Chapter 279: You Wish
Chapter 279: Chapter 279: You Wish
Just as Lu Cheng and Jiang Peng were on high alert, the sound of footsteps stopped at the cave entrance.
"Cuckoo."
Hearing the bird call from outside, Lu Cheng and Jiang Peng glanced at each other.
Lu Cheng gave a slight lift of his chin.
Jiang Peng took the hint. "Cuckoo?"
"Cuckoo."
Hearing the response, they both breathed a sigh of relief.
As the vines concealing the cave entrance were pulled aside, the faces of Zhang Jia Ming and Tang Yuan appeared.
"Boss, Iron Bull."
Lu Cheng put away his dagger and gestured for them to enter.
Inside the cave, their expressions turned grave as they saw the unconscious Dr. Gu and his blood-soaked left leg.
"The asset is injured? The enemy must have figured it out. They’ve been searching the area and will probably find this place soon."
Lu Cheng made an immediate decision to evacuate with Dr. Gu.
"Boss!"
Zhang Jia Ming suddenly spoke up. "You two, take off your clothes and switch with me and Tang Yuan."
Lu Cheng instantly understood. Zhang Jia Ming and Tang Yuan wanted to pose as him and Jiang Peng to lead the pursuers away.
In their current situation, it was undoubtedly a good plan.
But it meant Zhang Jia Ming and Tang Yuan would be in grave danger; they could even lose their lives.
"Boss, if something happens to me, please look after my family for me."
Zhang Jia Ming spoke to Lu Cheng as he quickly stripped off his clothes, having clearly put all thoughts of life and death aside.
Tang Yuan started undressing as well. "Boss, Xiao Yue is my only sister. If I... please find a good husband for her."
Jiang Peng piped up, "Brother Tang, if I make it back safe and your sister can’t find a husband, I’ll marry her!"
He had barely finished speaking when Lu Cheng kicked him. "In your dreams!"
After kicking Jiang Peng, he turned to Zhang Jia Ming and Tang Yuan with a serious expression and warned them, "Keep your wits about you. The mission is important, but so are your lives. You must come back alive. I’ll make sure you get commendations for this!"
"Yes, sir!"
After swapping clothes with Lu Cheng and Jiang Peng, Zhang Jia Ming fashioned a dummy from branches and vines, dressed it in Dr. Gu’s clothes, then hoisted it onto his shoulder and left the cave with Tang Yuan.
Not long after they left, gunfire erupted outside the cave.
Jiang Peng’s face was fraught with anxiety, and even Lu Cheng’s expression was exceptionally grim.
Gradually, the gunfire grew more distant. Zhang Jia Ming and Tang Yuan had clearly succeeded in luring the enemy away.
"Time for us to go."
Lu Cheng was decisive. He had Jiang Peng carry the unconscious Dr. Gu on his back as they left the cave and slipped away toward the border.
At first, they could still hear an occasional gunshot.
But as the distance between the two groups widened, soon they couldn’t hear anything at all.
But in this situation, all they could do was push onward with all their might, to ensure that Zhang Jia Ming and Tang Yuan’s sacrifice was not in vain.
They trekked through mountains and streams, crossing one ridge after another.
"HUFF... HUFF..."
Hearing Jiang Peng’s heavy panting, Lu Cheng stopped.
"Give Dr. Gu to me. You rest for a bit."
Jiang Peng was already too exhausted to speak. At Lu Cheng’s words, he simply collapsed to the ground, his strength gone.
Lu Cheng hoisted Dr. Gu onto his back and said to Jiang Peng on the ground, "Just hang on a little longer. We’re only half an hour from the border. We’ll be safe once we cross."
Hearing they were only half an hour away gave Jiang Peng a new surge of hope. He scrambled up from the ground and followed Lu Cheng to continue their journey.
「Three hours later.」
Jiang Peng, now carrying Dr. Gu again, staggered from side to side, looking like he might collapse at any second. Sweat poured down his face like a waterfall.
"Sis... Bro... how... are we... still not there?"
Lu Cheng’s eyes scanned their surroundings warily as he replied, "Almost there. It’s just up ahead. Half an hour more, at most."
Tears streamed from Jiang Peng’s eyes. "Still... another... half hour? You’ve... you’ve already said that... so many times!"
"This is the last half hour. Let me carry Dr. Gu. You catch your breath."
Jiang Peng was already beyond exhausted. He was about to hand Dr. Gu over to Lu Cheng when, suddenly, the sound of startled birds erupted from the woods behind them.
Lu Cheng’s expression changed. "Run!"
Jiang Peng forgot all about his exhaustion, turned, and bolted, still carrying Dr. Gu.
Lu Cheng covered their rear.
This time, Lu Cheng hadn’t been lying. After running for just over ten minutes, they saw the border marker.
"Brother-in-law, we’re almost home!"
Jiang Peng was so excited it was like he’d gotten a shot of adrenaline, his energy instantly returning.
Just then, shouts echoed from a nearby mountain.
They turned to look and saw two Myanmar sentries.
"Run!"
Even without Lu Cheng’s warning, Jiang Peng knew the danger. He lowered his head and ran for his life.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two of them weaved through a hail of bullets.
Seconds ticked by. Ahead, they could just make out the barbed-wire fence marking the border.
An ecstatic expression broke out on Jiang Peng’s face. "Brother-in-law, we’re almost there!"
In that brief moment of distraction, a bullet shot toward the back of his head.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Lu Cheng leaped and tackled him to the ground.
Before Jiang Peng could even process what had happened, Lu Cheng was hauling him up from the ground.
"Don’t just stand there! Quick, get to the fence and be ready for me!"
"Oh, right."
Jiang Peng sprinted to the fence and reached it in moments.
The wire fence was two and a half meters high, and every strand was covered with dense, half-centimeter-long metal barbs. Climbing it bare-handed was impossible.
Jiang Peng was quick-witted. He tore his shirt into strips and wrapped them around his fingers and palms.
It wouldn’t completely stop the barbs, but it would lessen the damage.
He had just finished wrapping one hand when Lu Cheng arrived with Dr. Gu. Their pursuers were less than a kilometer behind them.
Lu Cheng urged him on, "Hurry up, no time to waste!"
Jiang Peng threw caution to the wind and started climbing, grabbing directly onto the wire.
He wasn’t even halfway up before his unwrapped left hand was dripping with blood.
Tears welled in Jiang Peng’s eyes from the pain, but he kept scrambling upward with all his might.
’I haven’t even gotten married yet,’ he thought. ’I can’t die here.’
’And my sister’s still so young. She can’t become a widow.’
Gritting his teeth against the piercing pain, he finally reached the top of the fence.
Without pausing to catch his breath, he worked with Lu Cheng to get Dr. Gu over to the other side first, then immediately bent down to haul Lu Cheng up.
With his help, Lu Cheng made it over the fence smoothly.
Just as they landed, their pursuers arrived at the fence.
The two groups faced off, separated by the cold barbed-wire fence.
The dark muzzles of three guns were aimed at them from the other side. The leader of the group sneered, "Keep running. Why’d you stop?"
Lu Cheng subtly moved to shield Jiang Peng, murmuring in a low voice, "Get Dr. Gu and the intel back. Take care of your sister."
Blood dripped from the tips of all ten of Jiang Peng’s fingers. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared back. "We live together or we die together."
Lu Cheng said, "If we both die here, our brothers will have died for nothing!"
Jiang Peng clenched his jaw, forcing himself not to cry.
’A man bleeds; he doesn’t cry,’ he told himself. ’Even if I’m going to die, I can’t lose my dignity!’
Just then, the leader on the other side ordered his men to fire.
BANG! BANG!