Chapter 08 - Farewell

Hundreds of dark green military tents are neatly lined up at the end of the aisle, with striking white-and-red cross patterns on their peaked tops and straight walls. Order and solemnity is the only tone here.

Now, the silent order has been completely disrupted.

People are everywhere.

Due to a shortage of beds, many refugees can only hold up a drip bottle with one hand and sit quietly in a corner, giving themselves an infusion of glucose, which can bring their nearly exhausted physiological functions back to life. Every spacious junction has a temporary dining spot, and every pot of porridge brought down from the military dining car will cause a new round of competition among the hungry crowd. Despite the hard work of the staff to repeatedly persuade them that this is only a temporary nutritional supplement, that they can get more food back at the rear. But the survivors with hungry eyes simply can't listen. If it wasn't for a fully armed security force, armed with dark guns, who were urgently sent to force people to line up in pairs to clear the order, everything would likely be trampled into a ruin of wounds.

After being thoroughly vetted by the guard soldiers, Lin Xiang finally entered the hospital's perimeter. He noticed that when he returned his identification, there was an unconscious respect in the soldiers' eyes. Especially when the gaze fell on his blood-stained, battle-filled protective suit, the young and responsible face showed even more obvious admiration.

The attack of the mutants and the widespread outbreak of the virus are no longer secrets. The survivors who were rescued are describing the horrors and brutality of those inhuman monsters in their own ways. Being able to survive and fight in such a brutal battle is a recognition of a soldier's qualifications and strength.

Entering the hospital area, this feeling became even more obvious. No matter where he went, Lin Xiang could feel the gratitude and appreciation expressed by countless survivors in different ways.

The combat uniform of the 64th Mobile Unit differs from that of ordinary soldiers, which became the only criterion for survivors to determine who is on their side.

With the memory in his mind, Lin Xiang quickly found the medical tent where Ying Jia was. As he bent down, leaning through a piece of white bedsheet and wrap that was hanging to dry, just as he approached the door, he heard a fierce argument coming from inside.

"Jia Jia, if you don't leave now, it'll be too late. Come with me."

"What authority do you have to interfere with my freedom? I am still in my internship period and I will do what I should do."

"Ha ha! What, you're so concerned about the so-called internship evaluation? That stuff is just a useless piece of paper. If you want, you can choose any hospital in the country. Even the best St. Paul's Hospital in the United States and the Magdalene Rehabilitation Center in Switzerland, I can get you in. An internship evaluation issued by the world's most famous doctor is much more useful than this low-end military medical organization."

"This is my choice, and it has nothing to do with you."

"Stop this boring discussion. You're both being fooled. Do you know that Yunnan has already been occupied by mutated creatures and the virus will soon spread to this city. By that time, there will be no escape. I got a private plane from my dad specifically to pick you up. Hurry up! This is not the place for you to stay."

Hearing this, Lin Xiang lifted the waterproof tent flap and walked straight into the tent.

In addition to Ying Jia, there was another man in the room.

He was tall, with a clean-shaven face, and a slender frame gold wire glasses perched on his nose, giving him a very elegant, scholarly appearance. His slender limbs and slender physique looked flexible and agile, and he was about twenty-five years old. He was dressed in a clean "Vivienne Westwood" hunting outfit, which gave off a noble air that most people could not have.

"Who are you?"

Before Lin Xiang could speak, the man frowned. He raised his hand to adjust his slightly slipping glasses and said in an unfriendly tone, "Entering someone else's dwelling without permission is a very rude behavior, do you know that?"

In comparison, Ying Jia's response was much more enthusiastic.

"How did you get here?"

The girl excitedly circled around the table and ran over. She seemed to want to grab Lin Xiang's hand, but she felt it wasn't appropriate, so she raised her hands stiffly in the air, her face showing an unguarded look of surprise, and smiled, "You, when did you come back?"

"Just finished the task and came to see you," Lin Xiang said, glancing at the man next to him with the corners of his eyes. The other man's eyes, covered by the glass lenses, were emitting a cold, hostile snake-like coldness.

"Let me introduce you, this is my cousin, Su Yongzhe."

Sensitive to the unfriendly atmosphere between the two men, Yingjia could only introduce them on the surface and try to ease the tension as much as possible using her female intuition.

"Nice to meet you."

Su Yongzhe's scrutinizing gaze quickly landed on Lin Xiang's newly changed lieutenant emblem on his shoulder. Perhaps feeling that a low-ranking officer could not pose a threat to himself, his harsh tone became slightly more relaxed. He greeted them briefly before continuing his interrupted topic, "Jiajia, time is running out, you must leave with me now."

"I'm not going anywhere -" Yingjia's attitude was very resolute.

"Don't act like a child, listen to your cousin, this is not the place for you to stay," Su Yongzhe rebuked.

Suddenly, to Yingjia's surprise, Lin Xiang spoke up and tried to persuade her, "The spread of the virus is much faster than expected. Once the situation changes, the situation will quickly become chaotic."

"What, even you think so?" Yingjia was a little at a loss, sandwiched between the two men.

Lin Xiang nodded seriously. He reached out and gently combed the girl's hair, saying with affection, "Let's pack up and go. Surviving is more important than anything else."

Ying Jia raised her head, grabbed his rough big hand, gently pressed it against her cheek and slowly rubbed it. In her confused eyes, a layer of crystal-clear liquid had already covered them at some point.

Meanwhile, Su Yongzhe turned his head to the side, pretending to be calm, but his eyes betrayed his obvious jealousy and coldness.

Feeling the touch of the girl's delicate skin from his fingertips, Lin Xiang took a deep breath, and with difficulty and determination, he shrunk his hand. He then opened his arms wide, tightly grabbed Ying Jia's delicate shoulders with his ten powerful fingers, leaned close to her face, and spoke in an unwavering voice: "Don't waste any more time, let's go."

It takes time to pack things up. Perhaps they wanted to continue their unfinished conversation. The two men walked out of the tent without a word.

"Do you know Jia Jia's true identity?"

Su Yongzhe took out a delicate silver cigarette case from his pocket, gently pressed the latch, took out a thin and beautiful silver cigarette, and lighted it.

It was the famous Treasurer cigarette. A single pack costs over three hundred RMB, making it the world's most expensive cigarette.

"Do you know the Yongsheng Group? Jia Jia is its only legitimate heir. As for me, I am the chairman of Jinsheng Industry and also Jia Jia's fiancé."

Su Yongzhe held a cigarette with his fair fingers and flicked the ash gracefully. He then turned around and looked disdainfully at Lin Xiang, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "The excitement of battle is indeed irresistible for inexperienced girls. Especially at a time like this, a handsome military officer can also be favored by girls. However, if you want to use this to have designs on Jia Jia, then you are completely wrong. Hmph! A mere second lieutenant, with just a word from me, I can make you die without a complete body."

This was definitely not a threat. The Sheng and Jin groups are well-known super conglomerates. Spending a few million to buy the head of a common person is as simple as eating and sleeping for a wealthy person who is overflowing with money.

For some reason, Lin Xiang suddenly felt a little tired.

He was not afraid of this so-called threat. In his eyes, Su Yongzhe's threat was not worth mentioning at all. The experience of fighting his way out of the mutated crowd had long made him see through life and death. Even if he possessed everything in the world, at the moment when the black bone blade splits the sky, no matter how noble and elevated one's identity is, he is nothing but a mixture of proteins and fats.

"Treat Jia Jia well. She is a good girl."

It was not that Lin Xiang was giving up on himself. As a common military man, he may or may not die in the next battle. Instead of letting his beloved woman cry in sorrow, he would rather let her live happily in a safe environment.

"Ha ha! You don't have to worry about this," replied Su Yongzhe.

Su Yongzhe obviously did not expect Lin Xiang to make such a reply. After a short surprise, he threw away the cigarette in his hand, took out a checkbook from his pocket, quickly wrote a string of numbers on it, and handed it over with a appreciative tone, "I like to deal with people who know current affairs. Here's five million, it's a personal compensation for you. Haha! If you're willing, I can also use my connections to transfer you out of this defense area. In the army, I still have some influence."

Lin Xiang gave him a cold glance, did not speak, and did not reach out. He silently turned away.

...

At the airport, a luxurious "Little Antelope" civilian helicopter was starting its engine. The rapidly rotating blades formed a strong air flow around.

Wrapped in a thick military coat, Jia Jingjiao's small figure looked even weaker. Under the strong wind, she seemed to sway unsteadily, ready to be blown away at any moment.

"Will you come find me?" She tightly held Lin Xiang's hand and asked expectantly, "I'll be living in Zhongjing City, here's the address."

As she said that, she handed him a white envelope.

"I will!"

Lin Xiang gently gazed at those transparent eyes: "Once the first task is finished, I will come to find you."

"Really?" Ying Jia's voice was full of surprise.

"Really." The reply was bitter, only understood by the speaker.

In the distance, Su Yongzhe with a gloomy face sat in the cockpit, looking at this scene with envy.

"So... I'll be waiting for you."

The gradually rising plane soon became a small black dot in the sky that was difficult to distinguish. At this moment, Lin Xiang standing on the empty airport also tore open the envelope in his hand with force.

A photo and a letter folded into a heart shape.

The photo seemed to be taken of Ying Jia in a field hospital. Wearing a white nurse dress and a female military cap, she looks very cute. The slightly upturned nose and smiling face all show the youthful aura of a young girl.

Her water-like eyes were full of expectation.

Looking up at the sky, he took a deep breath and carefully put the photo and letter back into his pocket as if they were treasures. After one last look at the dark night sky, he turned and took firm steps towards the military camp.

...

From above, Kunming city looked like a cake placed in an odd-shaped plate. The towering mountains around it seemed to be a natural guard for this basin city.

In the era of economics, densely packed buildings were the best symbol of a thriving city. The narrow and tall streets surrounded the towering skyscrapers and there was not a gap to be found between them. Real estate developers truly put the saying "land is worth its weight in gold" into practice.

This was no longer a lively city. Despite the sun rising from the horizon, there was no movement among the concrete buildings or on the ground. Except for the torn plastic and scraps of paper blown around by the wind, there was only a dead silence permeating the air.

With the M5G43 assault rifle in hand, Lin Xiang, dressed in gray protective gear, squatted down and picked up a piece of black stain from the ground with his gloved hand. He examined it for a long time.

It was a piece of hard human blood. Although the liquid inside had evaporated, one could still smell a nauseating smell of blood.

"Any findings?"

Lin Xiang shook his head, handed the blood piece behind him, and kept his eyes alert, scanning his surroundings.

The person who picked up the blood clump was a white man in a desert camo US military uniform, tall in stature.

From the appearance, he was probably around forty years old, his trimmed white hair close to his scalp looked energetic, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes and the dense eyebrows showed the depth of an adult. Under the broad forehead were deep eyes sunken into the eye sockets. The rough beard covering the strong jawline also added a touch of male rugged beauty.

His name was Mark, an observer from the United Nations Pathology Investigation Agency.

The large-scale virus spread in the Kunming area has attracted the attention of relevant United Nations agencies. Out of concern for the situation, they provided a huge amount of drugs to China and sent personnel to collect information. Lin Xiang's mission on this trip was to accompany Mark back to Kunming City and collect all available information at the source of the virus outbreak.

For safety reasons, the number of members in the entire operation team was not many. In addition to Mark and two followers, only Lin Xiang and five other officers from the 64th Mobile Unit were sent by the Chinese side.