[Crossing] Beacon Fire Dragon Line

The city of Terni is not particularly famous, but it is related to a particularly famous day.

Legend has it that a long time ago, there was a local couple who were forbidden to marry because of their different religious beliefs.The girl was seriously ill, and when she was dying, a bishop broke the taboo and prayed for them, wishing that they would never be separated.

Later, the bishop San Valentino was sentenced to be beheaded and became the patron saint of lovers after his death. His remains were buried in the San Valentino Church in Terni.The day of his death became a day of remembrance, Valentine's Day, February [-]th.

Standing in front of the church of the protector of lovers, Sheng Rui was thinking about how to say the breakup.

Unexpectedly, 08 saved him trouble. "See that clock?" He pointed to a beige square tower.

Sheng Rui looked over, and there was a large cream-colored round clock hanging there, which could be seen from a long distance away.

"I have something to do, so I'll be back here in the afternoon." 08 said, taking out some loose money from the backpack on the side of the saddle and handing it to Sheng Rui, "You find a place to eat at noon, and then come here to find me. I'll wait for you to arrive Two o'clock, if you don't come, I'm leaving."

Terni is a city with metallurgy as its traditional industry, and there are some factories manufacturing weapons, which makes it suffer a lot of bombs.Although not comparable to the kind of carpet bombing that Milan and Turin have received, this small city has also been scarred.

Naturally, the living conditions here will not be much better.However, the strange thing is that compared to Rome, which is relatively safe but everyone is in danger, there is a reassuring air beside these dilapidated ruins.

Like all war-torn cities, life and destruction coexist strangely here: Pedestrians come and go nonchalantly beside the ruined buildings, and children play ball on the flat ground near the air-raid shelter.

Here, people seem to have found some kind of balance, maintaining their unsustainable lives. "No matter what, this will pass"-the city seems to convey such an atmosphere silently.

After wandering around with nothing to do until noon, Sheng Rui found a small restaurant.

08 gave him three hundred lire.The prices in Terni are lower than in Rome, and you can eat very well.But he didn't dare to be too extravagant, he just ordered a noodle called "ciriole".

The food arrived quickly.The hot noodles were mixed with bright red tomato sauce, which made Sheng Rui jump for joy.He realizes how desperately he craves something bright and hot, to remind himself that life is worth living.

The one with him at the table is an uncle in overalls with a thick mustache, who looks a bit like Super Mario.Probably out of curiosity about Asians, the uncle warmly invited him a cup of coffee.Sheng Rui chatted with the uncle in poor Italian, and the conversation was quite speculative.He noticed that there were thick calluses on the uncle's palm, as if he had been holding the steering wheel for a long time.After inquiring, the other party was indeed a truck driver, who was going to Siena to deliver goods.

The uncle generously said that his truck was parked outside, and if Sheng Rui was going in that direction, he could take him for a ride.

Sheng Rui's heart skipped a beat.When we arrived in Siena, it was very close to Florence.The opportunity was really good, but he was not in a hurry to make a deal, delaying the time to make a decision.Exactly why he did this, he couldn't say for himself.

As he walked out of the bistro, he looked up at the large dial on the bell tower.

A quarter past two.

There is a sense of relief. 08 has definitely gone.

...However, maybe he hasn't left yet.

He suddenly felt a kind of anxiety, just like the feeling of people who passed the bus stop watching the stop sign go away behind him.Every time the minute hand on the dial moves, this anxiety increases a little.

Two horns sounded behind him.A dark green medium-sized truck was slowly shifting to the middle of the road, and the uncle poked his head out of the cab and waved at him: "Vuoiunpassaggio (Do you want a ride?)"

The truck headed toward a road leading west of the city.Siena is in the northwest of Terni, so the uncle will leave the city from the west.And 08 to Spoleto is to leave the city from the east, run in opposite directions, and will not meet.

Suddenly, Sheng Rui made a decision.

"Thank you, no need. I still want to meet a friend."

Sheng Rui sprinted east along Zakaria Street.

From a distance, he saw an army green Volkswagen Type 82 barrel truck parked at the end of the bluestone brick road. 08 leaned against the car door, staring at the triangular top of the San Valentino church.The quiet afternoon sun polished his profile into a yellowed photo, with a kind of warmth and kindness, like a long-lost old friend.Hearing Sheng Rui's hurried footsteps, he looked back at him, just like that day in front of the Pantheon.

"Uh, what kind of reason do you want to hear..." Sheng Rui didn't know how to explain why he was 10 minutes late.

08 raised his chin towards the rear door: "Get in the car."

After leaving the urban area, the car turned onto the mountain road.

Although it is also a mountain road, it is much flatter than the rugged trail they used to ride on horseback. It is a road dedicated to cars.

Looking at the rapidly receding scenery on the side of the road, Sheng Rui's heart slowly settled down.Since the instant intuition made him choose to follow this person, no matter what happened along the way, he would never try to run away from him again.As for what will happen after arriving in Florence, it will not be too late to make a theory at that time.

After walking for more than ten minutes, the right front wheel suddenly deflated and the car began to bump.

08 stopped to check and pulled a sharp metal object from the wheel.It looked like a bayonet, and the iron-black blade was hidden in the weeds on the dirt road, making it difficult to find.

08 looked around, and said in a low voice, "It might not be safe here. Wait here, we'll go right away." He removed the spare tire fixed on the hood, took out tools from the car, and squatted down beside the car body.

Due to the occlusion of the car body, Sheng Rui was out of his field of vision for a few seconds.When he suddenly felt something was wrong, he pulled out Ruger from his waist, but it was already a step too late.

At some point, a young man appeared seven or eight meters away, holding a double-barreled hunting gun in his hand, and the black muzzle of the gun was aimed at Sheng Rui's head.Sheng Rui's face was pale, stiff as a stick.

"You, throw your weapon on the ground! Kick it farther away!" the man said, speaking in German. "Come on! I count to three, one..."

As soon as the opponent counted a number, 08 threw Ruger to the ground and kicked him to the side of the road.

"You two, put your hands on your head and squat on the side of the road! Hurry up!" The man licked his molted and chapped lips, his eyes were shining with anxiety, and he kept changing his weight on his feet. Go, but the hunting gun in his hand was pointed straight at Sheng Rui's head.

The two squatted side by side with their heads in their hands, in a standard captive posture.

The man came up to them.Sheng Rui didn't dare to look up, so he could only stare at the feet in front of him.Under the baggy trousers, a pair of mud-stained tan lace-up shoes were exposed.The trousers were noticeably too baggy, but the shoes seemed to fit them.The upper is half-height, and a ring of nails for gripping the ground is exposed around the sole.At first glance, it looked like civilian hiking boots, but Sheng Rui searched in his mind and was sure that he had seen it in an illustrated book. These were the boots of the German mountain division.

He forced himself to calm down, trying to think of a countermeasure.

This young man was probably a deserter, and he might have thrown the bayonet there on purpose, perhaps planning to rob a car.But he is obviously not a vicious person, otherwise he and 08 would already be two corpses.

If you can try to hold him...

The grass not far away suddenly slammed.Sheng Rui was startled: Does he have any companions?

Another pair of feet appeared in the field of vision not far away. They were the feet of a girl, wearing two different styles of leather shoes, also covered with mud, as if she had driven a long way in embarrassment.

"What are you doing out here! Don't come near here!" the young man shouted anxiously, with a concerned tone.

The newly appeared feet stepped back hesitantly, and a weak female voice sounded: "What do you want to do with them?"

The young man took a few breaths, as if he was making a difficult decision: "They have seen us, they can't stay. You...you go a little farther and cover your ears. It will be soon."

08 spoke at this time: "There are guerrillas in the mountains, you will lure them here."

The young man suddenly became excited: "Shut up! You fucking shut up! It's much better to be discovered by the guerrillas than to be discovered by you bastards!"

By "you" he presumably meant the SS.Perhaps he had witnessed something that made him feel a strong hatred and fear of these people.

There is nothing scarier than a man with a weapon and a violent emotion.If you don't think about it, the situation may get out of control.

Sheng Rui gritted his teeth and raised his head: "Calm down! Listen to me, he is not a threat to you!" Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the girl. She was covering her head and face with a dark scarf, so she couldn't see her face clearly. Like a trembling rabbit.

"What did you say?" The young man looked at him.

"Trust me, I have a reason for saying this."

"why?"

Sheng Rui made a difficult expression: "Because... because of us..." He sighed deeply, "Because we are gay."

"..." 08 looked at him silently.

Because of the 175 law in Germany, the situation of homosexuality in Europe is difficult in this era.Himmler, the head of the SS, once warned his officers in his speech: "In our SS ranks, there is a homosexual incident every month. ... This kind of person will be officially demoted and eliminated. Out of the SS team and transferred to the court for trial. They will also be imprisoned in a concentration camp according to my order. If anyone tries to escape, they will be killed without mercy." [See the author has something to say] Sheng Rui pointed at 08 with his chin: " He suspected that we were on the Gestapo's arrest list, so we got out of our heads and escaped overnight. If we were found, we would be finished. We just want to run far away now, and we don't care about anything else. Look at his epaulettes, he It belongs to the logistics force. It only transports supplies and does nothing else. You don’t need to be afraid of him. Drive the car away and let us go, okay? Please.”

"You're talking nonsense! You just want to distract me." The young man licked his lips anxiously again, and pointed to the way behind them, "This is obviously the way out of the city from Terni. The one who escaped ran so far overnight and in the morning?"

Anyway, the words were out of the mouth, Sheng Rui simply played his part: "It's all my fault. We were just passing by outside the city, but I...I want to go to San Valentino Church to pray and ask the gods to bless us." He changed With a look of tears on his face, "He said we can't enter the city, it's too dangerous. I should really listen to him, but I...I really want to get some blessings."

His acting skills are beyond the mark, anyone would think that they are really a couple of life and death.

This treasure seems to be betting on it.The young man's face softened, showing a slight look of pity for "the same poor people in the world", his gun wavered between putting it down and aiming it.The girl's heart became softer, she sighed and tugged at the young man's arm, and said softly in German with a big Italian accent: "Forget it, let them go."

Before the young man could speak, there was movement on the road to the east.A car was coming from the opposite direction from them.

The author has something to say: [Note] Himmler’s speech is quoted from page 102 of "People Who Shouldn’t Be Forgotten——Homosexuals in Europe during World War II", written by [France] Jean Lebitu , translated by Shao Jiyuan, Renmin University of China Press, 2007 edition.