Chapter 44: Ruthlessly Destroying Beauty (Revised)

"Suyang, I can't run much farther," Xihwa panted as he ran.

"Hold on! Give me your rifle, I'll carry it for you. We're almost at the reservoir, and once we swim across, those damn Fang special forces won't be able to catch us." Suyang took Xihwa's rifle, strapped it to his own back, and urged him on while running.

They had been pursued by a sniper for the entire distance and were already completely out of breath. Deep in the mountains without any proper paths, the two of them had been navigating solely by compass.

Behind them, the two Fang special operations soldiers were also exhausted to the extreme.

"These guys from the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company sure know how to run!"

"We've chased them all this way, and I've never seen anyone run like this!"

The two special forces soldiers muttered to each other while searching for the pair's tracks.

Before long, Suyang and Xihwa broke through a patch of jungle and finally laid eyes on a long, narrow natural reservoir. If they hadn't studied the map beforehand, they would have mistaken it for a river.

Without wasting any time, the two rushed up to a high platform overlooking the reservoir. The drop from the platform to the water's surface was a full five or six meters.

"Should we jump?" Xihwa asked nervously.

"Jump! Otherwise, once they catch up, we won't be able to escape," Suyang said with a resolute tone.

Their magazines were loaded with blanks; once they hit the water, the enemy's rifles would become useless, and if the pursuers wanted to catch them, they would have to swim across as well. If Suyang and Xihwa made it to the opposite shore first, they would have a chance to counterattack the Blue Force sniper. Suyang was gambling that their pursuers wouldn't dare take the risk.

"Alright, I'll jump too!" Realizing the gravity of the situation, Xihwa gritted his teeth.

Splash!

Suyang and Xihwa dove headfirst into the reservoir.

...

In the forest on the far side of the reservoir, Suyang and Xihwa lay flat on the ground like heaps of mud to catch their breath.

Combat swimming was an extremely energy-draining activity. Coupled with their frantic, nonstop dash and the immediate plunge into the reservoir when they were already spent, they had completely run out of physical stamina and had crossed the water purely on sheer willpower.

After resting for a few minutes, Suyang took out the meager remaining dry rations from his pack and shared them with Xihwa.

"Suyang, I still have some left," Xihwa said, shaking his head and pushing the food away.

Suyang glared at him and said irritably, "I told you to eat, so eat! Stop running your mouth. Once we've eaten, we're going out to scavenge."

Xihwa looked worried. "Scavenge? Suyang, scavenging people violates military regulations."

"I'm not talking about scavenging from civilians. I'm talking about the Blue Force. If we need food, of course we take it from them. It's called sustaining the war through war." Suyang found Xihwa's thought process a bit exasperating.

Sometimes the guy was sharp as a tack, but other times his brain just wouldn't turn the corner.

"So that's what you mean. But Suyang, how are we supposed to raid them? There are only two of us," Xihwa said, sudden comprehension dawning on him, though he still lacked confidence.

"A whole squad has a squad's methods, and a two-man team has a two-man team's tactics. Wait here for me while I go check out the surrounding environment."

Without further explanation, Suyang shoved the dry rations into his mouth, washed them down with a gulp of water, and stood up to survey the terrain. He needed to check if the shoreline had any cover and whether the Blue Force had posted sentries here.

Half an hour later, Suyang arrived at the wooded area along a riverbank. He hid quietly in the grass and observed the opposing exercise triage hospital not far away.

The reason he knew it was a hospital was unmistakable from afar: the large Red Cross painted on the tents within the camp made its purpose instantly clear.

However, the opposite side of the river featured a wide, completely exposed riverbank, which gave Suyang a headache. If the two of them tried to cross the river directly, they would easily be spotted by personnel from the triage hospital—and Suyang knew very well that the Blue Force definitely had scouts keeping watch there. After all, while the hospital itself was neutral under the control of the directing staff, the surrounding defense zone was certainly not.

Just as Suyang was racking his brain over how to cross the river, footsteps approached him. He instantly pivoted, raised his rifle, and found himself face-to-face with a female soldier who stared at him in utter terror.

"Ah... mmph!"

Suyang cursed inwardly, leaped forward in a flash, lunged at the female soldier, and clamped his hand tightly over her mouth before she could scream out loud.

"What was that sound? Xiaofei, what's wrong with you?"

Before the female soldier in Suyang's grip could struggle, another female voice rang out from outside the trees.

Realizing he had no time for hesitation, Suyang showed no mercy despite her being a female soldier. He clamped a hand over her mouth, tripped her to the ground, and dragged her back into his hiding spot.

"Shh! Comrade, I'm a Red Army scout. This is a military exercise. To avoid being spotted by the Blue Force, I had to do this," Suyang whispered urgently to the female soldier once they were hidden.

Then, adopting a threatening tone, he added, "I'm sure you don't want to be tied up with gauze. If I let you go, will you promise not to shout?"

The female soldier initially struggled violently in panic, but upon hearing Suyang address her as a comrade, noticing his soaking wet military uniform, and catching sight of the arm patches on their shoulders, she visibly relaxed and nodded to indicate she agreed to his terms.

Suyang loosened his hand from her mouth and found himself looking at a somewhat familiar face.

Before he could dwell on it, the moment his hand left her mouth, the female soldier's expression twisted, and she shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Xiaoying, help me!"

Suyang's expression darkened immediately. He lunged back to cover her mouth.

Anticipating the move, the female soldier seized the opportunity while he reached for her and sank her teeth viciously into his hand.

"Hiss..."

Suyang sucked in a sharp breath. Hardening his heart and casting aside any thoughts of her familiar face, he delivered a sharp chop to the back of her neck.

"You..." The female soldier instantly passed out.

Looking at his bleeding, bitten hand, Suyang sighed and muttered, "Why did you have to force me to hit you?"

Though he grumbled, he efficiently pulled a roll of medical gauze from his backpack and tightly bound the unconscious female soldier.

"What are you doing?!"

Just as Suyang finished tying her up and prepared to revive her, he looked up to see an extremely familiar face staring down at him with sheer horror.

"Xiaoying!"

Suyang was utterly astonished. He recognized this face instantly for two reasons: first from the television show, and second because Zhuang Yan back at the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company used to stare blankly at a photograph of the girl opposite him all the time.

"Someone, help!" Not hearing Suyang's muttering and seeing only that her best friend had been knocked out, Xiaoying screamed at the top of her lungs.

Cursing his luck, Suyang didn't care that she was Zhuang Yan's girlfriend. He grabbed a length of gauze and lunged forward.

A few minutes later, after Suyang had removed the wad of gauze from her mouth, a firmly bound Xiaoying asked with a mixture of curiosity and disbelief, "Are you really Zhuang Yan's comrade?"

Suyang first glanced at the female soldier wearing a Red Cross armband on her shoulder, then turned his gaze sideways toward the still-unconscious Xiaofei. He let out a helpless, wry laugh and nodded. *My goodness, didn't you just want to save your best friend a moment ago? How could you forget her the second you heard about Zhuang Yan? Talk about being blinded by romance.*

"Zhuang Yan and I were in the same squad during recruit training, and we ended up in the same squad after being assigned to our companies—both of us in the Great Achievement Regiment's Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company." Suyang decided to give Xiaoying the information about Zhuang Yan, as he couldn't be sure if Zhuang Yan would even cross paths with her during the exercise. After all, Platoon Leader Chen had not come out with the rest of them, meaning things had already deviated from the original course.

"That's wonderful! I've finally found Zhuang Yan," Xiaoying said, her face lighting up with joy.

Having learned news of Zhuang Yan, she finally regained her composure. Glancing at her unconscious best friend Xiaofei, she asked worriedly, "What's wrong with my friend? Untie me right now so I can check on her."

"She's fine, she just passed out." Suyang pulled out his canteen and splashed a few drops of cold water onto Xiaofei's face. The chilling temperature instantly jolted Xiaofei awake.

"Xiaofei, are you alright?" Xiaoying asked anxiously.

"Help... mmph!"

Still dazed, Xiaofei tried to sit up, only to find herself tightly bound. Looking up to see Suyang still standing there, she opened her mouth to scream again, prompting Suyang to shove the pre-prepared wad of gauze straight back into her mouth.

"You..."

Xiaoying opened her mouth to speak, but Suyang promptly plugged her mouth with a wad of gauze as well.

"Sorry about this. This is a military exercise, and I have to leave immediately. To prevent the Blue Force from knowing I was here, you two need to stay put for a little while. The knots I tied are quite loose; once I'm gone, help each other out and you'll have them undone in no time!"

With that, under Xiaofei's furious glare, Suyang shouldered his backpack and vanished out of the forest.