14: Chapter 14 The Unavoidable Battle 14: Chapter 14 The Unavoidable Battle Finding a place at night is not a simple matter, especially when there is no lighting equipment at all.
Searching for a pond on the vast grasslands is even more difficult.
Although Gao Yang had spent three years on these grasslands, he had seldom traveled through them at night.
Taking advantage of the fading daylight, Gao Yang had been moving forward with all his might, but when night fell, his pace inevitably slowed down, especially since he could only grope his way forward in a general direction after the sky had turned completely dark.
Traveling at night was not only difficult but also dangerous, yet Gao Yang had no choice.
He had to meet up with the Chieftain and the others as quickly as possible.
Gao Yang did have a compass, but he had left it in the tribe because he hardly ever needed it.
At night, many methods of orientation were useless, especially since the stars were obscured by clouds, depriving Gao Yang of his last guide, so he unavoidably got lost.
After realizing he was lost, Gao Yang stopped helpless, knowing he either had to stay put until daylight or wait for the clouds to disperse before trying to ascertain the direction again.
There were no other options.
Gao Yang thought for a moment, took out the walkie-talkie, and contacted Catherine to tell her about the predicament he was facing and that he might not be able to return that night.
Then, Gao Yang prepared to find a random spot to spend the night.
Gao Yang had a gun in his hands and wasn’t afraid to encounter any fierce beast.
He wouldn’t even need to fire the gun, just cycle the action a few times to create a clattering steel sound, and the nearby wild animals would scatter.
The animals had long learned to avoid this sound that signified death under the threat of human hunting.
Although he wasn’t afraid of fierce beasts, the threat of venomous snakes remained, but being bitten by a snake was a low-probability event.
As long as he wasn’t exceedingly unlucky, there wasn’t much of a problem.
Of course, if he could start a fire, he would be absolutely safe; however, Gao Yang thought lighting a fire might attract enemies, and so he ultimately decided against starting a fire.
After clearing out an area of grass, Gao Yang lay down with his gun and immediately fell into deep sleep, utterly exhausted.
Gao Yang entered deep sleep, unsure how long he had slept when he seemed to hear a series of booms.
But like a child reluctant to get out of bed, he sleepily reached out to cover his ears, refusing to wake up.
However, soon enough, Gao Yang, who was reluctant to wake up, was eventually roused by the noise.
Gunshots, explosions, and the roar of cars brought Gao Yang slowly out of deep sleep.
When his brain finally realized that the sounds signified danger, Gao Yang startled awake and immediately rolled onto the ground.
Gao Yang looked up to see several vehicles speeding toward him with bright headlights, the leading car already very close to him.
About four or five hundred meters behind, four cars were in hot pursuit, with one occasionally spitting flames from its roof and making thunderous noises that could only be produced by a heavy machine gun.
Fortunately, Gao Yang was not on the path of the vehicles, nor did he fear stray bullets.
The experience, while tightening his chest, also filled him with amazement.
Since arriving in Africa, he had encountered inexplicable gunfights and bloodshed time and again.
Battles always seemed to find him when he least expected it.
Clearly, these cars were in a chase with one fleeing and four in pursuit.
As the lead car raced past Gao Yang, two long flashes of light burst from the chasing cars.
Then, the fleeing car emitted two successive thunderous booms, one after the other.
The sudden booms startled Gao Yang, who immediately realized they were rocket or missile explosions.The missile or rocket didn’t hit the fleeing car directly, but the explosion in front of the vehicle caused the leading car to suddenly swerve sharply, charging straight toward Gao Yang.
The car was less than three hundred meters away from Gao Yang, realizing trouble had once again found him, he smashed the ground in desperation and immediately got up to run.
He had no intention of being innocently dragged into another battle unrelated to him, especially since this time the adversaries were using heavy weaponry like machine guns and rocket launchers.
Gao Yang did not want any trouble, but trouble insisted on finding him.
He thought he could leave quietly without any fuss, but unexpectedly, after the out-of-control car swerved, it looped a big circle under his astonished gaze, and then, as if intent on dying, screeched to a halt less than twenty meters in front of Gao Yang.
Gao Yang felt as if fate was refusing him any avenue of escape; an opportunity to get away, now thwarted by an out-of-control car.
If he didn’t take cover immediately, it would be too late.
With tears in his eyes but none to shed, Gao Yang dived to the ground and quickly worked the action of his gun to chamber a round.
As Gao Yang lay on the ground, a voice from the stopped car yelled, “Forget him, he’s dead, get out, get out, quick!”
Along with the shouting, bullets from a machine gun on the pursuing car showered over, with a series of shots sparking off the stopped vehicle.
However, since the car with the mounted machine gun was still moving fast, the threat wasn’t too severe—at least not until a moment later when the machine gun bullets flew skyward.
Three people jumped out of the soft-top off-road vehicle; two of them hit the ground immediately while another, after swiftly turning off the headlights, pulled something from the seat, hoisting it onto his shoulder.
A loud “whoosh” followed, and a flame flashed briefly.
The continuously firing machine gun on the move was suddenly silenced as the car was struck by a rocket, turning into a massive fireball after a thunderous explosion.
The attackers probably didn’t expect the people in the car to have the ability to fight back, let alone with such a deadly move; a single strike turned the machine gun and several people inside the car into a fireball.
After launching a rocket, the person standing beside the vehicle discarded the launcher and then dragged another object from the car onto his shoulder.
After a brief aim, another rocket was fired, turning the nearest car into a raging inferno.
Gao Yang was stunned; whether it was rockets or missiles, hitting a moving car with such accuracy was the mark of an incredibly skilled individual.
What surprised him even more was yet to come; after firing two rockets, the shooter casually pulled out a gun from beneath his right rib, leaned over the car’s hood, and began shooting.
The marksman’s shooting was brief and rhythmic, firing three-round bursts each time.
Even though the cars were nearly upon him and the crisis was imminent, the shooter fired methodically, showing no sign of panic.
Gao Yang listened to the gunfire, recognizing it was not the familiar AK47, but probably just another assault rifle nonetheless.
He thought that using an assault rifle against two approaching cars would be ineffective.
In front of his eyes, however, a miracle truly occurred; the two cars that were chasing him lost control one after another.
One suddenly swerved and rolled over, while the other turned in the opposite direction and drove far before coming to a stop.