Chapter 56 "Rather than watching you die, I would rather..."

The door to the private room was suddenly pushed open, and Meng Huaiwen's boisterous voice shattered the ambiance that filled the room like a pebble:

"Su Xing, the fireflies are beautiful, do you want to come see them...?"

The boy's excited voice abruptly stopped when he saw the scene inside the private room.

Li Xinian straightened up almost instantly, regaining his usual calm expression, though there was a barely perceptible blush at the base of his ears.

Lin Suxing also quickly took a small step back, her cheeks flushed, and she lowered her head in a fluster, pretending to straighten the hem of her clothes, which did not need straightening.

This is so embarrassing!

Lin Suxing had never felt so disgusted by Meng Huaiwen's spoilsport!

He was just about to blurt out the question: Does Li Xinian like me?

"...Holy crap."

Meng Huaiwen stared wide-eyed at the two people whose atmosphere was clearly off. His amber eyes blinked, and a knowing smile appeared on his face, followed by an extremely mischievous grin.

"You guys cough cough, continue! Continue!"

"We've come back at the worst possible time!" He turned around and winked at Wang Shunduo, who was walking in a little later, then grabbed the latter's hand and ran quickly away.

Li Xinian glanced at Wang Shunduo indifferently, ignoring his teasing, and simply took Lin Suxing's hand naturally, his palm warm and firm.

“Let’s go,” he said to Lin Suxing, his voice regaining its composure. “Let’s watch the fireflies first, and we’ll talk about it again when we get back tonight.”

Lin Suxing felt the warmth of his palm; the heat on her face hadn't faded yet, but her heart felt as if it were filled with honey.

Although he hadn't asked the question yet, Lin Suxing seemed to have already sensed Li Xinian's answer from the way Li Xinian held his warm hand tightly.

He gave a soft "hmm," letting Li Xinian lead him towards the firefly-lit night outside the door, leaving behind the unfinished kiss and Meng Huaiwen's teasing laughter.

Anyway... there's plenty of time ahead. The two of them spend every day together, so they'll always find an opportunity to say or do things they want to do.

***

“Since you’re going to Xinian’s place, I won’t go home either. Shunduo also has a house in Haijing No. 1, so let’s go back there together.” Meng Huaiwen naturally and without any distance reached out and touched Wang Shunduo’s exposed wrist.

Wang Shunduo stared intently ahead, his hands on the steering wheel, and said with a smile, "I think you've been planning this all along."

“Perfect timing, didn’t we say we wanted to watch ‘WALL-E’ together again?”

Meng Huaiwen has been busy lately. Last week, he mentioned that the two of them watched the premiere of this movie together when they were young. The shared memories of their childhood made them both feel nostalgic, so they agreed to watch it again together at Wang Shunduo's private cinema.

"Well, as long as someone doesn't fall asleep halfway through like they did when they watched 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' last time," Wang Shunduo chuckled, clearly agreeing with Meng Huaiwen's assumption that his residence was safe to stay at any time, but he didn't reveal it.

The black Bentley Flying Spur drove smoothly on the coastal highway back to "Seaview One," with the quiet night and the distant, faint horizon visible outside the window.

Meng Huaiwen fiddled with his phone in the passenger seat, occasionally exchanging a few words of quiet laughter with Wang Shunduo, who was driving.

In the back seat, Lin Suxing was looking at the night view outside the window, while Li Xinian closed his eyes to rest, his hand resting naturally on the seat between them.

Lin Suxing's vision was covered by a blinding red!

The system panel popped up with unprecedented intensity, a huge "Warning!" message flashing wildly, accompanied by a piercing virtual alarm, and in the center, a clear, constantly vibrating "Lie Down!" icon!

Without even a moment to think, purely following instinct and the conditioned reflexes formed through countless training sessions, Lin Suxing suddenly screamed hoarsely, "Lie down!"

Before he finished speaking, he used all his strength to turn sideways and forcefully push Li Xinian next to him towards his side, forcing the two of them to lower their bodies as much as possible and curl up under the back seat.

A completely different, deeper, and extremely penetrating bang exploded! This was followed by the ear-piercing noise of the bulletproof glass finally giving way and shattering completely!

A .50 BMG armor-piercing incendiary round was fired from a high point in the woods on the right side of the national highway at an extremely tricky angle, accurately hitting the right rear window of the car!

The specially designed bulletproof glass finally reached its limit when faced with this high-powered munition designed specifically to destroy lightly armored targets, instantly turning into countless crystalline yet sharp fragments that poured in like a torrential rain!

Most of the debris hit Lin Suxing, whose back was exposed more because he was protecting Li Xinian.

He groaned, feeling a sharp, stinging pain coming from his back. Fortunately, his winter clothes were thick enough to cushion some of the impact, but they must have left him with quite a few scratches.

"Damn it!" The moment Wang Shunduo heard Lin Suxing's warning, his body reacted instinctively. He almost pressed himself against the steering wheel, slammed his right foot on the accelerator, and turned the steering wheel sharply with both hands, causing the vehicle to accelerate forward in an irregular S-shaped trajectory, trying his best to avoid being locked on by subsequent shots.

His face was gloomy, but a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "Luckily, I brought my weapons today."

Almost at the same time, Li Xinian, who was being protected by Lin Suxing, also made a move!

The moment Li Xinian was tackled by Lin Suxing, his eyes sharpened. Without the slightest hesitation, he stretched out his long arm and suddenly lifted the narrow, black metal box that had been slightly in the way before!

The dark metal parts gleamed with a cold luster in the dim interior light of the car, filling the entire box.

Li Xinian's movements were so fast that they left afterimages.

"Click, click, click," a series of dazzling sounds, clear and unsettling amidst the noise of the vehicle bumping and the friction of shards of glass!

In less than ten seconds, a fully assembled combat rifle equipped with a night vision scope and a silencer had taken shape in his hands.

Without even glancing at it, he deftly handed another already assembled MP7A1 submachine gun, along with several spare magazines, to Meng Huaiwen, who had just raised his head in the front row. His voice was resolute: "Huaiwen, cover Shunduo, watch the left flank."

Meng Huaiwen took the gun, his nonchalant expression vanishing completely, his eyes sharp as an eagle's. He quickly checked the weapon, cocked it, and leaned to the left of the car window, the muzzle lowered but ready to point at any source of threat. He said in a deep voice, "Understood!"

Through the night vision goggles, Li Xinian's cold gaze, like that of a cheetah, began searching for any possible muzzle flashes in the darkness.

The situation was critical. Just as they had expected, the assassin in the woods on the right failed to kill them with his first strike and immediately changed tactics.

"Bang! Bang!"

Two more precise shots!

This time, the target was the rear wheel of the vehicle. Even though the vehicle was maneuvering serpentinely under Wang Shunduo's control, the tire was still punctured. The vehicle suddenly sank, and the chassis scraped against the road surface, producing ear-piercing sparks and noise. The speed dropped sharply, and the vehicle was forced to slide to a relatively open space on the side of the road, becoming a sitting duck.

"They're trying to force us to stop, then surround us!" Meng Huaiwen growled, peering nervously through the left window. "Damn it, they don't have incendiary bombs, do they? What if their next shot hits the fuel tank..."

"We won't give them a chance." Li Xinian's voice came through the AN/PVS-31 night vision goggles, carrying a chilling killing intent.

But the assassin was cunning; he moved immediately after firing the shot.

He set it to invisible infrared mode and quickly and covertly scanned the adjacent areas where the killer might have moved, at the 1:30 and 2:30 o'clock positions, through the broken car window.

If the other party is wearing night vision goggles or infrared detection equipment, their lenses will produce obvious reflections or halos, thus revealing their new location!

Almost simultaneously with Li Xinian's infrared scan, Wang Shunduo, while struggling to control the out-of-control vehicle, urgently ordered Meng Huaiwen: "Huaiwen! Listen to my countdown, suppress the bushes on the left! Three, two, one!"

This is not just about suppressing fire, but also a tactical strategy of actively creating a sound source.

Just as Li Xinian's infrared scan swept across a certain spot, the system panel in front of Lin Suxing flashed again, and a red arrow was clearly pointing to the two o'clock position, about 160 meters away, slightly to the right, at a dense canopy of trees!

[Host, which direction is it! Quickly remind Li Xinian!] Even though the system is usually useless, it's still very helpful at this time.

The system combines Li Xinian's infrared signal with the micro-vibration analysis of the environment to provide the most accurate positioning!

"Two o'clock, 160 meters, right canopy!" Lin Suxing immediately reported the location, his voice slightly hoarse from tension, but exceptionally clear.

"Found it." Almost the instant Lin Suxing reported the location, Li Xinian had already caught the outline of the blurry heat source that was trying to aim again in his emerald vision, as well as the faint infrared light spot that might exist on the other party's rifle!

"Shunduo! Hold on for two seconds!" Li Xinian shouted, his body leaping out of the shattered car window like a cheetah, the cold butt of the HK417 firmly against his shoulder.

He didn't need a precision sight; the clear night vision image provided by the AN/PVS-31 and the infrared laser dot projected by the laser designator, visible only to him through his night vision goggles, had already firmly locked onto the heat source in the tree canopy!

The HK417, equipped with a wet suppressor, emitted a deep, deadly thud! The .308 Winchester rifle round hurtled through the air at an extremely high muzzle velocity!

The treetops in the distance trembled violently, accompanied by a faint, short scream, and a dark figure fell heavily from the tree!

"Take one down." Li Xinian quickly retreated into the car, his movements clean and efficient.

"Beautiful!" Wang Shunduo was still able to laugh at this moment, while Meng Huaiwen remained vigilant, scanning other directions with his gun.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wang Shunduo, with his superb driving skills, used the vehicle's remaining power and inertia to force the disabled Bentley into a small depression below the roadbed. Although it was a mess, he temporarily gained valuable cover.

“There’s at least one more enemy, possibly providing support from further away, or perhaps they’re flanking us.” Wang Shunduo analyzed calmly. He glanced at Li Xinian and Lin Suxing. “We must abandon the vehicle immediately and enter the woods on the side to use the terrain to counterattack. Reinforcements will take at least three more minutes.”

Li Xinian nodded, quickly took out several spare magazines and a Glock 19 pistol from the black box and handed them to Lin Suxing: "Stay close to me, use this for self-defense, and don't shoot unless absolutely necessary."

Lin Suxing gripped the cold pistol tightly. The cut on his back from the glass was still throbbing, but he looked at Li Xinian with unusual determination and nodded emphatically.

The four quickly opened the relatively safe left-side car door, with Li Xinian as the vanguard, Wang Shunduo bringing up the rear, Meng Huaiwen protecting the flanks, and Lin Suxing being protected in the middle. Like a well-trained tactical squad, they silently infiltrated the dark woodland beside the national highway.

[Multiple units carrying lethal weapons have been detected closing in! We recommend immediately redeeming the [Danger Identification] module!]

The system hurriedly searched through the points mall's redemption interface for items that Lin Suxing could use at the moment and that were cost-effective. It immediately recommended this item to Lin Suxing, which could last for an hour and could identify threats.

"Exchange!" Lin Suxing used several hundred points without hesitation to exchange.

He had completed many tasks by chance before, but had not yet redeemed any items. Now he could use them all.

Instantly, a semi-transparent blue electronic map interface, resembling a tactical radar, unfolded before his eyes and, according to his thoughts, was shared with Li Xinian, Meng Huaiwen, and Wang Shunduo beside him.

The map clearly marked the terrain outline within a 200-meter radius of them. Even more deadly, seven conspicuous red markers appeared on it, fanning out from three directions towards the spot where they had just parked and the woodland where they were now!

Each red marker is accompanied by a concise icon and data:

[Numbers 2 and 3 (10 o'clock position): Icons indicate assault rifles; they move quickly and are responsible for the main offensive tasks.]

[Numbers 4 and 5 (flanking from the right): Iconed with a submachine gun, they are agile and attempt to flank the enemy.]

[Number 7 (Sneaking on the left): Icon is abnormal, showing as a shotgun and a Molotov cocktail.]

“Seven of them, they came prepared.” Wang Shunduo’s voice was icy, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses sharp as a knife, quickly memorizing all the locations.

Li Xinian frowned: "...This number of people is not the style that Li Tingzhu should have."

“Map sharing?!” Meng Huaiwen exclaimed, his face full of shock, but even more so with elation. “This makes the game so much easier.”

Lin Suxing finally had a moment to catch his breath and complain: "Dude, it's one thing for those two to be well-trained, but how come you're so good at fighting too?!"

Meng Huaiwen held the rifle with practiced ease and said matter-of-factly, "Shunduo and I trained together since we were kids, so of course I'm very skilled."

Li Xinian's gaze swept across the map, and an extremely bold and precise counterattack plan instantly took shape. He issued the instructions in a very fast voice:

"Shunduo, you're in charge of sniper number 6. His position is fixed, and he's our primary threat. The map shows his precise coordinates and firing range. Find his blind spot and take him out."

Wang Shunduo nodded without saying a word, and like a ghost, he broke away from the team and used the blind spots marked on the map to circle around to the side and rear.

"Huaiwen, your MP7 has a high rate of fire, so you're in charge of creating chaos. On my orders, fire long bursts at directions 2 and 3 to draw their attention and force them towards directions 4 and 5."

"Understood! Give them a feint!" Meng Huaiwen licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Su Xing,” Li Xinian looked at Lin Su Xing with unwavering focus, “you stay close behind me and report every subtle change in the enemy’s position in real time, especially the position of number 7! He is the key.”

"Okay!" Lin Suxing nodded vigorously, immersing himself completely in the system map, as if he had become one with the battlefield.

Operation begins!

Sure enough, the markers on the map representing numbers 2 and 3 reacted immediately, quickly moving to the right, in the direction of numbers 4 and 5, and seeking cover in an attempt to rendezvous with their teammates on the flank. They ended up falling right into the "squeeze" zone that Li Xinian had set up.

Almost at the same moment Meng Huaiwen fired his gun, Li Xinian moved! Like a cheetah in the dark, based on Lin Suxing's precise reports of "Number 4 at 10 o'clock, 50 meters away, just stopped" and "Number 5 at 1 o'clock, 70 meters away, moving", he used trees and terrain to quickly and silently approach.

"Whoosh!" The HK417, equipped with a silencer, roared again. Gunman number 4, who was searching for Meng Huaiwen's firepower, fell to the ground.

"Number 5 is turning towards you! He's looking for cover!" Lin Suxing reported urgently.

Without hesitation, Li Xinian accurately threw a fragmentation grenade behind the designated bunker for number 5. After a loud "boom!", the marker for number 5 on the map faded.

Almost simultaneously!

A distinctive shot rang out from afar, belonging to a precision marksman rifle, but the bullet struck nothing.

Immediately afterwards, the red marker representing sniper number 6 on the map went out!

Wang Shunduo succeeded!

"Number 6 will be eliminated." Wang Shunduo's calm voice came through the communication device in the brief silence.

On the blue electronic map in front of Lin Suxing, a sudden change occurred!

Just moments ago, the surrounding area was relatively "clean," but now more than ten new red markers have suddenly appeared in quick succession!

These markers, like bloodthirsty locusts, swarmed out from the outer woods and abandoned roadbed culverts, clearly a second wave of force pre-planned by Li Tingzhu and deployed at a crucial moment!

"Damn it! An ambush! A lot of people! Boss Wang, come back quickly!" Lin Suxing shouted, his voice trembling slightly. On the map, the red dots representing the enemy had almost formed a loose encirclement, which was rapidly closing in!

Meng Huaiwen's hands were trembling.

It seems that the other side intends to use elite snipers and the first squad to force them to stop, exhaust their energy and ammunition, and once they demonstrate their ability to fight back and think they have the situation under control, they will then deploy a second wave of troops with an overwhelming numerical advantage to carry out a crushing annihilation!

No, perhaps these arrangements were not designed by her, but rather proposed by her kind uncles and great-uncles.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

A barrage of gunfire erupted from multiple directions, bullets raining down like a torrential downpour, pinning the four men down so they could barely lift their heads. Trees were riddled with splinters, and their shelter appeared precarious under the fierce barrage.

"Damn it, so many people!" Meng Huaiwen cursed, firing a burst of bullets in one direction with his MP7, but this immediately provoked an even fiercer counterattack, forcing him to turn back.

"We can't fight head-on!" Wang Shunduo quickly assessed. "The firepower disparity is too great; the cover won't hold for long!"

Li Xinian's mind raced; the red dots on the map continued to increase, and their space for maneuver was being drastically compressed.

He looked at Lin Suxing and noticed that he was pale, clearly indicating that maintaining large-scale map sharing and dealing with crises had taken a lot of his energy.

"Shunduo, Huaiwen, take turns providing cover and retreat to that embankment in the southeast corner! There's a depression there that can temporarily hold off fire from three sides!" Li Xinian quickly issued the order; it was the only terrain shown on the map that might offer a brief respite.

"Understood." "Received!"

Wang Shunduo and Meng Huaiwen immediately took action, using precise bursts of fire and smoke grenades to try and fight their way out.

However, with too many enemies and too dense a firepower network, it was inevitable that some would be missed.

The red dots on the map were converging more and more toward them, almost forming an impenetrable circular encirclement!

Lin Suxing asked the system, trembling, "Is there any teleportation portal or similar item? At this rate, we won't be able to escape!"

Even if their security forces arrive at top speed, they'll have to deal with the people on the outer perimeter before they can reach them. Do they even have a chance to survive then?!

"Yes, but..." Before the system could finish speaking, Lin Suxing interrupted, "Stop talking nonsense, switch! Otherwise, we'll all be dead here today!"

The system paused for two seconds before replying: "Host, this portal can only be used by you. If you need it, I can exchange it now."

In an instant, Lin Suxing felt a profound emptiness within him.

The deafening gunshots nearly tore Lin Suxing's eardrums apart.

Unlike the processed sound effects in movies and TV shows, the sound of real automatic weapons firing in the silent forest at night is the kind of pure, violent noise that can make your heart and lungs tremble.

Each burst of fire, each rapid-fire, felt like a heavy hammer slamming into his eardrums, making his brain buzz and his thoughts become viscous and sluggish.

He was firmly protected by Li Xinian as he staggered and ran through the darkness.

The surrounding trees were no longer a tranquil landscape, but rather an obstacle. The drooping branches were like malicious whips, constantly lashing his face and arms, leaving a burning sting.

The rustling sound of the withered branches and fallen leaves underfoot was particularly clear during the intervals between gunshots, as if announcing their location to the enemy.

Bullets occasionally whizzed into the tree trunks beside them, or whizzed past their ears at close range, bringing with them a blast of hot air.

He could even smell the distinctive odor permeating the air, a mixture of gunpowder smoke, earth, and the sap of upturned plant roots, along with a faint smell of rust, whether from weapons or from someone already wounded and bleeding.

Confusion and anxiety entwined his heart like cold vines.

Just minutes before, he was in a warm private room, enjoying exquisite desserts and watching the dreamlike fireflies outside the window.

Now, he finds himself in this dark woodland, with countless gun barrels pointed at him, each one meant to take his life.

This extreme contrast gave him a strong sense of unreality, as if he were in a nightmare from which he could not wake up.

He looked at Li Xinian's tense profile, at Wang Shunduo and Meng Huaiwen struggling to find cover and opportunities to counterattack amidst the barrage of fire, and at the seemingly endless red markers constantly approaching on the system map before him... A profound sense of powerlessness gripped him.

Just as Li Xinian was protecting Lin Suxing and following closely behind to move, an enemy hidden in the bushes on the flank seized this fleeting opportunity, raised his automatic rifle, and aimed at Li Xinian's back!

Lin Suxing's system map keenly detected this newly emerging and extremely close threat, issuing a sharp and specific warning! However, Li Xinian was fully engaged in dealing with the frontal firepower and was unable to turn around in time!

"Nian Nian! Behind you!"

Lin Suxing's pupils contracted sharply as a wave of immense fear swept over him, completely overwhelming his reason.