Zhao Zilong, like Gu Xiaoxi, had been relentlessly pursuing the fleeing recruits all night, and by the end, captured everyone except Gu Xiaoxi.
As the strongest scout in the company, and perhaps in Z Unit, his strength was not to be underestimated. Wherever he passed, he was invincible, unmatched by anyone.
Gu Xiaoxi rushed to another dashed circle on the map, so out of breath she could hardly stand. Yet, she still had no time to rest.
There were three more experts she had yet to find; her mission was still daunting.
She was certain that Zhao Zilong would continue to hunt her, but she didn’t know how he would come after her.
Moving through the forest, Gu Xiaoxi started looking for clues.
Suddenly, she saw a tent set up on a smooth patch of grass; three men sat in front of it playing cards, the picture of leisure.
And those three men happened to be the platoon leaders from the fourth company.
From a distance, Gu Xiaoxi could hear the men chatting.
"Hurry up and finish this round, we need to head towards point B. This is the commander’s plan. We have to move our position every ten hours," Platoon Leader Yu Qing said. Points A and B were the dashed circles on Gu Xiaoxi’s map, although the map’s scale was somewhat large, making the distance between the two points fairly long.
"Do you think," Zhang Dachao said as he threw a pair of cards, "that by playing these experts, we will actually get an assassination attempt on us? I’m just afraid that the recruits won’t even be able to find our shadows."
Shao Changfeng concentrated on his card game, not joining the conversation.
Yu Qing continued, "I doubt it. Those recruits, they would have to run over a hundred kilometers for the entire course. Besides, we three are moving targets, difficult to catch. Even if they do catch us, without some real skill, they can’t hope to take us down."
"King bombs! I win!" All of a sudden, Shao Changfeng threw down his last two cards and said indifferently.
Yu Qing and Zhang Dachao wore frustrated expressions. The former immediately annoyed, "It’s all your fault for talking; you made me lose."
Zhang Dachao rolled his eyes, "It’s not like I didn’t lose too, right?"
The three of them packed up the cards, and Shao Changfeng tossed his backpack to the others, "I have two wins out of three games. You guys can carry the backpack for this stretch."
Yu Qing and Zhang Dachao exchanged a glance and conceded, taking turns to carry Shao Changfeng’s gear, not without grumbling, "Platoon Leader Shao, your way of doing things is getting quite impressive. Who did you learn that from? Cunning as a fox..."
Gu Xiaoxi, who was quite a distance away and heard their conversation, sat down on the ground, ready to take a short rest before making her assassination attempt.
She had finally found the three experts, and to her surprise, they were played by the three platoon leaders.
Before she made her move to assassinate them, she needed a good rest.
Taking on three men alone was going to be quite the pressure.
Especially after running for so long, her physical strength had taken a significant hit.
Gu Xiaoxi sat down cross-legged on the spot to catch her breath, not worried about the men picking up their backpacks and leaving.
Now that she knew their movements, she wanted to bring herself to her best condition to capture them in one fell swoop.
After all, she still had to be wary of Zhao Zilong and not let her strength be completely drained.
About two kilometers after Shao Changfeng and his two companions had left the tent, suddenly someone blocked their path.
They looked up to see Gu Xiaoxi sitting on a large rock by the roadside, chewing on a piece of foxtail grass, and smiling at them, "Hello there!"
Her greeting was particularly enthusiastic.
Yu Qing and Zhang Dachao looked at each other, then at Shao Changfeng, "Hey, that’s your soldier. What is she doing here?"
Shao Changfeng replied lazily, "What else could she be doing here? If she’s found us, it’s not to chat with you—it’s for an assassination attempt."
"Then what are we waiting for, let’s go!" Zhang Dachao got into a combat stance and shouted.