Chapter 50

  "I really admire your courage. This is what a true soldier looks like." The mercenary who was holding the hostages on the rooftop said to Wu Yan. Wu Yan looked at him coldly, but the other party didn't mind this gaze and continued: "You can't have just come with these few people. Call out all of your accomplices. Everything can be negotiated."

  "I used to have some respect for you mercenaries, although you kill for money, but at least you're iron-blooded soldiers. But now that I've seen it, it's nothing special." Wu Yan spoke up, "Let them go, keeping me here will be more effective than these people."

  "I don't think so," he said coldly. "If you stay with these people, I believe the effect will be better."

  "Isn't it five people? Where is the other one?" Wu Yan asked.

  "Another one who can't get used to our food? Starved to death?"

  Wu Yan's eyes suddenly turned red, and a strong killing intent burst out of his gaze. The opponent also noticed this change and slowly moved his hand to the trigger.

  "I don't have time to chat with you... Immediately call your accomplices to surrender... Otherwise..."

  "Bang!" The other person's words were not yet finished when a gun suddenly appeared in Wu Yan's hand. He raised his hand and fired a shot, blowing the other person's head apart. Immediately after, he rushed to another person's side, pressed the muzzle against their forehead, and blew half of their brain out. Then he shouted: "Run quickly!" The four hostages who had been scared out of their wits heard the shout and didn't even bother to wipe away the blood on their faces as they scrambled down the mountain slope. At the same time, the Ghost Shadow team immediately dropped to the ground and dispersed in formation. More than a dozen rifles fired at Wu Yan, with bullets piercing his body before hitting another escaping hostage. The hostage's body arched forward, and with a "thud", fell onto the escape route. After the gunshots, Wu Yan's body was already severely damaged, with a large hole blown out of his back and blood flowing down like a small stream. He grinned savagely as he fell to the ground, using his last bit of consciousness and strength to pull the trigger one more time. "Bang!" The other person's shoulder suddenly burst forth with fresh blood, as the bullet broke through their collarbone and entered their body. The high temperature carried by the bullet scorched their internal organs, causing them immense pain and knocking them out, though not fatally. The others were stunned for a moment before another hail of bullets rained down on Wu Yan. "Pfft pfft pfft", Wu Yan's body shook several times, but no more blood flowed out.

  The mountain top had regained its calmness. Three hostages were running down the slope. "Bang!" A gunshot rang out, and one of the hostages fell to the ground, rolling several times before being stopped by a rock. Blood stained the road he was taking home. Snipers are extremely feared for their ability to kill on the battlefield. But it's also the most dangerous moment for the sniper themselves. Zhao Zhenghao quickly judged the location based on the sound of the gunshot. He had locked onto the enemy sniper's hiding spot. Another sniper had already been taken out by Shao Hui, and this was the last one left. Thinking about this, he felt a thrill in his heart. He signaled to his deputy, Zhou Yan, and they quietly moved their bodies into position, forming an "L" shape with their guns at a 75-degree angle. Zhao Zhenghao saw through his scope that the enemy's hiding spot was about to be exposed. The enemy sniper was trying to move positions. A sniper can never shoot from the same location twice; it's an ironclad rule in the sniping world. Without hesitation, Zhao Zhenghao fired a shot, freezing the enemy in place. Suddenly, a terrifying gunshot echoed through the mountains, like a snow avalanche. The air seemed to be torn apart by giant scissors. "Whoosh!" A bullet flew straight towards Zhao Zhenghao's direction. "Boom!" The bullet hit the ground between them, causing a small earthquake. Zhao Zhenghao was shaken, his body numb and his eyes blacking out. Zhou Yan felt his internal energy disrupted, but he gritted his teeth and held on. Suddenly, he bent down and bit into a clump of mud, holding back a sneeze. In another direction, Zuo Ming had turned his gun towards the location of the gunshot. He looked through his scope but couldn't find the enemy sniper's position. Relying on his years of special training, he judged the location based on the sound and fired at a rock. The bullet flew through the air, hitting the rock with a strange vibration that only someone who had spent a long time in combat could sense. Zuo Ming smiled slightly, feeling that the greatest pressure had been lifted.

  The team's tactics of encircling and ambushing in the mountains worked. The Ghost Shadow Troop was in a defensive formation, crawling on the mountain top, until Zhao Zhenghao and Zuo Ming fired their guns. Only then did they have a target to strike. Bullets shattered everything here, but the seasoned sniper had sensed the smell of these bullets beforehand and calmly dodged Death's invitation once again. This group of mercenaries was after all professional soldiers. As they launched a dense barrage of bullets at the sniper, they didn't forget about the possible danger coming from the mountain slope direction. Several people pulled out hand grenades and threw them down. "Boom!" The valley shook instantly, and large chunks of snow rolled down. The team members who were quietly approaching from the side were hit by an avalanche of snow, and could only stop moving and grab onto the ground to avoid being washed away by the snow. During this time, the two snipers fired another two bullets, and the mountain top suddenly bloomed with two more red flowers of death. The snowstorm gradually weakened, and when it finally calmed down, all team members wearing camouflage nets had arrived at the mountain ridge line. More than half of the night was gone, but a real life-and-death battle was only just beginning.

  The team's guns were aimed at every rock on the mountain top. The experienced mercenaries had already judged several possible locations where the sniper might be hiding. So Zhao Zhenhao and Zuo Ming suddenly lost their effect. Zhao Zhenhao asked in a low voice through the radio: "Are you sure you killed that sniper?" "I'm sure," Zuo Ming's index finger rhythmically tapped on the gun body above the trigger. "The bullet hit a rock, I can tell it wasn't just a stone." After listening, Zhao Zhenhao thought for a moment: "Don't be careless, maybe it was a double decoy trap." Zuo Ming was stunned, there was no such term in urban sniper professional: "What is a double decoy trap? Impossible, if he's still alive, he would have shot at us already." Zhao Zhenhao remained silent for a while: "It's better to be careful." After he finished speaking, the radio fell silent again. The confrontation between the two special forces teams was not like a large-scale battle with thousands of people and artillery fire. On average, tens of thousands of bullets were fired to kill one person. They spent most of their time consuming each other, searching for any possible weakness in their opponent, and then delivering a fatal blow.

  Time passed minute by minute. Zhao Zhenghao moved several times but still couldn't find his opponent. He even suspected that the other side had already escaped. He wanted to move to a more distant ridge where he could see behind the rocks. After making up his mind, he said to Zhou Yan: "I'll go take a look over there. I can handle the environment here. You think of a way to meet up with them." Zhou Yan nodded: "Be careful." Zhao Zhenghao patted the ground as if in response, slowly moving his body to the rear rock, quietly standing up and adjusting the camouflage net on his body, silently leaving this place.

  "Have they left already??" Wang Jianbin asked Shao Hui who was beside him.

  "Based on my understanding of them, they shouldn't back down. They're greedy for money. If they think there's a large sum of money in front of them, but it might cost their lives, they'll definitely choose to take the risk. One and a half million dollars isn't a small amount. It's worth risking their lives for."

  Shao Hui put his hand over his mouth, panting, and then covered the gun with his hand again: "Mercenaries are hard to deal with anyway. Desperate mercenaries are even harder to deal with. If it weren't for hatred, we'd be better off retreating."

  This sentence represented everyone's mindset at this moment. The mission was already complete, and the two surviving hostages were hiding in a safe place. The team had every reason to retreat, but not one person suggested it. The only reason was hatred. The midnight attack and the death of two comrades had added new grudges to old ones. They had their hearts set on killing everyone on the other side.

  "Bang!" A sudden gunshot broke the long silence. Zhao Zhenhao, who was walking halfway, immediately peeked out from behind a rock to check the situation. Shao Hui slowly moved his hand to the trigger position, aiming the gun at the direction of the gunshot. "You can't focus on that now," said Zhao Zhenhao, holding his gun and searching carefully: "The opponent is getting impatient, firing a shot to test the surroundings. As soon as you fire back, you'll fall into their trap and reveal your position. Search other corners where you can shoot, maybe you'll find something." Shao Hui followed his advice and shifted his attention to search elsewhere, but it was still empty. The opponent was indeed a seasoned mercenary group that had twice encountered Chinese special forces and killed two soldiers, yet their hiding position remained unknown.