War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1528 The Wish List of the Magic Lamp

In the Beirut city area that was about to be completely shrouded by the night, Wei Ran, who had already taken off his surgical gown, walked in the shadows of the ruined streets that had lost power and were in ruins, patiently searching for his desired prey.

Avoiding the refugees who were searching for food in the ruins, clothes and fuel for heating and cooking, or still looking for their missing relatives, the buildings around him were becoming more and more dilapidated, and in these buildings that could already be called ruins, there were fewer and fewer fires that proved that there were still people there.

Finally, when he was about to turn a corner, he noticed the soldiers patrolling in line across the street, as well as three pickup trucks parked not far away that served as firepower fortresses, as well as machine guns mounted on some of the pickup trucks, and a row of halogen headlights on the top of the cab of one of the vehicles that were not turned on.

Hiding in the shadow of the ruins, Wei Ran patiently observed the patrol routes of the militants.

Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes, when the group of four militants crossed the T-junction for the fifth time, he also figured out their route of movement.

The three pickup trucks on the corner of the street were their center point. In the space enclosed by tent cloth behind the three pickup trucks, a bonfire was lit for heating, and he could hear laughter and conversation inside that he could not understand.

In addition to the people guarding the pickup truck, there were four other armed men patrolling back and forth along the horizontal line above the T-intersection to the other two intersections on both sides.

In addition, there was a team of three people who patrolled along the T-junction in the direction where Wei Ran came from. These three people also only patrolled to the next intersection and then turned back.

This patrol route seemed tight, but Wei Ran knew clearly that unless they were well-trained regular troops, these militiamen would definitely mess things up in the second half of the night.

I just don't know whether the searchlights on the car will be turned on when it gets completely dark. This is an unknown, but it is also a huge trouble.

I have to go back to celebrate Edelweiss's birthday, so I don't have time to stay with you until late at night.

Wei Ran muttered to himself as he walked to the intersection at the end of the T-shaped patrol route and lay in the shadow of a car wreckage that had been burned to a metal shell.

Soon, as the footsteps got closer, the patrol team of only three people also walked back from the distance with flashlights in hand.

It was much earlier than Wei Ran had guessed. This time, they did not walk to the intersection to shine the flashlight in other directions as they did at the beginning, but turned around and started walking back.

Wei Ran, who was lying in the shadow, shook his head helplessly, turned over, and tiptoed along the road that had been cleared of large pieces of broken bricks in advance, and tiptoed up.

He easily used a noose that had been made into a slipknot to hook the neck of the last militant. Wei Ran held the noose tightly with one hand, while pressing his chin with a pistol with the other hand. At the same time, he lightly kicked his knee, making the man lose balance easily, and he let Wei Ran gently knock him to the ground.

After glancing at the faintly visible cedar badge on the man's chest, Wei Ran had no more scruples. He put away his pistol and easily broke the man's neck.

Wei Ran removed the neck wire as quickly as possible and approached the two people who were still chatting like a ghost. He inserted the scalpel in his hand into the neck of the soldier in front of him and slid it hard. Then he covered the wound on the neck with his other hand to prevent too much blood from flowing out. He let the still twitching corpse's feet go soft and lose the ability to walk upright.

Before he fell to the ground, Wei Ran had already pounced behind the soldier in front who seemed to have heard the noise and was about to turn around. He held a pistol with a silencer in his bloody hand and pointed the muzzle at the back of the soldier.

At the same time, he used his other hand to remove the noose tied around his neck, put it around the man's neck and pulled it hard, while kicking him in the knee pit.

"Do you speak English?" Wei Ran asked while helping the other person turn off the flashlight.

Seeing that the man was only struggling and trying to grab the AK rifle on his shoulder, Wei Ran shook his head regretfully, hugged his head and broke his spine with a "crack".

After dragging the three bodies to the side of the road, Wei Ran quickly stripped the uniform of one of the bodies and put it on himself, then put on the other's helmet, picked up an AK rifle with a bayonet, and walked towards the T-junction where three pickup trucks were parked with a flashlight in his hand.

Under his deliberate control, when he returned to the T-intersection and went around the rear of the pickup truck, the four-man patrol team was still walking forward with their backs to him.

As he got closer, he could see clearly that in the space enclosed by canvas at the rear of the three vehicles, there were only two militants sitting by a campfire, smoking and heating food. Their weapons were not even in their hands, but on the cargo bed of a pickup truck.

The one of the two militants who was facing sideways to him, when he saw him walking towards him with a flashlight, he enthusiastically raised his coffee cup and greeted him.

Although he couldn't understand what the other party was saying, this did not delay Wei Ran from raising his gun and stabbing him in the chest with the bayonet of the AK rifle, which was not sharp but had enough lethality.

Wei Ran quickly let go of the unloaded rifle in his hand and grabbed the militant's neck and pulled him hard at the same time as the mug in his hand fell to the ground.

"click"

With a crisp breaking sound, the militant's body went limp and he was forced off the line before he could even open the buckle of the holster on his waist.

Pulling out the rifle that was still stuck in the chest of the corpse, Wei Ran felt around the body, took out a pack of cigarettes and a stack of shekel bills, and pulled out three AK magazines from the Hua Xia 56 chest mount on his chest.

He stuffed these things into his pockets and temporarily stuffed the body under the car.

He used his feet to gather the dirt around the campfire to cover the not-so-many bloodstains and spilled coffee. He then sat down where the corpse had been sitting. He took out the kettle from the metal book and placed it at his feet. Then he picked up the coffee pot and slowly poured all the steaming hot coffee into the kettle.

While the four patrolling soldiers were still there, he put away the kettle and quickly searched the body of another person whose neck he had broken.

The corpse had a 1911 pistol with almost worn-out rifling on its waist, and three Uzi submachine gun magazines filled with bullets in the ammunition pouch on its chest.

Apart from these scraps that he could use or not, the only things that were barely valuable were a large gold ring on the corpse's finger and a TC600 electronic watch produced by Casio.

He took off the gold ring and the electronic watch and put them in his pocket without any psychological pressure. After putting the corpse in a thinker's posture, he turned his head to look at the weapons on the cargo bed of the pickup truck.

There was an AK47 rifle with a folding stock and an Uzi submachine gun with a folding stock. In addition, there were several boxes of 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun ammunition and 12.7mm NATO machine gun ammunition, as well as a Soviet rocket launcher.

At the innermost part of the vehicle, there is a generator and two 20-liter oil drums.

The other two pickup trucks were equipped with a single-barrel 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun, a Lao Gan Ma, and more matching ammunition.

Before I had time to see what was in the pickup truck, the patrol team came over from a distance.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also did it again, picked up the mug on the ground and put it to his mouth and posed.

Just as he expected, the four men did not stop at all, but just walked straight forward.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also stood up quietly, raised the pistol with a silencer in one hand and a flashlight in the other, and pulled the trigger repeatedly towards the backs of the four people.

Thanks to the excellent performance of silencers of later generations and the cover of occasional exchanges of fire in the distance, the four men were shot in the back of the head before they could react, and the gunshots did not attract any attention.

Putting away the gun, Wei Ran looked around, left the warm campfire, walked to the four bodies that were smashed together, first bent down to turn off the fallen flashlight, then untied their weapons in the dark, and carried them one by one to the side of the campfire, and began to search by the light of the fire.

This time, his search was more thorough. Not only did he take off the bloodless uniforms and various Soviet or Chinese chest clips from the corpses, he even cut off any identifying tattoos and threw them into the bonfire.

Finally, he put the head of the corpse into the bonfire and burned it beyond recognition. Then he took the trouble to carry the corpse to the second floor of a ruin in the distance.

After taking a short breath, he stripped the three bodies killed in the initial ambush of any useful items and things that could prove their identities and carried them here, and gave them an "insulting pigeon salute" as well.

  This was not the end. He dipped a piece of clothing into the still warm blood and wrote a sincere German-style Hebrew blessing on the wall next to the corpse: Hi! Jews!

Wei Ran returned to the campfire and checked the cabs of the three vehicles, but he was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he took out his Black Panther vest and filled all the magazines of the Type 81 rifle with bullets. Then he stuffed the four grenades he had just intercepted into the ammunition bag.

After all this trouble, the requirement of collecting 150 rounds of ammunition in the language mission was definitely exceeded.

He even had a lot more bullets now, but what surprised him was that this time he still didn't feel that indescribable feeling of brain failure.

Could it be a benefit after being promoted to major? Wei Ran guessed belatedly, but it did not delay him from refilling his pistol magazine with bullets.

That’s not all. A greedy historian, Doctors Without Borders and an internationalist fighter took out the oil barrel from the metal book and packed a full barrel of fuel to take back with them.

Glancing at the electronic watch he had just picked up on his wrist, he put an extra grenade he had reserved into the ammunition box, and used the nylon spool on the Black Panther vest to pull a companion line hidden in the canvas curtain.

"There are still eight vacancies left. You must do your best when you change shifts later."

Wei Ran muttered something at last, took off the uniform he was wearing, wrapped all the useful items he had just taken off with two Arab scarves, threw them over his shoulders and walked back.

By the time he cleaned up all the traces and returned to the vicinity of the hospital, it was already half past nine in the evening.

"boom!"

Almost at the same time as he stepped into the hospital, a dull explosion was heard from far behind him.

I turned my head subconsciously, and the extremely dark night sky due to the power outage was dyed a beautiful red by the explosion.

"If I don't feel dizzy, I don't know if I have collected 20."

Wei Ran muttered to himself, slowly took off his dirty rubber gloves and threw them away, looked around to make sure no one noticed him or followed him, then walked to the garage door and gently knocked on the locked iron door.

Almost at the same time as his knuckles hit the iron door, he heard the sewing machine nervously ask, "Who is it?"

"It's me, the veterinarian." Wei Ran replied softly.

Before he finished speaking, the small door on the iron gate was opened from the inside. Immediately afterwards, Wei Ran was grabbed by the shoulders with two hands, one on the left and one on the right, and "pulled" in.

"Are you OK?"

Without waiting for the iron door behind him to close, or for the iron bucket upside down on the kerosene lamp to be removed, Cradle asked immediately. At the same time, Edelweiss, who had just stretched out her hand to pull him in, also began to check.

"Nothing, I just went to buy some things."

As Wei Ran spoke, he put down the bag he was carrying and gently stopped Edelweiss.

At the same time, Ed completely opened the tin barrel that was upside down on the kerosene lamp, and the garage was illuminated as bright as day.

"What did you buy?" Edelweiss subconsciously looked at the bulging bag.

“Some random stuff”

Wei Ran glanced at the three extremely nervous colleagues in front of him, and said with a smile, "I'm really fine, let the children rest. By the way, I hope I didn't miss the birthday party."

“My birthday party is over.”

Edelweiss snorted unhappily, "But I left you your share of the cake."

Before Wei Ran could say anything, the sewing machine was the first to understand what Wei Ran meant, and immediately called Ed and his sister Rama to go back and rest.

"What on earth did you go do?"

Sewing Machine waited until Ed and his sister went into the tent before asking in a low voice. He even deliberately gestured to everyone to stay in the space in front of the car instead of walking towards the rear of the car.

“I bought some stuff at the local black market.”

Wei Ran lied fluently, but he was also very honest as he opened the bag he brought back and showed what he brought back. There were only four uniforms with cedar badges, four helmets, three sets of various chest mounts, a few flashlights, spare batteries and cigarettes he found in the pickup truck, but no weapons.

He knew clearly that his three colleagues would not take up weapons.

"Are you crazy? Where did you get these things?" Cradle asked palely.

"I bought it on the local black market," Wei Ran said, glancing at Edelweiss. "I traded it for some red wine."

"What did you buy these Falangist clothes for?" Edelweiss asked.

"If necessary, we can change into these clothes. It might make us safer." Wei Ran explained as a matter of course, "Anyway, we are not going to join the Long Spear Party."

This seemed to be a reasonable reason, and the three people in front of them looked at each other as if they were convinced.

"Speaking of which, Vet, are you planning to evacuate tomorrow?" The sewing machine changed the subject.

"What are your plans?" Wei Ran threw the question back.

"We're not leaving," the three said in unison, "We're staying."

"Then I'll stay too," Wei Ran said simply.

Hearing this, the three sewing machines smiled at each other again. Edelweiss even said, "It seems that we can continue to work together tomorrow. Veterinarian, go take a shower quickly. I have sent your toiletries to the bathroom in advance."

I also left you a piece of cake, and we can have a drink later, just like we did yesterday."

"My pleasure"

Wei Ran pretended to take off his hat, walked through the gap between the ambulance and the wall, then went through the small door, lit a candle and walked towards the bathroom.

He didn't know that behind him, Edelweiss had bent down and picked up a handkerchief.

Under the glaring light of the gas lamp, the three adults could clearly see that there was a pool of dark red blood on the handkerchief that had not yet dried.

After a long sigh, Cradle said, "I'll go get the hydrogen peroxide."

"It seems that the explosion just now might be related to Mr. Dongfeng," the sewing machine joked helplessly.

"Hasn't he been with us since he got off work?"

Edelweiss asked back as she flipped through the clothes Wei Ran brought back, "He even gave me a beautiful birthday present."

“You’re right”

Sewing Machine shrugged, picked up a pack of cigarettes that Wei Ran brought back, took out a cigarette, lit it and took a puff, then asked seriously, "Edelweiss, do you really want to stay?"

"Or do you have a way to convince Rama and the others to leave with me?"

Edelweiss asked back, "Or, do you have a way to get all the wounded and refugees out of here?"

"I'm just a doctor, not Aladdin's magic lamp." The sewing machine reminded with a smile, but at the same time it also understood the determination of this Austrian girl.

"In this case, I have no choice but to stay."

As Edelweiss spoke, she had already wrapped the clothes and braids in a square towel. She walked towards the rear of the car and said, "I'm not Aladdin's magic lamp, so all I can do is stay and try to save as many people as possible. No matter if they are refugees, the Falangists, or the damn Jews."

At this point, Edelweiss took the small bottle of hydrogen peroxide that Cradle had just found in the car and put it in her pocket, complaining, "If my grandfather had started working hard to kill all the Judaites when he was as young as I am, maybe we wouldn't have to work so hard now."

While complaining, Edelweiss also walked through the small door leading to the backyard.

In the brightly lit garage, Yaolan and her husband looked at each other and spread their hands in unison.

"I found that Edelweiss and veterinary medicine were broken," said the sewing machine helplessly.

“But they are essentially righteous people.”

Cradle took the cigarette and lighter handed to her by her husband, lit a cigarette, raised her head and blew out a beautiful smoke ring, then switched to Greek and said, "It's just that the way of expressing justice is different."

"I hope their justice won't cause any trouble." The sewing machine shook its head helplessly, and then blew out a beautiful smoke ring.

While the couple was busy blowing bubbles at the front of the car, Wei Ran had already covered his entire body with soap bubbles.

On the other side of the small courtyard, Edelweiss also used the light of candlelight to carefully apply hydrogen peroxide on the new and old blood stains on the clothes that Wei Ran brought back.

Not long after, Wei Ran finished his shower, changed into the clean clothes he had prepared for himself in advance, walked out of the bathroom, and returned to the garage where the kerosene lamp had been turned off.

At this time, the only radio in the garage was Wei Ran's, which was still placed on the table at the rear of the ambulance and playing French news. The only light came from the candle lamp hanging on the rearview mirror of the ambulance.

Seeing this, Wei Ran walked over, opened the passenger door and got in, just like he did last night.

Before he could even close the car door, Edelweiss, who had been waiting here for a long time, handed him a glass of wine that had been filled in advance.

The door was also not closed. Wei Ran took the wine glass, clinked it lightly with the other person's, then brought it to his lips and took a sip.

“This is your piece of cake.”

Edelweiss pointed to the engine hood between the two of them and said in German that in addition to a corner of Sacher cake, there was also a chocolate ball on the cake.

"I was worried that you would get hurt when you came back, so I cut the cake early on the pretext of letting the children rest early."

Edelweiss curled up in the seat, put her feet on the open car window without any image, and said, "Also, I found blood on the Falangist uniforms you brought back. Fresh blood."

"It seems that I didn't check it thoroughly," Wei Ran said with sincere apology.

"I have washed it off for you with hydrogen peroxide."

Edelweiss clinked glasses with Wei Ran again, "I don't mean to blame you, I'm just... just curious about what kind of person you are?"

"What kind of person do you think I am?" Wei Ran asked nonchalantly after taking a sip of red wine.

"Someone like Carlos the Jackal?" When Edelweiss said this, she was not afraid at all. Instead, she had an unconcealable smile and expectation on her face.

"I'm really sorry to disappoint you. I'm neither a killer nor that radical." Wei Ran said, clinking the goblet in his hand with the other party again.

"I should be glad that you are not someone like Mr. Carlos." Edelweiss pretended to be relieved and then took a big sip of wine.

"Are you really not going to leave?" Wei Ran asked unwillingly.

“I was really scared.”

Edelweiss handed the cake to Wei Ran, and as the latter took it, she continued, "But it's not time to leave yet."

"All right."

Wei Ran took a bite of the cake that was so sweet that it choked his throat. "Xue Bu, Clara, happy birthday."

"Thank you"

Edelweiss smiled and responded, "Thank you for your blessing. Of course, thank you for your gift. I like it very much."

"Can I ask what your birthday wish is?" Wei Ran asked curiously as he took the second bite of the cake.

"Is world peace too difficult?" Edelweiss asked with great joy.

"It's indeed a bit too difficult," Wei Ran couldn't help but say.

"Then I hope that all the 8 Lestans and Hedgehog refugees can live a happy life." The young and optimistic Edelweiss compromised very straightforwardly on a birthday wish that sounded not that difficult to achieve.

"I hope your wish will come true"

Wei Ran, with his mouth full of cake, muttered incoherently, "I hope so."

"What are you mumbling?" Edelweiss looked at Wei Ran strangely.

"I said, your wish will definitely come true."

Wei Ran raised his head and responded with a smile, "It may take a long time, but it will definitely come true."

"If only I could have Aladdin's magic lamp"

Edelweiss clinked her glasses with Wei Ran's once again, "When the time comes, I will make sure he realizes my birthday wish first, which is world peace."

"What about the other two wishes?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"First of all, I hope the magic lamp can grant me three wishes every day."

Greedy Edelweiss shook the cup and said, "I haven't thought of the third wish yet. What about you? What do you wish for?"

"me."

Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, then sighed with great regret, "I hope some people can survive and live in a world of peace."

"If the lamp god heard our wishes, I'm afraid he would hide in the oil lamp for the rest of his life and never come out."

Edelweiss muttered something to herself, clinked glasses with Wei Ran again, and poured all the remaining wine into her mouth.

"yes."

Wei Ran also muttered something and poured the remaining wine in the glass into his mouth.