It was something that the civilians used to think, but none of them knew that this land that seemed to be the most dangerous place was actually one of the safest places to be.
A military base that was hidden in plain sight, although the hidden sentries never revealed themselves to anyone but once they used to feel the presence of any civilians, they would appear in their casual clothes and send them on their way.
As for their methods in doing so, Xia Jinyuan didn’t explain and
Ye Jian also did not bother to ask,… anyway, it certainly could not be done with just polite words.
The soldier that came forward to welcome them was a civil servant posted beside Regimental Commander Liu who was also acquainted with Ye Jian. After giving Xia Jinyuan a military salute, he spoke to Ye Jian, “Commander Liu had wanted to mention this to you quite a few times before, but they hadn’t given him the clearance, so he wasn’t in a position to speak about it.”
He didn’t ask why Ye Jian was there tonight, it was apparent that they were informed. He smiled at Ye Jian and brought up some events from the past, “… when you left, the few troublemakers still wanted to know your school’s address, they got scolded by the political commissar, he said that they shouldn’t go out and be a scourge to our little lass!”
……
Hearing that, Xia Jinyuan realized that something was amiss and he smirked, “Troublemakers? What, now you’re responsible for dealing with troublemakers?” He then started asking the civil servant with a chilling voice, “What reasons do these troublemakers have?”
They didn’t have any, it’s just that they haven’t finished university yet, however, their families had some money and some connections, to say. Since the adults couldn’t control them, they were sent to have their edges roughened up in the military.
The civil servant failed to detect the chill coming from the major’s voice in front of him, and such, he continued smiling, “After having their asses handed down to them by Ye Jian, all of them stood under the sun until they suffered from heatstroke, and started behaving properly in just a couple of days.”
Ye Jian noticed the chill in his tone, however, she thought it was due to those troublemakers, so she beamed at him, “They just studied for a bit in university and had learned some skills, but they’re just arrogant people. The commissar had asked me to deal with them, so I just thought that it would be good for training, and after dealing with them for a few days they started behaving.”
The entrance was right in front of them, Xia Jinyuan who had held her hand the whole way heard her words, and his thin lips started curving upwards.
He was still feeling a little bit sour in his heart because of her, her thoughts were on a completely different channel compared to his.
He was thinking why did the troublemakers still want her contact info, they need a beating; instead, she was thinking about how to train herself with those troublemakers, and was completely oblivious to the meaning hidden behind them.
In this case, it appeared that he was being too obsessive.
“Be careful of your steps, don’t step on air.” While going down the stairs, Xia Jinyuan, whose lips were curved upwards uncontrollably, raised his arm slightly with finesse, so that she could steadily go down the stairs with the help of the strength behind his arm, “Walk inside, there are no railings on the outside.”
The staircase heading down towards the basement and the rebar that was hidden in the concrete was already visible. Every step they took, they could feel the cloud of dust rising.
Ye Jian’s free hand wiped across the mottled wall, and her hand was covered in dust, she couldn’t help but whisper, “Is there only one entrance? All of the soldiers go in from the same place? That doesn’t sound quite likely.”
“Crafty rabbits have three caves.” The civil servant leading the way uttered half-jokingly, in their eyes, Ye Jian was only a small girl, she was wonderful indeed, but she still was just a curiosity-filled little girl, “Your time is limited, and you still have to return to school later, so this route is only available to you.”
Ye Jian also laughed after him, “In that case, I must properly thank Commander Liu.”
“Commander Liu is looking forward to that, please walk this way.” While the civil servant was speaking in a gentle tone, he turned on the searchlight attached to his helmet, they had reached the first floor underground, and they were no longer concerned about outside folks spotting a light source.
Darkness still filled the path ahead, as if they were walking inside the stomach of a humongous beast, even concrete was unable to fill its insides as reinforced metal beams that were covered in rust dazzled when the light shone across them, leaving behind coldness in the gloomy atmosphere.
