455: Chapter 452: Quietly, Silently.
455: Chapter 452: Quietly, Silently.
Watching Li Jinfang’s abruptly distorted movements, Gao Yang knew that the sentries must all be dead.
When he reached the three soldiers, Li Jinfang came up to him and whispered, “Holy shit, they’re really all dead.
This poison is too powerful, too incredible!”
Gao Yang switched his night vision device to low-light mode, leaned down to check, and then felt for a pulse on the necks of the three men.
As expected, all three were thoroughly dead.
The deceased sentries were holding their guns, still maintaining the posture of leaning on each other.
Each had been hit by an arrow, one in the neck—his quick death was somewhat excusable.
But one of them had been hit in the thigh, and despite this, the soldier hadn’t changed position at all.
Gao Yang figured this man must have died in his sleep without even feeling the pain.
Although shocked, there was no time for alarm or surprise.
Gao Yang signaled to remain alert and notified the people behind to pass through the small cliff edge.
Then, the team moved forward again.
Continuing to ascend along the mountain, the path began to get difficult.
Sometimes the path was carved right along the cliff edge, barely wide enough for a person to sidle through.
As Gao Yang carefully advanced, he suddenly heard a sound like falling rain.
But not feeling any water on him, Gao Yang was puzzled until he saw the path skirting the cliff take another turn ahead.
After rounding a sharp corner of the cliff, Gao Yang quickly discovered the sound of water came from a small waterfall.
There was a small waterfall cascading off the cliff.
Because the flow was so light, the waterfall didn’t form a stream but a dense spray of droplets instead.
Years of erosion had formed a U-shaped indent in the cliff, and the path had to be taken through the back of the waterfall and through the recess.
The recess carved by the waterfall was small, but on the other side of it, there were guards posted, and unlike at the cliff edge, these sentries were more conscientious.
Because it was next to a cliff, and the terrain was too narrow to provide a resting spot, the two sentries weren’t sleeping.
They could be seen standing on the other side of the waterfall, shifting their positions occasionally.
Although there were only two sentries, they were a bit far, about thirty meters away.
The upside was that there was no vegetation to provide cover.
Gao Yang made a gesture for everyone to retreat a bit and then whispered to Lucica, “Thirty meters away—can the blowgun reach?”
After pondering for a moment, Lucica nodded and said, “It’s a bit far, but the blowgun has the range, I should be able to hit the target.”
Gao Yang nodded and said, “I’ll use a bow, and you use the blowgun.
Let’s both move at the same time.”
After speaking with Lucica, Gao Yang whispered into the radio, “Bear, come here and be careful not to make any noise.”
Brejinsky’s VSK94 rifle had excellent silencing capabilities.
For safety, Gao Yang decided to bring Brejinsky over.
If he or Lucica missed their shot, Brejinsky would be ready to fire a backup shot.
Of course, taking down the two sentries with a gun would be safer, but even the best silencer makes more noise than a bow or blowgun.
Therefore, the gun was only to be used as a backup plan.
After bringing Brejinsky to the front and having him prepare to shoot, Gao Yang took out an arrow and dipped it into the poison in a small bottle as Lucica got ready with the blowgun.
After the preparations, Gao Yang grabbed the recurve bow and nocked the arrow.
Having practiced with the bow before departure, Gao Yang was quite familiar with it.
However, beyond thirty meters, he wasn’t sure he could hit a human target, especially aiming with the night vision device.
When Gao Yang and Lucica were ready, Lee Jinfang raised his arm.
Then, Gao Yang slowly drew the bow as Lucica raised the blowgun, waiting for Lee Jinfang’s signal.
As Jinfang swung down his arm, Gao Yang released the bowstring.
With a light “whoosh” sound, the arrow shot out, tracing an arc through the air before ultimately burying itself in the back of Gao Yang’s aimed target.
Gao Yang, who couldn’t see this, watched his target raise an arm, then slowly fall forwards, finally resting against the cliff and slowly sliding down, stopping only when his body formed an angle against the rock face.
Lucica’s target, after a stagger, leaned back against the cliff and remained motionless.
Releasing a relieved breath, Gao Yang put his bow on his back, and then the group carefully passed along the extremely slick path dampened by the waterfall.
Truthfully, the danger of crossing under the slippery waterfall was far greater than facing those two sentries.
Having passed the waterfall and come beside the sentry blocking the path, Gao Yang couldn’t help but feel a surge of fear upon seeing the target arrow on the sentry’s back.
Death at such a close call really lived up to its name.
This time, he had witnessed the power of the poison firsthand.
The thought that if his skin were accidentally nicked by the poisoned arrow, he’d only have enough time to open his mouth but not a moment to make a sound—it really meant he wouldn’t even have the chance to utter a single last word.
After passing the waterfall, the path didn’t get any easier.
Still clinging to the cliffside, they were however much closer to the gentler summit.
Having walked a further two or three hundred meters, Li Jinfang once again raised his right arm and signaled everyone to stop, then informed Gao Yang through hand signals—they had reached Arturo’s camp.
Arturo’s camp was not on the mountaintop but on a flat area extending out from the cliffside, slightly below and parallel to the path.
This allowed Gao Yang and his group to easily observe the situation in the mine.
Space on the flat area was limited, so Arturo’s mine camp was small, with only four modestly sized thatched huts without walls, filled with sleeping figures.
In addition, there were one large and one small building that could at least be considered houses, and a light was on in the smaller one.
The camp wasn’t large, but it boasted as many as six sentries, all armed and standing within the camp.
Two of them were positioned at the entrance to the camp while the remaining four were patrolling around inside.
To Gao Yang, these sentries didn’t seem to be guarding against enemy invasion so much as watching over the people sleeping in the huts.
After observing for a bit longer, he became even more certain of his idea.
Judging by the path, it was indeed a case of “a single man guarding the pass, forbidding ten thousand from passing through.” If they were discovered on the path, it would be exceedingly difficult to storm Arturo’s camp.
But now that they had reached the camp, a forceful attack was not out of the question.
However, should they resort to a frontal assault, they would need to remain on the less-than-one-meter-wide path along the cliff, so Gao Yang still preferred to silently infiltrate if possible.
The camp was at least forty to fifty meters away from Gao Yang, with trees in between.
Bows and blow darts weren’t viable options.
Gao Yang whispered, “Wait for the support team to arrive, and then the four of us will deal with the sentries at the camp entrance.
If the stealth approach fails, we’ll launch a forceful attack.”
After speaking, Gao Yang called the support team over with the walkie-talkie and said softly, “Be ready.
If we don’t succeed in the stealth approach, open fire.
Make sure to eliminate all targets that fire back in a short time.”
After finishing, Gao Yang took off all the bows on his body, laid them on the path, made ready to fire his shotgun and pistol at any moment, patted the axe on his chest, gave a wave of his hand, and then, together with Li Jinfang, quietly advanced along the path toward the camp.
The exposed stone path in front of the cliff offered no cover, but the ink-black night provided ample concealment.
The overcast sky without a speck of light was the perfect opportunity for a stealth operation.
Without making a sound, four people cautiously approached the two sentries at the entrance to the camp.
This time, Gao Yang did not distance himself from Li Jinfang; the four of them together moved towards the sentries at the camp entrance.
The two sentries at the entrance were only four or five meters away from the four inside the camp, demanding a swift and comprehensive takedown with no chance for the enemy to react.
With a pistol in his left hand and an axe in his right, Gao Yang followed closely behind Li Jinfang toward the camp’s entrance guards.
Initially, without night vision goggles, he couldn’t see anything, which somewhat reassured Gao Yang.
However, when they got within less than three meters of the sentry, Gao Yang’s heart started to beat uncontrollably.
He felt an impulse to rush forward and smash the sentry’s head in with the axe.
Light filtered through the small hut’s window, preventing the camp from being shrouded in complete darkness.
Instead, there was a faint light.
It was this sliver of brightness that made Gao Yang so tense he could hardly breathe.
The two sentries at the camp’s entrance chatted in low voices, face to face, while the patrolling sentries inside the camp covered the slight noises made by Gao Yang and his group, leaving the entrance guards unaware of their presence.
Li Jinfang, in front of Gao Yang, was about to touch the sentry; if the sentry turned his head slightly, he would see him.
But Li Jinfang remained calm, just spreading his arms while, on the other side, Samuel this time didn’t carry his Hammer but held a bayonet instead.
Only when they were less than two meters away from the sentry, within an arm’s reach, did Li Jinfang finally lunge forward.
Li Jinfang’s outstretched hand grabbed the sentry facing him, then with a forceful twist, turned the sentry’s head sharply 180 degrees, his widened eyes staring in a strange pose at his own back.
Samuel covered the sentry’s mouth and then swiftly drove his bayonet into the back of the sentry’s brainstem.
Using the Hammer would have made noise, but the sharp bayonet was almost silent, though penetrating the hard skull required immense strength, which Samuel clearly had.
As Li Jinfang and Samuel quietly laid the sentries they handled down on the ground, Gao Yang, axe in hand, proceeded towards the four sentries inside the camp with their backs to him.
At the same time, Lucica followed close behind him with a bayonet raised.
(To be continued.
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