Chapter 381: Danger Approaches (3k)
The wind and snow still hadn’t cleared the next day. A ray of sunlight entered the rather minimalist room, still giving off a chill, unable to convey the warmth of winter. Two figures in black were busy moving about.
Su Jiu had no winter clothes, so she put on her Crow Feather Attire after dismantling the shawl. She slipped the last made frost-colored Dream Flower into her pocket, exhaled a puff of white air, looked up at the sky, and muttered to herself, “It’s time to go.”
“Miss, the diary you asked me to write is almost complete. As long as we return and hand the items to that reporter miss, it should be ready for immediate publication.”
Hearing this, Bairnis slowly got up, poured two cups of warm water from the nearby thermos, and placed them on the table next to Su Jiu. She then smiled and handed her phone to Su Jiu.
“Let’s take it back to Miss Lin Wutong to see. I don’t really understand these things either—last night, we discussed that person, and we haven’t even come up with a name.”
Waving goodbye to Bairnis with a smile, Su Jiu slowly stood up and stretched. Her long black dress seemed to bring a touch of warmth in the winter morning. Hearing some noise, she walked to the window and wiped away the condensation with her sleeve, looking out.
“But, it’s so lively this early in the morning, what are they doing?”
In the fortress square, soldiers were raising the flag. Around the square, everyone had solemn expressions, and the atmosphere was solemn and serious.
The elderly Commander Akas also changed into a black military uniform, looking gravely at the national flag as it slowly rose. As the soldiers began to sing the national anthem of Aers, he took a deep breath and slowly raised his right hand.
“Miss Su, we have received Mr. Hans’s gift. We learned from the central information transmitter that he single-handedly took down almost the entire Yela army located in central Aers. Those who tried to encircle Jialuo, including a Yela Chief Commander, were also left there.”
Just as Su Jiu looked out the window, a female voice rang out. Turning her head, she saw a Mokala liaison officer, dressed like an assistant, entering from another side door. Her face showed a mixture of respect and sadness. After a pause, she continued,
“But Jialuo has also disappeared forever. Outside, they are lowering the flags to half-mast in memory of Mr. Hans. After these ceremonies, we still need to continue to resist the second wave of monster attacks.”
“He disappeared?”
Su Jiu was slightly taken aback. She suddenly thought of Jialuo’s actions yesterday, and her expression became somewhat somber. She clenched the rather brilliant Dream Flower in her hand, and then sighed—”…It’s indeed like this.”
“Miss, do you want to go down and see?” Bairnis tucked her phone away and came up behind Su Jiu, gently placing a delicate hand on her shoulder, and said softly.
“No, we need to depart for the International Hospital in the west.”
Shaking her head, Su Jiu walked to the pocket of her purse and tossed the storage bag onto the table beside her. Turning to the liaison officer behind her, she instructed softly, “After I leave, give this to your commander and tell them—rather than praying to gods, it’s better to create miracles yourselves. This is considered a seed of miracles, and I hope you can use them well.”
As for the cost, consider it already paid in advance by Jialuo.
“Seeds of miracles? Seeds of miracles that can bring to Aers, which has been impoverished by war—are there really jewels inside?” LerO⑧WuLIngGzLuPjiu
The liaison officer was taken aback and her gaze fell on the storage bag. It seemed she had just seen the person in front of her put a shiny blue object into it. Could it be some precious treasure?
Su Jiu walked a few more steps and opened the large door. The howling wind and snow surged in, a slight chill on her face, yet her long black dress billowed like layers of waves, the crow feather patterns seeming to come alive.
Although she had only met Jialuo a few times, their experiences were recorded one by one in the diary on the phone during Bairnis and Lu Si’s conversation last night. It was a story of an American noble and a small country’s priest, romantic and profound.
The name of the diary had been debated by Bairnis and Su Jiu for a long time last night, but they couldn’t come up with a suitable name because the entire piece narrated disaster, and besides disaster, there was only despair. Until now, she suddenly thought of a very fitting name—
Facing the cold wind, Su Jiu suddenly spoke, “How about ‘Er Ling’ and ‘Journey to Freedom’?”
“Journey to Freedom?”
Bairnis was slightly taken aback, looking at the back of Su Jiu in her black dress. The lifelike embroidery seemed to allow her to feel the crow feathers flying from her body.
Su Jiu turned her head and said to her softly in the unique language of the Dragon Country, “The people of Aers, who are deprived of water, electricity, and food, yearn for freedom. The traveler entered their kingdom.”
“The birds imprisoned in Zhuoka broke free from their shackles with the traveler’s help; the warriors, bestowed the role of heroes, fought and killed the evil dragon under the traveler’s witness…”
Bairnis nodded thoughtfully, looking at Su Jiu’s face. For some reason, for a moment, she suddenly felt that the person in front of her overlapped with the protagonist in a picture book, possessing an inexplicable charm.
Su Jiu smiled, turned her head to look into the distance, and continued, “The traveler can be us, or it can be Jialuo the Knight, or doctors like Liu Gang and Yuko, or even Mr. Lin Yusheng, who has already been buried in the earth…”
“The travelers yearn to save this land burning with war and bring freedom to its people, but in the end, most of them unfortunately became—heroes.”
A scarlet glint flashed in her eyes, her gaze stretching, as if seeing the experiences of each traveler. Finally, she chuckled and said,
“Forever remaining in this land.”
The liaison officer also listened quietly. Although she didn’t understand what Su Jiu was saying, she felt a strange sadness.
“…”
“It’s time to go.”
After a moment of silence in the wind, Su Jiu suddenly clasped her palm, and a golden sword of energy appeared before her. The wind and snow were repelled by the strong air pressure about a meter away.
Returning to the hospital, this “Journey to Freedom” might be revised by Lin Wutong and then published worldwide through the People’s Daily.
Blocking the oncoming surge with one hand, the liaison officer said with difficulty, “Miss Su, Commander Akas asked me to inform you not to return to the international city. Yela seems to be preparing to attack the west directly—you are an official of the Dragon Country, and internationally, the Dragon Country still maintains a non-intervention stance.”
“Attacking in advance?”
Upon hearing this, Su Jiu’s expression finally turned completely gloomy. Even stronger air pressure pressed outwards. Images of the Red Cross members and that female editor—Lin Wutong—flashed through her mind. If war broke out, they would likely be affected.
They shouldn’t die on this battlefield.
At least in her opinion, those brilliant souls should not be buried in this chaotic battlefield. Rather than being honored as heroes, it was better to go home and share dinner with their families.
She wondered if those photos had been sent to the People’s Daily.
“Miss Su…”
The liaison officer felt as if the air was being sucked dry. She swallowed, using her external qi to resist the impact, and wondered why the other party seemed so angry.
“No, I am not going as a Night Watcher of the Dragon Country, but rather…”
“As a doctor.”
A moment later, the former quietly took out a red ribbon from her ring and tied it to her arm. She took Bairnis’s hand, stepped onto the sword of energy, and her figure rapidly ascended. Finally, no longer procrastinating, she turned and streaked towards the edge of the sky.
Going as a representative of the Red Cross was also the most reasonable identity. In this stage of negotiating peace treaties, Su Jiu would not be foolish enough to expose her strength to Yela, becoming a handle for someone who refused to pass the treaty.
Hearing this gradually fading voice, the liaison officer was also somewhat stunned. She suddenly remembered the meaning of that special ribbon, and then quickly looked up, muttering to herself, “That ribbon has the international Red Cross’s non-aggression mark. Is this Miss Su participating in the rescue in the name of an international organization?”
“Will the storage bag contain medicine?”
After sighing with emotion, the liaison officer turned her gaze to the bag left by Su Jiu. She opened it slightly, and a look of horror suddenly appeared on her face, and she said word by word, “This is… Battle King level explosives—Dream Flower!! There are at least ten of them!”
“Heh… Thank you for your generosity.”
The next second, she suddenly covered her face and laughed while crying, slowly turning around, facing the figure that could only be seen as a golden stream of light, clasping her hands together.
With these items, they would definitely not be easily broken through by monsters, and at least thousands of ordinary soldiers could be saved, and they wouldn’t be a burden to the front lines.
“Xiao Xi, earlier, didn’t you ask that sister ‘What is a hero?’ She is a hero.”
Not far away, Lu Si held her daughter and gazed blankly at the direction where Su Jiu disappeared. After a long time, she sighed softly and stroked the girl’s head, saying.
Xiao Xi tilted her head, and Su Jiu’s words flashed in her mind, her eyes becoming a little confused. She blinked and said, “But that sister said she is not a hero.”
Her body slightly stiffened, Lu Si paused, looked at the figure that had completely disappeared, and said softly, “So you have to remember, heroes never say they are heroes…”
…
In the international metropolis, on the roof of the largest hospital, several figures were moving around, seemingly transporting some flower pots.
Liu Gang carefully moved the sunflowers into the corridor one by one, fearing that these potted plants with names would be damaged, as the plants inside symbolized the hope of those patients.
Originally, these sunflowers did not need much care, but… He slowly looked up at the fighter jets roaring in the distant sky. The determined face beneath his shiny head showed a hint of bitterness—why so fast?
They contacted the outside world through the only alchemical item in the entire hospital. It was said that the peace treaty had reached a critical juncture, and if nothing unexpected happened, as long as a few permanent member nations recognized “Mokala’s” illegal status, the treaty could be signed.
The negotiation had elevated “terrorists” to “illegal status,” and it was evident that there was also the effort of countries near Aers. They were beginning to be dissatisfied with Yela’s war affecting civilians, or rather, they were wary of Yela’s next target becoming themselves.
After moving the last pot of sunflowers, Liu Gang suddenly turned to look at Lin Wutong, who was taking photos in the distance. Looking at her busy back, he fell silent for a moment and said, “You said you received news that an important document sent to the People’s Daily was intercepted and inspected by the Yela army?”
“Yes, unfortunately…”
Lin Wutong put down her camera and turned to look at Liu Gang. A hint of disappointment appeared in her light blue eyes—the seized documents were likely destroyed. She then paused and said even more helplessly,
“And, Yela is using this as an excuse to take away all Aers citizens in the hospital for individual review.”
