Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei's War Journey

Nono struggled to her feet. Although Isaac's knife was fierce, it had not hit any vital organs and was not fatal.

She clutched her stomach and slowly walked towards Lu Mingfei.

"Lu Mingfei, are you alright...?" She originally wanted to ask how Lu Mingfei had suddenly learned such sword moves, which were definitely not something an ordinary student could master.

But as she approached and met Lu Mingfei's raised eyes, all her questions choked in her throat.

The pale gold in his eyes had completely faded, leaving only an endless void, a sense of bewilderment, and a deep-seated fear, like a child who had accidentally broken a precious vase, dreading the impending scolding or judgment.

Nono felt as if something had clenched her heart tightly.

She stopped asking questions, and instead bent down and gently pulled the blood-soaked, trembling boy into her arms, ignoring the blood stains on his clothes. She whispered something in his ear.

"It's alright...it's all over...let's go home..."

She felt Lu Mingfei's body tremble violently in her arms, and then, as if grasping at a lifeline, he stiffly hugged her back.

Nuonuo then endured the excruciating pain, found some clean strips of cloth to simply bandage her abdominal wound and stop the bleeding. Then, she led the still somewhat dazed Lu Mingfei away step by step from the cabin that resembled a slaughterhouse.

She prepared to take Lu Mingfei back to the tail of the plane, since their clothes were no longer wearable, and there were clean clothes inside the tail section.

Carrying their supplies and holding Lu Mingfei's hand, Nuonuo hurried step by step toward the tail of the plane, finally returning to the tail position before dark.

At this moment, Nuonuo's face was as pale as a sheet of paper. She was injured and had lost a lot of blood. She had also dragged Lu Mingfei this far, and her body had reached its limit. However, she could not rest now.

She got some water and began to wipe the blood off Lu Mingfei's face and head, who was still in a daze, and helped him change his clothes.

Then she treated the wound on her abdomen, re-bandaged it, and changed into clean clothes. After doing all this, her lips had lost all color.

She pulled Lu Mingfei along, and the two of them crawled into the sleeping bag made of aviation-grade heat-insulating material. She held Lu Mingfei's cold body in her arms, gently patting his back like she was comforting a frightened child, and humming a lullaby.

"Go to sleep... when you wake up, we'll go home..."

As Nuonuo gently patted and hummed, Lu Mingfei's tense nerves gradually relaxed, and his heavy eyelids slowly closed.

In his dream, bizarre and fantastical images flashed before his eyes, and he experienced another person's life from a first-person perspective.

The story of a poor young black man who, through his amazing talent and hard work, climbed into the ivory tower of Harvard Medical School, only to encounter plagiarism by his mentor and discrimination by his colleagues, ultimately turning into a serial killer.

When Lu Mingfei opened his eyes again, it was already bright outside. The hellish scene from yesterday was still vivid in his mind, and he tried his best not to think about it.

"Nono...it's dawn...we should get going..." He gently nudged Nono beside him.

But the only response he received was Nono's unusually weak voice.

"Lu Mingfei...you...you should go alone...I...I might not be able to get out..."

Seeing Nuonuo's weak state, Lu Mingfei immediately became anxious. The hellish scene was instantly forgotten. He could feel Nuonuo's body burning hot, so he quickly placed his hand on Nuonuo's forehead.

"Why is it so hot?" Lu Mingfei panicked the moment he touched Nuonuo's forehead.

There are no cold medicines here, and cold medicines can't cure a cold either. It mainly depends on your own immunity. However, Nono's condition is very bad right now because she lost too much blood yesterday, and it will be difficult for her to recover on her own.

Nono understood her situation. She coughed twice and said weakly, "A blizzard is coming. You should hurry... head west... cross the mountains and you'll reach Chile..."

Her injuries weren't as severe as when she crashed the plane. Catching a cold at this time might be troublesome for others, but she's of mixed race, so given a few days, she can recover.

But there was no time left. A blizzard was approaching, and they had to leave before it arrived. If they stayed any longer, they wouldn't have enough food to cross the mountains. Leaving alone was the best option for Lu Mingfei.

"What nonsense are you spouting!" Lu Mingfei roared, interrupting her. His eyes instantly became incredibly determined, and his previous confusion and fear were replaced by a powerful resolve.

He suddenly stood up and rummaged through the wreckage of the tail section to find several sturdy ropes.

"Lu Mingfei... what... what are you going to do..." Nuonuo asked weakly, her eyes filled with confusion, as she watched him return with the rope.

Lu Mingfei did not answer, but showed his determination with his actions. He carefully tied Nuonuo and her sleeping bag together with rope to make a bundle that could be carried on his back.

"I'll take you home. Trust me, I'll definitely lead you out of this world."

After saying that, he took a deep breath and laboriously carried Nuonuo, who was tied up like a rice dumpling, on his back. The heavy weight made his knees bend slightly, but he immediately steadied himself.

The psychological trauma from the killing, the fear of the future—all of that was thrown to the winds. He had only one clear thought in his mind: to take Nuonuo away from this hellish place! To let her live!

Soon, Lu Mingfei carried Nuonuo and the supplies and began to climb the huge mountain that seemed to connect heaven and earth.

The climb was extremely difficult. The mountain was covered with melting snow and was very steep. Lu Mingfei had no climbing equipment or safety ropes, and he was also carrying someone on his back.

However, Lu Mingfei did not back down. He gritted his teeth and began to climb the rocks with his bare hands. He would never have been able to do this before, but after killing Isaac, he not only learned those sword moves, but his physical fitness was also greatly enhanced.

However, simply improving one's physical fitness is not enough to climb to the top of a mountain thousands of meters high.

Several times he almost slipped and fell, nearly shattering to pieces with Nuonuo.

"Lu Mingfei... put me down..." Nuonuo said weakly as she watched Lu Mingfei almost fall again after missing his footing.

"I will definitely get you out of here..." Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words, his arm veins bulging as he once again supported the weight of the two of them and struggled to climb upwards.

The higher he climbed, the steeper the mountain became, with some sections even turning into a straight ninety-degree angle. But Lu Mingfei gritted his teeth and struggled to climb, hoping to reach the summit before dark. However, the summit was simply too high.

Looking up at the seemingly endless cliff, Lu Mingfei thought he was standing still, but when he looked down, he realized he was already very far from the ground, and if he fell, he would definitely be turned into mincemeat.

Darkness fell again, and Lu Mingfei had to stop climbing, making a narrow crevice in the rocks, barely big enough for two people, his shelter for the night.

Lu Mingfei touched Nuonuo's forehead and found that it wasn't as hot as before, so he breathed a slight sigh of relief. He then gave Nuonuo a quick check of her wound and, finding that there was nothing wrong, began to feed her food and water again.

"Lu Mingfei, why do you insist on taking me with you instead of going on your own?" Nuonuo leaned against the rock wall, staring blankly at Lu Mingfei's profile in the dim starlight.

She couldn't understand why this loser was still unwilling to give up on her under such circumstances.

"Because I have nothing left. I'm a murderer now, and no one cares about me if I go back. My parents don't want me anymore. It doesn't matter whether I go back or not. But you're different. You're the first person who said they would protect me. I don't want you to die here." Lu Mingfei paused for a moment, didn't look up, and said in a low voice.

He was like an invisible person in the outside world, no one cared about him, and now he has become a murderer.

To be honest, he no longer wanted to live, but he wanted Nuonuo to live. Nuonuo was the first person to actively protect him, and he wanted Nuonuo to get out of there alive.

Looking at Lu Mingfei's melancholy and depressed face, Nuonuo realized that Lu Mingfei had psychological problems. His recent experiences and previous killings had completely broken down the boy's psychological defenses, and he even showed some self-destructive tendencies.

Having killed nineteen people in a row, even Nono couldn't guarantee that her mental state would remain normal. If left unchecked, Lu Mingfei might commit suicide even if he managed to get out.

Can't wait any longer!

Nuonuo suddenly found a surge of strength, reached out and cupped Lu Mingfei's face. In his astonished gaze, she kissed his lips without hesitation.

A few minutes later, the two separated, panting. Lu Mingfei's previously lifeless face instantly turned bright red, his eyes filled with disbelief and bewilderment.

"Who says you have nothing! Who says nobody cares about you!" Nono grabbed his shoulders, staring intently into his eyes that were beginning to refocus, and declared, word by word.

"From this day forward! You are mine! You are the one I, Chen Motong, have chosen! I will not allow you to die! You absolutely cannot die! Do you understand?!"

Looking at Nuonuo's eyes, which were still surprisingly bright in the darkness, feeling the lingering warmth on his lips, and feeling the firm strength coming from his shoulder, Lu Mingfei's eyes regained their luster.

He blushed and nodded vigorously.

"Now, go to sleep!" Nuonuo seemed to have exhausted her last bit of strength. After saying that, she hugged Lu Mingfei tightly and buried her head in his chest, as if she was afraid that if she let go, the boy she had just pulled back from the edge of the cliff would disappear.

Lu Mingfei felt the real warmth and weight in his arms, listened to her gradually steady breathing, and heard the strong and rapid heartbeat in his chest...

Thump, thump, thump...

He had never felt his own existence so clearly before.

Being alive... doesn't seem so bad...

He even inexplicably recalled a song he used to like but which was somewhat sad: "I Once Thought of Ending It All".

The lyrics are filled with disappointment with the world and reasons for giving up, but in the end, the song goes:

Because of the birth of people like you, I have a slightly better feeling about the world.

Because there are people like you living in this world, I have a little bit of hope for the world.

At this moment, Lu Mingfei seemed to truly understand the song. Because of Nuonuo's existence, he seemed to have developed a slight fondness and expectation for this world that he originally felt had no reason to stay.

The sky brightened again.

Lu Mingfei carefully tied the still weak Nuonuo back up, carried her on his back, took a deep breath, and looked firmly at the seemingly endless summit, beginning a new day of climbing.

Every step was more difficult than the day before. Strength was rapidly depleting. Steep rock walls, slippery ice, loose gravel... Every time I used my hands and feet, every time I exerted force to push myself, it was accompanied by enormous risks and the ultimate strain on my physical limits.

But Lu Mingfei's movements were more composed and cautious than yesterday, because he wanted to live; he had never longed to live so much.

Sweat soaked through his inner shirt, which quickly turned icy cold in the high-altitude wind. His muscles protested from overuse, aching, and his arms and legs trembled slightly.

But he gritted his teeth and, relying on his enhanced physical abilities after merging with the memories and an indomitable will, moved upwards inch by inch.

"Nono... hang in there... we're almost there..." He would occasionally pant and say this to Nono, who was silently on his back, both to encourage her and to cheer himself up.

Time passed slowly during the arduous climb. The midday sun shone directly down, and even with simple sunglasses, it was so bright that one couldn't open their eyes.

Lu Mingfei was nearly exhausted, and was only able to keep going by sheer willpower. His fingers were numb from exerting force for a long time, and his lips were dry, cracked, and bleeding.

Finally, in the afternoon, he used his last bit of strength to painstakingly place his trembling hand on the last protruding rock and pull his body up to the relatively flat area.

He climbed to the top of the mountain.

Twelve days after the plane crash, Lu Mingfei, an ordinary and even somewhat timid student, successfully climbed to the top of this once unreachable and insurmountable mountain peak with amazing perseverance while carrying another person on his back!

He staggered, barely managing to steady himself, and carefully lowered Nuonuo down. He untied the ropes and let her sit against a sheltered rock. Although he was extremely exhausted, an excited and incredulous smile appeared on his face.

"Nono...look...we...we've climbed up..."

Nono leaned against the wall, watching Lu Mingfei's face, which was soaked with sweat, snow water, and sunlight, and seeing the excited light in his eyes, as if he had survived a disaster. Finally, a smile appeared on her pale face.

This boy repeatedly shattered her expectations of him.

But this hard-won joy and hope lasted for less than a minute.

When Lu Mingfei caught his breath and, filled with anticipation, staggered to the other side of the mountaintop, he looked down with hope.

He froze completely!

Instead of the lush green meadows and farmhouses I had imagined, there were only endless mountain ranges stretching as far as the eye could see.

Nono was completely stunned. She hadn't expected things to turn out this way. Either they had misread the map, or the co-pilot had made a mistake and they hadn't flown over Kuko.

After great hope comes even deeper despair, a gap so large that it can crush even the strongest will.

"I'm sorry... Lu Mingfei..." Nuonuo said softly. In the end, they still had no chance to leave this place.

For a fleeting moment, Lu Mingfei also felt utter despair, but he still wanted to live and leave this place alive.

"Let's go, let's continue." He carefully carried Nono on his back again, tied her tightly, and started walking down the mountain.

He's already come this far, he absolutely has to get out of here alive!