Chapter 358: Doctor Jiu and the Newspaper (3k)
“Someone from the Red Cross died here in advance. It seems… our previous speculation was correct, and many of Yela’s actions are not in accordance with international treaties.”
Looking at this wooden board, Su Jiu’s heart was filled with mixed emotions. Was it empathy for a fellow creature, or regret for the brave? Perhaps it was both?
“Lin Yusheng, 24 years old, People’s Daily…”
“Reed, 34 years old, terrorist…”
…
“Someone from the People’s Daily died here? No wonder the domestic evaluation of Yela wasn’t great, but it wasn’t abysmal either.”
As Su Jiu looked at more nameplates, she recalled hearing about the People’s Daily. It seemed to be a borderless newspaper organized by the Dragon Country, broadcasting foreign news directly without any modifications.
Her gaze swept over the different identification documents, and she fell silent for a moment. These within were different from the ones before; many were proof of international organizations.
But the war hadn’t reached this place. Why would these borderless individuals be buried with Aers’s terrorists? Su Jiu could understand being buried together, but not buried *here*.
This was not far from the safe zone. Weren’t they afraid of being discovered? Or were they trying to cover something up…
“Is this a reporter’s ID? It’s so thick, and it seems to have something else inside…”
Suddenly, she noticed a brown leather wallet lying above those documents. It belonged to a man in a white shirt wearing glasses, with a rather sunny smile. Below it was a precept from the People’s Daily, which seemed inexplicably tragic—
[If silence can preserve our lives, then we should speak out.]
“Hiss ~ It hurts…”
The wallet was bulging slightly. She frowned and bent down to pick it up, grimacing before managing to retrieve it. She used her fingernail to pry open the leather surface and suddenly discovered a flattened, folded photograph hidden inside.
[Friend, take this back to the newspaper for me, and you will be richly rewarded.]
[This is the truth of the war!]
Seeing a line of text on the back, written in both Chinese and English, Su Jiu suddenly realized that this was likely written by “Lin Yu Yu” before his death.
He must have anticipated his own death and that his belongings, like his phone, would be searched. That’s why he sewed the photo into the wallet. It was likely that this reporter had guessed Yela’s despicable tactic of deliberately burying them with Aers’s soldiers, and used this as a last resort.
“Have someone take it back… The place he was in probably didn’t have internet. Was the signal affected by various energy fluctuations? However, after we approached this desert, we haven’t been able to contact the outside world either.”
Su Jiu slowly unfolded the photograph. Inside were two soaring Yela fighter jets, bombing residential buildings. Inside the buildings, two children were huddled together, trembling. The angle of the shot seemed to be from the second-floor stairwell window of a small building.
“They’re bombing densely populated civilian areas?!”
Su Jiu’s eyes widened as she looked at the photograph, and she fell into deep thought. She then refolded it, put it back into the reporter’s ID, and stored it in her ring.
If this were sent back to the Dragon Country, it would undoubtedly add significant weight to the implementation of the Peace Proposal. This reporter’s sacrifice was not in vain.
“Don’t worry… I will take you home too.”
After a moment of silence, Su Jiu collected all the ID tags of the international soldiers. She had intended to retrieve their bodies, but after having Bairnis dig for a while, she gave up.
The bodies were scattered by skills, and they had already begun to decompose, making it impossible to distinguish one from another.
Su Jiu collected a total of seven ID tags from the borderless soldiers: a reporter, a doctor, a cook… The other tags had no information, but she felt they were all worthy of respect. At least she couldn’t sacrifice herself to such an extent for peace.
Su Jiu was different from them. They had sacrificed themselves for their pure beliefs, while she was initially driven by honor and profit.
And they had no flowers.
No applause.
They simply moved forward silently, without high-level combat capabilities, perhaps even being just advanced stage warriors.
Perhaps they were just a silent ripple of a wave at the moment of their death, but they had done something very meaningful. That was to use their bodies as a bridge to guide refugees towards peace!
“Disperse…”
After doing all this, Su Jiu closed her eyes slightly, extended her index finger to the last wooden牌, and a golden light spread out from it like a stone dropped into water, passing over the wronged souls, and finally scattering throughout the entire military zone.
“May you all enter the Master’s embrace soon.”
Bairnis quietly watched the scene before her, also closing her eyes gently, clasping her hands together, and praying softly. Countless blue butterflies flitted over the wooden牌s and then past the wronged souls.
The wronged souls seemed to touch something warm, and slowly began to dissipate. The smell of blood on the ground also seemed to lessen.
The only thing Su Jiu could do for these dead was the dispelling skill she learned from the Plague Doctor, which would prevent this place from becoming a ghost town for many years. Bairnis, on the other hand, used a special soothing skill to disperse these ghosts.
This was Aers’s land, and those who died defending it should not become wandering souls or monsters after death, nor should they cause plagues. This was what Su Jiu, as a doctor, could do.
“Stop looking, let’s go. Yela will discover that something has happened here soon. If only you survive, you won’t last long.”
About ten minutes later, Su Jiu slowly opened her eyes and glanced at the elder, who was staring blankly. Judging by his expression, he was clearly a person from Yela.
“He’s likely a coerced ordinary person.”
She sighed, but did not choose to attack. Instead, she tugged at Bairnis’s sleeve, indicating for her to leave.
The elder also came back to his senses, his face no longer so dazed. He walked towards Su Jiu and Bairnis, making a gesture for them to follow him.
Su Jiu asked with some confusion, “Are you asking us to follow you?”
“Two ladies, please follow me.”
The elder nodded gently and then turned to lead the way towards the gate. The recent commotion had made him realize something.
After exchanging a glance, Su Jiu and Bairnis followed him. The three of them arrived at a place that looked like a temporary shed. The elder then cleared his throat and stopped.
“Ahem, we’re here… Take these things and save the refugees of Aers.”
Many military rations were piled there, bags of dry food stacked like small mountains, marked with the symbol of a flat pan. Several trucks were parked next to the food, and one empty truck with a Red Cross symbol stood out particularly.
“Thank you, old sir.”
Seeing the food and trucks before her, Su Jiu immediately understood the old man’s intention and quickly thanked him. She used her external qi to load all the food into the Red Cross truck. In a short while, the entire truck was loaded, and even two storage bags were filled to the brim.
“Let’s go!”
After getting into the truck and starting the engine, confirming everything was in order, Su Jiu waved to the old man, indicating for him to get in as well.
Sitting on the sand-covered ground, the old man shook his head and walked back in the direction he came from. His hoarse voice echoed across the sandy land, “I’ll stay here. I haven’t finished making the tombstones yet.”
Looking at the old man’s retreating back, Su Jiu fell silent for a moment and began to reverse. Today, her mood was truly one of inexplicable complexity. She seemed to have truly realized the power of the word “faith.”
“We just need to do our own thing. There’s no need to overthink it.”
As if sensing Su Jiu’s anomaly, Bairnis gently patted her hand and smiled at her.
“There are five hours left before the Yela Army launches a full-scale invasion.”
Su Jiu nodded slightly, took a deep breath, and gradually regained her composure. She soon reversed the large truck out. Glancing at the time, she drove the large truck towards the direction indicated on the navigation.
Arriving at a small gully, Su Jiu had Bairnis help her out of the car. She looked at Weir, who was tightly gripping a formation, and smiled softly, “We’re out. You don’t need to be so nervous.”
“Doctor Jiu, you’re out?”
Hearing the voice, Weir’s eyes suddenly widened. Seeing the two unharmed, she was even more shocked. She could hear the sounds of combat from such a distance before.
It was unbelievable that two priests were completely unharmed in such fierce combat.
“Never mind that, I need you to do something…”
Su Jiu smiled, took out the reporter’s ID belonging to “Lin Yusheng” from her pocket, and handed it to Weir. She said softly, “Mail this to the People’s Daily of the Dragon Country. The post office in Haikou should not be completely paralyzed. It should be deliverable across countries within seven days.”
After saying that, she took out several thousand yuan and gave it to Weir. Su Jiu also took out her SIM card and handed it to Weir, instructing her quite seriously, “Pack this properly and send it as well. The password is my birthday, and make sure they look at the photos for instructions.”
If these photos were properly publicized by the People’s Daily in the Dragon Country, they would definitely cause a huge stir internationally. However, public opinion would then be more firmly on the side of Aers.
Just earlier, in the car, Su Jiu had asked Bairnis to try sending such cross-border messages, but found it impossible, and the signal was getting weaker and weaker.
The phone’s usefulness here was minimal, so giving it away was fine. Moreover, Bairnis also had one, so Su Jiu wasn’t worried about other problems as long as the SIM card was inserted. Her eyes flashed with a thought: “I need to find an alchemical item that can contact the outside world. Otherwise, we won’t even be able to inform the outside world of the situation inside in real-time.”
After giving the instructions, Su Jiu and Bairnis returned to the large truck and headed towards the location indicated by the navigation.
They didn’t drive for long. Along the way, they saw many refugees with their families, their faces haggard, and some even fainted on the ground.
As doctors, Su Jiu and Bairnis did not stand by idly. They distributed food as needed, and for severe cases, they directly administered diluted purple potion. Time continued to slip away, and it slowly approached evening.
“Doctor, please don’t go any further. The area within a kilometer of the International Hospital has been set up as a restricted zone by the Yela Army. It seems they are harboring Aers soldiers inside.”
Only after administering a bottle of diluted potion to someone who looked like a merchant did the person recover, look them over, and advise them.
