Chapter 3 Refining 10. Dog Head Ascending to Heaven (3)

  I don't know how others understand the meaning of legend, I myself have no understanding. Because I think there is no such thing as a legend in this world, it's just your fate, if you're destined to be hit, then you'll be hit. You all admire those legendary heroes on the battlefield, but if I'm being honest, I don't think they even admire themselves.

  Because in their minds and hearts, they will always remember those comrades who sacrificed themselves, how in that instant they were trembling with fear amidst the hail of bullets? How in that instant they were laughing and joking with you one second before, but then disappeared without a trace after a shell exploded, leaving not even an arm behind?

  How in that instant they took their last breath in your arms, with a childlike smile or look of terror on their face amidst the bloodstains? How in that instant they charged forward into a minefield for the sake of more brothers, and you watched as their young body was blown apart, losing half a leg, then an arm, until it became a small package wrapped in red blood and black mud?

  How in that instant they were chased by enemy dogs, like rabbits, running helplessly through the mountains, shouting "Brothers, save me!" while you lay hidden in a nearby thicket, unable to rescue them because soldiers must complete their mission. You thought to yourself, this is still just a 17-year-old kid, who before departing had asked to look at his sister's photo, but how could you not agree?

  You hadn't even finished feeling heartbroken when you saw that young soldier, that little brother, being bitten by several wolf-like dogs or held down by several enemies, still shouting "Save me!" At that moment, either he himself pulled the trigger of a grenade or a distant sniper shot him in the head or chest with one clean and decisive bullet. And you watched it all happen...

  Do you still think you're legendary?

  When you're dressed in crisp military uniform with medals on your chest, surrounded by flashing cameras, a hall of flowers and applause, do you think you deserve it? Don't you remember the comrades who quietly left this world without anyone noticing?

  Peace has a price. The price is the life of soldiers.

  What you see in the newspaper may be just numbers, cold and impersonal small characters or no numbers at all (Eastern countries do not have a tradition of reporting their own war casualties, so you won't see them); but what's behind these numbers? Living smiling faces jumping around you shouting... I want to see my sister-in-law's photo, I want to see my sister-in-law's photo...

  Do you still think of yourself as a legend? So He Dui never talks about his own battle stories, and the thing he regrets most in his life is participating in the model report team to show off everywhere. Every time after finishing a report, this tough guy would hide in different bathrooms in different auditoriums and cry out loud. So every time He Dui came across subjects like parachuting that were highly risky, he would stand at a high place from start to finish, until the last soldier had packed up his parachute and boarded the Dongfeng Pingtou Chai (a type of truck). And it was the same the next day. He wanted to avoid as much as possible the sacrifice of soldiers!

  So don't think that the story I'm about to tell is so legendary, although the protagonist is me, but as I said, this is my fate, and what's meant to be will be.

  We got on the four-winged small fly and took off with a buzz, aiming at an altitude of 800 meters. We were going to do our first wing parachute jump. At that time, we were not nervous at all. The trial jumps by those old birds were actually just to satisfy their addiction, but for the deputy commander, it was also to boost the morale of the soldiers from non-airborne units who would be jumping later.

  Before that, we had jumped with the parachute several times and I also got a badge. It was really exciting, just like the American soldiers in the movies, and I couldn't bear to take it off from my chest. Every time I saw a mirror, I wanted to take a look at it.

  We went up to the sky. Then we prepared to jump. The Dog Head High School team was naturally the first, and this person later became known to me as someone who had a great addiction to all things related to "extreme adventure sports". Often after we finished jumping, we would sneak onto other units' aircraft to jump again, even if it meant getting scolded. If we weren't allowed to jump, he would look on with pleading eyes, and I'd never seen him so pitiful. In the end, the leaders of other teams couldn't bear it and said "Fine, go ahead and jump". Just seeing him so happy was like watching him play with a hawk - he was that thrilled. This kind of treatment isn't something just anyone gets, after all, our country is poor and the military is poor, so aviation fuel has to be treasured. With only so many aircraft available, if you want to jump, then go ahead? That's why I say the Dog Head High School team was the first thing that came to mind when I encountered the term "human nature" years later - aside from my deep impression of him, he is absolutely a typical case study of human nature's multiple facets.

  The dog head high school team stood at the cabin door with two eyes shining, and then went out. He stretched out his four limbs in mid-air, absolutely standard posture, and then suddenly pulled open the parachute cord. First, a small package came out with a rope, followed by that small package bursting open, giving you an absolute feeling of red and white flowers blooming from above.

  Then I went on. I was the seventh to start, sixth to give birth and eighth to finish. There were still two old birds behind me. I was extremely excited because at that time I also liked this damn sport very much.

  I just went out and stretched my limbs in the air. The air suddenly lifted me up, then put me down again. I felt that kind of free feeling, it was really damn comfortable! Absolutely the only one between heaven and earth, birds can't compare to this.

  Then I counted to the specified number in my heart and pulled the parachute cord. The parachute cord was pulled, but I didn't wait for any movement. The main parachute behind me didn't open. Oh no! My mind suddenly went blank, knowing that an emergency had occurred. Then I pulled again, still not opening.

  I'm falling freely like this, charging towards the ground that's getting closer and closer. The difference is that when a bomb goes down, it's fragments flying everywhere, shaking the earth, but when I go down, it's flesh and blood splattering quietly on the ground, as if nothing had happened at all.

  Oh my god! I pulled several times but there was no reaction. I just watched the ground getting closer and closer. I don't know exactly how high it was, probably around 400 meters, nor do I know how long I had been free-falling in mid-air. But I did come to my senses, quickly pulling the cord of the backup parachute. The backup parachute didn't malfunction, opening with a loud "whoosh", and I felt slightly relieved that this time I wouldn't end up splattered all over the place without even leaving behind a complete corpse.

  But immediately I heard a loud noise, and I was shocked. The main parachute opened again! I watched with my eyes wide open as the two parachutes, one main and one backup, one behind me and one in front of me, sandwiched me like a filling in a cookie. Then the parachute cords got tangled together in mid-air.

  Wow! I just saw the white umbrella cords tangled together, they were entwined in the sky getting tighter and tighter, just like they had grown together from the start! Neither of the two umbrellas opened up because they had merged into one.

  This is a crisis that I have never seen in any textbook! I guess the new version of the textbook should have it now. I just caught up, you say it's not fate what else can explain?

  The wind whizzed past my ears, and I fell freely from 800 meters high. Have you ever seen it? I haven't even seen it myself, because I was the one doing it, and I don't know what kind of posture I looked like from the ground. All I saw were the two parachutes above me that were stuck together. At that moment, I really felt like a bird, my first reaction was to quickly pull down the parachute, and then...I didn't think about anything else, my first reaction was just to pull it down quickly.

  I just pulled and pulled, hugging the two umbrellas tightly to my chest. Then I prepared for landing. I don't remember how many meters away from the ground it was, probably still 50 meters? Or even lower. The problem is that if I land like this, what kind of movement is that? Our original plan for landing was to slightly bend our knees, which would provide some cushioning. But this way, my waist would definitely break! My judgment at the time was that even if my legs were gone, my upper body couldn't be crippled!

  Can't be crippled, right?! I gritted my teeth and kicked my legs straight out in the air. Damn it! I don't want these legs anymore! But can I at least save my upper body?! Is this too much to ask for an 18-year-old soldier?! Then I felt my feet actually touch the ground.

  When I came to, I was already in the ambulance. To my surprise, I wasn't broken into pieces and could move my arms and legs! Only my two heels hurt a bit. Ma Da and others told me that there was a patch of farmland below with freshly turned soil on a slope, and I happened to land right in the middle of it, on top of a pile of straw. I fell down and then bounced back up, but the sloping field was like a buffer, so I rolled around on the loose soil until I reached flat ground.

  When the ambulance rushed over, I actually stood up and smiled at them. Then I fainted. These things I don't even remember myself. My foot just buckled a little bit. There was really nothing wrong with my body. I don't know if you believe it or not, but this is true.

  On the third day, I jumped again, and my heel was still sore. Do you know what kind of bird Dog Head High School team is?! But at that time, I really didn't know what fear was, so I jumped. In my mind, there was only one thought: as a member of the special task force of Dog Head Big Team, a part of the sharp-toothed wolf's fang, I couldn't let this wolf tooth lose its sharpness. Because I am one of the fighters, there is nothing to say about it. Isn't being a soldier just like practicing martial arts? This kind of thing, I don't even understand what kind of soldier I would be?!

  Is it legendary? I really don't think so, because this is just my fate. My fate is good. The fate of this little soldier is good. There's only the explanation of fate.

  What else can be done?