Wang Xiaoya practically tumbled and crawled out of the dense bushes.
Her training uniform was torn in several places by sharp branches, her face was covered in mud and grass clippings, and her hair was a mess like a bird's nest.
That little face, which always carried a hint of timidity, was now filled with terror, and her exposed arms and cheeks were covered with bloody scratches from tree branches.
"Su An! Chen Xiaocao!"
As if she had seen a savior, she cried out in a hoarse voice, her legs gave way, and she collapsed straight toward Su Tang due to exhaustion.
Su Tang's eyes sharpened, and before she could fall, she stepped forward, stretched out her arm, and steadily supported her.
At the point of contact, Wang Xiaoya trembled uncontrollably.
"What happened? Stand still and tell me slowly." Su Tang's voice wasn't loud, but it carried a power that could instantly calm people down. She helped Wang Xiaoya lean against a large tree to prevent her from slipping due to exhaustion.
Chen Xiaocao was also terrified. She had never seen Wang Xiaoya like this before. She quickly took out a water bottle from her backpack and handed it to her: "Xiaoya, what... what's wrong with you? Drink some water! Where's Liu Landi? Where is she?"
“Landie…Landie, she…”
Upon hearing Liu Landi's name, Wang Xiaoya reacted as if pricked by something, and suddenly grabbed Su Tang's arm.
"Su An, Lan Di... she... she led them away herself so I could escape! There were too many of them... six people! It was Bai Wei and Zhao Yan... they ambushed us!"
Wang Xiaoya was out of breath and her words were incoherent, but the two people present still immediately grasped the most crucial information.
Surrounded. Too many people.
Su Tang's eyes instantly turned cold, and the relaxed atmosphere that had been there because of her fruitful harvest vanished in an instant.
Six people.
It really was them.
"Don't rush," Su Tang's voice remained calm, but her clear eyes were as cold as ice. "Drink some water, catch your breath, and tell me clearly what happened from beginning to end."
This calming power seemed to infect Wang Xiaoya as well. She took the water bottle and took two big gulps. The icy liquid slid down her throat, calming her violently beating heart a little. She took several deep breaths before she could recount what had happened in fits and starts.
It turned out that she and Liu Landi were in the same group. Relying on Liu Landi's hunting experience and her own keen sense of smell, they cooperated quite well and found a yellow flag and a green flag, for a total of thirty points. This result made them both very happy, and they felt that they would definitely not be eliminated this time.
The two were just about to find a secluded spot to eat some dry rations and rest when they unexpectedly stumbled into an ambush that Bai Wei and Zhao Yan had already set up.
"They...they seemed to know where we were all along, and they were lying in ambush on both sides of a ravine, waiting for us there..." Wang Xiaoya's voice was filled with lingering fear.
"We had barely peeked out and hadn't even gotten a good look at anyone when paintballs started raining down from both sides!"
Wang Xiaoya's description instantly brought that thrilling scene to Su Tang and Chen Xiaocao's minds.
A narrow mountain pass, an enemy positioned high above, and two unsuspecting individuals.
This was a thoroughly unequal hunt.
"There were six of them!" Wang Xiaoya's knuckles turned white from clenching her fists. "Besides Bai Wei and Zhao Yan, there were their teammates Lin Hao and Sun Erniu. I... I also saw Li Yue! The one who used to always follow Qiao Lin around! She was with Bai Wei too! And her teammate, that male soldier named Liu Dafu, was there too!"
"As soon as they saw us, they opened fire without saying a word. Six guns were pointed at the two of us. The firepower was so intense that we couldn't even lift our heads up from behind the rocks. Lan Di and I couldn't break through at all. We were quickly suppressed and forced into a dead corner at the very back of the ravine, where we had nowhere to hide."
Chen Xiaocao's heart clenched as she listened; she could fully imagine how helpless and desperate those two must have felt.
Just when Wang Xiaoya thought that the two of them would definitely be eliminated today and leave the training camp in disgrace, Liu Landi, who had been silently observing the other side's firepower, made a surprising decision.
"Landi...she suddenly stuffed all the flags she had on her body into my hands." Wang Xiaoya took out the two flags, soaked with sweat, one yellow and one green, from her bosom. They were all the spoils she and Liu Landi had collected that morning, their hope for staying in the training camp.
"She told me to grab the flag and run, and not to look back."
"I said we should leave together, but she refused. She yelled at me for the first time, her eyes were red, and she said that we couldn't both perish here, one of us had to take the flag out!"
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