092 Kiss Your Homeland (First Update—Please Subscribe!)

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As the northernmost country of the entire African continent, the eastern and northern sides of Tunisia are bordered by the Mediterranean Sea. Its nearly thirteen hundred kilometers of coastline became the best shield for Li Changjiang and the father-daughter pair, Wu Delong and Wu Sisi, as they evaded pursuit.

Except for a brief moment of trouble crossing the border between Libya and Tunisia, the three encountered no further malicious inspections or interrogations. In a country relatively friendly to China, the Chinese faces undoubtedly spared them much trouble.

No government wishes to provoke unnecessary conflicts or accidents with foreigners, especially when that foreign country looms as a terrifying colossus.

Thus, the trio smoothly entered a border city in Tunisia.

On their journey out of Libya, Li Changjiang had little communication with Wu Delong and Wu Sisi. The pair seemed to sense that he wished to avoid any entanglement, so they maintained silence.

Only on the following day did the three finally reach the Chinese Embassy in Tunisia.

When the gray-white body of the plane suddenly soared from the ground into the clouds, Li Changjiang’s heart began to pound, faster and faster. He knew this wasn’t fear, but exhilaration.

At last, he was leaving this damn place!

If he had a choice, Li Changjiang would rather never set foot in this nightmare land for the rest of his life.

Yet his expression, as seen by Wu Sisi beside him, looked like fear.

“So much for being a hero—turns out he’s just a coward,” she muttered under her breath. Li Changjiang didn’t quite catch her words, but from her expression, he could guess they were far from flattering.

Li Changjiang had no desire to converse with the unfamiliar woman beside him, not even to spare her a glance, so he quickly slipped into sleep.

Seeing that Li Changjiang ignored her so thoroughly, Wu Sisi’s beautiful brows immediately knit together in anger.

“Don’t move!” came a low command beside her.

Wu Delong gave a slight shake of his head, signaling her to be still. He tore a sheet from the notepad on the table before them and scribbled a note for her.

“Try not to provoke him.”

Wu Sisi became a little puzzled, but Wu Delong glanced covertly at the seats ahead of them and wrote another line.

“He’s being followed.”

Wu Sisi was momentarily stunned, but soon realized this was no bluff.

Not only were there suspicious figures ahead, but behind them sat two very young men, their faces stern and exuding a keen, hardened aura.

There was no doubt—these four were professional soldiers.

And definitely not ordinary troops.

She suddenly felt a surge of curiosity about the young man lying beside her.

Who was he, to warrant such tight protection arranged by the embassy? Could it be that the military back home already knew the secret about Li Lin? Impossible!

Even Li Lin himself was unaware of that secret, let alone anyone else. Now, aside from her and her father, only Li Changjiang and those three left behind in Libya knew, and even the Americans had very limited information.

The Russian who’d pried information from them earlier hadn’t gotten everything right. They weren’t fools; naturally, they held something back.

Suppressing her curiosity, Wu Sisi soon slipped into sleep as well.

The cabin was unusually quiet. On a long intercontinental journey like this, few would choose to remain awake throughout.

Only after a mid-journey transfer to a larger and more luxurious aircraft did Li Changjiang slowly recover from the fatigue of his arduous trek. Yet his mind and taut nerves could hardly relax in so brief a time, so aside from quietly sitting in his seat, he had little choice.

The sniper rifle he’d carried from Benghazi to Tripoli and then to Misrata had been tossed into a coastal bay when crossing the Tunisian border. Returning home, all he had left was a travel bag reeking from inside out.

He still remembered the embassy’s security inspector, almost grimacing as he scanned every inch of the bag.

But the bag couldn’t be taken onboard, so apart from two plane tickets and a temporary visa in his pocket, Li Changjiang’s only belongings were some cash from the embassy and a palm-sized wooden box.

With a special travel permit issued by the embassy, nearly every airport was a green light all the way, up to the immigration check upon landing at Donghai International Airport.

Yet the two staff in charge of entry merely glanced at his permit with a strange look, handed it back, and let him through, performing only a perfunctory inspection.

Li Changjiang, of course, had no idea that less than an hour before his landing, the border checkpoint had received a call to give him special treatment.

And just half an hour after Li Changjiang arrived at the Chinese Embassy in Tunisia, the intelligence services and embassy had already delivered news of his whereabouts to the Special Operations Command Center in the northwest.

Two khaki-green military jeeps quickly departed a special training base deep in the desert. Arriving at the northwest military airport, several young officers switched to a civilian transport plane heading to Donghai.

Donghai City.

North plaza of the international airport terminal.

Just stepping out of the terminal, Li Changjiang, ignoring the stunned stares of passersby, knelt directly on the ground, pressed his head into the soil of the roadside flower bed, and took several deep breaths before standing up.

This was the scent of China!

Without facing life and death, without enduring the struggle of blood and fire, no one could understand the ecstasy of surviving catastrophe.

What did the cold stares of others matter? Li Changjiang would never forget those days spent on the brink of life and death, never knowing whether the next moment would bring survival or demise.

As Li Changjiang made his strange gesture, not far away, Wu Delong and Wu Sisi, just out of the terminal, quickly noticed the odd scene.

“Madman!”

“He’s not mad—he’s truly clever!” Wu Delong’s voice carried a touch of emotion, his face tinged with melancholy, as if recalling something from the past. He too had once been a soldier, a man who’d seen battle, held guns, and taken bullets—a hot-blooded hero with brothers like Li Changjiang before him.

Though he knew nothing of Li Changjiang’s identity or background, at this moment, what seemed madness or foolishness in others’ eyes became a strange kinship in Wu Delong’s.

A soldier should love this land with unwavering devotion.

To kiss it, what does it matter? (To be continued.)