Chapter 241: Survival Mission

"I will wait for her; you need to go back to the Camp to have your arms and legs checked." Zhang Qian patted Chen Xun on the shoulder. How could he not be anxious?

They had known each other since they were on the train; they had gone up the mountain to gather firewood together and down to the river to catch fish together.

The time they had spent together was even more than what Chen Xun had spent with her.

She was his comrade-in-arms!

Chen Xun shook his head. "You go back; lead everyone."

"I will stay with you." Zhang Qian sighed.

Right now, no one could make Chen Xun leave; no one could!

"Zhang Qian, the disaster area Command Camp needs people; no one else will do!" Chen Xun patted Zhang Qian on the shoulder instead.

"I..." Zhang Qian started to speak.

But Chen Xun looked at Zhang Qian instead. "I do not want to give you an order."

Zhang Qian fell silent; in the end, he accepted this silent order.

The comrades and fellow villagers left, and only Chen Xun remained, guarding the mountain pass sealed by the thick, white snow.

"Nan Nan, are you alright?" Chen Xun murmured. Only now was he no longer the bearer of the nation and the world.

Instead, he was just a man—a man who had been too late to save his wife!

To the nation, he had a clear conscience.

Only toward her did he feel full of guilt and regret.

As for An Yinan, whom Chen Xun was thinking of, she had run into the cave, found the child who had been tossed into a corner of the cave wall, and was about to run out while holding the child.

But just then, an avalanche descended. The force of her forward momentum and the impact of the Ancient Pine falling under the weight of the avalanche converged, and her entire body was knocked backward.

"Boom!" She slammed hard against the cave wall, then slid down from the wall and fell straight to the ground.

Instinctively, she hugged the child in her arms tightly; the child's crying continued.

Her back was a bloody mess. The immense impact made her feel as if her blood were flowing in reverse. She let out a muffled groan and spat out a mouthful of blood; her internal organs felt as if they had been churned up.

After gasping violently, she ignored the pain in her back. She leaned against the wall with one hand and held the child with the other, rushing to the cave entrance, only to see the cave sealed tight by snow, without a single gap.

"Wah, wah." The infant seemed to sense An Yinan's mood; its eyes were timid and pitiful, its voice much smaller, carrying a hint of innocence.

An Yinan lowered her head and gave a bitter smile. "You little one!"

The biggest problem now was, what to do about this little one?

The space could not hold living things, though she herself could enter and exit freely.

"Ding? Space boss, can you let me bring the baby inside? Where is your patriotism?" An Yinan asked helplessly.

And just then, a system "ding" sound appeared!

"Ding, save the innocent infant, survive from the cave, mission successful, reward: Hundred Herbs Collection."

"Ding, from this moment on, during the mission to save the innocent infant, the host cannot enter or exit the space."

Letting you exercise your patriotism is not meant to cut off one's escape route, hey!!!

The intense pain made her face flush red, but upon hearing the system mission, she had a tendency to gradually turn green.

"System? Space master? Can we strike a deal?" No matter how An Yinan called out, the space gave her no further response.

The mission was a foregone conclusion.

An Yinan took a bottle of Hemostatic Pill from the space. This subconscious action made her suddenly realize that although she could not enter or exit the space freely, she could still take items from it.

She first took one Pill, then crushed the other Pill and sprinkled it randomly toward her back. She truly could not see, so whether she could apply the medicine was entirely up to fate.

She first took diapers from the space, then took out a small quilt and wrapped the child up.

Then she took out the millet porridge she had stored earlier, blew on it to cool it down, skimmed off the rice broth, and fed the child one spoonful at a time.

It was not that she did not want to take formula, but there really was no hot water stored in the space. Although she could take items, she could not enter the space to boil water!

The little one seemed extremely hungry. Even if it was just millet porridge broth, he still drank it sweetly, his little mouth pursing and his little tongue constantly sticking out. Every time he finished, he would keep his little mouth open, looking as if he hadn't had enough.

"You really aren't afraid of anything." After An Yinan finished feeding the child, she placed the child on the ground.

She leaned against the wall and walked around the cave. The cave was large; she did not know when it had been chiseled out, and she could even see the chisel marks on the cave walls.

In the entire cave, she did not find any ventilation holes.

Perhaps the villagers had placed the Ancient Pine at the entrance just to prop up the snow and prevent the air from being cut off?

But who could have imagined that another avalanche would directly fill the low-lying area? Never mind an Ancient Pine; even if a building were placed there to support it, it would have been crushed by the powerful impact.

"Must find a way to ventilate as soon as possible." An Yinan frowned. She could not see the wound on her back, and she could not even apply medicine. The pain tugged at her nerves, making it impossible for her to concentrate.

She inspected the cave once more. Although the cave was large, the air was limited; how long could it sustain them?

The two of them were breathing, and looking at the snow outside, it probably wouldn't be cleared away for a while.

She had to thank those Ancient Pines for not being crushed under the snow!

After thinking and thinking, she took a ladder from the space, then took out a hammer and nails; it was just that her home had never prepared a chisel.

For a time, the sound of "ding-ding-dong-dong" echoed in the cave.

The infant slept very soundly. The little one, having eaten and drunk his fill, would occasionally reveal a smile, as if he had encountered something wonderful in his dreams.

A hundred meters outside the mountain pass, Chen Xun sat quietly on the snow. The bright red blood had already slowly congealed, and the cold wind, still lacking any sense of romance, blew with a "whoosh-whoosh," asserting its presence.

And the rumbling sound in the low-lying area had not stopped.

"Battalion Commander." A youthful voice.

Chen Xun turned his head and saw two new recruits, "Xiaokang and Er Dan."

"Why did you two run over here?" Chen Xun looked at them.

Xiaokang and Er Dan were both crying, wiping away their scalding tears with their hands. "We came to help you; we want to save our sister-in-law."

Chen Xun did not speak again, nor did he urge them to leave.

The low-lying area has a unique geographical environment; apart from the exit, it can be described as surrounded by mountains on all four sides.

Heavy snow submerged everything, including the path they had waded through and the Red Marks they had tied.

"She is waiting for us to save her," Chen Xun said.

Two days later, the roaring sound in the low-lying area stopped, helicopters could fly in, and more people arrived in batches.

Yun Shu and Yun Mo came together.

They did not know An Yinan had left the Camp, the Northeast Military Region had no authority to command them, and furthermore, their mission was unique: to protect An Yinan.

Mo Kun thought she would take Yun Shu and Yun Mo with her, but he did not expect that Yun Shu and Yun Mo would come looking for him; their Leader was lost.

Only then did Mo Kun learn that An Yinan had gone to the disaster area alone.

After Yun Shu and Yun Mo arrived, Zhang Qian had already left with the search and rescue team; they did not know the search methods or contact protocols, so they could only wait at the Camp.

They never expected to wait for such news.