White Olive Tree

Chapter 45

The war lasted for more than a year and the manpower was exhausted.  Nowadays, the new forces of all forces on the battlefield are not professional soldiers. Most of them are civilians from various professions who have been trained for ten and a half months before going to the battlefield.
But Cook’s armed forces are all former special forces from various countries, and their combat capabilities are frightening.
Just looking at his temperament, it is obviously very chilling.
She was still looking curiously, and a white mercenary on the roadside noticed her.
When their eyes met, his cold expression gradually warmed up and turned into a smile. He tilted his chin towards her and said: "Hey~~beauty~~"
His companion also looked over and whistled lightly.
Naked. Naked teasing.
But in such an environment, Song Ran didn't feel dissatisfied. He lightly curled his lips and continued driving.
I heard another shout from behind: "STAY! I LOVE YOU!"
Song Ran couldn't help but laugh out loud. She didn't know what to think, but she unconsciously imitated Li Zan.
She stretched her left hand out of the car window, raised it high, and gave her middle finger.
"WOW!" The Cook soldiers cheered and laughed.
Song Ran looked at the rearview mirror. The mercenary who shouted bent his knees and raised his head, covering his heart that had been hit by the arrow with his hand, which was already petrified. The others slapped him and laughed at him, while giving Song Ran a thumbs up. 
Song Ran's smile widened and the car was still moving forward.
This is very close to the old fire station, just in front of the corner street.
But at this moment, a gunshot suddenly sounded diagonally ahead.  Exactly the direction of the corner.
Song Ran looked back at the sound, but had not yet reacted.  The group of laughing special forces soldiers had already rushed away in an instant.  Song Ran drove around the corner but was not much faster than them.
The car stopped at the entrance of the field hospital and saw a wounded man with bandages on his head and hands holding a female doctor in a white coat at gunpoint, who turned out to be Pei Xiaonan.
Pei Xiaonan was held tightly by the injured man's throat and dragged back, his face turned blood red.
Song Ran quickly slipped out of the car, hid behind the car as a cover, and quickly set up the camera to zoom in.
The injured man's clothes were instantly clearly enlarged.  It's a terrorist.
An hour ago, the Cook soldiers fought with the terrorists in the west of the city. They were afraid that they had moved to the wrong hospital during battlefield rescue.
Pedestrians and patients on the street took cover and fled. The nurses and doctors who were carrying the injured at the entrance of the hospital also immediately retreated and fled into the hospital.
Only one soldier went against the flow of people, quickly jumped down the steps and rushed to the middle of the street, pursued him, pointed his gun at the terrorist, and warned every word: "LET HER GO!"
Pedestrians quickly cleared away, leaving only the hijackers and soldiers confronting each other on the empty street.
Song Ran stared at his back blankly, feeling that familiar feeling coming to her face.
   It's him?
The Cook soldiers just now were chasing after them, and they stepped forward with their guns drawn, shouting: "Put the gun down!"
When the kidnapper saw this, he suddenly became violent. He put the gun directly to Pei Xiaonan's throat, and shouted with bulging eyes: "Back off! You all back off, or I will kill her!"
"Let her go!"
"Back off!"
"Let her go!"
"You guys stand back!"
Both sides refused to give an inch and yelled at each other in the street.
The kidnappers couldn't defeat their momentum. They were panicked and frightened. They dragged Pei Xiaonan back and forth, trying to find an escape vehicle.

The soldier pressed forward step by step, following him forward, trying to shorten the shooting range.
The Cook soldiers who surrounded him also wanted to follow. The kidnapper became more and more panicked and excited, shouting: "Back off!" Suddenly he shot Pei Xiaonan in the foot threateningly.
"Ah!!!" Pei Xiaonan screamed, blood flowing freely.
The leading soldier made a gesture.  Everyone else stopped and stopped following.
He was the only one who followed up with a gun.
Song Ran raised her head from the camera's aiming frame. The soldier's back was turned to her. His figure looked thinner than that of the European and American soldiers, but he was very tall.  She was sure it was him.  The sun had already sunk more than half of his head, and the setting sun shone from the front, shrouding his tall figure in reverse light, turning it into a halo.
He calmly and steadily stepped forward; the kidnapper retreated step by step in panic and fear.
The two quickly distanced themselves from the hospital.
Song Ran carefully lurked up and hid behind a porch to take the photo. Even with the light, his face could not be seen.
I could only hear him making conditions to the hostage in English: "If you let her go, I promise to let you go."
The kidnapper was in deep fear and shouted: "Give me the car! I will let her go after I leave safely!"
Pei Xiaonan dragged his bleeding injured leg and shouted: "No. No! Li Zan, save me! Don't listen to him!"
Song Ran took a breath and finally heard his name.  She looked at him just as he walked into the shadow of a building under the backlit sunset.  Song Ran's eyes were dazzled by the sunlight, and she blinked desperately several times before she could distinguish the familiar profile.
She thought it was not clear enough, so she quickly pointed the camera at him and zoomed in -
Isn’t that exactly him?
His jaw was tense, his eyes were stern, he was highly concentrated, and he was aiming his gun at the kidnapper.
Li Zan did not relent, and said in a very cold tone: "Friend. I don't accept the terms."
"I won't accept any terms either!" the kidnapper roared manically, pressing the gun against Pei Xiaonan's temple. "Give me the car! Give me the car! Otherwise I will kill her and we will die together!"
"I said it before," Li Zan waited for the opportunity to get closer. This time his tone was very calm, word for word, "Let her go, and I will keep you safe."
"Stop stalling for time! I'll count to 10. I really know how to shoot. At worst, we both die!" The other party was almost crazy and tightened Pei Xiaonan's neck.
Pei Xiaonan shouted: "Li Zan - save me! Save me!"
"9! 8! 7——"
Li Zan held the gun and slowly approached, saying, "Okay. I'll find a car for you. How about the one next to you?"
The other party stopped the countdown.  He was very alert and did not turn his head, but his eyes hesitated slightly.
   enough.
"Bang!" There was a gunshot.
Song Ran was startled.  The kidnapper had a hole in his head and fell backwards.
Pei Xiaonan's face was splashed with blood, her beauty turned pale, she fell to the ground, dragged her injured foot, rolled and kicked the deceased away, and distanced herself.
Li Zan put the gun back, strode up to Pei Xiaonan, and asked, "How are you?"
"My feet! It hurts so much!" There was a hole in her shoe and blood was pouring out.
Li Zan took one look at her, quickly picked her up, and walked quickly to the hospital.
Pei Xiaonan quickly put her arms around his neck.
Song Ran stood up and followed him.
She chased into the hospital to see how Pei Xiaonan was injured, but as soon as she entered the hospital, her sight was disrupted by the busy crowd.  Soon there was no trace of them.
This field hospital was renovated from a school. Song Ran passed through several teaching buildings and glanced at the operating room, but could not find Pei Xiaonan.
But now the sun had set. She thought about it. She was injured, so she might as well come back tomorrow.  Now go out and see more.
Just as he was about to pull away, he looked up and saw Li Zan.
Wearing a military uniform, he stood on the steps of a classroom door ten meters away, talking to Benjamin with his pockets in his pockets.
There was also the British soldier George, who seemed to have said something funny. Benjamin laughed so much that he put his hand on Li Zan's shoulder and couldn't straighten up.
Li Zan gently touched the corner of his mouth and smiled lightly.
Doctors, nurses, and figures shuttled back and forth.
He seemed to notice something, the curve of his mouth dropped slightly, and he turned his head to look this way.
Song Ran was stunned, her heartbeat accelerated instantly, and she felt that the blood vessels in her ears were bulging.
But at that moment, a group of doctors and nurses carrying seriously injured people passed by, blocking their sight.
Li Zan glanced at the busy crowd and turned back.
Song Ran stood on tiptoe and looked in his direction. Another group of people passed by. She was afraid of blocking the road, so she backed away four or five meters.  Wait for others to pass and take another look——
There is no one on the steps anymore.
Only the last remaining faint glow of the sky remains.
……
Song Ran held the camera and walked around the hospital aimlessly, but couldn't see it.
After leaving the hospital, the group of Cook soldiers teasing her at the door had long since disappeared.
She walked slowly back to the car, leaned on the driver's seat and was stunned for a while.  In this moment, the sunset glow completely dissipated, and the color of the sky gradually deepened, and soon turned into blue-gray.
The temperature also dropped rapidly.
Song Ran was sitting in the car. She originally felt that her schedule was full, but now she felt a little at a loss.
At this time, the phone rang. It was Jose, reminding her that there was a curfew at night and not to run around.  He will come to her tomorrow morning.
Song Ran said yes and asked one more question: "Why are there Kuk soldiers in Alara City? Are they going to help the government troops recover Alara City?"
"No." Jose said, "The main reason is that there is a stronghold of the extremist organization in Aare City, which has been occupying the northwest suburbs. This time the government forces are gathering strength to fight a general offensive against the rebels. The Cook Army headquarters has also assembled  When the troops come, we might as well seize the stronghold together at that time. Clean it up."
"When will the battle take place?"
"It's only been two or three days. The southern armies have already gathered towards the city of Aare."
Song Ran had a general understanding and would wait to discuss more details after meeting Jose.
She drove the car back to the university, and when she entered the dormitory building, she bought a Dongguo-style pancake for dinner from the housekeeper's aunt.
She walked up the dark and heavy corridor, and saw soldiers coming downstairs and passing through.
She went up the corridor and vaguely heard strange noises.
Song Ran didn't pay too much attention.  It wasn't until I returned to the dormitory and closed the door that I heard the sounds next door clearly, the sounds of making love, like intermittent threads, mixed with the sounds of bed calls in English.
The bed board shook and hit the wall.
Song Ran: "..."
She had thought that the people living in the building were all reporters, but when she arrived, she discovered that it was a girls' dormitory, and that it was filled with female doctors, nurses, and volunteers from various countries.
Soldiers come and go from time to time.
In the battlefield, you are faced with killing, fleeing, and despair all day long; at this time, ambiguity, impulse, and desire can easily breed.
Maybe I can make a note in the book,
Just as she was thinking about it, she suddenly remembered a scene - Pei Xiaonan put her arms around Li Zan's neck.
Isn't that how she was attracted to Li Zan in the first place?