Extra Story - Ji Lu Wushuang - Mission Accomplished

This is the border of Country S.

Yellow sand and rusted barbed wire are the dominant colors here.

A temporary hospital composed of several large white tents is the only sanctuary on this land.

The air raid siren has just been lifted.

A new batch of wounded is being continuously trucked in.

Lu Qianqian is crouched on the ground.

She is performing emergency compression to stop the bleeding for a man with shrapnel wounds to his abdomen.

Her movements are skilled, calm, even somewhat numb.

Sweat on her face, mixed with blood and dust, sticks to her skin.

Her T-shirt is soaked through with her sweat.

She hasn't had a proper night's sleep in three days.

The wounded man speaks in a faint voice, in a language she doesn't understand.

His eyes are filled with pleading.

Lu Qianqian can only guess his meaning from his eyes.

He is begging her to save his child.

Not far away, a boy of about five or six lies on a stretcher.

His leg has been blown off.

Lu Qianqian nods at him.

She finishes dressing the man's wound and hands him over to the next volunteer.

Then, she walks quickly towards the boy.

Ji Wushuang is standing not far away.

She is like a silent statue, blending into the chaotic background.

Her gaze sweeps over every person entering the hospital.

Distinguishing the wounded from potential threats.

This past year, they have gone from Country K, to Country T, and now here.

They have traversed half a globe of war and poverty.

Lu Qianqian is long gone the girl who would cry at the sound of gunfire.

She has seen a world more terrible than hell.

Ji Wushuang's satellite phone vibrates.

It's a message from Zhang Qi.

The content is simple.

Ms. Ji, the commission period is nearing its end. Thank you for your hard work. Please return on schedule.

The one-year contract is about to end.

Ji Wushuang looks at Lu Qianqian not far away, who is intently cleaning the wound of the boy with the severed leg.

Her mission is about to be completed.

She should feel relieved.

She walks over and hands water to Lu Qianqian.

"Next week, we're going back home."

"Your one-year research period should be wrapping up too."

Lu Qianqian's hand pauses for a moment.

She doesn't look up, just gives a soft "Mmm."

As if this is just an insignificant little matter.

She continues treating the boy's wound.

Cleaning, disinfecting, bandaging.

The boy is brave, not uttering a sound.

Just staring with hollow eyes at the tent ceiling.

In his hand, he clutches something tightly.

It is a crudely carved wooden bird.

After finishing his bandage, Lu Qianqian asks him softly,

"What is this?"

The boy is silent for a long time before saying in a hoarse voice,

"Dad carved it for me."

"He said it would take me flying."

"Fly to a place without bombs."

Lu Qianqian has seen too much death.

She thought she had become numb.

But at this moment, this boy and his wooden bird.

Still touch her heart.

She stands up and walks to the tent entrance.

Looking outside at the endless yellow sand.

At the blood-red setting sun sinking on the horizon.

At those living, breathing lives struggling for survival in suffering, like ants.

She turns around and looks at Ji Wushuang.

"Wushuang-jie."

Her voice is light, yet unusually firm.

"I don't want to go back anymore."

Lu Qianqian says.

"Jingzhou, the Lu family, that world... it doesn't belong to me anymore."

"This," she points at the barren, chaotic, yet life-filled land beneath her feet, "is where I belong."

"I want to travel to all these forgotten corners."

"I want to do something for them."

"Even if it's just... saving one more person."

"Building one more school."

"Digging one more well."

Ji Wushuang looks at her.

At her face, tanned to a light wheat color yet still delicate.

At her eyes, still shining under the sunset.

A year ago, at the training ground on the outskirts of Jingzhou.

She said to that pampered young lady who got tired after running a few steps,

"On the battlefield, no one will wait for you."

Now, this girl has shown her with her actions.

She did not stay where she was.

She has run ahead of everyone.

She charges on the battlefield she chose herself.

An indescribable sense of pride surges in Ji Wushuang's chest.

The mission is complete.

Exceedingly complete.

The porcelain doll she needed to protect has already donned the hardest armor.

And herself?

After the mission ends, where should she go?

Back to her hometown in Tangzhou?

She seems to be standing at a crossroads once again.

...

On the plane flying to Jingzhou.

Ji Wushuang sits in her seat.

Her back is straight, hands flat on her knees.

It is a posture ready for combat at any moment.

But she knows the fight is over.

Her gaze falls on Lu Qianqian beside her.

Lu Qianqian leans against the cabin wall, head slightly tilted, as if asleep.

Her face is washed clean.

No more gunpowder smoke, no more bloodstains, no more dust.

Her skin, once as fair and smooth as milk, is now a resilient, stubborn light wheat color.

Ji Wushuang watches her quietly.

This face is completely different from the one she first saw in Jingzhou a year ago.

The contours are sharper.

The lines are harder.

The last trace of a girl's softness has been completely polished away by the wind and sand.

This is her work.

The thought pops into Ji Wushuang's mind.

Then, she immediately dismisses it.

No.

She is merely a witness.

An observer.

A paid bodyguard.

That's all.

She has completed her task.

...

Jingzhou International Airport.

Ji Wushuang follows behind Lu Qianqian, walking out of the VIP channel.

Familiar air.

Familiar temperature.

Familiar, the clamor of the civilized world.

In the crowd, a tall, familiar figure waits there.

Lu Chenyuan.

Lu Qianqian sees Lu Chenyuan.

Her footsteps halt, and waves instantly stir in her eyes.

Then, she quickens her pace.

Finally, it turns into a small run.

She rushes up to Lu Chenyuan.

"Big brother."

Her voice is hoarse and trembling.

"I'm back."

Lu Chenyuan looks at her.

He reaches out, as if to pat her head.

But his hand stops halfway.

Instead, he changes to patting her shoulder.

"Welcome home."

Four simple words, yet like a command opening a floodgate.

Lu Qianqian can no longer hold back.

She throws herself into Lu Chenyuan's arms, burying her face deep in his chest.

Lu Qianqian's shoulders shake violently.

All the suppressed grievances, fears, longing, and delayed terror of the past year.

At this moment, they all break through the dam.

She cries like a child.

Ji Wushuang stands not far away, watching quietly.

She watches the girl who could carry a crate of medicine without batting an eye amidst gunfire and explosions.

Now, in a warm embrace, crying again like a lost child.

Ji Wushuang suddenly feels.

Her mission is truly complete.

She no longer needs her.

She has a big brother, and a family, capable of sheltering her under a vast sky.