76: Chapter 76 The First Person in the Night

"Move out!"

Xie Jinyuan's voice struck like a hammer in the deathly silent warehouse.

There was no echo.

Only hundreds of gazes turned simultaneously toward that steel cable hanging in mid-air, disappearing into the endless darkness.

That was their path.

The path to life.

And also the path to death.

Several Soldiers immediately sprang into action, preparing to carry the severely wounded on stretchers toward the start of the Zipline.

"Wait."

Chen Xi's voice rang out, raspy but clear.

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

He leaned against the wall, his face as pale as a sheet of paper; the wound on his back made even standing extremely difficult.

But his eyes were startlingly bright.

"We can't let the wounded go first."

Chen Xi looked at Xie Jinyuan.

"The risk is too great. We know nothing about the situation on the other side of the Zipline. The Japanese Army's patrol routes and whether the Green Gang's reception is in place are all unknowns."

"We need someone to scout the way."

A living scout.

Someone to use their own life to verify that this path is clear.

Xie Jinyuan fell silent.

He understood the logic, of course.

But he couldn't bring himself to say it.

He couldn't bring himself to order any brother who had just crawled back from the gates of hell to charge through them once more.

"I'll go."

Shangguan Zhibiao was the first to step forward, his voice booming.

"I'm tough; the Japs can't take my life."

"Company Commander, let me go instead. I'm younger than you and I run faster."

"I have no family left, no strings attached. I'm the most suitable!"

In an instant, over a dozen Soldiers volunteered one after another.

There wasn't a trace of fear on their faces, as if this wasn't a mission with a slim chance of survival, but a supreme honor.

Chen Xi looked at this group of people, an indescribable feeling in his heart.

He had seen many Soldiers who were unafraid of death.

But he had never seen a collective that disregarded life and death with such pure selflessness.

Xie Jinyuan scanned his Soldiers. Finally, his gaze landed on a silent Soldier in the corner.

He was a veteran in his thirties named Wang Ping.

He had been in the army for over ten years, fighting all the way from the Northern Expedition to this place. He had more scars on his body than military medals.

He wasn't a man of many words; his temperament was as steady as a rock.

"Wang Ping."

Xie Jinyuan spoke.

"Present!"

Wang Ping snapped to attention, his voice forceful and resonant.

"Do you dare?"

Xie Jinyuan didn't waste any words.

Wang Ping grinned, revealing teeth yellowed by tobacco.

"Commander, what's there to be afraid of?"

"If I can scout out a way to live for my brothers, my life is worth it."

He walked over to Chen Xi.

Chen Xi looked at him and said nothing.

He simply stepped forward and carefully checked the pulley and safety buckle on Wang Ping's body.

They were crude devices makeshiftly modified from scrap car parts and belts.

"Remember."

Chen Xi's voice was very low, audible only to the two of them.

"When sliding, keep your body as low as possible and hug yourself tight to minimize wind resistance."

"When you hear the sound of the pulley change pitch, it means you're near the end. Use this hand to gently rub the steel cable to slow down."

He pointed to Wang Ping's right hand, which was wearing a thick leather glove.

"After you land, don't do anything. Someone will come to receive you."

"Use this to flash three times toward our side."

Chen Xi handed him a modified, palm-sized flashlight.

"Three times. No more, no less."

Wang Ping nodded silently, etching every word into his mind.

"Mr. Chen, I trust you."

He said finally.

Then, he turned around and, under everyone's gaze, walked step by step toward the crude platform located at the hole in the third-floor wall.

That was the starting point of the abyss.

[My god... it's really starting...]

[Just looking at it makes my legs weak. This is dozens of meters high, and Suzhou Creek is right below!]

[What is this brave man's name? Salute!]

[Don't make a sound, don't send bullet chats, let's just watch.]

At this moment, the viewers in the Livestream room seemed to have become Soldiers in the warehouse, holding their breath.

They were so nervous their hearts almost stopped beating.

Wang Ping stood at the edge of the platform.

The night wind howled, blowing into his thin clothes.

He looked down at his feet.

Below was the churning, pitch-black river water and the scattered, unrealistically distant lights of the Concession on the opposite bank.

He looked back into the warehouse.

He saw those faces, tense yet full of hope.

He smiled.

Then, with a "click," he hooked the pulley onto the cold steel cable.

He didn't look back again.

He took a deep breath.

And leaped.

His entire being was instantly swallowed by the thick night.

"Zzzzz——"

The sharp sound of the pulley friction against the steel cable was exceptionally piercing in the dead of night.

The sound moved from near to far, getting softer and softer.

Finally, it vanished completely.

Inside the warehouse, there was a deathly silence.

Everyone froze in place like stone statues.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at this moment.

One second.

Ten seconds.

One minute.

Xie Jinyuan held his binoculars, his palms drenched in sweat, staring motionlessly and intently at the opposite bank.

Shangguan Zhibiao clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

Chen Xi stared at a red dot on the system screen.

The red dot representing Wang Ping's life signal was crossing the river of death at an extremely high speed.

Two minutes passed.

The opposite bank remained a void of darkness.

There was no movement whatsoever.

"Commander..."

A young Soldier's voice carried a trace of barely perceptible trembling.

"Brother Wang... is he..."

He didn't dare finish the sentence.

But everyone's heart sank.

Had he failed?

Just as despair was about to spread.

In the darkness of the opposite bank.

A faint beam of light suddenly flickered.

It flashed once.

Then it flashed again.

And one more time.

Three times.

No more, no less.

"He made it!"

Someone, it was unclear who, was the first to shout.

The entire warehouse instantly switched from deathly silence to suppressed ecstasy.

There were no earth-shattering cheers.

Only heavy breaths and uncontrollable, tearful laughter.

The Soldiers hugged each other, slapping each other's backs forcefully.

They cried.

They laughed.

They were going to live.

This road to heaven, paved with blood and miracles, was truly open.

Xie Jinyuan slowly lowered his binoculars; this iron-willed man's eyes had also turned red.

He turned around and looked at those tear-streaked faces that had just escaped a catastrophe.

His voice carried an uncontrollable tremble, yet it was full of strength.

"First group!"

"Wounded!"

"Begin evacuation!"