Chapter 99 The Squad is Assembled
Below the other side of the mountain, the busy group led by Elder Zhuang also finished their mission.
Everyone had been working tirelessly, day and night, for who knows how long. When they heard the order to rest, the entire team seemed to be in a daze.
He blankly repeated the actions in his hands, but was quickly woken up by his companions.
As for Luo Yin and the others, they had already fallen asleep by early morning.
She slept for a long time and was groggily woken up. When she opened her eyes, she was stunned by what she saw.
"Sister You, Sister Xiaofang, what's wrong?"
When Luo Yin opened her eyes, she saw two people standing by the bed. It was a good thing she was brainless to turn on the phone, otherwise she would have grabbed something and thrown it at them.
Who knows what kind of chaos might ensue?
"Ahem, Xiao Luo, I have something to tell you."
"What's going on?"
Loin peeked outside and found it was pitch black.
She sat up, straightened her clothes and hair. She remembered taking a nap, but why was it still dark?
The two, who had been watching her movements, exchanged a few glances.
Having quickly come up with an idea, Sister Xiaofang looked reluctant, while Sister You had a serious expression.
"Time is of the essence, so I'll get straight to the point."
After babbling on and on, Luo Yin's clear mind was once again stunned.
"Oh, does it have to be this way?"
"No, let me think about it some more?"
"Am I really me?"
Silence enveloped the small village, making the night and the layer of mist above seem even more lingering.
The next morning, a slight creaking sound came from the door as it opened.
Dressed neatly, with a youthful face, Luo Yin appeared carrying a military pack.
Under the faint light of dawn, a tall and capable figure stood silhouetted against the sky.
Luo Yin neatly combed her hair back, her windproof jacket and trousers were tightly tucked in, and several square scarves were hung around her neck, covered by the high collar, leaving only her eyes and forehead exposed.
Seeing her standing there so properly, Sister Xiaofang, who came out to see her off, kept nodding.
"Good, good. Follow Captain Huo all the way and don't fall behind."
"You're young, so it's understandable that you lack physical strength. But since they specifically asked you to do it, your safety is definitely not a problem. However, you still need to be careful. Especially as you go further in, you'll encounter more dangers. The things I prepared for you will all come in handy, remember?"
Luo Yin nodded; she remembered. "Sister Xiao Fang, thank you for knowing."
"Okay, let your sister You say a few words!" Yuan Fang was temporarily satisfied, then pointed to the person next to her.
Yulizhu, who had been circling around her a few times, silently patted her shoulder.
Luo Yin was somewhat prepared, but she still lost her balance after being struck by the palm.
"Ouch! Watch out!"
Sister You frowned. "Your lower body is unstable; you need to practice more." Then, as if remembering something, she added, "I won't say more, just be careful not to touch anything on the road, whether it's food or drink."
Hearing the seriousness in her words, Luo Yin thought about the things in her backpack and nodded firmly.
"Alright, it's about time, let's go!"
The three walked silently toward the village entrance, their steps echoing in the quiet.
Before long, we arrived at the village entrance.
One after another, the standing figures came into view.
Whether overt or covert, real or illusory!
"The person has arrived."
Apart from the people busy inside the cave, everyone else was present.
Their gazes fell on the two people, and they seemed to be frowning as if they wanted to say something.
But he was soon drawn to a figure in the group.
"Leaders, we should be going now," a woman's voice, swift as the wind, said.
Mu Chen's few words, spoken lightly, made Luo Yin extremely nervous.
This female soldier in charge came over and said she wanted to take her and Captain Huo to a safer location, claiming she had important business to attend to. She thought it was a joke, a prank.
But after so many people checked and confirmed it, it turned out to be genuine.
Neither her proof nor her code number is a problem!
They just didn't tell them where to go.
Luo Yin wiped the sweat from her face; it was only early spring and the weather was already so hot.
More than three hours had passed since they set off. They had been walking non-stop, venturing into the woods, climbing mountains, and overcoming numerous obstacles to get into the forest.
Luo Yin lost track of how many times she had slipped, and just as she was about to fall, she was pulled back by a strong arm. The wooden team leading the way had also stopped and pulled her along.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"
It survived again, thankfully it didn't hurt its face.
After Luo Yin finished speaking in a low voice, there was no sound around her.
She was startled and looked around warily.
Then I noticed that the two doormen's faces were so dark that I couldn't tell anything from them.
"Hehe, Captain Mu, Captain Huo, I was really, really careful." But her legs wouldn't obey her, and she pointed to her trembling legs.
The fundamental requirements simply can't keep up!
Mu Chen glanced at him once before meeting the man's gaze.
"Too slow. At her pace, she definitely won't be able to catch up."
“Next, we need to speed things up. I’ll support her at the rear, and you carry her pack and lead the way.”
Mu Chen made the opening statement, and saw Captain Huo glance at her twice, nodding as he looked at her sweaty and disheveled appearance.
The journey that followed was much better than she had expected, and the heavy burden on her back was gone.
One of her arms was held tightly by the wooden team, and they couldn't be separated no matter what, which saved her a lot of effort.
From morning till night, they never stopped except to replenish their energy.
After it got dark in the second half of the journey, she couldn't feel her legs anymore; it was as if she was being half-dragged and half-pulled along.
"Team Leader Mu, aren't we going to stop? We've been walking all day!"
Unable to hold back any longer, Luo Yin finally spoke up.
"Conserve your energy and rest soon."
Captain Huo, who was leading the way, spoke up!
Luo Yin was led around by the two men the whole time, walking when they wanted to walk and resting when they wanted to rest.
Luo Yin, experiencing the speed of marching for the first time, suffered a lot. When she was arranged to sit by the small fire, she was in a daze.
Huo Sen and Mu Chen acted quickly, immediately taking precautions to ensure the safety of their surroundings and implementing basic protective measures.
Once she was seated, I noticed her unusual behavior.
Seeing that her backpack hadn't been opened, Hosen thought for a moment, then picked up a stick and poked it.
Her mind went blank; she was in a daze when she heard a sound and looked in the direction of it.
"Um?"
"For me?"
The empty gaze regained some expression, and Captain Huo nodded. "You've been walking all day; the blisters on your feet should have burst by now. Here's some medicine powder you can try."
Upon hearing that word, as if turning on a computer, Luo Yin immediately snapped back to reality.
"Hiss, right, speaking of this, I feel like I'm going to wear my feet out."
She quickly took off her shoes and put her feet out, and saw that steam was rising from the fire.
Looking at her soaked and sticky soles, Luo Yin felt like crying but had no tears left. It was awful, awful!
Occasionally, some noises could be heard from the surroundings. Luo Yin glanced around and then dared not move again.
She carefully and cautiously pulled open her socks, only to find a tear in them, which immediately brought her back to her senses.
The sound of "sha sha" kept coming out of her mouth.
This attracted a lot of attention from those around her, who would then quickly look away.
Luo Yin focused on the wound the whole time. After a simple cleaning and application of medicine powder, the excruciating pain surged directly to her cerebral cortex.
Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!
At that moment, she only had this one feeling.
"Hiss, what are you afraid of? You're scared of this little injury?"
The wooden team leader swaggered forward, glanced down at the crowd, and calmly sat down.
Luo Yin looked over with teary eyes and saw her eating a pancake by herself, with a calm and ordinary expression on her face.
Her face was covered in smears, snot, tears, and sweat; there was really nothing to say about her.
"Give us some food, pack up before heading to the market, we have to travel again tomorrow."
Ah~
As Luo Yin, who was sleeping leaning against one side, regretted embarking on the journey once again.
At dawn, before daybreak, they came out again!
As with yesterday's arrangement, Luo Yin obediently followed along, her body draped over the wooden team, making the atmosphere even more silent.
We traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping frequently, until we finally rested in the afternoon.
Looking at the dense forest before her, she felt her eyes were blurry.
Ke Mu seemed to have gotten used to it, leading the way, advancing, and resting steadily every time.
"Team Leader Mu, how much longer do we have to walk?"
Luo Yin, who had calmed down a bit, asked her about it.
"Almost there. After we finish eating and resting, we'll continue our journey."
"Ah, Captain Mu, where are we headed this time?"
Seeing that her attitude had softened, Luo Yin thought she could get something out of her, so she quickly began to ask questions.
Even Captain Huo, who had been silent all along, perked up his ears. Even though he had some guesses, he still wanted to hear what she had to say.
To everyone's surprise, Team Leader Mu paused for a moment, then said, "You'll find out when the time comes."
Luo Yin thought to herself, "Why are they still keeping me in suspense?"
At that moment, she suddenly looked up at the sky, at the few points of azure blue that graced the sky, and suddenly thought of the blue sky and white clouds on the grassland.
And sure enough, I started missing home again in no time.
"Gahra, is your Women's Federation director here? I need to talk to her."
"The Women's Federation director and Xiao Chen and the other staff members have gone to the countryside. Secretary Liu, is there anything I can help you with?"
When Gahra saw the secretary accompanying the county's second-in-command approach, he realized the matter was serious. He pondered it for a while, but still couldn't figure it out.
Upon seeing this, Secretary Liu asked again when he would be returning.
Gahra wiped away his cold sweat. "It's hard to say when. It might be before I get off work, or it might be several days later."
As usual, the director of the Women's Federation would visit the herder families and talk to the children who had once lived on the grasslands at this time of year. This was just one complete cycle.
The grasslands are so vast and sparsely populated that sometimes you can only visit one family in a whole day.
"Oh, I see. I have something I need you to do with someone."
After considering all the candidates, Gahra had no choice but to accept the offer himself.
One day in early May, the weather in the small northern town had not yet warmed up.
The morning was still chilly, and Gahra, dressed neatly, was eating breakfast with hot milk tea in his bowl.
"Is this a trip to the grassroots level? Why so early?"
The woman across the table tidied her hair, yawned, and asked a question.
She is a primary school teacher in the county. Luckily, she went to bed early, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get up at 5 a.m.
"No, we need to go to a herder's house."
"What new policy has been issued this time?"
The teacher immediately realized something was amiss, "Wait a minute, I haven't heard that. Will you be back on time tonight?"
After finishing his last sip, Gahra said, "It's not certain. It's over on the East Zhumuqin Grassland." Then he suddenly pointed upwards and said, "Wife, I'm going there on behalf of the Women's Federation this time. I heard it's to award some kind of medal or prize."
"Ah, I remember now, it's about selecting outstanding individuals. But wasn't the list complete a while ago? I don't recall anyone from that side being missing?"
The couple exchanged a glance, as if they had witnessed something sinister.
“It shouldn’t be.” Gahra shook his head, thinking of the person behind Secretary Liu. If the second-in-command really dared to interfere so openly, the others could only watch.
"It was Secretary Liu who came in person." He deliberately lowered the surname.
Upon hearing this, the teacher pondered for a moment and said, "Then that must be someone with real skills. Tell me about it later."
"Okay, it's about time, I have to go."
The man grabbed his briefcase and overcoat, got on his bike, and headed out.
Having experienced the wind and snow of Lake Baikal, Loin finally arrived at his destination on the afternoon of the third day of his day-and-night journey.
Luo Yin, who was sprawled on the side and almost turned into a lump of mud, still didn't dare to sit down.
Recalling the leeches that had sucked so many wounds all over her body, she forced herself to lean against the wooden team member, her body swaying.
Before Mu Chen could relax his tightly furrowed brows, a humanoid figure crashed into him.
She instinctively dodged to the side, and without any support, Luo Yin fell face-first to the ground. Realizing what it was, Mu Dui kicked her backpack.
"Thump!" The person was kicked back, but was falling diagonally backward.
"ah!"
"Bang!"
A dull thud echoed, followed by her cry of pain.
Luo Yin clutched her forehead in pain, and suddenly she was seeing stars.
Could he have been knocked senseless?
She held her head, trying to jump down to relieve the pain, but someone immediately grabbed her arm to prevent her from moving.
"Don't move around, to avoid further injury."
Hosen examined her carefully and found no obvious external bleeding, only a bump on her head.
Thinking about what just happened, how could such a small bump cause such damage? She's really amazing!
"You've got a bump. I'll put some medicine on it for you later. Don't touch your head for now." He handed her the spare medicine before giving the other person a disapproving look.
Mu Chen felt a little guilty accepting the two time stamps handed to him.
She had no idea the girl was so weak, but seeing her pitiful appearance, she decided to let it go.
"Alright, next time, just tell me in advance what you want to do!"
Luo Yin's pitiful gaze vanished, and she chuckled.
"good!"
"By the way, Captain Mu, are we going in?"
Looking at the stone tablet with several large characters engraved on it, Luo Yin felt inexplicably uneasy.
Even though she hadn't heard many rumors, she knew something about the power of 'Ailao Mountain'.
Especially when you first stand at this entrance and look at the tendrils that seem to be full of life and climbing everywhere, a hundred or eighty stories of monsters and spirits come to mind.
"Yes, now that we're here, I won't hide anything from you. Next, we need to enter the Ailao Mountain base. I solemnly remind you that no matter what you see or hear, do not move."
“If you move or touch anything recklessly, I won’t be able to save you.”
"Team Leader Mu, don't worry, I'll definitely listen to you," Luo Yin said first, assuring him.
She's definitely obedient; she's practically swearing an oath to it.
A smile flashed across Mu Chen's face. "Yes, I'll lead the way from now on. You'll be in the middle, and he'll bring up the rear!"
“Okay!” Hosen agreed.
With her backpack back on, Luo Yin felt a sense of groundedness and heaviness with every step she took.
It inexplicably reduced a lot of the fear caused by the environment.
She carefully observed and followed the timber team forward. Along the way, they encountered many strangely shaped trees, which she examined but dared not get too close.
The further you go in, the stranger the trees look.
Luo Yin's heart pounded, and her mind wandered to many strange and unusual things.
Until the person in front stopped and said, "Wait a minute!"
Hosen reacted immediately, keeping watch around him, but found nothing unusual.
Luo Yin stepped back slightly, looking around nervously as well.
"Something's not right ahead. I'll go check it out. You guys stay here."
Mu glanced at the two men, then nimbly dashed out.
It shot up like a wisp of green smoke!
"What happened?"
Luo Yin subconsciously peeked towards the spot where she had disappeared, but couldn't see anything.
Hosen strode forward, his gaze sweeping over them with a deep intensity.
He then said, "Let's rest here and wait for her to come back."
"Ah, okay!"
Luo Yin thought it made sense, so she found a spot not far from him, squatted down, and started tapping her legs and massaging her calf muscles.
She's been working way too hard these past few days, and her legs hurt terribly every morning when she wakes up.
My calf muscles are so tight, but there's nothing I can do about it.
I had thought I could rest once I arrived at my destination, but unexpectedly, I encountered a situation that made it impossible to relax.
Luo Yin was lost in thought when her gaze quickly met his.
The two stared at each other, speechless.
In the end, he looked away, and Luo Yin immediately became smug, as if she had gained the upper hand.
The smile had barely formed when a bump appeared on his forehead.
It hurts, it hurts~
Oh no, this joy has turned to sorrow!
"Be on guard, someone's coming."
Just as Hossen was about to ask her what was wrong, he immediately became alert upon hearing several footsteps in succession.
Who is it?
Luo Yin quickly moved closer to him and stayed close by.
At this point, she couldn't worry about anything else; she couldn't survive in the wild.
After all, she didn't even know the way.
Shh, hide first.
Without thinking twice, Captain Huo grabbed her and pulled her to a secluded spot.
The creaking of footsteps temporarily masked the sound of their running.
"Whoosh, where did that thing go?"
"I can't see it, keep looking!"
Four or five men, covered in sweat, looked around nervously, seemingly searching for something.
Hossen's eyelids twitched upon hearing this noise.
Luo Yin and he were hiding behind a large banyan tree, but she didn't dare to move her head, for fear of exposing herself and causing trouble.
She even unconsciously softened her breathing.
Just then, someone outside exclaimed "Huh?" followed by a startled cry, "Wait a minute, there are other people's footprints on the ground!"
The four men immediately went on alert, taking out their weapons from their waists for self-defense.
"Look, aren't these the boots from our base?"
"No, it's not. This one looks too small, a whole size smaller than me. Did a woman come in?"
The group of people looked at each other in surprise.
"Could someone have accidentally wandered in? But there are still some here."
“There are three people in total, one man and two women. They all wear special military boots, so they're not ordinary people,” the composed young man suddenly said.
"Is the person we've been waiting for finally here?"
"That's quite possible. I reckon it's around this time, but there's nobody here."
Upon hearing this, Hossen roughly understood what was going on.
At the same time, Luo Yin subconsciously shrank her neck. She felt a chill down her back, and when she turned her eyes slightly, she saw a pair of legs appear.
At that moment, her heart almost stopped beating.
"careful!"
Realizing someone was approaching, Hosen pulled her back and launched a sweeping leg attack. He nearly knocked the weapon out of her hand, and the few seconds of delay almost caused them to lose control of the situation.
The two men exchanged glances, each making a decision based on the other's attire and demeanor. Yet, their actions didn't falter; the older they got, the fiercer they became, each move ruthless.
At the same time, there were people rushing over from the opposite side to provide backup. Seeing this, Luo Yin, who was in the corner, quickly grabbed a wooden stick, swung it around, and rushed over.
"Hey, get out of the way!"
Someone exclaimed in surprise and quickly alerted their teammates.
Luo Yin felt that the voice sounded familiar, and the next moment the wooden stick in her hand was intercepted halfway.
*Smack!*
"That was close, I almost got my head split open."
Du Yuetian was both amused and exasperated. "I'm not saying this to be mean, but Xiao Luo, you really went all out, even hitting your teammates."
"Brother Du, what are you doing here? And what are these...?"
Luo Yin pointed at them, and the group, who had been fighting fiercely, stopped and instead bumped their fists together, looking quite familiar with each other.
They all know each other, so why are they acting like I'm the one being portrayed?
"Ahem, Xiao Du, is this your sister?"
The young man who had almost been ambushed stepped forward and asked her, looking at her with curiosity.
Goodness, the higher-ups said they'd send back a few helpers, but they didn't say they'd be such young. Are they really okay?
To be honest, Hossen and the others had no objections; they tried their skills and were quite capable, not inferior to them. But this little girl was tall and thin, and her face still had a childish look.
Is this enough to fit into the upcoming plans?
"Ahem, this is our colleague. Don't let her young age fool you, she's quite capable."
"Xiao Luo, this is Comrade Xiao Fan from the base, the one with the backpack is Luo Qing, and that's Captain Xiang Hong."
Hossen then walked up to her with his bag on his back.
The two sides exchanged brief greetings and explained the current situation to each other.
"You guys go back to base with Xiao Du first. We'll bring the rest of the timber team back during our patrols."
Huo Sen looked at Luo Yin, who was wondering how she was doing, as she hadn't made a move for so long.
But she couldn't hold them back, so she had no choice but to go along.
With a local guide leading the way, we saw more traces of human activity along the way.
Just like when Xiao Du and his group first came, Luo Yin also made a sound of amazement, which made Xiao Du, the guide, quite impressed.
He then explained everything to her, pointing out the purpose of each part.
"So, you and Old Man Chen arrived here a week ago, but what exactly are you here for?"
Luo Yin, who had raised the question, felt a pang of unease when she thought of the old man's principle of not doing anything futile.
Oh no, this is probably not a simple matter.
"I don't know the specifics either, but you two be careful. The fact that they transferred you all the way here means it must be something important."
Du Yuetian offered a few specific reminders as a form of reassurance.
Soon the group stepped into a building, and with a loud bang, the doors slammed shut, plunging the three into darkness with varying expressions.
As usual, Xiao Du led the way into the deep passage.
Looking at the unfamiliar and strange building, Luo Yin felt uneasy, but she couldn't stay. She turned her head to look back and saw that Captain Huo had followed, which reassured her somewhat.
"Brother Du, where are we going?"
"It's so dark in here, isn't there any light?"
Luo Yin thought darkly, "Could this base deep in the mountains also be without power? No way!"
"Power supply has been tight these past few days, so things that aren't needed have been shut down. Don't worry, it'll be here soon."
After turning left and right for who knows how long, they finally stopped.
"We're here! This is it!"
"I have other things to do. Old Chen is inside. You guys go in first, I'll be going now."
After explaining, Xiao Du knocked on the door and slipped away.
As soon as he left, a familiar voice came from inside.
"Come in."
It was Old Chen's voice.
Luo Yin felt a sense of familiarity and excitement at finally seeing her loved ones. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod at her, as if to affirm her.
Luo Yin clenched her fist, glanced down at her clothes (which seemed fine), and went inside.
She boldly pushed open the door, revealing a small conference room with several people sitting inside, looking down at something.
They whispered to each other every now and then, but none of them looked up.
Luo Yin had intended to joke with the old man, but upon seeing this, she immediately became much more honest and serious.
Cough cough, she walked to a corner and plopped down.
Finally, I can sit down and catch my breath.
The backpack loosened its grip as it slumped down her shoulders; her shoulders felt like they were about to break.
"Finally, I can breathe a sigh of relief, that's great!"
Hosen wasn't as relaxed as her; he just stood slightly beside her and waited.
Time passed slowly. At first, Luo Yin was curious and looked around, but as she sat there, she became sleepy and couldn't help but feel drowsy.
"By the way, what's up?"
After finishing their work, Mr. Du and Mr. Meng put down what they were doing and looked up to see two strangers in their office.
"Hey, who are you?"
How did I get here?
Director You was startled and immediately stood up to reach for his waist.
Hussen stood at attention and reported his identity, placing his identification and work permit on the table.
Chen Dong, yawning and slowly waking up, sat up from a stool on the side.
"It's those two! They've finally arrived."
Upon hearing Old Chen's words, Director You and his team knew what was going on, but they still had to investigate.
After confirming that everything was correct, she handed the item to him, and several people's eyes simultaneously fell on her, the only one who was asleep.
"This person...was also someone you found?"
They had no complaints about the man's performance, but the woman seemed inexperienced. Could it be that age doesn't matter when it comes to heroes?
Du Xiangrong glanced at his old friend and saw that he was deep in thought, so he also started to ponder.
At first, he only noticed that the boy had extraordinary luck.
Seeing his imposing presence and upright demeanor, if he continues like this, he will surely achieve great things in the future and enjoy great wealth and honor.
They are truly blessed with great fortune. These kinds of people are born lucky and work hard, and they are the people at the very top of the pyramid, someone you can only envy from birth.
If you harbor any wicked intentions, you will suffer the consequences.
Don't ask him how he knows so much; it's just youthful arrogance when I think about it!
This is someone even Heaven itself must protect!
But this woman's luck seems to be quite extraordinary as well.
How strange!
No wonder Old Man Chen summoned these two. One is a person with great fortune and righteous energy, the nemesis of evil spirits and demons, whose energy usually dissipates automatically when they get close; with her amplification, wouldn't this trip be much smoother!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
