The world, Ye Delun and Yang Lan currently resided in was relatively peaceful. The latest war, one in which was peacefully ended though agreement of both sides years ago, was the one Shen Lin served in.
To the public, not much was known about the inner workings of the other side. Why they attacked, what they wanted, and what they would do to achieve it. Information was tight and fed slowly to the picky public.
Shen Lin didn't play the biggest part she could have. She rejected several promotions and stayed closer to where she thought she belonged, on the battlefield. In exchange for rejecting, she was given a small elite squad to care for. That way, she could be on the ground and have a position more deserving of her skills.
"I was very grateful for their understanding of what I wanted. I never could have thought of a better position to be in." Shen Lin told the small crowd around her.
She was easily able to juggle both the stress of the job and the responsibilities that come along with it. They were sent on mission after mission, and it was a success after success. Her superiors were very proud of her accomplishments.
"Although the public never knew of my name or existence, I still thought of myself as a hero being cheered on by blaring crowds."
She and her team were relied on for dangerous missions and she carried them out thoroughly every single time.
She was sent on a mission similar to the many ones she had done before. Sneak in, check the conditions of the area, and then leave. It was quick and easy, usually only taking up to three days time.
"From what we could tell, it was a normal small town. Normally, towns close to the border would be abandoned, but civilians were still working. Shops were still open and selling, cars still expelling exhaust, and were driving through the streets. It wasn't at all like the other towns, which were either abandoned or surrounded by soldiers."
They had scouted around the area and ending up with the result of it being safe. There was no mistreatment of the civilians.
One of the locals ending up housing them while they were under the excuse of being refugees from a town closer to the border. They were nice enough to not even hesitate to take them in.
"There was one woman, around her 80's who reminded me of my grandmother. She cook a stew for us that night, it was honestly one of the best things I have had to eat."
The woman's name was Ye Peizhi, she was an old woman who demanded respect. She and her grandchild lived alone in their home. She said her son was a soldier who had a respectable position of his own.
"It was strange to listen to her brag about my enemy's accomplishments when it was my job to eventually put an end to them."
That night, they laid in the blankets that were provided for them on the floor. After a long day of traveling and the unfamiliar, comforting feeling of being in a warm home, Shen Lin made the mistake of closing her eyes.
"Usually I wouldn't sleep. But I ended up letting down my guard, it was a mistake completely on my part."
That night, the grandchild and grandmother had tried to kill them while they were sleeping. They ended up succeeding in slitting the throat of two of her teammates, and severely hurting three. Only her and two others were left unharmed.
When telling her crowd of listeners her story, she hesitated in telling the truth. In the end, she said that they knocked them out and tossed them outside. When in reality, a mistake like that wouldn't ever have to leave that room breathing. She decided to not even mention the ones killed.
This was part of her job that she hated. Having to bury the bodies discreetly without alarming others. The evidence had to be hidden, and the underground served that purpose perfectly. Over the years of work, it was scary how fast the process went by. Their years of practice really come out to shine in those moments.
When they tried to escape the town, they were surrounded by an ambush made of civilians. It turned out, the civilians were threatened with their lives to report any sightings of strangers coming in, refugee or not. Even though not many knew they were here, everyone in the town was told to get rid of them.
Women and children surrounded them. In her eyes they were harmless, but that made this her worst fear, having to murder the innocent.
It's not that she hasn't killed before, she has, almost too many times to count. That includes civilians. Like it was mentioned, the public didn't know much about their enemy. They were spoon-fed into staying calm. If they knew about the fact that their enemy wouldn't hesitate to kill their civilians then asking for peace would be impossible. The public would be too rounded up to forgive them, and then all of the soldiers like them would be used till their honorable death.
"So my team and I fought together, we were able to fight through the crowd and make it to safety."
That wasn't what happened of course. The three heavily injured were killed by the mob and only three of them were able to make it out alive. Although they were injured with slices to her arms and legs, and one of her partners had a couple of broken ribs from being slammed into, and the other crushed his fingers and lost an eye.
And it wasn't a fight through the crowd, it was fighting the crowd. To the death, of course.
"So then afterward, I realized that I wanted more with my life. So I retired and started to live the life I have now." She finished off.
"That's it? Really?" Yang Lan said.
"Thank you for telling us, Shen Lin, it was very entertaining." Xiang Tingfeng said.
Shen Lin awkwardly chuckled and looked away from their sincere stares. "Yeah, thanks for listening."
"I never knew someone could go through something like that, it sounded straight from fiction." Yang Lang had admiration in her eyes as she looked at Shen Lin. This only made her feel guilty for covering up the whole truth.
[The character 'Shen Lin' is thankful that she wasn't asked to tell more!]
The message appeared in front of him, causing him to look up and study Shen Lin's face. She looked relieved, as well as anxious. Her face was pale as she awkwardly rubbed her neck.
"Yeah, I've really lived an interesting life."
Suddenly, Yin Meng spoke up. "Stop talking." He said as he held a hand up to silence everyone. Shen Lin almost spoke up to berate him for being rude, but then stopped as well.
"What is -mmm." Yang Lan said as Shen Lin reached to cover her mouth. "Shhhh..." She shushed them quietly before pointing to the entrance of the hallway.
"Something's coming."