Chapter 37: The Unbelievable Journey

  Lying on the military blanket, with my backpack as a pillow, I gazed at the tent top. I didn't care about their discussion of who killed how many people in Grozny and who was shot how many times. What I found unbelievable was that I could run into Wan'er here in Africa - it's simply unimaginable! When I thought it was already difficult to meet a Chinese person, yet... Now, how am I supposed to face Wan'er? Although his older brother said Wan'er also has feelings for me, but under these circumstances, where do I have the mood to talk about love? The artillery fire is getting closer and closer, soon this place will become a battlefield. For now, let's just think of how to get Wan'er out of Africa alive, as for emotional matters, let's put them aside for now!!

  I'm thinking of this and that, slowly falling into sleep. Now everything is extra, supplementing physical strength is the real preparation for battle.

  "Beep beep!" The watch on my hand suddenly rang out. Emergency! We all rolled out of the tent immediately, holding guns in our hands, setting up a defensive line first. Damn it, it's pitch black and nothing can be seen!

  "What the heck is going on?!" the kitten asked over the radio.

  "Captain's orders! All hands, prepare for battle!" The elite relayed the command.

  Before long, the captain and the priest came out of the church. "Assemble! Issue combat orders!" The captain shouted. Except for the lookout, everyone gathered over.

  "Now let me explain the situation. Currently, there are over 50 wounded and many civilians here. The priest was sent by the church to protect the church and its followers. Now, the Ugandan military-backed rebels have advanced towards us, they are all pagans, every village they pass through, all Catholic churches and believers were slaughtered, and the churches were also burned down. The priest hopes that we can help him move these people to a safe place, I have agreed. Now let the priest introduce himself! Please!" The captain said briefly and made a gesture of invitation to the priest.

  "Hello everyone! We're not collaborating for the first time. I'm delighted to work with you all again, and I only have two things to say: this time, you're not fighting for money, but for God; you're fighting to protect your brothers and compatriots. May God bless all brave warriors who contribute to goodness!! I will report back to the church, hoping that the bishop can personally meet with you and give you his blessing!" Everyone was excited, as most Westerners were Catholics: "This is Mr. Li Ming from the Chinese government; they'll be accompanying us on our journey. They've already sacrificed several brothers to protect us; God bless you!" The priest introduced a sturdy but not very tall Chinese man to everyone. He simply nodded in greeting and then stepped aside, asking the priest to continue speaking."

  "Everyone, the defensive line in our direction has been breached by the rebels. Now we can only head east across the vast grassland to bypass the enemy and return to the rear of the government army. Everyone get ready, we're leaving immediately!" The priest pointed to the grassland behind us.

  "Alright! Speed up. We'll depart in 5 minutes. I've already sent a signal for Eagle Eye to rush in and take some of the wounded away, otherwise we have too many people. This mission is not going to be easy, everyone be careful!" The captain added one more sentence before letting everyone hurry to prepare.

  Everyone started packing up, and in 2 minutes everything was ready. As I checked the equipment, I asked the doctor, "What's the benefit of working for God?"

  "It's already a great blessing if God lets you work for him!" The doctor chuckled and said, "I forgot that you're an atheist!"

  "Yes, I don't believe in God!" I said as I drew a cross.

  "Don't let the Assassin of God hear this!" The devil whispered.

  "What? They can still beat me up?" I filled the empty magazine with bullets, connected three magazines together, and then looked at the devil and asked.

  "You young man don't listen to the old man's words! Alright, alright! Monk! This little guy doesn't believe in God!" The devil shouted at the monk. The monk immediately ran over and saw that it was me, who had been beaten up by him this morning. He was taken aback for a moment, then gathered his courage and opened his mouth: "Brother, why do you have such thoughts? God is omnipresent. The Lord himself is infinite goodness and true happiness, and according to his purely loving plan, he freely created man, allowing man to share in his happiness. For this reason, he is always close to man. He calls upon and assists man to seek him, know him, and love him with all his might. He gathers all people who are scattered due to sin back into his unified family - the Church. To accomplish this, when the time was fulfilled, God sent his Son as the redeemer and savior of the world. In him and through him, God calls upon all people to become his adopted sons in the Holy Spirit, and thus inherit his happiness..."

  I'm dizzy! It turns out that they won't beat you up, but rather persuade you to believe in the faith. Looking at the monk's sincere and endless chatter, I really can't take it anymore. This is indeed terrifying.

  "I don't believe in gods, if there is one, let it show me a miracle. I believe in evidence, that's the materialistic view. You should understand!" I curiously interrupted him, wanting to see how he would react. After all, faith is empty, I didn't think a divine sign would really appear in the sky.

  Jesus said: "If you believe, you will see the glory of God. You must believe to see the miracles!" The monk was about to speak again.

  "Alright! Don't say anything else for now!! We have to leave!! That can be said later!! It can be said later!" I quickly ran away. Good grief! I dare not say that I don't have faith again.

  "How's that? Isn't it awesome? Want to do it again?" The devil said, and then ran forward again. I was just about to chase after him when the waiter grabbed me: "Brother! How can a person not have faith? That's terrifying!"

  "I have faith! Don't say anything else. I believe in China's Taoism!!! China's indigenous religion!!! I guess he won't say anything else now!"

  "The First Commandment: I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." The servant spoke with a serious expression like an old man.

  "Wait! From Egypt? No way, are you saying that the Chinese were brought out? I reckon we had Chinese people even before there was an Egypt. Don't mention it again, when Taoism emerged Israel didn't exist yet. I believe in the natural order of things and it won't be wrong." I said firmly. The waiter looked at me and walked away with a hint of wanting to say something but stopping himself.

  "You're using the wrong method!" The captain said as he walked by, "You just need to say you're an atheist and that's it. Why did you say you're a Taoist? This shows that you have religious beliefs, they'll think it's their responsibility to correct your mistaken faith!"

  "Unbelievable!! Isn't it religious freedom? How is this different from China?"

  "That's a system! Not faith. They're not government officials, they're missionaries!" The captain said while adjusting the formation of the wounded troops.

  "What about you? Don't you find it annoying, Captain?" I wanted to hear his advice.

  "Of course I'm a Catholic, what am I afraid of!" The captain smiled.

  "So you believe there are gods living in heaven?" I really couldn't believe the captain still believed in God: "Do you think we can go to heaven after we die?"

  "Of course not! I'm just saying that I have faith, but it doesn't mean I'm very devout. I don't believe in whatever the Bible says, but rather I believe in kindness and goodness. Loving your brothers will make you feel good! Faith is just a spiritual prop for me, allowing you to fight with ease! No ideological burden!" The captain introduced his view on faith.

  "That's blasphemy! Don't corrupt the children!" The priest and REDBACK walked out behind the stretcher team. The captain snorted but didn't say anything else. Behind the stretcher were Chinese workers and bodyguards of the observers, but none of them had any decent weapons, some only held a handgun. I took off the 86S from my back and threw it to Yang Jian, pointing at Wan Er indicating for him to protect her well, he was surprised but nodded afterwards. Wan Er was running around the patient's side checking if the stretcher was comfortable, looking like a professional nurse. It made me want to laugh!

  "She is truly a kind angel, she is the miracle that God has brought to us!" The priest said in a low voice as he watched Wan'er's back.

  "Yes! She is indeed a kind angel!" I agreed.

  "It seems you still have a connection with God!" The priest said and left. I was stunned, how did this mean I had a connection with God?

  Following at the back of the team, all the best fighters were covering from behind. Originally, I had an injury on my back and was arranged to be in the middle of the team, but I felt that being with my brothers would make me feel safer, so I refused the captain's kindness. And being with the monks, they wouldn't stop nagging me to death. Looking at REDBACK beside me, it was my first time fighting alongside a woman and I felt a bit uncomfortable. Like Xiao Mao and Mei Nu, they lazily ran to the middle of the team, almost as if they were looking for someone to carry them on a stretcher.

  I kept staring at her, REDBACK turned around and gave me a glance, saying very arrogantly: "What are you looking at? Haven't seen a beauty before?"

  "No! I'm just curious! Do you look like an adult? How did you end up fighting? Did your family agree?" I asked curiously, the beauty and kitten were originally from a military background, REDBACK didn't look like an adult woman at all.

  "It's almost time, just a few more days and I'll be an adult. My family is all dead, no need to ask for their consent. As for fighting, I was fighting when you were still in elementary school! Don't lecture me!" The tone became even more arrogant.

  "Fuck! Impossible, unless you were born to run and grabbed a gun as soon as you were weaned. You're not even an adult yet, what makes you think you're so experienced!"

  "I started loading bullets for soldiers in the trenches when I was four, laying mines on the roads at six, and shot my first person dead at eight. At ten, I got my first gun. In seven years, I used it to kill 231 people. Did you know what it sounds like when a bullet hits someone's brain when you were in elementary school? So don't lecture me!" REDBACK said, putting down the SIG P210 that was pointing at my nose.

  "Unbelievable!! What's going on in your family? How can you let a little kid do this kind of thing? This is too cruel!" Her words startled me.

  "Do I have to deceive you? My father was a Black Beret. My mother was an IRA. They loved each other and gave birth to me, and we've been fighting against the British all along! The British army is too strong, so I followed my parents in guerrilla warfare until they both died." She spoke with no emotional fluctuations at all, as if she were talking about someone else's family, and after finishing speaking, she ignored me and continued walking forward.

  I slowly approached the priest: "What is Black Beria? Why did she bring a little kid? Is what she said true or false?"

  "What Avel said is true! Blackberry was a mercenary group formed by the Irish Republican Army. When I was patrolling the war zone in Britain, I caught her at the age of twelve, after she had lost both parents and led a group of orphaned mercenaries to occupy an abandoned church, going out every day to rob and plunder. If I hadn't caught her, I reckon she would have been hanged by the British army!" The priest spoke heavily about Redback's past.

  "Then why did you let her come out and fight with you? She's still a minor!" I asked in surprise.

  "First of all, I must say that she is the best warrior we have here. Secondly, she wanted to come, and I couldn't stop her. I just gave her proper education and guidance in life, but I couldn't impose any will on her. She herself had to go out to earn money for the war orphans' home in Northern Ireland, where she is the director. You know we don't have high incomes like your wolf pack, most of our work within a year is done for the church, and there's no profit to speak of." The priest said with pride: "Averyl is my most capable child, and also the kindest!"

  "When did that happen? She's quite something, isn't she! But hasn't Northern Ireland been peaceful now? I heard they're almost laying down their arms." I asked with some concern.

  "Yes, but the wounds of decades of war cannot be soothed in a day or two," said the priest.

  "So you don't collect any money, how do you maintain the base's operations?" We all know that our Wolf Group deducts the operating fund before sending out money each time.

  "It's mainly thanks to the kind donations from brothers and sisters! The church will also provide some basic compensation!" The priest seemed to have no complaints: "As children of God, we don't need to split things so clearly!"

  I gave the priest a thumbs up, awesome! His character is truly impressive! I admire him. Talking to the priest makes me feel very relaxed, maybe this is what they mean by "like a spring breeze". Except for his mercenary nature, which I still can't accept, I'm more and more admiring of the priest. Watching patients who are in severe pain slowly calm down and fall asleep under his smile, this must be the charm of his character.

  Slowly following at the back of the team, I really can't understand foreigners. A pastor can also kill people, a killing machine also praises his kindness. Maybe this is just cultural collision!

  Walking on the vast savannah of Africa, everywhere is waist-high wild grass that stretches endlessly. Behind it is a dark and dense forest. The hot wind blows from behind, making me feel like a small blade of grass in the universe, insignificant. After walking for 3 hours, I felt a slight tremor on the ground, as if a large herd of animals was running. Suddenly, the radio crackled with the voice of the team leader: "Halt!"

  I hold my rifle tight, slowly shrinking the defense line, gazing at the dark distance where green lights flicker.

  "What is that? Has someone found us? It looks a bit like the reflection of a night vision scope." I whispered to the werewolf.

  "What? Haha!!" The werewolf laughed: "Night vision scope? That's also the sniper's back to us, or we wouldn't have this image! Hehe, that's a pride of lions!"

  "What's with all these lions? LIONS?! No way, what are they doing up at this hour?" I was startled by so many green dots, not just one or two.

  "They're hungry! Get up and eat! Have you ever seen lions hunt during the day? Lions are nocturnal, they hunt at night, in groups. There must be over thirty of them. The dim green light behind is a pack of wild dogs waiting to scavenge for leftovers." The werewolf spoke, but his eyes never left those green dots.

  "It's also shown on TV that they sleep during the day, so what now? Are we waiting for them to come and eat us?" I was getting a bit panicked, I had never seen so many lions before.

  "It doesn't matter, we have a lot of people, fire two shots and they won't dare to come over!" Just as he was saying this, the sound of "ping ping" two gunshots was heard from the front of the team. Those green lights immediately dispersed, but after a while, they gathered together again and slowly followed behind our team.

  "How long will they follow? Will they always be with us?" I asked the werewolf beside me, an expert in such matters.

  "No, lions and wolves are different, they like to fight quickly and decisively, if they can't settle it immediately, they will retreat, just like leopards! Now be careful, as soon as they approach, they'll fire their guns, don't shoot the lion, it's a protected animal, shooting them is against the law." The werewolf said while firing two shots.

  "Ass! I've killed people and animals have become precious things!" I said sarcastically.

  "There are over 5 billion people in the world, but not many lions. On the savannah, if you can kill a lion with your bare hands, you'll become a hero worshipped by the tribe. But if you hunt them for no reason, lions are their gods and you won't want to taste the poison arrows of the primitive tribes." The werewolf loves living with animals, that's why we call him a werewolf.

  "Karate? Is it possible?" I shook my head in disbelief.

  "You should be able to, didn't you just kill a leopard?" The werewolf said with a sideways glance at me.

  "Then I'll use a military sword! And that's when I got injured!" I pointed to the scars on my hand and said, "Fighting a lion with bare hands. I'm not that stupid!"

  "Sometimes when you're at a dead end, you might even dare to take on beasts more ferocious than lions! Because humans are the most ferocious animals of all!" The werewolf flashed the three claw marks on his arm: "These were made by a lion!"

  "No way! You... why?" I couldn't believe someone would actually go fight a lion with bare hands!

  "For the sake of living!" The werewolf gazed into the distance, a strange expression on his face, like sorrow, like hatred, like nostalgia, like gratitude. I knew he was thinking of something, but it must not be anything good, so I shut my mouth and stopped disturbing him.

  The low, muffled roars accompanied the tremors of the earth and entered the ears, the lion's hundreds of kilograms of body weight struck the soft ground, raising dust that made the black night sky look a bit gray. The wind blew in, carrying the unique stench of carnivorous beasts, scanning the surrounding green glow, it felt like being locked in a huge beast cage, with the awareness of being torn apart at any time.

  The intense, aggressive scent of the male lion stimulates my nerves, making me like a fierce beast in a duel, ready to tear apart any creature that dares to provoke me with my sharp claws and teeth. The surging fighting spirit churns in my chest like a turbulent tide, unable to be calmed.

  "ROAR!!!!!" The werewolf beside me suddenly let out a wolf-like howl. It was as if it was demonstrating its power and suppressing strength, yet also seemed to be guiding and teasing, instantly opening up a floodgate in my chest.

  "ROAR!!!!!!" I also let out a loud howl, all the explosive fighting spirit and killing intent bursting forth like a physical substance.

  "ROAR!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!! YA!!!!!!!" Everyone erupted in this oppressive environment, the difference being that some roars contained murderous intent and a declaration of victory over all, while others were wails of fear and helplessness. Feeling this outburst of shouting from my heart, I had the feeling of being strong for the first time! For the first time, I felt the momentum and mentality that a soldier should have! For the first time, I discovered the weakness of ordinary people! This was all because I didn't bow my head in the face of fear!!!

  "This is a bit more like a soldier's demeanor!" REDBACK said quietly at the side. His eyes stared at me, sparkling like a pair of blue topaz - crystal clear and icy cold yet hiding a fiery heat within.

  "Thanks! You're not bad yourself!" I bumped fists with her and thanked her.

  The team continued to move slowly, with lightly injured patients occasionally stopping and the rest of us waiting for them to catch their breath before continuing. Fortunately, we didn't need to urge them on, as the roar of the lions "invigorated" them.

  Before long, Wan'er ran over from the front and stopped in front of us. After gesturing to the captain and the priest, she said: "Father, Colonel, we need a rest. The wounded ahead have no strength left, and we've been marching for seven hours already. Many people are exhausted."

  The captain sighed and turned his head back, pointing at a faint red light in the distance and said: "Miss, do you see that? There, do you know what it is?"

  Wan'er took a look and shook her head!

  "That's the village we were in earlier, it's been burned down now. The enemy is coming faster than we thought, we can't stop, if we do, we might die! You don't want that to happen, do you?" The captain shook his head helplessly.

  Wan'er's face was full of discontent, she stomped her foot and ran back to the team with tears in her eyes. The captain looked at me with a helpless shrug, I nodded my head in understanding.

  "Why don't you go comfort her? She's not a nurse, she's been busy here for several days. Now her kind intentions can't be accepted!" The priest patted my shoulder and nodded in the direction where Wan'er had run off to. The others looked at me with amused expressions.

  With a rifle on my back, I slowly followed. Before long, I saw Wan'er taking the temperature of the wounded on the stretcher while wiping away tears from her eyes, and Yang Jian comforting her by her side. I walked over slowly. I took out a handkerchief from my body and handed it to her. Originally, I didn't have the habit of carrying this thing, but now everything is issued in full military gear, so I also carried one with me just in case.

  Wan'er turned her head and saw that it was me, silently taking the handkerchief to wipe away her tears, then softly said thank you. I smiled and glanced at Yang Jian beside me, this kid glared at me with one eye, tactfully walking away but keeping a close watch on us from a distance, just like a husband afraid of his wife changing her mind. It made me want to laugh.

  After a moment of silence, I asked her softly about her situation: "How are you? Are you tired? When did you change your career to become a nurse and run around here as a volunteer? Do you want to talk?"

  "No, I'm just my little uncle's secretary. Before going abroad, I received some nursing training, mainly to take care of my little uncle's life. We came here by accident. After receiving the news that Chinese aid personnel were injured, we came to pick them up and return to China. However, the war escalated, cutting off our retreat route. My little uncle is the highest government official in Congo and also the only government official now. Others have already withdrawn from Congo, so we are trapped here. There is no wireless communication here, and we can't contact the outside world at all. How can we not help with so many injured people? So I just lent a hand to help." Wan'er continued to ask gently: "And you, how did you end up coming here?"

  "After that incident in Yunnan, I joined the wolf pack, now known as mercenaries, for various reasons and came here to carry out a mission. We are helping the government army drive away the rebels."

  "When are you going back?" Wan'er didn't dare to look into my eyes, only staring at my face, thinking for a moment before asking again: "You will go back, won't you?"

  "I will! I'll definitely go back." I hastily replied: "It's just that I don't know when, I offended some very powerful criminals, and I'm afraid that if they find out after I go back, they might harm my family, so... that's why I haven't gone back all this time!"

  Wan'er thought for a moment and asked me in a trembling voice: "Xing Tian, did you kill someone?"

  "I... uh!... killed... killed him! But they were going to kill me first!! I was just defending myself!" I quickly tried to justify.

  Wan'er raised her hand, signaling me not to speak loudly, then said: "I think so too. Do you know why I don't look at you? Because your eyes are different now. In the past, your eyes were full of wit and humor, filled with passion. Now, your eyes are cold and menacing, like a steel knife, piercing people's hearts and lungs. Looking into your eyes makes me tense and even fearful. This is something I've never felt from my older brother or uncle. What has happened to you that made you become this way?

  "Hmm, nothing much, just got hurt a few times. And then it became like this. Hehe, let's talk about your older brother and younger uncle!" I wanted to change the subject, after all, I couldn't tell her that I had shot and killed over a hundred people, ripped out their organs, and nearly got myself beaten into pulp, struggling at death's door multiple times before becoming what I am today.

  Wan'er is very sensitive and didn't force the issue, just gave me a look that wouldn't let me off the hook, then said quietly: "My 'older male cousin' is actually the child of my dad's comrade-in-arms and has a distant relative relationship with our family. Our two families have a close relationship, so I call him older male cousin. When my younger uncle was still working in the Armed Police Force, he brought him over from Lanzhou Military Region to be his bodyguard. Later, when my younger uncle came here, he also brought him along. What my younger uncle used to do, I'm not allowed to tell you, it's a secret."

  "Your brother-in-law used to work in the Armed Police Corps, and my brother also stayed there for a while. He was in charge of a brigade, I guess it's still under your brother-in-law's management, haha! Good guy, I didn't know that Ruan Er's family had such power, before I only knew they were from the military, but I didn't expect the official rank to be so high."

  "Really? I'll go ask my little uncle, maybe he knows, haha!" Wan'er heard such a coincidence and suddenly broke the slightly gloomy atmosphere. She happily ran to the front.

  Looking at Wan'er's back, I couldn't help but smile wryly. To comfort her, I brought up my older brother's matter and made a joke about it, hoping he wouldn't find out, or else I'd be in trouble. Just thinking about the past few years of suffering under my brother's bullying made me break out in cold sweat.

  Click to view picture link: Known as the "Rolls-Royce" of handguns, SICP210