Wandering alone in the jungle (5)

  I don't know how long it took, but I slowly sat up. By that time, the sky was completely dark, and although it wasn't pitch black where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, it was still a terrifying darkness. I really had never been alone in the mountains so late at night before - the infantry regiment's reconnaissance company wouldn't do something like this, and neither would Military Region Scout Bai - but that damned Dog Head Battalion would definitely do something like this.

  This feeling of loneliness, I will never forget. Although later on I got used to such solitary training, but as I said before, the first experience would be very profound.

  My eyes can no longer see the compass and map, so I look at the stars in the sky and the terrain around me, relying on my memory of the map to determine my position and the route to my destination. According to that map, I should now be on the banks of a river called Xiao Qing He, about 10 kilometers ahead there is a bridge over Highway No. 4, which I must cross to continue - I am certain of this point. Of course, I cannot walk along the highway, that would be foolish, but I can use the mileage signs on the highway to determine my exact position, and the road below will be easier to navigate. If I reach the bridge before dawn, I can rest for an hour in the woods beside the bridge, the trees on both sides of the highway are windy, the mountain roads are always like a ventilation shaft for the entire forest, plus there is a river breeze, making it a cross-ventilation point with strong winds, and with the morning sun, I can dry my wet clothes, get a bit drier before running again, although they will soon be damp again, but it's still much better than being constantly damp.

  At this time, my teeth chattering did not stop, no longer because of fear, but cold.

  The temperature in the mountains drops extremely quickly, originally it was both humid and hot, but as soon as the sun went down it became both humid and cold, with almost no transition, as if it suddenly changed like this. I still don't understand what principle this is, it's not something for us little soldiers to worry about, we only worry about how to deal with the cold, leave the principles to those scientists who sit in offices.

  The key is how I deal with it now?

  My whole body was drenched, and the cold wind made my bones shiver. I trembled as I put the knife sheath behind me, then stood up with the help of my crutch, holding a lan flower. Again, I felt pain in my ankle, which worsened due to the cold, but it was still within my tolerance. However, I knew walking would be more troublesome now, especially since my goal was to walk 10 kilometers along the riverbank's pebbles to reach the No. 4 highway bridge before resting. What else could you do? Sleep in this desolate mountain where wolves roam? Although there might be wolves on the highway too, at least there were signs of human civilization, which made me feel a bit more secure.

  At that time, there was a sad thought. If I were to be eaten by wolves near the highway, my remains would still have a chance of being discovered. But if it happened in this vast mountain area, who knows when the next person would pass by? The probability is too small, and even if I died, something would be left behind, otherwise how could I explain it to my parents? How could I face Xiaoying - thinking of Xiaoying makes my heart ache again.

  PLA soldiers are not afraid of death, why should I be afraid of pain and walking?

  At that time I was really using this sentence to motivate myself, because at that time I had already thoroughly become a soldier, a qualified soldier.

  Although still not a qualified special soldier.

  I take one step and it hurts once, I take two steps and it hurts twice, I take three steps and it hurts to the heart, then this pain comes in a loop, without any intervals, just continuous pain.

  I was shivering in the cold wind, but I had to persevere, because I could always hear the faint howling of wolves. I really didn't have the courage to face that gray and gaunt face again, I truly knew what it meant to be surrounded by wolf fangs, so I had to hurry up and leave. If I walked to the No. 4 highway bridge, starting at dawn tomorrow, I could walk 50 kilometers before nightfall - if my ankle hadn't been injured, I was confident of that, but now I wasn't.

  But also have to go! Trembling lips, softly humming a song to oneself to boost courage, not daring to sing loudly for fear of attracting wolves: "The hard-to-pass troops are passing... The hard-to-pass soldiers... The hard-to-pass warriors... Warriors red and swollen... The hard-to-pass troops are passing... The hard-to-pass soldiers... The hard-to-pass warriors all red..."

  Singing and singing, tears fall again. Now there's no shortage of water, because the river is right next to me. But I'm cold, I'm hungry, I hurt. But still have to keep walking.

  Damn high school team! Damn dog-headed platoon! I cursed in my heart, singing the company song with my mouth, imagining Miao Lian Chen walking beside me with a smile: Little Zhuang, little Zhuang, persistence is victory, revolutionary soldiers must have the traditional spirit of old Red Army, must carry forward the spirit of Nanjiecun self-reliance and prosperity.

  I was thinking of Xiaoying running and jumping ahead, occasionally throwing stones into the river to play with skipping water, suddenly jumping 11 times in a row and flying far away. She had a set of moves in middle school: "Xiaozhuang, look at my moves! Are they good or not? Say it, are my moves good or not?"

  "It's beautiful." I stammered in response, tears streaming down my face and being blown away by the wind. The wind made it even colder, but I didn't dare leave the riverbank to enter the forest. All I could do was walk against the wind, step by step, enduring the pain of stepping on pebbles, persisting forward without daring to stop or look back, or glance around, just struggling forward like this.

  Because I knew there were wolves in the forest. They didn't know where to look at me. What's cold, hunger, loneliness and pain compared to death? I kept humming and singing "The Hard Marching Squad" that all soldiers would sing, with tears streaming down my face from time to time, and sometimes saying a few words to Xiaoying.

  Xiao Ying kept jumping and skipping ahead of me, leading the way.

  Her figure is always with me.

  Her fragrance accompanies me.

  Many years ago, the little soldier who was still 16 days away from his 18th birthday walked along the riverbank called Xiaoqing River. His ankle hurt and he was shivering all over, but he kept singing revolutionary songs, thinking of a girl walking unsteadily like this.

  Walking.

  But this, compared with his real special forces military career, is just the beginning.

  The road is actually not under your feet, but in your heart.

  I knew this truth before I was 18 years old.