Chapter 3: The Hidden Valley

  The crisp sound of gunfire echoed through the mist-shrouded valley once again. In the valley, Fengzi and his two companions exchanged a glance, leaving Roubin to guard the team leader as they moved forward, letting strangers take bullets for them - something no one could do.

  Just after walking about a hundred meters away, there was another gunshot. Thinking that Zhao Wuji might be in danger, the two of them suddenly jumped up and sprinted forward like cheetahs. From far away, they saw someone lurking in a bush, suddenly bursting out like a giant python emerging from its lair, and rushing towards the person who was quietly approaching. It was indeed Zhao Wuji.

  The two men obviously didn't expect Zhao Wuji's speed to be so fast, and in the blink of an eye, the opponent was already lying on the ground like a puddle of mud, with the gun in his hand now in Zhao Wuji's possession. At this time, Fengzi and the other man discovered that Zhao Wuji still had two more guns on his back.

  There was no one around, Zhao Wuji didn't even glance at the corpses on the ground, sensing the arrival of Fengzi and Gangzi, he walked over, handed all the guns to the two, saying: "I don't know how to use this thing, you take it, there are still a few people over there, you handle it, I'll go rescue your captain."

  Feng Zi took over, looked at the corpse lying not far away, gave Gang Zi a look, and Gang Zi tacitly ran towards the enemy. Feng Zi closely followed Zhao Wuji's back, with a belly full of questions, but also knew it wasn't time to ask yet, so he started checking his gun, an M4 carbine, a good foreign-made thing.

  Bin saw the two return, put down his heart, saw Feng's hand on the gun and suddenly lit up. For these soldiers, a gun in hand is everything, without a gun or bullets, it's like a tiger with its teeth pulled out, combat effectiveness greatly reduced.

  Zhao Wuji pulled out a handful of wild herbs from his pocket, some of which Fengzi recognized. Special forces soldiers all knew some basic wilderness survival skills, but Captain Zhang Peng still had a high fever and they were on the run, without any conditions or time to process them, nor did they dare to.

  Gunshot wounds are easy to deal with, but Captain Zhang Peng, who is suffering from a high fever, is on the verge of death. Zhao Wuji gestures for Fengzi and another person to grab Zhang Peng's injured leg, and they skillfully use a dagger to cut open his pants, carefully draining the pus and blood. Black blood flows out naturally, and Zhang Peng suddenly wakes up.

  Zhao Wuji said: "We have to take out what's inside, who among you is capable of doing this?"

  Binzi took over the dagger and said: "I'm coming, boss, hold on a bit."

  Zhang Peng found the current situation strange, but even stranger was who this young man dressed as a hunter was. However, reason and calmness told Zhang Peng that now wasn't the time to ask questions, as his trustworthy brother by his side was preparing to treat his wounds. He looked at Zhao Wuji with a puzzled expression, nodded slightly, and didn't say anything.

  Binzi calmly and quickly manipulated the knife in his hand, cutting open the wound a bit larger, carefully searching for the bullet inside. Zhao Wuji glanced at Zhang Peng, his eyebrows tightly furrowed in pain, but he didn't even let out a hum, being a tough guy, couldn't help but feel a great deal of admiration.

  Pulling out the bullet was as ordinary for soldiers as eating, and Bin quickly pulled it out. He looked at Zhao Wuji, who had already prepared a herbal paste and applied it to the wound, saying: "Lie still, don't move for now."

  At this time, Gangzi came over with several guns on his back, excited, and it seemed that he had gained a lot. Seeing the medicinal plaster on Captain Zhang Peng's foot on the ground, he understood and looked at Zhao Wuji with gratitude without saying anything.

  Soldiers are not bad at expressing emotions, but they are used to hiding their emotions in their hearts and repaying them with death.

  Zhao Wuji picked out a few more herbs from a large pile and said, "Take them orally."

  Fengzi took over the herbs and gently kneaded them into a large ball, then forcibly stuffed it into Zhang Peng's mouth, helping him swallow it down.

  Everything that needed to be done had been done, and the three of them looked at Zhao Wuji with eyes full of curiosity, gratitude, and inquiry, but due to their first meeting, they were too embarrassed to ask directly.

  Zhao Wujie wiped the sweat from his forehead, also let out a sigh of relief, and sat down with a thud, saying "It should be fine now," but suddenly stood up and ran to the side to vomit violently.

  The three of them exchanged a surprised glance, none of them understanding what was going on.

  Fengzi was the calmest and most analytical of the three, and soon a unnatural bitter smile appeared on his face as he said: "Brothers, it seems this little brother is a rookie killer, not quite used to it."

  Gangzi and Binzi nodded in understanding, everyone has their first experience of killing someone, this feeling is not good to bear. Everyone looked at Zhao Wuji with a smile, but with guilt in their eyes, such a young man had killed someone to save himself, this favor was very heavy.

  Zhao Wuji spat for a while before quickly regaining consciousness, hastily swallowing several herbs. With a bitter smile, he said: "Three brothers, I'm ashamed to have let you see me like this. Who would have thought that the bravest warrior of Qingniu Fort... would end up with his reputation in tatters?"

  The three of them also burst out laughing, amused by Zhao Wuji's self-deprecation. It was clear that the man in front of them wasn't averse to talking; on the contrary, he had a sense of humor, despite being frugal with his words along the way.

  Young people together are not awkward, especially soldiers, who like to be bold and straightforward. Zhao Wuji's self-deprecating tone was undoubtedly to the liking of the three men. The three men, led by Fengzi, asked him, "Little brother, are you from Qingniu Village? Where is Qingniu Village? How did you discover us? Why do you want to help us?"

  "There are a lot of problems, aren't there?" Zhao Wuji smiled and said: "Qingniu Village is a village on the edge of the primeval forest, it's hard for outsiders to find. My grandfather and I were sunbathing on a cliff when we were awakened by your gunfire. As for helping you, that's not possible, after all, we're all descendants of the Yan and Huang Emperors. But I do have conditions, you know?"

  "What conditions? Tell me, we won't hesitate if it's something we can do." Gang Zi asked curiously. Being able to stake one's life on it, this feeling is very heavy, enough to make these people who value loyalty with their lives pay the price.

  "It's nothing really, I've never left this mountain range before. I thought of going out to make a name for myself, and I hope you can take me with you. If possible, please take care of me, your little brother." Zhao Wuji said.

  Everyone couldn't help but laugh when they heard this. Fengzi said, "What's difficult about that? From now on, we'll be brothers, a bond of life and death, no need to say more."

  "Right, I know this area is inhabited by ethnic minorities who don't speak Mandarin. Your Mandarin must have been taught by your grandfather, right? Your grandfather must be a great man, what was he?" asked Fengzi.

  "Yes, in my heart, he is an insurmountable great mountain," Zhao Wuji said, his eyes revealing sincere respect and true feelings. He continued, "I don't know what kind of person he is, he himself says he's a stinky old nine, what does that even mean?"

  Fengzi and the three of them exchanged a look, Binzi said on the side: "Understood, you have a good grandfather, 'stinky old nine' was a distorted term used to refer to intellectuals in the past, it's no longer used now, intellectuals have been rehabilitated, those who can be called 'stinky old nine' are all people with real skills."

  "Oh, I see," Zhao Wuji laughed for the first time upon hearing this statement.

  After chatting for a while, the three of them turned their attention to the situation at hand and said: "The enemy is outside, we are down here, it's not a good thing, do you have any way to leave this place?"

  "It's getting dark, your captain is not easy to move now, I suggest we spend the night here and leave early tomorrow morning." Zhao Wuji said: "As for the people outside, I don't think they dare to come down. You prepare things for a fire tonight, I'll go find something to eat."

  Everyone has rich outdoor survival skills and quickly divides the labor, Binzi takes up arms to patrol, confiscating many weapons and grenades from the enemy. Binzi, an expert in blasting, can't wait to give the enemy a lesson. Gangzi is responsible for starting fires and finding water.

  Feng Zi stayed behind to take care of the captain. This place, apart from enemies, also had many unknown dangers lurking about. One couldn't be careless or underestimate nature, lest they pay the price in blood.

  Watching Zhao Wuji walk away to a not-too-distant place, with the large bow on his back that had shocked him before, the enigmatic young man thought of his opponent's incredible martial arts skills and couldn't help but sigh in admiration for being alive and full of hope. As he was thinking about this, he saw Zhao Wuji quickly climb up a tree like a monkey, pick a fruit from it, run to a nearby large rock with the fruit in hand, put the fruit on the ground, and then lie down not far away.

  One minute passed, Zhao Wuji didn't move. Five minutes passed, Zhao Wuji still didn't move. Ten minutes, twenty minutes passed, the curious Fengzi wanted to go take a look, but was afraid that the team leader who was lying unconscious on the ground would encounter some trouble. This place is a bit eerie, there are definitely not few poisonous little things, and it's better not to be careless.

  Suddenly, Fengzi discovered that Zhao Wujie was like a giant eagle swooping down and quickly disappeared under the rock. He was shocked and was about to call out to Gangzi for help when he saw a huge python as thick as a leg slithering out from under the rock, with Zhao Wujie tightly wrapped around it. Fengzi was greatly alarmed and hastily warned Gangzi.

  Before Gengzi could run over, Zhao Wujie had already wrapped one hand tightly around the giant python and pulled out a dagger with the other, inserting it fiercely once again. The movement was ruthless and ferocious.

  The python was in pain, its upper body stood up straight, which undoubtedly made Zhao Wuji's movements more convenient. Zhao Wuji inserted one hand fiercely into the python's body, his legs locked tightly to prevent himself from falling off, and with the other hand he wielded a dagger, stabbing it repeatedly at the python's vital spot, opening up over a dozen wounds.

  Fengzi and Gangzi were also considered to be fierce and bloodthirsty warriors, but when they saw Zhao Wuji's life-risking fighting style, they were thoroughly stunned. Was this still the sunny youth?

  In the midst of Fengzi and Gangzi's astonishment, the gigantic body of the python crashed to the ground. Zhao Wujie sprang up like a monkey, soared into the air, and gently landed on the ground. After wiping the blood from his face, he stuck out his tongue and licked his sweet lips, which were warm and had a hint of sweetness. He put away his dagger and picked up the python's tail, then walked towards Fengzi and the others.

  At this moment, Fengzi and Gangzi's eyes looking at Zhao Wujie were filled with admiration, a strong man's admiration for an even stronger one. Soldiers only admire those who are stronger than themselves.

  At this time, Binzi also came over and was shocked to see the giant python. His eyes were full of questions. Fengzi pointed at Zhao Wujie, his admiration not diminishing in the slightest.

  Gangzi whispered to Binzi about what had just happened, while starting a fire. Zhao Wujie wielded his dagger and with one swift motion, sliced open the giant python's belly, saying: "This snake gallbladder is bright and clear, I've eaten many of these before, who among you will eat it?"

  Everyone knows the benefits of snake gall, and such a huge python's snake gall is even more extraordinary. Gangzi didn't hesitate and said: "Give it to Fengzi, he's a sniper and needs good eyesight."

  Fengzi took the snake gallbladder without hesitation and swallowed it in one gulp. At this point, everyone had already considered Zhao Wujie as a sworn brother, so there was no need to be polite with him. Good eyes were not only for oneself, but also to enhance the team's combat effectiveness and protect everyone's lives.