The dining hall of Hongyun Commune was enormous. At mealtime, commune members swarmed in like a tide, and Lin Yiqiao, squeezed among them, felt like she was about to be flattened into a pancake.
Everyone had just finished their work, and the mingled smell of sweat made it hard for Lin Yiqiao to breathe.
“Comrade, come with me.”
A woman with neat short hair pulled Lin Yiqiao aside. “The comrades from the army are eating over here.”
“Alright, thank you.” Lin Yiqiao straightened her military uniform.
The food here had been set aside in advance—coarse grain steamed buns and a large pot of vegetables. It wasn’t particularly lavish, but it looked appetizing. Hungry as she was, Lin Yiqiao ate with relish.
After finishing her meal, she patted her stomach and suddenly remembered that her notebook was still with Qi Jun.
Lin Yiqiao hurried to the temporary command post to look for Qi Jun, but there was no one inside. Usually, someone had to stay at the command post at all times.
She felt uneasy, a sense of foreboding creeping over her.
She asked around among the commune members, but no one had seen Qi Jun. The soldiers were still helping in the fields.
Suddenly, Lin Yiqiao spotted a familiar figure.
“Captain Xiao!”
Xiao Guohua turned and saw Lin Yiqiao running toward him, her braids coming loose.
“I’m Lin Yiqiao from the women’s company. Do you know where Regimental Commander Qi went? I just went to the command post, and there was no one inside.”
“I haven’t seen Regimental Commander Qi either. You said the command post was empty?” Xiao Guohua strode out of the field ridge and led Lin Yiqiao toward the command post.
Inside the tent, he immediately picked up the telephone and dialed, but all he heard was a series of “beep-beep” sounds.
The phone line had been cut.
The two exchanged a glance, both realizing that something serious had happened.
Stone Mountain only had the Hongyun Commune, isolated from the outside world for all intents and purposes. Xiao Guohua guessed that their target was Qi Jun.
“Can I trust you?” he asked, staring intently at Lin Yiqiao.
Lin Yiqiao’s expression tightened. “Of course. My family has been poor farmers for three generations—my roots are pure and my background is clean.”
“Good. The special forces aren’t here for this mission, but I need a reliable team to find Qi Jun now, while I go for reinforcements.”
“I’ll go find Regimental Commander Qi!” Lin Yiqiao declared.
“Alright, I’ll pick a few people for you.”
Xiao Guohua selected a few trusted soldiers to accompany Lin Yiqiao and took a few others with him.
“Don’t trust anyone here,” he warned Lin Yiqiao before leaving.
Lin Yiqiao nodded solemnly and led the soldiers into the mountains.
The terrain here was treacherous, and even the locals avoided going up.
Lin Yiqiao’s mind was racing. Who would target Qi Jun? Spies? Political enemies?
The sky darkened quickly. The group searched aimlessly through the mountains but found no trace of anyone.
“Find a local to guide us,” Lin Yiqiao said to the soldiers behind her.
“That… might not be a good idea. They won’t be willing to go up the mountain.”
“If something happens to Qi Jun here, what kind of punishment will we face when we return?” she asked, staring at them.
It would be more than just punishment. The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances.
“I’ll go find someone,” a dark-skinned young soldier said.
Soon, he returned with a simple, honest-looking man who walked with a slight limp. His hair was graying, but his eyes were sharp and alert.
“I ran into him as soon as I went down the mountain. He said he could guide us,” the young soldier whispered to Lin Yiqiao.
She nodded, thought for a moment, and said, “Thank you for your help, uncle.”
The man waved his hand dismissively and limped ahead, leading Lin Yiqiao to the shaded side of Stone Mountain.
“Bang!” A gunshot rang out.
Lin Yiqiao’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly took cover behind a large rock, trying to determine the direction of the gunfire.
“Bang! Bang!” Two more shots followed.
Both sides seemed cautious, and a long silence ensued.
But someone on Lin Yiqiao’s side recognized several enemies hiding in the grass and swiftly fired, killing them instantly.
The enemy reacted quickly, firing toward Lin Yiqiao’s position.
Lin Yiqiao glanced at the shooter, then quickly signaled for the group to scatter and take cover from the bullets.
Someone was injured. The soldiers helped him toward safety as gunfire relentlessly pursued them, growing fainter in the distance. Lin Yiqiao struggled to pinpoint their exact location.
She touched the gun holstered at her waist—the one Xiao Guohua had given her before he left.
It was hard, heavy, and nothing like the training guns she had used before.
Because this one could fire at any moment.
She closed her eyes briefly, and when she opened them again, her gaze was clear and resolute. Drawing her gun, she strode toward the direction of the earlier gunfire.
The cicadas’ chirping on this summer night felt eerily unsettling in the woods, where the scent of blood lingered. Lin Yiqiao stepped over a body lying on the ground, gun raised.
Suddenly, a large hand gripped her ankle.
“Lin…”
Before the man could finish, Lin Yiqiao lunged forward, her eyes brimming with worry.
“Regiment Commander… are you alright?”
Qi Jun leaned against a large tree, his face hidden in shadow. Lin Yiqiao could only see his strong nose and sharp jawline.
In that moment, her heart truly ached for him. She bit the hem of her shirt, tore off a strip of fabric, and tightly wrapped it around the gunshot wound on Qi Jun’s left side.
“Regiment Commander, reinforcements will arrive soon. Just hold on a little longer!”
“This place isn’t safe… we need to leave as soon as possible.” Qi Jun was badly injured, but his voice remained steady and firm. Lin Yiqiao instinctively wanted to follow his lead.
“Alright.” She struggled to support the man’s weight, moving forward step by step.
After just a few steps, the ground gave way beneath them, and they tumbled into a two-meter-deep pit.