Chapter 14: Trap

The Hongyun Commune’s canteen was huge. At mealtime, the workers surged in like a tide, and Lin Yiqiao, caught in the middle, was nearly squashed flat.

Everyone had just finished working, and the mingled smell of sweat was so thick that Lin Yiqiao found it hard to breathe.

“This way, comrade.”

A woman with neat short hair pulled Lin Yiqiao out of the crowd. “The soldiers eat on this side.”

“Thank you,” Lin Yiqiao said, straightening her uniform.

The meals here had been set aside in advance—steamed coarse grain buns and big pot dishes. Not luxurious, but they smelled delicious. She was starving, so Lin Yiqiao ate heartily.

After finishing her meal and patting her full stomach, she suddenly remembered: her labor points booklet was still with Qi Jun.

She ran over to the temporary command tent to find him, but the place was completely empty. That was odd—someone was always supposed to be stationed at command.

A bad feeling rose in her gut.

She asked around, but the commune members said they hadn’t seen Qi Jun, and the other soldiers were still out helping in the fields.

Then she spotted a familiar figure.

“Captain Xiao!”

Xiao Guohua turned around to see Lin Yiqiao running toward him, her braid swinging messily.

“I’m Lin Yiqiao from the women’s unit. Do you know where Commander Qi went? I just went to the command tent—it was empty.”

“I haven’t seen Commander Qi either. The command post is unmanned?” Xiao Guohua quickly stepped off the field ridge and headed to the tent with Lin Yiqiao.

Once inside, he picked up the phone first thing—only a dead “beep… beep…” sounded on the line.

The phone line had been cut.

The two exchanged a glance. Something serious was happening.

Stone Mountain had only one commune—Hongyun—and it was remote, almost completely isolated. Xiao Guohua guessed that the real target was Qi Jun.

“Can I trust you?” he asked, staring at Lin Yiqiao.

Her face turned solemn. “Of course. I come from three generations of poor farmers—my roots are pure.”

“Good. The Special Ops team didn’t come this time, but I need a small, trustworthy team to find Qi Jun. I’ll go for reinforcements.”

“I’ll find Commander Qi!” Lin Yiqiao said firmly.

“Alright. I’ll assign you a few of my men.”

Xiao Guohua selected a few loyal soldiers to accompany her and took a separate team himself.

“Don’t trust anyone here,” he warned before leaving.

Lin Yiqiao nodded seriously and led the group into the mountains.

The terrain was steep and treacherous—locals avoided these parts.

Her mind was spinning. Who would target Qi Jun? Spies? Political enemies?

Night fell quickly. They searched the mountain like headless chickens but found no sign of life.

“Go find a local to guide us,” Lin Yiqiao told the soldiers.

“That might not go well. They won’t want to climb the mountain.”

“If something happens to Commander Qi up here, do you know what kind of punishment we’ll face?” she asked sharply.

The soldiers looked at each other grimly. That would be more than just punishment.

“I’ll go,” a dark-skinned young soldier volunteered.

Soon, he returned with a quiet, limping older man whose hair was graying but whose eyes remained sharp.

“I ran into him right after I left. He said he could guide us,” the soldier whispered.

Lin Yiqiao nodded, thinking for a moment. “Thank you for helping us, sir.”

The man waved it off and hobbled ahead, leading them to the shadowy side of Stone Mountain.

Bang! A gunshot rang out.

Lin Yiqiao’s heart jumped. She immediately ducked behind a large boulder, trying to pinpoint the direction of the shot.

Bang! Bang! Two more shots followed.

Both sides seemed hesitant. Then silence fell like a curtain.

Suddenly, one of Lin Yiqiao’s soldiers spotted several enemies hidden in the grass and quickly shot one dead.

The enemy retaliated swiftly, firing toward their position.

Lin Yiqiao glanced at the shooter and made a quick hand signal. The group scattered to avoid the bullets.

Someone got hit. The others carried him toward safety as the gunfire chased them, fading in the distance. Lin Yiqiao began to lose track of where the enemy was.

She felt for the pistol tucked at her waist—a real gun, not a training prop. Xiao Guohua had handed it to her before leaving.

It was hard, heavy—and real. Fully loaded and ready to fire.

She closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, her expression was clear and focused. She drew her gun and moved toward the source of the first gunshot.

The summer night’s cicadas screeched eerily in the forest, thick with the scent of blood. Lin Yiqiao stepped over a body lying on the ground, gun raised.

Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed her ankle.

“Lin—”

Before the man could finish speaking, she dropped to her knees, her eyes full of worry.

“Commander! Are you okay?”

Qi Jun was leaning against a tree, his face hidden in the shadows. Only his chiseled nose and sharp jawline were visible.

For a moment, her heart ached.

She bit off a strip of her shirt with her teeth and used the cloth to tightly bandage Qi Jun’s bleeding left side.

“Commander, reinforcements are on the way. Just hang on a little longer!”

“This place isn’t safe… We need to move,” Qi Jun said, his voice steady despite the pain. Lin Yiqiao instinctively wanted to follow his lead.

“Alright.” She braced herself and helped him up, step by step.

But after just a few steps, the ground gave way beneath them.

They both fell—straight into a two-meter-deep pit.