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墨書 Inktalez
But at this moment, did I still have a choice? I had no option but to alternate relaxing my hands, slowly sliding down to ease the pain. At that moment, the cold, the rain, the tension… none of it mattered anymore. My focus was solely on the rope. I knew that if I lost my grip, I would be dangling in mid-air. While the safety harness would prevent me from falling, swinging around up there would be troublesome and would hinder the rescue efforts.
Minutes felt like hours as I finally touched solid ground. My heart felt as if a heavy stone had dropped from it. The pain in my hands intensified. The medical kit was still with Team Leader Ding, so I had to rush over to the rescuers and see how things were going!
As I ran over, the first soldier had already turned on a flashlight. Under its beam, I saw a standing Cadet—it was Old Bi!
What?! How could it be Old Bi? The first one eliminated? I couldn’t believe this fact. The pig head was still behind; wouldn’t this just be a laughingstock?!
As I approached, I noticed another figure lying on the ground, completely soaked. It seemed they had already passed out. Without time to ask what happened, I quickly crouched down to check—broken leg! Old Bi recognized me as I arrived and patted my shoulder, teasingly saying, “Hey, you got here fast! Do you know how to rappel?”
I replied without curiosity, “Isn’t it a bit too leisurely for someone who got eliminated?!”
“Who got eliminated?” Old Bi asked curiously.
“Wasn’t that your signal flare?”
“It was me! Earlier, I saw a signal flare nearby and thought I'd come take a look. I didn’t expect to find him unconscious when I arrived. Afraid you guys wouldn’t find him, I fired off another flare myself!”
Wow, so that’s how it was—scared me half to death! I wiped my face and splashed some rainwater at him. Just then, Ding Yuan also arrived. There was no time for conversation; I felt compelled to open the medical kit, find the necessary supplies, and start basic first aid.
Before long, the pig head also showed up but didn’t say anything; he just stood by watching.
Once everything was taken care of, I instructed the soldiers to carry the injured Cadet and cover him with his poncho while Ding Yuan and I helped hoist him onto the helicopter for transport.
After they left, I stood up and reported the situation to the pig head. He ignored me and coldly said to Old Bi, “Oh, so only one Cadet dropped out? What are you still standing there for? Get back to your mission!”
“Deputy Team Leader, I have a request,” I interjected.
The pig head glared at me with his squinty eyes. “What is it?”
"I estimate that many people won't be able to adapt to this atmosphere, and there might be accidents. I want to follow that Cadet. I've seen Team Leader Ding's route map; their paths are similar and always overlap at some point. I hope to reach the rescue site as quickly as possible."
"Hehe, I almost forgot you all come from the same unit!" Pig Head chuckled ominously. "The question is, can you handle it? A third-rate unit, and even a Military Doctor is so impressive?"
"Deputy Team Leader, every unit has its own nature. Don't bring this up; it has nothing to do with what kind of unit it is. This is my responsibility!" I stared at Pig Head without holding back.
"Is that so? Fine, you can follow along, but you have to leave all your gear behind except for the medical supplies! I don't mind if you drag him down with you and end up last." Pig Head said coldly.
"You!" Old Bi was about to explode, but I stepped in between them. "Old Bi, calm down! Deputy Team Leader, I'll leave behind the extra gear."
"Then at least you need to give him a set of gear just like the Cadet's, right?" Old Bi suddenly said.
"Isn't that your job? Aren't you from the same unit? You should embody the spirit of mutual assistance and love!" Pig Head snorted and turned away.
The helicopter roared away into the Heavy Rain, and Old Bi and I watched it disappear into the storm. Suddenly, a lightning bolt struck, illuminating the surroundings in a flash of daylight.
Looking around at the desolate wilderness and deep mountains, I realized that fear only arises when one is alone. A chill ran through me.
"Old Bi, what are you doing standing under this tree?"
"Well, it's short and dense; lightning can't strike it, and the rain won't soak us. We'll have to make do tonight."
He had a point. The terrain here was relatively high; underneath the tree was mostly dry with dense leaves. The Heavy Rain pounded on top, making a loud noise but hardly leaking through—like a natural umbrella.
"Continuing in this weather would be asking for death," I muttered to myself.
"Yeah, Old Wang, do you mind sitting down for a chat?" Old Bi said slowly, sounding quite different from his usual carefree self.
I was a bit puzzled. "Old Bi, what's wrong? Disappointed? Don't joke around; I'm following you. My Military Topography skills aren't great; I can't guarantee I'll be of help."
"That's not a problem. My grades at school were quite good. It's just that I remembered the time when I was taking a course on Military Topography in such a wild setting, and my girlfriend sent me a breakup letter."
I couldn't believe it; Old Bi had a story too.
Looking at the heavy rain before us, Old Bi's words stirred up memories of my own. We both fell silent for a moment. "Old Wang," Old Bi broke the silence first, "Do you know why I wanted to get close to Xiao Yu?"
"I don't know," I replied honestly. I had sensed that there must be a reason behind Old Bi's actions. His relationship with Lulu had been progressing smoothly, which wasn't his usual style.
"She reminds me a lot of my first love," Old Bi said softly.
"Really? No wonder," I said, feeling enlightened.
"We were high school classmates. I went to a military academy while she attended Local University. In my junior year, after returning from training, I received the breakup letter and lost contact with her afterward," Old Bi said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
"You didn't go look for her?"
"I did. She didn't want to see me; she had another boyfriend."
I turned my head, and with the flash of lightning, I saw Old Bi's face filled with desolation. "Sigh!" I exhaled deeply. "You're better off than me. I've been at your unit for half a year, and my girlfriend of five years broke up with me. We lost contact unilaterally, and I'll never be able to reach her again. I don't even know the reason."
"Made, isn't it your unit?" Old Bi weakly retorted.
I ignored him, but inside, I felt incredibly pained. Where had she gone? How was she doing? And what about my future partner? Where was she at this moment?
We fell into silence again. After an unknown amount of time, I heard Old Bi slowly start to sing a song—seemed like it was in Cantonese. "If you can smile, you won't cry. If you can find a confidant, how could you feel lonely? Yet I've never encountered one. Ask me about the hardships I've faced; how could they end?..." His voice was desolate and sorrowful, revealing a sense of helplessness akin to a hero at the end of their journey. His singing captivated me instantly. Amidst the harmony of wind and rain, I quietly listened as Old Bi finished the song. After a moment of silence, I softly asked him, "What song is this? It's pretty good."
"It's by Wang Jie, 'Who Knows the Heart of a Wanderer.' That's the only Cantonese song I know."
"Brother, sing it again; let me learn it."
"If you can smile, you won't cry. If you can find a confidant, how could you feel lonely? Yet I've never encountered one. Ask me about the hardships I've faced; how could they end? If you can love, don't retreat. If two hearts understand each other, even chasing after them is worthwhile. Unfortunately, every time I encounter passion, it never makes me feel like I've finally found happiness..." Slowly, I began to find my rhythm too. Although I couldn't speak Cantonese, I joined Old Bi in singing loudly.
The long night quietly passed in the voices of two men singing together. At some point, we both fell asleep. When I woke up again, I found that the rain had stopped and the sky was already lightening. I hurriedly shook Old Bi awake so we could eat something and continue our journey.
I looked around; it was 5 AM, and with the first light of dawn, I set off with Old Bi. "Old Bi, we need to reach the top of this mountain. Once the sun rises, the terrain will become clear." He chose a path that seemed to have little grass, but unexpectedly, it grew narrower as we walked, becoming a steep slope of about 75 degrees. The morning mist in the mountains made it feel like we were walking through a sea of white clouds.
The height of this mountain was no ordinary feat. By the time we reached the summit, the sun had already risen, blazing down and seemingly roasting my skin. I sat down and drank several gulps of water; if it weren't for Old Bi's reminder, I might have finished it all!
Once Old Bi confirmed our direction, we began our descent. The foot of the mountain was littered with jagged rocks, and one misstep could send us tumbling into the abyss below. At times, Old Bi and I crawled on all fours, moving at an agonizingly slow pace. It was only as dusk fell that we finally crossed the mountain.
With me along, our food and water supply was expected to last until tomorrow morning at most. Ahead lay another high mountain; only after crossing it would we exit the deep mountainous area and enter relatively flat land. Fortunately, there was no heavy rain, and the weather was good. Various animals would be active at night, so Old Bi and I climbed up into a tree and rested against its branches for the night.
During this time, I hadn't seen any signal flares appear, which relieved me because I wasn't sure if I would want to leave once I boarded a rescue helicopter.
By the afternoon of the third day, Old Bi and I had nearly run out of water. Yesterday we had sweated profusely, but today not a drop fell from us. I felt like a pile of dry kindling ready to ignite under the sun. I noticed Old Bi occasionally grabbing some wild grass or leaves to chew on. When I tried some myself, I found it had a muddy taste with dark green juice that was hard to swallow. However, Old Bi assured me that this could hold us over temporarily until we found a depression with standing water. There were mushrooms in the mountains, and we might encounter wild fruits along the way that we could pick and eat. This thought calmed me slightly.
Thus, we trudged on through hardships, braving wind and rain as we slowly made our way out of the mountains, each carrying a pouch of unknown wild fruits. Old Bi even caught a snake, drank its blood, and kept it for food later—this terrified me. While marching on flat ground, Old Bi insisted on minimal breaks to cover more distance, leaving me too exhausted to talk by the end.
Fortunately, I had my watch; around 5 PM on Saturday, we finally returned to the assembly point in the outskirts.
The captain was already back at the assembly point receiving returning Cadets and recording their results. He looked at us in astonishment as if he had seen a ghost!
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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