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墨書 Inktalez
Taiwan is located in the southwestern border of Heavenly Pride Nation. In the history of Heavenly Pride, it has actually been part of Heavenly Pride Nation's territory. Over eight hundred years ago, a formidable Heroic Figure emerged on the land of Heavenly Pride, who, with his undefeated cavalry, swept across several continents, measuring vast lands with iron hooves and achieving a god-like dominance. However, this war god was merely a warrior and not a ruler, ultimately receiving the critique of "only knowing how to bend a bow and shoot at great eagles" from another Heroic Figure in the history of Heavenly Pride Nation. For several centuries after the era of the war god, Taiwan remained within the great territory of Heavenly Pride Nation until it was disgracefully ceded to a small country by the last decaying feudal dynasty of Heavenly Pride Nation over a hundred years ago.
It was not until twenty-eight years ago that remnants of the defeated Mingguo Party fled to that place, eliminated the so-called national regime there, and established the Taiwan National Regime. Only then did Taiwan come under the control of descendants of Heavenly Pride once again, although these descendants could be considered unworthy. Over the years, the government of Heavenly Pride Nation has consistently declared that Taiwan is indeed part of its territory, while Taiwan has sought to prove its status as an independent nation in the international community. Thus, both sides have maintained a confrontational stance. It was only in recent years that trade began between them, primarily initiated by some enlightened individuals in Taiwan who had prospered through drug trafficking. One reason was to escape from that resource-poor jungle land; another was that some were former soldiers who had fled from Heavenly Pride Nation and felt homesick, thus returning with money to invest in Heavenly Pride. Meanwhile, a small amount of goods has been exported from Heavenly Pride Nation to Taiwan, but these exchanges are not direct; they must go through another route to achieve circulation—usually being transferred to another country before entering either Taiwan or Heavenly Pride, even though the borders are separated by only a small ditch.
There are no civil aviation flights between Heavenly Pride and Taiwan, so direct access is impossible unless one first flies to another country for a transfer. Of course, if one does not wish to do this, there is an alternative route that generally people with status would avoid: first reaching the southwestern border of Heavenly Pride Nation and then secretly crossing into Taiwan. The term "secretly crossing" is somewhat misleading; along the southwestern border line, people from both sides frequently interact without much concern. Even the border guards can exchange cigarettes casually. The people are unaware of how dire the situation has become between their governments; after all, they share common roots and have familial ties on both sides. Visiting each other’s homes for meals or playing mahjong is commonplace. Moreover, there are instances where young men from one side pursue girls from the other side and vice versa; intermarriage is also possible. As for nationality issues regarding marriage, there is an unwritten rule: if a young man wants to marry a girl from the other side, he must facilitate another marriage on his side to maintain balance in numbers. This way, local household registration management becomes easier. Local youths are willing to do this; who wouldn’t want to easily marry a foreign spouse? Returning home afterward would be considered as having returned from abroad—a point of pride.
Xin Yi chose to exit from the southwestern border of Heavenly Pride and then sneak into Taiwan's interior through its dense jungles. This route would also serve as the path for his team’s future entry into Taiwan. His purpose this time was to familiarize himself with the environment, making this choice undoubtedly the best option. Xu Maogong also agreed with Xin Yi's chosen path; as someone who had commanded troops in battle before, he certainly knew which routes were most suitable.
Thus, a group of four—three men and one woman—set off from Longchuan. They first took a domestic flight from Longchuan to Lijiang and then traveled by car to Zhengkang County at the border. The four stayed in Zhengkang County for two days while procuring tools, weapons, food, and medicine necessary for traversing the jungle and purchasing outfits based on local attire for disguise purposes. Although local management regarding border crossings isn’t very strict for locals—since they know locals merely visit each other without ulterior motives—outsiders are treated differently. If outsiders come specifically to cross borders, they likely have ulterior motives such as drug or arms smuggling. Therefore, local border defense forces pay close attention to outsiders near the border; any signs of their presence trigger heightened scrutiny. Hence, they had to dress like locals to avoid attracting attention.
Once everything was prepared, they needed to find an experienced Guide locally—this was crucial for their endeavor. Having a local Guide could save them much trouble during crossing; moreover, danger lurked everywhere in the jungle. Without a good Guide or Kung Fu skills, anyone could meet their demise in that unknown territory at any moment. Xu Maogong took charge of finding a local Guide due to his extensive social experience and age advantage that helped him gain trust easily. After preparing all necessary supplies, Xu Maogong stepped out of the Inn to look for a Guide.
Xin Yi and Topology went through their purchased supplies again: four military 79-style submachine guns—these were outdated weapons replaced by newer models in service—but despite being noisier and slightly less powerful than current 05-style submachine guns, they had advantages such as quick manual loading compared to 05-style’s reliance on pre-loaded magazines; thus their practical use was superior overall. They also had four 54-style 7.62mm military handguns and four Triangular Bayonets. Xin Yi even customized four heavy machetes and some small throwing knives at a blacksmith shop—the machetes were essential tools for clearing paths in jungles that no other knife could replace while throwing knives were meant for dealing with aggressive small animals like venomous snakes or spiders.
The tools included compasses, ropes, lighters... etc., while food consisted mainly of military rations like compressed biscuits and vacuum-packed canned goods secretly procured by local soldiers swapping them for cigarettes or alcohol—a well-known open secret locally—making military supplies easy to obtain just like Xin Yi’s weapons which were all military configurations. Additionally, they bought some high-proof liquor and common medical supplies among others; after inventorying everything they could remember this was about it. Topology couldn’t contribute much here since he was familiar with deserts rather than jungles; if it were about entering deserts he could speak fluently about it since he grew up there knowing it as well as he knew his four wives and eleven children—but jungles were completely foreign to him. He even naively asked Xin Yi why so many supplies were needed when survival conditions in forests were supposedly far better than in deserts.
Xin Yi corrected him multiple times that it was jungle not forest before he finally understood; little did he know how much difference that single word could make—many people might vanish without a trace within jungles where certain fungi consume animal bones entirely leaving no remains behind. Thus in reality, jungles are just as dangerous as deserts with unpredictable threats lurking everywhere at unknown times or places—even what kind of danger might arise remains uncertain; when it strikes unexpectedly one might find themselves in heaven without knowing how they got there.
Xin Yi wanted Roxy to stay behind in this county while waiting for their return due to numerous potential dangers lurking within jungles; although he knew Roxy possessed considerable Kung Fu skills she was still just a girl—it would indeed be somewhat unfair for her to accompany him into such risks especially since bringing her along was mainly just so she wouldn’t be left alone in Longchuan while also easing Shu Rui’s and Shen Shanshan’s worries about her safety—not because he truly intended on taking her along toward Wantai. However when Xin Yi conveyed this sentiment Roxy did not take it well; she insisted on joining them into the jungle despite Xin Yi’s and Topology’s attempts at dissuasion seeing her unwavering determination left them no choice but to relent.
As night fell Xu Maogong entered the Inn leading an elderly local man—a thin dark-skinned old man who was quite short wearing a blue cloth headscarf typical attire of Dai Ethnic Group people. The old man wasn’t very talkative; after questioning Xin Yi for quite some time he finally revealed his name as Yanming Store—a member of Dai Ethnic Group from Zhengkang County—but despite his reticence his movements displayed an air of cleanliness and decisiveness while his small eyes sparkled with intelligence indicating he was quite astute.
Xu Maogong introduced Yanming Shop Elder as a well-known jungle Guide in this area who annually leads many groups across borders into Taiwan successfully reaching Guokan—their ultimate destination—after which further travel would depend solely on employers themselves following established rules within their line of work. However no matter how skilled a Guide may be there’s no guarantee they can ensure employers’ safety reaching destinations due to numerous unpredictable dangers present within jungles which could arise at any moment; Guides merely strive to avoid alarming these potential threats whenever possible.
Regarding payment Xu Maogong had already negotiated terms with Yanming Shop Elder prior arriving; knowing Xin Yi wasn’t someone overly concerned about money as long as they found an experienced Guide spending extra wouldn’t matter much.
Afterward Xin Yi asked Yanming Shop Elder to inspect their prepared supplies once more; Yanming Shop Elder offered no opinions on what had been gathered since he had seen plenty similar preparations before—all groups entering jungles must carry some provisions against unforeseen circumstances—with some being even better equipped than what Xin Yi’s team had prepared but all these efforts would be futile without having an excellent Guide accompanying them—even armored vehicles might not guarantee survival traversing through jungles.
Yanming Shop Elder first withdrew half his commission upfront—that was customary practice since nobody knew whether they’d return alive after entering so taking half beforehand ensured families would have something secured should anything happen during their journey.
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