Chapter Sixteen: Stranded in the Deep Mountains

  "My heart immediately rose to my throat, and I whispered to Song Jiabao: 'It's about arresting me ****, what should we do?'"

  Song Jiabao's face changed color and he quickly said "No way, their guns are pointed at me" before stopping the car.

  As Song Jiabao and I got off the car, there were already four guns pointing at our heads.

  So we honestly raised our hands and stood against the jeep, letting them search us.

  We didn't have any weapons, and those guys slightly let their guard down. The one I saw before stepped forward and said viciously: "You little brat, you actually escaped! But I'm telling you, in this place, our people are everywhere, you can't escape our grasp. Remember, next time, I'll finish you off with one shot!"

  Right after that I was kicked to the ground by him, and someone else took advantage of the situation and gave me another kick, my butt hurt repeatedly.

  Song Jiabao was also not spared, he was kicked down and then kicked around by several people.

  We couldn't help but let out a miserable cry, the pain on our bodies completely depriving us of the courage to resist, and we could only try our best to protect our heads, lest we be kicked to death.

  After a while, they finally stopped, and I only felt that my body was sore all over, and I didn't know what part of me was hurting. Anyway, my whole body was bleeding. Song Jiabao was also covered in injuries, with bloodstains everywhere.

  Someone was heard shouting loudly: "Take them on board and hurry up to transfer, the enemy is almost here."

  Then, Song Jiabao and I were tied up with our hands behind our backs and pushed onto the hijacked military vehicle. There were over a dozen people inside the vehicle, most of whom wore hoods and had their hands bound, apparently also hostages. The others were heavily armed men wearing identical hoods that only exposed their eyes. At first glance, they looked like special forces soldiers from TV, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that their uniforms lacked the shoulder badges and other insignia typically worn by military personnel.

  They are gangsters, they must be. I told myself in my heart, don't easily provoke these few people.

  Song Jiabao was also sizing up these big men, his eyes had a thread of fear and unease.

  I know he hasn't really experienced the severity of these things, so he would feel afraid and uneasy, so I said softly: "Don't worry..."

  No sooner had I spoken than a burly man shouted loudly: "You are not allowed to speak!"

  I quickly shut up and didn't dare say another word. Captain Song of the squadron made a gesture with his eyes, indicating that he shouldn't act rashly.

  Song Jiabao nodded slightly and didn't dare speak, silently lowering his head.

  I saw a big man take out two hoods from his backpack, apparently preparing to put them on me and Song Jiabao. I took the opportunity to take one last look at the people in the car: there were over a dozen hostages in the car, including me and Song Jiabao. There were also seven *****, their hoods had eye holes, unlike ours which were completely closed. Moreover, each of them was armed with a gun, and they were all well-equipped. I only took one glance, but I saw that they were all holding AK47 rifles, the most famous in the world, and each person was also equipped with pistols, hand grenades and other weapons.

  This is a well-equipped **** team, no wonder their raids will cause such great losses. The government dispatched thousands of troops, but they still managed to escape successfully.

  The person who is going to save us will arrive here soon, this can be inferred from what that **** said just now.

  I hope the people who come to rescue us this time won't be like the last group of soldiers who came to rescue me, and were all killed by a rocket-propelled grenade launched by these ruthless ****. The soldiers who come to rescue us must bring enough weapons and ammunition, and also launch a massive attack with powerful weapons.

  I silently prayed in my heart, hoping that the people who came to rescue us would be extra careful and really catch up with us and rescue us.

  My wish was soon fulfilled, the driver of **** lost control of this military truck completely after a sudden gunshot.

  In the ear-piercing screech of brakes, I felt myself being flung outwards. In an even louder crash, my entire body smashed into something before thudding heavily to the ground.

  Maybe it's because I originally had a lot of injuries on my body, so I didn't feel that this impact was particularly painful. But I heard many people shouting and screaming in pain at the same time, and it seemed that many people were injured due to the truck's loss of control.

  I couldn't see the situation outside, but I can imagine that it must have been the people who came to rescue us firing warning shots, which startled the driver (or maybe even killed him) and caused him to lose control of the truck, resulting in a rollover.

  I hadn't even had time to get up when I smelled a pungent smell. Had the truck caught fire? My heart skipped a beat, and I quickly scrambled to my feet, not caring that my hands were still tied, using all my strength to struggle and try to free myself from the ropes on my wrists.

  Just then, a pair of large hands grasped my shoulders and a voice said, "Don't move, I'll help you."

  I heard that the person who spoke was Song Jiabao. It seems that he indeed has more experience than me, and has already untied the ropes on his hands, gaining freedom.

  Song Jiabao helped me untie the rope on my hands, and then turned to help others. I took a look at the truck that was already filled with pungent smell, and quickly went to help those who had not yet untied the rope. As for those ****, none of them could be seen now, probably they had already jumped off the truck and escaped.

  I quickly untied a person, and that person didn't say a word before starting to help others. Soon we untied all the kidnapped people, but by then the fire on the truck was raging fiercely, so we hastily jumped off the truck to escape.

  Song Jiabao lived several decades longer than us, and when he jumped off the car, he didn't forget to bring the bags that were previously taken away from us, which contained some food, water, a flashlight, and other things.

  The battle outside the car didn't know when it started, anyway, a burst of gunfire and bullets. They scattered in all directions, various weapons took turns to attack, and for a moment, they even suppressed the soldiers who came to rescue us.

  It seems that this time our rescue team did not fully realize the strength of these thugs and the weapons they brought were not enough to suppress them.

  They didn't have the time and energy to take care of us, so we, more than a dozen kidnapped people, took advantage of the opportunity to run towards the woods by the roadside. As long as we could get into the woods, with the natural protective barrier of the trees, our chances of escaping safely would be greater.

  We were originally worried that running into the woods would get us lost, but now we have Song Jiabao among us, which is equivalent to having a living map, so we don't have to worry about this anymore.

  Song Jiabao also took the initiative to serve as our guide, and along the way, not only did he lead the way in front of us, but also reminded us from time to time of things we needed to pay attention to.

  We just kept running like this, and before long, the sound of gunfire was no longer audible. Song Jiabao stopped at this time, he and I were both injured, after running for a long time, we would feel extremely tired, and could only stop to rest for a while.

  We were a group of people sitting on the ground with our buttocks, panting heavily and didn't even care if the ground was dirty or not.

  I counted them again, including myself, there were eleven people in total, plus Song Jiabao, making twelve.

  Song Jiabao took a deep breath and said, "My name is Song Jiabao, I'm the forest ranger here. Follow me and I'll guarantee to get you all out of here. One thing I want to mention beforehand: if anyone doesn't want to follow us, they can leave now, I won't force them. But for those who do want to follow me, they must listen to my instructions." After a pause, seeing no one wanted to leave, he continued, "You all probably don't know each other, so take some time to introduce yourselves, and then we'll set off."

  Then everyone took turns saying a few words. Most people only mentioned their names, as they were strangers who had just met and didn't need to say anything else.

  There were twelve of us, excluding Song Jiabao and me. Among the remaining ten people, there were three girls. Two of them were students from the same school as me, one was a junior majoring in art named Zhong Lingling, and the other was a freshman majoring in literature named Sima Qin. Although I didn't know these two beforehand, after introducing themselves, I immediately felt a sense of closeness to them and had an extra concern for them.

  The last woman was obviously older, probably over thirty, but because of the scars on her face and possibly not having washed her face after being caught, her face was covered in dirt, making it impossible to see her features clearly. Her voice was also very hoarse, as if her throat had been injured, and when she spoke, if you didn't listen carefully, you could hardly understand what she was saying.

  Luckily someone who was closer to her understood and spoke on her behalf: "She said her name is Li Huanhuan, and she had a surgery on her throat recently, so it's not very convenient for her to speak."

  We just nodded in agreement and didn't ask her anything else.

  As I looked at her, I suddenly had an inexplicable sense of familiarity, but when I thought about it carefully, I couldn't recall where I had seen this Li Huanhuan before, so I gave up.

  Just then, Li Huanhuan suddenly raised her head and looked at me for a moment before hastily lowering it again.

  Something feels strange in my heart, a sense of déjà vu appears again in my mind. I think carefully for a while, but still can't remember. So I often go to see Li Huanhuan, even when my classmate Zhong Lingling talks to me, I don't hear her.

  It wasn't until Zhong Lingling pulled on my sleeve that I came back to myself: "What's wrong?"

  Zhong Lingling looked strange and hesitated for a moment before saying: "Is Li Huanhuan your friend?"

  I shook my head, couldn't help but laugh: "I just feel like I've seen her somewhere before, a thread of familiarity, but can't quite put my finger on it..." Paused for a moment: "What do you want to tell me? Is there something you need my help with?"

  Zhong Lingling hesitated again and finally said: "Are you Jin Cang from our school's student union?"

  I nodded: "Yes, if you have anything, just say it directly."

  Zhong Lingling no longer hesitated and lowered her voice: "I... we want to go to the bathroom..."

  I was taken aback, but immediately felt a flush on my face. However, I remained calm and said, "Let's find a place nearby. This is not as good as school, but we'll make do. You and Sima Qin go together, we'll wait for you." After a pause, I borrowed a flashlight from Song Jiabao and handed it to Zhong Lingling, gesturing her to hurry up.

  Zhong Lingling's face was also flushed with a red glow, and she hastily took the flashlight and pulled Sima Qin to one side.

  At this time, the surroundings were pitch black, and I saw flashes of light in the distant sky from time to time, probably caused by explosions.

  The fighting over there is still going on, and I couldn't help but worry about the safety of those soldiers who let us escape safely, hoping they can be safe too.

  Zhong Lingling and Sima Qin quickly returned, and Song Jiabao immediately let us continue to escape. Our group of twelve people, under the weak light of a single flashlight, quickly followed Song Jiabao and disappeared into the vast mountains.

  We walked all night without stopping, and when the sky slowly showed a glimmer of light, we had already reached a place more than 100 miles away from where we escaped.

  Mr. Song briefly introduced the place where we are now: "The small place name here is called Jianshan, you see that mountain not far away, it looks like a huge triangle, with the top pointed and the bottom wide, hence the name."

  As I looked up, there really was a towering mountain that pierced the clouds, shaped like a triangle, just in front of us not far away.

  "After crossing this mountain, we have walked half of the journey. Now let's take a rest first, and then a few people will come with me to find some wild vegetables that can be eaten. After everyone has eaten something, we'll continue on our way."

  I didn't care about the wounds on my body and said first: "I'll go to a place, I know many wild vegetables, come with several people to help me dig wild vegetables."

  Then three men came over and walked with me to one side to find those wild vegetables that can be eaten raw. I was a child of a farming family, and I also grew up in the countryside since childhood. There were many wild vegetables and medicinal materials on the mountain at my old home, and I had picked them many times before. Originally it was just for picking and selling, but this time it saved our lives.

  Song Jiabao also knew many kinds of wild vegetables that could be eaten raw, and he took several men to dig them up. Our group of twelve people needed a lot of wild vegetables to ensure everyone got some.

  In the depths of the mountains, there are many "treasures" that are overlooked by city dwellers, such as various wild vegetables and medicinal herbs. For example, jiéjiēgēn, also known as fish grass, is both a medicinal herb and a type of wild vegetable that can be eaten raw, which has great benefits for the human body. Another example is various types of wild edible fungi, which are not only rich in nutrients but also have preventive and therapeutic effects on many diseases.

  The three people I brought with me were all city dwellers, and they didn't even know how to dig wild vegetables. I patiently taught them, and we managed to dig up quite a few different kinds of wild vegetables.

  Song Jiabao brought a few people and also dug up some wild vegetables. We found a small ditch that looked relatively clean, washed all the wild vegetables clean, and then distributed them to everyone.

  It's possible that among the twelve of us, a large part of people are picky eaters. After all, nowadays living conditions are generally good and people have developed the habit of wanting to eat well and dress well, so it's hard to avoid being picky about food.

  But in the current situation, all of us started wolfing down food. The twelve of us, except for me and Song Jiabao who had eaten something last night, were probably starving for a long time, plus walking on mountain roads all night, everyone was so hungry that even eating wild vegetables tasted delicious, as if they were having mountain delicacies. It's true, having wild vegetables to eat is much better than walking on an empty stomach.

  Song Jiabao and I also ate some because we had been traveling all night and were already hungry.

  There were still some dry rations in the bags that Song Jiabao and I were carrying, but we both knew that it wasn't time to take out these food yet. These food were life-saving rations for emergency situations after encountering danger, and they must not be taken out unless absolutely necessary.

  At the current pace, it will take us at least another day and a half to reach a populated area where we can resupply. Who's to say that in this one and a half days, none of us won't need food supplements for various reasons? Although wild vegetables have good nutritional value, people who are used to eating the usual foods may not adapt well, and wild vegetables are not easy to fill up on, which may require people with poorer physical condition to supplement more food.

  After everyone finished eating, Song Jiabao stood up and said: "Is everyone rested? Now we have to continue walking, otherwise tonight we'll have to rush in the dark. Our only flashlight has run out of power, so everyone must hurry."

  Everyone got up and continued on their way, everyone was fighting for their lives, there was no room for hesitation.

  I looked at my two female classmates who were struggling to get up, so I reached out and pulled them: "Hold on for a little while longer, by this time tomorrow we'll be able to get help, now we have to rely on ourselves."

  Simaqin and Zhong Lingling nodded, gritted their teeth and continued to move forward, the others also started one by one on a new long journey.

  When Li Huanhuan passed by me, I couldn't help but ask her: "Haven't we met before?"

  Li Huanhuan immediately shook her head, but didn't say a word, seemingly still a little tense.

  I'm even more surprised: "We've really never met?"

  Li Huanhuan shook her head again and then quickly followed up with the others.

  I thought carefully for a long time, but still got nothing, so I stopped thinking about it and followed the crowd, hastily leaving.