Chapter 66: Ambush (Part 2)

  "Ah Luan must die today? He really said so!"

  When Gao Liang ran back to the hiding place in the north of the city at his fastest speed, the sky had already darkened. When he conveyed Di Lie's response with a gasping tone similar to Ah Su's, Guan Zhongyong and Liu Erping, who had been staying here for two days, couldn't help but shout out loud in unison. The sound was so loud that even they themselves didn't feel it.

  This news is too shocking, how can he dare to declare the death of a Jin army general at the level of Qianfu Lang? The person who was about to die in his mouth had just killed nearly 100,000 righteous soldiers in Taihang Mountain, and was terrified! Is this person arrogant? Confident? Or is he too self-satisfied?

  Before the two could even process this shocking turn of events, another even more astonishing thing happened.

  "Who says Ah Lang will only live till today? Who wants to kill Ah Lang?" A voice that made everyone's soul fly away came from outside the house.

  Gaoyang, although exhausted, reacted the fastest. He rushed to the wall root, rummaged through a pile of miscellaneous objects and pulled out a Song-style crossbow. Then he stepped on the iron ring at the front end of the crossbow frame and drew the string with all his might. He stretched out his hand again, rummaged through the pile of objects, and grabbed three straight and sharp crossbow arrows. Gaoyang quickly loaded one of the arrows into the arrow groove, aiming at the door.

  As Guan Zhongyong finished this series of actions, Liu Erping and the Tianpingshan crowd inside the house also drew out their sharp blades. Those who couldn't bring weapons into the city picked up table legs, stools and the like, all pointing at the door.

  The worn-out wooden door creaked as it was pushed open, and a figure appeared in front of the door.

  Guan Zhongyong and Liu Erping were about to rush forward, but suddenly froze in their tracks. Their eyes widened like bronze bells as they exclaimed in unison: "Master Meng, how is it you?"

  The man standing in front of the gate was not tall, but he had a sturdy build, with his chest exposed and his belly bulging out. His round and swollen stomach made him look quite like Zheng Tu. He had a coarse black face, with piercing eyes and a garlic nose, and a mouthful of whiskers that curled up to his cheeks, each one as sharp as a needle, giving him a very fierce appearance.

  This man was Meng De, the leader of Cheyuan Ridge Fort, who had been missing for many days after the defeat of the 19th Regiment of the Taixing Army.

  "What, this is how you welcome your host?" Meng De looked around and chuckled, squeezing his sturdy body through the door. His eyes scanned to Gao Liang's hand holding the crossbow and paused for a moment, "Not bad! I didn't expect that Tianping Village still has some real men."

  Liu Erping hastily waved his hand, and the Tianping Village crowd reluctantly sheathed their swords.

  Guan Zhongyong was shocked and asked: "How did Master Meng's stronghold get here?"

  Meng De beckoned with his hand towards the outside of the door: "Lao Ba, come in and let everyone from Tianping Stockade take a look."

  A figure flashed outside the door, and a thin middle-aged man with an ordinary face appeared before everyone.

  "Hu Zhanggui, it's you..." Tianping Village guide exclaimed as soon as he saw this person.

  As the guide explained, everyone finally understood that Hu Zhanggui, who opened a grocery store, was originally a neighbor living next door. Unexpectedly, this person turned out to be from Cheyuan Ridge Village. Meng De also told everyone that he had been hiding in the cellar next door due to his injuries. After the incident blew over and his wounds were almost healed, he came out to show his face. He intended to leave at an opportune moment but unexpectedly discovered that Guan Zhongyong and others lived next door, lurking during the day and emerging at night, seemingly with ulterior motives. So Meng De paid extra attention.

  A few days ago, Guan Zhongyong and Liu Erping were all careful to investigate and discuss in a low voice, so Meng De didn't hear anything. Until just now, the two of them were shocked by Di Lie's shocking words and lost their voices, shouting loudly, which finally startled Meng De who had been paying attention to the movement next door.

  Meng De asked hastily: "Which good fellow wants to kill Ah Lan? He even claimed that he won't live past today."

  Guan Zhongyong and Liu Erping exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, and said: "This good fellow is one of our new partners in Tianping Village... He wants to offer a memorial service with Ah Lang's blood to pay respects to the spirit of Master Liu. However, he acted on his own accord, and we didn't know what was going on... High Brother, Dian... did that Di brother really have such confidence?"

  Gaohuang shook his head sincerely: "I don't know either. But I think he's definitely not a person who talks big..."

  "Not bad, he's a rare warrior who can easily defeat dozens of Golden Crow elite soldiers, and has a divine weapon in his hand... Hehe, I'm really looking forward to it..." Guan Zhongyong muttered to himself, his eyes shining brighter and brighter.

  In fact, when the people of Tianping Village were discussing and speculating, with doubts and worries, things had already been settled.

  Before the hourglass turned over half an hour ago, the last afterglow of sunset had not faded.

  In Di Lie's scope, in the winding tunnel section like a long snake, several long flags moved slowly and steadily, gradually approaching, about to reach the first sniper point (the first gap).

  Di Lie assumed the standard prone shooting position, lying on a stone slab covered with a sheepskin pad, breathing normally, his right shoulder snugly fitted against the hollow buttstock, his right hand lightly cocking the gun and loading the cartridge.

  Because he was going to snipe a specific target and the distance was relatively far, Di Lie chose to use standard bullets this time. The Barrett M82A1 anti-material sniper rifle equipped with standard bullets had a theoretical range of 6,800 meters - of course, such an abnormal range had no practical significance except for reference value when building a shooting range.

  The normal sniper range of the Barrett M82A1 anti-material rifle is about 1500 meters. The farther beyond this distance, the lower the success rate of a shot.

  Di Lie's hiding point is about 1380 meters away from the three sniper points, which is exactly within the optimal shooting distance of a large-caliber sniper rifle.

  At such a suitable distance, open and clear field of view, gentle wind speed and suitable humidity. Given Di Lie's past sniper achievements, the probability of missing is extremely low.

  The long banner was held by the Jin army's flag bearer, slanting and passing slowly through the first sniper point, followed by a series of iron helmets illuminated by the sunset. One, two, three... When the sixth helmet appeared, although it was only a flash, Di Lie still used his unique rapid identification memory ability as a sniper to quickly restore the image he saw in less than a second in his mind.

  That was a very unique, crimson-painted eight-sided helmet with a golden brim, and under the shadow of that brim, a gloomy and rigid face - yes, this was exactly what Ah Suo had said, the eight-sided helmet rumored to have come from the palace of Liao. Whenever he went into battle, Ah Lan would wear this helmet, so all his soldiers could see the figure under it charging forward forever. And that gloomy and rigid face was also confirmed by Ah Suo. Yes, that was Ah Lan!

  Di Lie swiftly turned the muzzle to the second sniper point, silently counting in his heart. When he counted to eighteen, that crimson eight-sided golden helmet reappeared at the opening, still flashing by like lightning.

  Di Lie swiftly pointed the muzzle at the third and final sniping point. At the same time, utilizing the data obtained earlier, he rapidly calculated in his mind the required time from the second to the third sniping point.

  At a short distance behind Di Lie, Ah Shu saw him frequently turning the muzzle of his gun, but he never fired. In his heart, he was anxious... yet he didn't dare make any movement, fearing that it would disturb Di Lie. Unconsciously, Ah Shu's fist clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white, and beads of sweat rolled down from the tip of his nose...

  Di Lie, with his usual calmness as a sniper, silently counted in his heart: twenty-eight, twenty-nine... thirty-three, thirty-four, thirty-five - right, now!

  Almost at the same time, a third sniper point appeared on the edge of the gap, revealing a hint of crimson red...

  Shooting at a moving target is different from shooting at a fixed one, and the lead time is extremely important. Especially for a sniper, mastering the timing of the lead directly determines the success rate of the shot.

  When Ah Lang passed through the opening that was only the size of a washbasin, he was exposed for only 0.1 seconds. If you waited until you saw clearly before pressing the shutter, not even a single hair would be captured. Therefore, it was necessary to predict the shot. Calculate Ah Lang's cycling speed and calculate when he was most likely to appear at the third shooting point. At that moment when the red light was about to appear or disappear, Di Lie pressed the shutter decisively.

  In the sniper's scope of view, that bright red eight-sided golden helmet suddenly exploded like a watermelon, with red and white objects splashing out like pulp...

  Di Lie immediately rolled down from the tower base to the pile of rocks, quickly opened the gun box, and swiftly disassembled the sniper rifle into individual components. Then he closed the lid with a "thud" and only said one word to A Shu: "Go!"

  Art hurriedly followed behind, finally unable to bear it and asked aloud: "How is Ah Lan?"

  Di Lie didn't respond to him and just walked faster and farther away...

  The last ray of sunset had just disappeared.

  "Jin Zhang has been killed!" The broken wooden door was violently pushed open once again, swaying precariously. The one who reported this astonishing news was a spy from Tianping Village who had infiltrated the New Attached Army.

  Liu Erping had been struggling for several days and couldn't come up with a decent assassination plan. The only result was that he had laid down a nearly useless pawn in the new attached army. However, this pawn had now brought unexpected great news.

  Unexpectedly, the first person to jump up was Meng De, the leader of Che Yun Ridge Fort. He grabbed the scout and his voice was trembling with rage: "What did you say? Ah Lang, that butcher who has been stained with the blood of our Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's martyrs, is dead? Is this true? If you dare to deceive me, do you believe I'll tear you apart alive?"

  That day, the scout from Ping Village stuttered: "I... I dare not deceive Lord Meng, a brother from the new attached army saw with his own eyes that Jin Gou's personal guard, listless and dejected, carried down from horseback the corpse of Ah Lang... Ah Lang's head was shattered just like his signature golden helmet..."

  "Hahaha... wonderful, wonderful!" Meng De's hands were wide open, his head thrown back in a hearty laugh. But from the corners of his eyes, two lines of hot tears flowed out.

  The crowd at Tianping Village was filled with mixed emotions, and Liu Erping wailed loudly: "Brother! Your spirit is not far away, have you seen that our enemy has already surrendered?"

  Meng De suddenly turned around, and with a loud slap on Guan Zhongyong's shoulders, he shouted: "Brother Guan, quickly tell me, which great hero of your noble camp achieved this magnificent feat? What is his name? I, Meng, want to get acquainted with him properly, and also want to kowtow to him several times for the many brothers who have passed away."

  Guan Zhongyong first glanced at Liu Erping, then smiled slightly at Meng De: "He is the new leader of our Tianping Fort - Di Lie!"