Extra Chapter - Ji Lu Wushuang - The Chaotic Era

The destination was over ten hours' flight from Jingzhou.

Moreover, there were no direct flights.

Lu Qianqian barely slept the entire journey.

This was the final leg.

Leaning against the airplane window, Lu Qianqian looked down at the endless sea of clouds.

She wore a set of durable work clothes.

On her feet were a brand new pair of high-top combat boots.

That heavy tactical backpack rested by her feet.

From time to time, she would reach down and touch it.

As if drawing strength from it.

Ji Wushuang sat beside her.

Her eyes were closed, as if in light sleep.

But her even breathing and the slight rise and fall of her chest indicated she was relaxed.

Even in such an environment, she could enter a state of rest at any moment.

"Wushuang-jie."

Lu Qianqian spoke softly.

Ji Wushuang opened her eyes.

"Are we... almost there?"

"Another half hour."

Ji Wushuang glanced at her watch.

"Are you scared?" Ji Wushuang asked.

Lu Qianqian first nodded, then shook her head.

"I don't know," she said.

"I just feel... it's all very unreal."

"It will become real soon enough,"

Ji Wushuang said.

Half an hour later, the plane began its descent, soon piercing through the clouds.

The ground came into view.

It was not a sight Lu Qianqian had ever seen in any picture book.

Below lay a vast, monotonous expanse of reddish-brown earth.

Scattered across the land were low, dilapidated shacks.

Like ugly scars.

After some turbulence, the plane landed smoothly.

This was Country K's Capital International Airport.

Though called an international airport, it had only one runway.

Only one terminal, a terminal the size of a long-distance bus station in Xia Country.

The moment the cabin door opened, a wave of heat hit them, carrying the smell of dust, scorching sun, and some unknown, decaying odor.

Lu Qianqian instinctively held her breath.

She walked down the airstairs, her feet landing on the scorching hot tarmac.

The heat from the ground wrapped around her ankles and climbed upward, like a sudden surge of steam in a sauna.

Not far away, several dark-skinned soldiers in military uniforms leaned against a rusty jeep.

Their gazes were lazy, yet filled with undisguised scrutiny.

As if appraising two plump sheep that had delivered themselves to the door.

Lu Qianqian's heart tightened violently.

The soldiers of this country were nothing like the soldiers of Xia Country!

Instinctively, Lu Qianqian took a step closer to Ji Wushuang.

Ji Wushuang's expression didn't change at all.

She merely glanced at the soldiers out of the corner of her eye.

Then, she said to Lu Qianqian,

"Don't look at them."

"Follow me."

A black man in a faded suit, holding a sign with the character "Ji" on it, hurried towards them.

His forehead was beaded with sweat.

"Ms. Ji?"

He asked in stiff Xia language.

"That's me."

"I am Jacob, arranged by Mr. Lu."

A fawning smile spread across Jacob's face.

He tried to take Ji Wushuang's backpack.

Ji Wushuang raised a hand, stopping him.

"Where's the car?" she asked.

"This way, please, this way."

Jacob led them towards the parking lot.

The so-called parking lot was just a patch of potholed open ground.

A few decrepit cars were parked there.

Jacob opened the door of an SUV that looked at least twenty years old.

Its body was covered in scratches and several suspicious dents.

"This is... the best car we could find,"

Jacob explained.

"Good,"

Ji Wushuang assessed, sounding reasonably satisfied.

She threw her own backpack and Lu Qianqian's into the trunk.

Then she said to Lu Qianqian,

"Get in."

Lu Qianqian got into the car.

There was no air conditioning inside, only a choking smell of mixed leather and engine oil.

She looked out the window at a world completely different from Jingzhou.

Poverty, chaos, a complete lack of order.

This was her first impression of Country K.

This was where she would live and work from now on.

The car drove out of the airport and onto the dirt road leading to the city.

The roads here completely defied Lu Qianqian's understanding of what a road should be.

The entire journey was bumpy—no, not just bumpy, it was like a rollercoaster.

Lu Qianqian felt her internal organs were about to be jolted loose.

On both sides of the road were more shacks.

Hastily built from sheet metal, wooden planks, even cardboard.

Naked children chased and played around piles of garbage.

Their eyes held far more emptiness and numbness than liveliness.

Seeing a car pass by, they would swarm forward, stretching out their thin, dark hands.

Shouting in an incomprehensible language.

Jacob honked the horn impatiently.

"Don't mind them,"

he said to Ji Wushuang and Lu Qianqian.

"They're just little beggars. Give to one, and a whole crowd will surround you."

Lu Qianqian watched silently out the window.

Watching that child, whose eyes were completely different from the shy little boy's in Jingzhou's Spring Breeze Community.

In her previous understanding, Spring Breeze Community was her limit for comprehending poverty.

Arriving here, she realized Spring Breeze Community was practically a paradise.

The car drove into the city.

The situation didn't improve much.

The streets were narrow and crowded.

Idle young men were everywhere.

They gathered in small groups, leaning against walls, their wolf-like eyes fixed on passersby.

Occasionally, a squad of heavily armed soldiers could be seen speeding past in pickup trucks.

Dark, menacing machine guns mounted on the vehicles.

Making the air in the entire city feel even more tense.

"Has it... always been like this here?"

Lu Qianqian asked, her face somewhat pale.

"Pretty much," Jacob shrugged.

"The government forces and the rebels in the north have been fighting for over a decade."

"Three days ago, there was an explosion in the west of the city."

"But don't worry, the place you're going to is in the east of the city. It's relatively safe there."

He said "safe," but his tone held no trace of ease.

Just then, commotion erupted at an intersection ahead.

A squad of government soldiers had set up a temporary checkpoint.

They were stopping passing vehicles, roughly demanding something.

Jacob's face changed color.

He instinctively wanted to turn the car around.

"Keep driving."

Ji Wushuang's voice sounded, calm and cool.

"Don't panic. Slow down and drive through."

Jacob took a deep breath and did as instructed.

The car was stopped by a burly, fierce-looking officer.

He rudely tapped the car window with the butt of his rifle.

Jacob hurriedly rolled down the window and handed over a wad of prepared local currency.

The officer took the money, weighed it in his hand, and his face showed dissatisfaction.

His gaze moved past Jacob, landing on Ji Wushuang and Lu Qianqian in the back seat.

When he saw their delicate Eastern faces, so distinctly different from the locals',

his eyes revealed a mix of wariness and greed.

People from the great Eastern nation were powerful and wealthy.

The greed in his eyes soon overpowered the wariness.

"Get out!"

He roared in the local language.

"Everyone in the car, get out! Inspection!"