Under the moonlight

Outside the city, the S country's army had already assembled. They were all dressed in black uniforms, their faces tense and serious. Officers stood at the front of the ranks, ready to depart at any moment. Helicopters hovered overhead, like hunting dogs awaiting the order to attack.

The mercenaries inside the city also noticed the anomaly. Their walkie-talkies were being jammed by the army's jamming devices, preventing the mercenaries left behind from promptly notifying those who had already set off to search and clear out the surrounding area.

The leader stood on high ground, constantly observing the army outside. They hadn't made a move yet, but judging from their posture, a tough battle was inevitable. The mercenary leader jumped down from the high ground, looked at the mere hundred or so men left behind, and realized that if he sent anyone out to report, they wouldn't even be able to defend themselves if the army attacked.

He paced back and forth in the tent in frustration, unable to come up with a solution. Just then, the mercenaries guarding outside the tent rushed in in a panic, bumping into him. The leader, already irritable, grabbed the man by the collar and said fiercely, "Are you blind?"

The man, his clothes being pulled along, looked on nervously and pointed outside, saying, "The army, the army is coming into the city."

The leader shoved him aside, strode outside the tent, jumped onto the armored vehicle in front of the tent, snatched the binoculars from the person next to him, and pointed them forward. Sure enough, the army was marching towards the city.

The leader cursed loudly, but before he could turn around and jump off the armored vehicle, a shell exploded beside him. The sudden explosion made him dizzy and he almost fell off the armored vehicle. All he could see was chaos. Tents were already overturned, and the rest of the people were running around in a panic.

He forced himself to stand up and quickly crawled into the armored vehicle. He ripped off his mask, revealing a shocking scar that stretched from behind his ear to his chin. His facial muscles twitched uncontrollably with anger, and his eyes glared fiercely ahead.

He drove the armored vehicle toward the direction from which the shells came. The mercenaries, who had been scattered, saw the armored vehicle move and, as if given a command, picked up their guns and followed behind. They were reckless madmen who didn't care about their lives. The sudden situation might have made them panic for a moment, but after they figured out what was going on, the glint in their eyes was like that of vicious wolves that had found their prey by following the scent of blood.

When the second shell exploded behind the armored vehicle, Lao Wu and Xu Ao, who were moving, also heard the sound. The panic of the explosion spread through the group in an instant, as if it had become muscle memory. They instinctively hunched over and tried to run away in a panic.

Lao Wu and Xu Ao shouted from the front to the back, "Quickly squat down, squat down!"

A moment later, the explosion stopped. Lao Wu and Xu Ao looked at each other behind the pile of stones, both confused about what had happened. After a while, they slowly peeked out and looked around. It seemed that peace had returned.

Looking at the fear on the faces of the people behind him, Lao Wu knew that he hadn't misheard the noise, but it didn't seem to be aimed at them. Xu Ao frowned and said, "Could it be those mercenaries?" Lao Wu pondered for a moment and said, "Possibly. We need to hurry."

After watching the two of them talk with their heads down for a while, Huang Meng urged everyone to get moving. She turned her head and looked behind her. They had already passed the big intersection. Not far ahead was Nasha's family's shelter. She secretly wanted them to stay with the group.

However, Xu Ao was in front, and Lao Wu was beside him. From the moment they met, she felt that Lao Wu was not simple and had absolute say in this team. If he disagreed, things would be difficult.

She walked with her head down, lost in thought, wondering how to explain it to Lao Wu. With only a few steps to go, she thought she should give it a try, just in case it worked. After all, Nasha was from S country and was familiar with the route, so maybe this would convince everyone.

"That's it," Huang Meng decided, and quickly walked forward. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a propeller above her. Everyone looked up in surprise. The helicopter was flying very low, and the airflow from the propeller made it almost impossible for them to open their eyes. Everyone shielded their eyes with their hands. The people carrying the stretcher could not stand steadily and barely managed to keep the stretcher from falling.

Xu Ao raised his arm to shield his face and saw the large S country logo on the bottom of the plane through the lens. His eyes widened instantly; this type of aircraft would only appear on the battlefield.

Xu Ao and Lao Wu stared at the plane for a while, exchanged a glance, and were about to speak when they saw the tail of the helicopter circling overhead be hit, breaking in two instantly. Thick smoke billowed from the broken tail section as it plummeted to the ground, while the front half of the plane, now without its tail, lost its balance and began to spin and fall from mid-air. Seeing the out-of-control plane heading straight for them, Lao Wu and Xu Ao, standing in front, tensed up and quickly shouted behind them, "Back up! Back up quickly!"

Panic erupted in the crowd, yet instinctively, a powerful force surged forth as people desperately ran backward. Huang Meng was shoved forward by the crowd, constantly turning her head to search for Xu Ao. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Nasha running towards them with Yaqin and two children in her arms. Huang Meng turned around in delight, waving her arms and shouting, "Here! Nasha! Here!"

Nasha spotted Huang Meng in the crowd. They were carrying children and crouching low as they approached her. Before they could even greet her, they quickly ran with the crowd.

Huang Meng still couldn't see Xu Ao's figure until a muffled sound came from behind, followed by a piercing metallic scraping sound. When it finally quieted down, only the broken wing dangled in mid-air, making a helpless creaking sound. A thick smoke rose up, and even though everyone was hiding behind a broken wall, they were still choked by the smoke.

Seeing that there was no more movement, Huang Meng stood up and looked through the thick smoke at the plane that had just stopped in front of her. She rushed forward without thinking. The place where they had been standing had been crushed under the plane. If they had been even a fraction slower, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

A huge plane stood before her, billowing smoke. She paced frantically in front of it, unsure of what to do. Finally, she shouted loudly, "Xu Ao, Xu Ao, where are you?"

The only response she received was the occasional coughing behind her. She felt a rush of blood to her head and was about to walk forward when she was suddenly pulled back by the person behind her—Nasha.

He nervously pulled Huang Meng with one hand and put the other to his mouth to signal her to be quiet. Huang Meng did as he said, and then they crouched down. A moment later, an armored vehicle drove past them, and the mercenaries on board were looking at their masterpiece with smug satisfaction.

Huang Meng, Nasha, and the others hiding behind the broken wall dared not make a sound. Fortunately, their location was secluded, and they were covered by the crashing plane, so the others did not pay much attention to them.

They shot down the army's helicopter, and the next step was to figure out how to evade the army's counterattack. The armored vehicle sped past, and soon, the sound of shells whizzing through the air could be heard overhead. These shells landed around the armored vehicle, hitting many mercenaries. Nasha and his men had no choice but to continue hiding behind the broken wall. In this situation, even if they weren't killed by the mercenaries, they would be blown up by the stray shells.

Huang Meng was preoccupied with Xu Ao. She crouched down and went around the broken wall to the front of the plane again, where Xu Ao and Lao Wu were slowly crawling out from a gap between the front of the plane and the ground.

Seeing them, Huang Meng quickly called for help. They were helped to sit down behind the broken wall. Huang Meng looked at Xu Ao, whose head and face were covered in dust, and blood was flowing from the wound on his brow bone. Blood trickled down his cheeks and dripped onto his collar.

The glasses on his nose were gone, and his exposed arms and palms were covered in blood from the rubble, with some wounds still covered in tiny shards of glass.

Huang Meng tried her best to hold back the tears that were about to spill, but they still dripped silently onto the back of his hand as she cleaned his wound. Xu Ao gently lifted her chin, looked at her red nose, grinned and said, "What, you feel sorry for me? Hmm? It's nothing, it's nothing. I used to get scrapes all the time when I played ball in school. Don't worry."

Huang Meng sobbed without saying a word. Xu Ao thought that she was probably scared and worried because she saw that he was injured. He turned his head to look at the side. The others were sitting in a huddle in the distance, lost in thought. There were also a few people bandaging Lao Wu's wound. He watched Huang Meng tie the gauze and knot it, then reached out and pulled her over to sit next to him.

He looked down at Huang Meng, who was nestled in his arms with a troubled expression, and chuckled. Huang Meng, annoyed by his laughter, raised her elbow and poked him in the waist.

"Still laughing? You almost got crushed by a plane just now. Didn't you know to run faster? What's the point of having such long legs?" Looking at his grinning face and thinking about her own fear just now, she angrily complained.

Xu Ao looked at her pouting and angry face, his smile deepened, and his eyes were filled with tenderness. He looked at Huang Meng's profile and said, "Yeah, the plane crashed closest to me and Lao Wu, so we wanted to run as fast as we could."

Hearing him say that, Huang Meng's resentment lessened considerably. She looked up at the gauze on his brow bone and sighed, "So what do we do now?"

Xu Ao looked at the distant sky and said, "There's nothing we can do. Since their army is here, let's go find them. Talking to them should be more effective than talking to those lunatics."

Huang Meng didn't understand what he meant at first. Xu Ao smiled and tapped her nose. Without saying anything, he stood up and walked to Lao Wu's side, whispering something to him. Huang Meng only saw surprise and approval appear on his face one after the other. Then the two smiled and nodded as if they had reached an agreement.

Xu Ao walked to Huang Meng's side and extended a hand to her. Huang Meng took the backpack and stood up, holding his hand. Nasha and Yaqin, who were holding their child and were a little away from the crowd, also came over when they saw Huang Meng coming.

Xu Ao and Lao Wu stood in the middle of the crowd, looking at the dejected faces of everyone, and said loudly, "Everyone, our plan has changed. The army of S country has now entered the city. It's easier for us to deal with them than with those mercenaries. Now we'll split into two groups. Most of you will stay here for the time being and be on guard. We just saw those mercenaries in armored vehicles running faster than rabbits. I guess there are troops chasing them from behind. Xu Ao, Zi Jie, and I will go out and scout ahead."

Huang Meng then understood what Xu Ao meant earlier. They wanted to find the army first and get their help, ideally with their escort out of the city. This wasn't a bad idea; C country and S country had always maintained friendly relations, so finding them smoothly would be the best-case scenario. But…

"How do you communicate with them? I'll go with you."

Huang Meng asked the question directly. Lao Wu turned to look at Xu Ao, who thought for a moment and nodded. He looked around and saw that everyone had a somber expression and was supporting each other, as if they had something to say but didn't say anything. He knew that at this moment, any words of encouragement would seem pale and powerless.

They crossed the pile of stones by the roadside and crouched down as they slowly made their way forward. They hadn't gone far when they saw the S country's army approaching them. Lao Wu and Xu Ao exchanged a glance, then slowly straightened up, raised their hands above their heads, and shouted forward, "Hey, don't shoot! We're not mercenaries!"

The moment they came into the army's view, they had already set up their guns and were staring intently at them. As soon as Lao Wu finished speaking, Huang Meng quickly translated.

Upon hearing Huang Meng's voice, the soldiers holding guns hesitated for a moment and looked at their superior officer. The officer raised his hand, signaling them to put their guns down. Even if they were the enemy, there were only a few of them, and he could turn them into sieves before they even got close.