Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
The wind and snow still howled, the soldiers still stood straight as pines, and the snow leopard still paced restlessly nearby.
But Su Mingfeng's entire world had narrowed to that tiny, bloodstained five-pointed star in the snow.
His breathing stopped.
His heartbeat stopped too.
Slowly, ever so slowly, he crouched down.
His movements were as stiff as a rusted robot's.
He reached out. That hand, which could hold a rifle steady on the battlefield and command armies with sweeping authority, now shook uncontrollably.
It took him several tries before he finally picked the medal up from the snow.
The cold touch of metal pierced straight through his fingertips into his heart.
He cradled it in his palm like a priceless treasure.
With his thumb, he gently brushed away the snowflakes.
On the back of the medal, a line of deeply engraved words emerged.
-To my younger sister Mingyue. May you shine as brilliantly as the stars all your life.
Your brother, Mingfeng.
This was...
These were the words he had engraved with his own hands.
This was the wedding gift he had given his younger sister, Su Mingyue, six years ago, on the night before she married.
He had given his first and most treasured First-Class Combat Hero medal to the sister he loved most.
He had hoped that this medal, which represented honor and protection, would bless her with a lifetime of peace and happiness.
But he had never imagined that this medal would ultimately become his sister's death warrant.
Still less had he imagined that, five years later, he would see it again in a place like this, in such a way.
His niece, whose whereabouts had been unknown, had guarded it with her life and brought it back before him from a hellish predicament.
"Ah..."
From Su Mingfeng's throat came an utterly suppressed roar, like the mournful howl of a beast.
He jerked his head up and looked at the tiny figure lying unconscious in his arms.
It was him.
He was the one who had brought this upon them.
If not for his status as her older brother, if not for the military honors this medal represented, his sister and brother-in-law would never have been targeted by those undercover spies, nor would they have died protecting important scientific research materials.
Nuannuan... his Nuannuan would never have suffered such a calamity so soon after birth, nor ended up in a place like this, enduring every torment.
Thud.
This strapping man, one of the nation's youngest generals, dropped straight to his knees in the snow.
He clenched the medal tightly in his palm, and with his other hand pressed Nuannuan even harder against him.
He wanted to meld her into his very flesh and bones.
He wanted to warm her freezing body with his own warmth.
He wanted to use his own life to make up for all he owed her over these past five years.
"My fault... it's all Uncle's fault..."
"Nuannuan... Uncle's so sorry... so sorry to your mother..."
Two streams of scalding tears burst uncontrollably from the corners of this iron-willed soldier's eyes.
They dripped onto Nuannuan's icy little face and instantly froze.
The soldiers around him were all dumbstruck.
When had they ever seen their commander like this?
Su Mingfeng, who never cracked a smile on the training grounds and acted with ruthless decisiveness on missions, was now crying like a helpless child.
The military doctor finally snapped out of it. He rushed forward, no longer caring about rank or protocol, and said anxiously, "Sir! The child has a high fever, multiple areas of frostbite, and external injuries. She needs emergency treatment immediately! Any further delay could endanger her life!"
Those words jolted Su Mingfeng awake like a bucket of cold water.
He sprang to his feet, but after kneeling for so long, the sudden movement made him stumble and nearly fall.
"Yes! Save her! Save her!"
Holding Nuannuan, he turned and rushed toward the train.
"Doctor! Come with me! Signalman! Clear out my compartment immediately! Turn on every heater! Every last one!"
"Guard! Go! Bring me all the condensed milk, powdered milk, canned food, and sugar on the train!"
"Squad One! Secure the area! Protect... protect our hero!"
He pointed at the snow leopard still prowling in the same spot.
"Until I give the order, no one is to approach it, much less hurt it!"
One order after another left his mouth, clear and urgent.
He had become that swift, decisive commander again.
Only his voice carried a tremor and lingering fear he could not conceal.
With Nuannuan in his arms, he bounded onto the train and rushed into his private compartment.
"Close the door! No unauthorized personnel allowed inside!"
"Yes, sir!"
The compartment door slammed shut, sealing out the wind and snow.
The military doctor deftly opened his medical kit and began examining Nuannuan's injuries.
Scissors carefully cut through the rags that could no longer be called clothes.
When Nuannuan's skeletal body, covered in bruises of every shade, was exposed beneath the light.
Both men in the compartment drew sharp breaths.
That was not a body any five-year-old child should have had.
New injuries overlapped old ones, frostbite adjoined burns, and long, thin marks that looked as though they had been left by a cane covered her little back.
Su Mingfeng clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked.
His nails dug deep into his flesh.
"Sir... the child is severely malnourished. Prolonged hunger and cold have brought her bodily functions to the brink of collapse." The doctor's voice was strained. "Her fever is at least thirty-nine degrees. I'll cool her down with physical methods first, then she needs energy and fluids immediately."
"Do it! Use the best medicine! Use the best of everything! Whatever the cost, you must save her!" Su Ming-feng forced the words through gritted teeth.
"Yes, sir!"
The doctor set to work, wiping Nuannuan's body with warm water and alcohol-soaked cotton balls.
Just then, the unconscious Nuannuan seemed to sense something. Her brows knitted tightly, and indistinct murmurs escaped her little mouth.
"Bad people... train... back of the train..."
"And... so many... so many children..."
Su Mingfeng's hand, which had been wiping her face with a hot towel, froze.
He bent down and brought his ear close to Nuannuan's mouth.
"Nuannuan? What did you say? Say it again?"
"Bad people... at the back... caught... so many people..."
Nuannuan's voice came in broken fragments, but every word branded Su Mingfeng's heart like a red-hot iron.
His face instantly darkened like a gathering storm.
He slowly straightened, and at that moment, all the grief and remorse in his eyes turned into towering killing intent.