794: Chapter 785: Toothache 794: Chapter 785: Toothache As he ran towards the flowing water, Gao Yang had already opened the canteen cap, and by the time he plunged into the water, not only had he gulped down his fill, but the canteen was also filled.
After a brief delay, Gao Yang looked back and saw that the pursuers had closed the distance to within 400 meters.
Gao Yang had to abandon his plan to cross the river on the spot.
Although he understood the tactic of attacking mid-crossing and the river was shallow and the flow not too rapid, water that reached the thighs still greatly hindered movement, and crossing would take too long.
Having quenched his thirst, Gao Yang’s mood was relaxed and pleasant.
Though running with a full stomach made it sway uncomfortably, this was not enough to dampen his spirits.
Returning to the riverbank, he continued running alongside it.
Feeling somewhat encumbered, Gao Yang considered discarding some items.
However, after assessing his belongings, he found everything extremely useful, especially the two water canteens that jostled annoyingly as he ran.
Still, remembering his recent predicament, Gao Yang not only refrained from discarding the canteens, but he also secured the caps he hadn’t managed to tighten earlier.
Although Gao Yang had relaxed somewhat, the thought that Captain Sadik had been lured here by him, while the safety of the Chieftain and the others remained uncertain, once again tightened his heart.
Regardless of what had transpired, Gao Yang’s initial and sole objective was ensuring the safety of the Chieftain and his people.
Now, he had no idea if his risk had paid off.
Gao Yang wished he could capture someone and interrogate them, but with at least thirty pursuers still behind him, he needed to put that thought on hold.
The pursuers were close on his heels, but Gao Yang was not very worried.
Most black races have great explosive strength and can sprint quite fast, typically dominating track events.
However, their endurance is not as good.
Among the blacks, the people of the East African highlands excel in long-distance running, often winning marathons, those lean figures enduring exceptionally well, particularly many from Kenya.
It was easy to tell apart those who excelled in short and long-distance races.
Gao Yang knew none of his pursuers were long-distance runners, which was good news for him.
After running further, Gao Yang noticed his pursuers gradually disappear from view behind him, and a forest appeared ahead.
If he kept running he would re-enter the forest, but beyond the river lay a vast grassland.
Entering the forest could shake off the pursuers, but the drawback was that his gunmanship wouldn’t be as effective.
With limited visibility, the fire exchange would be at very close distances, hence the side with more numbers would have a definitive advantage.
Moreover, if any of the pursuers were skilled trackers, the trouble would escalate significantly.
After some thought, Gao Yang decided he’d rather exert himself more by leading his people in circles on the grassland than recklessly venturing into the forest again.
He was familiar with the grassland environment, not the jungle.
On the grassland, he could eliminate his enemies from a great distance, maximizing his advantage, and he could also set up an ambush after crossing the river and attack them midway.
Taking advantage of the distance from his pursuers, Gao Yang hurriedly entered the water.
After struggling through the river, he walked away a good distance, sitting down around two hundred meters or so from the river bank.
Having had enough to drink, he began to feel hungry.
Gao Yang had compressed biscuits in his bag, but the backpack was not easily accessible after camouflaging it.
In the end, he took out the emergency chocolate from his pocket instead.
The chocolate wasn’t military-grade and could melt in the heat, but Gao Yang preferred it mushy over eating military-supplied chocolate that tasted like sawdust.
After opening the packaging and swallowing the chocolate in two or three bites, Gao Yang was still chewing when he suddenly felt a terrible pain in a rear molar.
Caught off guard by the sudden toothache, Gao Yang instinctively covered his mouth, quickly swallowed the chocolate, then drank some water, but the intense pain did not subside.
The extreme toothache was unbearable for Gao Yang—his worst pain before this was when Bruce was treating his wounds.
Yet now, he felt the toothache was more agonizing than if Bruce were mishandling his wounds.
Half of Gao Yang’s face started to hurt, the pain clouding half his forehead as well.
Gao Yang tapped his cheek forcefully; other than feeling frustrated, he still felt frustrated.
After spotting the pursuers from afar, Gao Yang was somewhat at a loss.
He tried aiming his gun, but the intense toothache made it difficult for him to aim properly.
The painful tooth was an upper right molar, positioned quite deep.
When Gao Yang closed his left eye and concentrated with his right, the toothache always distracted him.
Debating whether to abandon the ambush plan because of a bad tooth, Gao Yang reflected for a moment and decided he couldn’t miss this rare opportunity just because of a toothache.
He decided to wait a bit longer; perhaps the real battle would make him forget the pain.
Watching the pursuers getting closer until they stopped upon discovering the footprints he had left by the river when he went into the water.
Someone was holding binoculars and looking in Gao Yang’s direction, but Gao Yang did not shoot.
He planned to wait until the enemy was crossing the river before firing.
If the enemy crossed one by one, he’d let it be, but if they charged all at once into the water, that would be his moment to wreak havoc.
After a moment, someone finally entered the water, disappointing Gao Yang as it was only one person.
The enemy was cautious, leaving Gao Yang no choice but to decide to wait for about four or five people to cross before opening fire, dispose of those who had already crossed, and then retreat.
However, just as the first person reached the shore and the second person had just entered the water, Gao Yang’s eyes widened in shock again.
Several dark figures appeared at the riverbank and then walked toward the enemies left by the river.
Seeing that five Tuareg people had also arrived threw Gao Yang completely off balance.
To ambush or not to ambush, that was the question.
After several encounters, Gao Yang was very wary of those Tuareg elders, and seeing one of them wave a hand and then point in his direction, the remaining five Tuareg people immediately became alert.
Without joining the main forces, they crouched down one by one, aimed their guns in his direction while holding them ready.
Watching the ever-vigilant Tuareg elders, Gao Yang helplessly gave up the plan to lay an ambush.
He dared to bet that the black men couldn’t hit him from two hundred meters away, but he couldn’t bet that the Tuareg elders couldn’t either.
Being suppressed by random gunfire and then targeted by accurate shots from Tuareg elders would put him in a tough spot.
Looking at the straight-line distance of three hundred meters between him and the Tuareg elders, Gao Yang decided not to wait any longer.
He wanted to seize the opportunity to take out a Tuareg elder and then immediately run, not giving the Tuareg people a chance to get closer.
Too far to discern what kind of gun the Tuareg man was holding, Gao Yang just had to make a guess.
He raised his gun and after carefully aiming, as Gao Yang fired his shot, he felt a sudden, excruciating pain in his ever-aching tooth as if it had leapt up, and consequently, he had no idea where the bullet went.
Firing an AK three hundred meters away was challenging, but Gao Yang still had some chances.
Yet, the sudden extreme pain caused a slight jolt of his cheek against the gunstock, deforming his shooting posture, making it impossible for the shot to hit the mark.
With no time for anger, Gao Yang turned his gun and fired at the person who had already crossed the river and was on shore, only to be extremely surprised when he missed again.
Hurriedly taking another shot, he finally hit the person who had crossed, and then Gao Yang aimed at those still in the water, and this time, he successfully took down the enemy with one shot.
Gao Yang then stood up and sprinted away without looking back.
The faster he ran and the more his blood pressure rose, Gao Yang felt his tooth throbbing painfully, causing anxiety, irritation, and making him desire no more than to get that painful tooth pulled out as quickly as possible.
Having run a distance, Gao Yang looked back only to see that the pursuers had finally started crossing the river.
He completely gave up on the idea of an ambush, now certain that the enemy had skilled trackers among them.
Gao Yang had completely lost the will to continue fighting and confidence.
As he was preoccupied with how to handle the severe toothache, he glanced to the side and saw four off-road vehicles and two pickups he had just shot at driving over from the right.
The heavy machine guns had been redeployed, and dozens of people, including the Tuareg elders, were chasing after him.
Gao Yang sighed helplessly, realizing he couldn’t hide in the open plains anymore and decided to head into the forest.
Fortunately, the forest was not far from Gao Yang, just at the foot of a small mountain on the edge of a mining site.
As Gao Yang was about to enter the forest, the vehicles stopped chasing him and instead parked five hundred meters away, directly firing at him with machine guns.
As for the pursuers behind, they spread out into a large arc and started flanking him.
Sighing, Gao Yang lay down to crawl forward underneath the barrage of machine gun bullets and into the forest.
After running a few steps, he noticed the ground sloping upwards, and if he wanted to hide from the cars, it seemed he had to go uphill.
If he had to go up the hill, he would do it.
Turning left around the small hill would lead him into the pursuers, and going right or forward led uphill.
Going backward was impossible, so besides going uphill, Gao Yang didn’t really have another choice.
The hill wasn’t very high, at most two hundred meters, and initially, the slope was moderate.
But as he made his way smoothly uphill, the gradient became steeper as he approached the summit.
Although the hill was not very tall, it covered a large area.
Even though the summit was only around two hundred meters high, Gao Yang had been running for half an hour and still hadn’t reached it.
Although there were no cliffs or similar terrain in his way, as the slope grew steeper, Gao Yang felt it was a waste of energy to keep rushing toward the summit.
So, he decided not just to head to the top but to go around the side, as he was evading pursuers, not mountain climbing.
Just as Gao Yang had turned around, intending to run along the side of the mountain, he heard a gunshot.
After feeling a jolt in his right waist, he immediately sensed a wet sensation on his right hip.
(To be continued.
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