And the only reason they stopped for half an hour was that the horses weren’t obeying their orders.
The path they were taking still wasn’t the hardest one yet. Old Luo had climbed the ice mountains during the night four times, he pulled off a glove and shoved a handful of snow into his mouth, his tongue went numb from the cold, but it had also stimulated his head enough to keep him awake.
“We’ll arrive after passing through here!” It was 7 a.m. when the first strands of light started showing across the horizon. Standing on the hill-side, Old Luo guffawed: “It’s still the same as the route I walked on four years ago, cold weather and not snowing during the night.
If it started snowing at night, marching during the heavy wind and snow will only slow them down even further.
Seeing the steady path below them, Xia Jinyuan’s dark pupils narrowed, “Let’s rush down in one go. We’ll rest for one hour after arriving at the bottom.”
They chose one of the hardest paths, solely because their identities were illegal mercenaries! Solely because their identities cannot be blown, they must not allow the country they are protecting to be slathered with mud.
From 11:40 a.m at noon until today’s 7 a.m, they made their way across the 6000 meters above sea level mountain, and after 20 hours, they arrived at their destination.
Old Luo did not leave immediately; he visited a house of Tajiks and rested there. Besides Ye Jian, who only shook his hand while giving her “Thank you,” the rest of the Elite Platoon members gave the 43-year-old big brother an enthusiastic hug.
It had been 84 hours since K7 had been taken captive. The members of the Elite Platoon changed into clothes of the locals in this country with constant strife and drove their way towards the desert in a jeep.
From the snowy mountains to the desert, this was their route to war!
When they arrived in Registan, it was also the sixth morning from when K7 had been taken captive. The party of seven doesn’t look like they’ve seen civilization for some time; they were covered in yellow sand to the point that their hairs could even cough up a layer of dust.
Registan, the arid highlands of the Southwest region, the sandy ridge dividing the desert and the arid shrublands, there’s also a desert plain between them, devoid of plant life and rain.
It was 4 a.m. on the sixth day when Ye Jian separated from the Elite Platoon members. She climbed into a truck and entered the innards of ST Mercenary headquarters just like that, leaving behind a slender yet dauntless figure for the members of the Elite Platoon.
“Ye Jian, she’s a good soldier.”
Pigeon said that quietly, glimmers of tears welled up by the corners of his eyes. The road ahead is filled with unpredictable and unknown dangers, and she just up and went like that, without even an ounce of hesitation.
His quiet voice landed in the ears of his fellow comrades. All of them raised their heads and stared at Xia Jinyuan, who was standing in the center.
“What’re you looking at me for?” Xia Jinyuan retracted his gaze; a cold shine flashed in his dark pupils under the bright sun. With his handsome face returning to coldness, he quickly ordered, “Z7, establish communications, demolitions, get your hands on more dynamite. G3, follow me to the market. Everyone else, stay alert.”
He was worried about Ye Jian, but he was required to infiltrate ST’s headquarters later than Ye Jian.
Even though the sun had only just risen, this part of the desert seemed like it was under the darkness. There were no greens that were filled with life; the only thing that could be seen was unending desolateness.
Thin dust particles were blown in the wind. Ye Jian gently blinked her eyes, then raised her hand and rubbed her eyes that the sand had gotten into.
She was now a Helmand’s local nomad and was sold into ST mercenaries for money by her family and was now officially the lowest ranking people in ST mercenaries.
In a white sheer mesh shirt, with a similar colored headscarf, she carried fresh made roasted naan to the mercenaries that hailed from different countries. It was the tenth hour since she had entered ST Mercenary Headquarters. At 5 p.m. on the same day, Ye Jian had already started her mission.
The short adobe houses here were squarer than the adobe houses in Pakistan; the square corners resembled prison cages in Ye Jian’s eyes.
The entirety of ST Mercenary Headquarters was extremely vast. When Ye Jian noticed several mercenaries appearing in the uniform of the miscellaneous army, her white mesh shirt flowed in the wind as she hid behind an adobe house. She’ll have to wait until the sun is down, and only start her mission when it was completely dark out.