Nightmare (Part 1)

Although feeling dejected, Mo Li considered the hot packs a stroke of luck. With them, at least he wouldn't have to worry about the bugs anymore.

He dumped all the hot packs on the ground and counted them. There were thirty-two in total. Calculating that each hot pack could generate heat for three hours, and if each person had five packs, Zhong Lichun and Wei Dengke could last about ten hours. With those ten hours, it was estimated that both of them would be able to wake up.

While the bonfire hadn't gone out yet, Mo Li got busy again. He picked up five hot packs and went to Wei Dengke. He then placed these packs on Wei Dengke's four limbs and chest. As soon as the hot packs touched his skin, they began to generate heat. Wei Dengke's pale complexion, which was a result of the cold, finally regained a hint of color, and his breathing became more even.

After finishing with Wei Dengke, Mo Li went over to Zhong Lichun. However, Mo Li didn't start immediately. A look of hesitation appeared on his face. Zhong Lichun was only wearing her undergarments. It had been an emergency situation earlier, and Mo Li hadn't thought much of it. Now that his emotions had stabilized, Mo Li hesitated. Zhong Lichun was a young lady, and it wouldn't be appropriate for a man like him to be touching her all over her body!

However, Mo Li knew he had no other choice. There were only three people present, and Zhong Lichun was the only female. Wei Dengke was still unconscious and couldn't help him. In the end, he would have to do it himself.

He sighed, squatted down, and then lifted the parka covering Zhong Lichun. Illuminated by the firelight, Zhong Lichun's skin had a unique orangey-red hue. This girl wasn't voluptuous, but her figure gave off a very soft and natural impression. Mo Li kept repeating to himself, "I'm saving her! I'm saving her!" as he began to place the hot packs on Zhong Lichun, in the same spots as Wei Dengke.

While applying the hot packs, Mo Li finally got a clear look at Zhong Lichun's body. He had seen her once before when she was changing clothes at the foot of the mountain, but Mo Li had quickly turned away after Zhong Lichun caught him peeking, so he hadn't seen her clearly. Earlier, when he had removed Zhong Lichun's clothes to maintain the fire, he hadn't been in the mood to look, so this third time was the first time he truly looked carefully.

Zhong Lichun had quite a few scars on her body. Some were from knives, some from burns, and Mo Li even saw a few bullet wounds. Judging by Zhong Lichun's appearance, Mo Li estimated she was at most twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. What kind of experiences would a girl in her twenties have to endure to end up with so many scars?

After applying the hot packs to Zhong Lichun, Mo Li covered her with the parka again. Then, he sat on the ground, waiting for them to wake up. With the immediate crisis resolved, Mo Li began to worry about the next one. The three of them had been dragged here by the Yeti. Along the way, his pistol and Zhong Lichun's submachine gun had been lost. Wei Dengke had a bunch of miscellaneous items on him, but he didn't even know what they were for.

For Mo Li, the only weapon he had was Zhong Lichun's dagger. But facing the strong and ferocious Yeti, would this dagger really be effective?

As time passed, the bonfire gradually diminished. After burning through all the combustible material, the flames were barely visible. The fire could go out at any moment. Mo Li picked up two more glow sticks from the ground, snapped them to activate the chemical reaction, and casually tossed them onto the ground. Mo Li then lay down on the ground and began to ponder some questions. What was his current state? What was this drug called SY7113 that Wei Dengke mentioned? If he hadn't been injected with that drug, he might have become crippled due to his spinal injury. Thinking about it this way, he should be grateful to Wei Dengke and Zhong Lichun.

However, after feeling his body for so long, Mo Li had clearly noticed some changes. He was now on a mountainside thousands of meters high, where the temperature was definitely below minus twenty degrees Celsius, or even lower. In such temperatures, a normal person would definitely feel cold, but he was only wearing boxer shorts and didn't feel cold at all. His body temperature was also very high. Was this the effect of the drug?

Also, after the previous few dangerous encounters, Mo Li found that his reaction time, speed, and strength had all significantly improved. Especially in terms of speed and strength, he was at least three times stronger than an ordinary person. What was going on? Was this also the effect of the drug? Was this self-enhancement a good thing or a bad thing? What would happen to him in the future?

Fear and shock could cause immense mental stress in a person. People with excessive mental stress would feel fatigued. Although Mo Li's physical condition was much stronger than that of an ordinary person, he was still within the scope of humanity. After lying on the ground and thinking for a short while, Mo Li surprisingly fell into a deep sleep.

Mo Li had a dream. In his dream, he was standing in a completely dark world. In the pitch-black darkness, he felt utterly lost. Mo Li wanted to make a sound, but he opened his mouth for a long time without being able to utter a single word. Mo Li wanted to move his body, but his feet felt as heavy as lead, making it impossible to even lift them.

Just as Mo Li began to feel fear because he couldn't speak or move, the surrounding darkness gradually brightened. Then, a figure appeared before him. Seeing this person, Mo Li's expression froze. The person standing before him was Director Liu, who had taken special care of him when he was in the orphanage. When Mo Li came of age, Director Liu was already almost seventy years old. She was a kind old lady who never scolded Mo Li, no matter how mischievous he was. She always smiled at him. In Mo Li's heart, Director Liu was like his own grandmother.

After joining the army, Mo Li often wrote letters to Director Liu and sent her his salary to cover the orphanage's expenses. According to Mo Li, he wanted to repay the orphanage because it was his home.

Unfortunately, starting from the year before last, although Mo Li continued to write letters to Director Liu, she never replied. Later, when he called the orphanage to inquire, the staff told him that Director Liu had passed away two years ago due to a sudden heart attack. Hearing the news of Director Liu's death, Mo Li felt like his heart was breaking. The pain of losing a loved one had caused Mo Li to fall into a slump for over a month.

Seeing Director Liu again, Mo Li was incredibly excited. He wanted to open his arms and rush into Director Liu's embrace, to shout her name loudly, but his body couldn't move, and his mouth couldn't speak. He could only look at Director Liu anxiously, unable to do anything. That feeling of seeing a loved one but being unable to express any emotion was truly unbearable.