Chapter 52: Using the Enemy's Own Scheme Against Them

In the corner of a house two hundred meters outside the abandoned timber factory, Liu Xiaotian finally waited for Wang Yanbing, Xu Tianlong, and Cai Xiaoxin, who had come to reinforce.

Liu Xiaotian briefly explained the situation to the three, then reached for the fishing gear bag Xu Tianlong had placed beside his foot.

Inside was a Type 85 Sniper Rifle; he certainly wouldn't think Xu Tianlong had brought a fishing rod.

"What are you doing?" Xu Tianlong asked, frowning slightly.

"You stay here and keep watch; I'll go find a sniping position." Liu Xiaotian said, his expression completely natural.

Xu Tianlong reached out to stop Liu Xiaotian's hand heading for the fishing gear bag, shook his head, and said in a low voice: "When I came, I already checked—within the whole village stronghold, the only suitable sniping spot is that wooden tower six hundred meters away; they'd never miss it, and the distance is too great anyway!"

Liu Xiaotian smiled slightly to show he agreed with Xu Tianlong, but his tone was firm: "Don't worry, I have a way!"

Xu Tianlong hesitated for a moment, then withdrew his hand that had been blocking Liu Xiaotian.

Because Chen Shanming had instructed beforehand that if Liu Xiaotian had a plan, they should follow it as closely as possible.

After taking the fishing gear bag containing the Type 85 Sniper Rifle, Liu Xiaotian spoke again: "You three, immediately after I leave, scatter and approach the abandoned timber factory; once I'm ready, I'll notify you to act."

Although he was facing an officer with the rank of Lieutenant arranging the operation plan, Liu Xiaotian encountered no obstacle whatsoever.

His confidence somewhat eased Xu Tianlong's worries.

"All right, be careful!" he said, reaching for Cai Xiaoxin's travel bag and pulling out three Type 95 Assault Rifles, three bulletproof vests, plus a few flashbang grenades and a few smoke grenades.

After Liu Xiaotian left, the three, now wearing their bulletproof vests, immediately left that corner, quickly spread out, and approached the abandoned timber factory from three directions.

At that moment, Xiezi had already led Ahong out the back door of the timber factory, sprinting quickly toward the distant mountains.

All that can be said is, his luck was not bad.

If Liu Xiaotian had not yet left, his movements would certainly have been detected by Liu Xiaotian's "electronic scanner".

However, a first‑level electronic scanner only works up to three hundred meters; beyond that it fails.

Liu Xiaotian and Xiezi left in opposite directions, so he did not notice Xiezi and Ahong departing.

In that courtyard, at this moment only the Monkey and his companion remained, along with He Chen Guang hanging there.

The Monkey fiddled with the gun in his hand, occasionally raising his wrist to check the time.

He was waiting; once Xiezi had gone far enough, he would shoot and kill He Chen Guang, then leave.

As for that lump beside him… sorry, he's just a target.

Or put another way, he's bait.

At the very moment Xiezi decided to leave, his fate had actually already been "decided".

The Monkey's combat ability isn't exactly formidable, but when it comes to fleeing, he's absolutely a master among masters.

At least, unless they surround him with overwhelming numbers, trying to capture or kill him is nearly impossible.

Obviously, this is not the first time they've used such a tactic.

After checking the time again, the Monkey grinned at the guy destined to be "discarded" and said:

"Brother, in five minutes I'll kill this kid, then go out the front gate to draw the outside people away, while you slip out the back."

Although the man felt something was off, logically the Monkey's arrangement was indeed for his benefit; he even nodded gratefully and said:

"All right, let's meet back!"

The Monkey smiled and nodded, not letting the other see the cunning flash in his eyes.

"Go back? Where to? You kid, you definitely won't be able to leave!"

"Next year today, I'll remember to burn some paper money for you!"

Meanwhile, Liu Xiaotian had silently climbed up the tower, unseen by anyone.

He took out the Type 85 Sniper Rifle, set it up, and quickly saw He Chen Guang hanging there.

Although he couldn't see anyone else, Liu Xiaotian knew the opponent must be hiding behind that pile of logs opposite He Chen Guang.

The abandoned timber factory itself isn't large; the courtyard has only a few blind spots for hiding, and the only place that is both a blind spot and constantly overlooks He Chen Guang is behind that pile of logs.

He narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, then pressed the communicator: "Get ready to move!"

According to the data provided by "Jiaweis", Liu Xiaotian was confident he could snap the rope binding He Chen Guang's hands with a single shot, but he wasn't sure whether He Chen Guang's communicator had been discovered by Xiezi.

The earlier "Get ready to move" was actually just a feint, meant to probe Xiezi.

After about ten seconds, Liu Xiaotian pressed the communicator again: "He Chen Guang, if you can hear me, nod!"

In the scope, He Chen Guang, hanging there, indeed gave a slight nod.

Liu Xiaotian's confidence rose a notch, and he said again:

"He Chen Guang, in a moment I'll fire to cut the rope on your hands, but you must promise to grab a weapon or take cover right away; if you can do that, shake your head."

After seeing He Chen Guang make a slight head shake, Liu Xiaotian took a deep breath and pressed the communicator once: "Move in twenty seconds!"

On the other side, the Wolf Fang Special Forces Brigade's command center.

Fan Tianlei, face grim, stared at the enlarged image on the screen and once asked Qin Yuxi:

"Haven't you found any other angles? What's the point of us staring at the roof here?!"

Qin Yuxi tapped the control panel again quickly, but after a dozen seconds she still shook her head.

Xiezi's chosen position clearly anticipated that they would use this electronic image tracking method.

With cover in place and no other surveillance equipment around, it was impossible to see what was inside the cover.

But about five minutes earlier, an image taken near the abandoned timber factory had shown two silhouettes: a woman wearing a headscarf and what appeared to be her husband, both dressed as locals, walking slowly, not toward the border but into a civilian house twenty-odd meters from the timber factory, so it hadn't raised suspicion.

Because when their images were captured, they were walking back from the mountains, so they were overlooked.

And those two people were none other than Xiezi and Ahong.

After leaving the timber factory's back door, they immediately fashioned camouflage from branches and wild grass, draped it over themselves, and crawled forward through the undergrowth; after about two hundred meters they stood up and headed back.

Moreover, they kept their heads down the whole way, with Xiezi deliberately adopting the posture of someone drunk, making it really hard to arouse suspicion.

Just then, He Zhijun received Chen Shanming's report, saying that Liu Xiaotian's group of four had already begun their operation…

(End of chapter)