Volume 1: Fierce Tiger Escapes from Its Bonds Chapter 7: The Road to Escape (Part 2)

  After the sound of the helicopter faded away, Ling Tianxiang shrank back, he felt Wei Daming's pulse, very weak, then he checked the wound on his shoulder again, his body temperature was severely high, and the wound around it was red and swollen in a big circle. This is clearly a symptom of wound inflammation, but now Ling Tianxiang simply has no medicine to help Wei Daming.

  The ground shook again, followed by the noise of a helicopter. Damn it! Ling Tianxiang cursed silently, the US military helicopter flew back and forth every five minutes, leaving him no chance to slip away. The hiding place was an abandoned wolf den, not big enough for two people to squeeze in. The exit had been blocked by Ling Tianxiang with rocks, even if the US military sent ground troops to search, it would be hard to find them, and since the US military usually used helicopters for aerial searches, it would be even harder to find them.

  Wei Daming stirred twice, and Ling Tianxiang immediately helped him up, placing a flat stone under his head. "Old Wei, are you awake?"

  "Where are we?" Wei Daming's voice was hoarse.

  "We're still in the danger zone." Ling Tianxiang took out a water bottle and helped Wei Daming up, "Have some water, how are you feeling now?"

  "My whole body is numb, Tian Xiang, don't bother me anymore..."

  "Lao Wei, don't say that, do you think I would leave you behind and walk away?" After letting Wei Daming drink a few mouthfuls of water, Ling Tianxiang put away the canteen. "It's probably still four hours before nightfall, rest for now, and we'll head back after dark."

  Wei Daming closed his eyes, he was too weak, and he also knew that no one could change Ling Tianxiang's decision. Now his only concern was whether Ling Tianxiang could escape with him.

  Outside, the US military helicopters were still searching back and forth. After seeing Wei Daming fall asleep again, Ling Tianxiang also closed his eyes. Before firing the first shot yesterday, he and Wei Daming had been hiding for three days. In the four days, Ling Tianxiang had rested for less than 8 hours, and his physical strength had reached its limit. Soon, Ling Tianxiang fell asleep in a vigilant posture.

  A slight tremor woke Ling Tianxiang up, and he first found that the sky outside had already turned completely dark. Then he looked at his watch, which was already 8 o'clock in the evening. Wei Daming was still in a daze, only breathing more weakly. Ling Tianxiang's heart was burning with anxiety, if he couldn't get timely treatment, Wei Daming wouldn't make it to the next night. Then, another tremor came, and Ling Tianxiang immediately judged that rocks on the mountain slope were rolling down. He immediately picked up his sniper rifle and crawled to the entrance of the cave.

  A few small rocks rolled down from the entrance, and a faint footstep sound was heard. Ling Tianxiang immediately drew his pistol. The cave was too narrow, and the sniper rifle couldn't be deployed at all. Then, he carefully moved the rocks piled up at the entrance to one side. The footsteps were coming from the slope above, maybe it was an American ground search team, or maybe just a passing wild animal. However, Ling Tianxiang didn't dare to be careless in the slightest.

  The footsteps were getting closer and closer, Ling Tianxiang had already judged that this was absolutely not the sound of a mountain goat, but the sound of human feet. At the same time, he also heard something that didn't feel right - those feet were definitely not wearing leather shoes, and it wasn't the sound of US military boots walking on rocks. But at this moment, Ling Tianxiang couldn't think too much, if they were discovered, then neither he nor Wei Daming would make it till dawn.

  When he felt the footsteps were less than five meters away from the entrance, Ling Tianxiang removed the safety of his pistol and then suddenly pushed open the rock pile blocking the entrance. In the moment he rushed out of the entrance, he rotated his body, facing upwards and downwards, and rushed out with his back to the ground, simultaneously aiming the rifle in his hand at the person standing on the slope who was so frightened that they didn't dare move. Ling Tianxiang did not pull the trigger, it wasn't a soldier, just an over ten-year-old boy, no, wearing a veil, just an over ten-year-old local girl.

  The two of them stood still for a few seconds, then the girl suddenly let out a shrill cry and took off running. Ling Tianxiang's heart cried out in alarm as he immediately flipped over and jumped up, catching up to her in just a few steps. He wrapped his arms around her and covered her mouth with his hand.

  "Shh——" Ling Tianxiang made a silencing gesture, then said in a low voice, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I won't hurt you!" After saying this, Ling Tianxiang felt very foolish. Could the girl understand Chinese?

  The girl struggled for a while before calming down, her eyes wide with fear staring at Ling Tianxiang's face painted with dark makeup. Only after her gaze calmed down did Ling Tianxiang slowly release his hand, but he didn't let his guard down. The girl probably thought of Ling Tianxiang as a wild beast, and his current appearance and situation weren't much different from that of a wild beast either.

  "Alright, don't be afraid!" Ling Tianxiang slowly released the girl and put away his gun. He then took out the last piece of chocolate, broke it in half, and handed one half to the girl. He made an eating motion and said, "It's delicious, for you."

  The girl took over the half piece of chocolate with a timid attitude, although her movements still looked a bit scared, but she didn't shout or try to run away.

  "How is it? The taste isn't bad, right?" Ling Tianxiang smiled, this was the first time he had cracked a smile all day.

  The girl also burst out laughing, and a smile is a kind of body language shared by all nations.

  "Where are you from?" Ling Tianxiang said while gesturing with his hand.

  The girl finally understood Ling Tianxiang's meaning after a long time, then pointed down the mountain slope and said something in a language that Ling Tianxiang couldn't understand. The general idea was that her home was in the village at the foot of the mountain.

  Ling Tianxiang glanced in the direction the girl was pointing, and saw that the village was lit up with a few twinkling lights. It was very vague, and if one didn't look carefully, it would be impossible to tell that it was a village at all. At this moment, Ling Tianxiang suddenly thought that perhaps there were medicines in the village, or at least some disinfectants. If there were anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin, that would be even better.

  "Can you help me out?" Ling Tianxiang took out the remaining half piece of chocolate.

  The girl's gaze was immediately drawn to the half piece of chocolate, and she probably also understood that Ling Tianxiang wanted her help, so she nodded vigorously.

  Ling Tianxiang smiled and handed over the last half piece of chocolate, then stood up. Now he had to treat Wei Daming first, at least to bring down his fever, otherwise Wei Daming would definitely not be able to hold on until they returned to the base. Maybe in the village there were the medicines he needed, as well as food and water!