Chapter 40: Close Combat

  "The big brother wants to make a bet, okay!" As soon as the word "bet" was heard, whether it was a boy or girl, they all became interested immediately. No matter what, it's also a kind of entertainment anyway.

  Especially Caruso rubbed his hands hard, excitedly shouting and saying in a low voice: "What does the boss say to bet? What is the stake?"

  Xu Ming said faintly: "Shall we bet whether there is an ambush ahead or not? How about it?"

  "A wager, then - whoever wins gets to sleep in till dawn tonight, and the loser stands watch. How's that?"

  "Good. This bet is not bad, who starts?" Caruso said with a chuckle.

  Xu Ming looked at several people and didn't say a word, then said: "I'm the boss, I'll start. I bet there's an ambush ahead, the odds will be set according to the number of bets, place your bets."

  Caruso smiled and said: "Follow the Zhuang family, don't worry about food and drink, I'm with Lao Da."

  "You're really a die-hard fan of Lao Da, it's all the same and not interesting anymore." Guren hesitated for a moment, saying: "I bet there's no ambush up ahead."

  "Looks like the boss is going to lose, I just carefully observed the ground environment, there are only a few scattered footprints, no large number of footprints, consistent with no ambush signs."

  "Alright, you've all learned to analyze the terrain." Kapu smiled slyly and threw a flirtatious glance at Chinp'uo, whispering: "It's no fun with fewer people, I also bet there's an ambush up ahead."

  Kap's flirtatious glance was enough to captivate the soul, and Jinpu seemed to be a romantic too, his face turned red all the way to his neck, he lowered his head and didn't dare look at Kap again.

  Maya naturally followed her husband, and Harry also guessed that there was no ambush in front.

  Xu Ming smiled and said, "The odds are 3 to 4, okay, I'll take a bit of a loss. If my side loses, I'll pay double, but you guys only need to pay even."

  Glen smiled and said: "It's a bit of trouble for Big Brother and Sister-in-law to keep watch for us for two consecutive nights."

  Maya's face turned red like an apple when she heard this. The other big men almost dropped their eyeballs, if Kapu's beauty was that kind of lethal charm, then Maya's shy appearance was like a small and fresh beauty loli, it was two completely different kinds of beauty, there was no comparability at all.

  Glen cleared his throat lightly, and the other men shifted their eyes, not daring to glance sideways.

  Xu Ming smiled indifferently and said, "That's hard to say."

  His smile then disappeared, and he said seriously: "Although I'm just joking, you all still need to be on high alert. If the lion is really lying in wait up ahead, it should have discovered us by now, but we haven't entered its ambush circle yet, so it's waiting there."

  "Maya, Karuso and I will sneak past the bushes on the side to seize the first high ground on the left and the second high ground on the right. The four of you make a feint advance cautiously, as soon as the gunfire sounds, quickly converge on the high grounds on both sides, and then use them as cover to engage in a positional battle with them."

  "In fact, with our advantages, a field battle is not advantageous to us. Whether there's an ambush or not, we must prepare for the worst-case scenario. Caruso must occupy the first high ground on the right flank. If they enter into a field battle and launch a strong attack, we will abandon the high ground on the left flank and merge with you, so Caruso, be sure to provide covering fire."

  "Understood! Don't worry, boss." Caruso nodded and patted his chest.

  Xu Ming nodded and said, "The environment on the right side is more familiar to us, with more trenches and dense forests. They won't be able to get a good grasp of us easily. If Caruso's sniper fire is effective, we might even be able to launch a counter-ambush."

  "Does anyone else have anything to add?"

  Others shook their heads and had no other opinions.

  "OK! Proceed with the plan, I hope my judgment is wrong, reminding everyone again to pay attention to safety."

  Karp nodded, and he and Gren moved slowly to the left, while Jinpo and Harry moved to the right. Xu Ming let Maya and Caruso occupy the high ground on the right side, and went alone to the high ground on the left side.

  "Boss, they've arrived." A shabbily dressed middle-aged man crawled over to the lion's side and whispered into its ear.

  The lion's perspective couldn't see the incoming person, after all they hadn't entered the ambush circle yet. He asked the middle-aged man: "How many people have come? How far is the distance?"

  The middle-aged man replied: "There are probably five or six people, can't see very clearly, they all stick to the bushes and walk slowly, at their speed, in another three or four minutes they will come in."

  "Go and inform everyone to hide well, whoever exposes himself will be chopped off by me." The lion said with a serious face, "These few people are not ordinary characters, without my order, no one can fire a shot."

  The middle-aged man received the order and crawled back again.

  The lion grasped the gun, slowly placing it on the mound of earth, stealthily poking his head out, through the gaps in the weeds, he could also vaguely see the shadow of his opponent.

  He couldn't help but lick his lips, laid the AK74 flat in his hands, and pressed his eyes against the sight.

  Xu Ming slowly crawled out of the bushes, and within fifty meters to his left was a vantage point. This vantage point was half a head shorter than the others, which was not ideal in principle, but it was enough for an ambush.

  There were three people hiding at a vantage point, and the cat was motionless there.

  Xu Ming looked around at other places and found one of the commanding heights, which happened to be able to see the side of this commanding height, so to speak, they echoed each other.

  Xu Ming slowly pulled out his sniper rifle, aiming at the vantage point that could see here, zooming in on the view, Xu Ming was able to roughly make out the two gun barrels exposed on the vantage point with their sights.

  It's okay! The gun barrels and sights are all pointing at that small road, no one will notice this side.

  Xu Ming slung his sniper rifle over his shoulder, pulled out a dagger from his waist, and slowly crawled over.

  Within less than ten meters, the three people there were completely unaware of the cat. Or rather, their attention was all on the path and they didn't think about what was behind them at all.

  Within three meters, Xu Ming's heart was already in his throat. Within a distance of less than three meters, anyone who was slightly distracted would notice someone behind them.

  However, one of them seemed a bit distracted, touched his nose with his hand, and suddenly felt something was wrong, as if he had turned back.

  Xu Ming suddenly pounced forward, grabbing the man's hair with one hand, and swiping his dagger across the man's neck. The two people beside him were shocked, and before they could even turn their guns around, Xu Ming had already rolled over to them, his dagger stabbing through the chest of the middle person in an instant, and quickly withdrawing it again.

  At this time, the muzzle of the last person's gun had already turned around, and Xu Ming grabbed the man's gun with one hand and pressed it down. The man obviously had no military training at all, and actually pulled the trigger.

  Bang

  A gunshot rang out, and a bullet passed through Xu Ming's crotch. With a swift slash of the knife, the man who fired the shot had his throat slit.

  Xu Ming felt a chill run down his entire body. Damn it! That was close, almost lost the second one too.