Chapter 347 Blood and Sand

On the other side, in the Gobi Desert in the northwest, the temperature plummeted after sunset, and the cold wind lashed at the face like a knife.

Lu Jingyan lay prone on the back of a sand dune, with Gao Jianjun and six other special forces members beside him.

Everyone's face was covered in a layer of sand, their eyes fixed on the abandoned mud-brick house in front of them.

"Old Lu, these bastards' firepower is much fiercer than the intelligence said," Gao Jianjun said in a low voice, munching on a dry, compressed biscuit.

Lu Jingyan raised his binoculars and saw through the lens at least fifteen armed figures lurking around the adobe house.

These men were well-trained, working in groups of three with overlapping cover, unlike ordinary border bandits.

“They’re from Eagle’s Nest.” Lu Jingyan put down his binoculars. “Look at those rifles; they’re all new equipment smuggled in from overseas.”

He pulled out a military map, spread it on the sand, and pointed to the location of the mud-brick house.

"This is the transit station mentioned in Wan Tang's telegram. There must be information about Moonlight Grass hidden inside."

Gao Jianjun spat, "Let's sneak in and take them down when it gets darker."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a burst of gunfire erupted from the direction of the mud-brick house.

Bullets struck the sand dunes, kicking up clouds of dust, and the special forces soldiers instinctively ducked.

"Damn it, we've been spotted!" Gao Jianjun cursed, grabbing his submachine gun to return fire.

Lu Jingyan grabbed his shoulder and said, "Don't be impulsive, let's assess the situation first."

The gunfire lasted for about two minutes, then stopped abruptly.

Then, a tall man wearing a black windproof coat walked out of the mud-brick house.

He carried a modified sniper rifle, a cigar dangling from his lips, and surveyed his surroundings with an arrogant gaze.

“It’s Black Wolf.” One of the team members recognized the man. “The armed leader of Eagle’s Nest in the Northwest.”

Lu Jingyan narrowed his eyes.

According to intelligence, this guy codenamed Black Wolf was formerly a mercenary and has extremely rich combat experience.

Black Wolf exhaled a puff of smoke and shouted towards the sand dunes, "Hey bro, come out and have a chat!"

His voice was rough, with a distinct Northwestern accent.

"I know you're soldiers from Beijing, you want information about the Moonlight Grass, right?"

Lu Jingyan did not respond, silently making tactical hand gestures on the sand with his fingers.

Two team members immediately flanked from both sides, preparing to encircle the enemy.

Black Wolf sneered, "Don't bother. I've been running this place for three years. I know where people can hide even with my eyes closed."

He raised his sniper rifle and fired a shot at the sand dune on his left.

A bullet grazed a team member's scalp, startling him so much that he rolled away and hid in a ditch.

"See my marksmanship? I was in the top three when I was a mercenary." Black Wolf patted the butt of his gun.

"If you know what's good for you, retreat to the capital now, and we'll keep to ourselves."

Lu Jingyan took out a peace charm from his pocket and gently placed it on his chest.

It was sewn by Su Wantang herself, with simple begonia patterns embroidered on the red silk.

He closed his eyes, and the image of Su Wantang, pregnant, sitting under the lamp, sewing stitch by stitch, appeared in his mind.

She was already quite pregnant at that time, and her fingers clumsily threaded the needle, but she stubbornly insisted on doing it herself.

"Wantang..." Lu Jingyan silently murmured her name in his heart, his fingers clenching the amulet tightly.

Seeing that no one responded, Black Wolf fired two more shots.

This time he did it on purpose; the bullet hit the top of the dune, kicking up a large cloud of dust.

"Damn it!" Gao Jianjun couldn't hold back any longer and raised his gun to retaliate.

Lu Jingyan pressed him down, "Wait a little longer."

His eyes were fixed on the black wolf, his mind racing as he calculated the distance and angle.

It's about 400 meters from here to the mud-brick house. The terrain is open with no cover, and a direct assault would definitely result in heavy casualties.

But if you wait until late at night and sneak over under the cover of darkness...

Just then, five more people came out of the mud-brick house.

Each of them was carrying a box, seemingly preparing to move supplies.

"Boss, we need to hurry up and get going," one of them urged. "It seems like the people in Beijing know the location of the Moonlight Grass."

Black Wolf took a puff of his cigar. "What's there to be afraid of? I've buried over thirty landmines here. If they dare come, they'll be blown to bits."

Lu Jingyan's eyes instantly turned cold.

That beast actually planted so many bombs in the Gobi Desert!

"You guys move the stuff first," Black Wolf waved his hand. "I'll stay and play with these soldiers from Beijing."

The five men responded and carried the box toward a dilapidated truck in the distance.

Lu Jingyan immediately made a gesture, signaling his team members to keep a close eye on the car.

The items in the car are most likely information about Moonlight Grass.

Just then, one of the team members suddenly groaned and collapsed.

Lu Jingyan turned his head and saw that the man had a cold arrow stuck in his shoulder, and blood was flowing down his military uniform.

"There's an ambush!" Gao Jianjun shouted, raising his gun and firing in the direction from which the arrows were coming.

The moment the gunshot rang out, more than a dozen dark figures suddenly emerged from the surrounding sand.

They were dressed in camouflage clothing the same color as the desert, and carried various weapons, flanking from all sides.

"This was a trap set up long ago!" Lu Jingyan gritted his teeth, grabbed the injured team member, and retreated.

Bullets struck the sand, kicking up dense dust. Several team members retreated while returning fire, and the scene became chaotic for a time.

Black Wolf stood in front of the mud-brick house and laughed loudly, "So the soldiers in Beijing are nothing special!"

Lu Jingyan dragged the wounded man behind a large rock and quickly checked his wounds.

The arrowhead was lodged quite deep, and there was a lot of blood.

He took out a first-aid kit from his backpack, bit open the cap of the disinfectant bottle, and poured it directly onto the wound.

The wounded soldier gasped in pain, his teeth grinding together.

"Bear with it." Lu Jingyan swiftly pulled out the arrow and tightly wrapped the wound with bandages.

"Old...Old Lu, I'm fine." The wounded man gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry about me, go and take care of those bastards."

Lu Jingyan patted him on the shoulder and handed him over to another team member to look after.

Then he grabbed his submachine gun, crouched down, and rushed to Gao Jianjun's side.

“We have to find a way to blow up that mud-brick house,” he said in a low voice. “There’s definitely something inside.”

Gao Jianjun changed his magazine. "I'll take two brothers and sneak over there. You cover me."

Lu Jingyan shook his head. "It's too dangerous. That area is full of landmines."

Before he could finish speaking, a loud bang came from the left.

One of the team members stepped on a landmine and was blown away. He was already dead when he landed.

Lu Jingyan's eyes instantly turned red.

That was a veteran who had been with him for three years. He didn't talk much, but his marksmanship was among the best in the unit.

Gao Jianjun slammed his fist into the stone, breaking the skin on his knuckles.

"You beast!" he roared, raising his gun and charging out.

Lu Jingyan held him down firmly, "Calm down! Rushing out now is just suicide!"

Gao Jianjun was panting heavily, his eyes red.

Lu Jingyan took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He looked up at the sky; night had completely fallen, and it was pitch black in the Gobi Desert.

"Jianjun, pass down the order: everyone stay put and wait for orders," he said in a deep voice. "We'll make our move at midnight."

Gao Jianjun was stunned for a moment, "What do you mean?"

Lu Jingyan took out the hand-drawn map he had captured from his pocket and spread it out on the ground.

"Look, the distribution area of ​​moongrass marked here is three kilometers northwest of the adobe house."

He pointed to a symbol circled in red on the map.

"Black Wolf and his men are preparing to move supplies, so they'll definitely be going there too. Let's track them down, find the exact location of the Moonlight Grass, and then make our move."

Gao Jianjun's eyes lit up. "That's right! They must know how to get through the minefield. We can just follow them."

Lu Jingyan put away the map and looked at the truck in the distance.

The boxes on the vehicle were all loaded, and several people were starting the engine.

"Tell the brothers to keep their distance and follow us closely, so we don't get spotted."