Chapter 118: The Underground Legion

  Having found the traitor by my side, I can now rest assured and recover from my injuries. During this time, Chen Jing and a few others took turns to take care of me, making me feel not an ounce of loneliness.

  Earlier, Dongfang Yu found a way to deal with the traitor that was quite unconventional. Of course, she was also reminding me that I need to set my sights on someone I truly like among them and can't drag things out any longer.

  Facing such a problem, I feel at a loss and completely don't know what to do. I like each of them very much. Now, I also can't distinguish whether my liking is romantic love or friendship, so I don't know what to do.

  Just when I was in a dilemma, Old Chen arrived. He came to give me orders and also took the opportunity to see how my injury had recovered.

  Facing Old Chen, I had some words that I wanted to say, but before I could open my mouth, Old Chen already said: "I know you've been wronged and have some emotions. I also know you feel it's unfair now. However, at this critical moment for the country, facing those hostile forces, we should put aside personal grudges and deal with those enemies first. So, there are some things you don't need to say, I understand them clearly in my heart."

  I could only swallow my grievances and ask, "Is there something you want from me?"

  Chen nodded: "I did find you for something. Recently, our military discovered a secret underground army."

  "I was taken aback: 'A secret underground army? How is this possible?'"

  "Let's not talk about that for now. From what I know, this legion has nearly ten thousand soldiers and can be considered a very powerful force. At present, this legion has not caused any turmoil within our country, but we dare not say it will never bring us harm."

  I furrowed my brow: "Is this legion composed of people from Huaxia?"

  Chen nodded: "It's an underground organization within our country, just like the Wanlong Society. Their leader is called Red Dress Woman."

  I was shocked again and couldn't help but say: "The Red Dress Girl? How is this possible?"

  Chen Lao Qi said: "Do you know Hong Yi Nu? What kind of person is she? Will she pose a threat to our country?"

  I shook my head: "I just heard of this name before and only knew that such an organization existed."

  Chen nodded: "That's why I found you. The Red Dress organization was originally near your old university, but now they've moved to the Three Gorges area. Intelligence says they excavated a large underground base and all members are hiding there."

  I recalled the situation near the Three Gorges, but didn't find any place with artificially excavated underground caves that could accommodate tens of thousands of people.

  Mr. Chen continued, "Moreover, that place is now almost a forbidden land. Our intelligence personnel have used all their strength to try and figure out the exact location of the entrance, but they still haven't been able to find it. Now we only know that the red-clothed woman is active in the Three Gorges area, as for other information, we still don't know."

  I frowned and said, "What did you mean by looking for me?"

  Chen Lao smiled slightly: "You are no longer a soldier, nor a martial artist, just an ordinary person. So if you go to investigate, who knows, it might have an unexpected effect."

  I also laughed: "I'm not a soldier, so I don't have to follow orders and go spy on intelligence, right?"

  Old Chen shook his head, still smiling and said: "That's also your right. However... if it's like that, I might just complain about you in front of Chen Jing, if this affects the relationship between you two, then I won't... hehe... you know."

  I was so amused that I couldn't help but say: "How can you be so helpless?"

  Old Chen laughed and said: "Isn't this what you learned from me? If you think it's not good, then don't play tricks on me in the future."

  I smiled wryly and nodded: "Can't I go? However, I have three conditions. If you agree to them, I'll go; otherwise, even if you and Chen Jing say I'm not good enough, I won't go."

  "What conditions?" Chen Lao asked immediately.

  "I thought for a moment and said seriously: 'Firstly, I want to go alone, and that's on the premise of not telling anyone, quietly leaving.'"

  Chen Lao smiled: "This is not a condition, can be completely agreed."

  I frowned and said: "The second condition is that from now on, no matter who gives me any orders, I will not accept them until I return from the Red Clothed Woman's place and complete my task."

  Chen Lao frowned: "In that case, you won't even listen to my orders?"

  I nodded: "What I said is anyone's command, including yours. I want to complete this arduous task in my own way and don't want to be led by the nose again. The last time Wang Yingzi harmed Hu Longlian, I still remember it vividly."

  "Alright, it's up to you. But once you've obtained the information, please be sure to send it back as soon as possible so we can respond accordingly."

  I nodded: "That's natural. My third condition is, please protect my family and friends well, they are implicated by me, and it's possible that they will be ambushed by the enemy at any time, so I'm not too reassured to leave them far away."

  Chen Lao gave me a somewhat strange look: "Do you need to say that? From today on, your parents and friends will be taken by our people to my office for temporary residence until you complete the task and return safely. You don't have to worry about their safety. What happened last time when Wang Zhan attacked my office won't happen again."

  I nodded slightly: "And also..."

  "Three have been mentioned already, if you say another one it will be the fourth."

  I smiled wryly and said, "This isn't a condition, it's a request!"

  Chen Lao was taken aback, then said: "Then tell me about it."

  I said seriously: "I suspect that Sun Heng is still alive, maybe he was just caught and locked up by the enemy. So I want to ask you to send someone to look for Sun Heng's whereabouts again, this is my request, I hope you can consider it."

  Mr. Chen's face sank slightly, then said: "Since it's your intention, I'll consider it. Your cousin is Sun Heng's ex-girlfriend, right? I will communicate with her directly, if we can find Sun Heng, I will do my best."

  I was overjoyed: "Thank you, elder!"

  "Old Chen shook his head: "You don't have to thank me, finding Sun Heng was my responsibility all along. Besides, you're not a soldier anymore, no need to call me 'sir'. If you'd like, you can start calling me 'grandpa' now."

  I was taken aback and immediately said loudly: "Yes, Grandpa."

  Mr. Chen laughed happily: "Alright, alright, Jin Cang, from now on be nicer to my daughter Chen Jing and don't let her suffer anymore."

  I nodded vigorously: "I will, Grandpa, don't worry."

  Mr. Chen smiled and left, looking very satisfied.

  I began to worry because I didn't know how to tell Chen Jing and the others, nor did I know how to quietly leave this place by myself.

  However, this difficulty of mine was also resolved by Old Chen. On the second day, he found a messenger and told me to go see him alone. He dispersed all the people around me and then gave me a car, letting me drive freely.

  I actually didn't have any good ideas, but the task came, and I had to think of a way to complete it. So I drove my car to the airport, bought a ticket, and then boarded the plane, waiting for it to take me to Yichang Airport.

  What I bought was not a direct flight to Yichang Airport, but a transfer in Wuhan. So after transferring planes at the airport in Wuhan, I finally felt at ease and prepared to rest for a while.

  Most of the planes from Wuhan to Sanxia Airport are small passenger planes. I didn't pay attention to this, but I was interested in the two-thirds empty seats on the plane. The occupancy rate of an airplane is only one-third, does that mean that fewer and fewer people are traveling by air now? It seems that the unstable national situation has a great impact on all industries across the country.

  Expel foreign enemies and strengthen our China, this is an urgent matter!

  My thoughts had no time to be expressed, when a fellow traveler sitting behind me suddenly patted my shoulder and whispered to me: "Excuse me, are you going to the Three Gorges?"

  I smiled and said while turning back to look at the person who asked: "Those on this flight should all be going to Three Gorges."

  As soon as I spoke, I realized I shouldn't have said that. Because the one asking the question was actually a little kid, and what's more, he looked like he wasn't even ten years old yet.

  The little kid smiled faintly and said: "I'm alone in Sanxia, my parents aren't around me, so I'm a bit scared. I just wanted to talk to someone. Sorry for disturbing you."

  I smiled: "It's okay, if you want to talk, sit next to me and we can chat all the way to the Three Gorges."

  The child was overjoyed and immediately came to sit in the empty seat next to me, then said somewhat anxiously: "My seat number isn't this one, is it really okay for me to sit here?"

  I nodded: "It should be fine, anyway it's empty. If something goes wrong, the flight attendant will tell you later and you can just sit back down."

  The little boy smiled slightly and said: "You're right." After a pause, he said again: "My name is Han Yinan, the 'Nan' in Nanmu tree. What about you? What's your name?"

  I laughed: "Hanyin? What a nice name. My name is Jinkang, Jinzi Man Cang."

  "Golden sons filling the warehouse? Do you have a lot of gold? Then aren't you very rich?"

  I also smiled: "There is no money, but the name is just these few words."

  Han Yinan blinked: "My parents only know how to make money, they've never spent quality time with me. It's very dangerous outside now, I advised them to go back to our hometown for a while before coming out to work again, but they didn't listen and even told me to go back first. Sigh..."

  I looked at the little boy Han Yinan in front of me and felt that he was not a little boy, but a small adult. So I smiled and said: "What you said is very right, making money should also be on the premise of safety, otherwise it would not be rational."

  Han Yinan smiled: "Exactly, I told my parents this, but they just can't understand. No choice, I can only go back to Sanxia alone. Uncle Jin Cang, can you please help me persuade my parents? I'm worried they'll encounter danger outside..."

  I nodded slightly: "Uncle doesn't know how to advise your parents, but Uncle can tell you that our country will soon return to peaceful days and your parents will be able to do business freely again."

  Han Yinan furrowed her brow slightly, saying in confusion: "Resume peaceful daily life? Uncle's meaning is that we can be like before, go wherever we want to play, do whatever we want, no bad guys killing us, no kidnapping or explosions?"

  I nodded: "That's what Uncle means. You're still young and don't know the current situation, no matter how severe our country's situation was in the past, it will definitely get better after a while. When you grow up, you'll understand what Uncle means."

  Han Yinan said with some delight: "That's great, if it's really like Uncle said, and I can be as free as before, then I won't ask for anything else."

  I reached out and patted Han Yinan's head: "It will definitely happen, Uncle promises you."

  As soon as I finished speaking, someone sneered and said: "What can you guarantee? Are you just relying on your word?"

  I turned my head to see a middle-aged man staring at me and Han Yinan, his face filled with disdain and disgust. I didn't know who this person was, but it was clear that he too was a victim of this inexplicable war. So I smiled and said: "My words don't represent anything, I'm just analyzing the current situation. You might as well think about it, hasn't our country undergone huge changes recently? Take the military for example, most of the conventional weapons have been abolished, new weapons are more powerful and have better performance. Their role in actual combat doesn't need to be said, everyone should know. With excellent weapons and our originally outstanding soldiers, defeating our enemies is only a matter of time."

  The middle-aged man listened to my words and still said disdainfully: "Just relying on these can't be compared with those big countries. Our enemies are not just the small countries and organizations that face us, but there are several big countries behind them supporting them. Now our country's economic system is almost completely paralyzed, and the country has no ability to reverse this situation. The economy is not good, what's the use of talking about other things?"

  I furrowed my brow and thought carefully, feeling that what this middle-aged man said wasn't unreasonable either: "What you say is also right. However, when looking at things, we can't just look at one side. Now our country is facing multiple strong enemies, so we have to put all our energy into dealing with them. As for the economy and people's livelihoods, it's up to us citizens to come up with a solution together; we can't put all the burden on the government's shoulders at once."

  A middle-aged man sneered: "If a country's government can't guarantee its citizens' normal life, what kind of government is it? I think the current government is doing nothing. The great China was attacked by several small countries and even defeated several times... What's going on here? Can't we even beat those few small countries? I think it's either doing nothing or being afraid of war."

  I finally found out that this middle-aged man was also a very enthusiastic person. He was so resentful only because he was too disappointed.

  I don't know when our China will be able to drive away those invading enemies, nor do I know how to make those who are disappointed with our government correctly understand our government again.

  "After thinking for a long time, I slowly said: 'Actually, I myself have also been framed by some people and cannot contribute to the country... I also hate those people, and even have some opinions about the government. However, I know that our government is now doing its best to deal with our enemies. Our current enemy is not just limited to those three small countries. There are underground organizations within our country, such as the Wanlonghui, which are also harming our country's interests. Now our country can be said to be in a precarious situation, surrounded by strong enemies on all sides. The government has done its best, and although it hasn't met everyone's expectations yet, I believe that soon it will give us an explanation.'"

  The middle-aged man looked at me strangely: "Are you a government person?"

  I forced a smile: "No, I'm not with the government. I... I just call it as I see it. Think about it, if we didn't have our government's power to organize against our enemies, would we still be sitting on this plane chatting casually? Probably we'd already be scrambling to find a safe place to hide from the war. Now our enemies are all blocked in specific areas, which fully shows that our government is still trying its best to protect us."

  The middle-aged man nodded: "What you said is also right! I only thought that the government did not drive away all enemies in time, but I didn't think that the government has done its best now. I know that our enemy is not just those three small countries, on the contrary, the reactionary forces within the country are more harmful to us. It's really hoped that a few historical figures can appear and wipe out these villains, restoring peace and tranquility to China."

  I couldn't help but say loudly: "There must be such a person appearing. As the saying goes, heroes emerge in troubled times, and now in our troubled times, our hero will surely appear, drive out the strong enemy, and save everyone."

  The middle-aged man nodded heavily, his face showing excitement: "Right, our hero will definitely appear!" After a pause, he suddenly sighed and his expression became slightly sad: "Unfortunately, I didn't recognize the person earlier, and I thought that Jin Cang from the Dragon Guard was the hero who came to save everyone. Who would have thought... Ah, how could he become a deserter? I just can't figure it out!"

  I let out a bitter laugh, unsure of how to continue.

  The plane was originally empty, but now I'm silent, and the whole plane seems to have lost all sound. Han Yinan couldn't help but say to me: "Uncle, it's so quiet, I'm a little scared..."

  I smiled and nodded at him, then turned to a flight attendant who happened to be passing by me and said, "Get him a cup of juice, please. Thank you."

  The flight attendant smiled and nodded: "Okay, please wait a moment!"

  I was about to express my gratitude again, when the flight attendant suddenly stared at me with a look of excitement. My heart skipped a beat as I quickly put my right index finger in front of my mouth, signaling her not to speak.

  The flight attendant exclaimed excitedly: "You're Jin Cang? I've finally met you again! Do you know that it was you and your Dragon Warrior who saved me at the Three Gorges last time... I've always wanted to thank you, but couldn't find you anywhere... I often prayed to heaven, praying to see you again. Today, I'm finally seeing you, please accept my most sincere gratitude."

  She said something and bowed deeply to me, then under the astonished eyes of me and some passengers, she directly kissed my forehead.

  I stared at the flight attendant in a daze, unable to utter a word for quite some time.

  It was the middle-aged man who had chatted with me earlier, his face full of surprise, saying to me: "You're Jin Cang from the Hu Long Lian? No wonder you said that just now... Wait a minute... You're Jin Cang? You...". He suddenly stood up excitedly and shouted loudly: "Why did you want to be a deserter? Don't you know that we all regarded you as our savior, our messiah? How could you let everyone down like this? You..."

  I smiled bitterly: "Things aren't as you imagined... I also have my own difficulties. The current me has been expelled from the military, and is no longer a soldier. Hu Long Squad..." As soon as I mentioned Hu Long Squad, I couldn't help but redden my eyes, and I became excited, shouting loudly: "Every single warrior of Hu Long Squad are true heroes, not one of them is a deserter, they..."

  A middle-aged man angrily interrupted me: "What's not a deserter? Why did you all disappear collectively? And can't even find the body. It's reported in the news, you're deserters, the losers among our country's soldiers..."

  "My voice grew louder, almost a roar: 'They are not deserters, they have almost all died in battle! To protect our country and people, by our enemies... what you see in those newspapers and magazines, even what is said on the news, it's all not true. One day you will know the truth. At that time you will know, everything I say today is true!"

  "A middle-aged man's face was filled with disbelief: 'Impossible! What...what is going on here?'"

  I couldn't help but close my eyes and say with a heavy heart: "Many things are not as you see them, just like... what some newspapers and TV said before, that the Wanlong Association had completely surrendered. You all know that now, the Wanlong Association is still harming our country, right? Do you still think that whatever is said in the newspaper or on TV must be true? I don't want to say much more, just one more thing: not a single soldier from my Dragon Protection Regiment deserted, every single warrior of mine is a true hero.

  The middle-aged man stared at me with a stunned expression, and after a long time, he suddenly said: "I understand, you must have been framed by others... Despicable traitors, Han traitors, they want to destroy the Great Wall and let our country be occupied by others forever! How despicable, really deserves to die, deserves to die..."

  Seeing him so excited, I felt a little comforted. After all, there are still people who believe in our Dragon Guard Legion, which is a very good thing. I didn't expect to find the Red Cloak Female Legion of the Underground Military while searching for them, but instead encountered this on the plane.

  I believe that even after many years have passed and I've grown old, I will still remember today's events.