Chapter 321: Slip away, then lure them in to kill!

At 6:35 a. m., the sky had already brightened.

But on the continuous rolling mountain ridges, mist still drifted, shrouded in clouds and fog.

At that moment, Lu Yang noticed the four people ahead split into two groups, each heading left and right.

He didn't know their purpose—whether to shake off his pursuit or simply reduce exposure risk.

But if he had to choose one side to follow, the safest bet was to stick with the first two, as they were less alert and therefore safer.

Although Lu Yang knew the principle that the rougher the waves, the more valuable the fish, his arm, where a bullet had cut off a piece of flesh, still throbbed painfully; playing it safe was most important.

After walking forward another half hour, the mist in the mountains not only didn't thin, it grew denser, and the sunlight filtering through gave an ethereal, dreamlike feeling.

Lu Yang looked to the right and, through the haze, could faintly see a vast expanse of emerald‑green lake, with a line of tiny dark dots along its shore.

Based on experience, those small black dots were likely a group of anglers; they fished day and night, catching anything besides fish.

Suddenly, a buzzing vibration came from Lu Yang's pocket, filling him with delight.

He quickly pulled out his phone to check—there was indeed a signal, though it came and went, very unstable.

The call was from He Zhen Tao; Lu Yang feared the signal would drop, so he hurriedly answered.

"Lu Yang, you......, where are you, are you safe?"

"Hello, hello hello, can you hear...... respond, can you hear?"

On the other end, the anxious voice came in fragments; Lu Yang, mixing guesswork with inference, barely grasped the general meaning.

He quickly found a slightly higher spot, propped his phone on his foot, raised it high, and searched for a stronger signal direction.

Finally, Lu Yang managed to climb a tree, extended his hand like an antenna, and barely stabilized the signal at one bar.

"Hello, hello Lu Yang, can you hear me, can you hear me?"

The connection on the other end finally became clear!

"Instructor, I can hear you, but the signal isn't great!"

"How is your situation now? Any danger? Any injuries? Where are you?"

Lu Yang glanced at the bloody, mangled patch on his left arm and spoke in a relatively relaxed tone.

"I'm fine, I'm great, I'm safe."

"If you were really okay, you wouldn't repeat the same line three times—are you hurt? How bad is it?"

Lu Yang felt extremely guilty; Instructor He Zhen Tao, truly a 'male mom,' could not be fooled even by a rare lie.

"Instructor, I really am fine—just a superficial wound. Listen, I'm heading east, though I'm not exactly sure where."

"There are now four bandits, one of whom is extremely dangerous—likely a former foreign soldier with high counter‑reconnaissance awareness and excellent marksmanship; regular armed police might not handle them, so it's best to call in Special Operations."

This information from Lu Yang shocked He Zhen Tao.

He had originally thought there were only two armed bandits, but hadn't expected it to become four.

Especially, one of them is a professional soldier with superb military training.

Without Lu Yang's key information, launching a direct encirclement on the enemy would likely result in heavy casualties.

"Lu Yang, the situation is beyond what you can handle—you need to withdraw immediately!"

"Instructor, I can't leave yet; these guys aren't moving in a fixed direction—they keep changing course, and without real‑time coordinates, relying solely on manpower makes it hard to catch them."

Lu Yang glanced at the mountain mist: "The fog in the mountains is thick; it won't clear until around eleven or twelve, so even a helicopter would be useless. But rest assured, I'll keep a safe distance while scouting, and if things go wrong I'll turn and run."

He Zhen Tao panicked: "There are four people over there, armed—what if they surround us?"

Lu Yang half‑joked: "If we get surrounded, let them surround us—maybe we'll earn glory and bring back a first‑class merit for the Company."

"Pah, pah, pah—cut that out. Where exactly are you? Be more specific, preferably with a reference point."

"The fog is a bit thick, I'm feeling a little dizzy from going around... wait, from my side I can actually see a jade‑green lake with a line of anglers fishing—you guys......"

Rat‑tat‑tat!

A burst of bullets pierced the thin mist, instantly knocking Lu Yang's Nokia N95 from his hand.

Lu Yang was also thrown from the tree by the sudden attack, his buttocks nearly breaking into several pieces.

He ignored his numb, shocked arm and the agonizing pain in his buttocks, quickly crawling sideways.

The bullets fired in short bursts, whizzing past his head, forcing him to press his body as flat to the ground as possible.

"Hey, hey, Lu Yang, how are you, how......?"

Lu Yang never imagined the phone screen would be smashed to bits, yet the call remained connected.

The Nokia truly lives up to its reputation as an era‑defining marvel—its quality is insanely hardcore.

But he could no longer reply to messages; after crawling a stretch, he sprang to his feet and ran.

Lu Yang realized he had been surrounded like dumplings, so running was the only thing he could do.

Bad news: as he had expected, the enemies weren't going to let him go this time, spreading out to encircle him.

Good news: they weren't as fast as he was.

Bang bang bang!

Rat‑tat‑tat!

Gunfire kept erupting behind him; Lu Yang dodged like an agile monkey, leaping up and down in the woods.

He had thought they'd give up after a short chase, but hadn't expected this bunch to be so persistent.

Perhaps it was because he had repeatedly tailed them, angering them.

After all, which villain would like having a human GPS stuck to his backside, constantly exposing their movements?

At that moment, Lu Yang noticed a guy doggedly flanking him alone from the left.

It was the small‑framed fellow with a pistol; his shooting was terrible, especially while firing on the run.

His bullets either hit nothing but air or smacked into tree trunks.

Even though he was only twenty‑odd meters from Lu Yang, he simply couldn't hit him.

Just as the short guy was fuming, Lu Yang's body stiffened, then he was shot and fell to the ground.

"I hit him, I hit him!"

Seeing this, Kui Ge in the rear panted heavily, watching his steps gradually slow.

The other two also relaxed their guard, out of breath.

I've seen people who can run, but never someone who can run like this.

If Kui Ge hadn't suggested splitting into two groups to flank Lu Yang, we probably couldn't have killed him at all.

The short guy stepped up close first to check the situation, but he didn't see Lu Yang's corpse on the ground.

Just as he wondered, he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his head, and then a stone smashed hard at his head.

A heavy blow caved in his skull, blood spattering onto Lu Yang's face, yet it didn't frighten Lu Yang—instead it made him extremely excited and agitated.

This happened too suddenly; no one expected the shot‑down Lu Yang to pop out from the grass beside him and launch a sneak attack.

Realizing that this guy had faked being shot to lure them in for a kill, Kui Ge, furious, raised his gun and fired.

A burst of point‑shot bullets swept across the waist; after taking down the short guy, Lu Yang immediately darted behind cover, using the tree trunk to block all the deadly bullets.

Ironically, the short guy with a caved‑in head and blood‑covered face, as he fell, was hit several more times by bullets from his own comrade.

Lu Yang knew without looking that this guy was dead beyond dead.

He crouched, snatched the pistol, and claimed it as his own.

Without checking how many rounds were left, Lu Yang again used his footwork to break out and flee.

Although he was still slipping away like oil on his feet, having a weapon in hand gave Lu Yang a bit more confidence.

He even began scheming in his head how to bait them and pull off a desperate, bloody counter‑kill.

Watching Lu Yang stride away after the kill, Kui Ge's eyes were practically burning.

"Chase after him, take him down!"

"Kui Ge, this guy runs too fast—we can't catch him!"

"Even if we can't catch him, we have to chase; otherwise he'll stick to us like a plaster, and none of us will get away!"

"Hurry, move fast!"

"First squad, second squad, come this way; third, fourth, fifth squads, follow me this way, seventh, eighth, ninth......!"

"Listen up, there are four enemies total; one has military training, once served as a militia, and has shooting basics!"

"Another has foreign service experience, with extremely strong reconnaissance and counter‑reconnaissance awareness—not ordinary criminal militia, very likely a mercenary!"

"Finally, emphasize this: during the operation you must stay alert; absolutely, absolutely do not friendly‑fire!"

The first Armed Police squadron arrived first at the nearby mountain foothills after receiving the concrete information, and began to climb swiftly.

Considering the enemy is professionally trained, the superiors are preparing to adopt an encircle‑but‑don't‑engage tactic.

The purpose is to ensure safety and reduce our own casualties as much as possible.

The mountain environment is relatively complex, so heavy weapons will be somewhat limited.

Therefore, using a human‑sea tactic to trap the enemy in a net and gun them down is the most effective method.

"Your shoelace is undone!"

During the rapid ascent, an Armed Police soldier reminded his comrade.

His companion squinted, then said somewhat helplessly.

"It's not that the lace is loose; the stitching blew out. Damn, I just sewed it a couple days ago and it split again."

"Wrap it with tape."

His companion pulled out the tape and handed it over.

That Armed Police soldier hurriedly squatted, wrapping the tape around his shoe several times—a practiced motion that tugs at the heart.

"Man, you've wrapped it so much—will you even be able to take it off later?"

"Let's just make do for now; once we earn merit and get new shoes, who'll wear these?"

"That's true—if we don't get new gear soon, I'll barely have any clothes left; look at my pants."

"Huh? Your pants still have a zipper?"

"Damn, last time I coordinated, I got those female‑soldier pants transferred over—don't get me started, the zipper is handy, but it's a bit tight, a bit binding in the crotch......"

"Enough talk—business is urgent, stay alert. Who knows, if we run into them we might snag a first‑class merit and take it back!"