Entrustment

On the mountain highway after the rain, a convoy of four off-road jeeps churned through the mud, advancing into the night. Having already unstrapped the metal box from his back, Lao Jian sat inside one of the vehicles. Carrying the wounded, the spoils of battle, and part of his squad, he was rushing toward the nearest first-aid station in the area, which also served as a resource collection post and supply depot. The mood inside was somber, weighed down by the shock of the recent battle and, even more so, by the brothers they had lost. "Those things" were coming more and more frequently. In the past, in the sector guarded by their Squad 752, they would scramble at most once or twice a year. Yet this year, in just the past eight months, they had already deployed on four missions and lost eleven men. This wasn't happening only in the 752 sector; word had it that many places were seeing the same trend. It seemed to forebode something—as the ancient saying went, the wind heralds the coming storm. But since high command had not issued any word on the matter, they could only focus on doing their part. "Captain Lao," someone in the vehicle spoke up, smiling as if deliberately trying to break the gloomy silence. "That kid was pretty amusing... When he started by saying two and five, do you think he was planning to say hundred, or thousand? In the end, he shifted his tone and asked for ten thousand. The kid's got some nerve." The others in the vehicle smiled knowingly, and Lao Jian chuckled along with them. "A village boy, and ten thousand yuan... That's a massive sum. With his life hanging by a thread, he still dared to open his mouth for it." "Valuing money over his own neck—well, that's one kind of honesty, at least." "True. But on second thought, what right did he have to haggle with our Captain Lao anyway?" "He had nothing to back it up," Lao Jian interjected amid the chatter. "It was precisely because he was staring death in the face that he used his last bit of courage to secure some support for his family's future... He might be the only child in the house. Thinking of what comes after death before even asking to live... That's a good kid." Of course, Lao Jian had no idea that the "good kid" had previously considered strangling him while he was unconscious. Captain Lao liked the kid—admired him, even. Everyone in the jeep could tell. "So, Captain, are you really going to help him apply for that special recruitment enlistment allowance?" The squad member at the wheel glanced back, asking curiously, "The Coalition doesn't seem to have any rule like that, does it?" In a sense, the Azure Coalition was a global entity. Sharing unified objectives and missions, they fought alongside one another and complemented each other economically and materially. Among them, because the Huaxiya Republic bore the defensive responsibility for a massive population and vast territory, the allocations and aid it received from the Coalition's central coordinating departments had always been plentiful. So for the Coalition, money was not an issue; the issue was the lack of any regulation or precedent. "We'll give it a shot. When I had Dake file the paperwork for his enlistment, I had him mention this matter too," Lao Jian smiled. "Even if the application doesn't go through, I still have some savings on hand... I'm a bachelor with no family anyway, so it's not like I have anywhere else to spend it." The Coalition did pay wages, or allowances, and as a combat squad captain, Lao Jian's stipend was substantial. It was just that he had no family left; over the years, most of his income had gone to helping out brothers around him who were in need. The mention of this touched a nerve, and the vehicle fell briefly silent. Yet the most urgent and vexing problem facing them was none of this—it was the source energy block that had vanished into thin air earlier. As the most crucial spoil of every operation, a prize high command eyed as greedily as a dog watching a bone, it should have come from the shuttle-shaped craft, whether large or small... Yet this time, not a trace of it could be found. "It's not entirely without precedent. I've heard this kind of thing happened overseas before, and in the end they determined the source energy block had simply been completely depleted." "Exactly. At any rate, no one on our end took it. It's not like we can use the stuff directly, and handing it over to be refined actually earns us a reward. Who'd be crazy enough to steal it?!" "The problem isn't with us; it's whether high command will buy it. What a coincidence, for not even a crumb to be left..." Anxious murmurs rippled through the jeep. "Don't worry about it. As long as our consciences are clear, that's what matters," Lao Jian consoled the others. "At worst, I'll go answer their questions and draft a few more incident reports... At most, I'll be kept in isolation for review for a few days." He made it sound light, but "isolation for review" was hardly a light matter. *** *Right, that... that thing they called a source energy block, where did it go?* Inside his room, Han Qingyu, having stayed awake all night, had meticulously reviewed everything he had gone through and all the unbelievable sights he had witnessed. Finally, he remembered this detail. He had clearly seen it, and it had even hit him. *Logically, after hitting me, it should have landed in the dirt pit. But they searched that pit over and over... Could it really still be on me? Caught in my belt?* Springing out of bed, Han Qingyu checked his belt, his shirt, his trousers... In the end, he stripped completely naked, shaking his clothes out again and again. Yet there was nothing. The thing was nowhere to be found. Once undressed, however, Han Qingyu was surprised to discover a mark over his heart. Its edges were faintly reddish, while the main body was pitch-black, like a smudge of charcoal. It was roughly the shape and size of a leech. He rubbed it with the pad of his thumb... but found it wouldn't come off. The mark seemed embedded in his skin. *Could it have been burned on by that piece of metal? It didn't feel hot to the touch, but did it actually burn me? But it doesn't hurt at all. I can't feel a thing... How does that make any sense?* *It's more likely I just bruised myself knocking against the ground earlier, and I was too tense to notice the pain.* With his mind muddled after an entire night of chaos, Han Qingyu couldn't make sense of anything. *Clatter-clatter...* A faint sound drifted in from outside—the shifting of the water vat's wooden lid and the clink of the tin ladle, noises Han Qingyu had known intimately for years. Outside the window, dawn was still just a murky gray, but his parents were already up. Carrying water, cooking breakfast, feeding the pigs, then heading up the mountain or out to the fields... Ordinary life went on like this, day after day, year after year. "I just looked over. The light's on in Qingzi's room." "Mm. Probably hurting inside, didn't sleep all night." "Yeah, but we don't even know how to comfort him." "Sigh... Seeing him like this makes my own heart ache." His parents' hushed voices were muffled, but Han Qingyu listened quietly, listening on. Thoughts turned in his head, and scenes of what might happen in the future suddenly seemed to materialize before him: *When news of his death suddenly reaches this unpretentious household; when his parents are white-haired and old, with no one by their knees...* Since returning last night, Han Qingyu had kept his lips sealed. He hadn't breathed a word to his parents—he didn't know how to bring it up, and he didn't dare to. Yet he would have to leave after all, and he only had a single day left. Though his resolve was firm—he would do everything in his power to survive and strive to return home one day to fulfill his filial duties—reality still forced Han Qingyu to consider the worst: what if, one day, he suddenly died, leaving his parents all alone... Pondering what he should and could still do with the little time remaining, Han Qingyu dressed, opened his door, and walked into the kitchen. Standing before his parents, he offered an awkward, bashful smile to meet their concerned gazes. "Why are you up so early, Qingzi?" his mother asked with concern, masking her worry. "I... Dad, Mom, I want to head out early to the county seat." "What for?" his mother asked. "To..." Han Qingyu had prepared this in advance, answering without hesitation. "I only remembered last night that Wen Jifei once mentioned having family connections in the military. I want to ask him to help look into it and see if there's any way to pull some strings... Dad, Mom, I've made up my mind. I still want to enlist." "Ah?! Really?!" Hearing this, his honest, simple parents were practically ready to jump for joy. Having known Wen Jifei—their son's best friend throughout his four years of high school—quite well, Han Youshan and Zhang Jiexia didn't doubt him in the slightest and were instantly excited. "Yeah, he did mention it before, so I want to go early and ask... Judging by how he sounded back then, it might actually work." Since it was already a done deal, Han Qingyu didn't mind sounding a bit more certain. Seeing the radiant joy blooming in his parents' eyes, he felt a flicker of happiness inside. At the very least, there was finally something that could bring them temporary relief, joy, and pride. In truth, Han Qingyu was indeed going to look for Wen Jifei, but not to pull strings. He intended to entrust something to the best friend of his life, having already rehearsed what he would say when they met: *I'm enlisting. They say it's out on the frontier, and there's some risk. My mind's running wild, worried that by some awful luck, I might suddenly be gone one day... Just preparing for the worst, you know? If that worst ever happens, and when you have the time and ability down the road, please look after my folks.*