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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Forty: Disappear (Part Two)
I took a deep breath and waited for another five or six minutes before calling out again, but this time, the only response was the sound of rustling.
Could something have happened? I thought to myself, but then I reconsidered. What could possibly go wrong? First, the fact that they hadn’t called me back indicated that everything was normal and there were no emergencies. Second, this mountainous area didn’t have any wild beasts, so danger was unlikely. I really couldn’t understand what could have caused the loss of communication.
Xuanhua was still hacking away at the vines ahead. I shouted, “Xuanhua, stop clearing the path! We might need to head back.” Without waiting for Xuanhua to respond, I hurriedly retraced my steps. I felt that something must be blocking our communication. As I ran toward the open area, I continued to call out, but still received no answer.
I glanced at my watch; it had been nearly ten minutes since our last communication. Panic set in as I rushed to the Company Commander’s tent to report. Before I could finish speaking, the Company Commander dashed out, shouting as he ran, “What are you standing around for? Hurry up and come with me to the command center!”
Nervously following the Company Commander to the entrance of the command center, he went inside to report the situation. I didn’t dare enter and stood by the door. Suddenly, I felt someone behind me and instinctively turned around to see Xuanhua following along with a confused expression. I shot him a glare and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m following Squad Leader! You didn’t announce any mission cancellation,” he replied.
I stood there speechless, waiting for news from inside.
Not long after the Company Commander entered, commotion erupted within. After a while, I saw the Deputy Chief of Staff come out with the Company Commander and several staff members. “Wang Squad Leader, what’s going on? Give me the details,” he demanded.
I reported everything to the Deputy Chief of Staff in detail. He glanced at the mountain shrouded in gray mist and said, “I’ve reported to Command Headquarters, but they can’t get in touch with them either. There are three people in the line-laying team; it’s unlikely that there’s a communication or intercom failure. The Laying Line Team usually carries a spare intercom and a testing phone that can connect with headquarters through laid lines.”
“Could something really have happened? What could happen?” the Deputy Chief of Staff muttered to himself.
We all fell silent, waiting for instructions from our leader. “Let’s send someone up to check it out. Since we’re closer, we’ll send people first to assess the situation; it’s still quite a distance from here to the Foot of the Mountain,” he decided firmly.
“One Continuous Long, send someone with two—no, three—intercoms immediately to search the mountaintop and see what’s going on.”
“Yes!” When I saw the Company Commander turn toward me, I knew trouble was brewing.
“Wang Pai, you pick two soldiers and set off right away. Report back promptly if you encounter any issues.”
“Yes!” I instinctively stood at attention in response.
Company Commander immediately pulled me along, heading towards Base, while Xuanhua automatically followed behind. "Wang," Company Commander whispered, "bring your guns. They might be useful. Blank Rounds have lethal force within five meters, you know that, right? In case of an emergency or if we can't make contact, fire a shot. Two shots mean we've found someone safely, three shots mean we can't find anyone and need help. Do you understand Whitened?"
I nodded in surprise. Was it really that dangerous? "Who are you planning to take with us?" I thought for a moment and said, "Wei from Second Squad. I trained with him; he's the deputy squad leader of Second Squad, a second-year soldier. He’s not very tall but is sharp and capable, already prepared for promotion to sergeant. Plus, he’s from Guangxi People, having grown up in the mountains, so he’ll be a great asset."
"Good," Company Commander nodded approvingly.
"Xuanhua, notify Deputy Wei to report in. Make sure you both bring your guns!" As Company Commander was about to hand me his pistol, I quickly declined. "Company Commander, I feel safer with the Automatic Rifle! Xuanhua, get me Liang Squad Leader's 81-1."
Once Wei arrived and Xuanhua was ready, I led the two of them quickly along the path we had previously cleared.
Wei was nimble, and Xuanhua was strong; the two worked together efficiently while I cleared away obstacles behind them. We continued our ascent up the mountain. Along the way, I reminded them to keep two walkie-talkies on and leave one as a backup, maintaining constant communication with command; the signal was still good.
Wei's curiosity surpassed that of Xuanhua. After a while, he couldn't help but ask from the front, "Wang Pai, what mission are we actually executing?"
Xuanhua buzzed in response, "Just follow our Squad Leader." I thought for a moment and decided to briefly explain the situation to them. "Here's the deal: Command Headquarters is down at the base on the opposite side. They sent a line crew up here to set up communications but just lost contact at the mountaintop. We need to find them and at least figure out what happened." I paused for a moment before adding, "Load your bullets."
Wei fell silent and quietly followed my orders to load his ammunition and secure his weapon.
Xuanhua hesitated before speaking again, “Squad Leader, I don’t have any bullets.”
I suddenly remembered that we hadn’t distributed ammunition yet. I quickly tossed my magazine to Xuanhua, instructing him to reload. With my rifle slung over my shoulder, we continued our ascent.
At this point, I checked my watch; it was already past ten in the morning. The fog around us began to dissipate, improving visibility. Through the gaps in the trees, I could see gray mist slowly moving away from the mountaintop ahead of us; some of the mountain's surface was starting to show.
"Keep pushing; we're almost there! The fog is clearing up; once we reach higher ground, visibility will improve," I encouraged them. The mountain wasn't very high; it just took longer to clear a path. After another half hour of effort, we finally approached the summit. "Keep your eyes wide open!" I pulled out my walkie-talkie and reported back to command as interference began to increase again.
“Squad Leader, look! This is strange; I've never seen this back home!” Wei exclaimed sharply. I looked ahead and saw it—a gray mist! It was moving slowly less than twenty meters in front of us! Half of the mountaintop had already cleared; why was there still fog? Hadn't all the surrounding mist dissipated? I felt puzzled.
Before I could think further, Xuanhua, carrying his rifle and an Engineer shovel, dashed toward the area where there was no fog. “What are you guys doing? Are you slacking off while looking for you?” Assuming that Xuanhua had found something significant, I hurriedly followed his lead while Wei quickly sheathed his machete and brought his rifle along.
The mountaintop was flat—about the size of two basketball courts—uneven and covered with vegetation. A dozen small trees stood sparsely around; their density was greater than when we ascended due to the strong winds at the peak preventing larger trees from growing. Following Xuanhua, I ran into the clear area and couldn't help but kick him in frustration. “What are you yelling about?!”
"I'm sorry," Xuanhua scratched his head awkwardly. "Squad Leader, I thought they were slacking off because no one could see them in the thick fog." "That was you!" I replied irritably.
"Wang Pai, the phone line!" Wei suddenly shouted. Following his finger, I looked ahead and indeed saw a coiled phone line about two to three meters away. One end stretched from down the mountain, while the other end loosely extended into the gray mist. Despite being only five or six meters away, the fog was so thick that we still couldn't see what was inside.
As I contemplated whether to report this to the command center, Xuanhua suddenly dashed forward with a shout, "Great! You guys have laid the line right into the fog!"
I had no choice but to follow Xuanhua as he rushed over. He threw himself beside the phone line, crouching down and tugging at it while moving deeper into the gray mist.
"Wait!" Wei shouted suddenly. "Look, the fog is moving!"
I focused my gaze and saw that indeed, the gray mist was shifting at a slow but visible pace, revealing two-thirds of the mountaintop. However, there was still no sign of the three members of the wiring team!
Something was strange! Could those three be hiding in the mist? Should we wait for it to clear before searching for them, or should we go in now? After thinking it over, I decided to enter. I stopped Xuanhua and grabbed hold of the phone line. "You two hold onto that line; I'm going in to take a look. Following this line should lead me to them!"
Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I stepped into the gray mist!
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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