Chapter 27

  "Hey, Hayate, what's on your mind?" It's been two hours since we finished dinner and the sky has already darkened. I accompanied Nalan Chun back to her dorm with Shan Xiong. Then he suggested taking a walk outside. After repeatedly showing our military IDs to the guards of the 3rd squad, he was fed up and finally decided to climb up the mountain behind us to stargaze.

  "Guess what?" he said, rummaging through his pocket and pulling out a cigarette box. But when he opened it, he found that there wasn't a single one left inside. He snatched the cigarette from Mountain Bear's mouth and put it to his own lips, taking a long drag. As the smoke wafted out of his mouth, Mountain Bear had already pulled out another cigarette for himself and lit up again.

  "You're always either smiling or not talking, who knows what you're thinking. Dammit!! Hand over your lighter for me to use." As he spoke, the mountain bear was lighting a cigarette, only to find out that his lighter had run out of fuel. I shook my head and casually handed mine over to him.

  "Hey, can that lighter still be used!!" Seeing him casually throwing away the Zippo in his hand, he hurriedly opened his mouth to stop his action, but found out that by the time he spoke, the lighter had already been thrown somewhere unknown.

  "I'm not as troublesome as you, this thing, which dead body doesn't have it? At most I'll be more careful, just shoot the belly. By the way, your backpack seems to still have a few, I won't return these to you." Hearing his words, he could only shake his head and smile wryly, but indeed, every enemy soldier has them, now our side's soldiers who smoke or don't smoke, as long as they've been on the battlefield, which one doesn't have a few Zippo lighters?

  "Mountain bear, I heard a sentence before, don't know if you've heard it or not?" He gently lay down on the green grass behind him, his nose smelling the faint fragrance of the green grass, his eyes looking at the stars, and asked Mountain Bear this question.

  "What's up? Speak." Along with the rustling of clothes, Shan Xiong also lay down beside me. Then, the sound came from beside him, without his usual thunderous voice. Now his voice was very soft, as if afraid of disturbing this peaceful atmosphere.

  When I heard his words, I could only smile wryly and say "You're always too lazy to use your brain." As soon as I said that, a loud laughter came from the mountain bear's direction. Along with his laughter, my head was filled with question marks. "What are you laughing at?" I finally asked when his laughter subsided.

  "Haha, you forgot what to say, didn't you? I'm not well-read, at least you're a high school graduate. I stopped studying after junior high. There are many things I understand, but I don't know how to express them. Brother, let me apologize first. Nalan's opinion is clear to me too, but all I can do is ask you to be patient. As I listened to Shanyin's words, I could only turn my head away, looking at him with surprise in my eyes as he lay flat on the ground, his eyes like mine, gazing up at the vast starry sky."

  "I thought you couldn't see it at all~" "This is considered complaining."

  "Shun, brother, I'm telling you, Nalan is actually a very good girl, it's just that she's like me, sometimes likes to nitpick. Don't take her words to heart, okay?" The sound of Shan Xiong's voice still echoed in his ears, but it felt completely different from usual. Now he seemed to understand many things. "Looks like Nalan Chun is really amazing, can actually make his stone head clear?"

  "Do you think I don't know? You should have someone you like too, at least I still have Ouyang." Now my voice has reached my own ears, and I feel that my voice has become low and heavy.

  "You're always like this, don't you know that you're not happy here and Xiaofeng is unhappy too?" Shanyu started advising me, hoping I could have a new life.

  "Mountain bear, I understand what you mean, but rather than making me forget Ouyang and like another woman, you might as well ask me to die." My tone had already risen somewhat involuntarily.

  "Alright, stop yelling at me, okay? Your feelings for Xiaofeng, anyone who was there at the time knows about it, but do you know? Looking at your expression, my heart aches. Along with Shan Xiong's words, I also heard a "peng peng" sound from beside my ear, and when I turned my head, I saw that Shan Xiong was patting his chest while talking to me."

  "Stop it, Mountain Bear! I know you want me to be happy, but you don't understand, you really don't. I'm so regretful, and I loved her so much. I never told her that I love her, and I never let her know how much she meant to me... I'm so regretful..."

  "Regret, regret my ass!! Do you think Xiaofeng really doesn't know anything? Although I've never had a woman I liked before, when she wrote letters to you and called you, she was completely a woman immersed in happiness. She even told me that you're like a wooden stump, and being with you is all about guessing, but she's lucky and can guess everything correctly." Shān Xióng directly cut off my words, uttering a string of... I don't know if they were comforting or scolding words.

  "Is it really like that?" Upon hearing what the mountain bear said, he didn't care about the meaning behind his words, only knowing that Ouyang could understand my thoughts.

  "Nonsense, brother, I won't deceive you again." With a loud smack, a large hand slapped my chest, making me gasp for air and start coughing. At the same time, I heard an exciting voice next to my ear, accompanied by the sound of his hand slapping my chest.

  "You damn bastard, can't you be gentler? Every time you hit me, I almost pass out." With great difficulty, I finally calmed my breathing and directed a reproachful voice at the person still lying there.

  "This is the lightest one I've ever had, I really don't know how you snipers do it, each one feels like it's made of mud, and if my hand gets a bit heavier, I won't be able to take it." I'm not sure if Mountain Bear was sighing or complaining about my weak body.

  "When you're practicing your physical strength, most of us are actually practicing hiding. If I had to be as strong as you, I'd rather not carry a sniper rifle and switch to a machine gun instead."

  "Never mind, what were you going to say just now?"

  "You just smiled at me and interrupted everything, now you're asking me."

  "Heh heh~" The mountain bear chuckled dryly in my ear.

  "I won't say it to you, okay? Every time I look at the stars in the sky, I think of a sentence I saw before..."

  "What's up?" Before I could even finish speaking, Shan Xiong couldn't bear it and hastily asked the question.

  "Don't interrupt me!! I once saw a sentence: The stars in the sky are unchanged for ten thousand years, just like a permanent bystander, watching everything that happens below. Did you hear it clearly?"

  "I don't understand, where did you hear that from, it's nonsense." Without turning his head around, he could tell that the other was vigorously shaking his big bear-like head.

  "Then listen to me and I'll explain it to you. Every star is very, very far away from us. The light emitted by some stars takes billions of years to reach us. When we see a star shining, the star that emitted the light may have already disappeared. What we're seeing is just its final farewell..."

  "Hey, what's with that? Weren't you going to explain that sentence?" The mountain bear couldn't help but interrupt me again, a bit annoyed with himself. He stretched out his hand and covered his own mouth, not caring about the murmurs coming from it, and continued speaking where he had left off earlier.

  "Our lives are less than a hundred years, which is very long for us, but what about the stars in the sky? Let alone a hundred years, even ten thousand years, to them it's just like taking a nap..."

  "What was that? I didn't quite catch it?" Just as I had finally managed to pry the mountain bear's paw away from my mouth, he interrupted me again.

  "Mountain bear, haven't you ever thought about it? All that happens here - war, slaughter, love - to us, it's a matter of life and faith. But what about the stars in the sky? In their long lifetime, what we consider a lifelong struggle or a few generations' endeavor is just like a movie to them." Ignoring Mountain Bear's self, I continued speaking. "I suppose the eavesdroppers nearby are also enjoying themselves." Because I had already sensed that someone was sneaking up on us, but this person didn't take any further action, and I hadn't heard the sound of gunfire, so I just let him be there without paying attention to him.

  "What I want to say, you may not fully understand. Let me put it in one sentence: our lives are short, and what we can do is make our brief lives meaningful. The meaning of my life has already been established - that is, thinking of Ouyang, the feelings for you as my only brother, and the conviction to avenge. As for other things, I don't think it's necessary to pay attention to them. But your conviction hasn't been found yet, and your life, apart from hatred and me, don't you feel like something is missing? Having said that, he stood up, ready to end this conversation, and reached out to pull up the still-prostrate Shanyou."

  "What's missing?" The puzzled mountain bear asked this question when I pulled it up.

  "This is a very academic question, you'd better get along with Nalan Chun, when I attend your wedding, you'll understand what I mean." Mountain Bear heard my words and patted me on the shoulder again, almost knocking me to the ground.

  "You rascal, teasing me again, talking for so long, it turns out you just wanted me to treat Nalan well. Why beat around the bush? Let's go, it's time to head back." Mountain Bear has regained his usual boldness, and with a hand on my shoulder, we start walking slowly down the mountain.

  "By the way, there's something I forgot to tell you." The mountain bear who had walked halfway suddenly said this.

  "Really?"

  "I promised brother, I must survive until the end of the war!"

  "Same to you."

  "Don't worry, I'm very lucky." Hearing what the mountain bear said, I couldn't help but laugh from the bottom of my heart. 'Even if I really went to find Ouyang, you have to replace us and live on, and also take my place to walk the road that I haven't finished...'