MHNEB 29 (2/2)

Book 2: Generals die after a hundred battles; heroes return after ten years’ time.

Chapter 29: The First Companion <4> [Part 2 of 2]

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In the punishment camp, the teammates who came to visit Hua Mulan found that Hua Mulan was locked in a wooden cage. Their eyes were all red. 

On the contrary, Hua Mulan is acted free and at ease. She changed her posture slightly in the cage, leaned against the cage body and asked them, "How are all of you doing? Afterwards, did Deputy General Tu Gui trouble all of you?” 

Hu LiHun shook his head.

"No, after you were tied up, Deputy General Tu Gui wanted to say something else, but he was persuaded to leave by the Deputy General Wang. We still practice as usual these days. It feels strange that there is someone lesser in the team.” 

"Hua Mulan, it's said in the right army, Deputy General Tu Gui is irascible. He also made an example of a recruit by killing one to show a hundred. We can't sleep well these days. Otherwise, we can go and ask for help......" Mo Huai'er is in tears.

"I wouldn’t really be beheaded. All of you have thought of this being a too serious issue." Hua Mulan continues to comfort them. "The sergeant who sent rice yesterday said that I would let it out in a few days."

“Is this true?”

"What do I need to lie to you? Isn't this matter related to me?" She smiled with ease.

Hu LiHun and the others were relieved when they heard her words. These days, other teams in the black camp avoided them. They had many things to ask, but they couldn't find anyone to ask. As soon as their Centurion saw them coming, he drove them away. They did not dare to open their mouths again, for fear that Hua Mulan would be in trouble.

They are all recruits that were not with fame, at this time, they could only be passive. 

Hu LiHun and the others were naggy and talked for a while, and finally went back under the insistence of A-Dan ZhiQi.

The visiting time in the punishment camp is regulated. Hua Mulan is not forbidden to have visitors. That reason allowed her companions of the same team to be relieved. 

A-Dan ZhiQi saw that all his companions had gone away, walked to the side of the wooden cage and sat down. He did not care whether it was dirty or not dirty. He chatted with Hua Mulan as if he had not seen the soldiers guarding the punishment camp.

"Didn't you say you didn't want to die?"

"Ah..." Hua Mulan answered. "I don't want to die yet."

"Thus, why did you shoot the leather bags on top of the heads of the few of us? Why bother to provoke the superiors?" A-Dan ZhiQi sighed, "With the performance of your first arrow, Deputy General Tu Gui would not let you continue to shoot us.” 

"…...Because I'm afraid. " Hua Mulan looked at A-Dan ZhiQi who suddenly raised his head, "Hey, couldn’t it be that you think I’m not afraid?” 

"You have the guts to shoot a superior. What else can you be afraid of!" A-Dan ZhiQi doesn't have a good temper and rebuked.

"Shooting my own people is not the same as shooting the enemy. Of course, I was afraid." Hua Mulan blinked. "When I shoot the enemy, I know that either he or I will die. I only want to live, so I will not be afraid. But facing my partner, my hand will shake, and my heart will beat faster. I even feel that if I miss the arrow, I would not be able to lift the bow in my entire life…... "

She moved her fingers.

"It's not easy to suppress my fear. If I don't vent my anger at that time through that moment, I'm afraid that I will become the kind of person who will take action against my companions without feeling any burden in the future."

"Isn't the superior a companion?”

"Would he be considered Hua Mulan’s companion if he were the one who ordered me to shoot my companions?" Hua Mulan is probably a little cold. She placed her hands under her armpit. "At that moment, I really wanted to kill him."

“What?”

A-Dan ZhiQi is so shocked he turned pale.

"Captain, I think this part of me here, lives a monster." Hua Mulan used one hand to pat her head. "Most of the recruits in the black camp will feel afraid and disgusted when they go to the battlefield for the first time. I have even seen someone cry......"

She is referring to Mo Huai’er. 

“But I did not.” 

"I enjoyed the atmosphere as if a tenon had finally been installed in the right place. I am eager to feel that the weapon in my hand is thrust into someone’s body. Once on the battlefield, when I see the ferocious face of the Rourans, I have an impulse to tear them apart......" Hua Mulan's eyes are shining with a light that will make people cold.

"I use arrows because I don't have to see their blood splatter out, and this allowed me to control my thirst of killing as much as I can.” 

A-Dan ZhiQi shivered involuntarily.

At this time, Hua Mulan causes one to feel unfamiliar with her. 

"But, Captain, I always have a hunch that once my hands are stained with the blood of my companions, I will become a monster that can only kill people, just like what they want us to turn into.” 

Hua Mulan leaned against the wall of the cage and chuckled.

"Don't you think I'm a laughingstock, being a person who was recruited for killing, but yet I didn't want to kill? If my father and mother heard of this, I'm afraid they will cry and beg me to go home. "

"I'm a crude person, I can't understand your words." A-Dan ZhiQi scratched his head in agony. "I don't even know what you're worried about."

"Ha?" Hua Mulan's expression of leisure was punctured.

"Though I am older than you, I am a recruit like you." A-Dan ZhiQi's voice is very calm.

"When I was in the countryside, I was also a ‘warrior’ praised by everyone, but I am not a man of amazing talent like you. I'm simply worked harder than most of my relatives’ kids.” 

"Vanity is a great force, it can push you forward. I don't know how you formed such a character after such being such a powerful soldier, but in our place, as long as you show bravery beyond the ordinary people, you will become the kind of person people want, for example, a hero. "

"I never thought about what kind of people I would be and what I would do. I only know that I am brave. I can be a soldier. That's enough. So, I came to the HeiShan camp.” 

"But when I got to the camp in HeiShan, I found that the "warrior" in my hometown is a joke. Even in a small boot camp, there are countless people who can beat me down. Hua Mulan, before we came to the camp in Heishan, we all thought we were warriors, but in fact, there were much more ordinary people. In the end, we always have to admit that we are ordinary people. "

A-Dan ZhiQi's voice is always calm.

This allowed Hua Mulan to sit upright a little bit. She can't help but continue to listen.

"For ordinary people, we don't care what kind of people we will become, how we will die and how we will kill the enemy. To keep up with talented people, we have to tirelessly chase them.” 

"When I heard you say, 'I don't want to die, I don't want to enter the vanguard camp', I just wanted to hold your head to press it down so that I can beat you up. However, only for a moment, I can only say to myself: "Hey, A-Dan ZhiQi, wake up, if you are angry again, you may not be able to beat him’.”

He slightly blushed. 

"You see, ordinary people are so pitiful."

"I'm an ordinary person, too…..." Hua Mulan opened her mouth and said.

"No, you are not ordinary. From the moment you said, "I don't want to die", I know we can't keep you back. People with faith are the most terrible. We don't even know what we want. You have such amazing talent, even if you walk slowly now, you can still run fast when you want to. "

He raised his hand and pointed to himself.

"I, Mo Huai'er, Sha Gui and Hu LiHun, all of us know that you are not an ordinary person. But we also want to follow the strong, so we kept our silence.”

"When we charge, you sweep the enemies; when we retreat, you crush the enemies; when we fight, the enemy had fallen before entering an arrow’s shooting distance……Hua Mulan, you don't even want to clean the battlefield, you want to maintain a low profile when receiving praises, we just need to stand beside you and listen to the team leader’s (0) praise……”

"They are all very happy. They feel that they must have gone through great fortune so that the Heavens gave them such a companion in the same team. We are more and more used to relying on you to kill enemies, but I began to be afraid. "

"People like you will always be found out. A lion should be with the lions. The tiger should be with the tigers. What shall we do then? "

A-Dan ZhiQi smiled bitterly.

"This is not good. If we continue to rely on you, we will become wastes, we can’t even become ordinary people.”

"We will all die."

Hua Mulan looked at her captain and found that she could not say anything.

What can she say?

Say that "I will not leave you"?

Or say, "all of you are amazing too?”

These words are so plain and sound so arrogant.

Hua Mulan is not able to speak these.  

"So, when Deputy Tu Gui tied us up, I said to myself, it's finally over. Finally, we can end these illusory days." A-Dan ZhiQi laughed. "I asked you to shoot me first. Do you think that your captain is heroic? But in fact, I'm not as brave as you think."

"I merely thought, at least, there was once.” 

He was a little uneasy and turned his head in another direction.

"There was once where I allowed Hua Mulan to depend on us.”

"This is the dignity of ordinary people like us.” 

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(0) This team leader refers to the leader of various teams, not A-Dan ZhiQi, who is a leader of a team. 

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Fleur's Corner:

I will not be giving any notice prior to the content of every chapter because that is the nature of the story. Please note that some of the chapters may be a little gory or disgusting because of war. 

Next update: 20/4.

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