Siheyuan: Hang Jia Dongxu, smash Banggeng to death!

Inside a prisoner-of-war camp.

John, a soldier from the Ugly Kingdom, leaned against the wall, next to him sat Tom, a soldier from the Eagle Kingdom; Pierre, a soldier from the Penal Kingdom; Mike, a soldier from the Canadian Penal Kingdom; Jack, a soldier from the Australian Kingdom; Ahmed, a soldier from Turkey; Nicholas, a soldier from Hillary; Jose, a soldier from the Philippines; Van der Wiel, a soldier from the Netherlands; and Luke, a soldier from Billy Ten…

Eleven people, eleven nationalities, eleven different destinies, yet they came together for the same purpose.

"We can't wait any longer."

John lowered his voice, "If we wait any longer, we'll all die here—either from exhaustion, starvation, or being beaten to death. I need to go home; my daughter is waiting for me."

Tom nodded: "I agree, I've had enough. Every day is just rocks, and I can't even get a decent piece of bread. If this continues, I'd rather die."

Pierre's eyes gleamed in the darkness: "I've observed that the changing of the guard takes place between two and three in the morning every night."

During that period, the patrols would have a gap in their patrol schedules, and if we could seize that opportunity, we could slip away.

Mike frowned and asked, "But there's barbed wire and searchlights around the mine. How do we get through?"

Jack interjected, "I know a way. There's a section of barbed wire on the east side of the mine that collapsed under the weight of ore and hasn't been repaired yet."

We can crawl out from there. Once we get past the barbed wire, we're in the mountains. Once we're inside, they won't be able to find us.

Ahmed whispered, "I've heard that there are wild beasts, poisonous snakes, and ferocious animals in the mountains."

"Viperous snakes and ferocious beasts?"

John sneered, "No matter how terrible they are, they're not as terrible as those overseers with whips. I'd rather be bitten to death by wild beasts than be whipped again."

Nikos nervously wrung his hands: "But, if we get caught..."

"If I get caught, the worst that can happen is I die."

John interrupted him, "Staying here is the same as dying, why not take a gamble?"

There was a moment of silence in the barracks.

Then, José whispered, "I'll join."

Van der Wiel then said, "I'll join too."

Luke hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Eleven people, eleven resolutions.

They began to quietly pack their things: a few hard, dry steamed buns, several iron kettles filled with water, and a few iron bars stolen from the tool shed.

At 1:50 a.m., the mining area became completely quiet.

The sentries on the watchtower changed shifts, and the new sentry yawned and rubbed his eyes.

The patrol team's figures flickered in the distance, slowly moving away.

"Now," John said in a low voice.

Eleven people quietly slipped out of the barracks.

They moved in the darkness, hugging the wall and avoiding the beams of the searchlights.

Hearing the commotion, one of the guards turned around and glanced at the scene, but seeing nothing, he turned back.

Everyone held their breath and crept step by step toward the east side of the mining area.

The barbed wire gleamed with a cold, silvery light under the moonlight, and a section of it had indeed collapsed under the weight of the ore, revealing a gap.

Jack was the first to crawl through, followed closely by Pierre, John, Tom, Mike, Ahmed, Nikos, Jose, Van der Wiel, Luke… one by one they crawled through the gap.

They stood outside the barbed wire fence, looking out at the vast, dark forest, their hearts pounding like drums.

"It's a success."

John's voice trembled slightly, "We're out."

"Hurry up!"

Tom pulled him back, "We have to get into the mountains before dawn; opening champagne halfway through is a big no-no."

They took off running, rushing towards the dark forest.

The wind whistled in my ears as I ran faster and farther, as if the darkness represented freedom and hope.

Just when they thought they were about to succeed, suddenly...

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

A dozen or so lights came on at the same time, illuminating everything as if it were daytime.

Light shone from all directions, enveloping them.

They had already run 100 meters, but every step they took was under the spotlight.

Eleven people were pinned to the spot by the light, with nowhere to hide.

"Damn it! Don't try to run away, let's see how you escape!"

A cold voice came from above.

John looked up, squinted, and saw a figure standing on the high platform in the mining area.

Dozens of dark gun barrels emerged from all around, aimed at them.

The manager walked down from the platform, step by step, unhurriedly, his gaze sweeping over their faces, a cold smile slowly creeping onto his lips.

"Very good. You bunch of foreign devils are quite capable. You actually managed to get outside the barbed wire fence and almost sneaked into the mountains."

"It's a pity you don't know that there are cameras everywhere around this mining area. I can see your every move clearly."

From the moment you began plotting until you crawled out of the barbed wire, I've been watching you every step of the way.

John's face was ashen.

He didn't understand what a camera was, but he understood that they knew about their conspiracy.

"Run! Why did you stop running?"

The manager walked up to him and said, "You're pretty good at running, aren't you? Run another one for me."

John: "..."

The manager said coldly, "Do you think you're so smart? Do you think you can escape?"

"I'm telling you, it's impossible. This mining area is a no-man's land for fifty miles around."

Once you enter the mountains, you will starve, die of thirst, or be eaten by wild animals.

Even if you manage to survive, you won't be able to escape Northeast China.

"The Northeast is Chinese territory, and our troops are stationed everywhere there. Where do you think you can run to?"

The prisoners of war remained silent; no one spoke.

The manager's voice turned cold: "According to the rules, anyone who tries to escape will be shot. However, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you a chance."

Each of you, choose one way: are you to be shot, or have your legs broken and then sent back to continue mining? The choice is yours.

Jack's voice suddenly rang out, hoarse and desperate: "I choose the latter. I don't want to die."

"And you?"

The steward looked at John.

John remained silent for a long time before finally speaking: "I choose the latter. I just want to live."

The manager nodded: "You guys know what's good for you."

With a wave of his hand, several soldiers stepped forward, pinned eleven men to the ground, and broke their right legs one by one.

Screams echoed through the night sky, startling several birds into flight.

"Drag them all back, lock them up in solitary confinement, give them some food, and don't let them die."

The foreman's voice was as cold as ice: "Keep working tomorrow. If anyone dares to run away again, next time it won't just be a broken leg, it'll be a severed head."

Eleven prisoners of war were dragged back to the barracks.

The steward stood on the high platform, looking at the dark forest, lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and slowly exhaled.

The smoke slowly dissipated in the night breeze.

"run?"

"Can they escape?"

The monitoring devices, delivered by the adults, were installed all over the mining area.

Inside the barracks.

John leaned against the wall, looking out at the pitch-black night sky. His legs still ached, he was sweating, and he felt utterly hopeless.

But he is still alive.

As long as you're alive, there's hope.

Even if this hope is as faint as the stars in the sky.

He also hoped that his Amica would come to redeem him.

……