It was supposed to be a casual game, but the Long March dungeon brought tears to everyone's eye

Five in the morning, the darkest hour before dawn.

The vanguard group moved along the extremely narrow cliffside walkway like a group of sleepwalkers who had lost consciousness.

"Roast...roast duck..."

Kuang Ge's lips moved, the dry, cracked skin rubbing painfully against them.

He was dreaming.

In his dream, he returned to a world where he didn't have to get rained on in this godforsaken place.

He was sitting in a warm restaurant, with a large round table in front of him.

The table spun around, and a sizzling, reddish-brown roast duck was brought right in front of him.

The duck skin was crispy, and the duck meat was tender...

Kuang Ge instinctively opened his mouth, and tears mixed with rainwater streamed down his face.

"Don't turn...stop..."

He reached out, trying to grab the duck.

But his hand grasped the knot of rope connecting him to the old squad leader in front of him.

In that fleeting, dazed moment...

In the middle of the group, a silent veteran named "Iron Pillar" suddenly felt his legs go weak, and his right foot actually stepped directly into the void outside.

In my sleep, I took a step and missed a step.

"call--"

Tie Zhu slid off the roadbed silently, like a sack full of stones.

next second.

collapse! ! !

The leg bindings that had linked more than a dozen lives taut instantly, and the immense force of the fall was transmitted through the rope in an instant.

"Hmm!"

Ruan Ruan, who was walking behind, didn't even have time to react before she was pulled off the ground by a huge force and slammed hard onto the muddy boardwalk. Then, like a rag doll, she was dragged towards the edge of the cliff.

"Hold!"

Kuang Ge's "roast duck dream" shattered instantly.

A tremendous force tightened around his wrists and waist, forcing him to his knees.

The mud was too slippery; I couldn't brake at all.

"Brake! Brake!"

Startled awake, Kuang Ge roared and frantically scratched at the mud with both hands. His fingernails dug into the cracks in the rocks and broke off instantly, leaving them bleeding profusely.

But this did nothing to stop the downward trend.

The eagle eye in front reacted the fastest.

He suddenly bent low and stood up, his feet digging into the soil like nails, gripping the end of the rope tightly.

But this is the edge of a cliff, with only a thin layer of soil, and underneath are slippery moss-covered rocks.

Hawkeye was dragged along, his feet digging deep furrows in the mud, and he looked like he was about to be pulled down with him.

The old squad leader, who had been caught in the middle and had already fallen asleep, suddenly opened his eyes, which were no longer confused, but were bloodshot and fierce yet calm.

The old squad leader was pulled backward by the rope and flew backward.

Behind him was a sharp, angular rock protruding from the roadbed.

In his current position, his back will hit the impact, and then be thrown off by the enormous inertia, taking everyone with him as they tumble down the cliff.

unless……

Unless he extends his right hand, braces himself against the rock, and uses the leverage to lock his body in place.

This is human instinct, and also the only way to survive.

In that life-or-death moment, the old squad leader's right hand muscles tensed up suddenly.

But just as that right hand, wrapped in thick bandages and slinged across his chest, was about to extend...

What flashed through the old sergeant's mind was not the fear of death, but Ruan Ruan's bloodshot eyes and the image of Eagle Eye changing his shoes.

In his hazy state, he vaguely heard Kuang Ge responding to his sleep-talking.

"Class monitor, I'll wash..."

And then there was his response to Kuang Ge's promise—"This hand...I'm keeping it to fight on the Luding Bridge!"

"This is the promise of the elite squad."

"This is the hand that Ruan Ruan risked her life to save."

Do not move.

That hand is for pulling the trigger on that bridge, not for bracing against the stones here!

"roar!"

The old squad leader roared angrily.

up in the air.

In a state of weightlessness.

The old squad leader actually twisted his waist and abdomen, desperately pulling the right hand that was originally reaching out to save his life back into his arms.

He slammed his intact left side into the sharp rock ridge.

boom!

A muffled thud.

The sound of bones striking rocks sounded particularly dull and eerie on this rainy night.

"Well……"

The old squad leader let out a muffled groan as his left shoulder and head slammed heavily against the rock.

Blood spurted out instantly.

But his body, like a wedge driven into the rock, was stuck firmly in the crevice at the edge of the cliff.

The rope was stretched to its limit.

collapse!

The downward trend came to an abrupt halt at that moment.

The iron pillar suspended in mid-air is only a few dozen meters above the roaring waters of the Dadu River.

Half of its soft body had already jutted out of the cliff, its face above the abyss.

Crazy Brother lay on the muddy ground, panting heavily, his heart pounding in his chest louder than thunder.

stopped.

It really stopped.

A few seconds of deathly silence.

"Pull...pull people!" Hawkeye's voice changed.

At this point, no tactical coordination or instructions are needed.

Everyone, including Ruan Ruan who was almost scared to death, desperately climbed back, grabbed the rope, and pulled the iron pillar hanging in the air upwards little by little, like a tug-of-war.

"One, two! Lift!"

"One, two! Lift!"

at last.

A figure covered in mud and with a face as pale as paper was dragged back to the boardwalk by the group.

As soon as Tiezhu came up, he collapsed into the muddy water, his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

This elite veteran, who had killed without blinking an eye on the battlefield, now covered his face and let out a suppressed sob.

"Class monitor... I'm so sorry everyone... I fell asleep... I deserve to die..."

He was a soldier in the elite squad, and he knew what that moment meant.

If it weren't for the class monitor blocking it, the whole class would have been killed along with him.

"Stop crying!"

A somewhat weak but fiery voice rang out.

The old squad leader leaned against the rock and slowly sat up.

Half of his face was covered in blood.

Those were the wounds left from the impact earlier; a gash had split open in his brow bone, and blood mixed with rainwater flowed down, obscuring his left eye and making him look like a hideous ghost.

But the first thing he did after sitting up wasn't to wipe away the blood.

Instead, he lowered his head.

With her still trembling left hand, she carefully examined the boom in front of her chest.

The bandages are still on.

The branch used for securing it did not break.

His injured hand was held in his arms like a baby, completely unharmed.

"call……"

The old squad leader breathed a long sigh of relief, and his tense shoulders instantly slumped.

"Class monitor!"

Ruan Ruan rushed over and frantically searched for the first aid kit.

"Don't move! Let me see your head!"

The old squad leader grinned, revealing a mouthful of teeth stained red with blood.

He raised his left hand and wiped his face haphazardly, shaking off the blood that was smearing his eyes.

"Why are you crying?"

"Isn't he still alive?"

The old squad leader looked at Tie Zhu, whose face was full of terror, and then at the group of mud monkeys that had gathered around.

"That bump just now, it really hurt like hell..."

The old squad leader gasped for breath and pointed to his forehead.

"But this collision was a good thing."

"Hey, isn't this more refreshing than washing your face with cold water?"

The live stream chat exploded with comments at that moment, and countless viewers covered their mouths, tears welling up in their eyes.

"This is more refreshing than washing your face with cold water! This is like risking your life by putting on the brakes!"

"I saw that movement clearly. He was protecting his right hand... It was a promise he made to Ruan Ruan!"

"Old squad leader: My hands are still intact, so this is a good deal."

"Waaaaah, even though he's smiling, my heart aches so much."

The atmosphere was heavy.

It was a feeling of relief at surviving a disaster, but also a fear of dying at any moment.

Tie Zhu was still crying, his soft hands trembling. Eagle Eye silently cocked the gun to hide the trembling in his fingers.

This fear is contagious.

If morale collapses here, then the last stretch before dawn will truly be impossible to traverse.

At this time.

"Holy crap..."

Crazy Brother, who was lying on the ground, suddenly rolled over, lay on his back, and let out an extremely exaggerated wail.

Everyone was startled and looked at Brother Kuang.

Kuang Ge looked grief-stricken and stared intently at the dark sky, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

"That scared me to death..."

Crazy Brother was panting heavily, cursing and patting his chest.

"Just now... just now I was dreaming about eating roast duck!"

"The duck was fresh out of the oven, the skin was a beautiful golden brown, and the chef had just sliced ​​it; the dough was still on his hands, and the scallions were even dipped in sauce!"

Crazy Brother gestured his famous hand gestures vividly, spitting as he spoke.

"The duck meat was practically being offered to me, I could even smell its ass!"

"And the result?!"

Kuang Ge suddenly sat up, pointed at Tie Zhu, and looked heartbroken.

"And then you old bastard missed a step and flipped my table over!"

"My ducks! They've flown away! All of them have flown away!"

"You're so shameless! Give me back my duck!"

The expression on Kuang Ge's face, filled with gritted teeth and resembling the seven consecutive crooked faces of the Golden Legend, was utterly absurd on the edge of this desolate cliff amidst the bitter wind and rain.

"puff……"

Ruan Ruan, who was bandaging the old squad leader's wounds, was originally shedding tears, but when she heard this, she couldn't help but laugh out loud, even her snot bubbles came out.

"You...you..."

Ruan Ruan was crying and laughing at the same time, and she almost couldn't hold the bandage in her hand.

"What time is it, and you're still thinking about food..."

Even Hawkeye, who had been keeping a straight face, couldn't help but chuckle a couple of times.

Tie Zhu was stunned, his mouth agape, tears streaming down his face, watching the crazy guy who was throwing a tantrum in the mud, demanding "compensation for the ducks."

The feeling of self-blame that made me want to jump off a cliff was actually somewhat diluted by the "roast duck" that fell from the sky.

The old squad leader was so angry he laughed.

He stretched out his left foot and gave Crazy Brother a fake kick to the butt.

"Promising!"

"Once we reach Luding Bridge, I'll treat you to duck!"

"Really?" Crazy Brother's eyes lit up, and he seized the opportunity.

"We'll need two, one to slice and eat, and the other I'll hold and gnaw on!"

"Get lost! Two more? You'll eat your words, you little brat!"

The old squad leader chuckled and cursed, but then, because it aggravated his wound, he grimaced and gasped for breath.

But the deathly gloom hanging over the team was dispelled by a non-existent "roast duck".

The rain is still falling.

The road ahead is still long.

With Ruan Ruan's soft support, the old squad leader stood up again.

He glanced at the bottomless cliff, then at the group of soldiers still joking with each other.

"Are you all awake?"

The old squad leader's voice was as steady as a rock.

"Leave as soon as you wake up!"

"Tiezhu, you stand in the middle! If you dare to sleep again, I'll kick you down and feed you to the fish!"

"Yes, sir!"

Tie Zhu wiped his face, his voice booming.

Once the team was fully alert, they removed the straps that were binding them as dawn approached and restarted.

Kuang Ge walked behind the old squad leader, rubbing his waist which was sore from being constricted, and muttering to himself.

"What a pity about that duck... its skin was so crispy..."

Ruan Ruan turned around and, using the dim light of day, made a face at Kuang Ge.

"Stop nagging, or I'll get hungry."

Kuang Ge chuckled, looked up ahead, and saw the darkness before dawn fading away.

"It's almost dawn," Hawkeye said from the front.

"Good that it's bright now." The old squad leader chewed on a mouthful of rainwater, his voice becoming even more energetic.

"Once it's lit up, you'll be able to see the bridge."