A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

Ding Jiahe leaned against the tree and drifted off to sleep.

In her dream, it seemed like someone was calling her, but then again, it seemed like no one was. She was so tired that her eyelids felt as heavy as lead, and she couldn't open them.

"Quick! Take cover!"

A low growl pulled her out of her dream.

Ding Jiahe suddenly opened her eyes, and before she could react, the captain had already pushed her down, pressing her face against the dirt.

"Don't move!"

Gunshots rang out.

It was very close, just outside the woods. It wasn't scattered, but a string of raindrops, pattering like raindrops hitting leaves, muffled and urgent.

Ding Jiahe lay prone in the soil, her heart pounding.

She could feel her teammates moving, moving behind the trees, rolling downhill, and shrinking into the deeper darkness.

No one spoke, no one panicked, everyone was trying to hide themselves as quickly as possible.

This isn't the first time.

She has lost count of how many times this has happened since she went missing.

The first time, she trembled uncontrollably, her hands pressed to the ground, her nails digging into the soil, and she didn't dare to breathe.

The second time was a little better, and the third time was even better.

By now, she can instinctively follow her captain's orders the instant the gunfire rings out.

Lie down, stay still, and wait.

But she was still afraid.

The gunshots continued, growing closer. Someone was shouting something, but it was unclear; it sounded like a foreign language, or perhaps the wind.

The bullet struck the tree trunk beside her, sending splinters flying that landed on her hair and the back of her neck, sending chills down her spine.

Suddenly, a muffled groan was heard.

It wasn't far away, it was nearby, just a few steps to her left.

Ding Jiahe looked up and saw a figure fall down.

She recognized him; he was the soldier who had spoken the least throughout the journey, always keeping a distance during rest stops and never venturing into crowds.

He fell to the ground, clutching his chest, blood seeping from between his fingers.

He's still moving; he's still alive.

Ding Jiahe moved.

She didn't know how she moved. By the time she realized what was happening, she had already gotten up from the ground and was rushing in that direction.

"return!"

The captain's voice was like a knife, slashing at her ear.

The next instant, her wrist was gripped tightly, she was pulled backward, staggered back, and was once again forced to the ground.

"What are you doing!"

The captain pressed down on her, his face extremely close, his eyes glaring at her as if they were about to spit fire.

"He's still moving, he can still be saved..."

"Shut up!"

The captain covered her mouth with his hand, pressing it tightly against her lips.

"Going out now is suicide! Can't you understand human language?!"

Ding Jiahe glared at him, her eyes frighteningly red. She tried to struggle, to shake off his hand, and to rush over.

Gunshots rang out again.

Another volley of bullets struck the direction in which the soldier had fallen.

She couldn't see him, but she knew the bullets had passed by.

She could hear the muffled thud of the bullet piercing flesh, the final twitch of the body, and the silence that followed.

Tears welled up in her eyes, streaming down her face and onto the captain's hands.

The captain slowly loosened his grip.

Gunfire continued, but it faded into the distance. The pursuers were chasing in another direction, chasing those who had run east, chasing those who hadn't yet fallen.

The captain waited for a while, making sure the sound had completely faded away, before slowly getting up from her.

"Walk."

His voice was very soft, containing only one word.

Ding Jiahe got up and followed him, running in the opposite direction.

This run lasted for a very long time.

I don't know how long I ran, or how far I ran. I ran from darkness to the first light of dawn, and then from the first light of dawn to full daylight.

The woods were always grayish-green, making it impossible to distinguish east from west, north from south, or whether we had walked the same path before.

When they finally stopped, it was completely quiet all around.

No one chased, no one shouted, and there were no gunshots.

The captain leaned against a tree, panting heavily. He looked terrible, pale and his forehead was covered in sweat.

Ding Jiahe then noticed that he had been covering his left rib area while running, and the color of his clothes there was darker than the rest of his body.

"Captain, are you injured?"

The captain didn't say anything, he just waved his hand, meaning that everything was fine.

"Let me see!"

Ding Jiahe panicked, her voice cracking. She grabbed the captain's hand and tried to pry open the hand that was blocking his ribs.

The captain was too weak to fight her. The moment her hands were pried open, Ding Jiahe saw...

A deep wound ran diagonally down her left rib, the skin and flesh torn open, blood still seeping out. It wasn't a fresh wound; it had been bleeding continuously while she was running, soaking her clothes, but she hadn't noticed it until now.

"Why didn't you say so sooner! Just bear with it, I'll wrap it up for you..."

She stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence.

Where's the first-aid kit?

She looked up and around, but there was nothing there.

I didn't bring any first aid kit, bandages, gauze, or anti-inflammatory drugs.

She ran too fast and too chaotically; she only had time to run and didn't care about anything else.

She stood there, stunned. The captain's blood was still seeping out, seeping from between his fingers, dripping onto the ground.

She has nothing.

She couldn't save him.

The captain looked at her, as if he had noticed something. He raised his hand and gently patted her wrist, as if to comfort her.

"fine..."

"What do you mean 'nothing'!" Ding Jiahe shouted. "You've lost so much blood, how... how..."

She couldn't continue.

She quickly took off her clothes, crumpled them into a ball, and pressed them firmly against the captain's wound.

Several photos floated out with her movements and landed on the ground.

Blown away by the wind...

There was her smiling face on it, and her and Wang Hao's smiling faces.

She saw it.

But she didn't have time to pick them up.

She pressed the clothes down hard against the captain's chest, as if pressing hard enough would stop the bleeding and save his life.

He took a breath, his voice growing softer and softer.

"Go east...keep going east."

"What?"

The captain slowly raised his hand and pointed in a direction.

"Don't stop...keep going..."

"No, I can't leave you!"

"This is...an order..."

The captain looked at her, the light in his eyes gradually dimming, like a lamp about to burn out.

"Ding Jiahe, go home...go home..."

......

The search and rescue team on the second day searched along the dense forest and found traces of a battle.

Mottled bloodstains, scattered bullet casings, and tree trunks leaning precariously.

Several bodies lay silently among the fallen leaves; whose children were they, we don't know...

Wang Hao rushed over, looking at each one and turning them over one by one.

He prayed silently over and over again.

"Xiao Ding...no..."

His heart felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. With each body he turned over, his heart would stop for a beat, and then it would come crashing back down even harder.

They continued searching, with some collecting the bodies and others tracking the escape route.

Wang Hao followed the veteran search and rescue workers deeper into the dense forest.

The further we went, the more remote and quiet it became.

He was almost in despair.

Just then, something suddenly stung his eye.

Something reflected light in the grass and among the fallen leaves.

He ran over.

He stumbled and almost fell. He didn't care, he plunged into the grass, squatted down, and brushed away the fallen leaves.

The search and rescue team leader realized he was missing. He turned around and found Wang Hao kneeling in the grass, head down, shoulders trembling violently.

The captain strode forward.

"What's wrong? Did you find something?"

As he approached, he saw Wang Hao holding a photograph, tears streaming down his face.

In that photo, a girl and Wang Hao, dressed in a suit, are smiling brightly, as if all the light in the world is shining on them.