A few days later, Song Ran left Ale.
It was around nine in the morning when we set out. Pei Xiaonan, who was across the street, opened her door and a tall soldier from the Eastern Kingdom came out of her room. He had obviously stayed overnight.
"..." Song Ran saw this scene, met Pei Xiaonan's eyes, and smiled.
Pei Xiaonan held a cigarette in her hand and raised her hand: "Let me make it clear that I'm not your boyfriend."
Song Ran smiled and didn't ask any more questions. She never commented on other people's lives.
Pei Xiaonan sighed to herself: "I want to find a boyfriend. It's too lonely here alone."
Song Ran said: "Then we can get along slowly and get along with each other."
Pei Xiaonan leaned her head against the door frame and squinted at her: "Song Ran, do I look good?"
"… looks good."
"But he doesn't like me." She turned her eyes to the sky and said, "That's right, he has a girlfriend. ... Fuck. My ex-boyfriend was not so self-aware. When a woman came close to him, his belt would automatically fall down. Rubbish!"
"..." Song Ran asked, "Who... are you talking about?"
"You don't know him." Pei Xiaonan waved away the smoke in front of him, and thought, "No, that's not right. You have seen him, the Chinese mercenary."
Song Ran's eyes widened slightly: "How do you know he has a girlfriend?"
"He said so himself. He was wearing the red string his girlfriend gave him. He treasured it very much." Pei Xiaonan's tone slowed down a little when he said this. "He's a very good man. He noticed that I was interested in him, so he hinted in a gentlemanly way and didn't offend me."
Song Ran didn't say anything. It would be too embarrassing to bring things up. While she was still thinking, Pei Xiaonan glanced at the various bags beside her and asked with a smile, "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah. War correspondent, there's no war going on here anymore."
"To the north?"
"Um."
"Maybe we'll meet again. I'll go to the north later." A week after the battle, most of the wounded were discharged from the hospital. Many doctors and nurses were transferred to places closer to the front line.
"Well, see you again if we're lucky."
"Goodbye, Song Ran."
Pei Xiaonan smiled at her. The two of them were not very close, but because they were in a foreign battlefield, they felt a special kind of closeness. Pei Xiaonan took a step forward, hugged her, and said, "My dear, have a safe journey."
Song Ran said warmly: "You too."
After saying goodbye to Pei Xiaonan, Song Ran and Jose drove away.
In just one week, the population of Ale doubled, the streets became bustling, and the reconstruction project was in full swing. Cars drove out of the city under the bright sun and headed north to Cangdi.
The journey of more than 80 kilometers is not too far, but the road conditions are extremely bad and it is difficult to travel. The further north you go, the more traces of the war you see. Large tracts of farmland have been burned to charcoal, and new weeds are growing wildly in the fields, with strips of emerald green standing out against the black ash.
Song Ran leaned back in his chair, enjoying the breeze, thinking of someone.
We had a bumpy ride all the way and finally arrived in Cangdi.
Cangdi is the largest city in the northern part of the East Country. It was originally the headquarters of a terrorist organization. As the anti-Japanese army was defeated and continued to move north, the two sides frequently fought for territory, and now the city is divided between the two sides.
The government troops, pursuing the victory, recently set up a base on the southern outskirts of Cangdi, preparing for a protracted war.
Song Ran and Jose settled down in a small hotel in the southern suburbs.
As soon as she put down her luggage, she sent a text message to Li Zan: "A Zan, I'm here."
Add one more: "I just happened to come to Cangdi as well, what a coincidence."
He didn't reply immediately.
When she finished packing her luggage, her cell phone dinged.
Li Zan replied: "Yes, what a coincidence."
"..." Song Ran bit her lip lightly, thinking that he must have been laughing at her when he sent this message.
Just as I was organizing my words, another voice came over: "Are you settled?"
"Yeah. Live in the south."
“I live in the south, too.”
She rolled over and lay on the bed: "Where are you? Can I find you?"
He didn't answer, but asked: "Are you alone?"
"With the government military reporters. His name is Jose."
"That's good. Don't run around alone."
Song Ran was still reading the previous question when he typed another line of text: "There is a mission at 3 pm. I will tell you the location then. If you are interested, you can go and take a look, but don't get too close."
"OK!"
"I have something else to do. I'll contact you later."
"Yeah. Go ahead."
Song Ran ran to the next room and asked Jose if he was willing to take part in the filming.
Jose readily agreed.
After lunch, Song Ran took a nap and woke up. At 2:50, he received the address from Li Zan, with no other words.
Song Ran set off with his equipment. Jose was very familiar with the local situation and jurisdiction. He avoided the territories of various forces from the suburbs and successfully drove around the northern suburbs into the city.
The address Li Zan gave was Cangdi Beicheng Middle School, and they got off the car three blocks away. Jose led the way and approached the middle school along Minxiang.
This area was under the control of an extremist organization and was deserted. The two sneaked to a place one block away from the middle school and found a high point to overlook the middle school. There were people walking inside, but they could not see the Cook soldiers lurking outside.
Song Ran thought, they were all special forces soldiers, how could she easily discover their traces
Her arrival quickly caught their attention. Just as the two of them found a good angle to lie down, someone stepped lightly on the floor behind them.
Song Ran and Jose turned around in shock, and saw a white Cook soldier appear in front of them, saying, "Don't run around until the operation is over."
They both nodded in unison.
The soldier left quickly.
The two looked at each other, feeling terrified:
"When did he come?"
"have no idea."
Song Ran adjusted his camera and looked around. The street was empty and there was no movement. At the middle school at the end of the road, several extremist patrolmen were patrolling the small playground.
The middle school was not big, with two teaching buildings. One had bright windows, where the terrorists were resting and playing; the other had been renovated, with all the windows sealed, so it was hard to see what was going on inside.
Song Ran didn't know when the Cook soldiers started fighting, nor did he know how a team of seven or eight people wiped out this not-so-small hideout.
But she soon discovered that the battle had already begun.
Because - a beam of sunlight suddenly reflected from behind the first teaching building, and the light flashed several times in the frequency of Morse code. It was just in the blind spot of the patrolman's back. The figures of the two Cook soldiers suddenly flew away from the teaching building like cheetahs and sneaked into the bushes next to it.
The shadows flashed by, but Song Ran immediately recognized that one of them was Li Zan.
She understood instantly that he had gone to plant the bomb.
The next second, the ambush point outside the school received the signal and became ready. With two loud bangs, the shells hit the teaching building and blew off a corner of the building.
The teaching building was suddenly like an ant nest with the soil lifted up. The patrol soldiers immediately rushed to reinforce. The troops on the small playground were reduced suddenly. Li Zan ran out along the bushes, jumped up the two or three meter high wall and climbed down. The assaulter covered him from behind.
An explosion sounded on campus, and the teaching building collapsed to the ground in flames.
The nest overturned and there were heavy casualties.
The remaining stragglers were left to be dealt with by the snipers in the team.
Everything is as simple as a video game, Jose commented.
But Song Ran knew that behind this seemingly simple operation lay years of hard training and countless crisis situations.
Within a minute, there was no one in the den who could resist. Benjamin and his team quickly sneaked in and rushed to the second closed teaching building to rescue the hostages.
A group of terrorists in the building ran out to reinforce after the explosion, but they were exposed to the sniper's sight and were annihilated. The remaining group was no match for the Cook soldiers.
The action came to a rapid conclusion.
Song Ran followed Li Zan with his eyes all the time, watching him leave the school, run across the street, jump into an abandoned building, and disappear.
I'm afraid he's gone to sleep again.
She said hello to Jose, went downstairs, walked through the streets and alleys, and approached the building where Li Zan disappeared.
She groped her way along the abandoned alley to the back door of the building. The door panels had been removed, leaving only an empty doorway. She poked her head inside and took a look. The window was small, the light was dim, and the atmosphere was gloomy.
She looked up and saw that Li Zan had indeed entered the house through the main entrance.
She tried to step in, and just as she stepped in, a figure quickly approached from the shadow of the wall beside her, covered her mouth, and pulled her into his arms. She stared in shock, but the next moment, her heartbeat slowed down.
Behind her, Li Zan lowered his head and whispered in her ear: "Didn't I tell you not to run around?"
She hummed in his palm filled with the smell of gunpowder: "I think your mission is over..."
"Not yet," he said, still not letting her go. He leaned his head back against the wall, and relaxed a little.
Song Ran felt his chest rise and fall violently, as if he was letting out a long sigh after being tired.
She was still standing straight, and he put his gun hand around her waist, holding her close to his chest, and hugged her from behind. His hand was still covering her face, but loosened a little, and his fingers scratched her face a few times. The girl's face was delicate and soft.
She whispered, "A-Zan, are you very tired?"
"Hmm." He mumbled, and suddenly lowered his head and put his head on her shoulder. He didn't use too much force, just gently.
Song Ran glanced sideways, glancing at his face that was so close to her. He seemed relaxed, but he wasn't. Although he rested his chin on her shoulder, his eyes were still vigilantly observing the changes in light and shadow from the windows in the room.
Song Ran let him hold her in his arms, and straightened his body inadvertently, trying to give him even a little support.
At this time, Li Zan's headphones rang.
Comrades in several directions sent out "clear" signals that the enemy had been cleared.
At this moment, he lowered his head and found a comfortable position to lean on her shoulder; the hand covering her face also fell on her shoulder, hugging her body. He closed his eyes, and his warm and long breath sprayed on her neck.
She lowered her eyes to look at him. His long eyelashes were drooping and his sleeping face was calm and peaceful.
"A-Zan, do you want to lie down and rest for a while?"
His eyelashes fluttered and he shook his head very lightly. It was nice to hold her like this and lean on her shoulder.
Song Ran pursed her lips and smiled.
The afternoon sun was bright, but the shadow was cool. The air was filled with the old dusty smell of the room, as well as his familiar masculine scent, mixed with a hint of hormones with gunpowder.
She just wanted him to rest a little longer, but suddenly, a voice came from his earphones:
"Lee?" It's Benjamin.
Li Zan opened his eyes for a moment, squinting slightly, but his eyes were sharp and clear: "Yes?"
Benjamin said, "There's a bomb over here. Maybe you need to come over and take a look."
…
…
The school was in a mess, with fire burning on the ruins, and heat waves radiating to the entire campus. Hundreds of hostages rescued from the second teaching building were being evacuated.
Li Zan ran across the playground against the crowd and entered the teaching building. Song Ran followed closely behind. As soon as they entered the corridor, the stench and smell of blood hit their noses. The classrooms had been transformed into prisons, with cement concrete built into sealed cells that looked like pigeon nests.
The walls and the floor were covered with blood and excrement, and torture instruments were scattered everywhere: knives, guns, sticks, awls, bone-piercing nails, sharp whips, electric wires... all covered with blood and minced meat.
Song Ran felt horrified and his skin, flesh and bones all ached.
Passing by one of the cells, I saw a naked girl's body on the ground, covered in blood, with her breasts and lower body in a terrible state. Another male body was not much better, with his ears, eyes, fingers and ankles missing.
Song Ran's body was trembling, and his feet felt like they were stepping on cotton wool that contained needles. He hurriedly looked away and followed Li Zan closely.
Li Zan hurried to the end of the prison corridor and heard the child crying.
Benjamin and Kevin were waiting there, with two dead terrorists at their feet.
A family was trapped in the deepest part of the cell. The husband was holding his wife who was sobbing softly, and the wife was hugging several young children. The children cried until their voices were hoarse. The whole family was tied together, and their bodies were full of detonators and bombs.
Seeing Li Zan coming in, Benjamin quickly said, "This gentleman's brother is a member of the government army. The terrorists kidnapped them and planned to release the explosion video this afternoon to shock the government army. But we are here." He kicked the corpse at his feet in annoyance, "This son of a bitch activated the bomb. Lee, if you..."
Li Zan walked past him without stopping.
He walked up to the family, frowned and checked, and said calmly: "Ma'am, can you help me?"
The sobbing wife looked up: "What?"
"Stop crying. Comfort your children." He checked and fiddled with the ropes that bound them. "I will defuse the bomb for you. It will be a great help to me if you stop crying."
"I'm sorry, sir." The wife stopped crying and comforted the child in her arms with her husband.
Li Zan looked around and saw that the wiring of the detonator, gunpowder and the spider-web-like ropes on their bodies were tangled together, so he couldn't rescue anyone first. But fortunately, there was only one detonator, not tied to each person. As long as the detonator was removed, there would be a chance.
After a round of inspection, his eyes suddenly changed.
The hemp rope tied up the family like a net. The husband and wife embraced each other, holding a bunch of children in their arms. One, two, three, four...
There are exactly six people.
Caught off guard, his head buzzed. Li Zan froze for a moment, subconsciously resisting. In a second, the buzzing sound disappeared.
Benjamin observed him with a cautious expression. In the past three and a half months, although Li Zan had made a lot of bombs, he had never dismantled them once. He was not sure if his mental illness had been cured.
Li Zan took a deep breath and squatted down.
The detonator was located between the arms of the husband and wife, right above the heads of the two children.
Li Zan didn't look at them, but stared at the detonator intently. The red time flowing on the timer was like blood.
"00:12:43"
He pulled out a saber from his side pocket, brought the tip of the knife close to the bomb casing, and swallowed as his throat tightened.
The older boy choked up and asked him in English: "Sir, can you save us?"
Li Zan didn't look at him at first, but after a few seconds he raised his eyes and said, "I will try my best."
He quickly removed the outer casing, revealing the colorful wires inside, like a tangled mess drawn with colored pencils.
Kevin saw that the situation was not good and said, "Lee, I'll go get you some protective clothing."
"It's too late." Li Zan stared at the lines in front of him, his fingers quickly clearing and plucking them like playing the piano. His eyes moved quickly with his fingers, and his head quickly memorized the direction, starting point and connection of each line.
In the first few minutes, he was always analyzing and judging, drawing a circuit map in his mind.
Can,
Buzz——————
It's like there's a bee stuck in my ear.
Buzz——————
Another one,
More and more, buzzing.
Finally, the roar came again.
The timer quickly hit eight minutes.
"00:07:59"
The husband became nervous when he saw that he was slow to cut the thread, and begged, "Sir, please..."
"Sir, please believe me!" Li Zan suddenly interrupted him.
There was a sudden deathly silence in the cell.
Song Ran had never heard him speak in this tone before, and he fell silent.
Benjamin looked stern and gestured to the husband to shut up. The husband nodded tremblingly, leaning his head against his wife and children in his arms.
Li Zan pursed his lips into a straight line and cut the wires one by one with a knife. The roar in his ears became louder and louder. He restrained himself and his expression did not reveal even the slightest fear. But sweat began to break out on his forehead, nose, and lips.
He forced himself not to be affected, grasped the circuit diagram in his mind and followed it; he forced himself to suppress and get rid of those voices with his mind.
He resisted, glancing at the timer.
"00:05:34"
He clenched his jaw, his muscles tensed, resisting and trembling, but his hands remained stable with amazing willpower.
finally,
All the yellow lines were cut off.
The purple lines are also suspended.
"00:03:03"
He said nothing, and the sweat on his body kept coming out, even his fingers were wet.
Song Ran had already noticed something was wrong, but he didn't dare to call him. The time on the timer was getting shorter and shorter, and Li Zan's condition was getting worse and worse.
He was trembling from head to toe, and except for his fingers, every part of his body was still.
He knelt in front of the family, his back bent, his hands clasped around the bomb, like a sinner begging for forgiveness.
He bit his jaw hard, and the sweat on his forehead kept dripping down, soaking his hair. He cut an electric wire and suddenly opened his mouth to make a sound, but suppressed it silently.
She was sure he had tinnitus again; and it was severe!
"00:02:01"
Before Song Ran could respond, Benjamin started walking towards him. Song Ran grabbed Benjamin and stopped him behind him. He took a step forward and called softly, "A-Zan?"
no respond.
The rumbling sound in his ears was like a tsunami, an explosion, or the collapse of heaven and earth. It was as if a huge shock wave shook his head and stung his eardrums, as if thousands of troops were fighting.
He couldn't hear at all.
He could not hear anything. He just persisted and struggled hard, hoping that he could resist all the fear, pain and regret.
Can not give up.
Can't give up.
"00:00:59"
Benjamin became nervous and stopped waiting!
He pushed Song Ran aside, strode forward, and said to the family, "Sorry!"
Then he pulled Li Zan's arm and said, "Retreat!"
Li Zan opened his hand, his eyes bloodshot, his expression almost crazy: "Get lost."
Benjamin was startled.
The couple cried in fear and the child wailed loudly.
"I'm sorry! please five me." Benjamin tried to pull Li Zan again and turned around to yell, "Kevin! Carry him away!"
Kevin rushed forward, but was unable to pull Li Zan away.
"Retreat! This is an order!" Benjamin became more and more urgent and pulled Li Zan's arm.
But at this moment, Song Ran suddenly stepped forward and pushed them away.
She rushed forward and hugged Li Zan from behind. She wrapped her arms tightly around his waist and held him with all her strength.
She was trembling with fear, but she gritted her teeth and said nothing.
Li Zan took root in front of the bomb.
He struggled, staring at the line, his fingers moving without stopping, cyan, pink, black...
He could not see the husband pressing his cheek against his wife and children in despair, repeating "I love you" in Eastern language over and over again; he could not see the wife closing her eyes and shedding tears; he could not see the child's big black eyes filled with tears.
All he saw in countless nightmares was the empty, dark eyes of that family after a blank moment.
Suddenly, everything ceased to exist; husband, wife, children, Benjamin, Kevin, all disappeared.
The cell no longer existed. There was only him and the bomb with the countdown remaining in the space. The rumbling sound that resounded throughout the world made it impossible for him to even hear his own heartbeat.
The bomb turned into a hideous black shadow; the faces of the dead husband, wife, and children merged alternately and turned into the faces of monsters.
He was a man who was arm wrestling with a monster. He held on tightly, gritting his teeth, and refused to fall down even if he used up all his strength or his wrist was broken.
"00:00:29"
Li Zan was soaked in sweat, his face and eyes were red and bloodshot from the intense mental struggle. He forced himself to stay awake, racing against time to identify, analyze, and cut the thread...
In this world where he is the only one left,
He was a lonely and down-and-out soldier who drew his sword alone in the face of an overwhelming enemy.
"00:00:19"
Benjamin and Kevin let go and retreated urgently.
Song Ran tightened his arms and closed his eyes.
"00:00:09"
Li Zan was sweating profusely, his eyes were bloodshot, his ears were buzzing, and his head was splitting; but his hands remained steady, and he quickly fiddled with and cut the wires one by one.
Red, blue, green, orange, white,
"00:00:01"
Time freezes!
Suddenly, the world became quiet.
Li Zan loosened the knife in his hand and raised his head slightly.
It disappeared and became quiet. There was a deathly silence in his ears. He could hear the heartbeat in his chest as if it were being revived, and also the trembling breathing of Song Ran behind him.
There was a sense of emptiness on his face, and his hand slowly dropped to his waist, covering her hand.
Her hands were cold and trembling, and she held him tightly.
Li Zan lowered his head, his whole body exhausted, and sat down on the ground. Song Ran thought he would fall, so she went forward to hug him. Unexpectedly, he turned around and held her tightly in his arms.
slowly…
He buried his head in her neck, deep inside.
“Azan…” Song Ran hugged his sweaty back, but was suddenly stunned.
Something warm and wet flowed out and flowed into her neck.
It's tears.
Lines of tears.
Silence, pain, regret, relief.
His shoulders trembled slightly, and he tried to restrain himself, but his tears kept flowing more and more, and he could no longer hold them back. They all flowed out, soaking her heart.