Volume 1: The Fierce Tiger Leaves Its Leash Chapter 12: Following the Vine to Find the Melon (Part 1)

  Gu Weimin led a team of personnel out of the cave along the power line, and Ling Tianxiang's footprints ended here. The exit for installing communication antennas was on the other side of the mountain, and the antenna cover looked like a huge rock, made of special materials that selectively interfered with or absorbed electromagnetic waves of different frequency bands, ensuring that the antenna could transmit radio waves while avoiding detection by US military radar.

  The team members dispersed to search for traces, but they soon became disappointed. On the bare and rocky hillside, there were no traces to be found at all.

  "What should we do now, Captain Gu?"

  "What else can we do?" Gu Weimin looked at the questioning team member, "In the mountains, no one can catch up with that bastard Ling Tianxiang. Let's go back, the US military's unmanned reconnaissance plane will arrive soon. Contact headquarters, we've lost contact with 01, temporarily stop retreating. I don't believe it, you little rascal!"

  The teammates next to him all secretly spat out their tongues. The captain's words meant that even he couldn't catch up with Ling Tianxiang, so in this vast wilderness, probably not even wild beasts could catch up with Ling Tianxiang.

  After returning to the cave, Gu Weimin was also very regretful. When he received them, Gu Weimin felt that Ling Tianxiang's expression was a bit off, but at the time, he never thought that Ling Tianxiang would leave the team again and venture into the wilderness. Gu Weimin was very sorry that he didn't arrange for two people to keep an eye on him. In the large team, although Ling Tianxiang was just a sniper, his raid ability was the strongest. It was normal for other team members to be unable to withstand his attack, but as long as there were two or three people, Ling Tianxiang would not be able to escape either.

  "Captain Gu, Ming has woken up."

  Gu Weimin was startled and immediately quickened his pace. "How is he now?"

  "His consciousness is still not quite clear, muttering something in his mouth, we must get him back as soon as possible." The team member responsible for taking care of Wei Daming was a part-time military doctor. In the special forces, there were no full-time military doctors.

  When he arrived at Wei Daming's side, Gu Weimin heard him saying something. Gu Weimin glanced at the team member beside him, then leaned down and pressed his ear to Wei Daming's mouth.

  "Tianxiang... traitor... traitor..." Gu Weimin's heart skipped a beat, and he clenched his fists. Could Ling Tianxiang be the traitor? He could hardly contain the anger that was rising up. "Tell Captain Gu, we have a traitor... Tianxiang, make sure to tell Captain Gu, there is a traitor among us..."

  Hearing this, Gu Weimin let out a sigh of relief. It turned out that Wei Daming wanted Ling Tianxiang to tell him about the traitor.

  "Captain Gu..."

  Gu Weimin stood up. "Arrange for a helicopter to send Da Ming back as soon as possible, tell Deputy Qi to arrange the best hospital and the best doctor, we must save Da Ming."

  "What's going on with Shang that day?"

  "Let's wait for a while." Gu Weimin glanced at his watch, "There are still four hours before dark. The US military is very strict in their daytime searches. Even if he were a mountain goat, he wouldn't dare to roam around during the day. First send a message to Director Zhou and tell him that Ling Tianxiang may have gone to investigate the traitor."

  "Traitor!?" Several team members widened their eyes in surprise.

  Gu Weimin nodded slightly. "Everyone pack up their gear, leave two small teams to guard here, and we'll set off after dark."

  The electromagnetic wave transmitted the important information back at the speed of light. At that time, Zhou Guohui was having lunch. Originally, his mood was not bad, and the trouble had been resolved. Moreover, according to what Wang Yilin said on the phone, the US side still had no evidence to prove that Zebak's attack was related to the Republic. In the morning, the Taliban organization also claimed responsibility for this attack. Now it only needs to take some time, and the situation will calm down, and this matter will be gradually forgotten. From now on, at most, there will be records of this action in the top-secret file room, and maybe decades later, relevant materials will be released, allowing people to re-understand the true situation of this action.

  Just as Zhou Guohui was in a good mood, with a big appetite, enjoying the not-so-sumptuous three dishes and one soup, Gu Weimin's message came back, followed by Qi Jianjun's phone call, which detailed what had happened.

  "Impossible, what are your soldiers doing? Just eating and waiting for their salary?" Zhou Guohui was furious on the spot. "More than a dozen people can't even keep an eye on one person, what are you all doing? Don't give me excuses, tell Gu Weimin that if he can't find the person back, he doesn't need to come back either!"

  With a "bang" sound after hanging up the phone, Zhou Guohui's body shook violently, and even his half-inch-long hair stood up.

  "General, shall we continue..." The orderly cautiously approached.

  "I've had enough of eating, all you know is eating!" Zhou Guohui suddenly flung his hand and strode out of the dining hall. He hadn't lost his composure, but something major had changed and he needed to inform Wang Yilin as soon as possible or else diplomatic relations would be put on the back foot.

  Wang Yilin had just let his secretary take away the lunch box when Zhou Guohui's call came over. After hearing the news, he was also stunned on the spot, but only two seconds later, Wang Yilin's expression returned to normal. He didn't say a word and hung up the phone after listening to Zhou Guohui's account.

  What to do? Wang Yilin's thoughts turned several hundred bends in an instant, and he had also considered various situations.

  The best outcome is that Ling Tianxiang is found and brought back safely, but it's clear that the hope is slim. According to Zhou Guohui, under current circumstances, as long as Ling Tianxiang wants to hide or do something, no one can find him, and no one can catch up with him. Moreover, since the large-scale search by the US military has not been fully completed, it's impossible to mobilize helicopters for searching, making the tracking even more difficult.

  Another result is that Ling Tianxiang once again "made a big fuss in the heavenly palace", causing the US military to be in an uproar, while he successfully completed his mission and returned home. This can also be considered a relatively good outcome, even if the US side will strongly protest as a result, as long as Ling Tianxiang returns safely, the US government will at most only protest and will not take any substantial retaliatory action, because the US government has no evidence in hand.

  The worst outcome would be for Ling Tianxiang to fall into the hands of the US military and become evidence. The situation would become extremely bad, with the US government accusing the Republic of taking cross-border military action in Afghanistan, even imposing sanctions. Perhaps the US will not link the Taliban with the Republic together, after all, that statement did not have any explicit places, but this is also a huge trouble.

  After repeated consideration, Wang Yilin's head was big, and in his view, the best way now is to calm down first, maybe the US side has not detected this change yet! Chapter 12 of "Mighty Tiger Goes Off the Reins" (Part 1)