Chapter 15

  At noon, the snow had stopped, and the team members finished their lunch and returned to their dormitory to rest for a while before heading out with the staff at 2 pm to explore the local customs. At this time, a procurement officer from the base handed them a bundle of white cloth, his eyes filled with puzzlement, wondering what these people wanted with such a gloomy thing. The team members took it and began to busy themselves cutting the white cloth into different sizes using military knives according to the proportions. During this process, Zuo Ming specially instructed Liu Junhao not to take the white cloth to show Shao Hui, Liu Junhao said that he would keep Shao Hui's share safe until he recovered and then give it to him. Only then did Zuo Ming put his mind at ease and busy himself with other things.

  The clock's pointer quickly moved to the two o'clock position, and the team members took off their military uniforms and put on white-gray robes, with headscarves wrapped around their heads, and guns and pistols hidden inside their long robes. A group of young men who could be fake but real sat in a dilapidated off-road vehicle and set off. The target was De Kroon town nearby.

  This town is a remote area of the country, with many mountains and tribes. Due to its geographical location, government power cannot reach here, so although there are not many people living here, they are all mixed together, doing various professions, and there is no strong unified force, resulting in many armed organizations, each with their own interests. There are also several powerful armed forces hiding nearby. If outsiders are not careful, it's hard to say how they will die, and it's possible that they won't even know how they died. In the future, whether the enemies of the Curved Blade Squad will be some of these people or an armed force, no one can say for sure. Everything is possible here. The team members are usually casual in nature, but when it comes to important matters, they are still very cautious.

  The team members helped the staff, Xiao Zhang, unload the comfort goods and some winter cotton-padded clothes after handing them over to the other party. They then went out to take a look around the city. This country is indeed a mountainous nation, with cities built on mountainsides. The wealthy will buy houses in flat areas near the streets, while the poor people's stone houses are built on the mountainside. Therefore, the streets are not prosperous at all. Those who have some money will rent a storefront or set up a canopy on the street to do business, while those who don't have money will push carts or carry goods on their shoulders to sell. Many people wait for work on the side of the road. Most of the people on the streets are these kinds of individuals.

  Next are the beggars. Male beggars wear robes, some with woolen jackets over them. Females - possibly females, as this country's traditional women's clothing is called "Kabu", which covers their entire body and only allows them to peek out through a mesh screen. Therefore, many men will dress up in these clothes to pretend to be the opposite sex while begging, even using people's psychology of not being too vigilant towards females to create terrifying events. These beggars hold bowls or stretch out their hands for money. Their profession is basically the same as China's - asking for money but not food. The difference lies in that they target foreigners for begging, because locals themselves are struggling to make ends meet and have nothing extra to give away.

  Long-term wandering on the streets has honed their sharp eyesight, so no matter how foreigners disguise themselves, these beggars can spot them at a glance.

  The team members dodged several unknown interceptors, so they would take a detour as soon as they saw someone holding a bowl or stretching out their hands. The town was extremely barren and small, and one could see everything without having to run around wildly. Liu Junhao was amazed by the stone houses on the mountain. On mountains that were not very high, there was no vegetation at all, but instead, there were dense rows of houses, some built on the slopes, others directly on top of giant rocks, one after another, as if this was a mountain made up of stacked stone houses.

  Their daily water is all fetched from under the mountain. Little Zhang pointed at the mountain and said to them.

  Isn't there running water here? asked Zuo Ming.

  No, Basella is a country with severe water scarcity, and the national water source comes from melted snow, which can fall here from winter to June.

  "What color is this place after the snow melts?" Zhao Zhenhao suddenly asked.

  "Oh, the terrain here is mainly mountains and Gobi desert, of course, mountains account for the vast majority. As for the color, after the snow melts, it's basically all yellow because the plants have been cut down and burned as firewood." Little Zhang replied.

  Since it's so chaotic and the conditions are terrible here, why did our base have to be built in this place? Zuoming asked curiously.

  It's all the same in Basra, besides we are a medical aid organization, do you know what this kind of organization mainly does? Focus on scientific research, cultivate local doctors, improve their medical level, and help the World Health Organization complete some tasks. It won't be set up in places with good environment either. Little Zhang said with a smile.

  Since we are here to help them, why should the locals attack us? Zhao Zhenhao asked.

  "This is a good question. Little Zhang thought for a moment, this country is relatively closed, people are resistant to outsiders, and there are many armed organizations. No matter how friendly foreigners are, they always think that as long as others come here, it's an invasion. Some people even show off their bravery by killing foreigners. We've been attacked many times before, and we've had many casualties. It's hard for us to recruit security personnel now, so we simply applied to have some special forces from our home country come over. Alas... Little Zhang sighed, life is very difficult and dangerous here. Sometimes we even joke about it privately, I guess you could say it's a case of 'repaying kindness with enmity'..."

  Is there anyone selling fishing nets here? Zhao Zhenhao didn't continue but changed the subject.

  Xiao Zhang smiled wryly, thinking to himself: Is this the special thing about special forces? They're already well-off, but on the mountain they still want to buy a fishing net. Where did this come from? If things go on like this, will they even want to rent out an entire mountain to raise fish? But he still answered truthfully:

  There is no reservoir nearby and the locals don't fish either. If you really want to, you can go buy some near the capital, they have more supplies there.

  Zhao Zhenhao nodded after listening and didn't say anything else.

  Xiao Zhang thought that this group of soldiers was not quite normal, one person asked a very unreasonable question and everyone had no objection, it's really "birds of a feather flock together", from now on he would have less contact with them. He returned to his dormitory, took off his outer clothes, lay comfortably in bed and thought about it.

  Bang bang bang! A few knocks on the door woke him up, he got up and opened the door in his slippers: Oh, Director, come in quickly. He said, stepping aside to let the director in. The old director waved his hand outside: Don't go in, I came here to ask you to take advantage of the good weather over the next two days to go out and buy some things. Little Zhang was taken aback: Didn't we just go out today? Haven't we already bought everything we need? We don't have it for sale here, I want you to find time to run a bit further away and bring back 15 large fishing nets. The old director said with a smile.

  Fishing net? Little Zhang's head is going to explode, how can wind be rain. He said sulkily: Director, what do they want a fishing net for? Are they preparing to go mountain climbing to catch fish or go into the water to catch rabbits?

  Hehe, I don't know either. This is something the special forces specifically asked to buy, saying the sooner the better. You go there tomorrow and make a trip, and also buy some good tobacco for me on the way back. The tobacco here is too strong, it irritates my throat. Old Director said with a sigh, exhaling white air.

  Director, please come in and sit for a while. Little Zhang yielded again.

  No, no. The director waved his hand and coughed twice, I still have things to rush back to the office, you hurry up and handle this matter. After finishing speaking, he walked back with his hands behind his back, occasionally transmitting a coughing sound.

  Shao Hui can already get out of bed and walk, the first thing he does is to call Liu Jun Hao over and scold him, making him understand the difference between "rest" and "recovery". Dr. Guo advises Shao Hui that now is the time when his body is weak, it's best to stay in bed for another two days, but when he hears Shao Hui scolding someone with full confidence, he thinks this advice can be ignored: This kid is even stronger than himself right now. After a few more days and several changes of medicine, he finally removes the stitches. Shao Hui pushes open the door, stands in the sunlight, and stretches his waist, thinking that being able to stand in nature and breathe fresh air is the happiest moment. However, this happiness doesn't last long.

  The next day, the mayor of Deqin County came to the base for a return visit, thanking the base for providing winter supplies. After having lunch together at noon, the mayor took a car back. This was an ordinary visit, and there had been several exchanges like this before. After all, the base had provided a lot of medical assistance and humanitarian support to Deqin County. However, this visit became not so ordinary. At 4 pm, a team from the county government came to the base. The director and Su Yuesong met with serious expressions. Around 5 pm, twelve team members were called to the conference room.