The sound of gunshots rang out, followed by the sounds of footsteps moving swiftly through the forest.
In the dark woodland, Yun Xi made a gesture to Mu Feichi, indicating to him that she would use herself as bait to lure out all the snipers who were waiting in ambush.
Without thinking, Mu Feichi instantly shook his head in disagreement. His dark eyes flickered with some coldness, and he said, "Do you know my record?"
"Yes, I know." A professional sniper would take 3.5 seconds to aim at the target, but Mu Feichi's record time was 3.2 seconds. That meant she had to find a place to hide within 3.5 seconds to avoid the bullet fired by the snipers.
"Until you can break my record, it's my job to lure the snake out of the hole!"
"But...my marksmanship is not as good as yours! However, I am capable of finding a hiding place within three seconds."
"Don't you have confidence in yourself?"
To a certain extent, a woman's physical strength and reflexes were not as strong as a man's. He could not risk her life by using her as bait.
Especially in this situation when he was not sure whether the enemy had planted a talented sniper to ambush them. He could not risk her life.
To spur her fighting spirit and to protect her, Mu Feichi had no choice but to provoke her. He spoke on the earpiece to Yan Shuo, the chief commander behind the scenes, who had not said a word. "Listen, Instructor Yan, this is the so-called good student who you have taught!"
Through the morning light that had gradually turned a darker blue, waiting annoyingly for the dark shadow not far away... This guy knew how to hit the right spot.
Yan Shuo, who was working behind the scenes, heard the provocation of Mu Feichi. Naturally, he understood his feelings of protection over her. He answered, "The student surpasses the master."
Since he, being her instructor, had given her such affirmation. Yun Xi could not say anything more.
You could do your best only if you had full confidence in yourself.
"Young Commander, I'll cooperate with you. But you have to be careful!"
Whether it was to lure the enemy or to stay put to fire at the enemy, both choices were just as challenging.
Since Mu Feichi chose to be the bait himself and gave her the full responsibility of sniping at the enemy, she had to live up to his trust.
Turning around, she took a few steps back to hide within the low bushes behind her and positioned her sniper rifle and night-vision goggles.
Mu Feichi gave her a slight nod, made a gesture, and swiftly spurted into the forest; his agile movement like a nimble cheetah's.
He moved very fast as he quickly sought a hiding place in the shortest time possible, relying on counting the time in his mind.
As expected, the enemy fired a shot at him. Just one shot and Yun Xi was able to determine the enemy's position. She moved her gun into position and quickly fired a shot just as the sniper started to change his position.
Not far away came the sound of a heavy object tumbling down from a high position. Yun Xi squinted, and from her deep calm eyes shone forth a bold and firm determination.
The next moment, she held her rifle and crawled along the muddy ground. Then she speedily positioned her rifle and fired another shot at the same moment the enemy's second shot was fired.
The two shots were fired at the same time. Although she did not hear any sound of the enemy being hit, she was very confident in her marksmanship.
Having successfully dealt with the six snipers, the remaining four were taken care of by Jin Lei and Li Zilan.
By the time the four of them met up, the sky had gradually brightened. The forest was dense, but the sunlight filtering through the trees made the scene visible.
Yun Xi stood up from the ground and put away her rifle. She lifted her eyes and saw Mu Feichi stretching his hand toward her, half-leaning over with his dark eyes filled with an affectionate smile.
At such a close distance, she could see the approval and pride in his eyes.
The first time fighting with him side by side was an unprecedented experience for Yun Xi. Compared with having him as an imaginary teammate in training, such a real gun battle had tested both of their understanding and experience.
She lifted her hand and placed it in his, letting him pull her up.
Looking at her messy appearance, Mu Feichi raised his hand and brushed at her hair, half-laughing and teasing her, "Well, still thinking about the feeling of fighting side by side with me?"
"Don't flatter yourself. Who is thinking about it?" Yun Xi humphed softly, turned her head, and looked at Jin Lei and Li Zilan, who was standing next to her. She couldn't help asking, "Has everything been settled? Were there any survivors?"
Just as Li Zilan was about to speak, Mu Feichi answered her question, "Yes, the three who ran away are still alive."
Yun Xi turned toward him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"They followed us from the moment we left the village. There were two groups of them. One group of three took the side road at the village entrance and the other group took a detour to ambush us from in front. The rainforest is very big. I have arranged for people at each exit to keep watch. Whether we can catch them depends on luck. If they choose to stay in the rain forest for ten days to two weeks, those men waiting outside can't do anything about it. After all, resources are limited. They probably can't keep watch there for longer than that."
Yun Xi nodded and understood what he meant. It wouldn't be an intelligent distribution of assets.
This time, however, it had been just a diversion, not part of their mission, and she had had the honour to fight alongside him. For her, it was the best outcome.
"Well, let's go back!" Mu Feichi turned around, stretched out his hand to take Yun Xi's hand, and led her away.
The humid rain forest had once again been restored to its usual tranquillity. The Special Forces competition had been unexpectedly terminated due to the death of one of the participants and the massacre that had happened in another part of the rain forest. The competition finally had to base the awards for the various countries on the ratings from their previous achievements.
The five-member team from Jun Country won and brought several awards home. Yun Xi and Yan Shuo stood beyond the crowd and watched Qi Yuan and Feng Rui receive the awards on stage. They seemed used to such occasions and calmly received the medals from the organizer.
"Instructor Yan, this time I fought side by side with the Young Commander, and now I realize that the gap between me and him is still very large."
Yan Shuo tilted his head to look at Yun Xi, then turned to look at the stage. "It's still very far apart, and you have to depend on yourself working hard to close the gap. What I taught you were too tough for him to bear to teach you. Mu Feichi will teach you the remaining lessons. If I take the credit from him, he may hate me for life."
"......" Talking about hate, even before he took her away, perhaps that overbearing tyrant would have already hated him?
Otherwise, he would not have shown so much resentment against him when they met.
