Chapter 8: My Promise with Jet

  Article One

  Quietly... quietly...

  Before my eyes was only a dark mass, and in my ears there remained only a piece of silence! I was like a high-level quadriplegic patient, leaning against the corner of the dark cell wall, with the eyeball that had been gouged out half-dropping blood behind me, and the prison food that had been changed again and again but never touched in front of me. In the past three days, I hadn't eaten a mouthful of rice or drunk a drop of water, while constantly thinking about why I was fighting, letting my body slowly wither away.

  What is the meaning of war? Who started it? Does war itself have any significance? I tried to think about all the questions related to war, but the more I thought, the more my head hurt. Finally, my weak body slowly collapsed. In a daze, I didn't know if I was dead or alive, and vaguely saw my fallen comrades and enemies gathering together in two groups like taking a group photo. The faces of my comrades were as proud, clean, and full of sunshine as when they first enlisted; the faces of the enemy were as painful, fearful, and bloody as when they died. My comrades smiled at me so brightly, the enemy cried at me so miserably, then turned around and slowly walked away into the distance, eventually disappearing into the desolate ruins of the city. I propped up my battered body with my legs, watching them fade away, feeling lost in my eyes and heart...

  I don't know how many days and nights passed before I gradually came to. But as soon as I opened my eyes, I saw a shiny surgical knife slashing towards my head, with several people dressed in white coats surrounding me.

  I instinctively dodged the surgical knife that was slashing towards me, then jumped off the operating table with all my might and grabbed the nearest doctor, pulling him into a tight hug. I gripped the doctor's neck tightly and shouted: "What are you trying to do?" The doctors were stunned by my sudden movement, and one of them said: "Don't be nervous, don't be nervous, we're treating your illness!" The two enemy soldiers who were guarding the door also rushed in upon hearing the commotion, pointing their black gun barrels at me.

  "Give me the medicine! Humph, don't think you can deceive me, all of you get out of my way and let me leave." I said as I took step by step towards the door. The doctor I was choking seemed to want to speak, but he couldn't due to the great force with which I was choking him, and could only struggle in pain. One of the doctors said: "Calm down first, our doctor is going to be choked to death by you." But I wouldn't listen to them, continuing to use force to choke the doctor's neck while loudly scolding them to get out of my way and let me leave. Seeing that the doctor I was choking was about to lose consciousness and spit out white foam, several people in the operating room retreated to one side.

  I slowly moved to the 'door' and then threw the doctor in my arms into the house with a sudden force, turned around and rushed out. I ran wildly like a runaway wild horse in the dark corridor of the hospital, the enemy soldiers were chasing closely behind me, but perhaps because we were in the hospital, they did not shoot at me.

  I desperately ran towards the place with light, but the winding and long corridor was like a maze, seemingly impossible to reach the end. The four walls of the corridor reverberated with chaotic footsteps. As I ran, I kept asking myself in my heart: "Where is this... where is this?" But just then, a black shadow suddenly flashed out from nowhere and dragged me into a dark room before I could react.

  I struggled to break free from the black shadow's restraints, and with a swift kick, I sent him tumbling to the ground. The black shadow reacted quickly, and I vaguely felt him roll to one side before leaping towards me again. Instinctively, I assumed a fighting stance, ready to meet his attack. However, this leap was just a feint; he didn't land beside me but instead changed tactics with a sweeping kick that sent me crashing to the ground. Immediately after, he took another step closer and grabbed my neck in a tight grip. Just as I was about to lash out and continue fighting, I heard him whisper, "Mudskipper, stop struggling, it's me!"

  Upon hearing this voice, it seemed that a flare had suddenly ignited in my heart. I relaxed my tense nerves and said calmly: "Jie, you've finally decided to show up!" Jie released the arm that was holding my neck and helped me up from the ground, grasping my shoulders with both hands and asking anxiously: "Ni Yu, are you okay?" The dark room was pitch black, and the Jie in front of me seemed like a mere cluster of air, I could sense his presence but couldn't see his figure.

  For some reason, my nose suddenly turned sour and tears flowed down without warning. I tried to calm down the suppressed emotions of pain, and replied hastily: "I'm fine! How about you?" He said: "You've been suffering these days, don't worry, I'll think of every way to help you escape the tiger's mouth." "Help me escape the tiger's mouth?" I repeated his words in a muttering tone, suddenly remembering the armed helicopter crash during the special forces' "Stingray" reconnaissance mission.

  I suddenly swung my right fist and hit it on Jie's solar plexus, then I rushed to his side and grasped his neck tightly. "Traitor, you betrayed us, didn't you! Today I'll kill you to avenge our fallen comrades!" Jie was caught off guard by my sudden movement, struggling but still trying to lower his voice to tell me: "Mudfish, are you crazy? Let go of me quickly, I'm not a traitor. Tell you, it's one of your former leaders named Liu Hui who is the real traitor, he betrayed you." "Liu Hui! Don't try to deceive me!" I didn't believe Jie's words at all and continued to strangle his neck with all my might. Jie was apparently enraged by my behavior, using his knee to violently strike my abdomen, then taking advantage of the moment when my hands loosened their grip, he broke free from my grasp. My already weak body couldn't withstand Jie's attack, I stumbled and fell to the ground.

  Jie helped me up again and said, "Mudfish, you damn fool, how can't you even trust your own brother who grew up with you?" I gritted my teeth in pain and asked Jie, "It's not that I don't believe you, it's just that I dare not. How did you know my codename? And how did you join 'Gurital'?" Jie retorted, "Codename? What codename?" I said, "Mudfish!" Jie replied, "Isn't this your nickname from when we were kids? Everyone used to call you that." I suddenly realized the truth, but still firmly said, "I still can't believe you."

  Jie said impatiently, "Whether you believe it or not, you have no choice. Let me tell you, now except for me, there's no one else who can help you! Do you know that? Now your enemies are still your enemies, but your comrades are no longer your comrades!" "Why?" I asked angrily. Jie said, "I'm in a hurry now, and I'll explain everything to you later when I have the chance. For now, I'll just tell you the important things. There's a chip implanted in my brain by the enemy, all my movements are being monitored, so it's only in a room like this with shielding function that we can have a face-to-face 'conversation'."

  I quietly listened to Jie's narrative, Jie saw that I didn't have any reaction, so he asked: "Mudfish, are you listening?" I said: "Yes, I am!" Jie said: "Three years ago, I accidentally entered 'Gurital', and have been lurking until now. In the past three years, I've collected a lot of important intelligence, but because the only person who knew my identity has already been assassinated, I've been isolated and helpless, stubbornly holding on to my faith and waiting for an opportunity."

  I asked Jie, "You mentioned Liu Hui just now?" Jie said, "Yes, he's a mole who infiltrated the vanguard. Do you know him?" I said, "We trained together before, but we're not close. You say he's a traitor!" Jie said, "That's right! The explosion at the front-line arsenal, General Sui Ning's assassination, your special forces team being ambushed, including your capture - all of these are directly related to him. Moreover, he framed you for treason and now you're a wanted fugitive in your own unit."

  "This 'mixed' egg!" I punched the ground heavily and scolded. I asked Jie: "Does Liu Hui know of your existence?" Jie said: "He knows, but I entered 'Guli Tower' earlier than him, so he's not clear about my details. However, because of him, the only superior who knew my identity was assassinated, and I lost my proof of identity. For two years, I wanted to contact the troops, but I was afraid that someone with the surname Liu would be there, not only could I not gain the trust of the troops, but also expose my identity."

  I also wanted to get rid of him, but unfortunately his foundation was too deep, and I couldn't do it. I asked Jie: "Then what's your plan?" Jie said: "It's impossible for me to leave alive, let's think of a way to help you escape first!" "Don't talk nonsense" I angrily said to Jie. Jie said: "I'm not talking nonsense, forget it, we can't waste any more time. Here, I have a micro-biological electric transmission device, I'll implant it in your arm, for safety reasons, from now on our communication will use 'electric code', bear with the pain." As he spoke, Jie took out a device the size of an olive pit from his body, then used a dagger to cut a deep small wound on my left forearm, and inserted the device into my arm. "Press the wound yourself, we can't bandage it to avoid arousing suspicion, but I believe this little injury is nothing for you. Now let's test the device." As he spoke, Jie lightly tapped his own arm a few times.

  I gently pressed the wound, and with a quick knock, my left forearm transmitted a pulsating rhythm - 0338......1717...... "Received, 'take care of yourself, brother'!"

  Jie said: "Alright, now we should get going. Remember, Mudfish, be cautious and take care of your body!" I said to Jie: "You too!" Jie said: "Don't worry, my situation is better than yours. Zha Yier is a ruthless and perverted guy. They think you know many top secrets and value your special combat skills, so they've been rescuing and brainwashing you through torture for the past few days to make you surrender and lose your fighting spirit. If they don't succeed, I believe in the future they will use even more brutal methods to deal with you. Today they tried to implant a chip in your head but failed. They'll definitely try again, so be extra careful. I'll think of a way to help you escape from here as soon as possible." I said firmly: "Jie, don't worry. Before I eliminate the traitor Liu Hui and the cult organization Guli Tala is eradicated, I will absolutely not let myself die." Jie grasped my shoulder tightly and said: "Mudfish, I believe in you!"

  Jie lightly opened the door of the dark room and said to me, "Mudfish, this is an underground fortification with many guards and mechanisms. You can't escape on your own, just run as far as you can into the dark corridor and I'll find a way to protect you and contact you later." After finishing speaking, Jie lightly tapped his arm. I said, "Take care!" and flashed out of the dark room. "Wait!" Jie suddenly called out. Perhaps it was to make me relax my tense nerves and face the even more brutal war ahead with optimism. Jie teased me in a playful way, saying, "Next time you're running for your life, no matter how urgent it is, pay attention to your image. Look at you today, running around naked." When I heard Jie say this, I seemed to see him again as he was when we were kids climbing trees and catching fish together, and a warm feeling rose up in my heart. I raised my right hand and made a thumbs-up gesture towards Jie; Jie, hidden in the dark room, also made the same gesture.

  "We must win!" we whispered in unison.