Beijing, because of Shen Qinglan’s departure, the Shen Family and the Fu Family were in utter chaos. Chu Yunrong sat on the living room sofa wiping her tears, "Where on earth has this child run off to?"
Wen Xiyao sat beside her, "Auntie, don’t panic first. Qinglan always acts with a sense of asure, she definitely won’t let anything happen to her. Let’s calm down first; maybe Qinglan just went out for a walk. She must be upset about Hengyi’s situation, so it’s understandable that she went out to get so air."
After Wen Xiyao said this, even she herself didn’t believe it. It was precisely because Shen Qinglan was always so composed that she wouldn’t go out for air without notifying her family, causing everyone to worry. Now, it seed highly likely that she had gone off to do sothing everyone would oppose.
"Call Shen Qian, tell him to bring Qinglan back imdiately if he sees her," Old Sir Shen said with a stern face to Shen Junyu.
Shen Junyu was just trying to call Shen Qinglan, but she wasn’t answering.
Upon hearing Old Sir Shen’s words, he imdiately called Shen Qian, but by that ti, Shen Qinglan had already entered the rainforest.
"Dad, why didn’t you bring Lanlan back?" Shen Junyu asked in a loud voice after learning that Shen Qian hadn’t stopped Shen Qinglan from entering the rainforest.
"You actually let her go into the rainforest alone, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" Shen Junyu roared, his eyes seeming to spit fire.
The other family mbers’ faces turned pale when they heard what Shen Junyu said, and Chu Yunrong’s tears, which had just stopped, fell again.
Shen Junyu hung up the phone with a solemn expression, "Lanlan went into the rainforest alone to look for Hengyi."
Old Sir Fu’s body imdiately fell backward, scaring Shen Junyu to quickly reach out to support him, "Grandpa Fu."
Old Sir Fu’s hands trembled, his face ashen, "Qinglan girl..."
Old Sir Shen’s body was also shaky. Both elderly n, who had weathered many storms in their lives, seed at that mont as if all their strength had been drained.
Shen Junyu’s eyes were dark and inscrutable, "Xi Yao, please take care of everything at ho." He left after speaking.
Wen Xiyao was unable to stop him, knowing that she couldn’t be of much help right now. She could only stay behind and take care of the ho to at least ensure that he had nothing to worry about.
**
A day later, Shen Qinglan and her team finally reached the place Shen Qian had ntioned, only to discover it was a cliff, very high, with turbulent currents below. Shen Qinglan’s heart sunk to the bottom the mont she saw the height; from such a height, falling was very dangerous—one could easily die on the spot. If Fu Hengyi had fallen, it was more likely than not that he had t with misfortune.
"An, I’ll go down and take a look," Andre said. He had just observed carefully and noted that there were many vines under the cliff that could be used for climbing.
Shen Qinglan nodded. Jin Enxi was fiddling with her equipnt; they were deep within the rainforest where the signal was not good. Finding the signal from Fu Hengyi’s body was challenging.
"I’ve found it, An," Jin Enxi suddenly said excitedly.
Shen Qinglan’s eyes brightened as she looked at Jin Enxi. Jin Enxi pointed to the small red dot on the screen and said, "Here, about three kiloters away from us. I checked, there’s a mountain in between. It seems like Fu Hengyi is moving quickly."
Shen Qinglan felt sowhat relieved; at least this was good news. By then, Andre had also climbed back up, "An, there are no traces below, he probably didn’t fall."
"We’ve confird the location; we were just about to set off once you got back up," Cissily explained.
The group hurried toward where Fu Hengyi was located.
"An, we should rest for a while; otherwise, you won’t be able to endure," Eden said, looking at Shen Qinglan’s pale face.
Shen Qinglan shook her head, "I can keep going." Every minute she persevered, she could reach Fu Hengyi a minute earlier.
"An, you can’t keep going. You must stop and rest now; continuing on will be bad for the child in your belly," Eden said, pulling Shen Qinglan to a stop.
Shen Qinglan had already felt a faint pain in her lower abdon and was worried about the child’s well-being, so she obediently stopped.
The group found an abandoned cave. Eden laid down so animal furs that resembled wolf pelts on a flat space, "An, you should sleep for a bit to recover your strength."
Shen Qinglan nodded without being stubborn and leaned against the stone wall to close her eyes.
This cave was probably previously occupied by wolves; it was quite small. Besides the spot left for Shen Qinglan, the rest was just enough for several people to squeeze together for back-to-back rest.
The four took turns keeping watch to avoid wolves attacking them.
Shen Qinglan didn’t rest well; she held her belly tightly, muttering "I’m sorry" at tis and calling out Fu Hengyi’s na at others.
Her voice was very soft, only Eden, who was closest to her, heard it. Eden, looking at Shen Qinglan’s furrowed brows under the light of the campfire, felt a twinge of pain in his heart. Worried she might awaken from the cold in the middle of the night, Eden covered her with his jacket. When Andre saw this, he offered half of his clothing to Eden.
When Shen Qinglan woke up, it was still dark outside. Except for Jin Enxi, everyone else was asleep. When Jin Enxi saw her wake up, he intended to rouse the others, but Shen Qinglan stopped him.
Shen Qinglan, with her eyes open, leaned against the stone wall, watching her companions as they rested with their eyes closed. Fu Hengyi always felt sorry for her past, but her life hadn’t been that bad, had it?
She had learned many things and had the ability to protect herself. Most importantly, she had a group of friends who shared life and death with her, friends she could trust her life with.
They say when God closes a door, He surely opens a window. She thought that God must have favored her after all, providing her with friends to share wild tis, to indulge her whims, and to face life and death with.
The group woke up one after another, casually ate so dry food, and set off on their journey. The red dot representing Fu Hengyi was still moving, and during their search, they encountered people from the Z country’s military, including soone she knew.
"An—it’s the military," she whispered.
Shen Qinglan nodded. "Let’s go around them. We don’t want them to discover us." Running into the military at such a place was troubleso. It would be hard to explain their presence, especially with so many lethal weapons in their possession.
The military personnel didn’t have the precise location like Shen Qinglan and her group, nor a general direction. They had to conduct a full area search, and from the looks of it, they were completely heading in the wrong direction.
After bypassing the military, Shen Qinglan and her team continued towards the signal’s location. The mountain roads were steep, and Shen Qinglan couldn’t keep up. "You guys go ahead without , first find Fu Hengyi."
Halfway there, Shen Qinglan insisted.
"No, it would be too dangerous for you to stay here alone," Eden objected.
"My pace is holding everyone back," Shen Qinglan said.
After thinking for a mont, Jin Enxi suggested, "Alright, the three of us will go ahead to find Fu Hengyi. Eden, you stay with An and follow behind us."
The others had no objections to this plan. Jin Enxi took out a few communicators from his bag. "Stay in touch."
"An, you rest a little longer," Eden said, seeing Shen Qinglan trying to stand up and pressing her shoulder down. Shen Qinglan looked at him.
"An, your body has reached its limit. Listen to , take a rest. You should trust the three of them," he urged.
Shen Qinglan sat still, her gaze shifting to a nearby thicket. "Eden, don’t you think I was too willful this ti?"
Eden nodded seriously. "Yes, you were willful. To put it bluntly, An, you are indeed dragging us down. But I support you."
Shen Qinglan looked at him, and Eden smiled slightly. "If it were you in danger today, even if I were injured and completely powerless, I would still choose to co and save you."
Seeing a flicker of guilt in Shen Qinglan’s eyes, Eden waved his hand dismissively. "An, you don’t need to apologize to , everything I’m doing is voluntary, and I’m content as long as you are happy. Besides, we are still the closest of friends."
Shen Qinglan stared at him steadily. "Yes, we are the closest of friends."
Once Shen Qinglan’s strength had recovered, the two started to catch up to Jin Enxi and the others.
**
On the other side, Fu Hengyi stared intently at the figure in front of him, his gaze icy cold. The person fleeing ahead was King. Four days ago, during King’s fight with Fu Hengyi, Allen had found them just in ti and even killed one of Fu Hengyi’s n. Thinking that reinforcents had arrived, King had let down his guard for a mont, but that montary lapse allowed Fu Hengyi to seize an opening and take him hostage.
Because of this, ng Liang’s life was spared.
"Allen," Fu Hengyi looked at the suddenly appearing figure, instantly understanding that Allen had tead up with King.
"Fu Hengyi," Allen uttered the na. "I never expected to see you in such a wretched state, such incapacity, unable to even save your own brother."
Fu Hengyi’s expression was frosty and silent. ng Liang retreated behind Fu Hengyi, looking at the dozen or so people surrounding them, roughly calculating that these were probably not all the reinforcents.
There was sadness and anger in ng Liang’s eyes: for his fallen comrades, and for the brazenness of these people.
But assessing the combat power of both sides, ng Liang understood that, perhaps this ti, he might have to sacrifice himself for his motherland. He had never feared death. From the first day he joined this unit, every mber had written a letter to be left behind for their loved ones. His letter was addressed to his mother.
With many years of service, he had carried out nurous missions. Before each departure, he had prepared for the possibility of sacrifice, but every ti they had returned alive. Ironically, it was this military exercise—a routine operation they hadn’t taken to heart—that ant they might never return.
ng Liang didn’t regret joining the military. If there was any regret, perhaps it was that he hadn’t called his mother before this exercise.
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