Chapter 14: Shooting Ends

At the same time, the transport helicopter personally piloted by Comrade Lao Zhou reached the airspace over the border forty minutes later.

Hearing the engine roar from above, a flicker of wariness passed through Xiezi's gloomy eyes.

Perhaps, even he himself didn't notice, that hint of wariness also contained worry, even fear.

Ever since he sniped He Weidong here ten years ago, every time he set foot in this jungle, a feeling of anxiety would arise in his heart.

This manifested as impatience and unease.

It wasn't for any other reason; he just felt that a pair of eyes had been fixed on him since ten years ago, like a thorn in his back, a bone in his throat.

He knew that unless he died, this feeling would always follow him like a shadow.

Even if he killed the owner of those eyes, there would surely be another pair watching him.

But now, that feeling seemed stronger, with a hint of familiarity.

He dared not raise his muzzle too high, nor even move his body hidden beneath the dry leaves.

As a sniper, his chosen position was naturally the highest point or a relatively high spot in the surrounding terrain.

Otherwise, if he lay in a pit, what the hell would he be sniping? In fact, Xiezi's feeling was spot on—he was indeed being watched by a pair of eyes.

And the owner of those eyes was none other than Fan Tianlei.

The transport helicopter's cabin door opened a slit; a section of the barrel of a Type 88 Sniper Rifle protruded silently, and an eye hiding behind the scope, flashing with hatred, was scanning all positions near the border line suitable for sniping at He Chen Guang and the others' current location.

At the same time, he ordered ammunition to be airdropped to the soldiers below, and demanded they immediately go to the designated area to retrieve it.

At this moment, Liu Xiaotian was lying prone on the ground, quickly returning the way he came with a standard low crawl.

More than twenty meters behind him was Wang Yanbing, crawling even faster than he.

It wasn't out of fear, but rather, upon hearing that live ammunition was available, this kid was eager to chamber a round.

Although the recent scene of a bullet whizzing past his head left him a little shaken, it mostly sparked his fighting spirit.

No wonder, when he first joined the Sharpshooter Fourth Company, Class Monitor Laohei had said, 'This kid is born to be special forces material.'

Bold, highly malleable, strong in acceptance, and even stronger in adaptability.

Wang Yanbing, who meets these conditions, is actually favored more by Laohei than Chen Guang.

Or perhaps it's because Wang Yanbing's personality is somewhat like his when he was young.

Chen Guang is not bad either, but he has a bit more steadiness than Wang Yanbing.

Of course, that's a good thing.

Because in missions, steadiness is a personality trait that special forces must possess.

But precisely because of that, sometimes this steadiness can cause them to miss excellent opportunities.

You should know, the four words 'life and death hanging by a thread' are certainly not just empty talk.

He Zhijun and Fan Tianlei's plan to form the Red Blood Cell Group wasn't something of a day or two; the reason they've delayed until now, not having found soldiers whose overall qualities satisfy them, is naturally an important reason;

but another part of the reason is that they haven't found enough people with clearly contrasting personalities that nevertheless complement each other well.

The Red Blood Cell Group needs nothing less than the elite of the elite.

It's about quality, not quantity.

Wang Yanbing's decisiveness, Chen Guang's steadfast resilience, and Li Erniu's honest persistence happen to satisfy this requirement.

Only, the personalities of He Zhijun and Fan Tianlei are still somewhat unsure about Liu Xiaotian's character as a soldier.

Originally just a somewhat blunt technical talent, but now it seems not at all the case; this kid appears to possess a bit of each of Wang Yanbing, Chen Guang, and Li Erniu's personality traits, yet not fully.

Regarding this, Fan Tianlei has been deliberately observing Liu Xiaotian all along.

Although this time they encountered some surprises, Fan Tianlei, while focusing most of his attention on confirming whether Xiezi had appeared, also wanted to observe the performance of those few soldiers he had singled out as key.

Now, although his muzzle has remained trained on several sniping‑suitable spots along the border, Xu Tianlong's binoculars in his hand have been fixed on the area where live ammo was dropped, precisely to observe these soldiers' reactions.

Not disappointing Fan Tianlei, the first to appear were indeed Chen Guang, Wang Yanbing, Li Erniu, and Liu Xiaotian—the four of them.

By a fortunate coincidence, these four soldiers, whom he and He Zhijun had listed as key targets, happened to gather together early.

Whether they can work closely together and whether they are the best combination will become preliminarily clear after this.

The four successively arrived beside the airdropped ammunition box, spontaneously assigning two to stand guard while the other two rushed to the box, opened it, and took the ammunition.

Immediately, Chen Guang and Wang Yanbing, after chambering rounds, relieved Liu Xiaotian and Li Erniu from guard duty, giving the latter two time to load their magazines.

The weapons and equipment carried by the four happened to be exactly those of a combat team.

Chen Guang carried a Type 88 Sniper Rifle, while the other three each had a Type 95 Automatic Rifle.

After changing magazines, the four quickly dispersed into an assault formation and again moved swiftly toward the border.

Meanwhile, Xiezi had already prepared to retreat.

Unable to confirm the enemy's numbers, with a helicopter hovering overhead, he knew that if he fired recklessly, there would be at least an eighty percent chance he wouldn't make it out alive today.

After all, his mission this time was merely reconnaissance, not the assassination of a specific target, so there was no need to risk himself.

But now he absolutely cannot move; he can only wait, waiting for the enemy to fail to detect him and return empty‑handed.

He had absolute confidence in his own camouflage and concealed position.

As long as he stays still, he will certainly not be discovered.

At the same time, Liu Xiaotian and the three others returned to the ambush site three minutes later.

For a distance of less than a kilometer, three minutes was already slow for the four of them.

After each chose cover and lay prone, the four simultaneously began searching for the position where the target was seated.

Liu Xiaotian and Wang Yanbing had each previously experienced a near‑deadly danger, giving them a basic judgment of the direction from which bullets would come.

With their hints, Chen Guang and Li Erniu's muzzles quickly locked onto the general direction where the two Xiezi individuals were located.

"Boss, those few kids are back again, in..." The voice of "Monkey" suddenly crackled in Xiezi's earpiece.

"Idiot! Put your binoculars away!" Xiezi snapped in a low voice, cutting off Monkey's words.

Because he had already sensed danger.

At least, their position has already been pinpointed.

Although Houzi's telescope had been treated, under normal circumstances it wouldn't be exposed due to such a low-level mistake as lens glare, but he still dared not let his guard down.

As the saying goes, what you fear will come.

Perhaps it was precisely because of that trace of fear in Xiezi's heart—something he himself wasn't even aware of—that directly led to the accident.

Just as he finished saying that, before Houzi had time to put away the telescope in his hand, the very thing he feared most still happened...

(End of chapter)