything you say. The men used to p.i.s.s you off all the time, but I’m not like that! Heavens smite me with lightening if I ever betray you!”

Commander Ho waved his hand dismissively. “Get the f.u.c.k off.”

Hsiao-Hu paused, staring into Commander Ho’s face with wide eyes.

Commander Ho’s half-lidded eyes stared motionlessly into s.p.a.ce, the black orbs emotionless and unfathomable.

Hsiao-Hu pouted and sat up. Crawling back, his eyes landed on Commander Ho’s bare foot lying next him. He dragged it into his lap, and gave it a caress before leaning in to lick at a jade toe.

Commander Ho jerked his leg away and glared down at Hsiao-Hu. “What the h.e.l.l are you doing?”

Hsiao-Hu didn’t know what he was doing either. “I—” he began, at a loss.

Commander Ho pushed himself up on his elbows and waved Hsiao-Hu over. “Come over here.”

Hsiao-Hu crawled to him on all fours, eager to please like a hound nuzzling his master with its moist nose.

Commander Ho stared pensively at his face for a moment, and without warning, gave him a resounding slap across the face as his feet connected brutally with Hsiao-Hu’s groin. With a howl, Hsiao-Hu curled into a ball, writhing on the bed in pain.

Hsiao-Hu’s netherparts wore swollen red after Commander Ho’s a.s.sault. For days he had to walk with his legs far apart, feeling like he was carrying a lump of burning coal in his pants.

He had bared his heart to Commander Ho, and in return he’d gotten a thunderous slap across the face and a maiming kick to the b.a.l.l.s. He fumed in bitter anger.

He picked out ten or so men from the captured soldiers serving under Commander Ho, and tied them to poles as human targets. His youth spent among military has eroded away most of his humanity, and as there were still traces of innocence left in his nature, his savagery was particularly bold. With a bayonet, he carved his targets into b.l.o.o.d.y guards. As he breathed in the sweet tang of blood, he felt sated at last.

He knew Commander Ho resented him—it wasn’t just him. It was as if the Commander lived in his own world, a world where n.o.body merited his attention. But Hsiao-Hu didn’t feel like he was any worse than the rest. What good were those colonels and commanders? Weren’t they just powerful bandits? If Commander Ho had gone through the troubles to appease them, why couldn’t he at least play nice with Hsiao-Hu? He’d already let him off for trying to kill him!

Hsiao-Hu didn’t understand. Before he could, he didn’t want to face Commander Ho again.

Commander Ho hadn’t left Hsiao-Hu’s place, being locked away in a room, never to see the light of day.

It had already been seven days since his train was hijacked. Li Shih-Yao had yet to make a move, Commander Ho noted with a chilling heart. He knew that Hsiao-Hu’s logic was sound—Li had no reason to retrieve a burden like him. With his resources, Li could easily look to other prospects.

Commander Ho wished he could speak to Li face to face, tell him that he’d been having thoughts of quitting. If Li could get him out of here, he’d give up everything and go back to Peking alone—no. He’d killed too many of the Nanking Government. Peking wouldn"t be safe for him.

Peking wouldn’t work, but he could go to Tientsin or Shanghai, maybe hide away in one of the foreign concessions. Either way, he’d be able to survive just on ancestral wealth.

Dimly, he noticed that he had begun pacing around the room. In midst of the pacing, he dropped abruptly to his knees with a heavy thump, and lowered his head to ground as if in worship. ‘Give me your blessings, Bai-Shan,’ he thought in a silent prayer ‘help me make it out of here.’

And was promptly caught off guard when the door swung open.

A boy entered with a little bamboo basket. It was apparently dinnertime.

Commander Ho was still on his knees. He looked back at the lad, feeling extremely awkward.

The boy, on the other hand, didn’t spare him a glance. He placed the basket on a table and turned to leave, relocking the door on his way out.

Commander Ho stood and approached the table. He didn’t have any appet.i.te, but he still glanced inside the basket out of habit.

A bowl of white rice and two bowls of cooked vegetables rested inside.

Commander Ho reached in to retrieve the rice, and was surprised to find a crumpled ball of paper in the corner of the basket.

He spread out and inspected the bit of paper, and munched it down along with the rice. His heart was racing a little, his face slightly flushed.

Commander Ho was halfway through his rice when Hsiao-Hu returned.

He had been standing in front of the table, rice bowl in hand. Hsiao-Hu glanced in his direction, not understanding why the man simply refused to come around.

Commander Ho put his bowl down, and wiped his mouth with his sleeve when he failed to find a napkin.

For a long moment, they faced each other in silence. Finally Hsiao-Hu jerked his head up, the cross-shaped scar twitching with the movement. “Anyhow, I’m not letting you go! You’re stuck with me whether you like it or not!”

“Are your eyes attached to the back of your head?” Commander Ho began placidly, his tone cool. “Take a good look at me! I’m a man six years your senior. What are you going to do with me?”

Hsiao-Hu hadn’t expected him to spill so many words at once, and his heart rose slightly. “What about Chief Lan? He was a man, older than you as well! Didn’t stop you from wanting him!”

Commander Ho sat in a chair. “How immature can you get? What, you want to shack up with me now?”

“What if I do!” Hsiao-Hu yelled, his face an angry red. “Why can’t I? Lan had nothing but pretty words. I’m a million times better than that!”

Commander Ho sneered. “Chao Hsiao-Hu, you’re also a million times more depraved.”

Hsiao-Hu stood with his back against the wall, his eyes staring straight into Commander Ho’s. “I know you look down on me because I was your orderly, but many great men have risen from humble beginnings! I heard Major General Li was just a coal picker once, but would you dare to offend him?”

Commander Ho found Hsiao-Hu childish stubbornness a pain to deal with. Other than putting him down, there really didn’t seem to be any other option.

His mind set on murder, Commander Ho felt himself calm. He waved a hand towards the door. “Get the h.e.l.l out of here, you’re making a racket.”

This was Commander Ho’s usual demeanour towards servants. Hsiao-Hu didn’t feel particularly upset, just a sense of helpless dissatisfaction.

He grinded his teeth at the Commander with a frown, wishing he could smash the porcelain man to pieces, except he felt like their relationship was still salvageable.

The thought reined in his violence. In the end, he simply left the room resentfully.

Hsiao-Hu’s village housed a few dozens of women, all of them kidnapped elsewhere. Hsiao-Hu normally took great pleasure in picking one out to warm his bed, but since Commander Ho’s arrival, he seemed to have forgotten about them.

He stood awhile in the evening breeze, feeling like a complete fool. Pinning after another man—he be laughed at if anyone found out. Especially since that man happened to be Commander Ho.

Besides his good looks, Commander Ho really didn"t have any redeeming quality—He was too ruthless, too cruel.

Hsiao-Hu shook his head furiously at the glowing clouds and decided he should go have some fun with his underlings. He was determined to follow Commander Ho’s example, and took great care in appeasing his subordinates. How would he succeed without their service?

Hsiao-Hu partied exhilaratingly with the men and women into the night.

The men of Ch’ing-Yun held Hsiao-Hu in great regard, and were glad to call him Chieftain. They were sure that as long as the followed the boy-chieftain, they’d be on their way to great wealth and fortune! And it wasn’t just wishful thinking. For example, who’d have thought that trains could be hijacked? Who’d have known that the train would be laden with snowy cash and dazzling gold?

But the Chieftain did!

The men waited eagerly for their leader to celebrate their victory. But Hsiao-Hu spent all his time with the pale-faced commander, and seemed to have forgotten about the matter. Finally they’d gotten the chance, and were determined to celebrate to their heart’s content.

Later around midnight, when the residents of the villages where either too drunk or pa.s.sed out, Li Shih-Yao’s troops attacked.

Retrospectively, Li was a bit perplexed by the whole thing. Sure, it had been a sneak-attack, but even sneak-attacks shouldn’t have gone this smoothly. When they’d charged chaotically into the village, they’d only run into a few drunkards, whom they chopped down easily like melons. He’d ended up feeling apprehensive, convinced that he’d fallen into some sort of trap.

He was constantly on the lookout for Hsiao-Hu’s ambush, all the way from the peak to the bottom of the hill. When he was finally sure that there wasn’t going to be an ambush, he couldn’t help but scratch his own head with a grin, thinking that he’d never won an easier victory in his life.

But…where had Hsiao-Hu gone?

Commander Ho sat in front of him, panting and covered in sweat. He had run all the way down from the hill. “Go after him—whatever it takes, don’t let him get away!”

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