305: Chapter 303 Like a Specter 305: Chapter 303 Like a Specter With his left hand covering the poacher’s mouth and nose, and his right hand holding a knife that pierced directly into the heart, the deed was done cleanly and silently.
Gao Yang was like a specter, bringing silent slaughter.
After he had quietly dealt with the second man, Gao Yang slowly moved to the last one, but this time, he didn’t rush to act.
The scent of blood on Gao Yang’s body aroused the sleeping poacher.
Just as the poacher twisted his body and suddenly opened his eyes, Gao Yang had no choice but to cover the poacher’s mouth.
With a red face striped in black and white, Gao Yang truly resembled a soul-harvesting demon.
As the poacher’s eyes widened in terror and he began to struggle frantically, Gao Yang swiftly raised the knife, pressing the tip against the poacher’s forehead.
Feeling the sting of the knife tip, the poacher finally stopped moving.
Gao Yang slightly loosened his left hand, allowing his captive enough air to breathe without instinctively struggling, then he brought his right hand, still holding the knife, to his lips and gently shushed with an extended index finger before whispering, “Do you speak English?
If you do, nod.”
Watching the utterly confused and terrified gaze of the poacher, Gao Yang let out a disappointed sigh then plunged the knife down with a swift movement.
Waiting until the poacher’s body shuddered and went completely still, Gao Yang released him and then slowly stood up to check for any other poachers around.
Although Gao Yang saw no other fires, he could hear the pitiful howls of injured animals not too far away.
Although he couldn’t see them, Gao Yang knew that the thorn wall wasn’t too far from him.
First retrieving his own shotgun, Gao Yang began searching the three poachers but was extremely surprised to find no rifles.
There were no AK47s, nor shotguns that fired rifle bullets – the three men had only two double-barreled shotguns and one revolver, a discovery that deeply disappointed Gao Yang.
On closer examination, he found the two shotguns to be quite old and worthless to take along.
The revolver, however, was a Brazilian Taurus with a decent brand name; the caliber was substantial, but the aimer was worn down, and the rifling was almost polished away.
Gao Yang emptied the bullets from the Taurus revolver to take a look – they were .44 Magnum rounds, and although the five-chamber cylinder only contained four bullets.
The .44 Magnum bullet has considerable power with significant recoil.
A revolver firing .44 Magnum rounds makes a decent defensive weapon for hunting, but due to the excessive power and difficult control when firing, it’s not the best choice for a combat firearm.
.44 Magnum bullets are hard to find in Africa.
Seeing there were only four bullets in the cylinder, Gao Yang didn’t bother searching the bodies for more.
He knew there wouldn’t be any, so he immediately tossed the Taurus revolver aside.
Gao Yang’s Smith & Wesson M686 could hold seven bullets, using .357 Magnum rounds.
Even though the recoil was also strong, it was certainly more suitable for combat than a .44 caliber revolver.
Moreover, Gao Yang had plenty of bullets for his handgun – seven in the chamber, plus three speedloaders and additional bullets on his belt, totaling nearly a hundred rounds, so there was no need to pick up a useless gun with only four rounds.
The two double-barreled shotguns, however, could provide Gao Yang with some ammunition.
The shotgun slugs were the same 12-gauge and thus interchangeable.
Gao Yang counted sixteen rounds in total on the two bodies, mostly shotgun slugs, seemingly prepared to quickly finish off large animals caught in traps.
The shotgun rounds were of the Browning brand and appeared fairly new, ensuring quality.
Gao Yang unreservedly put all the shotgun rounds into his ammo pouch.
Having run out of food, Gao Yang rifled through the bodies, find some jerked meat and clean drinking water.
He ate some jerked meat beside the fire and drank as much water as he could, then filled his canteen.
After he picked up the two shotguns and the revolver, Gao Yang walked a good distance away and threw them into a swampy water hole.
Though he had no use for the broken guns, he could not leave them for other poachers.
After finishing all this, Gao Yang started searching the area.
Seeing no other campfires or cars, he stayed about forty meters away from the three bodies, lying in wait in the underbrush, completely silent.
The sun had fully risen and climbed higher in the sky, but not a soul appeared.
Gao Yang waited in a large, dense bush until past ten in the morning, yet no other poachers came.
Gao Yang was in no hurry.
He knew that since there were three poachers here, and the thorn wall was about a kilometer away, other poachers would inevitably come.
Looking back now, it was clear that the poachers’ thorn walls weren’t limited to a single location.
After leaving a few people to guard each thorn wall site, the rest of the group had returned to other locations to continue cutting spiky branches and setting up new barriers.
Then, they would return at a certain time to collect any valuable game.
If the local wildlife had been wiped clean, they might also take away the traps they’d set.
Having waited till the afternoon, still no one came.
The three corpses hadn’t attracted any vultures or hyenas because a short distance away, there was a large quantity of dead animals that had already drawn all the vultures and hyenas.
Gao Yang didn’t grow impatient, but he began to analyze whether it was better to stay put, set an ambush at the thorn wall, or continue moving forward to search for the next target.
After a moment of consideration, he decided to remain where he was.
The poachers were sure to come, and staying put to wait for them to fall into his trap seemed the more advantageous choice.
However, if the poachers didn’t show up all day, he planned to start taking action after dark.
Time moved on from morning to past three in the afternoon, and Gao Yang finally saw his targets appear.
A truck drove up, first stopping at the thorn wall, where it seemed to be checking what the traps had caught as it stopped and started its way along.
Gao Yang’s heart lifted.
He had been afraid the truck wouldn’t come this way, and he was also worried that if the truck did come but carried too many people, he would be in trouble.
If the truck didn’t come to him, he would have to approach it.
But if it came and there were too many people, it would be hard to deal with.
To Gao Yang’s relief, about a dozen men jumped off the truck and started bustling around the gap in the thorn wall.
Then the truck started heading towards Gao Yang’s direction.
The truck was coming and the enemy wasn’t numerous—there couldn’t be a better situation.
Gao Yang reached out and drew two shotgun slugs, holding them in his hand before quietly waiting for the truck to get closer.
The truck stopped less than ten meters from the three bodies.
Then a black man jumped out of the cabin and angrily marched towards the three corpses, waving his hands forcefully and shouting loudly as he went.
Gao Yang had arranged the three bodies to look like they were sleeping.
Although it was highly unreasonable for anyone to be sleeping under the glaring sun, the infuriated man coming from the truck didn’t seem to notice.
Gao Yang saw that there was only one person sitting in the driver’s seat of the truck, and there was no sign of anyone in the truck bed.
The angry man approaching carried only a rifled shotgun on his back.
There was no need to wait any longer.
Within a few seconds, after confirming he could take down both men, the man who was still walking towards the corpses and shouting continued to do so.
Aiming his gun at the slow poacher, Gao Yang yelled loudly, “Hey!”
The sudden shout startled the man walking towards the bodies.
He involuntarily stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look in Gao Yang’s direction.
Just then, Gao Yang’s shotgun fired, and a loud bang followed—the sluggish poacher turned into a corpse.
With one shot, the enemy was downed, and Gao Yang knew the outcome without needing to look.
After years of shooting clay pigeons, if he couldn’t hit a stationary man at such a close range, he had no business sticking around.
After the shot, Gao Yang quickly turned the gun and blasted another round.
The slug passed through the windowless door of the truck and exploded the head of the driver sitting sideways to him.
Splattered brain matter and blood stained the windshield in a colorful mess.
Two shots, two hits—Gao Yang swiftly opened the shotgun, reloaded two bullets into the barrel, and with gun in hand, he jumped out and ran to the body of the man with the shotgun.
Now, he finally got the most-needed rifle.
With the rifle in hand, Gao Yang quickly searched the body and eventually pulled out seventeen bullets from the pocket.
Aside from those, there was nothing else of value.
After loading the bullets, Gao Yang slung his shotgun over his shoulder and immediately ran toward the truck, but there was nothing he needed in the cabin—the slain driver had not been carrying a gun.
The people at the thorn wall surely must have heard the gunfire.
Gao Yang didn’t dare linger.
After leaving the truck, he suddenly remembered something, then went back to the truck cabin, turned off the still-running engine, and took the keys.
Gao Yang had initially planned to shoot the truck’s fuel tank, but he changed his mind.
He only took the keys, then with rifle in tow, he immediately ran off to the side.
After running two hundred meters and hiding in a bush, Gao Yang began to check the rifle he had acquired.
The rifle was a bolt action, with no iron sights, and it was fitted with a scope of which brand Gao Yang didn’t recognize.
However, there were too few bullets–only seventeen in total.
Even though the ammunition was scarce, having a rifle was a big plus.
Gao Yang’s shooting range was significantly improved, and as long as he could keep his distance, he wasn’t afraid of how many poachers there were.
(To be continued.
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