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

The soft voice was very small and weak.

Like a newly hatched bird, trying to sing in the strong wind.

But as soon as those words were uttered, Little Tiger, who was chewing on grass roots, suddenly looked up.

Little Bean, whose eyes were unfocused, twitched his ears and began to focus.

Crazy Bro, Eagle Eye, and the live stream audience were all stunned at the same time.

This is... the song that our old squad leader taught us last night?

Ruan Ruan was still humming, her voice breaking intermittently, but becoming clearer and clearer.

"First...all actions must be carried out under command...only with unified action can victory be achieved..."

She has a fever.

She might not even be fully conscious.

But this song, this melody, these few simple lyrics, seem to be engraved in her bones and melted into her blood.

She listened to the song that the old squad leader and the others sang last night.

Instead of singing to please the fans in the live stream.

"Secondly... we will not take a single needle or thread from the people..."

In the darkness, Little Bean's voice followed timidly.

Next up was Little Tiger, who had a somewhat hoarse voice.

"...the people support and like me..."

Then came Hawkeye's deep voice.

Finally, there was Crazy Brother's raspy voice.

Dozens of people, dressed in rags and too hungry to even speak, hummed a song with great effort and tenderness in this desolate, uninhabited place.

It's like lulling someone to sleep.

In the live stream room, Ruan Ruan's fans listened quietly.

As they watched the girl on the screen, her face covered in mud, singing with her eyes closed, they suddenly realized that this was better than any of the songs she had sung on stage in haute couture gowns before.

As the music ended, the lingering notes seemed to still echo above the grass.

Her soft breathing became more even.

Although his body was still burning hot, the deathly pallor had miraculously disappeared.

Just then, a rough, large hand gently pushed through the crowd.

He's the old squad leader.

He carried that big black pot on his back and stood guard on the outermost edge to block the wind.

At this moment, he slowly walked up to Ruan Ruan, his eyes flashing with a heart-stirring light of approval.

That's the joy of seeing your own child finally grow up.

The old squad leader silently unbuttoned his old cotton-padded jacket, which was already tattered and revealed yellowed cotton wadding.

That was his only clothing to keep warm.

He only has one hand, so his movements are quite slow and laborious.

Kuang Ge wanted to help, but the old squad leader stopped him with a look.

The old squad leader took off his cotton-padded coat, still warm from his body heat, and gently covered the soft body with it.

Then he stretched out his one arm and tucked Ruan Ruan's clothes in.

"Girl." The old sergeant's eyes were a little dazed, as if he were coaxing his own daughter to sleep, "You sang not badly."

"It sounds better than that... Starlight."

After saying that, the old squad leader, wearing only a single layer of clothing, sat back down in the windy spot.

He lifted the large black pot on his back.

The pipe tucked at his waist traced a faint arc in the night.

"Go to sleep."

"The squad leader will stand guard for you."

……

In the latter half of the night, the dark clouds had not yet dispersed, and the weather grew even colder.

The old squad leader sat on the sheltered earthen embankment, like a clay Buddha statue.

He was wearing only a tattered shirt, his body trembled slightly, but his back was ramrod straight.

Hawkeye, who hadn't slept well at all, quietly got up, stretched his stiff joints, and made a crisp "crack" sound.

The old squad leader twitched his ear but didn't turn around.

"Awake? Go back to sleep, it's only past 1-3 AM."

"I can't sleep." Hawkeye walked over to the old sergeant and tried to help him up.

"Squad leader, let me take your turn. Your health is too poor..."

"Don't move," the old squad leader hissed, then gave a wry smile.

"My legs are numb. Moving them could cause cramps. Let me rest for a bit."

By the faint glow of the phosphorescent light, Eagle Eyes could make out the old squad leader's face.

His face was deathly pale with an unnatural bluish-gray tinge.

Due to lack of oxygen and cold, the old squad leader's lips had turned purplish-black, and his eye sockets had sunken in.

"Squad leader, your eyes..." Hawkeye was startled.

"Old problem, freckles." The old squad leader rubbed the corner of his eye nonchalantly.

"At night, I'm like a blind person; I can't see the road."

"I'm just here to hear the noise, to be your ears."

Night blindness, also known as nymphomania, instantly broke the defenses of viewers in Eagle Eye's live stream.

"This is still because they're not eating enough, they're lacking Vitamin A..."

"The old squad leader just said 'I'll stand guard for you,' so he can't see anything at all? He's risking his life to listen?"

The old squad leader seemed to sense Hawkeye's approach. He shakily stretched out his one arm, groped in the darkness, and accurately grabbed the probing stick beside him.

"Give."

The old squad leader handed the stick to Hawkeye, solemnly handing it over.

"Here you go."

Hawkeye took it and gripped it tightly.

"Yes, squad leader."

After the handover, the two did not separate immediately.

The air was so quiet it was almost oppressive, with the occasional strange cry of an unknown water bird in the distance, sounding like a mournful wail.

Eagle Eye stared at the old squad leader's empty right sleeve, a question lingering in his mind for a long time.

Under the cover of darkness, Hawkeye finally asked the question.

"Squad leader," Hawkeye asked cautiously, "this hand...was lost on this road?"

This question surprised the viewers in the Eagle Eye live stream.

Surprisingly, not many people knew how the old squad leader lost his right arm.

Upon hearing this, the old squad leader stiffened slightly.

He instinctively reached for his right sleeve with his left hand, only to find nothing.

"no."

The old squad leader shook his head, his cloudy eyes seeming to pierce through the dark grass and gaze towards the distant south.

"It was lost in Anshunchang, on the way to Luding Bridge."

When Hawkeye heard "Anshunchang," he was still confused, wondering where he was.

But upon hearing "Luding Bridge," he seemed to remember something, and his pupils suddenly contracted.

The chat in the live stream immediately realized what was happening.

"Holy crap! Luding Bridge?! Is it that 'Flying Capture of Luding Bridge'?!"

"I knew it! I knew this game had a prequel! That foggy area on the map was definitely foreshadowing!"

"My God, if it was lost there, how fierce must the battle have been?"

Hawkeye couldn't help but press, "What... happened back then?"

The old squad leader remained silent, as if he hadn't heard what Hawkeye said.

He simply patted Hawkeye on the shoulder naturally, lay down, shrank into the embankment, and gave him instructions.

"Hawkeye, keep watch at night, don't let the wolves carry you away."

Hawkeye hesitated, then stopped asking further questions.

Many players have asked about "the capture of Luding Bridge" directly before, but the NPCs just don't seem to hear them.

The spoiler prevention mechanism implemented by Luo Laozei is truly watertight.

However, his casual question unexpectedly yielded some information about the Luding Bridge, which was a pleasant surprise.

Hawkeye couldn't help but look up and gaze south, in the direction the old squad leader had just been looking.

Luding Bridge... Old Squad Leader... Lost Arm...

Since there's a prequel, the future of the old sergeant's severed arm can be changed through the prequel, right?