Volume Two: Shadows of the Past Chapter Twenty-Four: I Used to Be a Soldier

Gazing at the smoke-choked scene in the distance, Zhang Qishan’s face had gone rigid.

The crew on set was stunned as well. No one had expected an accident like this.

“Ajing!!!”

Lin Zitan and Lin Xi were the first to react, both rushing toward the place where Chen Jing had been caught in the blast.

“Quick! What are you standing there for? Go save them! Check how badly they’re hurt!”

“Hurry, hurry! Call an ambulance first!”

The staff finally snapped out of it and hurried over to help.

Though Lin Xi and Lin Zitan had been the first to run, the first to arrive would naturally be the emergency personnel the production had prepared in advance for unexpected incidents.

Before the two women could enter the demolition zone, they were stopped by the crew.

“Move aside. I need to see how Ajing is,” Lin Zitan insisted, trying to push through.

A staff member kindly urged, “Miss, you really shouldn’t go over there. We still don’t know which charge malfunctioned. There could be a second explosion. It’s too dangerous for you to rush in like this. Let the professionals assess the situation first.”

“Move. I’m going over there.” Lin Zitan tried to force her way through again, but Lin Xi caught her from behind and held her fast.

Frowning tightly, Lin Xi wrapped her arms around her and soothed her in a low voice. “Zitan, don’t be reckless. The danger hasn’t been cleared yet. If we charge in now, we’ll only make trouble for the rescue team. If we interfere with them saving Chen Jing, that would be worse. At least wait until they’ve ruled out any danger.”

Hearing this, all strength seemed to leave Lin Zitan’s body. She sagged helplessly in Lin Xi’s arms as tears streamed down her face. Leaning weakly against her sister, she asked in a trembling voice, “Sis… will Ajing be all right?”

Lin Xi patted her back and comforted her softly. “He’ll be fine. Chen Jing will definitely be fine.”

Meanwhile, the emergency team had reached the place where Chen Jing and the others had been blown down. Thick smoke billowed everywhere, making it impossible to see clearly. They could only vaguely make out two figures sprawled on the ground, and less than a yard from them was a large crater—the blast pit, no doubt.

Unable to determine their condition, the medics called out, “Are you all right? Are you still conscious?”

“We’re okay. Nothing serious.”

A voice came suddenly from within the smoke. It was Chen Jing.

They saw him brace himself on the ground, shake his head once, and then rise to his feet as though nothing had happened.

The emergency workers stared in disbelief. One of them asked blankly, “Uh... are you really all right?”

“I’m fine. Check on Manqiang—see if he’s hurt.” Chen Jing brushed the dirt from his clothes and began walking out. He had already heard Lin Zitan crying.

As the smoke gradually thinned, the scene came into focus, and Chen Jing’s figure emerged clearly. He saw Lin Xi and Lin Zitan standing there, holding each other in consolation. Seeing Lin Zitan silently weeping, eyes fixed this way in fear and worry, a warmth stirred in his heart.

“What’s this? Why has our Zitan cried herself into such a little kitten?”

At the sound of Chen Jing’s voice, Lin Xi and Lin Zitan both looked up to see his silhouette appearing through the smoke.

“Ajing!” Lin Zitan cried out. Breaking free from Lin Xi’s embrace, she ran straight toward him.

This time, the crew did not stop her. Since Chen Jing had already come out, there was likely no further danger.

She rushed to his side and threw herself at him without hesitation. Chen Jing could only open his arms and gather her into his embrace.

He gave a soft laugh and patted her back gently. “Why are you crying like this? I’m fine.”

Lin Xi came over as well, looking him over carefully. There was no blood on him, and he did not appear injured. Only then did the tension in her heart ease, if only a little.

Lin Zitan lifted her tear-streaked face and looked at him with reddened eyes. “Ajing, I thought the blast hit you...”

With her tears mingled with the dirt on his clothes, her makeup had already smudged, and dust clung here and there to her body. She looked bedraggled now, far removed from her usual polished image as a poised professional beauty.

Chen Jing wiped the tears and smudges from her face and said with a smile, “It didn’t hit me. Don’t worry.”

“Are you sure you’re all right? Shouldn’t you get checked out?” Lin Xi asked, still uneasy.

Chen Jing smiled and shook his head. “It didn’t explode right under my feet. I’m fine. Their demolition team had already calculated the charge strength. As long as it doesn’t go off directly beneath you, the blast force isn’t enough to injure anyone.”

At that moment, Liu Manqiang was helped out as well. Judging by the way he shook his head and stumbled unsteadily, it was obvious he still had not fully recovered from the shock of the explosion.

“Are you two all right?”

By then, Zhang Qishan and the rest of the directing team had arrived.

Only after seeing that both Liu Manqiang and Chen Jing seemed unharmed did they finally breathe easier. If someone had truly been injured because of an error in the demolition work, the aftermath would have been troublesome indeed—there was even the possibility that filming would have to be suspended.

With such a major mishap, there was no way the shoot could continue today. Zhang Qishan had no choice but to call for a break. At the same time, he ordered the demolition team to conduct a thorough review: why had such an error occurred? They had to find the cause. This time no one had been hurt—but what about next time? They could not count on luck forever.

Liu Manqiang was helped to a seat. The medics examined him and found that aside from a few minor scrapes, he had no serious injuries. The staff nearby all congratulated him on his good fortune. Though the blast had gone off early by mistake, the detonation point had still been about half a yard from him—within the margin of safety, more or less—and that was why he had escaped injury.

But what had really happened was known only to Liu Manqiang.

Once he recovered a little, he turned to look at Chen Jing, who was still comforting the two sisters nearby, his gaze complicated.

In truth, he knew very well that the reason he had emerged from the blast completely unharmed was entirely because of Chen Jing.

The actual detonation point had been right beneath his feet.

As he and Chen Jing had been running forward, in the instant before the explosion, he suddenly felt Chen Jing seize him. Before he had time to react, Chen Jing had yanked him down to the ground—and then came the earth-shaking blast. The very spot where he had been standing moments before erupted as soil burst apart and flew into the air. Without that pull, Liu Manqiang was certain that even if he might not have died, his legs would almost certainly have been destroyed.

His expression grew even more complicated. Thinking back to the moment before the blast, when Chen Jing had not hesitated to drag him down and shield him beneath his own body, he felt a surge of emotion too deep for words.

This was no small debt.

This was a life he owed him.

After taking a deep breath, Liu Manqiang said to Zhang Qishan and the others, “It wasn’t luck. Ajing saved me. Just before the explosion, he threw me aside. Otherwise, the blast would have gone off right under my feet.”

“What?”

Zhang Qishan and the others were astonished. Then all at once, they turned toward Chen Jing in amazement.

So it had actually been Chen Jing who saved Liu Manqiang?

But then a question arose: how had Chen Jing known the failed charge would explode early? If he had not known there was a timing error, there was no way he could have thrown Liu Manqiang down in advance and saved him.

Zhang Qishan rubbed his stubbled chin, thought for a moment, and asked, “The blast shot just now was caught on camera too, wasn’t it?”

One of the cinematographers answered at once, “Yes, it was.”

“Good. Let’s watch the playback and see exactly what happened at the moment of the explosion.”

Before long, a whole crowd had gathered around the monitor to review the footage. Once the scene was slowed down, it became plainly visible: one second before the accidental blast, it was indeed Chen Jing who yanked Liu Manqiang down and covered him with his own body. Otherwise, the explosion would have gone off directly under Liu Manqiang’s feet.

“Excellent! That blast shot is excellent!” Zhang Qishan clapped his hands on the spot when he saw the replay.

Then, noticing the dark looks on Lin Xi and the others’ faces, he gave an awkward laugh and hurried to explain, “Don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying the explosion itself was good. I mean the shot wasn’t ruined, and it captured exactly the effect I wanted.”

“In battle, throwing yourself over a comrade without regard for your own life—that is what truly shows the brotherhood forged on the battlefield. Yes, this shot is definitely going into the film.”

The more he spoke, the more excited he became, already thinking ahead to how he would edit the movie.

Chen Jing shook his head helplessly. Were all brilliant directors this unhinged?

Only after watching the playback did everyone fully confirm it: Chen Jing really had saved Liu Manqiang.

“Chen Jing, how did you know that charge was going to go off early?” Zhang Qishan asked curiously, returning to himself at last.

“Uh...” Faced with every gaze on set turning toward him, Chen Jing found himself at a loss for how to answer.

The reason he had known, of course, was his keen instinct for danger. But he could hardly explain that to everyone here; no one would understand it.

After a moment’s thought, Chen Jing merely shrugged. “I used to be a soldier, so I’m fairly familiar with explosions. During the take just now, aside from the first detonation point being normal, all the ones after that were going off faster and faster. So I guessed the final charge would ignite early, and that’s why I decided to throw Liu Manqiang down.”

At that explanation, everyone present looked at him with renewed respect.

In this land, soldiers were held in the highest esteem. No one had expected that this young man before them had once served in the military. And from the way he described it, he had often been exposed to dangerous situations involving explosions. That meant he could not have been from any ordinary branch.

To judge from such subtle signs that a charge would detonate early, and then act decisively to save a comrade—how many brushes with danger must it have taken to forge such experience? To possess such precise instincts, could he have once belonged to some elite unit?