316: Chapter 314: Being Hunted 316: Chapter 314: Being Hunted Gao Yang knew Li Jinfang and the others would definitely come as quickly as possible, but this time Li Jinfang’s speed was indeed too fast.
They had found a direct flight to Malakal so swiftly, and Gao Yang once again felt grateful for his good connections.
A single call, and everyone who could come did come.
After a brief moment of surprise, Gao Yang said to Li Jinfang in a deep voice, “I’ll talk to Destin later, how much longer until you’ll arrive at Malakal?
Also, how did you find a plane for a direct flight to Malakal?”
“We should land in about three more hours.
As for the plane, it wasn’t me who found it; it was Morgan.
It took less than three hours to find the plane and apply for the route.
We first arrived in Djibouti, where the plane was already waiting for us.
Brother Yang, you really owe a big favor this time.
You know, although the plane is not a military transport aircraft, it belongs to the U.S.
military.
I have no idea how Morgan managed to pull strings and get a plane from the U.S.
military base in Djibouti to fly us here.”
Gao Yang scratched his head as he listened.
The favor he owed this time was indeed huge, and Morgan hadn’t mentioned a word about this on the phone.
Borrowing a plane from a U.S.
military base, no matter under what pretense, was definitely not a simple matter.
Although Gao Yang didn’t understand the specifics, knowing that it was a difficult achievement was enough.
Smacking his lips, Gao Yang said helplessly, “Alright, it seems I really owe a big favor this time.
Hand the phone to Destin, I want to say a few words to him.”
No sooner had Gao Yang finished speaking, he saw several beams of car headlights rapidly approaching.
The distance did not seem far, at most it was about three or four kilometers away.
Gao Yang was quite startled; the enemy reinforcements had arrived much sooner than he had expected.
They had come right after the heavy rain had stopped, which meant the enemy hadn’t halted their advance even in the downpour.
Looking from afar, there was quite a number of car lights, spaced apart, all moving toward his direction.
Once he heard Destin’s voice from the receiver, Gao Yang quickly brought the phone to his ear and said gravely, “Hello, is that Destin?”
“Yes, it’s me.
What’s wrong, what’s the situation on your end now?”
Gao Yang couldn’t help but give a wry smile as he replied, “My revenge plan has been called off.
I was planning to leave, but it seems the roles for revenge have swapped.
I see people coming, and there’s quite a few of them.
Now I need to leave quickly.”
Destin’s previously relaxed voice became tense again as he asked, “What happened?
Toad just said you were already safe, I thought you were out of danger.”
“Just now I thought I was safe too, but the enemy’s actions were faster than I expected.
I was careless, thinking I could withdraw silently.
But now it seems I might still need your support.
However, if I’m just escaping, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Destin immediately replied, “Understood.
Evacuate now.
We won’t be landing for another three hours, and it will take at least another six hours to get to your area.
Take extra care in the meantime.”
Gao Yang responded at once, “Understood.
Maintain communications silence during this time.
I’m going to turn off my phone now.
I’ll contact you when it’s safe.
Tell Toad not to call for more help.
If it’s just for evacuation, your assistance should be enough.
Goodbye.”
After hanging up the phone, Gao Yang immediately turned off the satellite phone, stuffed it into his bag, and began to survey his surroundings.
The terrain on the plains was flat, and car lights could be seen from a far distance.
Based on his observation, Gao Yang confirmed there were at least eight sources of light, meaning at least eight cars were driving toward him.
The number of cars the poachers could muster had exceeded Gao Yang’s expectations.
He thought that a tribe of Nuer people would do well to have one or two cars, but he didn’t expect eight to come all at once.
Gao Yang didn’t rush to run.
On the plains, and still at night, he didn’t think eight cars posed much of a threat.
After all, he would only need to hide in the grass, which would be difficult to spot even in broad daylight, let alone in the pitch-black night.
So no matter how many cars came, it was nonsense; those people would just exert themselves more.
After snickering contemptuously in the direction of the approaching lights, Gao Yang moved to the side.
Running directly away from the direction of the cars was definitely not feasible, as his two legs could never outrun car wheels.
But as long as he reached an area beyond the reach of the car headlights, it wouldn’t matter if he lay down and slept for a while.
Gao Yang felt those who were charging at him with great fanfare were merely making a show of force.
If he was still found by those people under the current circumstances, he might as well be dead.
After running for a while, Gao Yang stopped because he noticed something strange about the way the cars were moving.
The convoy wasn’t driving in one direction, but it seemed like they were searching in a zigzag pattern across a fan-shaped area.
Of course, the cars could move much faster than Gao Yang, and even though they were conducting a zigzag search, two of them were gradually getting closer to him.
Gao Yang found a clump of grass to hide in and watched as the two-car convoy approached him.
However, the cars were not heading in his exact direction and had already passed by Gao Yang’s position.
If they kept moving in the current direction, the two cars would pass about six or seven hundred meters to the side of Gao Yang.
Gao Yang was not worried about being discovered; his only concern was getting surrounded.
Thus, he planned to run in a different direction as soon as the two cars passed by.
Although he wasn’t far from the truck he had left, it seemed he had no choice but to give it up given the current situation.
While Gao Yang was thinking about how to make his escape, he noticed that the two cars had stopped, but he still didn’t take it seriously, thinking he was far enough away from the cars.
After all, even during broad daylight, let alone nighttime, he didn’t expect anyone in the cars to spot him.
Soon, Gao Yang realized something was not right because the two cars were now heading straight for him.
Although he found it unbelievable, Gao Yang was not reckless.
It was better to err on the side of caution.
Although he could not imagine the Nuer United Front having such high-end equipment as night vision goggles, anything was possible.
While Gao Yang thought something was amiss, he was still relatively relaxed.
He decided to leave his hiding spot and, taking advantage of the cars being at a distance where their headlights couldn’t reach him, he jumped out of the grass and began to sprint while crouching low.
Imagining the worst-case scenario where the Nuer United Front had thermal imaging night vision, Gao Yang thought he had considered an extremely unlikely possibility, overestimating the Nuer United Front.
But as he ran, he started to sense impending doom.
Gao Yang felt extreme danger as the two cars changed direction and continued to speed towards him.
If he still believed the enemy couldn’t see him, it would be tantamount to seeking death.
Now Gao Yang was baffled, as it was unimaginable.
To be seen by the Nuer United Front, they wouldn’t just need night vision; they’d need top-of-the-line gear to barely catch sight of a target over five hundred meters away.
Ordinary small night vision devices were good if they could even manage two hundred meters.
To detect a human-sized target at six or seven hundred meters, one would need thermal imaging night vision.
But for such devices to see that far, small thermal imagers were unlikely; it would have to be medium-to-large-sized night vision.
Medium-to-large thermal imaging night vision devices could easily detect human figures over a kilometer away, even two kilometers.
But such equipment was exorbitantly priced, more suitable for tanks and armed helicopters.
Gao Yang couldn’t believe an armed group like the Nuer United Front, short on guns, could afford such high-end equipment.
Despite his disbelief in the Nuer United Front possessing medium-to-large thermal imagers, the facts proved that the enemy had indeed discovered him.
Otherwise, they would not have located him so accurately.
After Gao Yang sprinted in a new direction, the two cars once again turned their headlights toward him and sped up.
The cars were too quick, and Gao Yang knew he couldn’t outrun them.
After a moment of panic, he quickly calmed down and decided it was better to be detected by the night vision than to be caught in the headlights.
With the cars less than two hundred meters away, Gao Yang quickly crouched down.
Now certain he had been exposed, there was no point in hiding.
He decided to strike first.
AK47 was the only weapon Gao Yang could use.
He aimed just above the headlights and fired two bursts, then immediately moved to another spot.
After running a few meters, he stopped and fired two more bursts.
After firing twice and moving again, the cars also came to a halt.
First, there were sounds of bullets piercing the moist soil, followed by the distinctive sound of gunfire from the vehicles, a sound Gao Yang had never heard before but was sure it wasn’t the gunfire he was familiar with from military rifles.
As the people in the cars opened fire, their headlights went off, making it even more difficult for Gao Yang to fight back.
Gao Yang was both perplexed and frustrated, sensing something sinister about the Nuer United Front.
He was now genuinely in peril, with no option but to keep shooting and running, unable to widen the gap.
Seeing that the cars had stopped, Gao Yang started running erratically at great speed, and soon gunfire from two different types of rifles, likely with rotating bolts, came from the two vehicles.
Fortunately, the shooters in the cars weren’t very accurate.
Although bullets hit the ground near him now and then, Gao Yang didn’t get hit.
But he saw the cars from the other two directions also heading towards him.
Unable to return fire and just taking hits, Gao Yang felt like prey being hunted.
Now it wasn’t just a matter of feeling trapped but also being in extreme danger.
(To be continued.
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