Chapter 240: Fighting for Life

"Nan Nan."

"An Yinan!"

"Comrade An."

The crowd dared not speak loudly, yet they still gasped in shock.

Just at this moment, the snow that had been unstable on the Ancient Pine suddenly collapsed rapidly.

Following this, the mountain body shook.

Zhang Qian's eyes turned red, his hands clenched tightly, his teeth chattered as he bit down, and using all his strength, he issued the order, "Retreat!"

"Chen Xun, get back here! Hold him!" Zhang Qian commanded.

It turned out that the moment Chen Xun recognized An Yinan, he had instinctively followed after her.

But when he was rescuing the fellow villagers, his right arm had been injured, and his leg had also been crushed during the avalanche; although he had followed immediately, his physical inconvenience determined his speed.

Two people walked over immediately and grabbed him by the arms, one on each side.

One was the Rescue Team Captain, and the other was the Captain of the Northeast Army camp.

Both were very close to him and both knew An Yinan, understanding the relationship between them; the moment Chen Xun moved, after the two of them reacted, they also acted immediately.

"Let go." Chen Xun's eyes were bloodshot, blood dripped from his arm, staining the white snow beneath his feet drop by drop, like blooming red plum blossoms in the pristine snow—noble and cold.

"Chen Xun! Where is your reason?" the Rescue Team Captain asked in a breathy voice.

Everyone present had eyes that were grave and bloodshot, with red capillaries like spiderwebs.

"That is my wife! How can I be rational?" Chen Xun roared in a breathy voice, his veins bulging.

Just at this moment, the mountain body emitted a strange sound, "Crack..."

"Boom..."

Sound after sound...

Zhang Qian returned to stand before Chen Xun.

"The avalanche has started; the fellow villagers and our comrades are still waiting for us."

"Chen Xun, don't forget your status!"

Chen Xun closed his eyes in pain; his eyes were bloodshot, echoing the red plum blossoms on the ground, neither outshining the other.

"Retreat!"

He firmly issued the order.

He was not just Chen Xun; An Yinan was his life, but behind him were his comrades and the fellow villagers!

That tall and imposing man, after just that one word, seemed to have lost the light in his eyes.

The soldiers picked up the children who had no ability to survive and supported the women and children, sprinting rapidly.

That's right, sprinting!

The sound within the mountain grew louder and louder, and the crisis became increasingly severe.

Chen Xun walked at the very back, looking at that pale green place—the green of hope—yet it did not bring him hope, but destruction.

The avalanche appeared, the first place being right above that Ancient Pine; white snow covered the pale green, obscuring the hope in everyone's eyes!

The Rescue Team Captain and Zhang Qian watched Chen Xun vigilantly, but Chen Xun did not lose his composure; he arranged the retreat of the personnel in an orderly manner.

Fighting for a path of survival for everyone.

"Report, thirty meters from the low-lying exit." And this avalanche was rapid and fierce; the snow on all the peaks seemed to have agreed, acting all at once!

The roaring sound behind them had now drowned out everyone's hearing; everyone was using their full strength, as they were now racing against life.

Getting closer and closer.

The sound was getting closer, and the feeling of vibration never ceased.

The snow that had accumulated on the mountain for years seemed to have found an outlet to vent.

"Report, twenty meters from the exit." The people in front relied on the Red Mark to quickly determine the distance and position.

"Comrades, support the fellow villagers, give it your all!" Chen Xun roared.

Every word he spoke issued the most accurate command; only Zhang Qian and that Rescue Team Captain knew what he had to endure.

The blood at the corner of his mouth, the red plum blossoms on the snow, and those dim, lusterless eyes represented everything.

"Report, ten meters from the exit!" the person in front shouted.

Everyone was already exhausted, but they could not stop; they dared not cry, dared not call out that they were tired, and even dared not speak.

If they paused even for a moment, not only would their own lives be left behind, but so would the lives of everyone behind them.

In this cold, snowy weather, the soldiers' sweat had already soaked through their military uniforms.

Beads of sweat on their foreheads dripped incessantly, and their eyes were stung by the sweat, but they dared not move or wipe it away, because in their hands and on their shoulders, they were carrying the fellow villagers.

"Report, five meters from the exit!" the person in front shouted.

It was no longer a matter of sound waves; the sound of the avalanche was far greater than the sound of their human voices, and the situation was becoming uncontrollable.

No one looked back; they dared not look back.

The avalanche behind them was already close at hand, and heavy snow surged from all directions.

"Run!" Chen Xun roared.

Everyone was racing against life.

For themselves, for the partners behind them, fight!

"Report, three meters from the exit!"

"Two meters!"

"One meter!"

"Run!"

Each report given was hope, was motivation; it was the motivation for them to keep living.

"Huff, huff." The sound of heavy panting.

The old, the weak, the women, and the children were all carried on the backs of the soldiers as they ran; everyone was hunched over, their strong shoulders and arms propping up an oasis of life for the fellow villagers.

Sweat dripped down, clothes were soaked through, yet they did not notice at all.

Perhaps this is what is called carrying the burden forward?

Chen Xun's eagle-like eyes swept around, "Everyone, continue forward!"

The villagers complained one after another, "I can't do it anymore, I can't walk."

"Catch... catch my breath."

"Aren't we already safe? Why are we still walking?"

Sound after sound, sentence after sentence of complaints, and lack of understanding!

But all the soldiers stood up, adjusted the people they were carrying on their backs; they had no complaints, and they did not ask for the reason.

Orders are orders!

They are soldiers!

Their own wives and children were in danger, yet they had to protect others!

They are soldiers!

They cannot do as they please, because on their backs, they carry the people!

They are soldiers!

Their helplessness and pain can only be borne by themselves!

Because they are soldiers, they must walk against the light, they must carry too much.

"Retreat!" Chen Xun gave the order.

Everyone continued to rush forward!

And after the group had left for a hundred meters, only then did they hear the mountain they had just been leaning against emit a deafening roar, and the snow from the high mountain crashed straight down.

If it hadn't been for this group of soldiers just now...

If the order hadn't been given just now...

All of these people would have been buried in the sea of snow!

The villagers broke out in a cold sweat, and the soldiers looked at Chen Xun with even more fervent gazes.

He always walked at the very front of the rescue, always executed the most difficult and arduous tasks; he was the goal for so many, a beacon for many people.

"Take them back to the Camp." Chen Xun looked at Zhang Qian.

Zhang Qian frowned, "Chen Xun!"

Chen Xun shook his head, "Snow disasters, I understand them better than any of you. I have understood everything during these days in the disaster area; you don't need to persuade me. I want to be closer to her."

Yes, he had watched her enter the mountain cave, he had watched with his own eyes as the avalanche fell, submerging the Ancient Pine, submerging the only way for air to circulate.

How would she be?

How helpless must she be?

He covered his face with his hands, but his eyes were painfully dry, unable to shed a single tear.