Life is Like a Journey – Chapter 131.1
by Little PandaVolume 5: Extra
Peace Dove (7)
Life must have cracks for light to shine through.
Many years later, when Lu Qingshi thought back to that day, it still felt like a nightmare she couldn’t wake up from.
For ordinary people, it was just another unremarkable day.
It was already a day later when she was rescued from the desert by government forces. When she opened her eyes, an IV line was attached to the back of her hand, Akai Ryo sat at her bedside, and morning light faintly penetrated through the tent fabric.
Lu Qingshi closed her eyes briefly, the scene of her being dragged away by terrorists flashing in her mind. Her heart felt like it was being carved by knives as she suddenly turned and got up, pulling out the needle herself and getting out of bed.
Akai Ryo stopped her: “Lu-san, where are you going?!”
“Get out of my way, I need to save her!” Lu Qingshi struggled, then suddenly grabbed his collar, her eyes bloodshot.
“If you’re a friend, don’t stop me!”
Footsteps sounded outside the tent, an Asian military officer and another tall M Country officer approached together.
The soldiers guarding outside the tent saluted, then both stepped aside.
Lu Qingshi released Akai Ryo, studied the Asian officer for a moment, then suddenly lunged forward, grabbing his clothes.
“You’re Chinese, aren’t you? Please, can you save her? I beg you, save her, she was taken by terrorists, it’s been a day and night already, I dare not imagine what might have happened to her…”
The woman’s hair was disheveled, her eyes red, and as she spoke, tears began to fall.
The Asian officer was moved, but still brushed away her hand: “I’m sorry, Dr. Lu, we… cannot go save her.”
“Why?!” Lu Qingshi froze in place, her voice suddenly rising: “Isn’t she Chinese?! Isn’t she a Chinese soldier?! If it weren’t for her that night, we would all be dead!”
The officer, around forty years old, with a stern square face, slightly lowered his gaze with a pained expression: “First, allow me to introduce myself. I am the Chinese representative of the multinational joint command against the Kala extremist organization. Lieutenant Gu was executing a classified mission to eliminate Kala. You know China’s diplomatic principles and peaceful approach – she couldn’t execute the mission as a Chinese soldier, so…”
He paused, then revealed the fact that was even harder for Lu Qingshi to accept.
“Once captured, she is just a defected mercenary, unrelated to any country, region, or organization, and we… have no standing to save her.”
“Lieutenant Gu is a marksman who could shoot through a hundred paces. That shot could have hit Kala’s head,” the officer glanced at the devastated woman before him, his eyes showing both regret and emotion.
“But the large-caliber sniper rifle bullet…”
Lu Qingshi felt the world spinning, steadied herself against the bed, and said through gritted teeth: “Would have gone through Kala and hit me, right?”
Seeing the woman crying behind her hands, the M Country officer also felt reluctant: “Sorry, ma’am, we came too late. Our commander and a platoon of soldiers also died in that battle. Lieutenant Gu is a hero, she alone saved all the civilians in the town…”
Lu Qingshi raised her hand to stop their words, her eyes blazing with bloodshot whites: “Get out.”
The two men nodded slightly to her before leaving, and the soldiers guarding the door followed them out.
Lu Qingshi lifted the curtain and went out, finding Mike who was recovering from injuries: “Take me to your armory.”
The once lively camp was now empty, waiting for government forces to take over or a new Desert Eagle squad to move in.
Several charred bodies that hadn’t been collected yet lay by the fence. The big boy looked once, his eyes reddening again, limping ahead: “These d*mned Nazis!”
The campfire in the center was still smoking – they had once gathered there to sing, dance, and cook curry.
Those lively, lovely soldiers had all vanished overnight.
At the end of the second-floor corridor was Gu Yanzhi’s single dormitory, where the nights spent were among the few peaceful and warm ones in the desert.
In her daze, she could still see the elegant female officer leaning against the wall smoking, their gazes meeting across the distance.
Lu Qingshi’s vision blurred.
“Lu, it’s here,” Mike pressed his fingerprint, and the armory slowly opened before them.
A heavy smell of gunpowder mixed with a cold murderous intent hit them – thousands of weapons were displayed here, all secretly supported by various countries’ military forces, with no shortage of both common and uncommon weapons.
Her gaze swept over them, remembering when Gu Yanzhi had brought her here before.
The officer picked up a small-caliber handgun and handed it to her: “Use this.”
“Why?” Lu Qingshi still preferred the sniper rifles that could hit targets with perfect accuracy like her, or at least the automatic rifles she had used during live-fire training back home.
Gu Yanzhi came over and pushed the gun into her hands: “A weapon is something meant to be used by people. If you can’t master it skillfully, even the best gun is just a piece of scrap metal.”
“You lack some strength, but your wrist stability is good. A handgun’s killing power at close range is no less than an automatic rifle, try it.”
Lu Qingshi walked over and picked up that handgun, feeling as if she could still touch her warmth – though it was cold metal, she felt a hint of warmth.
Mike saw her expression and already understood what she wanted to do.
The big boy became agitated: “Lu…”
The black gun barrel pointed at him, Lu Qingshi had loaded it full: “Everyone else in this world can abandon her, but I can’t.”
Save her if possible, die together if not.
She had already prepared herself for mutual destruction.
Gu Yanzhi was such a proud person – she would rather die than bend, than be imprisoned, humiliated, and tortured in every way.
She understood her.
She would accompany her.
Taking off the red clothes [ηΊ’θ£ | hong zhuang | civilian clothes] to change into military uniform.
Helmet, goggles.
Half-finger tactical gloves.
The combat boots felt stiff, she wasn’t used to them yet. She stomped her feet slightly, squatting down to tighten the laces.
Her troublesome hair fell down, and Lu Qingshi stood up as her gaze fell on a sharp dagger nearby. A cold glint flashed, and black strands of hair drifted down through the air.
She tied the remaining hair tightly with a band and tucked it neatly into the helmet, finally feeling refreshed.
Lastly came the bulletproof vest – she picked it up and worked around the dense threads to put it on, then wore the white coat over it as final camouflage.
Her passport and documents were in her pocket.
Mike, severely injured, was easily tied to the chair as Lu Qingshi held the gun to his head.
“Car keys.”
“In my pocket.”
She opened the chest pocket of his jacket and took out a set of car keys. Seeing his reddened eyes, the woman smiled again and undid his restraints.
“Lu, Sir isn’t just your woman, she’s also our commanding officer. All the other brothers are dead, I can’t just live on cowardly – at least let me go with you!”
The boy got agitated, but Lu Qingshi held him down: “Mike, you’re only eighteen – in my homeland, you’d still be a child sitting in school. Gu must have her reasons for not letting you go. When the war ends, go home. Goodbye, Mike.”
The woman stood up, tucking the handgun into the holster at her waist and buttoning up her white coat.
Mike ran after her: “If you’re going, take this.”
He took out a rice-grain-sized micro-communicator from his ear canal.
“What’s this?”
“A nano-communicator that won’t be detected by any metal detector. It also has positioning capabilities. Sir has one too.”
Lu Qingshi took it, finally showing a genuine smile: “Thank you.”
In life, there are some things we must do even when we have no choice – like how she saved Fu Peiqi, how Gu Yanzhi accepted the classified mission and became a “defected” mercenary, how she came to the Middle East, and now as she drove alone through the desert.
Before, Gu Yanzhi had always protected her.
Now it was her turn to protect her.
Even if there was no return from this path, she would proceed without hesitation.
Yanzhi, hold on, wait for me.
“Speak?! Who sent you?!” In the dark underground fortress, the torturer went bare-chested, landing another whip viciously across her body.
Gu Yanzhi was strung up, hands and feet bound with chains as thick as thumbs, beaten until her skin split and flesh showed, barely breathing.
Those people cleaned her wounds, then sprinkled salt water on them. She let out a howl from her throat, but that was all.
A hot branding iron was pressed against her body, the smell of burning hair spreading through the air. She bit down and fainted, yet hadn’t uttered a single word.
“Sir, this one’s really tough.”
The sweating executioner was getting tired – she hadn’t said a single word.
Kala sat in his chair smoking a cigar, pressing the burning end against her shoulder, his expression dark and unreadable.
“How about, brothers, we try something fresh with her, she’s a woman after all.”
Someone licked their lips, impatient.
Kala laughed loudly, lifting her face to examine it carefully: “You’re interested even though she’s like a man?”
“F*cked women before, but never a female soldier.”
The pack of beasts’ eyes gleamed with lust.
Kala released his grip, patted her face, grabbed her hair, and yanked her up: “Wake her up.”
A lackey came over with a bucket of ice water, about to throw it when someone ran into the interrogation room: “Sir, something’s wrong! A woman broke in and injured many of our brothers!”
Kala picked up his gun and strode out: “Come, let’s see.”
“I thought Chinese people were all sensible, madam. Are you here to die?”
Kala’s forehead was wrapped in layers of gauze. He was of medium build with a full beard, unremarkable – the type you couldn’t find in a crowd – yet he was a ruthless terrorist.
Those eyes were cold, cruel, and bloodthirsty, as if nothing could concern him, except…
Lu Qingshi released her hostage: “No, I’m here to save Bal.”
Kala dropped his cigarette butt, looking her white coat up and down, his expression becoming somewhat maniacal.
“Madam, I hope you’re not deceiving me, otherwise not just you, but your companion will also…”
Lu Qingshi put down her gun, took out her documents from her pocket and handed them over: “My name is Lu Qingshi, Chinese doctor. You can check.”
Kala waved his hand, and the people surrounding her lowered their guns. A lackey snatched her passport and handed it to him.
Kala looked once, ordered someone to check, and soon an iPad was placed in his hands.
The female doctor in the photo was identical to the person before him, with a huge headline reading “The Miracle of Chinese Medicine.”
“What do you want?”
“I heal your brother, you let us go.”
Kala thought for a moment: “Deal.”
Some soldiers stopped her for a body search, and Lu Qingshi directly raised her hand and shot one dead, warm blood splattering onto her face.
The doctor’s hands trembled slightly, her throat moving in barely noticeable swallows. Even though she had killed a terrorist, she was still shaken.
Hands that saved lives had become hands that took them.
She thought, she would surely go to hell.
Lu Qingshi swallowed: “I’m just a weak woman, your soldier tried to take advantage of me.”
In his own lair, this fortress was airtight on all sides, surrounded by two-meter-high walls, with watchtowers and guard posts on the perimeter.
Even with wings, she couldn’t fly away.
In some ways, Kala was an arrogant man.
He kicked the lackey beside him: “Put your f*cking guns away, all of you!”
They called it an operating room, but it was just a cleaner room, simply furnished with an operating table, shadowless lamp, one ventilator, several oxygen tanks, and a dialysis machine – this was what had been keeping Bal’s vital signs stable these days.
After reviewing the examination reports, Lu Qingshi took another deep look at this young man called Bal. Like his elder brother, he was unremarkable in appearance, yet was one of the leaders of the largest extremist organization in the Middle East.
She couldn’t view him with the simple eyes of treating a patient.
Just thinking about performing surgery on such a person made her feel sick.
She even felt she didn’t deserve to be a doctor – saving one person would lead to many more being harmed.
If Gu Yanzhi were here, she would surely hate her.
But she couldn’t care about all that now, this was her only bargaining chip.
Entering this operating room required passing through a metal-shielding door. The detector didn’t sound – Kala knew she carried no weapons, the only gun had just been confiscated.
“The one lying on the bed is my brother, Bal. Do you know who he is? He’s my good brother. We grew up together, fought against this old and corrupt world together, helped more people achieve immortality together, let wandering refugees join us, gave them weapons and ammunition, also gave them food, shelter, and women…”
Lu Qingshi was impatient with his lengthy speech: “I need to see her, confirm she’s safe, then I’ll perform the surgery.”
“You think you’re in any position to negotiate with us?” Kala’s gun pointed at her.
Lu Qingshi didn’t dodge or avoid, her gaze determined: “Kill me and no one in this world can save him.”
“Madam, you remind me – I could completely use that female officer’s life to threaten you. For your sake, she didn’t fire that fatal shot at me. You came here alone for her, you two…”
She raised her head, lips pressed tight, ready to pull his trigger, her eyes showing no regrets.
“She is my woman. You can do that, but I guarantee you’ll only get two corpses.”
Her hand pointed to the bed: “No, three.”
Kala lowered his gun. She knew he wasn’t convinced, just arrogant, believing she had no power to escape from here.
“Someone, take her to see that female officer.”
Lu Qingshi gripped her sleeve tightly – someday, she would make Kala pay for his arrogance.
The dungeon was damp and dark.
A rat crawled across the surface of her boot.
A nest of cockroaches scattered from the hay stack in fright.
Foul-smelling water dripped from the ceiling.
She didn’t know what she was stepping on – perhaps hay, or human and animal excrement.
Even the pig pens Lu Qingshi had seen on television were cleaner than this.
Following the lead lackey, she walked past people lying in cells with vacant, lifeless gazes, white maggots still wriggling in their exposed wounds.
The prisoners here included whites, blacks, Asians… all kinds of people, even children kept for their amusement.
She heard a little boy cry out heart-rendingly: “Help!”
Following were men’s heavy breathing mixed with curses, gradually falling silent.
Just watching, Lu Qingshi ground her teeth to pieces, wishing she could flay these people alive.
Born as humans alike, how could they be so cruel?
She stared at the guide’s neck ahead, her hands itching to move.
“We’re here.”
He stopped.
Lu Qingshi threw herself against the bars, reaching out her arms: “Gu Yanzhi, Gu Yanzhi, wake up…”
As she spoke, tears began to fall.
Whether during negotiations with terrorists or when killing, the stubborn doctor had never cried. But upon seeing her covered in wounds, tears burst forth like a flood breaking through a dam.
“What did you do to her?! Get lost! Beasts! Animals! F*ck!”
In her distress, she cursed everything, making those people laugh instead. Someone opened the cell door for her, and Lu Qingshi rushed in, falling to her knees beside her.
“Gu Yanzhi…” she gently cradled her head, kissing her dirt-covered face.
She could still detect faint breathing – she was still alive.
This made Lu Qingshi both laugh and cry.
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