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墨書 Inktalez
The flashlight in my mouth shone closely on his face, allowing me to clearly see the subtle changes in his expression. It wasn't tension; rather, there was a hint of relaxation or relief.
"Then you'll just leave me here or push me down. I bet you'll choose the former; you don't have the guts to kill," Liu Squad Leader sneered.
I didn't respond, tucking the morphine into my pocket and gripping the protruding rocks in the crevice. "Climb onto my back, carefully. Don't fall off."
Liu Squad Leader looked at me in surprise. "If we do that, we'll both die. Even if you do this, I won't help you."
"Stop talking nonsense. You haven't completed your mission; you need to get Song Guilong out. This isn't just Li Squad Leader's mission; it's ours." I said impatiently, "I can't hold on much longer. Don't get us both killed. Hurry up!"
Liu Squad Leader didn't insist on dying; he hooked his right arm around my neck. As his feet left their support, I felt my body lurch outward, nearly falling. I had no experience climbing with someone on my back, and I doubted many people did either. To sum it up: it was pure madness.
I was relieved we weren't climbing upward; otherwise, I would have collapsed immediately. Liu Squad Leader could only use his right hand to grip tightly around my neck, and I felt like I might suffocate without even needing to fall.
I struggled to make a weak sound. "Are you trying to choke me?"
He seemed to think for a moment before realizing what I meant and loosened his nearly choking grip. He grabbed the strap of my sleeping bag in front of me with his right hand and wedged his feet against my waist. Now it was better; I could breathe again. This position bound us tightly together, and we were destined to go down together, whether by climbing or falling.
I had to stay as close to the crevice wall as possible; any outward position could drag us both into the abyss. At that moment, the flashlight became a burden. I tilted my head back and made muffled sounds, and Liu Squad Leader quickly reacted, taking the flashlight from me and biting it between his teeth.
He leaned his head out to one side, the weak beam of the flashlight illuminating a small area below. Using that little bit of light, I began to climb downwards. The cliff formed by the crevice was steep but not smooth; there were many places to find footholds and handholds. The problem was that I couldn't be sure if the protrusions beneath my feet were stable—there were many loose spots. Ideally, I should have been descending along the path Zhao Squad Leader had taken, where they had already cleared away the loose and dangerous rocks. But now we were two people's weight; those who went ahead didn't have this much weight nor would they have anticipated that I would be carrying Liu Squad Leader down with me, so during my descent, I still stepped on some unstable stones. I could only slowly test each step as if battling death with every move.
Not long into my descent, I sensed that the straight-line distance wouldn't exceed ten meters when I encountered a suffocating problem: the crevice expanded outward from here. Continuing downward would inevitably put us in a semi-suspended state where my points of support would shift from my legs to my hands. Those with climbing experience should know that during climbing—especially over long distances—the full and maximum use of leg strength is the most reasonable and successful guarantee because lower body strength is significantly greater than upper body strength.
Our flashlight was too weak; it couldn't even illuminate the ground beneath us, making it impossible to gauge how exaggerated this widening trend was or how long the distance truly was. I felt a bit overwhelmed by the situation.
Liu Squad Leader was equally distressed by what he saw. He clung to my back, afraid to move, and handed me the penlight flashlight. "Should I jump down?"
I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious, but I had no intention of teasing him. "Let me hold on a bit longer and see if I can get down. If it really comes to it, then you can jump."
"Damn, are you really making me jump?" Liu Squad Leader cursed under his breath, his voice low, more like a grumble than an outburst.
I felt like a ferryman suspended in the middle of a tightrope, utterly exhausted yet unable to see an end on either side. I knew there was no turning back. Turning my neck to Liu Squad Leader, I bared my teeth in a terrifying smile. "If you don't want to die, shine the light clearly on the path."
I shook my hands alternately, gripping a sturdy crevice with my right hand while extending my left foot downward toward a protruding rock layer. Just then, my body sank; I was suspended in mid-air. Fortunately, my right foot found support on a stone, and as my body leaned outward, I didn't lose control. It felt like I was about to fly off into the abyss. Liu Squad Leader had gained some experience from climbing down with me; even though one of his hands was useless, he clung tightly to my back, maintaining our proximity despite my sudden slip. If he hadn't held on firmly and we experienced a secondary drop force, I couldn't guarantee that I'd be able to keep my balance.
Because we were holding each other so tightly, we truly shared a moment of connection. Our heartbeats were like two drumsticks striking the surface of a drumhead, producing the most intense rhythm.
I extended my left foot and finally found solid ground on a sturdy rock, stabilizing my body completely. At that moment, Liu Squad Leader said seriously, "Call out when you can't hold on anymore."
I understood Bai Ta's words well; I knew that if this continued, that moment would inevitably come. But there was a part of me that was weak and indecisive, making it difficult for me to utter those words. Such a personality could be fatal for someone aiming for greatness; for someone like me, it hardly mattered because under normal circumstances, we would never encounter moments where we had to decide another person's life or death.
I took a deep breath. "We will survive."
This statement was really meant for myself; I needed to fortify my resolve at this moment. After saying this, I heard Liu Squad Leader let out a soft sigh. It seemed that when faced with death, everyone felt immense pressure.
The width of the crevice had grown so much that we could no longer see the other side. This was partly due to our poor flashlight beam but mainly because the gap itself was widening. My movements were slow; my hands bore too much weight. The only consolation was that there were many crevices along the cliffside of the fissure where I could grip securely. The larger gaps allowed me brief moments to rest my arms.
I was fortunate that the crack I was clinging to wasn't very long. In a state of physical exhaustion and mental numbness, I suddenly realized I could stand upright against the cliff. Once my legs bore most of my weight, my arms felt so weak that I nearly fainted, hanging limply as I leaned into a crevice. I stood there motionless for over ten minutes when Liu Squad Leader said from behind, "Don't fall asleep."
"I'm not," I replied. "But I really want to take a nap."
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone! This is the first update; there will be another one later, probably after one o'clock, but it won't be too late.
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