A snowstorm that came early swept across the entire Mount Qilian.
A blizzard at this season was rather abnormal.
The top of Mount Qilian was covered with snow all year round. Almost the entire farmland in the Hexi Corridor was irrigated by the melting snow on the top of the mountain, thus creating a granary along the river corridor in the western of Gansu Province, which also stored crops for the whole country. However, in this season, it was rare to see such a large snowstorm sweep through the entire mountain area. Even many local farmers who were over 60 or 70 years old had never seen it before.
However, the strange thing was that in the cities outside the mountain area, the sky was just more overcast. The places with dense populations were not affected by the snowstorm at all.
The good news was that as there were many rocks and red clay in Mount Qilian, and the terrain was steep and vegetation was scarce, the mountain area was not suitable for living, let alone for grazing cattle. It was basically an uninhabited area, so the sudden snowstorm did not cause too many casualties.
After the snowstorm, the local temperature once dropped to minus 20 or 30 degrees.
“Haha, what great snow!”
A burly bearded man, wearing only a thin yellow robe, stood on the top of an isolated peak.
He had a hawk nose and deep-set eyes. It was plain that he was not Chinese but a man from the Middle East. Standing on the peak of the Southern Peak with an altitude of more than 5,000 meters above sea level, he looked up at the constantly brewing storm of thunder and clouds above and at the endless snow around him, revealing a hint of joy on his face.
He stood on the top of the Southern Peak. In front and at the rear of him were precarious cliffs. If he slipped, he would fall and be smashed to pieces. However, no matter how strong the wind in the mountain was, it could only flutter his thin robe but not make him flinch at all.
A rare black-beaked golden-eyed falcon was squatting on his shoulder.
This falcon was not large. It was no more than a meter wide even when it beat its wings. Its feathers were snow-white and its eyelids were golden. Its wings looked as if they were made of gold and iron. Its beak seemed to be made of divine steel and was extremely majestic. The falcon was looking around vigilantly as though nothing could escape its eyes.
Suddenly, the falcon fluttered its wings, tearing through the wind and snow and soaring in the sky like a bolt of silver lightning.
A falcon’s hoot was heard.
“You’ve finally arrived?” The burly man looked towards the north.
In the whirling snow in a distance, a black dot came into sight and was moving elusively. A hoarse voice penetrated through the snow and wind and called, “Is the thing ready?”
The hawk-nosed man kicked away the silver metal box beside his feet. Then, like a meteor, he flew toward the black dot in the wind and snow.
The black dot was a man whose whole body was wrapped in a wide robe. His face could not be seen clearly. But it was obvious that he was a super master as he could show up on such a steep mountaintop on such a snowy day. His voice was deliberately husked, hiding his true identity.
He reached out to catch the box and opened it. A faint energy fluctuation came out. Also, a faint light outshone the snow and wind. He nodded with satisfaction and said, “Good, the goods are perfect.”
The burly man from the Middle East standing in the distance opened his mouth and spoke in Chinese, “Where is the file I asked for?”
The black figure drew out a metal USB flash disk from his sleeve and threw it over, which shot through the wind and snow like a bullet. Then, he remarked, “You know the password. All the data is in it.”
The man caught it gently and said, “Well, it’s not our first cooperation. I believe you won’t trick me.”
With the case in his hand, the black figure said in a broken voice, “I’ll give you one advice. Now that you’ve come to China, kill as fewer Chinese soldiers as you can. Otherwise, if you upset the military, the consequences will be very serious. In our country, there is a saying that people who offend us will be killed no matter how far away they escape. I bet you’ve heard of it before.”
Upon hearing his words, the man from the Middle East smiled contemptuously and said, “In this world, it all comes down to strength. You Chinese only know how to fight among yourselves and throw your country in chaos. Otherwise, how could you cooperate with us and sell us intelligence?”
The black figure gave a cold snort and turned into a black shadow. Then, like a darting star, he finally disappeared into the snow afar.
The man from the Middle East looked at the back of the black figure and grinned scornfully.
With a whistle, the falcon hidden in the flying snow flew back to his arm. Then, he rose into the air like a bird. After leaping several times, he landed at another mountain peak a kilometer away.
This mountain was only taller than the Southern Peak, but its slope was relatively gradual. The top of the mountain was also slightly wider, so a military sentry post was located there.
The sentry post was a courtyard with a few small buildings.
At this time, most of the yard of the sentry post had been buried in the snow. Outside the yard, there was a stone tablet with four red numbers on it—
9527.
It was the No. 9527 western sentry post.
The man from the Middle East came to the sentry post and went straight to a second-floored building as if he knew the place well.
The room was slightly dim, and the spare generator had stopped working. There were all kinds of military equipment in the room, and a bonfire was burning in the center of the room, warming the place up.
A pungent smell of blood wafted in the room.
On the cold ground by the bonfire, there were six bodies dressed in military uniforms. They were all dead. Although they had striven to fight before they died, it was obvious that their struggle was in vain, as they did not even pull out their guns…
A groan sounded.
On the other side of the bonfire, a young soldier was tied to a wooden stake that was inserted into the cement floor. He was breathing his last breath but had not died yet. The left side of his face was already smashed. His shirt was torn up, revealing his chest covered with the marks of the attacks of beasts, which was rather shocking to the eye.
“Well, you’re still not dead yet. Quite tough.” The man from the Middle East could speak Mandarin. He glanced at the young soldier with somewhat admiration and said, “Boy, as long as you beg for mercy, I’ll let you die quickly.”
“You… will die a horrible death…” The young soldier was extremely weak, but his eyes were full of stubbornness and hatred. “The Chinese army… will not… let you off the hook… You… you will never be able to go out of the border.”
The man from the Middle East smiled indifferently and then said, “Even God is helping me. Look at the sudden snowstorm. By the time your army realized what’s going on, I’d have left with what I wanted.”
The white-feathered, golden-eyed falcon fluttered its wings and landed on the young soldier’s shoulder. It opened its beak to peck at the flesh in the soldier’s chest. With its arched beak, it tore off a large chunk of meat.
The young soldier’s body instantly became stiff and tense. He endured the stab of pain and gasped for breath. Cold sweat instantly broke out like a spring, but he did not scream, just withstanding it.
“Haha, interesting.”
The man from the Middle East took on a playful look.
He was very surprised by the tough attitude of the Chinese soldiers.
But it also gave him more pleasure in torture.
Raising his hand, he sent out a sharp gust of energy that cut off the ropes tying the young soldier. Then, he continued to let the white-feathered, golden-eyed falcon peck, torture, and tear the flesh off the young warrior’s body, as though it was a game of hunting a living creature.
The young soldier was less than 20 years old. He tried his best to resist, trying to kill the falcon, or even just pluck out a few feathers…
But the strength of the golden-eyed falcon was extremely impressive. It was a spiritual item, and could even lift a calf off the ground. What’s more, the young soldier was already on the brink of death. Therefore, how could he fend it off? Very shortly, there wasn’t even a single piece of intact flesh left on his body.
“Haha…”
The man from the Middle East laughed happily. He took out some dried meat and sat by the bonfire with relish as if he was watching the world’s most wonderful performance.
The young soldier quickly lost consciousness.
The flesh on his body was constantly ripped off by the falcon, and one of his eyes had also been pecked off, but he seemed to have become numb to the pain.
In a trance, he lay on his back on the cold floor, and his sight was gradually filled with the color of blood. He seemed to see his mother, who was working hard in the depths of the loess plateau smile at him. He seemed to see the girl with two braids telling him she would wait for him to come back when he was leaving his hometown at the age of 18 to join the army. He seemed to see his younger sister, who was in the school, write to tell him that she had gotten full marks again…
“I’m sorry, mom. Your son can’t go back.”
A touch of a smile appeared on his minced face.
He did not regret this. Because he did not disgrace the monitor, the platoon leader, and his comrades, nor did he cry or beg for mercy. He had held on to the last moment.
He was in pain, in excruciating pain, as well as great fear.
Anyway, he did not bring shame to the team.
“My comrades who have rest in peace in heaven, Little Wax Gourd is coming.”
He shed tears and smiled.
“I’m a Chinese sentry…” He roared with the last strength of his life. Abruptly, he turned around and attempted to fight for the last time.
Just then, the door of the room banged open.
The snow and wind poured in from the outside.
Along with the wind and snow came the light from the outside.
In the light that spilled in like quicksand, a figure silhouetted against the brightness stepped in. His face could not be seen clearly, but he was tall and standing straight. The young soldier could not see his face clearly, but he saw his feet, which were cladding in a pair of Li Ning sneakers with Chinese characters on them.
Then, he saw in a blur that another person came in following the first figure. She was in a blue military uniform of the air force, and a Beret Cap that female soldiers wore. On the insignia of the cap were five red stars and golden “August 1”, which seemed to be as bright as a torch in the dark.
“My comrades!”
With this thought in mind, the young soldier passed out.
···
···
Dessert Camel, one of the top experts among the terrorists in the Middle East, was actually a man named Aluf. He was born in a small village in the desert that few knew about. Later, when he entered the terrorist training camp, he learned to kill people and committed countless murders. He then became one of the four top masters of the Evil Avatar Sect.
As the environment on Earth began to change, his strength kept growing at incredible speed. He was famous for his ferocity in the Middle East and no one dared to provoke him.
When the door of the room was pushed open, an indescribable sense of crisis suddenly rose in the heart of this Middle East master.
Given his strength, no matter how overwhelming the snowstorm was, as long as someone got 20 meters near him, he would be able to sense it. However, Aluf did not notice anything until the two people walked into the house. That was almost impossible.
He bounced up from the ground subconsciously.
And flung his hand.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Dozens of snow-white daggers shot out as fast as lightning. At such a distance, with his strength, even a ten-centimeter thick steel plate could be pierced in an instant.
But the man in front of him merely waved his hand casually, and those daggers zoomed back at a faster speed, penetrating his arms and legs in a second.
Having had the training, Aluf had long been immune to pain. He was sent flying backward by the zooming dagger and crashed onto several boxes. Then he quickly grasped the balance and stood up, taking a defensive posture.
“We’re late,” said a man’s voice.
“Is there anyone still breathing?” A brisk woman’s voice asked.
“This one is,” said the man’s voice.
The other party was obviously very confident in their strength. For when they entered the room, they did not kill him immediately but went to save the soldier instead.
A cold smile curled Aluf’s lips.
“Stupid Chinese, do you think you’ve defeated me like this?”
Heaven knew how many times he had turned the tide in a desperate situation. But when he was about to strike again, he suddenly felt an unnerving pressure sweeping toward him. As a martial arts expert, his instinct told him that he would be instantly crushed by the pressure once he made any move.
A drop of cold sweat dripped from his sideburns.
