Chapter 364 The First Actual Combat
The cold rain hit his face and visibility dropped sharply, but Xia Lili's eyes, which were extremely sharp in the dark, were still like the most sophisticated scanner, tenaciously searching for any possible chance of life.
Her gaze went upstream against the current, through the rain and swaying branches, and suddenly stopped at one spot—
About fifty meters upstream, there is a huge dead tree that was struck by lightning at some point in time. The trunk is so thick that it just happens to lie across the turbulent river, forming a natural single-plank bridge!
Although the tree trunk was slippery and looked a little rotten due to years of erosion, it was undoubtedly the only hope to avoid wading and cross the river quietly.
"Captain Li! Upstream! There is a broken tree across the river!" Xia Lili immediately reported in a low voice, with a hint of excitement in his tone of having escaped from a desperate situation.
Li Qihan looked in the direction she pointed, his sharp eyes quickly assessing the situation: "I see. This is an opportunity, but we must first remove the 'nail' on the other side."
He made a quick decision, "Let's arrange for the birthday celebration first, and then we'll get started."
The two men quickly moved Qingsheng, who was almost in a semi-comatose state, behind a dense bush.
Li Qihan took off his raincoat swiftly and carefully wrapped Qingsheng as tightly as possible from head to toe, leaving only his mouth and nose open for breathing, trying to gain a little warmth and shelter for him in the cold rain.
Xia Lili quickly cleared away the branches around her that might scratch her to ensure concealment.
Li Qihan knelt on one knee beside Qingsheng, leaned close to his ear, and lowered his voice very low: "Listen, Qingsheng, we have to go deal with some trouble now. You stay here, no matter what you hear next."
"Even if it's a gunshot, you absolutely, absolutely cannot make any noise. Do you understand?"
Qingsheng seemed to have regained some consciousness, his eyelids trembled with difficulty, and he nodded imperceptibly.
Li Qihan looked at him deeply and said no more. He exchanged a glance with Xia Lili, and the two of them, like cheetahs working in tacit understanding, picked up their equipment and silently blended into the rain and jungle, temporarily entrusting their seriously injured comrade to this silent green.
After settling Qingsheng, Li Qihan and Xia Lili carried their respective sniper rifle cases and, under the cover of rain and thunder, moved silently towards the broken tree upstream. They found an ideal sniper position behind a bush about 80 meters from the river bank.
The view here is wide, and you can clearly observe the positions of the two snipers on the opposite bank, and you have good concealment.
He opened the gun box and quickly assembled a high-precision sniper rifle equipped with a silencer. The cold metal parts glowed faintly in the rain.
This was Xia Lili's first time to perform a sniper mission in actual combat and in such a harsh environment. She could feel her heartbeat accelerating, but she felt more of a heavy responsibility of being trusted and entrusted with this task.
"Lili," Li Qihan's voice sounded in her ear, low and soothing, "You are responsible for the target behind the rocks downstream."
"He's well hidden, but you have a better view from your position. Trust yourself, just like you did in training."
Xia Lili nodded, and her eyes gradually calmed down in the storm.
"Now, listen to me count."
Li Qihan raised his observation mirror and spoke calmly, as if he were conducting daily training. "The wind is from the east, with a speed of about four meters per second. The humidity is extremely high, so the trajectory will drop more significantly."
"You need to correct the aiming point up... two mils and to the left 0.5 mils."
Xia Lili took a deep breath of the damp and cold air, and according to his instructions, her slender fingers steadily adjusted the knob on the sniper scope.
The rain flowed down her cheeks, but she seemed not to feel it. All her mind was focused on the small crosshairs, firmly locking onto the vague outline behind the crevice in the rock that almost merged with the shadow.
Between heaven and earth, there were only the sounds of heavy rain and occasional rumbling thunder.
The two of them turned into two silent rocks, adjusting their breathing to the weakest frequency.
Li Qihan did not shout "Get ready", just a very short breath that was almost swallowed by the sound of rain.
But Xia Lili understood.
She pressed the butt of the gun firmly against her shoulder, and at the moment the next thunder rolled across the sky, they both pulled the trigger at the same time.
Now is the time!
Almost at the same moment the thunder reached its peak—
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Two extremely slight firing sounds, almost completely covered by the thunder, came from the silencers of two sniper rifles.
Through the sniper scope, Xia Lili clearly saw that the target behind the crevice in the rock suddenly tilted its head back, then collapsed and became motionless.
She immediately looked away and looked at the crooked tree upstream.
Almost at the same time, a dark shadow fell from the treetops and landed heavily in the grass below.
Two targets cleared at the same time!
Xia Lili breathed a sigh of relief, and then she felt that the arm holding the gun was slightly sore due to excessive tension.
She subconsciously turned her head to look at Li Qihan beside her.
Li Qihan also turned around to look at her.
Through the misty rain curtain, the two people's eyes met in the air.
There were no words, but in that brief and profound eye contact, there was a tacit understanding and confirmation that needed no words.
It was as if an invisible string was plucked at the moment of perfect coordination between life and death, and it was still vibrating between the two hearts.
He nodded at her very lightly, with approval and affirmation in his eyes.
"The passage is safe."
Li Qihan quickly put away the observation mirror and said, "Let's go back and get Qingsheng and cross the river quickly!"
The two retreated to their birthday hiding place like ghosts.
Li Qihan was the first to step onto the slippery trunk of the giant dead tree, tested its stability, then turned around to help Xia Lili lift Qingsheng up.
The three of them moved carefully, step by step, across the natural bridge in the rain.
The river roared beneath my feet, but the biggest threat had been eliminated.
After safely reaching the other side, the three did not dare to stay and quickly plunged into the rainforest again, leaving the dangerous river behind.
Although they were still tired and cold, the successful sniping and seamless cooperation seemed to have injected a shot of adrenaline into this exhausted team.
The rain gradually became lighter, from the previous downpour to a drizzle, but the night became darker, like thick ink that could not be dissolved.
Li Qihan and Xia Lili, one on each side, almost completely supported the confused and burning Qingsheng as they trudged through the muddy and slippery rain forest.
Every step they took required tremendous energy, and both of them were breathing heavily.
According to the map and the intermittent weak signals from the "Bat", the line representing the border of Dragon Country is already within reach, and the warmth and security of the motherland seem to be within reach.
But these last few kilometers seemed extremely long to the three people who were running out of energy.
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