097 Forced Kiss

Liu Fen seemed intensely interested in her son Li Changjiang’s plan to join the army.

In truth, anyone who had ever served knew very well that becoming a soldier was no easy matter, or rather, the number of slots in the armed forces was limited.

Although Liu Fen’s real intention was to keep her son, Changjiang, firmly in her grasp and out of her sight for as long as possible, life still had to go on, and that was something beyond her control. If her son could get into the army, that would naturally be for the best.

She was perfectly willing to see it happen.

But Liu Fen did not realize that this was only a pretext Li Changjiang had invented for himself, a way to leave.

Join the army?

Enlist?

A soldier was not merely a soldier. It was not enough simply to sling a rifle over one’s shoulder and put on a heroic uniform to become a serviceman.

A true soldier had to be worthy of the red star above his head, worthy of the military flag he had sworn to defend, worthy of the land beneath his feet. Li Changjiang did not believe he possessed such lofty military virtue, and so, for him, becoming a soldier seemed somewhat too far beyond reach.

Still, for now, he had to keep playing his part.

“Really, Mom, the people from the army are outside right now. If you want, I can call them in and you can ask them yourself?”

“What nonsense are you spouting? Those military men came all this way, and you still want me to add to their trouble? Hurry up and call your father to help you pack, then go with you to take a look. If you really can join the army, I’ll feel much more at ease.”

Liu Fen’s attitude turned around one hundred and eighty degrees at once.

Li Changjiang stared at her, a little stunned. But what was the point of his old man going along? There were chaperones for school admissions, bridesmaids at weddings, but was there really such a thing as someone accompanying you to enlist? What a joke. If word got out, wouldn’t people laugh themselves sick?

“Mom, if my dad goes with me, what would that look like? If I go to the army like that, won’t they laugh at me to death? I’d need someone to escort me into the service? Would their officers even want me then?”

Liu Fen thought that made sense, so she pursed her lips and said nothing more. Li Changjiang, quick on the uptake, threw out a few sweet words to flatter his mother, lowered himself just enough, and then dashed out the door.

It was not until Li Changjiang had already gotten into the car that Liu Fen began to understand she had been taken in by the boy.

“Forget it. Let him go. You can keep an eye on him for a day, for a year, but not for a lifetime.”

Liu Fen immediately felt a little deflated.

She was not an educated woman, but she could still see that after this return, her son Li Changjiang had changed. Birds were meant to grow up someday; if they wanted to fly, then let them fly. The vast sky would always have a place for them to roam.

The desert was desolate yet magnificent.

The Gobi ahead seemed to stretch without end, and the endless yellow sand was whipped by the wind into streams of dust that struck the windows in a crackling patter, like a burst of gunfire.

Drowsiness settled in.

When he opened his eyes again, Li Changjiang felt a little heavy-headed.

There was no doubt this had been a long, tiring journey. The two soldiers had been unusually silent the whole way, until Li Changjiang finally woke.

“Have some water. We’ll be there soon.”

“Mm, thanks.”

He took the water from the soldier, twisted off the cap, and drank deeply in one go. With July approaching, the heat deep in the deserts of the far northwest had become terrifying. Even the road visible through the windshield in the distance seemed to ripple and burn. In this kind of environment, dehydration was severe.

There were very few vehicles on the road, and the scenery along the way was so monotonous it had become almost tedious.

“You’re special forces, aren’t you?” Li Changjiang suddenly asked.

The soldier sitting beside him froze.

In fact, when they received orders to go to Nankang and bring Li Changjiang back, they had already been astonished. They were indeed special forces soldiers, but they had carried out well over a hundred missions, and this one was the most baffling of all.

The reason was simple enough.

The day they set out happened to be the opening day of the final round of the all-army special operations championship. Today was the day it ended, which meant that by accepting this mission, they would miss the final. That was a genuine disappointment.

Still, duty was a soldier’s highest calling. So although they had some complaints, the two men had nonetheless carried out the mission without hesitation.

All of which only increased their curiosity about Li Changjiang, the ordinary man whom the senior officers had deemed important enough to send them on a long journey to retrieve.

“No comment!”

The cold reply made Li Changjiang want to laugh.

That was pure television nonsense.

Seeing that the two refused to say more, he asked no further. Instead, he turned to look out the window. Through the glass, a faint trace of green gradually appeared in his eyes.

They were wild seabuckthorn bushes, growing in thick clusters and clinging stubbornly to life amid the wind and sand. His thoughts, no longer under control, began to spread beyond the window, far, far away.

Bang!

Rat-a-tat-tat!

“Damn it! Elisa! Elisa!”

“Go! Leave me alone!”

“Damn it, I’m coming to help you!”

“——”

Ah!

Suddenly.

Inside the quiet cabin, Li Changjiang let out a sharp scream. Fear, urgency, and fury all surged at once. His breathing suddenly grew ragged, beads of sweat broke out across his forehead, and his face went deathly pale.

Huff, huff!

Screech, screech, screech!

The shrill sound of brakes hit their ears at once. After the vehicle lurched violently, it pulled over on the roadside shoulder. The door was yanked open, and the driver wasted no time; he and the soldier in the back seat lifted Li Changjiang out of the car and laid him flat on the roadside, where the heat had baked the ground almost to the point of scalding.

“Shit! What’s wrong with him?”

“No idea. Might be heatstroke!”

“Quick, get some water! If something happens to him, we’ll be in serious trouble!”

They took the water, twisted it open, and poured it straight toward Li Changjiang’s mouth, but he could not drink it down at all. Instead, he kept spitting it out, his face growing paler by the second, his body temperature frighteningly high.

Both men were special forces soldiers, so they knew basic emergency measures. They immediately stripped off the upper half of his clothing, pressed on his chest, and then—

Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!

Still no good!

“What now? This is really getting bad, damn it!”

“Let me try!”

Li Changjiang only felt as though his consciousness had suddenly been swallowed by something. Everything went black, and at once he seemed to be back in Libya, in Benghazi.

Gunfire filled his ears, along with the thunder of RPG explosions, and the shouts of Elisa and the Russians. He struggled desperately to break free, but he could not control his own mind as it sank deeper and deeper, until suddenly his mouth was blocked by something, then inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale.

His chest seemed to be pried open all at once, and a rush of fresh air surged in, quickly sweeping away that strange consciousness. Then his awareness snapped sharply back.

Only when he opened his eyes did he realize, with a sudden blankness, what was happening.

What the hell?

What kind of situation is this?

I’m exhausted today, but I’ll still do what I promised. I’ll keep writing and keep updating. No matter where you found Hunt the World, please give me one subscription, one monthly vote. Let me know, when I’m worn out, that I’m not alone. There are many people still waiting for me.