320: Chapter Three Hundred and Eighteen: Divine Soldiers Descend, Evil Spirits Emerge.
320: Chapter Three Hundred and Eighteen: Divine Soldiers Descend, Evil Spirits Emerge.
Gao Yang fired repeatedly, and three trucks stopped one after the other, the closest still over four hundred meters away from him.
As long as he could widen the gap, Gao Yang wasn’t too worried, but at that moment, after spotting him, the people on the trucks began to shoot at him with machine guns.
The enemies had machine guns, and plenty of them.
Taking advantage of their fire not yet crossing paths, Gao gritted his teeth, leaped out, and hopped and skipped his way toward a large patch of tall, dense grass he had identified earlier.
Now, what Gao Yang could rely on was that those nouveau riche didn’t dare to get too close, and the approaching trucks didn’t have heat imaging equipment anymore.
This way, there would be a disconnect between their observation and combat, and even if the people on the trucks were given directions, they couldn’t easily locate him.
Having entered the dense grass, Gao Yang didn’t dare to stop.
He kept running hard, and a few minutes later, when he looked back, he saw the trucks catching up again.
Gao Yang immediately crouched in the grass, but then he noticed that the direction the trucks were coming from was off.
After examining with the heat imaging scope on his rifle, Gao Yang identified the problem.
Because the ground temperature had risen and the dense grass concealed him, the heat imaging finally became ineffective.
If he hadn’t been shielded by the grass, they might have still observed him with the heat imaging, but now, he finally escaped the sight of the heat imaging scope.
The three trucks came to a stop one after another, and people jumped down from them, then lined up in a skirmish line, about ten meters per person, forming a long arc to start a sweeping search.
Gao Yang had to stand up to see the silhouettes of the pursuers, and likewise, if he wasn’t standing and moving, the pursuers couldn’t see him either.
About three hundred meters away, Gao Yang removed the heat imaging from the front of his scope and crawled through the grass, but the excessively tall grass was sparsely distributed, and he soon realized that if he moved any further, he would have to leave the shelter of the grass.
The enemies had spread out.
If his tracks were found now, they could target him with concentrated fire.
Even if their marksmanship was poor, the simultaneous fire from hundreds of guns, coupled with a complete lack of cover, meant Gao Yang had virtually no chance of escape.
However, if he stayed, the region of tall grass was ultimately limited in size, and the enemies could slowly close in and quickly locate him.
Just as Gao Yang was uncertain about what to do, a buzzing sound from above caught his attention.
Looking up, he almost cried, a plane was circling at low altitude overhead.
Fumbling for his satellite phone, he switched it on and dialed as fast as he could.
As soon as it connected, Gao blurted out, “Toad, is that plane yours?”
“We have reached the airspace above your target area.
There are a lot of people down there, and many vehicles, but I can’t see you.
Tell me your exact position.”
The reinforcements had finally arrived, but Gao Yang couldn’t afford to feel relieved yet.
He urgently said, “Do you see the three trucks?
And the skirmish line in the grass search?
I’m about two hundred meters ahead of the midsection of that skirmish line, hiding here.”
“I’ve spotted your targets, but I still can’t see you.
Hang in there, don’t expose yourself, we’re on our way.”
Gao Yang surveyed the area where he was hiding.
There were too many trees, too many anthills, and the grass was too tall—no space for the plane to land.
So he urged, “Don’t rush.
Find a good place to land.
Don’t force a landing.
I’m fine here.
Don’t force a landing!”
Gao Yang was afraid that Li Jinfang and his team, in their haste, would attempt a dangerous forced landing, which could result in catastrophic loss of both aircraft and life.
Gao would rather hold out a bit longer, even at the risk of getting killed, than risk the lives of everyone on board Li Jinfang’s plane.
“Understood.
Suitable landing spot found.
Rest assured, someone will be coming to help you shortly.
We’ll be there soon.
Also, can you confirm if all people on the ground are enemies, if we can proceed with indiscriminate attacks?”
Thinking of what the Nuer United Front and the oil tycoons had done, Gao Yang felt no need to hold back.
If they had their way, he had every right to respond in kind.
Gao Yang spoke firmly, “Aside from me, everyone is an enemy.
Indiscriminate attack.
I repeat, indiscriminate attack.
Also, I’m dressed in the primitive tribal style, carrying a black backpack, wearing a grass skirt, and have oil paint on my face, making me highly distinguishable.
Pay close attention to friend-or-foe identification.”
“Toad understands.
Look out for reinforcement coordination.
Over.”
After ending the call with Li Jinfang, Gao Yang felt a renewed energy.
But as he watched the plane still circling above, he had no idea where Li and his team had chosen to land, nor if it was near or far.
Looking at the enemy about to reach him in just over a hundred meters, Gao Yang felt he might not be able to wait for Li Jinfang and the others to arrive.
But with things already at this point, thinking more was useless.
He could only fight a desperate battle and hold on until Li Jinfang and his team arrived.
He set down the hunting shotgun and picked up the AK47.
Gao Yang looked up into the sky once more, but this time what he saw left him stunned.
As the plane circled back behind Gao Yang, passing almost above his head, two black dots fell from it.
At most three hundred meters high, Gao Yang had a clear view—the objects falling from the plane were people.
As he watched in utter amazement, the two individuals opened their parachutes when they were just over a hundred meters above the ground, landing less than two hundred meters behind Gao Yang.
Low-altitude parachute jumps, ultra-low opening of chutes, and precise landing spots—meticulous, nothing less than a perfectly executed aerial rescue operation.
Godsent warriors!
In his despair, the only phrase that came to Gao Yang’s mind when reinforcements dropped from the sky was “Godsent warriors.” His imagination, no matter how vivid, never conceived that the immediate reinforcements Li Jinfang spoke of meant this.
When they saw the plane above, the soldiers of the Nuer United Front grew restless.
Many of them stopped in their tracks upon seeing the skydiving; having never witnessed such a scene and unsure of what the parachuting individuals intended to do.
However, after being loudly berated by a few, those searching soldiers quickened their pace and advanced rapidly toward Gao Yang.
The Nuer people hastened their search while the two parachutists, upon touching down, swiftly got up from the ground.
After quickly shedding their parachutes, they also dashed toward Gao Yang’s area.
By then, the Nuer United Front’s troops were less than fifty meters from Gao Yang, and the paratroopers were one hundred and fifty meters away.
Seeing the reinforcements closing in rapidly, but the enemy already at arm’s reach, Gao Yang took a deep breath.
He no longer watched the friendlies approaching from behind, focusing instead on the enemies fast approaching him.
The enemy had narrowed their search formation; now, there was a man every five meters moving very swiftly.
Gao Yang didn’t expect to completely evade the enemy’s sight.
His allies, in the thick grass, could not see the foe within the tall vegetation; therefore, the paratroopers didn’t fire and continued their rapid approach.
As a Nuer United Front soldier jogged closer, spotting Gao Yang less than ten meters away, Gao Yang suddenly rose before he could cry out.
For the first time, he revealed his true face to his enemies.
From the moment he decided on vengeance until now, Gao Yang had killed many, but he had never truly exposed himself to enemy view—be it night-time ambushes, long-distance shootings, or raids in the midst of thunderstorms.
The only time he was seen up close was when interrogating a leader named Moimosang.
However, the only one who had seen him up close, Moimosang, was already dead.
After a long stint in the rain, the paint on Gao Yang’s arms and legs had mostly worn off, revealing skin color on his chest as well, but the war paint on his face, though smudged, was still there.
As Gao Yang leapt to his feet, the highly concentrated Nuer United Front soldier immediately saw him.
However, upon laying eyes on Gao Yang, instead of shooting, they were rooted to the spot.
His face painted red, with white lines forming a skull-like pattern and black stripes that exaggeratedly curved up his mouth—Gao Yang’s countenance was strange and terrifying.
Confronting that fearsome face, the soldier closest to Gao Yang felt his limbs go weak and his hairs stand on end even though it was broad daylight.
Though his rifle was ready, he lacked the strength or courage to pull the trigger.
In the short moment before Gao Yang shot him between the eyes, he was paralyzed.
The soldier Gao Yang had stunned was reduced to a primal instinct to scream as he faced death, but he died before he could make a sound.
Nevertheless, the soldier beside him took up the instinctive response.
“Evil spirit!”
Another soldier, not far from Gao Yang, also failed to raise his weapon.
Upon seeing Gao Yang’s horrific visage, the heavy colors, and ferocious patterns that couldn’t mask the murderous intent, the soldier let out a piercing scream and turned to flee.
Fear is contagious.
Among the Nuer, who believe in the spirits of all things, Gao Yang represented an evil spirit of death.
This was why so many of them, for such a long time, were killed one by one by an evil spirit whose shadow they could not even glimpse.
A human could not achieve this; only an evil spirit could.
Now that the evil spirit had appeared, it would surely kill them all.
Thus, those closest to Gao Yang, who posed the greatest threat, either knelt or fled.
Not a single one fired at him.
In fact, none even dared to give him a second glance.
As the chilling cries spread the term “evil spirit,” a word Gao Yang couldn’t understand, his enemies on either side dispersed, quickly falling to their knees at his feet.
(To be continued.
If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast recommendation votes or monthly votes.
Your support is my greatest motivation.
Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)