Chapter 23

  "The rope is ready, we can climb up." Kong Hao Tian said quietly while pulling on the rope.

  This sentence is undoubtedly the best news that team members have heard so far. Zhao Zhenghao decisively issued a climbing order. However, due to uncertainty about the stability of the hook, the team decided to climb one by one. Zhao Zhenghao needed rest and was last in line, while Shao Hui, with his agile body, took the lead as deputy captain. He retreated into the gun chamber, collected his rifle, and started climbing up the cliff, grabbing onto the rope and making it swing back and forth with a "squeaking" sound. Liu Junhao immediately tightened the rope from below to secure it. Shao Hui climbed agilely like a monkey, feeling the wind getting stronger as he ascended higher. At two-thirds of the height, his hands were already numb, but he took a deep breath and continued climbing with his feet on the wall. Finally, he reached the top and grabbed onto a stone seam to pull himself up. He checked the hook and couldn't help but take a cold breath - it was only hanging onto a nearby stone seam and could fall off at any moment. He immediately radioed down to tell everyone not to move and sat behind a rock, tying the rope around his waist as a safety precaution. The relatively slender Yin Mo climbed up second, while the heaviest team member, Zhou Yan, climbed up second-to-last, with Zhao Zhenghao bringing up the rear. Under the cover of night, the team members took turns climbing over this high cliff in the deep mountains, and the squad finally overcame the first danger.

  What's most frightening in the world isn't venomous snakes or ferocious beasts, nor is it treacherous mountains and wicked waters. It's humans themselves. Treacherous mountains are just standing there waiting for humans to come challenge them; when humans become hostile towards each other, that's when real danger emerges.

  Twelve team members crouched down with guns at the ready, and Zhao Zhenghao, as the team leader, opened the sniper scope to observe the situation in front of him. The mountain ridge where they were located stretched for about 500 meters, and on it, a dense forest appeared miraculously, possibly because the mountain was too high for anyone to cut down trees, or maybe it was planted by the Snow Mountain Tiger organization as a natural ambush area. Zhao Zhenghao retracted his sniper rifle and made a slow-motion crawling hand gesture, at this moment everyone understood that war had officially begun.

  1:55 AM, at the edge of the forest on the mountain top.

  The wind on the mountain top was extremely strong, they quietly approached the edge of the forest under the cover of camouflage nets. If they could engage with the enemy at the top of the mountain, the first shot would definitely be fired from within. Zhou Yan and Wu Yan crept to a taller tree, Wu Yan keeping watch around them while Zhou Yan climbed up to the treetop to observe. Right in front of him was the base of Snow Mountain Tiger, but the dense trees blocked his view, making it impossible for him to see what was happening at close range. After observing, he slid down silently and returned to Zhao Zhenghao's side to report: "Below is the location of target number one, only three floors with a single light on, the forest is too dark to observe, but there's nothing unusual."

  Wu Yan shook his head: "No, I just heard a sound," he pointed in the direction against the wind, "The voice was carried over by the wind, it sounded like someone speaking."

  Zhao Zhenhao's face was smeared with mud and rock powder, only his two bright eyes were visible. He glanced in the direction Wu Yan pointed, divided the team into two groups, and he and Shao Hui led their respective teams to sneak up and investigate carefully. On the battlefield, survival doesn't allow for even a slight chance of uncertainty; as long as there's a hint of possible abnormality, it must be immediately investigated or ruled out.

  Shao Hui led the five team members to sneak into the woods towards the suspicious location. The voices were getting closer and closer, and there were indeed people in front of them, and not a small number. They quietly crouched down and covered their gun muzzles with large scarves, as the other side had many people. If a surprise attack couldn't succeed and led to a prolonged battle, the scarf could eliminate the muzzle flash and avoid revealing their position. After equipping themselves, they continued to sneak forward in a line formation. Suddenly, Shao Hui raised his hand sharply, signaling everyone to stop. The five of them put on camouflage and blended into the woods like trees. Not far away, under a tree, a black shadow was standing still, almost indistinguishable from a small crooked tree if one didn't look carefully. Shao Hui judged very professionally that this was absolutely not a small tree. At this moment, it was extremely windy, and all the trees were swaying violently in the strong gusts, but the top half of this tree was still, while the bottom half was slightly shaking. A small tree would never have such great supporting power in this windstorm. The only reasonable explanation was: This was a person, Snow Mountain Tiger's sentry!

  Shao Hui sneered and pressed down on the radio, asking softly:

  "Do you know how high a living person's blood can spurt?"

  The other four teammates turned their heads and stared at him in surprise.

  Shao Hui walked slowly with his gun slung behind him, and as he approached the other person, he reached into his waist and pulled out a cold steel military dagger. His eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he crept closer to his prey like a starving leopard that had finally found its next meal. The other person was oblivious to the danger lurking behind them, still leaning against the tree, lost in thought as they gazed down at the mountain.

  Shao Hui didn't hesitate for a moment as he walked up behind the person. With his left hand covering their mouth, he used his right hand to pull their head to the right and swiftly slid the dagger across their neck. A thin line of blood appeared on their neck, and before they could even react, Shao Hui's dagger had already sliced across their entire throat.

  The blade pressed down hard on the left carotid artery, and with a swift motion, Shao Hui used both hands to twist the person's head to the left while the blade slashed to the right, severing the artery. The knife slid back into its sheath.

  "With a 'pfft' sound, an extremely small noise, Shao Hui's left hand grasped the other person's forehead and forcefully pressed it back, letting fresh blood spurt out. The dark red blood instantly sprayed onto the treetops and was blown away by the wind, unknown where it went, like a frenzied fountain from hell, exuding an inexplicable eeriness. After bleeding out, the other person fell softly into Shao Hui's arms, still not dead, he opened his eyes wide, staring at this sudden evil spirit, unable to believe he was no longer in the mortal world. Shao Hui smiled gently at him, closed his eyes, and lightly laid him on the ground."

  "Wu Mi, repeatedly tested and proven." Shao Hui announced the answer on the radio.

  Four team members except for Zuo Ming looked at this familiar comrade with unfamiliar eyes. Zuo Ming didn't react until he walked a distance away and then followed up in formation. After walking a short distance, the voices were as if they were beside them, but all the team members could hear was the local dialect, completely unable to understand what it meant. The ground was thick with snow, and they trudged through it fully armed, making crunching sounds. To avoid startling anyone, Shao Hui ordered everyone to halt and inquired about Zhao Zhenghao's position via radio. The response came: "Already at the designated location, eight people are sitting in a circle chatting, you will make preparations for silent hunting upon arrival, listen for the signal and act together, we'll take care of the four at the 8 o'clock direction, the rest is your responsibility. Do you understand?"

  "Understood." Shao Hui replied lightly. He waved his hand to signal the team members to move forward and stop six meters away from the enemy, waiting for the attack order. Just then, something unexpected happened. One of the terrorists, who was facing away from Shao Hui, suddenly saw a few piles of black objects in the distance that were very eye-catching in this sparse forest. He hastily got up, pointed his gun at them and prepared to fire. Shao Hui was an expert in hand-to-hand combat and had trained for many years in the special police force. His reaction time and physical strength were far superior to those of ordinary soldiers. Before the terrorist could assume a shooting stance, Shao Hui sprang up from the ground like a tiger, his rifle already replaced by a gleaming dagger. Using the momentum of his forward motion, he quickly thrust the dagger into the terrorist's right kidney, twisted it once and pulled it out, then kicked him away with his left foot. Without landing, he turned around and delivered a whip-like kick to the nose of another terrorist who had just stood up. The man didn't even have time to cry out before being knocked down, and was swiftly killed by Wu Yan, who had rushed over and cut his throat. Shao Hui didn't stop; he stepped over the corpse and charged forward. The twelve team members were like a pack of tigers attacking a flock of sheep, and in an instant, eight terrorists became eight corpses. The blood that had been splashed into the air had not yet fallen to the ground.

  The forest returned to calm in an instant, the dark night sky covering up the massacre, and the strong wind took away the bloody smell of the corpses. A large area of crimson snow appeared in the forest, with eight dead bodies lying motionless in a pool of blood. It was unclear who had struck so ruthlessly, but one of the corpses had its head and neck connected by only a thread of skin, with thick blood still flowing from the corner of its mouth and its eyes wide open in terror. The surrounding trees were stained red with fresh blood, like the festive red ribbons tied up during Chinese New Year celebrations, casting an eerie glow over the bodies on the ground.

  Twelve bloody men stood quietly holding their knives, admiring their handiwork. Shao Hui pinched the blood on his clothes, which had frozen like armor, hard and stiff. His hands were also covered in fresh blood. He stretched out his arm and casually wiped it on Liu Junhao's body, cleaning off the knife at the same time. It was as if he hadn't seen Liu Junhao's resentful gaze. He glanced at his watch: 4:00 AM sharp, when people were deep asleep. Shao Hui ordered, "Don't clean up, let's continue on our way." Zhao Zhenghao nodded, "No time for that, can't bother with so much, let's go!"

  "This is war, either you die or I die, a very fair fate." Shao Hui muttered to himself, bent down to pick up the opponent's radio and pinned it behind him, adjusted the camouflage net and held his gun, leading the team into the deepest part of the forest.

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