Three Hours of Romance

Zhao Qingqing closed the door and went to rest in Yan Xinran's room.

Xu Yiyi glared at Yan Dongxu, got up and went to wash up.

"Oh!"

Yan Dongxu sighed, thinking, what sin had he committed?

It was a perfectly good day until Zhao Qingqing suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

He definitely wasn't getting his way tonight.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, he breathed in and out to quell the fire within him.

One breath...two breaths...three breaths...

As time passed, he found himself enjoying this feeling more and more.

His mind cleared, and he gradually forgot the passage of time.

He felt as if he had entered a dreamworld, flying and wandering within it.

The tall buildings and towers twisted and distorted, yet seemed perfectly logical.

This world, as if more real than reality, drew him inescapably deeper.

He felt fused with heaven and earth.

Without stepping outside, vistas hundreds of miles distant filled his eyes.

How wondrous!

Suddenly, a tremendous force pushed him. The dream world collapsed.

He awoke with a start.

"Ah! What are you doing here?"

Yan Dongxu saw Xu Yiyi standing anxiously beside him.

"I knocked and knocked, and when you didn't open, I thought you were sleeping too soundly. So I came in."

"Seeing you sitting there grinning foolishly, I wanted to wake you."

"What's the matter? Why aren't you sleeping? What are you doing sitting there? It's creepy!"

Xu Yiyi had been badly frightened coming in and finding Yan Dongxu acting so strangely. She was at a complete loss.

"I was practicing the breath control Mr. Zhou taught me. I must have dozed off while practicing."

Yan Dongxu looked at his watch and exclaimed in surprise, "It's past three AM? It only felt like ten, maybe fifteen minutes!"

He hadn't realized so much time had passed, from when he began sitting until now.

But in reality, hours had gone by.

"I was woken up. Officer Zhao suddenly got a phone call, then got dressed and left."

"Seeing how grave she looked, it seemed something big had happened. So I thought I should let you know."

"Maybe you should call her? A girl out so late at night, what if something happens?"

Xu Yiyi recounted events leading up to her visit.

"She left? Probably got called out on a case. What could happen to a policewoman on duty?"

"On jobs they always have partners."

"Ah, not easy being a cop, called back on emergencies even off work."

Yan Dongxu sighed feelingly.

Then he raked her with a smoldering gaze.

Now it was just the two of them here. And she had come over herself.

An urge rose in him.

"Come here." Yan Dongxu's eyes bored feverishly into her.

"What are you going to do?" Xu Yiyi asked shyly.

"Nothing much."

"Oh, you!"

"What can I say?"

Xu Yiyi had never been so bold in her life.

She gave no thought to future consequences.

Neither slept that night until nearly six AM.

Exhausted, Yan Dongxu said, "Go wash up. Who knows who might teleport over any minute."

"Okay!" Xu Yiyi answered meekly, tottering unsteadily towards the bathroom.

Yan Dongxu dressed while checking his phone.

Beautiful girls had teleported into his bed while he slept soundly.

Today he would witness for himself just what transpired.

"Five...four...three...two...one!"

Six AM sharp!

Yan Dongxu watched the bedside.

In a flash, a figure appeared before his eyes.

"Holy crap!"

It was his first encounter with the supernatural, and the shock was intense.

But shock gave way to a nagging familiarity about that back.

"Officer Zhao?!"

He called her name, but Zhao Qingqing did not respond.

He shook her. She sprawled limply, still no reaction.

Sensing something wrong, Yan Dongxu turned her over.

Not expecting blood soaked covers.

Zhao Qingqing's abdomen bore a bullet wound, her head a hideous gash.

"Holy shit!"

Yan Dongxu rushed to summon Xu Yiyi from the bathroom.

"Hurry and get dressed! Something's happened to Officer Zhao! Call an ambulance!"

That said, he fetched the first aid kit to try and stanch Zhao Qingqing's bleeding.

Seeing the blood drenched Zhao Qingqing, Xu Yiyi paled in fright.

Just hours ago Zhao Qingqing had been fine. How could this be?

Xu Yiyi dressed hastily and called emergency services, asking over the phone how best to help stop the bleeding.

"Looks like a gunshot wound. Don't move her!" Yan Dongxu warned.

He dialed Du Sen.

Hearing the news, Du Sen hung up right away.

In under thirty seconds, fiery light flared outside the window.

It shattered as a flaming Du Sen rocketed into the room.

Nothing could faze Yan Dongxu now. But Du Sen's smoldering fury terrified him.

"Meet me at the hospital!"

Without another word Du Sen grabbed Zhao Qingqing and blasted skyward.

Yan Dongxu and Xu Yiyi gaped in shock.

"He really can fly!" Xu Yiyi knew Du Sen had powers, but scenes straight out of sci-fi still blew her mind.

"Let's get to the hospital!" Yan Dongxu pulled Xu Yiyi downstairs.

Reaching ground level, an ambulance idled outside already.

"So fast?"

Puzzled, he asked the med team a few questions and learned armed clashes had occurred nearby.

Many police were injured, ambulances racing to the scene.

Hearing a powered person had evacuated the patient, they took Yan Dongxu and Xu Yiyi along to assist.

Yan Dongxu had to admit, it was his priciest cab ride ever.

Nearly a thousand bucks that one trip cost.

At the hospital, ambulances unloaded wave upon wave of casualties.

Bystanders buzzed over a fire man streaking earthward.

Yan Dongxu gathered they spoke of Du Sen.

He hurried into the ER. Many waited outside.

"What's the status?" Yan Dongxu spotted Du Sen crouched against the wall, kneading his forehead.

"Still in surgery. I called healers from the powered team too. They should pull through."

Du Sen was at his lowest ebb.

"It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let Sis Zhao leave." Xu Yiyi reproached herself.

"Don't talk nonsense, how's this your fault? She was just doing her duty. Blame those scumbags if anyone!"

Du Sen rose abruptly to reassure Xu Yiyi and Yan Dongxu instead.

"Where are you off to?" Yan Dongxu had an ominous hunch.

"To settle accounts with those scumbags!" Du Sen strode towards the exit.

Yan Dongxu chased him outside, hoping to dissuade Du Sen.

This tiny action afforded him a once in a lifetime spectacle of valor.

Men in tactical gear converged on Du Sen from all sides as he walked, falling in behind him.

Among them Yan Dongxu recognized familiar faces. Lin Xia and Gu Bei flanked Du Sen too.

"Captain on deck! Huoyan Squad gathered, ten present! Awaiting orders Captain!"

Du Sen snapped his fingers and thundered, "Open season, boys!!!"

In a flash, the white haired man waved his palm and space itself rippled open before them.

Ten figures stepped through the distortion and vanished instantly from the hospital lobby.