[two_third]

This rather long Chinese excerpt is from the modern militant action Novel "Cold Thorn", or 冷刺, written by 天地飘鸥. You'll be reading the first part of Chapter 1: King of the Commandos (特种兵之王). <!--more-->

The language here is very heavy on the cheesy military slang, so if you like action movies and thrillers, you'll be able to catch quite a few of the cliches. 

If you'd like to finish reading the book after you finish this first bit, the <a href="http://vip.book.sina.com.cn/book/index_162000.html">full text is available online from Sina.com</a>'s book archive.  

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<div class="postintro">
<h4>Click to Listen</h4>
炎热 - [pinyin]yan2 re4[/pinyin] - Blazing hot, sizzling hot
蹦蹦跳跳- [pinyin]beng4 beng4 tiao4 tiao4[/pinyin] - Bouncing and vivacious
采 - [pinyin]cai3[/pinyin] - Gather, collect
窄 - [pinyin]zhai3[/pinyin] - Narrow
拄 - [pinyin]zhu3[/pinyin] - to lean on
拐杖 - [pinyin]guai3 zhang4[/pinyin] - Crutches, walking stick
乖 - [pinyin]guai1[/pinyin] - [of a child] obedient, well-behaved
</div>
[/one_third]

<hr />[one_half]
<div id="chinesetext">
韩枫静静地伏在厚厚的落叶下，一动不动，安静得如同一条冬眠的蛇，不，他比蛇还要无声无息，谁也不会想到斑驳腐烂的落叶堆里会有这样坚强的生命存在，仿佛亘古就是如此。真是无法想象一个人能在这样的环境中潜伏两天两夜，不吃不喝，纹丝不动。在苍茫的原始丛林中，空气闷热得令人窒息，浑身就像霉烂了似的，湿漉漉的感觉别提有多难受了，何况韩枫的身上还捂着这么厚的一堆落叶，真是连气也喘不过来了。

韩枫就这样无声无息地潜伏着，安静得几乎连生命的体征也消失了，身边来来往往已经过去了几个特种小组，就连最擅长追踪的“灵狐”特战小组也没有发现他。

他不能动，也不敢动，因为他知道林中还有不少特战高手在伺机狙杀，他要做最有耐心的猎人而不是成为别人的猎物。他们这一组除了他，其他人都“挂”了，在三天前残酷的“杀戮”中先后“阵亡”，而他，凭着超强的第六感和匪夷所思的身手不但逃过了对方的狙杀，而且还“杀”了数名富有经验的特战精英，居然毫发无伤。在十多个特战精英小组的攻击下能做到这一点，真是奇迹！

这次的特种兵大比武，是五年一度的全国“特种兵”对抗大赛，来自全国七大军区的特战精英，个个都是身经百战的高手，随便挑出一个，横扫一个普通连队绝不是痴人说梦。这次的特种兵大比武是实兵对抗，一切从实战出发，除了弹药是空包弹外，其他都是特种部队必需的武器装备。十天为限，没有后援，没有给养，各自为战，淘汰者出局。

参赛的特战小组中，最有名气的要数B军区的“暗剑”，N军区的“灵狐”，还有D军区的“猎人”，这几个小组不但在国内军界名闻遐迩，在国际特种兵界也是赫赫有名。他们是中国人民解放军的王牌杀手，更是秘不示人的国之利芒。近几年在国内外的表现可谓是完美绝伦，不但大扬我国威，更让那些蠢蠢欲动的暗流和居心叵测的势力闻风丧胆，他们千方百计地搜集中国特种部队的信息，加大对中国特种兵的研究。

可是这八天的残酷对抗，连精英小组“暗剑”也崩了刀口，五人小组中的狙击手被人无声无息地暗算“身亡”，而己方居然没有发现对手的踪迹，“暗剑”队长方为雄简直快要疯了。

方为雄是东北大汉，身高米，黝黑的脸庞棱角分明，身材状如铁塔，别看他人高马大，其实他头脑冷静，精明得如同一只狐狸，搏击术放眼全军罕逢其手，是上届中国特种兵搏击大赛冠军。强将手下无弱兵，他带领的三个战士都是百战精英，和方为雄一块儿出生入死，征战国内外，遇神杀神，遇佛杀佛。没想到在这片热带丛林竟然出师不利，连“敌人”的影子也没看到，就折损了两名队员，这火儿就窝得大了。不过，方为雄很是清醒，他知道，能在他们身边这么干的人，绝非易与之辈。所以他提醒自己，一定要保持冷静和谨慎，因为在这样的环境中和这样的对手决斗，一旦急躁，就是死亡，这点儿，他比谁都清楚，无数次血的教训让他和他身边的战士刻骨铭心。

“暗剑”如此，其他几个组的情况也不容乐观，长达八天的明枪暗箭，大家都互有损失。处处陷阱，处处狙杀，危险存在于每时每刻中，前一秒你还在“杀”别人，后一秒你就会被别人所“杀”，战斗的残酷考验着每一个战士的心智、耐力和体力，魔鬼式训练造就的超强战力在这里就像弥漫在林中的水汽一样，慢慢滴落，慢慢耗尽，等待你的或许就是下一刻的“死亡”。

</div>

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[one_half last=last][hide-this-part morelink="SHOW ENGLISH TRANSLATION"]

Han Feng silently hid beneath a thick pile of dead leaves, motionless, as calm as a hibernating snake; no, he was even more silent than a snake. No one would think that a strong life could exist inside such a motley, rotten pile of dead leaves, it was as if [the pile] had always been this way. There was no way to imagine  that a person could hide in this environment for two days without food or drink, not moving a whisker. In this vast primeval forest, the weather was so stiflingly hot as to make men suffocate, as if they were rotting from head to toe; needless to say the clamminess was very uncomfortable, moreso since Han Feng was covered in a thick pile of dead leaves - it was difficult to even draw breath. 

And so Han Feng hid there not making a sound, his very sense of life nearly fading away, as special units came and went around him; even the most expert trackers, the "Quick Foxes" special forces unit, didn't discover his position.

He didn't move, he didn't dare, because he knew that in the forest special forces experts were waiting in wait to ambush him. He must be the most patient hunter, or else he would become someone else's prey. Everyone else in his group had already been "hung". In the "massacre" three days before, they'd "died" in battle one after the other. But he, relying on his superior sixth sense and freakish agility, had escaped his opponent's ambush, and had also "killed" more than a few of supremely experienced special forces elite, somehow taking no wounds himself. It was a real miracle that he'd managed this under attack from 10-plus special forces elite groups!

To this Commando Competition, an international "special forces soldier" face-off held once every five years, came elite commandos from the world's seven major military regions. Each [soldier] had [proven themselves] in numerous battles - it would not be unrealistic to say that any one you picked out of the bunch could single-handedly wipe out a whole unit of regular soldiers. This Commando Competition   这次的特种兵大比武是实兵对抗，一切从实战出发，除了弹药是空包弹外，其他都是特种部队必需的武器装备。十天为限，没有后援，没有给养，各自为战，淘汰者出局。

参赛的特战小组中，最有名气的要数B军区的“暗剑”，N军区的“灵狐”，还有D军区的“猎人”，这几个小组不但在国内军界名闻遐迩，在国际特种兵界也是赫赫有名。他们是中国人民解放军的王牌杀手，更是秘不示人的国之利芒。近几年在国内外的表现可谓是完美绝伦，不但大扬我国威，更让那些蠢蠢欲动的暗流和居心叵测的势力闻风丧胆，他们千方百计地搜集中国特种部队的信息，加大对中国特种兵的研究。

可是这八天的残酷对抗，连精英小组“暗剑”也崩了刀口，五人小组中的狙击手被人无声无息地暗算“身亡”，而己方居然没有发现对手的踪迹，“暗剑”队长方为雄简直快要疯了。

方为雄是东北大汉，身高米，黝黑的脸庞棱角分明，身材状如铁塔，别看他人高马大，其实他头脑冷静，精明得如同一只狐狸，搏击术放眼全军罕逢其手，是上届中国特种兵搏击大赛冠军。强将手下无弱兵，他带领的三个战士都是百战精英，和方为雄一块儿出生入死，征战国内外，遇神杀神，遇佛杀佛。没想到在这片热带丛林竟然出师不利，连“敌人”的影子也没看到，就折损了两名队员，这火儿就窝得大了。不过，方为雄很是清醒，他知道，能在他们身边这么干的人，绝非易与之辈。所以他提醒自己，一定要保持冷静和谨慎，因为在这样的环境中和这样的对手决斗，一旦急躁，就是死亡，这点儿，他比谁都清楚，无数次血的教训让他和他身边的战士刻骨铭心。

“暗剑”如此，其他几个组的情况也不容乐观，长达八天的明枪暗箭，大家都互有损失。处处陷阱，处处狙杀，危险存在于每时每刻中，前一秒你还在“杀”别人，后一秒你就会被别人所“杀”，战斗的残酷考验着每一个战士的心智、耐力和体力，魔鬼式训练造就的超强战力在这里就像弥漫在林中的水汽一样，慢慢滴落，慢慢耗尽，等待你的或许就是下一刻的“死亡”。

[/hide-this-part][/one_half]
