Chapter 54 With a flick of her needle, the entire army bowed in submission, and even gods and demons fled.
With a deafening roar, the military transport plane tore through the humid air of the southwestern border region and crashed heavily onto a makeshift field runway.
The track was made of steel plates, simple yet sturdy.
The moment the cabin door opened, a strong, suffocating odor rushed out.
It was a mixture of the earthy smell, the sour smell of rotting plants, and the acrid smell of gunpowder smoke—a smell of death, belonging to the battlefield.
The air here is so sticky it clings to your skin; every breath feels like swallowing scalding, thick phlegm.
Su Wanqing was the first to step off the gangway.
Behind her were Li Weiguo, a veteran surgeon with a solemn expression, Wang Ying, the head nurse who looked both excited and nervous, and Zhang Tie, who stood guard beside her like a silent black gun.
Four people, an unprecedented "special medical task force".
At the airport, a team of fully armed soldiers were already lined up and waiting.
The leading officer carried the rank of colonel on his shoulder, his skin was tanned dark by the scorching sun, and his lips were chapped and peeling.
His bloodshot eyes were fixed on the gangway, filled with barely suppressed anxiety and exhaustion.
Gao Jianjun is the highest-ranking commander in this defense zone.
When Gao Jianjun saw that the person who came down was an excessively young girl, along with three assistants with a strong office worker vibe, his furrowed brows were so tight they could almost trap a fly.
"I am Gao Jianjun." He strode forward, his voice rough like rusty iron scraping against each other, "I received Commander Lu's orders, but..."
His gaze swept over Su Wanqing's thin shoulders, his suspicion undisguised.
"Team Leader Su, forgive my bluntness, but this is the front line! We're dealing with monsters that can make even elite reconnaissance soldiers vanish into thin air! What I need are soldiers who can fight, not..."
"You're not some spoiled young lady from the capital who's here to cause trouble, are you?" Su Wanqing calmly interrupted him.
Gao Jianjun was speechless for a moment, but he did not refute.
That's exactly what he wanted to shout out.
Ever since the elite "Sharp Sword" team went missing, and two search and rescue platoons went missing one after another, an invisible fear had gripped the entire camp. Now, the hope sent from the capital turned out to be such a combination; the last embers of hope in his heart were almost extinguished by this bucket of cold water.
Su Wanqing ignored his attitude, her gaze passing over him and looking towards the dark green forest shrouded in thick fog in the distance.
That jungle, like a dormant ancient beast, breathed silently.
"Colonel, answer three questions for me." Her voice was cold, yet it carried a strange penetrating power.
"First, the specific distribution of your observation posts on the outskirts of the 'Black Widow' jungle."
"Second, the time and coordinates of the most recent loss of contact."
"Third, a detailed map of the jungle interior."
A series of precise, professional, and utterly pointless questions left Gao Jianjun momentarily speechless.
This girl seemed completely different from the "spoiled young lady" he had imagined.
His chief of staff immediately stepped forward and spread out a simple military map on the hood of the jeep.
"Reporting to Team Leader Su! We have set up twelve fixed observation posts and three mobile posts three kilometers outside the jungle. The last time we lost contact was six hours ago at mobile post number three, with coordinates XX longitude east and XX latitude north. As for a detailed map... we don't have it."
The chief of staff sighed, pointing to the huge blank space on the map, his face full of helplessness.
"'Black Widow' is a no-go zone; its magnetic field is chaotic, and reconnaissance aircraft malfunction when they go in. This map was obtained at the cost of dozens of lives."
Su Wanqing nodded and took out a yellowed silk map from her medical kit.
The map unfolded on the hood of the car, its archaic style and strange symbols causing Gao Jianjun and the chief of staff to widen their eyes in surprise.
“Rubbings of ancient books,” Su Wanqing explained casually, pointing precisely to a spot in the center of the map marked “Valley of Miasma.” “Is this the area with the most missing persons?”
The chief of staff leaned over and carefully compared the direction of the mountains and rivers, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
“That’s right! This is it! We call it ‘Bewitching Valley.’ No one who goes in ever comes out! Team Leader Su, this map of yours…”
Su Wanqing's finger moved to a pattern representing the mother plant of the "Heart-Eating Vine".
"Our enemy is here."
Her fingertips moved again, touching a tiny vortex symbol representing the "vital point".
"And its weakness lies here."
Gao Jianjun and the chief of staff exchanged a glance, both seeing an indescribable shock in each other's eyes.
The secret that they couldn't uncover even after sacrificing dozens of outstanding soldiers was so easily revealed by this young girl using an ancient map that looked like a book written in the heavens!
Gao Jianjun's initial contempt crumbled instantly, replaced by an indescribable sense of astonishment and disbelief.
He straightened up abruptly and gave Su Wanqing a standard military salute.
"Team Leader Su, I was blind to your greatness! From now on, all personnel in the defense zone will be at your command!"
Su Wanqing nodded.
She took her first step and stood firm.
"Take me to command post. I need a detailed list of all the missing persons and the latest intelligence."
Inside the temporary command post, the air was so oppressive it felt like you could wring water out of it.
A staff officer rushed over, his face pale.
"Reporting, sir! There's been a problem with the supplies! All the special filter masks used to suppress the miasma have failed! And... some of the high-energy compressed biscuits have been contaminated; the two soldiers who ate them are vomiting and have diarrhea, and are already exhausted!"
"What?!" Gao Jianjun's face instantly turned ashen. "The packaging was intact, how could there be a problem!"
"I don't know! It's like... I've broken down!" The staff officer's voice trembled.
These successive bizarre events, like an invisible hand, are strangling all their hopes.
Professor Li Weiguo immediately rushed over to examine the fallen soldier. After examining the vomit and tongue coating, he frowned: "It's not ordinary food poisoning; it looks like a very small dose of a neurotoxin."
Su Wanqing walked up to the box of "contaminated" compressed biscuits.
She didn't touch it, but leaned down, her nostrils twitching slightly, and gently sniffed the box of cookies.
She precisely detected an extremely faint scent, a mixture of decaying plants and the stench of snakes.
The Song family's "Heart-Eating Powder".
Song Tingyu!
A chilling glint flashed in Su Wanqing's eyes.
Such a swift response, such a vicious method.
In order to kill Lu Zhanting and to ensure that Su Wanqing would also perish here, they did not hesitate to plunder military supplies and treated the lives of the entire camp of soldiers as worthless.
She made a note of it.
“Colonel Gao.” Su Wanqing straightened up, her tone eerily calm. “This was not an accident; it was deliberate poisoning. There is a mole within our ranks.”
"A mole?!" Gao Jianjun's back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
"He has access to core supplies and can poison people without them noticing. He must hold a high position and be based in this very camp." Su Wanqing's gaze slowly swept over every officer present.
Those whose gaze swept over her felt a chill run down their spines and instinctively straightened their backs.
"Investigate! Investigate! Isolate and investigate everyone who has come into contact with this batch of supplies!" Gao Jianjun roared.
"It's too late." Su Wanqing shook her head. "The snake is already startled; further investigation is useless. Let's deal with the immediate crisis first."
She looked at Li Weiguo: "Professor Li, immediately brew a soup with licorice and mung beans for everyone to drink. It can neutralize the surface poisoning."
Then, she took out several paper packets from her medical kit and handed them to Gao Jian-jun.
"This is 'Hundred Herbs Detoxification Powder'. Mix it into drinking water to remove residual toxins."
Seeing how Su Wanqing easily resolved a deadly situation with just a few words, Gao Jianjun's shock turned into admiration.
He finally understood why Chief Lu had placed all his hopes on this young girl.
What she possesses has long transcended the realm of medical skills.
An hour later, thirty elite soldiers had assembled at the airport.
Su Wanqing stood at the front of the line, her voice clearly penetrating everyone's ears on the silent tarmac.
"Three rules before departure."
"First, once you enter the jungle, I am your commander. My orders are the only command. Anyone, regardless of rank, who dares to disobey, will be killed on the spot by Zhang Tie."
Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Tie's steel gun emitted a soft but deadly click of its mechanism.
"Second, you are not allowed to eat or drink anything without my permission, including your own water and food."
"Third, if I order you to shoot your comrade next to you, do it immediately. Because at that moment, he will no longer be your brother."
The final rule sent a chill down the spines of all the soldiers, and a suppressed commotion arose in the crowd.
Just then, terrified shouts came from afar.
"Report! Sentinel Number Three, Liu Qiang, has gone mad!"
Two soldiers rushed over, carrying a comrade who was struggling desperately.
The soldier named Liu Qiang had bloodshot eyes, a distorted face, and a beast-like growl coming from his throat. He was incredibly strong and frantically tore and scratched at the air.
"Monster! Don't touch me!"
Li Weiguo and Wang Ying's expressions changed drastically, and they were about to step forward.
"Don't move," Su Wanqing said in a low voice, stopping them.
This is the opportunity she wanted.
An opportunity for everyone to witness fear firsthand and for her to establish absolute authority.
She slowly walked towards the deranged Liu Qiang.
“Let him go,” she said to the two soldiers.
"Team Leader Su, danger!"
"Let go." Su Wanqing's tone was devoid of any warmth.
The two soldiers gritted their teeth and released their grip.
Like a mad bull, Liu Qiang, unleashed, roared and pounced on Su Wanqing, who was closest to him, his five fingers forming claws as he aimed straight for her throat!
Everyone gasped in shock as Gao Jianjun's hand was already on the gun handle!
Su Wanqing stood still, motionless.
Just as the claws were about to touch her skin, she moved.
His body tilted slightly at an incredible angle, and his right hand rose with lightning speed, a three-inch gold needle already between his fingers.
The hand rises, the needle falls.
The gold needle was precisely inserted into Liu Qiang's Baihui acupoint on the top of his head.
"Awooo—!"
Liu Qiang let out a scream that sounded inhuman, his forward-leaning body suddenly froze, and he knelt down on the ground, convulsing violently.
Su Wan-qing flicked her wrist and inserted two more needles, one into his brow and the other into his forehead.
After the three needles were in place, she joined her fingers like a sword and flicked them rapidly at the ends of the three golden needles with a mysterious rhythm.
Buzz... Buzz...
The gold needle emitted a barely audible tremor.
Those present witnessed a scene they would never forget.
Wisps of foul odor, visible to the naked eye and resembling black smoke, slowly emanated from Liu Qiang's seven orifices and dissipated into the air.
His twisted, crazed face gradually regained its composure, and the bloodshot color in his eyes slowly faded.
One minute later, Su Wanqing removed the needles.
Liu Qiang's body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground, his body drenched in cold sweat, gasping for breath.
He looked around blankly, his eyes filled with the fear of surviving a disaster.
"I...I just...I saw a lot of snakes biting me..."
The entire venue was deathly silent.
All the soldiers, including Gao Jianjun and Li Weiguo, looked at the young woman holding the golden needle with eyes that seemed to be looking up to a god.
If the previous map and detoxification were wisdom, then this exorcising and demon-suppressing method is a miracle!
"Now, does anyone still have questions about my orders?" Su Wanqing looked around the room.
"No!"
Thirty elite soldiers roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens!
In their eyes, fear and confusion have completely faded away, leaving only fanatical worship and absolute trust.
Su Wanqing turned around and faced the bottomless jungle.
She took out Lu Zhanting's third-class merit medal from her pocket. The cold metal pressed against her palm, yet it sent a burning sensation through her.
She poured out a refreshing pill and swallowed it. A cool sensation instantly washed over her limbs and bones, and her mind became clearer than ever before.
"Everyone has it, take the medicine."
"Target: 'Bewitching Valley'."
"Set off!"
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