Chapter 2: Encountering Danger
The young man set the captive down and cautiously approached the door. The window quietly opened a crack, and with a gentle toss, an object arced through the air and fell beside the captive.
Her muddled thoughts seemed to float in the void, and after a long while, they suddenly fell, causing Lin Yilan to awaken abruptly
Do you think you can walk out?
Lin Yilan did not indulge; she tore off a piece of cloth to stifle all the venomous words, stuffing it in so tightly that the young man could hardly breathe, his resentful eyes the only outlet for his fury
"It is truly regrettable; I was knocked unconscious and saw nothing, so I am likely unable to repay you." A vague shadow was dimly perceived, and she quickly turned her head away.
"Then you took advantage of the bandaging to launch a sneak attack?" A youthful face, still innocent, was marked by hatred, with a somewhat vacant gaze, nervously breaking into laughter. "It's not so easy to kill me. This morning, I hit a noble's leg with a Molotov cocktail; he looked truly ridiculous on fire, scared out of his wits. They deserve to go to hell, and so do you. You are the lackeys of the nobility... Unfortunately, I failed. Otherwise, perhaps I could have..." They deserve to go to hell, and so do you. You are the lackeys of the nobility... Unfortunately, I failed. Otherwise, perhaps I could have..."
Did you save me? Thank you
Lin Yilan watched as the young man walked back from the door, patiently waiting for a moment. Soon, she heard a sharp gunshot, and after waiting for a while without any further sound, she quietly slipped inside.
"I have a poor memory." The smell of smoke lingered in the air, and Lin Yilan stifled a cough, as the injury to her neck caused a sharp pain in her temples
"Coward!" the youth mocked, spitting with contempt. "How could the army have a timid and incompetent woman like you?"
Perhaps you should bandage the wound Lin Yilan reminded
"Even if I have to die, I will take someone to bear the blame with me." The pale lips twitched slightly, and the blood dripping from the boy formed a small pool on the ground. "You and he... just right..."
This is a typical imperial residence, consisting of two rooms; the outer room is used for receiving guests, while the inner room serves as the sleeping quarters. The young man is very cautious, choosing to conduct the interrogation in the relatively concealed inner room, where Lin Yilan peeks through the window crack.
I surrender, please do not shoot—" With these words of concession, Lin Yilan dropped the gun
In the darkness, a sudden sound echoed, and a flicker of fire revealed a sharply defined face, the lines at the corners of the mouth seeming to mock. The man casually lit a cigarette, halting her slightly shifting footsteps. "You see it now."
Despite his stubbornness, the young man clearly still wishes to survive. However, as the blood continues to flow, he trembles more and more violently. In a short while, without any external force, he will faint due to excessive blood loss.
The man fell silent for a moment and said softly, "I thought the army was filled with fools, but it seems there are exceptions."
The damp squirrel, clutching a pine cone, climbs up the branch, its small eyes, like black beans, curiously surveying the ground below. After a while, it loses interest and buries its head into the pine nuts, with the shells falling from mid-air, landing squarely on the head of the lurking figure beneath the fence.
As the youthful spirit momentarily faltered and he was about to shoot, she lunged forward and knocked the gun from his hand with a swift strike.
The nearby residents retreated into their homes after the announcement, and the entire area was eerily quiet. The closest to her was a young soldier, whose grip on the gun clearly indicated he was a novice, his tense face eager to take risks and achieve merit. When she heard his eager self-introduction while receiving equipment, he had only reported a week earlier than her.
The situation had formed a rigid standoff, with the opponent being a newly adult child. Lin Yilan did not wish to open fire. "I have no intention of killing; I only want to bring my teammates back"
A dangerous feeling flashed through her, and she quickly rolled away as bullets whizzed past her ears, several bullet marks embedded in the ground. A teammate fired back, and after a fierce exchange, the hidden assailant, exposed, fled amidst the heavy gunfire. One soldier pursued, but after just a few steps, he was struck by a sniper's bullet and fell, a large pool of blood seeping from his chest, indicating that he had no hope of survival.
The person on the left saw his companion suddenly collapse to the ground without hearing a gunshot. He rushed forward to help, only to find a blood-stained stone on the ground. Just as he looked up, another stone flew through the air. He hurriedly dodged, but before he could regain his balance, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and everything went dark before his eyes
The overcast sky was draped in a fine drizzle, and the military uniform, soaked by the rain, felt heavy and uncomfortable. However, this did not affect the hand gripping the gun; the gaze was as steady as the breath. The woman executing the military orders was entirely different from the traveler who had descended from the carriage.
Having taken down three enemies, Lin Yilan cautiously crept along the end of the alley and heard muffled groans outside a dilapidated old house
"Perhaps you are not afraid of death, but I do not wish to die alongside you" she sighed
The captured soldier had no new wounds except on his shoulder, and the gun lay beside him. Excessive blood loss, combined with the shock from the gunfire, had already plunged him into a deep coma
Lin Yilan effortlessly bound the weak captive and casually tore a piece of bed sheet to bind his wound between the ribs
"Thank me for saving you, or thank me for not killing you?" The man laughed, with a strong hint of mockery.
Enemies equipped with weapons and familiar with the terrain are extremely difficult to deal with, as limited visibility and unexpected sniper fire cause the squad to scatter. A young soldier beside her was lured into an alley, prompting Lin Yilan to let out a soft sigh and pursue him.
"First, you are a woman; second, you did not kill anyone, so I let you go." The man played with the flint, striking a piece of iron coated with phosphorus, which emitted a faint glow in the darkness. "Pin it to your left arm as a token of exchange for a weapon. Exit the alley, turn left at the white house, and follow the wooden fence. Next time, you will not have such good fortune."
Lin Yilan glanced at the soldier who was also suffering from severe blood loss; if this continued, both of them would die
The enemy was momentarily hindered by the bed frame, and Lin Yilan seized the fleeting opportunity to thrust her military knife down along the shoulder and neck. The opponent shifted slightly, causing her strike to miss, and the knife became lodged in the wooden door, unable to be pulled out. Realizing she had been deceived, she immediately abandoned the knife, but before she could withdraw her hand, her arm was seized, and a sharp pain shot through her neck, plunging her into complete darkness
"Shameless bitch, despicable—" the young man cursed vehemently
Indeed, there was an ambush in the alley. The inexperienced new soldier was hit in the shoulder by a bullet and fell to the ground, groaning in pain. A boy of about seventeen or eighteen dragged the injured captive towards the end of the alley, while two or three others jumped down from the wall to assist. One of them went to pick up the fallen sidearm, but before he could touch the grip, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and immediately lost consciousness.
The lingering dizziness remained as Lin Yilan steadied herself against the wall. "I am very grateful, but due to military discipline, I must return to the team with the books. I..."
The young man leaning against the corner of the house breathed heavily, blood oozing from beneath his ribs, his trembling hand still gripping the gun. "It turns out to be a woman..."
The soldier's breathing was extremely weak, and in the absence of medication, only simple bandaging could be performed. Lin Yilan tightened the bandage and, raising her eyes, saw the boy tied up in a bundle, his gaze quite strange, as if he were reveling in misfortune. A sudden chill ran through her heart, and she rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a punch by an inch.
The narrow window was inaccessible, and the position was not conducive to aiming. Lin Yilan's gaze lingered on the enemy's right hand holding the gun, assessing the situation of the injured. Finally, she loosened the window latch, aimed at a rusted iron barrel over ten meters away, and threw a stone.
Unable to fight back, and even less able to escape. When faced with such an opponent, any hint of retreat is tantamount to death
The slums are the dead corners of the city, and they are also a massive garbage dump filled with various kinds of debris
This is the slum area within the city of Xiuwa, where dilapidated low houses stretch across the horizon. The window frames, with peeling paint, are adorned with curtains so dirty that their original color is unrecognizable. Rusted iron bars protrude from the walls, and piles of garbage, covered in flowing sewage, litter the ground, with people often rummaging through them in search of items
It took a while to adapt to the pitch-black environment; in a daze, she seemed to have been moved to a half-collapsed abandoned house. As she slightly moved her neck, a sharp pain shot through, and she took a shallow breath, searching within her line of sight for a gun and a military knife.
The remaining person at the end of the alley heard a sound and turned around, only to discover that two companions had already been knocked down. A figure in military uniform stood beside them. He immediately raised his gun, but before he could pull the trigger, he saw a pair of indifferent green eyes. Then, a punch landed in his abdomen, and his head struck the cold, muddy ground
The desperate soldier suddenly widened his eyes, and in his dazed vision, a gun appeared. Without time to think about where it came from, he glanced around, extended his uninjured arm to grab it, and concealed the gun by his side
It was only when I jumped up that I realized there was a man behind me, whose presence I had not noticed until then
The severely injured captive was not bound. The young man ruthlessly interrogated him for military intelligence, stabbing the wound on the captive's shoulder whenever the responses were slightly delayed. The poor soldier bled profusely, his voice hoarse from the pain
The city hall, set ablaze by the rebels in the distance, continues to emit thick smoke, while the rain casts a veil over the filthy and chaotic surroundings, rendering everything indistinct. Gunfire occasionally echoes from the crumbling ruins as the vanguard engages in a firefight with the insurgents. A whistle sounds from ten paces away, prompting the standby squad to spring into action
The utterly inconspicuous enemy was chilling, and Lin Yilan's tank top was soaked with sweat; after a long pause, she finally spoke
It must be Your Excellency who bravely rescues people from the hands of the rebels Lin Yilan averted her gaze, avoiding the invisible and oppressive stare
Without hesitation, she drew a military knife from her boot to block. After several exchanges, her opponent also drew a short knife, and the situation became perilous. The cold blade carried a terrifying force, and in the cramped room, evasion was difficult. Before long, her arm began to ache.
With a firm grip on the gun, Lin Yilan raised her eyes briefly before lowering them again
Those things are not here. A deep male voice suddenly emerged from the pitch-black corner. You know this is a slum, lacking everything
The army's search was slow and inefficient. The soaked uniform clung to her body, and the damp chill was quite uncomfortable. She pushed aside her fallen bangs and remained fully alert.
The nearby clang startled the people inside the room