Chapter 37: Life and Death in Three Seconds

  "Jin Huang, you come and open the door, it's too dark, I'm afraid something will happen." Lin Ruolan said with a sob, leaning against his warm body.

  The sky was completely dark, and Jin Huan took out the night vision goggles to put on Lin Ruolan's head. He gently patted her shoulder and said, "Wait a bit longer, they're driving with headlights and are faster than us, we'll be caught up soon, we need to think of a way to stop them completely." Jin Huan took out the GPS device, which showed that there was a 12-span overpass 10 kilometers ahead on this road. He stared at the overpass, an idea forming in his mind.

  "Lan, there's an overpass ahead. When the car reaches the bridgehead, slow down and I'll jump off. Then you speed up and drive across the bridge. After crossing the bridge, there's a tunnel. Drive into the tunnel and stop the car without turning on the headlights or extinguishing the fire. I'll bury explosives on the bridge and come find you." Jin Huan whispered in her ear.

  "Are you getting off? I...I am too."

  "No, I'm going to plant explosives, why are you getting off the car? Listen, if we don't blow up that bridge, they'll catch up with us again." Jin Huan leaned in and kissed her icy lips, giving her an encouraging smile: "You've always done great, this time and every time."

  "Then be careful and come back quickly." She suppressed her intense unease and reminded him cautiously.

  "I know." Jin Huan began to calculate the amount of explosives and propellants needed to blow up the bridge deck, taking out C-4 explosives from his backpack and making a remote-controlled bomb that he put in his pocket. From the night vision goggles, the overpass was already within sight.

  "Remember, if the bridge explodes and I'm not back within 5 minutes, don't wait for me. Keep driving at this speed along this road, and after two hours, your GPS will show a small path on the right-hand side. Take that path and keep going until you see milestone No. 215." Jin Huan's words were rapid and urgent due to the limited time.

  Her whole body trembled with pain, and she curled up, tears falling again. "No, if you don't come back, I'll keep waiting there, always waiting."

  Jin Huan's eyes locked onto hers, his voice low and urgent as he grasped her hand. "I'll do everything in my power to return to your side, be good, listen to me." The car slowed down as it approached the overpass. Jin Huan tightly hugged Lin Ruolan, planting a light kiss on her cheek before opening the right-side door and leaping out of the vehicle.

  "Jin Huang, I'll be waiting for you up ahead." Lin Ruolan yelled out as she floored it and the Jeep sped over the overpass, disappearing into the dark night on the other side.

  Jin Hao, according to the pre-calculated position, paced out the distance and threw a bundle of C-4 explosives with remote control detonators onto the bridge deck. This task required three minutes for him to complete.

  Behind him, the Hummer convoy was closing in on the highway, and the "rumble" of the engine sound was clearly delivered to Jinhao's ears. The entire overpass was illuminated by the headlights, and Jinhao bent his waist and sprinted towards the other side of the bridge, throwing the remaining explosives onto the bridge deck while running.

  The driver of the Hummer apparently found Jin Hua's figure, and the five Hummers formed a line and advanced together. The heavy machine guns mounted on the roof began to sweep towards him, and the red trajectory in the night sky wove into an invisible big net that enveloped Jin Hua. With the light from the muzzle flash, the ferocious face of the machine gunner on the roof could already be seen clearly.

  Jin Huang was running in a zigzag pattern on the exposed road surface, with bullets whizzing past him from time to time. He suddenly let out a muffled groan, his left arm hanging limply down, and a bullet hit his left arm, blood dripping out of his sleeve with a steady patter.

  Almost at the same time, he felt a numbness below his left scapula, and a burning pain spread from his lower back. The bullet had penetrated the bulletproof vest and hit him, causing blood to gush out and quickly stain his combat uniform red. The inertia of the bullet sent him tumbling forward.

  "Damn it!" He cursed under his breath, raised his hand and threw a flash grenade towards the center of the bridge. Taking advantage of the temporary blindness caused by the flash grenade to the enemy, he drew out his assault rifle and fired the 40mm grenade launcher's trigger.

  "Boom!" A high-explosive grenade exploded in mid-air above the Hummer, and the machine gunner covered his head and dove into the vehicle to avoid the shrapnel. Taking advantage of this brief respite, Jin Huan rolled continuously towards the bridge below, and after a single bound, he had already jumped off the elevated bridge, hiding behind a pier, and turned his head back to look at the bridge deck.

  The Hummer commander was clearly a veteran, and in the blink of an eye, the five heavy machine guns roared back to life, unleashing a dense hail of bullets that sealed off the entire bridge. The Hummer convoy charged down towards the bridge.

  Without stopping to bandage his wound, Jin Huan pressed the remote detonator button. With a series of earth-shaking explosions on the bridge surface, the machine gun on the Hummer finally fell silent. Immediately afterwards, the bridge emitted a screeching sound, and a 50-meter section of the bridge deck in the middle suddenly collapsed into the river below with a loud crash.

  Lam Yee-lan stopped the car in a dimly lit and humid tunnel, surrounded by total darkness. Through the night vision goggles, everything outside turned into a greenish hue. A pack of wild beasts howled from somewhere, and occasionally, a whiff of nauseating stench wafted through the night wind. Fear gradually accumulated in her heart as she kept turning back to look at the rear seat, hoping Kim Wong would appear soon.

  A fierce gunshot came from the bridge, "Jin Huang... how is Jin Huang?" Lin Ruolan immediately forgot all her fears, she jumped off the car and looked up at the bridge. The strong light produced by the flash bomb explosion could be seen clearly in the tunnel. The intense explosion accompanied by the violent shaking of the ground was clearly transmitted into the tunnel, making her even more worried, tiptoeing towards the direction of the big bridge.

  A tall figure flashed at the entrance of the tunnel, "Jin Huang!" Lin Ruolan immediately ran towards him.

  Jin Huang's wound had not been bandaged yet, his face was pale due to excessive blood loss, he stretched out his right arm to catch Lin Ruolan's rushing body, and said in a low voice: "Hurry back to the car."

  "Are you hurt?" Noticing his abnormality, Lin Ruolan hastily searched for wounds on him. With the help of night vision goggles, she quickly found two gunshot wounds on his body. Fresh red blood was gushing out from the wounds, wetting his combat uniform and dripping onto the ground. In her anxiety, she forgot that there was a first-aid kit in her backpack. She stretched out both hands to try to stop the bleeding, but the blood flowed too quickly, continuously seeping through her fingers and staining her clothes red.

  Jin Huang pulled her towards the jeep with his uninjured right hand, softly comforting her: "It's okay, just a minor injury, help me bandage it in the car and I'll be fine."

  She got into the jeep, under the strong light of the flashlight, Lin Ruolan saw two gunshot wounds clearly, her heart was in a mess, her body stiffened, her face as white as snow, and her hands trembled violently to take out gauze and bandages from the first-aid kit. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, biting her lips tightly, under Jin Huang's guidance, she bandaged the wound. She had not learned battlefield first aid, so she could only simply bandage and stop bleeding, the bullets would have to stay in the body for the time being.

  It was late at night, and the surroundings were very quiet. Her gaze couldn't move away from his wound. Jin Hwang gave her a nonchalant smile, his rough large hand gently touching her small chin. "Don't worry, this kind of injury doesn't count as anything."

  Her throat tightened, her eyes stung, and she gripped the steering wheel tightly to hold back tears, choking out: "I'll drive."

  "Alright." Jin Huan responded lightly, leaning back in his chair with exhaustion. The excessive blood loss had caused his body temperature to drop, and the bullet still lodged in his wound throbbed painfully, making him sweat profusely. However, he knew he couldn't rest yet - danger still lurked, and he needed to be ready to face any powerful enemy that might appear at any moment.

  He glanced at his watch and pulled out a military computer from his backpack, connecting it to the burst transmitter. He sent the third telegram to the old nest: "Z time self 215 return circle."

  ……

  After receiving the telegram sent back by Jin Hua in the morning, Luo Rui and Jiang Zhen took five reception teams to all border inspection stations along the D country border, ready to receive Jin Hua at any time.

  When Jin Huan's third telegram arrived, Luo Jie jumped up from his chair and stepped out of the tent, shouting loudly: "Assemble, go to the 215 border marker immediately to meet Commander Jin!"

  The night was dark, and to avoid the enemy's helicopter pursuit, the jeep could only grope forward in the darkness with its lights off. Lin Ruolan observed the road conditions through the night vision device while occasionally stretching out her hand to touch Jin Huang. She didn't dare use any force, afraid that a little more strength would hurt his injured spot.

  "Don't worry, I'm fine." Jin Huan's low and mellow voice comforted her, his hand reaching out to grasp hers on the gearshift, his skin cold due to blood loss.

  So much blood was shed, how could nothing be wrong? Her heart was more anxious than ever before, just wanting to drive the car back home as soon as possible.

  "Lan, don't be afraid, this kind of injury is nothing new to me. Besides, we'll be returning home soon." Jin Huan resisted the dizziness caused by blood loss, his thick and dark palm covering her slender shoulder, gently stroking and soothing her emotions on the verge of losing control, seamlessly changing the subject: "When we get back, let's file a love report."

  "Love... still need to file a report?" Lin Ruolan, busy as she was, hastily turned her head to glance at him, even reaching out to touch his forehead, thinking he had a fever and was talking nonsense.

  Jin Huang lost his smile, took down her hand and placed it on his chest: "We are a confidential unit, getting married requires a report, falling in love also requires a report."

  "Uh-huh." Feeling the strong heartbeat under her palm, Lin Ruo Lan slightly let out a breath and nodded obediently.

  "Turn right in 200 meters and drive slowly along the small road." Jin Huan took a look at the GPS, they were close to the 215 border marker, this small road was a route that the ambushers often took when crossing the border.

  The Jeep crawled slowly up the narrow and bumpy road, which was only wide enough for one vehicle to pass through. Lin Ruolan carefully shifted into first gear and advanced cautiously, her face almost pressed against the windshield as she tried to get a clear view of the road ahead, fearing that any sudden jolts would aggravate Jin Huan's injury.

  "Lan, I want to kiss you." Looking at her serious expression, thinking of her jumping off the plane and being willing to live and die with him, without even considering his past, family, wealth, or status, Jin Huan suddenly wanted to hold her in his arms tightly, never letting her be frightened or worried again. A woman like this was worth a man spending his whole life protecting her from wind and rain.

  "Stop messing around, I'm driving." Lin Ruolan swallowed the sigh that had risen to her lips. Was this man made of iron? He was injured so badly and still had the heart to fool around with her.

  Luo Tie and his reception team had been waiting by the 215 border marker for more than half an hour, anxiously holding a night vision telescope to search towards Country D. Behind him, the sound of helicopters thundered in the sky, two WZ-10s slowly descending, Jiang Zhen and Long Fei jumping out of the cabin.

  "You're not in the hospital taking care of your injuries, what are you doing here?" Luo Jie looked at Long Fei's shoulder, which was still wrapped in bandages.

  "As soon as I received the call, I rushed over immediately. If it weren't for the doctor desperately blocking him, Jianfeng would have come too." Longfei looked at the pitch-black forest, "Has anyone scouted ahead? Are there any ambushes on that side?"

  "After investigation, the boss chose this location for crossing the border and must have considered the issue of ambushes. According to reports from several liaison teams, all the usual entry routes we take are heavily guarded by troops." Luo Tie smiled, with a hint of sarcasm on his thin lips, as if he didn't think much of it. "I really didn't expect them to spend so much money this time."

  "What can't be done with a greedy heart?" Jiang Zhen sneered, "No matter how much capital is invested, isn't it just like pouring water into a bamboo basket, all in vain?" He impatiently raised his binoculars and searched the other side of the country for a long time, but still didn't see anyone, and couldn't help feeling anxious. "I'll take a few people over to meet up with them, if we keep waiting like this, I won't be at ease."

  "Jiang Zhen, calm down!" Long Fei grabbed Jiang Zhen's arm and growled, "The battlefield is the easiest place to dig up the barbaric side of human nature, but when fully exerting one's ferocity, losing the calmness that a soldier should have is absolutely not allowed! Being calm and composed can make ferocity multiply in power. Have you ever seen Jin Hao lose control and become uncalm?"

  "Damn it!" Jiang Zhen punched the tree trunk with a fist, shaking off a flurry of leaves that scattered all over the ground.

  A faint hum of a car engine came from the opposite side, and three people immediately raised their night vision binoculars towards the direction of the sound. A military jeep was swaying slowly towards the boundary marker.

  "General alert!" Luo Tie bellowed.

  Without waiting for him to deploy in detail, the squad immediately opened up a skirmish line and formed a circular defense around the three WZ-10s.

  "It's them!" The car was getting closer and closer, and Long Fei shouted in a low voice, "Not good, the driver is Lin Canmou, Jin Huan must be injured! Go and rescue him!"

  Before he could utter a second sentence, Jiang Zhen and Luo Jie shot towards the jeep like bullets out of a barrel.

  Suddenly, two figures darted out, scaring Lin Ruolan to the point where she almost let out a shrill cry. Her nerves were stretched too taut. "Stop the car, it's Jiang Zhen and Luo Jie." The low voice of Jin Huang came from beside her ear.

  Lin Ruo Lan let out a long sigh, immediately slammed on the brakes, pushed open the car door and jumped out. Before she could even steady herself, she shouted to Luo Jie who was rushing forward: "Quick! Quick! Jin Huang is injured!" Her hands and feet went soft, and she fell to her knees on the soft grass.

  Luojie pulled open the passenger door, "Boss, what's going on?" He looked at Jinhuang's combat uniform, which was thoroughly stained with blood, in disbelief.

  "It's nothing, the bullet just grazed me, I won't die." Jin Huang's pale face cracked a smile, and with one hand on the car frame, he jumped down from the vehicle. Jiang Zhen waved his hand, and two team members rushed over carrying a stretcher. "No need, I can walk myself." Jin Huang refused the stretcher, looking towards Lin Ruolan.

  Luojie agreed and helped Lin Ruolan up. Suddenly, the voice of a team member on guard came from the earpiece: "Found D country border patrol squad."

  "Make no contact, retreat immediately."

  The rotor of Wuzhi 10 has started to rotate, Long Fei and Luo Jie supported Lin Ruolan's arms on both sides, and helped her onto the helicopter. Jiang Zhen closely followed Jin Huang, occasionally supporting him, and after getting into the helicopter, Jin Huang ordered in a low voice: "Get rid of that car."

  "Understood!" Jiang Zhen responded with a nod and beckoned to one of his team members, "You drive the car to the border inspection station. Be careful not to let it fall into enemy hands."

  "Yes!" The team members responded and ran away, the WZ-10 was already hovering 1 meter high, Jiang Zhen rushed onto the plane, and the WZ-10 immediately roared and took off, heading towards the nearest field hospital.