Song Ran nodded to show she understood. "I'll definitely be careful."

Li Zan was walking past. Hearing this, he glanced back and said flatly, "If something happens to us, it's a heroic sacrifice. If something happens to Reporter Song, it's Captain Yang's dereliction of duty."

Captain Yang laughed and said, "You heard him, right?"

Song Ran said in a low voice, "I got it."

Searching for landmines was an extremely tedious and monotonous task. Each soldier carefully pushed aside the weeds and shrubs on the surface within their designated area, sweeping every inch of land with a detector; not a half-inch could be missed, and not a bit of carelessness was allowed.

With ground temperatures close to forty degrees Celsius and the repetition of the same operation hour after hour, the level of fatigue was imaginable.

Even Song Ran, who set up her camera to film from behind, found it a bit overwhelming. Fortunately, she only needed to capture a few shots and could rest under a tree the rest of the time.

While filming, she tried her best not to disturb them, and she kept her voice as low as possible when making voice notes with her recorder.

The world was quiet and still.

At ten-twenty in the morning, a detector's alarm went off. Soldier A had detected a landmine.

Song Ran was very close to him and immediately went forward. But Soldier A shouted to the side, "Ah Zan."

Li Zan was nearby and quickly walked over.

Song Ran adjusted her camera lens and saw a short piece of metal wire attached to the base of a wild wheat stalk, a few centimeters above the ground.

"It's a tripwire mine," Soldier A said to the approaching Li Zan.

Li Zan squatted down and gently brushed away the soil around it. In a short while, the mine's metal casing was revealed. It was round, about twenty to thirty centimeters in diameter.

Song Ran was curious and asked, "What's a tripwire mine?"

Li Zan answered, "A mine that explodes when you trip over it."

Song Ran: "...Oh."

Song Ran wanted to ask something else, but when she saw him start to cut the wire, she closed her mouth. Li Zan used his military knife to remove the tripwire, and to be safe, he also removed the fuze.

Soldier A helped push aside the soil from the side and used his military knife to pry out the mine.

"Careful!" Li Zan suddenly pressed down on his hand and said in a low voice, "There's a hand grenade underneath."

"Holy crap!" Soldier A was startled, his arm frozen stiff, not daring to move an inch.

Song Ran was also extremely nervous, but for some reason, she didn't feel any danger. Instead, she watched with rapt attention.

Li Zan slowly supported the base of the mine and said, "Let go."

His comrade slowly released his hand, leaving everything for Li Zan to handle.

Song Ran remained on high alert. She squatted down lightly and aimed her camera lens under the mine, where she saw a round, black object hidden in the dirt.

Trying to get closer, she misjudged the distance with her camera and touched Li Zan's hand.

Song Ran: "..."

Li Zan looked up. Her mouth was pressed shut like a clam, and her expression was one of quiet contrition.

He said, "You're still here?"

"Where else would I be?"

"I thought you would have run away scared."

"..." she muttered, "You underestimate me."

"I wouldn't dare," he said.

Hearing this, Song Ran stole a glance at him. He was already focused on the task at hand, his brow slightly furrowed as he examined the round object underneath.

She pulled the camera back a little and asked, "Is that a hand grenade?"

"Mm," Li Zan answered nonchalantly, lowering his head to peek inside and assess the situation. Perhaps remembering that Song Ran was filming, he reached in, pointed to the grenade's handle, and added an explanation, "There was originally a safety pin here, but it's been pulled. Now the grenade's lever is being held down by the mine. The moment the mine on top is moved, it will explode."

"So close," Song Ran sighed softly and asked nervously, "Then how do you deal with it?"

Before her voice had even faded, she saw Li Zan reach under the mine, grab the grenade's lever, pull it out, and hold it out in front of her. "Here."

Song Ran: "..."

Just... like that?

Her face flushed with embarrassment, she asked, "Won't it explode?"

"Not unless I let go," Li Zan said, releasing his index finger from the lever.

"Ah!" Song Ran's face went pale with fright, and she jumped back.

But the grenade remained quietly in his hand like a good little baby—he had released his index finger, but his middle and ring fingers were still gripping the lever tightly.

Li Zan stared at her string of reactions, a hint of a suppressed smile appearing in his bright eyes. But he quickly gave a light cough, managing to dissolve the smile with restraint.

'...' Song Ran thought, 'I'm going to go back and report him, make him run 10 kilometers.'

Holding her camera, she continued to ask, "What then? You can't just hold it forever, right?"

"You just need to wrap it with tape. But..." Li Zan seemed to remember something. His expression grew more serious. He stood up and reported to Captain Yang, who was not far away, "One anti-personnel mine and one hand grenade. Should we throw the grenade or bring it back?"

Captain Yang shouted, "Throw it!"

Li Zan turned back to Song Ran, his expression earnest, and asked, "Do you need to film this?"

Song Ran nodded quickly. "Yes."

Li Zan pressed his lips together, raised his hand, and threw with all his might. The hand grenade flew out, tracing a parabola across the blue sky. He turned, took the camera from Song Ran's hands, pushed her behind him, and said, "Cover your ears."

Song Ran obediently stuck her index fingers in her ears and huddled behind him. She heard a huge explosion in the distance—BOOM—sending dirt and sand flying, hailing down on them, and rattling against his combat uniform.

A few small stones hit Song Ran's calves, hurting a little. But most of them had been blocked by his body.

After the explosion subsided, he lowered his head, shook it, patted the sand out of his hair, and handed the camera back to her.

She said in a low voice, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." He dusted off his clothes and walked away to continue his work.

But Song Ran didn't feel so great. A small piece of gravel had fallen into her collar during the explosion, and it was scratching her uncomfortably. She carefully picked the grit out and threw it away.

She thought about the way he had gently pushed her behind him just now...

An inexplicable sense of security.

Song Ran took a deep breath and rubbed her chest. The spot where that little stone had grazed her heart felt like it was burning, an unbearable abrasion.

'I must make him run ten kilometers. A weighted run, at that.'