62: Chapter 61 Fellow Travellers 62: Chapter 61 Fellow Travellers The soldier didn’t seem to want to deal with Gao Yang and showed no intention of answering Gao Yang’s question.
Despite this, Gao Yang didn’t want to give up just like that; after a short wait, he awkwardly said, “So, um, where do you plan to go?”
The soldier turned his head away, still ignoring Gao Yang.
If Gao Yang had any sense, the best thing would be to shut up and walk away.
But Gao Yang was really obsessed at this point; he was determined not to stop until he got some answers.
After waiting a little longer, Gao Yang whispered, “Did you…
kill someone?”
The soldier, who had been steadfastly ignoring Gao Yang, suddenly turned his head, staring at Gao Yang intently.
But from his eyes, Gao Yang could tell he didn’t intend to start a fight.
After hesitating for a while, Gao Yang whispered, “I guess those two guys just now were your comrades, right?
It’s pretty obvious, doesn’t really take much guessing to see that they didn’t want to take you away, which is why they pretended not to see you.
So, I think even if you did kill someone, there must have been a good reason for it.”
Finally, the soldier was no longer silent.
After looking around and seeing no one, he too whispered, “What do you want to do?”
Gao Yang gave a bitter smile and said, “Rest assured, I’m not planning to report you to the police.
I just want to know what on earth you did, and ultimately, I’m just extremely curious what kind of crime you committed that would lead the military, which so values discipline, to let you go.”
After a moment of silence, the soldier said sternly, “Even though I don’t want to know what you’re trying to do, I advise you to shut up.”
Gao Yang shrugged and replied, “Don’t get the wrong idea; I really have no ill intentions.
I just want to know if the crime you committed is justifiable.
Maybe I can give you a hand.
The way you are now, even if your comrades didn’t identify you, you won’t make it far after getting off the train.
But with my help, your chances of a successful escape could increase significantly.”
Nobody wants to die, and if that soldier had wanted to die, he would have presented himself when he saw his comrade earlier.
Gao Yang’s words were appealing, but the offer of help from a stranger, for no apparent reason, wasn’t something many would trust.
After staring at Gao Yang for a long time, the soldier said in a low voice, “Who are you?
What exactly do you want?
Since you know I’m a soldier, you should also know that I’d rather face a firing squad than have anything to do with scum.
You’d better tell me your intentions.”
After a long period of contemplation, Gao Yang finally made up his mind; he decided to take a gamble.
“I really just want to help you.
If the person you killed deserved it, then you shouldn’t be shot.
As to why I would want to help you, the answer is simple.
I’ve also killed people—seven of them!”
When the soldier heard Gao Yang claim to have killed seven people, his gaze suddenly sharpened, but he didn’t speak, knowing Gao Yang would continue.
“I also believe that the people I killed deserved to die.
They were all scum.
One, hiding behind a shell company and actually running a loan-sharking operation, had lent my dad 500,000 yuan.
When my dad paid him back, he didn’t give my dad the IOU, then he showed up again with the IOU demanding over a million yuan.
But this isn’t really the main reason he deserved to die.
I killed him and his men because they shouldn’t have burst into my house and beaten my parents in front of me.”
After finishing his story, Gao Yang looked quietly at the soldier and said calmly, “The man I killed and his henchmen have ruined countless families, so by killing them, I don’t feel remorseful; instead, I feel a sense of serving justice.
But in the end, I still have to run, otherwise, I’ll end up buried alongside those very scum.
Right now, I’m on the run, and that’s also why I want to help you.
To put it bluntly, I’m scared, and thinking you’re in a similar situation to mine, I wanted to find a companion, that’s all.”
The soldier responded with an icy expression, “How do I know if what you said is true or false?
What if you’re the one who’s committed heinous crimes?”
Gao Yang shrugged and replied, “Just check the news; I guess my case will be pretty sensational.”
The soldier shook his head and said, “I think you might be bluffing because I don’t believe that if you really killed someone, you would tell all this to a stranger.
You don’t look that stupid.”
Gao Yang responded earnestly, “You’d better believe it because everything I’ve said is true.
And the reason I’m taking the risk to tell you this—I might as well tell you straight—is that I plan to flee to Africa.
I want to become a mercenary, and since you are a soldier, if you think I shouldn’t be caught by the police and executed, I hope you’ll join me.
Instead of staying at home waiting to die, or living a life of constant fear even if not caught immediately, it’s better to take a chance with me.
By the way, I have a way to get out of the country, and I don’t think it’ll be a big problem to take you with me.”
After hearing what Gao Yang said, the soldier’s eyes lit up.
After a long hesitation, he finally nodded and said, “I’ll check the news.
If it’s as you say, at the very least, I won’t betray you.”
Gao Yang gestured with his hand and said, “Now, isn’t it your turn to share?”
The soldier replied, “You’re right, I did kill people, not as many as you, just three.
However, this seems to be the first time since the founding of our military that a soldier has left a military exercise to kill three civilians.
So, as you saw earlier, both our troops and the police want to catch me to stand trial, but I don’t want to be caught.
If I have to be executed, it should be within our own forces.”
Gao Yang asked, puzzled, “Why?
Why would you do that?”
The soldier’s face darkened instantly, and with a surge of anger, he said, “Why else?
I lost my temper.
This time, the military exercise area was in a deep mountain ravine.
I was performing a reconnaissance mission alone, and, and then I saw some bastard trying to rape a young girl, barely fourteen or fifteen years old.
Happening across such a thing, how could I ignore it?
It’s just that I might have been a bit too heavy-handed and ended up killing the bastard on the spot.”
Gao Yang, dumbfounded, said, “Is that even possible?
That’s too much of a coincidence.
How did you kill him?
Did you shoot him?”
With a look of disdain, the soldier said, “Shoot?
Why would I need a gun to kill a piece of trash?
Bare hands were enough.”
Gao Yang scratched his head and said, “Then why are you running?
This seems like it should be a righteous act, why do you have to flee?
Even if you killed someone, that’s still acting bravely for a just cause.
Even if there’s a mistake, it shouldn’t be a big deal, right?”